Journey

My first stop during my travels will be to Thebes, it is close to Athens so I assume their culture and practices will be about the same. On the road to Thebes, I am practicing the how to make my steps as silent as possible, with a weapon strapped to my back covered with antelope hide. Making sure that each step is light even while carrying my full body weight is light, is harder than I thought.

"Young one, it would seem that you have seen better days," said a middle aged man that is passing with his carriage.

"Oh, I definitely have, the waters can be cruel sometimes." I replied

"Where are you headed it is not common to see someone as big as you walking around with so little to wear?" he asked while looking at me from head to toe.

The thing is without grooming for a full year I got a full beard and long and messy hair, making me look far older than I actually am. Noting that as the point of confusion for him, I just told him why I am like this. I told him of my plan to train myself and the stresses of living in the jungle for a year, he nodded his head in understanding. There was a look of suspicion in his eye, that if I had been looking at him directly, I would have caught.

"Very well, you can join me on my way, I am headed to Athens so I can come along until we get to the Corinth pass then we can part there."

"You have my gratitude, what is your name by the way? Mine is Atredies," I asked realizing that we don't even know each other's names.

"Haha, the name is Zeb, and yes just Zeb. Come lets us bee on our way, we do not want to meet bandits on our way." He laughed while saying that.

"Bandits really plague these parts?"

"Not, plaguing, but can be encountered during the night in these parts … Hahaha."

Our journey began, it will take us 2 days to get to the Corinth pass where we would go our sepereate ways, so we just chatted along the way. I found out from him that he has a new born at home waiting for him to come back, he had to leave for this trip to get some wages to the handle the extra mouth he had in his home.

On the first night I did not sleep, moving away from the camp we had setup to practice my yoga routine, yoga I don't think is a practice most go through so its better not seen doing it. After yoga I do my regular training, without any running just to get my blood flowing. Then I get into the main part of my training, I direct all the energy produced by my body into my bones and muscles, not to make them bigger but more to increase their density.

We continue our journey at first light the next day, with him chattering in my ear of all the places he has been to through his trade. The stone masons of Thebes, the wool of Thrace, the steel from Byzantine, and many other unique good to be gotten in the different parts of Greece.

He seems to be rushing the journey today, I guess to avoid being where we could get caught by bandits. Evening came, and we are not lucky enough to escape the bandits. We see a troop of 10 men surrounding us, with one regular sized man with an eyepatch on horseback.

"Old man, where are you going, you have not paid your dues to us and you want to leave like that?" the man with the eyepatch said to Zed.

"How much are these dues you speak of," Zed said in frustration

"Whoa, do not speak like that, we are providing you safety on your travels, do you not think that payment is due?" he said causing his members to burst out in laughter.

"How much"

I was already getting pissed at these men and preparing to pull my weapon, only for Zed to look at me indicating not to try anything rash. I pulled back my hand and started moving backward towards the guy on the very edge of their blockade.

"Do you know that this is the trade route for Athens and Corinth," I asked the leader

"Haha … boys we have ourselves a barbarian that fancies himself a politician. He might not even be a free man, yet he speaks to us in such a manner." His people laughed at me.

"Enough of this, speak you price and let us be on our way," Zed said almost shouting at them.

"Very well then, let us take a look at what you have in that carriage of yours"

"Why would you need to do such a thing, just state your price and let us be done with it"

"Old man we must know what you carry, for us to access the due needed," said the leader with a smirk, signaling for one of his men to check the carriage.

At this point, I am close enough to one of the men to cross that distance in 2 steps, looking at the pained expression on Zed's face, I knew that the man was carrying something that he shouldn't. Rage began to swell in me, although I used to meditate in my past life to quell my anger, within this era of less moral constraints, I feel it is time to let some of that anger out.

Attacking the man closest to by kicking his leg and drawing out his sword, slashing his neck open for a quick kill. I move quickly to the next man before he could react, slashing at his neck which he dodges backward, I respond by swinging the sword around my head bringing a faster slash than the first before he could get his sword out.

2 down, 8 to go. The bandits have already organized themselves by this point, so I throw the sword at the third man, killing him on the spot while I remove my glaive from its wrapping. This will be the first time that this weapon will see blood and I intend to make it count.

Stabbing out with one hand on the glaive as one of them come at me, shifting my position crating more distance from the next man. I spin the glaive using the end to block a slash, as I quickly rotate it back to deliver a downward slash on the man, followed by another slash upward on the next man.

The leader is already on me, with 2 of his men, blocking one slash with the center of the glaive, using the blade to slash at the person to my right while moving that way to avoid a slash coming from the left. Stepping back, I stab at the leader which he dodges also blocking the man on the left from moving forward, I slash from left to right at the man on the right using the full weight of my glaive to overcome his block.

Making short work on the man on the right, I am left to face the leader alone. Seeing that he is alone he tries to flee, but that is a mistake he should have not made. Turning your back to a predator is the same as asking to be killed, which I obliged by throwing my glaive right into his back and killing him. As I retrieved my weapon ready to chase the other 2 that are left, I saw 2 bodies laying down beside Zed.

We look at each other saying nothing and just proceed to clear out the bodies and setting them on fire.

"The young should not let their anger consume the easily, less they put others in danger," Zed said to me before we went to sleep.