The Master of Uradan

Rohan stood up. The sunlight pierced through the tree and dazzled the young warrior. Now that he had finished his session for the day, it was time to come back. He had already wasted almost two hours, and alone in the middle of the forest, he didn't have a lot of excuses to give to the clan's members.

Not that he needed to give them any reasons if he wanted to do anything, but Rohan wanted to prevent them from asking any questions or having any doubts.

His leather boots stomped on the grass and the dried leaves. His direction was naturally the camp, and as he strolled on this forest, he couldn't help himself but enjoy the scenery.

Birds were crying and playing around. The wind was caressing the trees, making them dance under this warm aerial current. The distant river was flowing naturally, far away from the left of the young warrior.

It was so different from the desert that he couldn't believe this one to be situated not even a day from here. The Barren Lands were quite bizarre to him.

He had learned that a long time ago, all the Barren Lands were one and only one big luxuriant forest, stretching and taking the place of the whole south of the continent. But the mana disappeared little by little, the earth was dying and the water flew away. Even the wind restrained his movement.

And because of this, patches of desert slowly appeared here and there, destroying this part of the world, until its name was adopted by everyone. Rohan didn't know if it was true. But from what he could see, it was highly the case.

He had always lived surrounded by mana. The north was said to have it in a much more quantity and quality, but it didn't change the fact that he was born in a place with more mana than the Barren Lands.

While being born surrounded by mana and living all his life inside didn't increase the facility at which someone could rank up, a theory was made that he was extremely helpful to raise the easiness at which a person could control it. What increased was the spirit.

There were always exceptions, as there were some warriors with a whopping value of spirit even from the south. The wizards were not counted from this theory, since almost all their spirits were coming from the mana stone they had since birth.

No one knew why this one appeared, or at least Rohan didn't have heard about it.

Then, in that case, what about him? A mana stone was said to bring only a spirit of 5. Then why did he have such a spirit, even though he was from one of the poorest lands of the continent? Did it mean that if he was born in the north, where mana is abundant, he would have tripled his value?

Rohan shook his head to chase away such thoughts. While he was daydreaming, he had already reached the encampment.

The sun was lighting the whole area, showing off an almost palpable aura of holiness. The camp of the Blackwolf clan was a lively one, and people were moving everywhere.

As Rohan passed through the entrance, he crossed the path of a team, ready to leave. Each of them had a bow on their back and a spear on their hands. Without a doubt, they were going to hunt. A familiar face was among them.

"Warrior Rohan! What about accompanying us?" Daina bluntly asked him as they crossed each other. Behind her, some of the hunters didn't look enchanted by this proposition.

She was wearing some sort of clothes made of brown leather, a longbow on her back, and a skin bag on her side. Her hair was tied back, and her dark eyes stared at the young warrior.

All the hunter of this small group was wearing the same equipment. From what could see Rohan, it was their tanned leather probably made off karags. It was far from the modest leather armor he was wearing, which contained some pieces of metal reinforcing it.

"Daina! Why do you want to bring a dead weight with us, he probably doesn't even know how to walk in a forest." Some of the men around this young one laughed at his remark.

It wasn't the first time that he had received such remarks here and there since he followed the clan. He couldn't do anything about it, as it was normal that some of them were pissed off by this newcomer tagging along with them for no reason.

But even so, if there was something that Rohan hated the most, it was without a doubt the lack of respect. Not the lack of respect for his rank as the child of a noble, or as a powerful warrior. Simply the respect that everyone should receive.

The Blackwolf clan was indeed kind enough to let him come with them toward their sacred mountain, so Rohan wouldn't play with the fire. The day he had dueled against Daina, the aftermath went in a dangerous direction.

As he had dared to injure the daughter of the chief clan, some of the clan members had used this opportunity to raise their voices. Fortunately, the victim didn't care at all and her father even less. But if Daina was a shrewd girl, he would probably have to flee. Or worse, to kill them all.

That was why he didn't even look at this guy. He shook his head, and without stopping his walk he refused the invitation politely. Why should he travel along with people he wanted to hit and break every bone?

"Pff look at this. Such a coward." The smug voice entered the ears of Rohan. A smile stretched on his face. Such a blatant provocation. He continued his way toward a tranquil place where he wanted to continue his training. He felt that he was losing too much time already.

"You are sure you don't want us to teach you how to hunt properly? I'm sure you would find it useful one day." Daina didn't stop here and threw her bait toward the warrior who was already walking away. That would be fantastic if she could plant her spear into the useless guys behind her.

She had fought against Rohan. And even more than once. In fact, they have been fighting against each other every morning since this duel. It was during these times that the curiosity in her eyes had appeared. When she fought against him, the feeling she had of the warrior was different.

Right now, it was only an aloof man, always calm who gave the impression he would be this way forever.

But when she dueled him, it was another story. It was as if a beast was lurking inside his human skin, chained, and waiting for the day it would go out. More than one reprise, when they were almost entranced in their fight, she had felt death approaching dangerously, only stopped by the will of this warrior.

This man couldn't be a simple rank 3 Beginner Warrior for Daina.. At least, he felt much more different from her father and the old Garrold.