Alric was in pain on the ground. His red and white yukata blood soaked, as well as his long white hair that was no longer in its ponytail. His hair covered a bit of his face and blood seeped out of his head wound and out of the side of his lips. He looked up, panting at a massive, beastial figure. It was twice his size and was armored with a horned skull and yellow eye staring at him as it gripped a weird great sword with teeth.

Alric looked in horror at the beast. It raised the blade and swung down. Alric barely blocked with his nodachi, the sheer force pushing him into the ground. The dull side of side his sword began to crush his chest as he gasped for the breathe he needed.

The beast growled in a form that seemed like cackling. It enjoyed the agony he was giving Alric. It raised its blade and brought it back down continuously, causing Alric's strength to fade quickly. He grimaced in pain. In one last swing, the great sword broke through Alric's blade and closed in on him.

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Alric jolted up out of his covers on top of his bed, covered in sweat and panting heavily with some of his hair in his face. He turned and slid his legs off the bed. Running his fingers through his hair and heavily sighed. He replayed the dream in his head once more, it wasn't the first time he had this dream. It happened a lot in the past couple of night, robbing him of his sleep. He looked out the window to see the bustle of the town he entered yesterday. He was traveling through Spain to find the answers to his dream, one thing was obvious, the sword the beast held was the Soul Edge.

How did he know this? He was Nightmare once, as well as the power the Soul Edge had. The corruptive power it had on the innocent, the greedy, and the ambitious. He also saw just a few shards of the Soul Edge drive a town to insanity as they ripped each other apart, the men, the women, and the children. The beast in his dreams reminded him so much of Nightmare, but it couldn't be "What was that….horrible creature?"

Alric pushed the thought from his mind and got up. He walked to the bathroom and washed his face in the water basin. He pulled hair back and tied it into a ponytail. Most looked at him weird with his long white hair that was at ankle length, that's was confused them most. Next was his Japanese clothing and sword, but he cared less about what they thought. He had things to do, like find a Spaniard that was infected by the Soul Edge a bit ago. He heard the he was in this town. He apparently was traveling through to do something. Alric worried what it may be, so he dressed and tied his nodachi to his waist. He walked out of the room, he sensed something bugging him, but he continued on out into the street.

Alric ventured down the road to the bar, a place he thought was good to collect information. But as he turned a corner he was a Spanish teenage woman being hassled by Spanish Guard, like bullies they were. It sickened him to see a beautiful woman of what looked to be the age of seventeen to eighteen being taken advantage of in the middle of a street, and no one did anything thing for fear of being beaten to a pulp. But to Alric's amazement, an old man who looked as fragile as a twig stood up and yelled "Leave her alone you pigs!"

The guards turned to the old man and walked to him while one stayed, holding the woman and groping her as she fought and squirmed "And what will you do?!" One of the guards raised his fist to punch the old man.

The old man raised his arms to cover himself from the coming blow, but it never came. The guard that was going to punch him was in pain from his arm being pulled back causing a loud crack and he wailed in pain. The old man looked to see Alric breaking the man's arm. The other guards faced Alric and screamed at him for hurting their partner "Do you know who you are messing with?!"

Alric raised an eyebrow "no, and I don't much care for what you are. I see rapists and bullies, I see victims, and that's all I need." A guard was about to pull out his sword, but Alric stopped him "Ah, ah." The guard felt the dull side of Alric's nodachi tapping at his crotch., the guard gulped and the others were about to strike but he screamed at them to stop as he saw Alric twisting his wrist so the bladed side was now facing his crotch "Release the girl." The one holding the girl let her go and she ran behind Alric. "Good, now leave. Before I get more aggravated." The guards bolted away at his glare.

"Thank you mister" the girl spoke up behind him.

"Think nothing of it, miss" he turned and smiled at her. Then turn to the old man to see if he was alright.

"It's about time some one stopped those….those…...I can't find a word" He yelled out and sighed.

"It's alright sir" Alric smiled and bowed to the man. He turned to head to the bar, but there was a tug on his sleeve "Hmm?"

He turned back to see the girl holding onto his sleeve "Please sir, be careful. They don't give in easily. They'll most likely be back…"

Alric smiled and petted her head "I'll be fine miss." She let go and he continued to the bar, to the unfortunate luck of the guards and a man who looked like their captain inside.

One of the guards saw Alric and yelled "That's him Captain!" The captain was a tall man, he had the look of experience but was youthful as if he was in his early twenties. He also had glasses and an intelligent appearance. He looked over and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you the one who hurt one of my boys?" the captain seemed to be examining Alric with great scrutiny "Thank you, I can barely keep them in line"

The guard with the broken arm looked at his captain "Wha-" but he was cut short by getting punched in his crotch by the captain. He dropped to the ground and the others got quiet.

"….But….you still attacked one of the guard, I don't want to, but I must arrest you" the captain sighed and frowned. He got up and walked over to Alric "But if you beat me in a duel, I'll say you escaped masterfully."

"Why would you do that?" Alric was confused by what he heard from the captain of the guards.

"Because you were doing what you thought was right. You are a good man, I can tell, even though my men lied to me again" he smiled warmly at Alric.

"Thank you, could I also ask if you know the whereabouts of a Frenchman by the name of Raphael Sorel?" Alric hoped the captain knew something,

"But of course. He is in town actually, an inn that we were hoping to capture in for all of the atrocities he committed against the people of Spain. But why would you want to know where he is?" The captain looked at Alric curiously.

"He may know where to find a certain…thing that must be rid of this world." Alric looked to the captain.

The captain smiled once more "Good thing he has a disdain for the light of day then."

"Yes, that is a good thing to hear, makes my job much easier" Alric returned the smile.

"But…to do anything, you must beat me" The captain motioned to the door behind Alric.

Alric nodded and walked out to the street, the captain followed him. They stood ten feet away from each other. Alric unsheathed his nodachi, and the captain pulled out a rapier. The sight of blades caused the people to move away from them. Alric stood strong, letting the tip of the blade rest on the ground. The captain placed his left hand on his hip and held his rapier in front of him, as he tapped his foot to a beat. Alric raised and eyebrow, he forgot the rapier style of swordplay. 'I know his light blade allows for quick, precise attacks and makes him more mobile than I. Though I have the range and strength, he could be an issue' he thought to himself.

"Begin" The captain shouted. The captain did a quick dash and followed through with a speedy thrust aimed for Alric's side. Alric twisted his hand and the blade, and then lifted to knock the rapier away. The rapier was forced over the captain's head, but left Alric open for a kick to the face. Alric Staggered back a bit and recovered quickly. He gripped his nodachi with both hands and raised it over his head.

'Make it quick, one strike….no, he knows I'll put it into one strike in hopes to use my range and power….lets try something….unorthodox' The captain ran at him, Alric waited for him to get closer, then swung down slower than he would normally. The captain leapt to Alric's right, just where he wanted the captain to go. Alric let go with his left hand and twisted his right hand to the right, he swung fast in the motion that never broke, the captain ducked under the attack barely. Alric continued to swing into a spin and came back around to attack the captain's feet, the captain jumped up to avoid the blade and right into Alric's trap. During the spin, Alric used his left hand to pull his sheath from is spot in his belt. He swung the blunt object with his left into the captain's ribs while he was caught in mid-air, he flew painfully into a wall and slid down it, grasping his side in pain.

A few of the captain's ribs were broken as he staggered to rise, Alric came over and helped him to his feet.

"Good, match, that was certainly different." The captain smiled with a wince of pain. "He is at the inn down the road." He pointed back to where Alric started.

"I was at that inn…" He sighed to himself 'no wonder I felt something.' "Thank you, I'll be on my way now." He bowed and turned to head back to the inn. When he reached it, he felt a familiar tug on his sleeve. He turned his head to see the girl again "Hello miss" he smiled at her.

"Are you going to fight the dark man inside" she asked in a weak tone of fear he heard a lot these days.

He knew exactly who she was referring to, Raphael Sorel, he nodded to her "Yes, I am."

"He is so…..filled with suffocating evil, its hard to breathe being anywhere near him…" She looked terrified.

Alric looked to her in amazement, she was one of the non-warrior few who could sense energies "I'll be fine, I've fought his type before. Nothing to worry about" He smiled warmly and reassuringly.

She eased up and nodded "good luck sir…" She said as she hugged him

He petted her head and waited for her to let go of him "I'll be back, hopefully without a scratch." He said sarcastically as he entered and headed to the rooms. He looked at the doors, one stood out with a blood red aura hitting it. "Found you" He smiled as he walked to the door and stood in front of it.