Adopted Soldier

A year ago when the Granado Empire first attacked Berdonia, Ken was injured until he was near death . Fortunately for him Ryu was near the area, and was able to save him before death came to him .

Even though they were once enemies on the battlefield, Ryu actually had great respect for Ken . He was the only swordsman besides Alex that has faced him, that didn’t die and didn’t despair after losing, instead he improved himself . His respect for Ken had doubled when he learned that the reason for him being at death’s door was because he rejected his home country and tried to protect Berdonia .

Ryu knowing the circumstances that led to his near death experience, decided to protect Ken for as long as he wasn’t fully healed . After a few months Ken was able to get back into shape, but at this point the two sword masters couldn’t leave the forest . Since for some unknown reason Cromer City was heavily fortified, and the Granado Empire kept on bothering them by sending soldiers into the forest to either kill or capture them . The two overwhelmed by the number of their opponents implemented guerrilla warfare as they slowly dwindled down the number of soldiers that entered the forest .

So for the past year the two sword masters have continued to stay inside the forest, disrupting and sabotaging the Granado Empire soldiers . While they were not doing that, the two sparred and sparred with each other until they got a bit better in cooperating with one another .

. . .

In the year they stayed inside the forest, the Granado Empire tried multiple times to kill them as they sent squad after squad, but that always ended up badly for them . They then tried to bomb some of the areas in the large forest to see if they might be able to hit the two . Yet after a few tries they ultimately stopped the bombing . Seeing them wasting air bombers to kill two people, wasn’t really good for morale and the budget . Now that the Granado Empire, and the alliance of Beronia and the Southern Union were at a stalemate in the war, using too much ammunition on two swordsmen wasn’t really a good idea .

. . .

"Hey Ryu are we friends?" Ken suddenly asked Ryu one day after training . Ryu who was swinging his sword looked at Ken confused .

"That’s a stupid question," Ryu answered while continuing to swing his sword .

"I see . . . "

"We’re not only friends, we’re rivals aren’t we?" Ryu spoke this time without looking back . Ken who heard Ryu’s reply chuckled . Even though the two of them were now middle aged men, hanging out in the forest training made it feel like they were back in the days of their youth .

"I see, of course we are," Ken happily replied . These two were considered the most exalted experts in the way of the sword, yet right now they were acting like two teenage boys that were in a field trip, but to the two middle age men this was alright .

To the two of them the war proved to be a good way to train . They weren’t really that worried about the repercussions of the war, nor were they worried about the lives of their disciples . To the two swordsmen, the war was nothing more than a training ground, that could enhance their skills as well as their disciples’ .

. . .

A whole year went by with the two swordsmen haven’t left the forest near Cromer City . The enemies that they encountered have lessened, as the recently built fortress was fortified even more . The soldiers no longer tried to capture the two and instead started to slowly amass their forces inside the fortress .

Both ken and Ryu found it strange, but couldn’t do any recon since the two of them weren’t really good in doing that . The moment they would step out of the forest they would be immediately spotted . So the two decided to not bother with what was happening, which later on proved to be a bad decision .

. . .

"So they finally found us . " Ryu who was meditating opened his eyes and sighed .

"They even sent in their elite soldiers, in merc rankings these guys should all be B to A rank . " Ken who was sharpening his sword gave his opinion .

"I guess today we either fall and head to Valhalla, or we live and try to reach perfection of the sword . " Ryu unsheathed his blade and so did Ken .

"Both those outcomes sound good to me . "

The two swordsmen knew that they were surrounded but they faced their opponents with sword at hand, standing back to back with no fear . The two of them took a stance for a technique that they have trained for the whole year . This technique was something they created to be used together, it was called dancing dragon and tiger . Basically one individual would pounce and attack the enemies while the other would stick close and defend them from all attacks .

The first swordsman needed to be fully focused on attack, while the other was focused on defense . The two must have extreme mutual trust for this to work, a little bit of a delay might cause the other to die . Even the two of them who were hailed as the strongest swordsmen of their time, weren’t able to complete the technique, but for today at this very moment they felt like they could do it flawlessly .

. . .

The soldiers have finally arrived and had them surrounded . There was no warning as all the soldiers started shooting at them . Ken with sword at hand spun around slicing and deflecting all the incoming bullets . Ryu then started to charge forward slicing the throats of the nearby soldiers . The two of them swinging their swords look like they were dancing with their swords . It was very elegant, but at the same time wild, violent dance .

Yet, even though the technique was executed perfectly, and their sword skills were a bit better than a year ago, the two of them were still overwhelmed by the number of their enemies . Ryu without even bothering with defense kept on slicing and slicing, as he felt like no matter what, Ken had his back, so what’s there to fear .

Ryu who kept on cutting the throats of his enemies finally saw their numbers dwindling . Even though his body was screaming at him, even though he felt like he could no longer swing the sword he still kept on swinging, until finally none remain .

Ryu who felt the back of his rival and friend lean on him, knew immediately what happened .

"Thanks for having my back . . . It was fun . . . May our swords once again cross in Valhalla, my friend . . . " Ken’s voice was getting softer and softer as he spoke .

"Yeah, it was fun," the ever stoic Ryu smiled for the first time in a long time . "I hope you have a fun time up there in Valhalla, my rival, my friend . . . " Ryu didn’t need to look back to know what happened to his friend, as his very own consciousness started to become blurry .