53 Who Are You? (1/2)
”Well young one, that is quite a lot of information to absorb.” Taking several deep breaths, the older man seemed to have grasped the whole situation.
”You seem stronger than the younger generation of our village, can it be that you are from a noble lineage within the city? No, that would not make much sense for a noble to be out here all alone like this.”
”Well since you could have killed me at any time and haven't, you are clearly not an enemy. So, come sit down and listen to uncle's story.” The older man told Leo as he gestured his hand for Leo to sit down comfortably.
”A warrior, what does signify exactly? You may not have gotten this far on your journey, but a true warrior hates battle. Do you know why?” the older man asked Leo as he awaited his answer.
”Why?” after pondering over this question for some time, Leo couldn't think of anything noteworthy to bring up and just gave up trying to deconstruct the meaning behind this older man's words.
”Battle is the result of when someone is being threatened. A true warrior has the ability to protect themselves and those around them, but they hate battle.” The older man explained to Leo as he continued his story.
”Generation after generation within our village, us from the older generation teach this to the younger generation. The reason is because the citizens of our village are all offspring of the soldiers who served under battle hungry gods and fought in major battles that helped shape the world we live in today.”
”The one weakness of our human instincts is greed, but another is the willingness to kill and slaughter our way to our goals. It is impossible to build something meaningful if all you care about is yourself. Thus, we warriors pride ourselves in becoming strong enough to protect those around us, our family and brethren!”
”I served under the previous chieftain of the village and we went on a raid for the first time in many years to slay the spiders. Since you rescued me from within the cave, you know just how formidable of a threat those spiders have become.”
”If my village still exists, it means that the raid we partook in, was successful enough to drive the spiders back. However, there is no telling from all of the way out here, how large of a sacrifice we had to make, and how many warriors were killed or captured like me.”
”This may sound out of line, but if you were able to rescue me successfully, I may need to bring you along with me to rescue some more of my brothers that are still within that cave. Since you are so young, I hope you will not mind me testing your strength before we head out?” the older man finally finished and waited for Leo's answer.