“So, what was all of that for, Wilken?” asked Selene with a soft tone, trying not to tick off Wilken. Wilken creakily rose back up, he swiftly embedded his blade back into its dim scabbard and spun towards Selene, the two stood face to face. He unsealed his chapped lips, yet before any words could come out, a shadowy figure spurted out from an alleyway behind Wilken. As the shadow emerged into light, it was revealed it was in fact a giant of a man, he strangely had pale white skin, his body was far taller and burlier than both Wilken and Noyl. Beard covered half of his face, if it wasn’t for his short slick, red hair, his entire face would have a bush. His arms were the size of Selene’s head and upon his one stony hand was a large wooden bow, even larger than Selene’s sword, while his other hand pinched the bowstring, and between the two was a pitch red arrow. Selene knew instantly the man was trouble, but it was not until he lifted his bow and aimed at the oblivious Wilken, that Selene’s heart started to beat. In a blink of an eye, the man released his finger and unleashed a thunder-like arrow, the sheer recoil lone, drove the man back a step and blew his short, dark-curly hair into a mess.

Without even a second to think, Selene vehemently tackled Wilken to the ground, just as the arrow skimped pass Wilken’s skull, only taking a bundle of hair in exchange.

“What the fuck was that?!” said Wilken as the two panted profusely on the ground. Her body has sweated, and her heart has skipped more time than Selene could count for one day. With her body swathed in dust from head to toe, she sluggishly stood back up and gave Wilken a hand.

“It was an arrow.” said Amelia as she pointed towards where it hit. The arrow itself has lodged itself deep into a tree trunk just outside the rear of the village. Selene had seen great bowmen unleashed their greatest bolt before, but none of theirs made that thunderstorm clamor upon released and none of them coated their arrow with such mighty hurricane. “That was one hell of a shot, you damn behemoth. Or is it Barenn?” Amelia said to which he only lightly grinned and nodded his head

Once both were on their feet, they both turned to the bowman, now revealed as Barenn, and Selene could at last noted him properly. He wasn’t wearing any armor, or a shirt even; on each arm, he held one-half of what it seemed to be his bow. The wooden bow, despite being even longer and thicker than Selene’s sword, Barenn snapped it in two like it was a twig.

Barenn casually tossed the broken bow aside “I must admit. You lots have put on quite a show, certainly more so than any other previous runts ever had.” he clapped, seemingly actually impressed “Our act usually works on brats like you. I wonder what gave it away?” asked Barenn with a fiery glare and a deep voice, as he cracked his knuckles and gave a callous smirk

“You should have prepared your actress more thoroughly. For a woman of this village, she was way too clean and well-dressed.” Wilken lifted one finger up as he explained

“And what’s the other reason?”

Wilken rose a second finger “Your band is only comprised of men and… there’s no longer any women in this village…” He muttered as he disdainfully glared down at the man who towered two heads over him. Selene was equally as baffled as Barenn, as their neck drooped down, and their mouth left wide open. She couldn’t believe someone as snobby and arrogant as Wilken would have thought everything through.

“Wow! We got a fucking genius o’er here. But I wonder how you will sleep at night if I tell you that the bitch you killed only recently joined my band, before that she was a part of this village. ” Barenn fiendishly tormented Wilken

Wilken’s stance didn’t even skip an inch upon hearing Barenn’s threat “I would sleep soundly on my feather bed, knowing that I’ve rooted out the rotten stem of this shithole-of-a village.” proclaimed Wilken as he unsheathed his sword, still warm, with faint paint of blood from his victims.

HAHAHAHA!! Barenn began to laugh hysterically, echoing through the empty village roads; it was especially loud and irritating to Selene’s ears. “Well fuck me! I’ve never been a smart kid, but I really thought that was a decent plan!” he trampled the ground and tapped his leg repeatedly amidst his trance “You bunch are the first to have ever survived this long. And for that I must I’m impressed.” He lightly bowed his head despite being a degenerate outlaw.

“Enough with this pointless bickering!” shouted Wilken as he prepared his fighting stance, with his legs widened apart and both his hands held firmly on his sword. “Where’s the rest of your men, Barenn?!”

“The rest?” he scratched his head as his eyes turned to dots and his eyebrows curved down “Oh them!” shouted Barenn, snapping his fingers as he did “I killed them.” said Barenn with a cheerful tone, as the three adventurers disturbingly flinched “Those two bastards that you killed earlier were the last of my pathetic little group.”

“And may I ask why you’ve turned o’er a new leaf and did us such a favor?” asked Wilken as he further tightened his sword-grip

“Well you know how it is within a large group of people. There’s never enough food to go around, water to go around… women to go around-” Barenn creepily glanced over at Selene and Amelia as he talked “-and when resources run low and these lowly sons of bitches lose all common senses, they become beast that’d kill for the last slivers of scraps… and in the end only the strongest beast survives.” He pointed at himself at the end.

“You fucking monster…” cursed Wilken “So, I guess me killing those two were no more than me buying you dinner, huh?

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m absolutely livid. The men I wanted dead are already dead. I actually fairly liked those two. Not to the point of being friends but them dying really pisses me off, and for that… you must pay.” The giant’s eyes beamed up for a moment as the pressure around him thickened. Selene thought it was just her and her worrying demeanor, but as her pale face looked over to Wilken, his once restless and expressionless face was now drenched in sweat as his eyes gaped wide opened as if he was seeing a ghost. A faint hint reddish light sparked out of Barenn’s right hand, it trailed to the air like smoke as it gradually became larger and brighter. Well this is unexpected. Selene heard Amelia muttered under her breath as she sweated copiously. The crimson beam that has grown so bright, now shone like a tiny sun in the middle of the street. Then in a flash, the cocooned beam shattered, blinding Selene for a mere second. She squinted her eyes as she opened them back up, it felt like she just woke up from a deep slumber, but a nightmare was awaiting her even after awaking. She instinctively looked at Barenn and her eyes couldn’t believe themselves, as the light cleared up from the giant’s hand, it revealed a giant greatsword. The sword was a behemoth of a weapon, it was even longer and thicker than its wielder, yet despite all that, Barenn held it effortlessly with one arm. Its double-edged blade was scarlet red, eclipse-like, and on it the name Grimmtooth was inscribed straight along its cherry edge. Different to its colossal size, its grip was rather short, and the absent of a cross-guard allowed Barenn’s hand to fit in perfectly.

After seeing how Barenn willed a sword to existence out of thin air, Selene instantly knew what Barenn was, why he was such an infamous bandit, how he possessed such abnormal strength and how he was the leader and last survivor of his band of outlaw. she had read about this time and time again in books and tomes, seeing it being done by her father and sister in front of her very eyes countless of times, but every time she saw it, it never failed to leave her body trembled in awe. There was no more doubt in Selene’s mind, Barenn was a Title Bearer and his greatsword was a Hallow.

Every Title Bearers has a unique Hallow that they can summon at will; they are bounded relics, forge by an unknown metal to nature that is harder and lighter than steel, items befitting to be wielded by Title Bearers.

“I didn’t think I would be facing a Title Bearer. This quest just got a whole lot more troublesome than its worth.” jested Wilken despite sweat dripping down his face “Amelia, do me a favor and check what kind of Title he has.” He asked the witch of the group.

Amelia lightly nodded and began to whisper a chant in the Old Tongue. Amelia hastily fasten the chant given the dire situation, and once she was done, a small azure magic ring emerged in front of her right eye as if it was an eyepatch. With her sight now enchanted with magic, she gawked at the sword-wielding giant for a short while. Selene knew her analysis was done when Amelia clicked her teeth Tsk and spat on the ground, ditching all of her former grace. “Pftt. And here I thought it was something special.” scoffed Amelia

“Enough with the long suspense! What is it?!” shouted Wilken as Barenn slowly walked towards them, all while casually whistling and laying his monster-of-a-sword upon his shoulder as if he’s belittling them or perhaps giving them a chance to flee.

“His Title is the Bear In Iron. Nothing too special, pretty self-explanatory. His body is essentially a block of walking iron with the strength of a grown bear. He shouldn’t pose much of a problem-”

“How the fuck am I supposed to cut through a chunk of metal-” yelled Wilken, cutting Amelia off

“-for me. He shouldn’t pose much problem for me.” Amelia claimed. “With enough heat, any metal would melt. I’m only concerned of his beast-like strength and adding atop with his Title Bearer enhanced physique.” warned Amelia as she pulled out a pitch-black wand from inside her robe. “That’s why I need you two to be the vanguard and keep him at bay while I prepare my spell.” She peered at Wilken and then to Selene, whom both gave a quick nod.

The moment the plan was set in stone and Amelia began waving her wand in the air and from it apparated an auburn magic ring that were no larger than an orange. Selene unsheathed her sword and firmly gripped it with both hands. She gulped and breathed tensely, realizing this was the first time, aside from training matches, that she had to bear her sword against a fellow human. Her sword felt heavier on her body by the seconds, as sweats poured out of her palms, making it harder to hold the blade. She pointed the sword upfront; her fingers nervously throttled the sword’s cross-guard that was engraved with a golden lion, yet Selene felt like a cub while wielding it. Her shivering legs could barely support her light armor anymore let alone her sword, everything that she had learnt and experienced until this moment have all seemed to fade from her mind. She painstakingly glared at Barenn, and his menacing visage, brutish built embedded with scars, his giant sword coated in red, they all stared back at Selene, and unlike her glare, they were able to brought Selene to her knee. Fuck! Stand the fuck up, Selene! Stand the fuck up! Her voice echoed in her head but wouldn’t reach her sense as she couldn’t help but just trembly stared at what she could only described as Death.

“Stop fucking about, Selene!!!” screamed Wilken, startling the already trembling Selene “Who was that fucking stubborn girl that second-guessed everything I did? Who was that loud-mouthed wench that gave me shit for leaving behind a friend?! If you are that bitch, then fucking pull that pity-stick out of your twat and make sure to not lose anyone this time around.” His extreme method of lifting someone up surprisingly reached Selene, as her palms gradually dried and her feet stabled. Please don’t tell me I’m a masochist. jested Selene now that she’s calming down “Now stand the fuck up! Lift your chin up! And kill this bastard!” With a barbarian-like war cry, Wilken charged forward equally as wild and furious as one. Then as he was a feather apart from Barenn, he rapidly leapt into the air, even reaching rooftops of houses. Barenn pupils ran wild after his opponent happened to vanish in a blink of an eye, and for the first time since appearing, the giant appeared to be fluttering as he stopped his pointless whistling and wielded his Grimmtooth on his hand again.

With Barenn looking no more than a measly ant from such height, Wilken lifted his sword sky-high, the white-snow moon have reached its peak and graced its tender light upon Wilken’s blade, enchanting it with an angelic-like radiance and the flying Wilken its angel. At that moment, in Selene eyes, Wilken measly and average sword seemed like a blade out of legends and fairy tales. His time in the heavens didn’t last long, as he descended down, his blade unleashed a mighty roar that warped the wind upon its descension, and as the distant-sight of a defenseless Barenn slowly becoming larger by the seconds, Wilken cried out DIE YOU FUCKING PASTY SON OF A-

*CLANG!*

A deafening vibration burst from the shock of Wilken’s blow upon contact, along it a blinding flash that engulfed the entire vicinity. As the beaming light faded and Selene opened back her eyes, she quickly returned to the actions but to her dismay there were only Barenn left, unharmed and holding his sword while veering towards a pile of rubble of dust, smoke and stones, that seemed to once been a shack. Once the dust cleared off, Selene squinted her eyes and stared meticulously at the ruin and that’s when she knew her suspicions were true, as the only thing that wasn’t caved in between the pile of rocks, was Wilken’s right hand, still gripping tightly to his sword’s grip, the blade have been shattered to pieces of iron, and those pieces scarred and deformed from all the stones and rubbles scratching atop it.