Kirst and Jerri (1/2)

Seeing Jerri safe and sound, Kirst lets out a sigh of relief, and all his muscles relax. 'So it was a bluff,' he realizes. 'Why would he bluff me out? Was he trying to scare me away from the baron's house or something?'

'Perhaps Haalfrin used up too much mana killing Falkri and Halban that he chose to run me off as well? Perhaps he didn't want me coming back anytime soon?' Kirst thinks. 'Well, whatever the case may be, I'm safe here for now…'

Kirst looks over Jerri for a second. 'In any case,' he finishes his thought, 'We can pack up my things and relocate.'

"Is everything Ok?" Jerri asks with concern. "You seem lost in thought."

Kirst just gives a little smile. "I'm afraid this place might not be safe to stay in much longer. We're going to have to relocate."

Brushing past the blonde-haired lover, Kirst immediately goes to the floorboard beneath the fireplace. He uses his magic to pull up a ribbon through the crack of the floorboard, and he uses it to lift up the wooden plank.

Beneath him is a small hole filled with gold and shiny jewels. Jerri peeks over his shoulder wide-eyed, "I didn't know this was here!"

Of course, Kirst never told Jerri that he's actually a common criminal – a very successful one, but certainly of common birth. Instead, he's always told his lover that he's a noble from another province.

So, Kirst answers back, "This is some of the family savings I keep – you know, emergency money."

Before Kirst can pack up the treasure, he feels Jerri's hands put on his shoulder. "I haven't seen you in weeks," purrs Jerri's soft, warm voice, "before we go… well… we need to catch up on a few things."

Kirst looks up. Feeling his heart flutter, he's pulled into another room… Yes… This might be Kirst's last chance in a while to 'catch up' with Jerri, and all his instincts tell him he shouldn't avoid this.

So, he follows Jerri into the room and locks the door.

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Shortly after Kirst arrives at his destination, Haalfrin rides up to the manor on a horse he picked up from the Baron's stables.

He gallops up to the small manor nestled between 2 hills, and he swings his leg over the horse and drops onto the ground. He looks down at the wolf who led him here and scratches it behind the ears. It wags its tail and runs off to join the rest of its pack.

Cautious of an ambush, Haalfrin layers on a few extra sensory spells – infrared vision, extra hearing, and enhanced smelling.

…And as soon as the spells land on him, a few things become explicitly clear - particularly, because of his hearing and smell enhancements.

Haalfrin looks down, and he feels his face going hot and red. 'Well… this WOULD be the best chance to ambush Kirst… After all, the man isn't equipped for any vertical battles – only the horizontal kind. Clearly, this "epic duel" has consumed all the man's attention.'

In the past, back when Haalfrin was a Kareen raider, he had become rather adept at annoying and sneaky strategies… and some instinctual part of him is itching to spring a trap on the man. 'I mean, it's kinda hard NOT to ambush the man when he's already engaged in "fierce battle".'

At the same time, Haalfrin is feeling a little disappointed in his heart. Every instinct in his body is telling him to kill the prey while its attention is completely gone.

However..., the man starts to feel conflicted, and he pauses. A small part of him he hasn't forgotten yet is urging him to barge in, make some noise, and get a good fight out - put himself in danger along the way and hopefully die.

'I thought I forgot about these suicidal urges,' Haalfrin scolds himself. 'I guess these urges don't matter very much right now. In a fair battle, it's not like Kirst is strong enough to kill me anyway.'

'I mean, sure,' Haalfrin tells himself, 'the man wouldn't be able to kill me, but I could at least use this opportunity to whittle down some of my luck with Das by putting myself in more danger, right?'

'Yeah. It doesn't matter either way, so I can just barge in.'

'But...,' Haalfrin rationalizes to himself, "interrupting a man in the midst of passion is a serious violation of the code of all men. My brothers on the other side would certainly shame me for doing something so despicable… No. They'd just laugh at me.'

Haalfrin then thinks of all the townsfolk who've been plagued by these crooks, then he remembers the look on Randel's face when he seriously asked him to rescue his children.

Next, he remembers his master's face, and he imagines how disappointed and sad he'd be if he found out that his apprentice died in an accident.

Last of all, Haalfrin imagines how disappointed he'd feel in himself if he were to mess this entire operation up because of his impulsive need to have fun.

'I know that I've been given a job… so doing any less than a perfect job would rub me the wrong way.' He scratches his head. 'I mean, I never really knew what I wanted to be as a child, but I always knew that I wanted to be the best at it.'

Haalfrin feels his May Name start to light up and stir in his soul again, so he knows he's on the verge of that Comprehension he lost over in Aurella forest. Out of instinct, he continues to dig deeper down that train of thought.

Haalfrin then looks over at the manor with narrowed eyes. 'Whatever I thought I'd be as a child, I turned out to be a warrior, and a good warrior wins battles. Cheat, lie, and strategize. These things are valuable tools that make victory more sure. A warrior – no – a MAN who can't think is just a no better than a dead object – a tool to be used by others then thrown away.'

…Haalfrin gets bored as the couple keeps on going tirelessly, so he starts setting up traps around the estate… just in case...

As he's doing so, he feels his May Name start burning brighter. He realizes his strange form of honor is an integral part of who he is.

'Yes... Why am I so ashamed about "cheating"?' Haalfrin criticizes himself,'"What "gentlemen rules between men"? The only rule is that there are winners and losers! Victory is the only truth that matters!'

'I'm supposed to be a professional, and a professional won't hold himself back for any reason, nor would he give up any advantage or opportunity!'

'However, would I really want to die so miserably while having cheated myself? - having intentionally failed?'

Haalfrin briefly thinks of the dead souls gone mad he saw with Das. 'I'll exist the rest of eternity feeling like a failure if I don't do my best... and I don't want to be that way.'

With this final thought in mind, his mind falls away into his soul realm…

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Fortunately, the archmage taught Haalfrin that all interactions with the soul happen instantaneously, so he doesn't have to worry about Kirst wandering off before he's finished learning his Name.

Haalfrin looks around his soul realm and sees that nothing much has changed. He then looks up and sees the 3rd Rune glowing faintly up on his soul hexagram in the sky.

He peers closer at the 3rd Rune and he reads it aloud as his mind slips into a dreamlike state….

"True honor lies in victory, and False honor leads to defeat. Being praised and worshiped by the masses is False honor. Praising yourself for fighting fairly is False honor. Only aiming for victory is true honor. The falsely honorable reject cunning, but the truly honorable embrace cunning, for cunning is a form of strength… Weakness is dishonor, and to abandon your own strength is weakness."

After the deep voice repeats these words into Haalfrin's mind, his new Name ability becomes clear in his mind. "Indeed. It's just as I thought," Haalfrin mutters, "all my Wills have just gained their own intelligence… and on top of that, the mage Wills in my soul just got their abilities back to cast spells!"

Just thinking about it, Kaalhyme's Will in particular will no longer be just an unusually sharp, floating weapon. It'll become a real mage once again – an independent being with his own thoughts!

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… And after Haalfrin gains all his new powers and watches his soul expand, he falls into another vision of the future.

In this vision, he sees himself commanding an army… though the images are blurry enough that Haalfrin can't see the individual faces of his soldiers clearly.

Just ahead of them all is a giant, black, serpentine creature with 7 horns atop its head and glowing golden eyes.

'Ah,' Haalfrin thinks, 'I recognize those eyes from my other visions. When I saw the devastation at the end of the battle, those golden eyes were staring down from the sky… Now I can see the creature itself in its entirety.'

… And the black creature is shaped a lot like Dakka, though far more elegant, large, and sinister looking. Even more, it has 7 horns arrayed like a malevolent crown, rather than a measly 2.

It's clearly a dragon… though comparing this monster with Dakka feels a little sacrilegious to Haalfrin, as something about those commanding eyes feels… holy, in some strange way. Never, in Haalfrin's life, has he felt the urge to bow down and worship something - not even when looking at the Death gods.

Haalfrin then watches as his future self wastes no time calling for massive portals to open up beneath his army… and the countless soldiers around him drop away and appear in faraway locations.

"RRUNNINNG AWAYY!" roars the black dragon God as it angrily slaps its tail on the ground. The entire earth rumbles in advance, as if it were sensing the dragon's anger and was speaking up for it. "COWARRRDSSS!!"

The next few images go by too fast for Haalfrin to properly take in, but he sees the dragon tear holes in space and chases after the fleeing army, instantly tearing apart any stragglers it can find.

Of course, nobody was saying it aloud, but as Haalfrin is sinking deeper and deeper into the vision, some of his future self's knowledge sinks into his own mind.

What Haalfrin learns is that his future self has a plan to wear out the black dragon by forcing it to chase a scattering army, then teleport everyone back together and finish it off when it's tired.

…And naturally, despite being called a coward by his foe, General Haalfrin only shrugs at this and thinks, 'Who cares what that serpent calls me? I'm a general, and it's my job to win. Playing "unfair" only means that the enemy is frustrated. It's good when the enemy is frustrated.'

…

Haalfrin snaps out of the vision gasping. Some of the knowledge slips out of his memories forever, though he remembers the gist of it.

After sorting out what he knows now, Haalfrin double-checks his soul, gives a satisfied smile seeing his soul realm's expanded borders, and heads out to finally take care of Kirst…