Frecar - Chapter 1: The Mysterious Old Man

~~Frecar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 - The mysterious old man.

"Woah there! Don't crowd. Hey, no pushing," I said. This is something I have to say a lot.

Crowds of people gather around just to see me, the strongest swordsman on a planet known as Genshoa. And though I'm only a fifteen year old boy, my name is known by all, and my wealth compares to no one else's. People envy my popularity and lifestyle. They would give anything just to have five minutes with me. Some have even gone to the lengths of buying reddish-orange, curly haired wigs, and green undergarments with an orange over-tunic just to resemble me.

I didn't get here by luck. No, I got here thanks to lots of hard work. My sword has slain many enemies and deadly, threatening beasts. No one has ever defeated me. Sure, there were some close calls, but never have I been defeated. No one dares stand up to me for fear that I'd cut them into thousands of tiny little pieces.

I thought I would be remembered for ages to come! I believed my life would stay lavish and rich forever. That is, until that day.

That day, I thought, should've been like any other day in my famous past. People would crowd around me, begging to get me to engrave my initials into rocks or wood for them to take home and show off later. They would follow me EVERYWHERE and copy my every movements. That day did start out as described, but it didn't end like it...

In the bright and early morning of that day, I exited my abode and walked down a path of tiny pebbles to the main road of the city. People stood at the path's end, a wooden fence, awaiting my arrival. As I strolled towards them laughter and shouts of excitement leapt from their vocal chords right into my ears. They were obviously happy to see me.

"Datto! Datto!" they shouted. My name sounded good coming from an adoring crowd. As I opened the gate they started to crowd around me excitedly.

"Back! Get back!" I shouted. Not even a hero as powerful as I could tame the wild beast known as Frenzied Crowd.

After minutes of people crowding me, a simple, antique voice broke through, insulting my power saying,

"He's not that tough." As soon as I heard it, my face turned red with anger. And at his comment, everyone gasped, opened up and split in two, revealing the old decrepit man who was clothed in a long black cloak.

When the accuser was revealed, I gave him a pitiful smile. Maybe he was too advanced in his years to see me and realize how powerful and magnificent I actually am. Or maybe he could see just fine, and maybe he thought I wasn't anything special, after all, my physical build isn't too impressive. Or it could be that his hooded cloak was obstructing his view; it covered his eyes, only allowing his nose and mouth to be shown.

"Look old-timer, I wouldn't be insulting me if I were you. Some people have died from it," I said. The crowd looked around, some nodded in agreement. After a slight pause, he whispered something under his breath. It sounded a bit foreign; I didn't understand it. All of a sudden, he looked up at me. This time only one eye was visible through the shadow that the hood had cast. His mouth curved slowly into a sinister smile, and he said, "Genshoa's nearest sister planet, Genshoa 2, is closest to Genshoa this time of year. We shall have a duel!"

When he finished his statement, I stood still with a puzzled look on my face. Why would an old man want to challenge the greatest warrior who ever lived? And what did the distance between Genshoa and its nearest sister planet have to do with it? As we stood there just staring at each other, the crowd exchanged whispers.

"Are you afraid?" said the mysterious old man.

"No sir. But, you're so old. You wouldn't stand a chance against me. Are you sure you want to fight?" said I.

"YES!" It is time you learned a lesson," he said. His remark pushed me to the edge and I snapped at his rudeness.

"All right old man! You have yourself a challenger. Let's duel!" I said with excitement. Not only was I excited, but the crowd was as well. They were going to witness a taste of my magnificence! They stepped back to avoid innocent casualties. The old man stood very still, as if he was a statue. I pulled out my double-edged sword and held it tightly with both hands. It had a gold handle, and a shiny blade. The blade itself was about a yard and a half long; 3' 6''.

"Give me your best shot," said the old man. So I charged at him with great speed. Having done this to an uncountable amount of enemies many times, I figured that I would end his sorry life quickly with a blinding uppercut through his bottom left abdomen, up through his chest, and out his right shoulder. He would be killed instantly. As I charged at him he made no movements. He just stood there cool, calm, and collectively.

But as soon as I got within 2 yards of him, he chanted something that went a little like,

"Rameku shensai!" As soon as he said it, I was knocked out into a black abyss of nothingness. Unconscious.