THE ANCIENT HUNT

THE BATTLE

Morgan had never thought that Ahiga would visit the palace not to talk of enrolling as a soldier because of her, although she missed him everyday since she was used to having him around her all day since childhood. She had concluded that living in the palace will be what she will have to bear for eternity but someone she knew had popped out of the blues and she couldn't even believe her eyes

“what are you doing here in the palace? You are even putting on a uniform, did those couple sold you also to the palace? as a guard?” she said with shock still written all over her face, he was the last person she thought she would ever run into

“No, they didn't sell me here as a guard, I came here by myself and I’m here for you” he said with a smile as Aditsan caught up with them where they were standing

"You are here for me? how and why? why are you taking on a soldier's uniform just for me?" she asked not sure if she said something to annoy him but she was too stunned to ask something reasonable

"of course I'm here because of you, I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you to the palace so I joined the hunt with the intention of winning and my reward will be you, I will request for your freedom" he replied smiling hard but Morgan could still not believe her ears

He was willing to join the hunt and go through all the struggles just so he can remove her from the palace? to be honest, she haven't displayed so much deep love for him even though she did love him, she never openly displayed any affection for him but this thing he's doing just meant that he doesn't joke with her and likes her so much, that's the only thing to explain this situation right now. How can he go through the trouble of winning and then all he will ask for is her freedom

"Listen Ahiga, I understand your feelings for me but do you think it's worth it? I am not sure if you will win and I don't even deserve all these sacrifices you are making for me, I don't think this is a good idea, since you can still resign now and go back home, please take off the uniform and leave me here, I will be fine so do not worry" she remarked scratching the back of her ear but he just gently took her hand with a smile

"Morgan, don't you say that you don't deserve good things such as freedom, I have always loved you for who you are ever since you came to the orphanage and I cannot just sit idly while you are being sold away to this hell for money so let me assure you today that i will try my best, win the competition and definitely get you out of this mess, All you have to do is just wait for me, be careful with all the other maids and head maids, the royals and everyone you need to be weary of pending the time I will come back from the hunt" he said sweetly to her and she blushed hard making Aditsan who already went to wait at the other side to give them space scoff from afar

"She must be feeling so great that someone wants to get her out of here, well I admire your love story, Ahiga is a good man, he's bent on getting you out and nothing can change that, so admirable!" Aditsan whispered to himself from afar where he was waiting for Ahiga to be through with whatever he had to say to her

"Can we meet before I leave? the competitions will end soon and the hunt will start which means I'll be leaving the palace for a while so can we meet and at least spend time with each other before I go? it would be nice to spend some time to ourselves, isn't it?" he asked looking into her eyes with smile for a positive reply

"The thing is I serve the queen and she's very wicked so I don't think I will have much time to spend with you but I'll let you know if I ever get the opportunity to see you. No, I'll try my best to make a way actually so we can see like you wanted" she replied and he smiled back in return

"Please do, I'll be waiting for your reply, you can always come see me at the training ground" he remarked before one of the girls came back to yell at Morgan

"Do you want to spend all day talking? won't you come wash the clothes? You don't want to receive some scolding from the queen right?" the lady yelled from the corner and Morgan turned to reply her

"I'm sorry, I will be on my way now" she answered the lady who disappeared immediately but not without eyeing her Ahiga

"I guess I should get going now, they need my presence I think" she turned back to Ahiga and said to him, he quickly ushered her

"I should release you before you get into trouble, I will see you later" he remarked and she nodded before waving and running off

He stood there and watched her run off to the laundry section before turning back to meet Aditsan where he stood waiting for him

"So are you happy now Mr. Lover bird? Are you happy that you got to see her and tell her your mind? you have been worried sick ever since she disappeared from the orphanage" Aditsan asked with a mocking tone

"Thank you for waiting, let's go to our room and wash up" Ahiga said and they marched to the room

As always, he didn't utter any word when they came in, he just pulled his clothes and laid on his bed before one of the mean roommates he had walked up to him and covered his eyes with his hands forcefully which he threw away immediately with disgust look plastered on his face

"What do you think you are doing? why are you covering my face all of a sudden?" he yelled at him as he rubbed his eyes

"teaching you basic manners, don't you greet? you don't know the meaning of associating with people? why are you always behaving like you are above everyone?" the roommate growled but he just rolled his eyes

"I'm not here to greet or associate, don't you understand the rules of leaving people alone? I don't want to talk to you! that's why I'm not greeting you! do you understand?" he blasted back at him and the roommate lifted his hands to hit him before he dodged it swiftly

Immediately they began to fight and the other roommates were showing their support for their fellow roommate while only Aditsan was showing his support for his friend. They ended up wounding themselves but still continued head on until the securities came to inspect them due to loud noises that was coming from the room

"You both should follow me immediately" the security guard roared and led them to the back of the training quarters, he stood in akimbo and told them to each pick a stick sword from the hanger which they obeyed immediately

"Now I'm giving you the proper chance to fight fairly, just know that whoever loses is going out of the palace immediately. How dare you fight in the palace? do you know where you are?" the guard informed them as he scolded them

By that time, all the participants have trooped out to see what was going on with the two of them and when they heard the condition of the fight, they gasped because they know what it means, it is a survival game

"I'm betting Larry, he's built and so skilled in fighting" one of the roommates said and Aditsan scoffed

"He was the cause of all these unnecessary nonsense, I'm betting my all on my friend, he did nothing wrong and should not be disqualified because of someone like him, why did he look for a sleeping dog's trouble?" Aditsan remarked and got a disdainful look from other roommates but he couldn't care less, his only concern was his friend who was on the battle field

The match started and Larry was having the upper hand because he was a trained thug before he joined the hunt, he had always boasted in the room about how no one was a match for him and he believe in his ability to win the hunt. Everyone was wondering how Ahiga would get himself out of the mess as he was getting beaten up in multiple places in the span of seconds.

The battle was getting fiercer as Ahiga hit the floor for the first time making him lose a round since its the first person to hit the ground three times that loses according to the rules. As he got up back to fight, Larry charged at him and hit him on the right shoulder multiple times making the hand useless as he shouts in pain, he dropped his sword since the hand could no longer fight due to intense pain, he was about picking up the sword with his left hand when Larry gave him a strike at the back of his neck which made him sprawl on the floor in pain.

"this is bad! this will result in his disqualifications" Aditsan lamented as he saw his friend on the floor on the second time

"You were boasting about him some minutes ago" one of the roommates teased him but he only eyed him before focusing on the fight once again

Larry roared in happiness as the crowd began to cheer for him and he began to walk around raising his two hands in pride but just as he turned to deliver another strike which he thought will be the final one, Ahiga came for his throat and hit the sword on his throat with all his might making his spit pass through the wrong channel, Larry's eyes delivered series of water from the painful attack and he held his head in pain. Ahiga wasted no time in swinging the sword and delivering another brutal attack on the back of his neck as he was coughing hard making him stagger to the front

"you are too full of yourself, I hate people like you" Ahiga muttered as he delivered another powerful stroke on his knees making them buckle and he sent him rolling on the floor

"Yes! yes!! hit him like that" Adistan shouted jumping for joy while Ahiga waited for Larry to stand up

He was about standing up properly when he delivered another swift attack on the same spot on his knees making him scream and fall down in pain

"Come on stand up, come at me like you have been boasting" Ahiga whispered watching as he was struggling to stand up

Larry packed some sand secretly with his hand at the back so he could spray them on Ahiga's face but unknown to him, he already knew and just as he flung his hand, Ahiga met it with the sword and it hit the knuckles of his palms hard making him throw the sand away in pain while holding unto the palm but Ahiga took the chance and delivered a brutal attack on his knees making him drop down the third time

Adistan ran to hug him in happiness as he was declared the winner while Ahiga just rested on him for support

"You did it my friend, I said it! I said you will win! I am so proud of you" Aditsan said beaming with happiness as he hugged him

"Thank you my friend" Ahiga replied responded and hugged him back

Larry was sent packing from the palace according to the rules and the roommates were grumbling and also blaming him about picking a fight but he just limped out of the palace in shame

"I must repay you someday" he groaned to Ahiga who just shrugged as he watched him go away

"Who is that guy? he's an interesting guy" the general asked the guard who hosted the fight

"His name is Ahiga, he's here as a soldier preparing for the hunt" he replied and the general grunted while stroking his beards, he was interested in Ahiga already.