“I should write a book; “Life lessons learned from people that never existed”. It seems that I’m a fool for attacking with daggers, and that my entire life is a farce because some half-naked idiot thinks that being unarmed makes me a fool. Welcome to Althanas!”

I smirked as I toyed with my thoughts; almost laughed aloud at the prospect of what would come should I decide to write a book. I’m sure it would be nothing more than useless rabble, parables that made no sense and nothing useful to anyone outside of those that took the world too seriously. It would be a lot like the Song of Solomon, or the entire Bible for that matter. That did make me laugh, despite my opponent.

With a plastered smile I watched the man come at me, slowly through the waist high waters. In his hand he held a rock, nothing special or particularly interesting for me to note. It looked smooth, as if worn at the bottom of a riverbed. The still water of our environment could not have made it so perfect. My attention to detail slipped, and left. A rock against eight more throwing daggers and a few secreted blades… it seemed the word fool had been thrown around a lot but it was not going to be pinned on me last.

Instead of dodging, fleeing, or countering the man, I let him grow closer. I could see a trail of crimson following him as he dredged through the encumbering ocean. The wake of his movements spread the thin line to a point of nonexistence, but it was not an illusion. I had hit the man with one of my daggers, or maybe even both. The blade may have just skimmed him, may even have sunk in and stuck to his back, I had not seen any plunks on the surface behind him… but was not looking either.

When the rock was hurled downward at me, I swung. My balled fist was holding the rounded metal, the knuckles uneven. My aim was not for the rock, nor the man’s body, but for the wrist that he was holding his makeshift weapon in. Unnatural reflexes and speed were my allies, making time between the attacks longer than anyone would have suspected. Extra strength built up in my body, and my hand was not pushed with the force of a normal man, but one almost twice my size. My other hand reached out in a shallow arch, aimed for the man’s face. There was a point to be proven, a lesson to be taught to a fool.