The World We Do Not Know - 195 Confusion

*”Why is everyone waiting near the shore? Are they expecting the enemy to show up? Do they know where the enemy is going to come from, or are they expecting them to show up from the same entrance as last time?”* Ares stands in between the barricades wondering as the whole area is silent. Only the sounds of wind blowing can be heard as no man standing is uttering a word.

*”As someone who came to the island from outside, I know how hard it is to enter the island through the whirlpools and giant storms that always lurks around the island. Half of your forces will get wiped out before they reach the shore”* Ares started to have a really uneasy feeling about the air around him.

It’s been hours since the sun has come out, all the soldiers were still being put in the positions they were offered to.

The sun now reached above their heads. Some of the soldiers were getting impatient little by little. They had been standing here for 6 hours already, and the heat of the sun was taking a toll on them. However, the waves of ocean were very pleasant as there are no visible objects in sight. Nero, the chief provided water to the men at shore with the help of the women of his villages.

It was eve already, the sun was setting down. Every villager was too tired to even move their limbs, they were standing on the shore all day.  Even the supporters had been searching other places to see if the enemies are coming from other parts of the island. Yet, no signs of enemies were found. Alex who was looking inside the island on his own for the traces of enemies or enemy camps, could spot nothing.

“This is quite a situation isn’t it?” Gideon, the General of Caracus village nervously asked Ares while he repetitively gripped the handle of his spear over.

“It is indeed an unexpected situation, we don’t know what to do from here on out either.” Ares replied while smiling.

“I don’t see one of your friend anywhere” Gideon asks about Alex with a hint of suspicion on his face.

“Ah, he is actually the youngest of us all. The younger don’t have much endurance so he went to back to camps to rest, but be assured we will be the one fighting. He is someone who repairs our weapons and upgrades them to be useful in battles” Ares told Gideon to avoid him from suspecting on them.

“I see.” Gideon said while his eyes scanned around, counting the soldiers and villagers from Mindoro.

If anything, Ares and his gang do not want to anger the Caracus village. After all, Mindoro will be the one that would have to take the responsibility for any misdoing done by them, since these four are from Mindoro.

Alex comes back from searching all over the island but nothing abnormal came into his sight. Ares realized this with one look from Alex’s disappointed face.

The sun has been set down and the waves of the ocean became rough as soon as the moon is up and it started showering snow. The cold is biting the bones of the soldiers that are still on the shore.

Nero decides to call back the villagers since everyone is tired, sitting on the shore and staring at the ocean will just make the villagers more tired.

Meanwhile Ares’s heart is beating fast and he can’t help but feel uneasy. If the enemy showed up as they’re supposed to and get into fight, things would have gone smoothly. They would have a chance to win, but now the enemy is not showing up like they said they would. Are they plotting something elsewhere? Or are they going to attack at night? Or hiding already on the island? or is the enemy near Mindoro as they keep waiting for them here? Ares have been bothered by these doubts in his mind.

Meanwhile in Mindoro,

Infants’ cries are heard, the air was violent, Gus had a serious look on his face and holding only his wooden sword with a despaired face while he stared at something burning near the shrines on the hill. Are the shrines and village on fire?

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“Achoo~~ ” a villager of Mindoro sat with Gus beside him guarding the shrine on the hill with a campfire. Gus is staring at the campfire while reminiscing Ares’s words.

“Gus, knock that look off your face already, brother. Just because Ares didn’t take you to war, you have been staring at the fire for a long time. It’s creeping me out. Anyway, why would we have to guard this shrine at night too? We only have a tent here and it’s too cold.” A villager complained while getting impatient.

“We can’t help it. The other day when Ares and his friends visited the shrines on each of these hills, they told us that our village will be in grave danger if a foreigner is to find about these shrines. So we need to guard it at night too. We shouldn’t let anyone who is not from our village to approach these shrines.” Gus replied to the villagers with a serious look on his face

“Ehh, but these shrines are in bad shape, I wonder who would want these stupid shrines. And why are those infants from that house at the foot of this hill crying all night??? I can hear them from here. Gosh, feed them something, stupid parents” The villager mumbles grumpily.

“You heard what Ares said, there is some energy flow and oscillation here. I didn’t understand what they said, but it must be important. I have never seen Ares that surprised, so we better do our jobs correctly.” Gus told the villager patiently.

Gus had been ordered to guard the village and he was carrying his job out well.

*At caracus*

The war however, didn’t seem to happen any time soon, no enemy was showing up. All of the barricades and shields had come down. The whole army is in deep sleep, while villagers from Mindoro are guarding the sleeping warriors of Caracus.

“Why did you accept to guard these people voluntarily Edward? We could go back to let our chief know.” A villager asks Edward.

“It can’t be helped. They have been carrying barricades and heavy armor all day. And they’re hurt from defending their village already. Let us be the guards and I have sent 5 messengers back to Mindoro to relay what happened here. If this is how it will be and the enemy doesn’t show up. We can go back to our village and live peacefully.”” Edward replies to the villagers.

“Oh right, how old are your two daughters now?” The villager asks brings up about Edward’s daughters.

“They’re two years old now, they never go to sleep without me and cry a lot if I come home late. Hope they’re not giving trouble to their mother.” Edward smiled slightly to himself as he recalled his daughters who would call out to him happily each time he was home from work.

In Mindoro,

“Ahhh, calm down, daddy will be here by tomorrow. Please calm down the whole village will get mad at us for not letting them sleep” Edward’s wife, placed at the foot of a hill near the shrine, tried her best to calm her crying children, while she herself was crying inside, worried about her husband.

“Man, these kids are never going to sleepppp” The villager guarding with Gus, yelled out loudly with frustration.

And the next day after acknowledging from the reliable messengers that no enemy had the temerity to show up at Caracus, Gus stormed out towards the war field.

“Good Gracious , what do we do with this kid now? I hope he will be ok. You guys can go now and aid to Caracus and see if there are any signs of war today or tomorrow. If not; we will withdraw from Caracus in a week.” Mars narrates the message of whole planning to the five messengers and sends them away on their way.

*In Caracus*

“General Gideon, a young boy has arrived claiming he is from Mindoro and wants to meet the villagers.” One of the warriors of Caracus informed Gideon about the unusual arrival of Gus.

“Take him to wherever he wants to go. We’re not confiscating anyone here. Moreover tell him to find his people, himself.” Gideon roared agitated while Gus is standing near the door listening to all and at the same time despising him and Caracus.

Even though the villagers of Caracus changed. It doesn’t mean anything for Gus, even if Caracus repents or mourn for the blood of the people they killed, his parents won’t come back to life.

So he will keep hating them more and more, gradually bubbling the poison within him.

“Ares! I’m here. How have you guys been doing?” Gus casually strides up towards Ares and his friends and tries to initiate a talk with them like it is just another normal day in his village.

“Yo Gus! Did you sleep we…. You BASTARD! what the hell are you doing here?” Ares growled with half surprise and suppressed anger.

“Gus you stalker, pervert, pedo. I’m older to you why did you come all the way for me?” Tanya says with a grossed out expression.

“What? Why would I come for you? Wait and Eh how am I the pedo here? I’m the younger one among all of us. And no- I actually came for Ares.” Gus replies explaining and defending himself gulping the insulting words.

“Ahhhh! I see forbidden love!” Alex chips giving a smirk.

“Ohhhhh Ares, how can you? Is this the reason you are not accepting my love all these years? Are you into boys, perhaps? That too younger ones?” Tanya questions Ares while her face becomes hot red as her imagination ran wild about boy love (her secret fantasy).

Gus and Ares are both astonished. “Knock it off guys, I’m not in a mood to laugh at your jokes.”Ares says with an angry irritated tone.

“Hai hai let’s leave them both for a while guys, they got mad that we’re between them and disturbing them” Albert adds fuel to fire while him and Alex try hard to control their giggles. This is their chance of getting back at Ares who is ridiculously popular among girls.

“Ah Gus, did Tisha ask about me? Did she tell you anything to pass onto me? Did she give you anything for me?” Yang inquired breathlessly to Gus ,curiously while leaning forward.

“Umm..” Gus doesn’t know what to say since he ran out of his village, without even informing anyone.

And everyone around Yang gives him an odd more likely grossed look.

*Spit* “We’re going, thu thu blehhh.” Albert spits on the ground before leaving. He used to look up to Yang with the way he deals with other girls.

Yang is the known cold blooded soldier, who rejects every girl that comes to talk to him, but now, the cold hearted Yang is whipped and madly in love with a girl?

*”All this time he acted like a tough rigid guy and that was just a bluff after all”* Albert convinces himself and walks away.

“Umm.. it’s ok to love another man.. I also love men. If you guys have free time you can come to have a drink with me.” Among all the chaos with everyone, thinking whatever comes to their minds, an old man from Caracus with a white tank top and pot belly offers to Ares and Gus while blushing.

*Ares and Gus dies internally*

*”Ah no I’m wasting time. I came here for a reason”* Gus thinks while disparaging himself.

“Ares, train me more in the way of unholy sword. I want to learn more and more. I’m still no good in sword arts.”

“Isn’t that the real reason why I was left behind in the village? If I had learned everything and if I was good at the art of sword, I would have been by your side in the war field. So- teach me more Ares. I want to learn -everything.” Gus sounded like a warrior hungry for power.

Ares leaves a sigh in delightfulness seeing Gus with full energy, he also at the same time knows that lust for power sometimes leads you to a wrong path.

So Ares wanted to lead Gus in the right direction and make him strong.”Ok let’s go, I will train you more.” Ares tells Gus and they both walks along the shore a little far from people, heading towards terrains.

Ares teaches Gus about the rule of strike and the basics. Getting inside of the defence against the opponent is the most important thing.

The unholy sword got the name from it’s free style manner, the techniques are not fixed of any particular forms and stances.

It’s all freestyle and hitting an opponent at the same time while defending a blow. The most important thing however, is having the sword closer to your body and feel the sword as if it’s an extension of your hand, that has merged with you.

The sword that doesn’t follow any sacred methods or forms, hence called unholy sword arts.

“My sword, Fukitsuna is a rare blade passed down to me by my elders. This sword has a soul of its own and chooses its masters. You need to keep training hard to be worthy and make the sword choose you.”Ares says with a commanding voice.

“And..” He pauses for a while, sits on a large stone nearby to continue. “If this sword doesn’t choose you, as it’s master. Then it’s going to get rusty and old, eventually fading away.”

“This is because the sword needs to be wielded by a master when swinging it. So try and make up to the desired level on your guts and hard work.” Ares advice Gus telling him the rules and the importance of the sword, making him aware of the long path he needed to travel in order to achieve his desired power.