A Bloodstained Year

A year had passed since Anno arrived in Britain.

"You damn Merlin! How long are you going to leave me stuck out here?!" Anno shouted furiously.

Anno considered himself a man of good character. He was usually refined, easygoing, and charming, but lately he was on the verge of a breakdown.

After he and Merlin agreed that Anno would become a knight, Merlin stayed with him by the Holy Lake for another month, teaching him the etiquette and ideals of knighthood. Then, summoned by King Uther of Britain, Merlin left ahead of him. Before going, Merlin took Anno to a Goblin settlement and walked off without a word.

After that, Anno, clad in the Lady of the Lake's Treasure Armor and armed with an iron sword, fought his way through the Goblin settlement alone.

Goblins and humans were mortal enemies. Naturally, when they saw Anno by himself, they tried to take advantage of him.

Goblins weren't very strong, and with Anno wearing the Treasure Armor, small settlements posed no problem.

Combat was the best teacher. On top of that, Anno was the Thread of the Root and had the Counter Force's blessing, so his strength grew rapidly.

At first, Anno had been strongly opposed to this sort of thing. But so many Goblins tried to kill him that he had no choice but to slaughter one. He threw up a few times, but within days, he had completely adapted to the rhythm of the killings.

He ate raw meat and drank blood, sleeping by day and roaming by night.

When even large groups of Goblins could no longer threaten him, Merlin showed up again. After Anno chased him around and beat him soundly, Merlin dumped him in an Orc settlement.

There was no need to say more about what happened after that.

Anno was now sitting on an Orc's corpse, his whole body radiating a fierce, rugged air.

When he had first entered this region, the Orcs were always trying to hunt him down. Now, Anno had to seek out their settlements himself.

A year had passed, and Anno had grown a few centimeters taller. He wasn't exactly bursting with muscle, but at least he looked sturdy. His once-bright silver armor was now stained red with blood. A beard had grown in, and a few faint scars marked his face, giving him a fearsome, murderous look. The pale-faced youth from a year ago was gone.

Sitting on the Orc's corpse, Anno wiped his longsword with a scrap of cloth he'd found somewhere.

The sword seemed to be made of excellent material. It had been with Anno for almost a year and hadn't suffered the slightest damage.

The Treasure Armor and the longsword were what had allowed Anno to survive in this region.

"Well, looks like you've been keeping in shape," said a voice from behind him that Anno found incredibly irritating.

Anno instinctively swung his sword behind him, but it didn't hit anything.

Looking more closely, he saw that the old, aggravating Merlin was standing by a tree some distance away.

"Where do you think you're going, you old bastard?" Anno gritted his teeth.

With a whoosh, he hurled the longsword at Merlin. Merlin nearly died of fright and hurriedly dodged.

Thump!

The sword kept flying, snapping the tree Merlin had just been leaning against before plunging straight into the ground behind it.

Anno held his throwing pose, watching the old bastard clutch his chest and gasp, clearly terrified. A chilling smile crept across his lips.