Unbound Book 1: The Failed Duke

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR: THE SHADOW WE GROW UP IN

It was the next morning, and Lucan began to give Morrigan the tour of Gertrudin. As they walked around town, Lucan introduced Morrigan to various people, as well as showed her where all the places of note were.

It had become later in the evening, when they passed by a crowd and she asked, "Hey Lucan, what's going on over there, some sort of event?"

Lucan looked over and said, "Ah, I forget that these sorts of challenges aren't done outside of town."

He and Morrigan walked closer to the crowd and from there you could see a large slab of metal, as well as someone next to a chalkboard with numbers on it.

"We call it Deep Cuts. The goal is to make the deepest cut you can in that Andrelite."

"Well that doesn't."

"The twist is that you can't use magic to reinforce your body or your weapon. This is a test of the quality of your blade, as well as the quality of your cutting technique."

Morrigan looked over and saw that the person in first had an enormous lead over the person in second. "Whoever holds the record must be an incredibly talented swordsman."

"Yeah, I've been told my father was."

Morrigan saw Lucan's dour expression and said, "Oh, ah."

Lucan began to walk over towards the slab, and Morrigan tried to stop him, but he was already too far away.

Once Lucan was in the front of the crowd, he yelled to the referee, "Hey, is it too late to sign up!"

The referee made a gesture with his hand and said, "Of course not, it's never too late to show the people what you're made of."

Lucan pulled out his sword as he walked over to the slab.

He placed his hand on it and took a deep breath.

The metal was soft. So soft in fact that if he pressed hard enough with his thumb, he would leave a mark.

After he got a feel for it, he stepped back and took another deep breath as he prepared to take a swing.

The crowd cheered, but what filled him with energy were specifically Morrigan's cheers.

He let out a scream louder than any he had before, and swung his sword as hard as he could at the slab.

It dug into the metal and gave it a deep gash.

The referee measured the depth of the strike before he raised his hands and said, "We have a new daily victor!"

Everyone cheered as the referee raised Lucan's arm into the air.

*

After the remaining challengers had their turn, and the crowd dispersed somewhat, Lucan received his payment.

As he and Morrigan walked back towards Lucina's house, Morrigan said, "How much did you win?"

Lucan smirked and said, "Not much. You get about double a day's pay if you're the daily victor."

As Lucan stuffed the obsidian pieces in his pocket, Morrigan said, "I take it the real money is in getting on the top ten."

"Your assumption would be correct. My father took the money he got from first place and used it to buy the house my mother lives in."

She whistled. "That much huh?"

"Yeah, the person who held the record before him was pissed and spent the rest of his life trying to beat my father's record, which he failed to do."

*

The two of them entered Lucina's house, where they saw her on the couch, with a book in her hands.

She saw them enter, and placed her book down before she got to her feet. "Lucan, Morrigan, welcome back. How was the tour?"

Lucan looked at his mother for a moment before he turned away and went upstairs.

Morrigan watched Lucan storm off and said, "What's his problem?"

Lucina sighed and said, "I'm afraid it's my fault."

Morrigan raised an eyebrow and said, "How's that possible? He came all the way here to see you. Why would that put him in a bad mood?"

Lucina grabbed Morrigan's shoulders and brought her over to the couch.

After both of them got comfortable, she began to explain. "I assume that Lucan told you about his father?"

When Morrigan nodded, Lucina continued. "In that case, this should be easy to explain. Ever since Lucan was a boy, he's had a resentment towards his father."

Lucina balled up her fists on her lap as she said, "And I don't blame him. From his perspective, his father abandoned us."

"I take it the truth's a bit more complicated."

Lucina nodded as she wiped a tear from her eye. "It is. When my husband held Lucan for the first time, he told me that it was an experience he had never felt before. This feeling made him want to give Lucan the best life he could."

Morrgian raised an eyebrow and said, "And to do that he needed to leave?"

Lucina shook her head. "It's not that simple. The life my husband lived left horrible wounds in the world, and for the longest time, he didn't care. Even when he met me, this didn't change, as he knew I could take care of myself, and in the event that something arose that could do me harm, my husband knew that he would be able to protect me."

Lucina began to tear up. "All of that changed when Lucan was born. He thought about everything he'd done, and didn't want his son to have to grow up in the world he'd helped create."

She wiped the tears away from her eyes and said, "I remember it as if it were yesterday. I had just put Lucan to bed when I came downstairs and saw him sitting in his chair. He asked me for permission to leave and fix all of his mistakes. He told me that if I needed him here, he would remain, but if I didn't, he would leave. I knew what my husband did when I married him, but I didn't care. He was a good man deep down, and I wanted to help him stay on the right path. I wanted to tell him to stay, but I couldn't. I couldn't hold my husband back from becoming the man I knew he could be."

Lucan, who stood on the top of the staircase listened to their conversation.

After he heard what Lucina said though, he turned around and walked over to his room.

*

The Andrelite slab still sat out in the square, as the officials only replaced them in the morning before the competition began.

Since it was late, and the material itself was of little value, no one watched over it.

Despite this, two people stood in front of the slab.

These two were Alistair and Percival.

Alistair ran his hand over the slab before he said, "After all these years, Enki still holds the record."

Percival looked over at the rankings and said, "Are you surprised? No normal human could even dream of competing with him."

Alistair pulled out his sword and said, "True, but I'm always open to being surprised."

He made an attack against the stone, and it caused his sword to bite deeply into the metal.

Percival measured the cut and said, "Congratulations sir, you beat out second place."

Alistair looked upon the cut he'd put into the slab and said, "Despite everything, I'm still not strong enough to kill Enki.