Chapter 144 - The Reaper's Backstory 2/4

Adam Rosa stopped by the marketplace of the Grand City with an excited look on his face. The marketplace was flocking with people trying to haggle and buy what they wanted to for prices as low as possible.

He squeezed his tiny body into a stall which sold various fruits and vegetables. It was packed with people with baskets buying these lush and plump goods. Adam took a basket himself and placed a handful of potatoes on it. "Mother said she would cook potato stew when I get back. This is the least I could do for her." He said to himself.

After buying the other ingredients needed for a potato stew, he went ahead and hit the road. The High Council and the others had already approved of his one week visit as it was what was promised of him before he came with the man.

The scars on Adam's arms and legs were a display of his dedication towards practice and training. His instructors did not go hard on him as they were not used to teaching boys of his age, only hardened Slayers were assigned to them. And they were not about to change their training regime to ease it up for one thin and sickly boy.

But it was not all hardships and moments of exhaustion that he had in the Grand Castle, he had met a friend there. Well, they did not really meet in the general sense that two kids would, Adam Rosa met his would-be best friend, Artorias Khalil after the latter stared at him in annoyance.

While he walked on the muddy road back to his home town, Adam reminisced about Artorias and the start of their friendship, and often thought about what he would be doing now. He was excited to tell his mother all about his first ever friend. "I am sure you would be surprised, mother, but I really did make a friend, although it is only the one so far, I will do my best to meet many more." Adam said.

The day after he was taken to the Grand Castle, immediately afterwards, he was sent for sword and fencing practice. He walked into the room and saw a bunch of adults with only one other kid there, a green haired kid with a bronze complexioned skin. His eyes were focused and quite scary for Adam to see. It was the same look as all the other Slayers in the room with him.

When the instructor saw Adam, he called him forth. "Come here child, are you lost or something? This is no place for you." He said. "No. I am not. I was told to come here for sword and fencing practice. The High Council sent me." Adam replied back. "Ah. I see. So, you are that Adam Rosa child?" He nodded. 

"Very well, I was only briefed that you would be joining us today. Nothing more and nothing less. Pick up your sword from the weapon rack over there." One look at Artorias and Adam already knew that he hated him. Art looked at him as though he was merely an insect meant to be stepped on and squished. He felt very underestimated by him.

Adam was clueless, he still did not know how to wield a sword or what the right type of sword he would be using at all. He glanced at Artorias and was surprised that he was wielding a broadsword almost twice as large as he was. It was clear that Art frequented these types of classes, he was very muscular for a kid almost Adam's age. After trying to swing the various types of swords, finally, Adam settled on using a rapier. "I shall be using this one." He said to the instructor.

"A rapier, eh? But you have not even wielded a sword up till now, right? Are you sure you wish to use that? It is not for beginners at all, young child." The instructor said. "Let him be, sir. He will only stall our practice even further at this point, leave him in the corner to pretend that he belongs here." Art said with a straight face. Adam felt insulted and knew that he needed to respond to that type of disrespect.

"Give me an hour of observing the other Slayers who are adept at wielding this rapier, and I will fight you one on one." Adam Rosa said to him with a smug expression. The other Slayers were surprised at the beginner's guts to immediately challenge the eldest son of the house of Khalil. "What do you say about that, are you going to take him up on his challenge, Artorias?" The instructor asked the green haired boy. "Of course." Art replied back.

"Artorias, eh? So, that is your name…" Adam thought to himself. The Slayers plus Art were crossing swords already while Adam was in the corner trying to copy one of them who was using a rapier. His stances, the way he struck and pierced his enemy, all of those were taken in and absorbed by Adam Rosa like a sponge.

An hour had already passed. "It is time, Art." The instructor said to him. "Hm. I will make quick work of this weakling. Does he really think he can beat me after an hour of practicing his sword skills? Pathetic." Artorias thought to himself. The kid has also not awakened in Anima cells yet, but he was here training already, the same case as Adam was. 

Everyone else in the room backed off and leaned on the corners, trying to make as much space as they could for the two children and their inevitable showdown. It was also a way to lighten the mood up as most of them here had come from missions and had lost a comrade or two.

Adam Rosa assumed a stance that he copied from one of the Slayers that he watched earlier. "You are better off choosing a dagger or short sword or something. I will break your thin piercing blade in two and get you to admit defeat. Prepare yourself." Artorias said to him. "You really do talk a lot, why don't you swing already?" Adam replied back, taunting him lightly.

Artorias Khalil had a quick first step and immediately lunged towards Adam, his quickness caught the latter off guard at just how fast he was despite using that huge broadsword. "Shit. He is even faster when he is right in front of me." Adam thought to himself. Artorias swung his massive sword but his opponent sidestepped it quickly.

Adam pulled back his rapier in order to charge a powerful piercing motion right at Art's face. The blade nearly pierced him right in the cheek if not for his well timed dodge. "Hey, sir, shouldn't we give them wooden swords or something? At this point they are going to kill each other." A Slayer pointed out to the instructor. "It is fine. There is no better teacher than a fresh wound from one's own failure to dodge or block it. If I sense that they are one swing away from death, I shall gladly intervene and stop this match, do not worry." The instructor assured them.

"For someone who has never ever held a sword before, this kid is tough. No, worse than that, he is smart. He has been adjusting to my movements little by little ever since my first strike. He is reading me like a book!" Artorias said to himself. "I cannot keep this up much longer, my blade is not as thick as his broadsword, at this point, he is going to really break it with the sheer intensity of his attacks." Adam thought.

Although he was on the backfoot, Adam was still managing to hold his own. The instructor did not stop their showdown even when their hands and legs were riddled with sword cuts already.

It would have to be decided in one final swing. They both created some distance between them and readied a full sprint forward. Each of them leaping at the other afterwards. After a loud clang, the victor had already been decided.

With his broadsword pointed at Adam Rosa's throat, Artorias knew that he won. Applauses and cheers from the other Slayers in the background were heard after witnessing such a marvelous display of a showdown between two children not even old enough to awaken their Anima cells. 

Artorias did the unthinkable among his peers, he extended his hand to help Adam Rosa up. All of the hate that Adam felt personally towards the bronze-skinned kid was gone in an instant, what replaced it was comradery and friendship. "Thanks." He said to Art afterwards. "With enough practice and after your cells have awoken, you will be a strong Slayer. Your name is Adam, right?" Art asked in order to make sure of it. "Y-Yeah. Adam Rosa." He replied back. "Your footwork and overall grip of the rapier is shabby and mediocre at best, prepare yourself, we still have a full day of training ahead of us." Art said to his new friend.. It was his first ever friend as well.