Chapter 15: Bloodsworn

Sergio sabers were glowing with runes, as he ran towards the Hunter Green in front of him. The Hunter Greens saw Sergio's aggressive push and casted a spell on his arrows that turned them light blue. He kept retreating back as he shot arrows. He shot 5 five arrows at Sergio, three went towards Sergio's front and the other two flanked his left and right side. The enemy's skills with a bow allowed them to shoot arrows that curved when shot. This time Sergio kicked the ground hard and did a front flip, avoiding the blue arrows. When the arrows hit the ground it froze the ground in a three-meter layer of ice. The other two hunter greens shot out a total of ten arrows at him as he was in the air.

Those ten arrows where coated a dark red. He used his saber two block them, but the arrows exploded as they hit his saber. Each arrow created a three-meter explosion, with ten going off at the same time.

BOOM

Sergio figure could no longer be seen as the explosion went off, creating a red and gray cloud. This caused Luca, who was watching the fight to pause his breathing. He watched as he felt his heart drop, as each Hunter Green kept shooting five arrows at a time into the cloud of smoke. He was about to rush in when he heard the sound arrows breaking and then from the smoke a saber was thrown to the Hunter Green that Sergio was chasing earlier.

It was faster than the last one he threw, this one was covered in runes. The Hunter Green didn't expect it and so the saber cut into his shoulder. When it touched his shoulder, the saber exploded. Shards of metal went everywhere. With a good majority of them going into the Hunter Greens body, he was turned into swiss cheese as he fell, into a pool of his own blood.

The female Hunter Green on the left shouted in sorrow

"Tim!" She became angry and pulled out her short sword.

She ran towards Sergio who was now visible. There were a few scratches on his armor, but he seemed alright! The Hunter Green lunged at Sergio with her short sword. The other Hunter Green, who was at a distance, shook his head as he loaded only two arrows into his bow.

With one saber in his hand, Sergio blocked her sword stab. He was about to counter-attack but had to pull back as two arrows attacked his back. These arrows were light blue. As if Sergio had eyes behind his back, he jumped back and twisted his body, the arrows barely missed him and kept going into the horizon.

Sergio kept blocking her attacks easily but couldn't counter as the other Hunter Green kept attacking at the right time, stopping Sergio from finishing her off. Sergio seemed to have had enough of it as he was about to counter-attack again he threw his saber behind him and did a backflip. He landed on the ground as two arrows went past him. His saber flew through the arrow towards the Hunter Green that kept shooting at him.

The Hunter Green saw the saber coming towards him and had to avoid it which caused him to look away for a second. Seeing that Sergio was with a weapon, the female Hunter Green attacked aggressively. What she didn't see was that Sergio's right hand was behind his back, where a small black dagger appeared. She stabbed at the joint on the armor that was located near his left armpit.

Sergio moved to his left side and stepped to the side. Her attacked missed and her body was exposed to an attack. With his body now facing in front of her, Sergio gave her a roundhouse kick to the stomach which caused her to lose her breath as the sound of her ribs breaking was heard. She hunched forward in pain. That's where Sergio stabbed the dagger into her head, instantly killing her. This all happened in less than five seconds

When the last Green hunter dodged the saber and got his bow ready to fire, he was too late as he saw his comrade get stabbed in the head. The dagger stuck out of her head. He then trembled when he saw Sergio turn around and look at him. Like when a tiger stares down at its prey.

The last Green Hunter cut his loss and turned to run away. Sergio held out his hand and a 5-meter spear appeared, white runes appeared on the spear. He angled the spear towards the fleeing Green Hunter. You could hear his muscles flexing. He created a huge gust of wind around him when the spear left his hand. The spear cut through the air as it moved in a huge arc and when it was at the highest peak of the arc it fell towards the enemy. That's where it broke apart into 10 smaller spears.

The Hunter Green could feel something as he turned around and saw ten small spears where head towards him. He pulled out his sword and kept retreating. But no matter how far he went, the spears followed him like a pack of hungry wolves. The first three spears he dodged and was able to deflect another one, but it broke his sword! The last 5 spears went through his body, and he didn't die instantly as he was nailed to the floor.

Sergio made his armor disappear and for the first time, Luca saw him sweat. There wasn't a lot but there was enough to tell, a bit was on his forehead and neck. Luca deactivated the shield and was close to running out of primordial energy. The shield he used only worked if you continuously poured primordial energy into it. He ran up to Sergio and asked if he was alright.

"Are you ok Sergio?"

"This was nothing, if anything, it was a good workout," Sergio laughed as he walked towards the nailed Green Hunter.

They walked a few miles and found the Green Hunter who was flat on his back. He had two spears in his stomach, one in his left arm and two in his right leg. Sergio grabbed out and pulled off his mask, and what Luca saw surprised him. The man had two pointed ears, fair skin, and an angular face. His striking green eyes were dimming. He was unlike any human that he had seen! Then Damien, who was quiet until now, spoke up.

"Haven't seen a forest elf in so long! The best archers around, no wonder they seemed so familiar. But I would've never imagined these proud elves working for a human kingdom. From the fight I saw, they were only at the intermediate power expansion stage. But don't underestimate these opponents Luca, their as strong as mid-bloods, which are stronger than ordinary human cultivators." said Damien

Luca mumbled as he said the word "forest elf," which caused the Green Hunter to stare at Luca with a hateful gaze. Sergio looked at the forest elf and asked him who had sent him. The guy didn't say a word which didn't surprise Sergio, who simply shrugged his shoulders as he walked away. The forest elf died soon after. He told Luca that they had to leave.

"They underestimated us and only sent a squad. I'm sure that when they don't hear back from the Hunter Greens, the noble will either give up or attack with a stronger force." Sergio explained it to Luca.

Lucia then suddenly turned around as he felt something and so did Sergio. A group of five people could be seen riding towards them in the distance. They had black knight armor on, it looked like Sergio's armor. Their helmets completely covered their faces with only small slits for the mouth to breathe and a long horizontal slit across where the eyes would be. They also had a pair of brown horns that were on both sides of the helmet.

Luca felt like crying, why can't they get a break already! But the strangest thing happened! Sergio smiled wide and shouted.

"What are you guys doing here?" He waved towards the approaching group.

Luca was confused, were they friends with Sergio? He was unsure, but since Sergio was being friendly, he would also be friendly. The group of riders was close to them as they dismounted and got one knee with their right arm on their chest.

"His Royal Highness!" They spoke with discipline and respect!

"No need to be so formal with me, get up." Sergio gestured to them to get up

They got up and stood in a horizontal line like a group of soldiers. Sergio then introduced Luca to them,

"This is my … apprentice, Luca, watch over him" Sergio coughed awkwardly when he said, apprentice.

The group of knights then bowed towards Luca with respect. Luca was overwhelmed about the whole situation and couldn't help but ask.

"What's going on? Who are these people Sergio?"

Sergio completely forgot as he said "oh" and introduced them to be the royal guard, the Bloodsworn. They were tasked to protect the royalty of Octsio. They were all trained as Knightsmith's.

"So why are you here?" Sergio questioned the Bloodsworn.

"Your Highness, the king requested us to assist you and make sure you come back in one piece." The leader of the squad stepped up. He was also the tallest of the Bloodsworn

"Make sense but my father is just overreacting, I have everything under control, but I don't mind having some extra help. What's your name by the way?" Sergio asked the leader.

"The names Garrett."

"From now on I want you to have two people protecting Luca at all times. Were heading to Cypress Academy where I'm going to drop him off, I want your men to protect him until he graduates." Sergio pointed at Luca

Garrett without questioning Sergio's orders and called out two names.

"Griffin and Eve, you'll be in charge of protecting Luca!" Garrett command

Two people stepped forward and acknowledged the order. Sergio then told them to head out as he got on one of the spirit beasts that the Bloodsworn rode on earlier. The mounts looked like elk on steroids and they were overflowing with primordial energy. Luca shared a mount with Griffin, as they rode out towards Cypress Academy.

They rode for weeks and they were lucky that they didn't encounter any trouble on the way as they left the Hastam Kingdom. They crossed into the Cypress Kingdom and were close to Cypress Academy, which was only a few days away.

From what Sergio told Luca, the Cypress Kingdom was located in the far northeast of the Santuari Continent near the Vad forest. They are a neutral kingdom, choosing not to side with any other kingdom. Since they are strong enough to protect themselves. They were also the only ones to accept anyone, no matter which kingdom they came from. The academy was hailed as the best in the Santuari Continent and had a legacy that stretched for centuries.

In exchange for joining the academy, you would have to serve in the Cypress Kingdom for five years after graduation. Where you would be tasked with clearing the Vad forest to allow for further colonization of new lands. If you contributed a lot to the Cypress Kindom, it was common to be given the newly cleared land and a Cypress noble title. If you were from a different kingdom you could get these benefits as long as you gave up your citizenship and any noble titles from your home kingdom.

It was fair and popular among the noble children who were born last and who had no claim to the family inheritance. Since the claim to the family inheritance went to the first three that were born. Meaning that if you were born fourth or fifth then your screwed so many went to the academy to seek new opportunities. It was also popular for the sons of knights to go and learn in Cypress. It even attracted the sons and daughters of merchants. This would be the start of Luca's new life in this new world.