He hummed lightly while he finished setting up his tent. He had heard about the battle prowess of the Warborn Vikings before. Impossible not to, considering who he worked for. Someone had to be on the other end of Apollyon's "wolves and sheep's" tirades after all... but this… this went above and beyond his expectations.

These people were merciless, each one a powerhouse all in themselves. He had accompanied the Vikings in their raid against the Samurai, expecting a shaky start, but knowing they were eventually going to make steady progress. Pluto, he expected at the very least some decent resistance!

The beach fort of Kaiyo Kabe stood absolutely no chance against the aggressiveness and relentlessness of his traveling companions. The Samurai held for… not even a couple of hours and the place was razed and erased from the maps with staggering speed, hit with all the grace and devastating destruction power of a war hammer. And at the forefront of it all, stood Dagur the Raider. Had he been just a bit superstitious, he would have called him a demigod, just for how strong the guy was.

He made him genuinely scared in a way he struggled to comprehend. The one who descended from the mountains and reunited the clans that Apollyon struggled so hard to divide… in half the time that she took to deal the damage in the first place. Just a man, his axe and the blood of anyone that didn't agree with his vision.

Mars almighty, he honestly couldn't tell if that bit of information angered or pleased her. On one hand, her hard work got dismantled WAY too quick. On the other hand though… the Warborn's camp was filled to the brim with her beloved "wolves".

He barely managed to keep the disgusted grimace off his face. She really crossed the line there. Apollyon had officially started her path towards insanity that day. Not he considered her "sane" in any way, shape or form. Not since she killed his beloved mother like a worthless animal.

But… that was another story. At that moment, a monumental event was taking place, right in front of his eyes.

The Great Raid had started. And Corvo had a front row seat to almost the entirety of it. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about it. It had been a couple of weeks since then, and the Vikings were still marching at blistering speed. It wouldn't be long before they reached the swamps of the Myre and the fortified walls of the Dawn Empire.

As he finally entered the tent and finished preparing herbs, alcohol flasks and ointments, someone entered. Unannounced of course. He'll have to start getting used to it…

He turned around, surprised when he saw the familiar short visage of Helvar, the Berserker. He ran his mind backwards, clearly remembering the arrow in the shoulder that he had to remove from the man right after the fortress had been taken. How did he…

He cringed lightly when he saw his face, sporting an almost comically large black eye.

"... Runa?"

"Got it in one kiddo. I didn't even do anything this time!"

Corvo didn't believe him in the slightest. Sure, the Valkyrie could be a bit of a bitch sometimes, he would freely admit it… solely in the confines of his mind, of course. But she wasn't one to waste energy doing things without a proper reason. She was way too pragmatic, if only a bit too reckless.

His very obvious doubts must have shown, because Helvar quickly corrected his statement.

"Okay, MAYBE I did something. But I didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident!"

Well, that was a quick turnaround. But still… did the Berserker just… read him? He checked his face quietly with his hands. Neutral, like usual. Maybe he slipped for a second…?

It didn't matter. For now, he had work to do.

"Take a seat then. It won't take long, even if it is quite a massive bruise…"

"I can imagine. She straight up punched me, right in the eye after all. Let me tell you something lad… an advice, in case you somehow manage to draw her ire; those muscles she has are NOT for show!"

Yikes, that sounded painful. He'll have to keep that in mind from now on. But hopefully, he won't have to interact with her, she was quite good at not being injured, surprisingly.

As he started working, his patient decided that having his medic at approximately a couple of feet away from his face was the perfect moment to start a conversation.

"Say lad, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"You speak Icelandic. Our language. Quite well too, might I add. But you're a Knight… so why?"

Corvo exhaled lightly, somewhat surprised that the question hadn't been asked earlier.

"My teacher believed that being a healer meant being fluent in other languages apart from Latin. Something about improving communication with the patients".

"I see. That mustn't have been easy…"

"It wasn't. I lost track of how many hours I spent studying other languages. From Icelandic, to Japanese to Chinese and other ones too. The books never ended… the lectures never ended. Nor the bruises that he would leave behind everytime I made a mistake. Bruises that then I would have to deal with by myself, obviously. Called it 'extra training'".

Helvar's face morphed into something resembling an apology.

"Oh...sorry for digging those memories back up lad. I should have been more tactful…"

The healer shook his head.

"You asked a legitimate question, as such you have no reason to apologize. But… can I ask you a question as well?"

The Berserker grinned.

"You just did. But I'll allow you to ask another one".

Corvo loudly exhaled from the nose, amused. He walked right into that one. Skye and Stone would have been very disappointed in him for falling for it, no doubt. Or they would take it as an excuse to tease him more.

Good thing they didn't know then. And, if he had his way, they never would.

"What did you do exactly to earn this monster of a black eye?"

"Oh yeah… that. It was a… series of very unfortunate events, one could say. You see, after I was finished helping set up the tents and all for the night, I got incredibly thirsty. Like, actually throat dry levels of thirsty. My flask was empty, since I had forgotten to refill it earlier. Remember the river that we crossed sometime ago? I went back there. Now, I know what you're going to say! We have water supplies here, why go all the way back? I was feeling restless, so I wanted to take a stroll, you know? The way is secure after all…"

He could guess where the story was going to go… he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue hearing it.

"When I got there I was so… driven towards the water that I failed to see Runa's clothes on the ground there. So I emerged from the trees and… you can imagine the rest".

Yup, as he imagined. For Juno's sake, why the hell did he even bother asking…?

"You deserved it then, basically".

"Yeah… thinking about it now, I kind of do uh?"

Helvar sighed dejectedly.

"But… see it this way. She only gave you one punch instead of beating you to a pulp and leaving you on the road side to die. It means that maybe she doesn't outright despise you…?"

Why did he have a feeling that these words were going to come back and bite him in the ass?

"Hm… yeah, I guess you're right!"

He winced.

"Doesn't make it any less painful though…"

"Was it worth it, at least?"

"You kidding me lad?! Of course it was!"

Corvo snorted again. This guy was the perfect blend of dumbass and self aware. What a damn combo…

"Aaaand we're done. Make sure to not anger Runa again and it should heal in a couple of days. You can go now, if you want".

The Berserker jumped back on the ground, grinning.

"I'll get out of your hair, don't worry. You know, I'm starting to think that Stigandr is right, you are an okay guy after all! See you around Corvo!"

The healer waved his patient away, while he tinkered and fixed everything back in its place.

Apollyon was right. The Vikings were barbaric and uncivilized in many ways. A population of brutes, whose first answer is violence and second is even more violence. But…

They had something that the Knights didn't. Heart. Passion. An almost enviable desire to live life at its fullest, with no regrets.

Corvo hummed, closing his eyes while thinking about a certain Warden friend of his. Well… almost all Knights.

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back dudes and gentleladies to another episode of AHO, the show where not all injuries come from the sword.

Continuing to follow the canon storyline, it is now Helvar's turn in the spotlight. Given his more "comedic relief" role as a character, this chapter is also a bit more light than usual, even with the added details about Corvo's teacher and a tiny bit about his mother this time around. Piece by piece we're adding more and more informations to his past. I hope that, by the end of the Samurai campaign, I have managed to paint a more complete picture. Because as they say, we do not plan things ahead here, we march on with no airbags or parachutes and die like men.

I'll be seeing you next time with the next character: Runa the Valkyrie!

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!