Ragnar walked outside of the city and into the farmlands around Marigold city. As he walked down the street, he realized that the people that were around were few and far between and the ones that were there gave him a very wide berth as he walked down the way. His mount was off somewhere that he was not concerned about at this exact moment in time as he walked down the dirt roads.

Looking around he saw green fields, very different from his homeland of Icebergian where it was more often covered in white then green. As he walked around, his battle-axe hanging off his back as he didn't think that anyone would attempt to fight him in this place as he could tell for the most part the people of this city had been made weak by the massive guild that was nearby to protect them from the things that would normally go bump in the night.

Ragnar eventually reached a location that looked like a rest stop for travellers, which was simply a small building with what looks like a restaurant and place to sleep. Ragnar looked up in the sky and realized that he most likely had gone too far and would not be able to get back to the city before nightfall and he did not have an easy way to light his way. He would have to stay at this rest stop for the night, or at least nearby it.

Ragnar sighed at this, as that means he would have to spend money before he walked over to it and stepped into the building. It was big enough for Ragnar to enter even in his armor but was small enough that it only held enough space to serve maybe a dozen people before a door in the back lead to either the kitchen or the place where customers would rest for the night. He was slightly surprised at the person he saw in this rest stop with him, as he did not expect to see him halfway around the world.

Kenzo was in the middle of something important. Just the day before, the blue haired male had arrived at the peaceful and quiet town of Marigold City. To be honest, it was looking to be quite a boring place. Even so, he had to admit that it definitely had a certain charm to it. All of the rumors were true, it was truly a place to lay back and relax. However, that was far from Kenzo’s style at all. The male was more used to a life of action and thrill. So much so, that he had made it his mission to show the lanky and phlegmatic people of the Marigold countryside how to have some fun. One of the blessings of being in such a far away place was the fact that news barely reached them. He was sure there would be people that could definitely recognize him if he went to the town, but the farmlands were far enough for it. For that reason, Kenzo had decided to stay at an inn there rather than in the city center. Looking back, it was quite impressive. The male had only spent a bit more than a year in the country, but his standing had risen considerably. While once he didn’t have a single coin to his name in Fiore, the mercenary had now stopped worrying about it. Some of his past jobs had paid amounts he’d never dreamed before.

For that reason, he wondered that it’d be fun to spend his newfound wealth in some excitement. The inn where he was staying was quite small. Near a small community of farmers and a road where travelers stopped to rest, it had at most a dozen of people. Yet, it was more than enough for the swordsman.

”Very well! As of now, I hereby inaugurate the Marigold Farmland’s First Annual Arm-Wrestling Tournament… Sponsored by yours truly, the winner will take the amount of 200,000 J home today!! With that out of the way, let’s start with the fun!” A clearly tipsy Kenzo spoke to the small crowd he had managed to gather at the inn’s eating area. He had been drinking for a while now, and everyone had been forcefully made to join with free booze and promises of a cash price. For the merc, this was just a way to kill time before he could return to the real cities closer to the heart of the country. However, he had to wait until the heat from his bounty would cool a bit.

Ragnar was very surprised to see the person that was, apparently hiding or on some mission, from his 'city' of Oak. This was Kenzo, a member of the guild Advent World! This man also had several million jewel bounty on his head right now, but clearly no one else around here seemed to realize this fact as he was very wanted and also a very powerful warrior. As he looked around, no one was freaking out so Ragnar decided that it would be best to simply wait and see how this went down.

Not to Ragnar's surprise, when Kenzo started this contest, he tried to make it sporting for the other people in the competition by at least faking that he was weaker then he was. Ragnar knew enough about him to make assumptions that he could most likely shove his fist through most of the people in this room's chest and rip their spine out through the hole if he so felt the desire.

Ragnar also did fairly well, though he was put against a particularly strong farmhand, seemed dumber than a box of rocks but he had sheer dumb strength. Ragnar did lose against that man, and Ragnar was about to remove the farmer's head from his shoulders before he realized that he was in a public place and he would be here for a bit. Ragnar growled as he then went back to his seat and watched the rest of the contest.

Ragnar had zero doubt in his mind who was going to win this as he watched the rest of it. Kenzo won, much to Ragnar's fake surprise as he then gently pulled the man over to have a talk with him. Kenzo could most likely smell the very faint smell of blood that seemed to ooze out of Ragnar's person, like body odor for other people it smelled like the copper and metallic smell of blood.

After sitting down with the man he said quietly to him " Isn't this a little close to the Guild of Bounty Hunters for you to be here? Though I am sure you could most likely remove most of that guild off the face of the earth before you escaped or died. "

It seemed that Kenzo’s little game had attracted quite the interesting crowd. Deciding to participate himself, the blue haired male riled the crowd a bit by faking his strength against his opponents. All to make the contest all the more interesting. People were getting pumped up by the prospects of winning some money and soon enough all of the tavern decided to give it a shot. Just before it began though, an interesting individual entered the place. Kenzo didn’t need to even look around to notice as a large armored frame of a man entered through the door. Using the mysterious ability from his right eye, the male saw in full figure the warrior entering the place. ”Seems that this is going to be more interesting than I thought”

Before long, he too joined the fray. The matches were exciting on their own right. Since most of the people participating were people used to working the fields, they were stronger than what the blue haired merc initially expected. The mysterious figure did well in most of his matches, and Kenzo placed him as one of the highest seeds for the finals. However, he was bested by a particularly big farmer. Laughing as the end of the match was decided, Kenzo noticed the slight hint of killing intent that oozed out of the armored man. With a smile, the swordsman decided to put an end to it by winning the finals against the same farmer with ease. Even if he had won the contest himself, the spirits at the tavern had clearly changed. Everyone was having a laugh and drinking. Kenzo placed both of his hands on his hips, proud of what he’d achieved, as he looked around before mumbling to himself. ”That’s more like it.”

Before he could take another step towards the bar though, the armored stranger decided to pull him apart. Following him to an empty table, Kenzo could smell the all-too familiar scent of rusty metal and dried blood emanating from him. From the looks of his battered gear and the large axe on his self, it didn’t take a genius to figure that he was a warrior much like himself. What intentions he had though, still remained to be seen.

Hearing the man speak, Kenzo once again laughed at the surprise that came with being recognized almost wherever he went. ”You have said it yourself, my friend.” The Advent World warrior took a sip from his drink as he made a pause. ”Throughout my travels in Fiore, I’ve yet to meet a warrior my equal. If the rumors about that guild are to be believed, the guild master is one that walks the same path as I do.” Placing the drink on the table, Kenzo crossed both arms as he reclined back on his chair. ”Though I haven’t heard much about him in the streets, I’m very sure he’s the one that defeated one of my comrades at the Grand Magic Games.” Kenzo got closer to the table as he looked at Ragnar’s gear. ”You seem like no stranger to combat, so let me ask you: If I go by their members’ reputation, I’ve got nothing to fear. Yet, if those bounty hunters have remained hidden from the public eye and conceal in their midst a sleeping tiger… isn’t this the perfect place for me to be?”

There were only few people in the world that had been forged through war. Surviving and fighting just to see another day molded one’s character into a certain manner. Kenzo had met a couple of people that just like himself could call themselves warriors. However, being good was never enough. Not for the Bellan swordsman at least. Only those that decided to walk the same path as his in a world of magic and sorcery could understand the need to become the greatest of them all. Undefeated through the land, tested through battle: Only one could become a legend. Kenzo decided he would never shy from crossing swords with others like him. Not until he was known as a God of War.

Once the drinks arrived, Ragnar grabbed the mug that held his drink in it and he looked down at it for a moment before hearing what the man was saying. " Well, as you said, the only reason why I know of you at all is because of the fact that you are a very powerful warrior. There are most likely dozens of mages that are as or more famous than you, but they matter very little to me. As for if they have a sleeping tiger, I believe the only tiger they have in their roster is the Guildmaster. " Ragnar said before slowly pulling off his red and brass helmet and placing it on the table.

Ragnar's face was very harsh and weathered looking, from his brow which seemed to always be on the edge of furious anger to his lips which seem to curl into a snarl. The thing that most likely to draw someone's eye was the fact that he was tanned under the helmet, along with the fact that Ragnar was shaved completely bald, though he was clearly not naturally bald as small amounts of his hair could still be seen on the top of his head. It looked that if he didn't shave he would have a full head of hair. The next biggest thing was that Ragnar's face was covered in scars of various sizes and shapes across his entire face. Some of them were very small, no longer then the kind of scars you might get from if you cut yourself shaving but it still scarred over to some that went across the length of his face. A major scar as across the right side of his face, going from just an inch or so behind his eye and going from temple to where his jaw connects to his skull but there seemed to be dozens of them that covered his face and neck.

Ragnar took a drink of his ale as he rubs his armored fist over the top of his scalp as he said simply " As for me, I have seen combat and I am one of your breed, a dying breed it seems in this world filled with people using sorcery as a crutch for skill in combat. I believe the days of the strength of a man, his skill with a blade, and the craftsmanship of his equipment are long gone. " with that Ragnar looked around and he noticed that some of that patrons were looking at him now that he had taken off his helmet and his face went from one that was talking to a 'friend' to one filled with anger and rage. The smell of blood started to come off Ragnar stronger now as if the air was getting prepared for blood to be spilled.

Kenzo nodded as Ragnar spoke a little about himself. After taking a couple of gulps from his drink, the large armored male took off the helmet over his face. He was undoubtedly a veteran of war, much like Kenzo. Considering the various scars and hardened look on him, the merc knew that he was someone that spoke from experience. Though there were few people in the country that path of the warrior, Kenzo knew he had met someone that did.

His appearance was quite peculiar, but pragmatic in its own right. Shaved heads made best for wearing heavy helmets. Considering he had a huge scar running down his right side, it was not surprising that he would favor the use of that equipment. After finishing his comment over the times that troubled those fighting in a magic filled world, Kenzo took a sip from his drink before answering. ”That just makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?” Kenzo placed his mug at the table as he took a small pause. ”Even if we live in a world full of magic, where those not blessed by mana are looked down upon, I’ll just keep proving the gods wrong. Fuck destiny and fate, I’ll build my own fortune. It will be the strength of men and my own skill that shall forge a new era.” Kenzo’s eyes were filled by a look of determination, never doubting once the future he spoke of.

Even if the chat so far had been quite tame and calm, Kenzo instantly felt the surge in bloodlust coming out of Ragnar. The scared looks and frowns from the people in the tavern had definitely caused a reaction out of the warrior in front of him. However, Kenzo simply placed his hand on Rangar’s shoulder and spoke calmly. ”Are they worth such a fierce bloodlust? What good would beating these poor weaklings bring? As far as I can see, none of them are worth the effort.” The swordsman’s grip over Ragnar’s shoulder was strong. As his palm grabbed onto his armor, the blue haired male was sure he could shatter it with his strength if he so desired. However, he was not someone to meddle too much into someone else’s business. For now, he was way more interested in seeing the warrior’s actions.

As Ragnar stood up and turned, about ready to spill the blood of these people and he could hear his Lord come through as a soft whisper of " Do it... Let the blood flow... " and as the rage-filled him he felt a hand on his shoulder. As his eyes turned to look at the hand he knew that it was Kenzo's hand before he heard his voice. He listened to the man but his mind was already racing if he could kill the man and then kill everyone else in this bar but he knew that would not be possible at all. He could feel the man's strength through his shoulder pauldron, and he assumed that he could crush it along with his shoulder under it with one squeeze of his hand if he chooses to. Ragnar had to be smart, because unlike his other Kin who followed the Lord of Murder and Slaughter who lose themselves into their rage and never come out, Ragnar had to be smart enough to know when to back down so that he can cause more blood to be spilled later. His Lord was a being that has been around since the dawn man beat each other to death with rocks, he can wait a little longer for some more blood to be spilled.  

Ragnar growled softly as he took his ax and placed it down on the floor next to him with the ax head on the floor and the hilt resting on the table's edge, before making a slight waving hand gesture towards the people in the bar of " I no longer care about you being here " and once that motion was made the smell of blood basically vanished from Ragnar's frame, outside of the smell that lingered there before. Ragnar turned and sat back down before saying simply " Well, as a person in the same boat as you when it comes to not being able to use magic, I can tell you that I also plan the same thing. You are simply farther down the path that I plan on walking. Even though I am sure you and I have very different ending spots. " Ragnar then took a drink. The room around seemed to have calmed down significantly now that Ragnar had been calmed down and is now going back to a calm conversation and people did stop looking and gave Kenzo and Ragnar some peace as they looked away to keep with their own merry-making.

" Well, I guess maybe with a bright shining beacon of what a warrior could be, more laypeople might join in the cause of becoming a warrior! " Ragnar said, only slightly mockingly at Kenzo before laughing slightly as he kept drinking. Ragnar, while he barely knows the man personally he felt a spirit with him similar to what he felt with his former Clan member who was also warriors. Even if they were very different people overall, they still knew how hard it was to carry a heavy sword or ax miles in the shittest weather around, and that kind of hardship breeds comrades no matter the distance.