「"If you can't polish the rust off your own gear, don't expect the Duke to pay for your funeral! Check the straps! Oil the joints! The Dusk-Eaters don't give second chances to n with stuck greaves!"」
「"Commander says we move to the eastern breach by nightfall. Anyone who hasn't collected their standard-issue light plate and whetstone by noon is forfeiting their first week's ration of ale!"」
The morning was a cacophony of shouting sergeants and the rhythmic clink-clink-clink of armor being fitted.
Kang Min stood at the edge of the training field, leaning against a weathered wooden fence.
He had already collected his gear.
A set of blackened leather reinforced with steel rivets but he hadn't put it on yet.
He preferred the mobility of his own clothes for as long as possible.
To him, the "instructions" were a repetitive tutorial he had skipped a dozen tis.
He watched a group of recruits nearby clumsily hacking at straw dummies, their footwork amateurish and their breathing erratic.
"Go away. This isn't a playground."
Min muttered without looking back.
He could hear the soft scuff of small feet on the dirt behind him.
A group of four children, none older than ten, were huddled a few feet away, whispering and pointing.
「"Is he the one?"」
A small girl with pigtails whispered loudly.
「"The one who made the blue light co out of his eyes?"」
「"Shut up, Mara! He'll hear you,"」
A slightly older boy hissed.
Kang Min sighed, closing his eyes.
The most persistent entities in any place.
He turned his head slightly, his black mask still firmly in place.
"I said go away. I'm busy."
「"Busy doing what?"」
The oldest boy, a scrawny kid with a smudge of soot on his nose, stepped forward with forced bravery.
「"You're just sitting there. My na's Toby. Are you really from the Far Lands? Is it true everyone there wears masks because the sun is too bright?"」
"No."
Min said, his voice flat.
"I'm from a place where children mind their own business."
The kids didn't budge.
If anything, they moved closer.
「"How did you do that punch?"」
Toby asked, his eyes wide.
「"The one where you broke that an man's face? There's a bully at the docks nad Grog who takes my copper every ti I go to buy bread. Can you teach to make blue light?"」
Min looked at Toby, ready to give a sharp retort to shoo them off once and for all.
But as he locked eyes with the boy, the air around them suddenly distorted.
The vibrant green of the training field flickered, replaced by a jagged, pixelated glitch.
For a split second, the simulation buckled.
Kang Min didn't see a sunny field; he saw a landscape of scorched timber and bone-white ash.
He saw a version of Toby from a mory he had buried deep.
The boy was standing amidst the wreckage of a burning house, his small fra trembling as a shadow monster, a Dusk-Eater with a maw that unhinged like a snake's, lood over him.
The creature's teeth were like shards of obsidian, its jaw opening wide enough to swallow the boy's entire head.
Toby's face was streaked with tears.
In the Old World, the boy had died trying to save his mother.
l
The glitch vanished and the sun returned.
Toby was still there, looking up at him with expectant, innocent eyes.
Kang Min's hand went to the edge of his mask.
"Blue light isn't sothing you teach, Toby." Min said softly.
He reached up and pulled the black fabric away from his face. The children let out a collective gasp.
「"Whoa..."」
Mara breathed.
「"You're... you're really pretty, Mr. Knight."」
「"You look like a prince!"」
Another child chid in.
Kang Min ignored the complints.
He knelt down so he was eye-level with the boy.
He took the black mask and placed it carefully on Toby's head.
The mask was too big, drooping down over the boy's eyes until Toby had to lift it up with a small hand.
"Listen to ."
Min said, his voice serious.
"I'm going to tell you a secret. This mask isn't just so thing.
It's a relic from a land you'll never visit.
It gives whoever wears it great abilities to protect themselves and the people they love.
But the power only works if you're brave when it matters."
Toby's chest puffed out slightly, his hand gripping the edge of the mask.
「"Really? I can beat Grog?"」
"You won't need to."
Min said.
"I need you to do a favor instead. A very important mission. When the sun goes down and the bells start ringing...when the Dusk-Eaters appear...I want you to take your mother. Don't let her stay in the kitchen. Take her to the cellar below your house. Do you understand?"
Toby blinked, his expression shifting from excitent to confusion.
「"The cellar? But it's dusty down there and the spiders are big."」
"The spiders won't hurt you."
Min said, his gaze piercing.
"The shadows will. Go to the cellar. Stay there. Hold onto that mask until I return to fetch it. If you do that, the magic will keep the door hidden."
「"But Mr...."」
Toby tilted his head.
「"How do you know there's a cellar below our house?"」
Kang Min didn't skip a beat, his face a mask of its own even without the cloth.
"I told you, I'm from far away. Where I'm from, we know where all the best hiding spots are. It's a gift."
Toby looked at the mask, then back at Min.
He didn't seem to care that it was a lie.
He felt the weight of the "magic" in his hands.
He pulled the mask down over his face again, peeking through the eye slits, and began to march around the training field, striking a heroic pose for the other children.
「"Look at !"」
Toby shouted, his voice muffled by the fabric.
「"I'm the Shadow Knight! Nothing can catch !"」
Kang Min stood up, watching the boy run off with his friends.
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