Chapter 11: Battling the Master

The man was young, maybe in his mid-twenties, and had a long blade in his lap. It looked like iron, but Link couldn't tell. The man was covered mostly in a long cloak, but part of his face was uncovered, showing his youth.

"Greetings, Adventurer. Are you here to learn the ways of swordplay?" The man asked.

"No, I'm here to see how good you are. I've done plenty of fighting, and I think I can beat you."

The man laughed. "You? Beat me? I am the best sword fighter in all the land. You are a kid. I'll teach you to respect your elders." And with that the man leapt over the counter and was in an immediate fighting stance. Link quickly followed with his tiny sword. The man laughed again.

"A little kid with a little blade, this will be interesting!" The man said. He swung at Link but was quickly parried. Link returned the favor with a jab at the man's unprotected area. The man jumped back and did a front flip, landing a few inches in front of Link and slashing at his face. Link jumped to the side and turned to face the man.

"What happened to your cockiness? I thought you were supposed to be beating me," Link said before doing a spin attack that knocked the man back, his leg was bleeding. It was deep wound, narrowly missing the bone.

"You are very good, I'll give you that, but a wound does not render a man useless. It gives him a will to fight harder." The man wiped the blood off the leg and continued fighting. Link could tell he couldn't go on much longer, the wound was too deep. Link had to find a way to get him to stop long enough to bandage it or he wouldn't make it through the battle. A sword slice an inch from his face made Link put his attention back on the battle. The man was in a lot of pain but still putting up a fight. Link had to hand it to the man for courage, but there was also a lot of stupidity that clouded his judgment. Not the signs of a Master at all. Link took the defense now; he didn't want to hurt the man anymore. He parried attacks constantly and was waiting for the man to realize he was too hurt and just fall. He knew he couldn't make the man stop without hurting him more. After another ten minutes of blocking the man finally gave in to the pain. Link acted quickly and tore off the piece of his cloak that had been shredded when Link cut him and used it as a bandage. The man smiled.

"I underestimated you, I'm sorry. What's your name Kid?"

"Link. And you didn't underestimate me, any normal kid would have lost to you...but I'm not normal."

"I see...do you have a story or something?" The man asked. "It's not like I'm going anywhere quick."

"I suppose I could tell you, you might be able to help me..." Link told the man his story, about being the Hero of Time and about the strange man that sent him here. When he was done the man was staring at him in shock.

"You are different...that is the most fascinating story I've ever heard. And if you need to know about Potio...I can actually help."