Free Web NovelChapter 109: Dragonbanes
In the tavern ’The Barrel’, Franky stared at Victor as he sat down on a stool at the bar. The lizardman then placed a wooden mug of beer in front of him, turned his back and asked:
"First of all, tell me, do you remember how we met?"
Victor was about to pick up the mug when his hand stopped and he remembered the incident that marked the beginning of his friendship with Franky.
"I remember that day like it was yesterday," he murmured.
Thirty years ago, on a cold winter’s night, Victor and Franky crossed paths for the first time, purely by chance. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
At that time, Victor was just a young hunter in search of power. Not coincidentally, the profession he had chosen helped him earn money to stay alive and also helped him practice his skills, but being a hunter had the disadvantage of always needing to be active in order to never get rusty, even during the harsh winter.
"I was on a mission to hunt an Albedo Wolf," Victor says. "The winter that year was relentless, but there were no vacations for a poor hunter like me."
The snow fell softly over the pine forest where Victor was that night, and old Victor still remembered all the sounds of the forest that night - the distant howling of the wolves, the muffled sounds of his footsteps in the snow, and the rustle of the wind coming from the mountains above. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Then I heard something unusual," Victor continued, his eyes reliving the scene as he stared at the beer in the mug.
It wasn’t a specific sound that could be easily distinguished, it sounded metallic and at the same time like the breaking of something
Albedo Wolves were known for being extremely territorial, even with other species of monsters, so Victor imagined that he might have heard one of them fighting. Therefore, Victor followed the direction from which the sound seemed to come until he found, in the middle of the snowy forest, three figures wrapped in black armor and wearing long black cloaks. The shiny fur of the material from which these cloaks were made was immediately recognizable to Victor, it was the fur of Albedos Wolves.
However, these three men were not alone. They surrounded a young lizardman who was wearing a long cloak to hide his scales and had a large backpack on his back.
Curiosity led Victor to approach the scene of the commotion, and he could hear one of them say:
"HarHar! I told you there was no point in running, you giant lizard!"
"He’s not a dragon, but his scales will do nicely to make a pair of boots," said another of the men, his tone full of disdain.
At that moment, Victor stopped to think and recognized the men’s attire and demeanor.
"Dragonbanes," whispered the young Victor to himself, recognizing the guild.
The Dragonbanes was the oldest and best-known monster-hunting guild in the world. Even before the Hunters’ Association existed, the Dragonbanes had existed for the purpose of ridding the world of the existence of dragons. In the beginning, the Dragonbanes were said to be honorable and brave knights, but the honor of the cause was lost with time and with defeats in countless battles against dragons. Over time, the Dragonbanes became arrogant, brutal and cruel. Their presence there spelled trouble for the lizardman.
Victor certainly didn’t want to pick a fight with them, so he turned his back on the situation and started walking back along the same path that had led him there.
When two of the three Dragonbanes advanced a few steps, the fallen lizardman pulled a dagger from his waist and pointed it at them. The dagger trembled in his hand, because he was scared to death.
Immediately, two of the Dragonbanes started laughing so loudly that their voices echoed far into the forest. However, one of the Dragonbanes didn’t laugh, the one at the center of the trio who had kept a serious countenance all this time. He was clearly the leader of this trio.
"What do we have here?" the man asked seriously and continued to approach the lizardman, who was startled and backed away even with the dagger in his hands. "That’s exactly what annoys me about you non-humans. You never learn."
The man placed one hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist and began to slide it smoothly out of its sheath. His penetrating gaze seemed to analyze every part of the countenance of the reptile on the ground.
"You non-humans are just tools, inferior creatures who must serve humans. If only you knew how privileged you are to be used as simple accessories in our lives... Boots, belts, even decorative items, it doesn’t matter. If that’s what we want you to become, that’s what you should aim to become. It’s as simple as that."
The lizardman trembled at the crude words, his dagger now seeming small and useless in the face of that Dragonbane’s sword.
Victor wasn’t that far away and hearing all that nonsense made something inside him bubble up, an anger that even he couldn’t explain.
"I was sailing in dangerous waters, I knew that. But I couldn’t stand by after hearing all that, I couldn’t ignore you any longer, even knowing the risks." The older Victor recounted.
The moment Victor heard the Dragonbanes’ cruel words, his temper flared up like a raging fire and he turned around. Sword in hand, he emerged from the shadows of the forest, letting his footsteps make enough noise to attract everyone’s attention.
The Dragonbanes turned quickly when they heard the faint sound of footsteps in the snow and their expressions of superiority turned to ones of uncertainty when they saw Victor who, although he looked like a simple human with black hair, had fiery eyes that didn’t seem to lack courage.
"Who the hell are you? Get out of here, he’s already ours!" growled the leader of the Dragonbanes, pointing the tip of his sword at the lizardman.
Victor began to advance slowly with his gaze fixed on the leader’s eyes, transmitting all the anger he felt when he heard the prejudiced speech about non-humans.
"Tell me, is your brain as empty as your racial superiority speech?"
"What did you say?"
"While you stand there bragging that you’re superior just because you’re a human, you look to me like nothing more than cowards taking advantage of your numbers to intimidate non-humans lost in the forest. Is this the famous honor of the Dragonbanes? What do you think of the three of you facing me together then?"
The leader stepped forward, challenging Victor with his icy stare. "You don’t know how lucky you are to still be alive after challenging us. Take advantage of the fact that I’m being tolerant, kid, and get out. I’m not usually so patient."
"Too bad, I like to test people’s patience sometimes."
At that time, Victor Shieldman was young, audacious and already had more than just a mountain of corpses at his feet.
