Transcendence Volume 1

Way of the Sword (Manslayer)

[Skyfreix 24, 0100 A.R.]

[Arctic Divide]

[Shivangard]

Revan was quietly looking at his tent form the inside, today was his final day of Training and it is here it shall be determined if he is capable of becoming a Manslayer or not.

Come to think of it, Revan thought dryly as he lay down in his cot. It's been three years since I last decided to take up the sword. I wonder what would my younger me think.

He quietly chuckled to himself as he got up with a yawn. I bet he'd be having a mental breakdown or something.

He looked to his side and reached for his sword and saw Eos quietly sitting down and watching him with a bored look, it took him a full minute to realize it and when he did so he quickly scrambled out of his tent and made his way into the snow.

"What the hell are you doing in my tent!" Revan asked in disbelief as he got up.

"I was sent here by Caeda to wake you up," Eos explained as she got out of the tent with an apathetic look. "You talk in your sleep by the way."

Eos walked past Revan. "You should hurry since Caeda is waiting for you."

"Wait," Revan called out to her. "What did I say in my sleep?"

Eos hesitated for a moment as if she was regretted mentioning that to Revan earlier.

"You kept muttering how Caeda is qualified to become a M.I.L.F." She simply said earning a chuckle from Revan.

"Well I mean you're not wrong," Revan commented, but for a brief moment, Eos simply gave him a sympathetic look. Hinting that what she had told him wasn't the truth, something Revan noticed but he decided to not press it further and simply played along.

"I'll get my stuff ready and meet up with her in a bit," Revan said heading back inside his tent. It took him a few minutes to head grab his things, and by the time he had gone there, he spotted Caeda and Eos quietly eating.

"Next time if you're going to wake me up," Revan told Eos. "At least do it normally and not stare at me creepily."

"I did," Eos answered. "But you're a heavy sleeper."

"Oh?" Caeda gave Eos a teasing grin. "Are you sure you 'woke him up' properly?"

"No, just no." Eos simply told her with an irritated look.

"Joking aside," Caeda turned to Revan and offered him a bowl of food. "Why not eat for a bit, like I said you'll need a lot of energy for your final test."

Revan reluctantly took the food and ate in silence.

"Say Revan," Caeda continued. "I never got the chance to explain to you further about us Manslayers didn't I?"

"Yeah not much," Revan answered. "It's just that you're all swordsmen who rely on bloodlust in combat. That's pretty much it."

A sad smile appeared over Caeda, it was as if she had recalled a painful memory at what Revan had just said.

"That's well a simplified version anyway," Caeda explained. "We can qualify as assassins but our methodology is too brutal and unrefined like the actual Assassins or even the famed Zabaniyas who focus more on eliminating targets, we Manslayers relish in battle and at times even playing with their enemies, bleeding them dry while we bathe in the blood."

"It's even safe to say that we can qualify as a Goetian for our love of violence and cruelty," Caeda continued while Revan and Eos remained silent she went on. "In fact our way of the sword is frowned upon, sometimes even hated, by everyone who follows the way of the sword as well, the Sword Saints greatly despite us as we use the way fo the sword not to end conflict like they do but to enjoy it and cause pain and cruelty to everyone around us. To twist the knife further is that the more we use it in battle the more it becomes normal for us, at first we would be disgusted by it at how much cruelty we can inflict to others in our state of bloodlust. But the worse part is that someday we're going to lose that disgust we have on ourselves and accept that we're nothing more than monsters. All I can say is that what lies ahead for you is the same blood-drenched path for all Manslayers."