TALMAN TALES - NEW WORLD ORDER

  Chapter 4 – New Paths, Old Lessons

  We had already been traveling for a year, wandering through unknown lands, full of motivation to carry Sensei Bi-Shi-Zu’s teachings out into the world. During those days on the road, we couldn’t yet fully unleash our potential—but that didn’t matter to us. Even through simple tasks like shopping for an old lady, looking after the child of a man who had no one else, or mowing the lawn for someone who was no longer able to do it, we were able to learn a lot. And most importantly: it always brought joy to us and to the people we helped.

  Every day was different and yet, in a way, always the same—but that didn’t bother us. Our first year on the road had flown by. We worked hard every single day and managed to save up a small fortune in Olevs. One day, we arrived in a town called Ohnsheim. Just as we passed through the city gate, I laid eyes on the first great love of my life: Edharts Casino.

  I did everything I could to convince Aurelia to come into the place with me, but she refused. We had made an agreement: we would split our savings of 4,000 Olevs, each of us getting 2,000 Olevs to spend as we pleased. I didn’t need long to think and headed straight toward Edharts Casino. When I opened the door, the owner, a friendly young man named Edi Edhart, greeted me with the words: “If you want to multiply your capital, you’ve come to the right place, young man. Come in—but before you do, tell me your name.”

  I was completely blown away by the sight in front of me. When I finally managed to tear my eyes away from this magnificent building, I replied, “Greetings to you as well. My name is Zeki Talman. Would you tell me yours too?”

  Edi Edhart said that his friends simply called him Edi. This young man radiated calm and composure in abundance. Because of that, you felt at ease around him. Once the registration was finally done, I used my Olevs to buy 4,000 Editaler from Edi. One Editaler was worth 50 Furks or half an Olev. And so my journey into fortune finally began. I was certain I would win—after all, Edi seemed incredibly trustworthy.

  I sat down at the table of a dice game with three men, all of whom, judging by their looks, were at least twice my age. The goal of the game was to get as close as possible to the number that was rolled. There was also an additional die that determined the color. The men explained that if the exact number you picked was rolled, you would win ten times your bet. If you were the player whose number was closest to the rolled number, you’d get double your bet back. Then there were the colors red, black, and green, each adding a bonus multiplier. Red multiplied the winnings by four, black did the same, and green multiplied them by ten. On top of that, Edharts Casino had a special rule: a win with the highest possible number, 12, would pay out twenty times the bet.

  I chose red 7 as my lucky number and bet 500 Olevs on red 7 every single round. But I didn’t win a single one. In the end, I placed my last 500 Olevs—not on red 7 like before, but on green 10. You can probably guess what happened: red 7 was rolled. The number 7 had cursed me and shattered my will. I had no money left and left the casino—at least with a complimentary drink from the house of Edhart.

  Aurelia showed up again at just the right moment. She had done her shopping: new clothes, provisions for the journey, and a larger wallet.

  She still had 100 Olevs left, and I managed to convince her to pay Edi a visit as well. After the formalities, she sat down at the table with the men and invested her 200 Editaler wisely on green 12. I couldn’t believe my eyes when green 12 was actually rolled and Aurelia suddenly won 6,000 Editaler in one go. She jumped into the air with joy and remembered the day when I had won our bet during training. Of course she had to pay me back properly—karma had taken its time, but in the end, it got me. Overjoyed, Aurelia danced around and mocked me.

  I guess fate didn’t want Aurelia to continue our journey with an empty wallet. But luck wasn’t meant to favor only her, because the most exciting event of our journey so far was just around the corner. We left the casino—one of us more cheerful than the other—when suddenly a young boy ran through the streets, desperately calling for help. Naturally, that caught our attention. We spoke to him, and the boy told us about his sick mother, who had no money for medicine. He also explained that the medicine was very hard to come by and therefore cost a small fortune: 2,500 Olevs.

  Aurelia flinched when she heard the amount. But for her, donating the Olevs she had just won to help the boy’s mother was the only right thing to do in that situation. When the boy heard that Aurelia was willing to pay for the medicine, he could hardly put his gratitude into words. He immediately started crying and hugged her tightly. He said that in his twelve years on this world, nothing this good had ever happened to him.

  I could feel his joy and gratitude clearly, and my mood visibly lifted as well. I was incredibly happy. The boy had lived his whole life in Ohnsheim and knew the area well. We learned that the only place where this medicine could be found was on a remote mountain, a two-day march away. The herb only grew on that specific mountain.

  So we set off immediately, with the boy accompanying us, since he was the only one who knew the way. It was the perfect chance to learn more about him. His name was Neo Rückmann—a boy who had lost his father very young in a work accident and who had been fighting for bare survival with his mother every single day since then. Over the course of those two days, he proved himself to be one of the few truly good souls left in the world. Despite being only twelve, Neo was very clever and managed to save us quite a bit of time on the road. His negotiation skills were impressive as well. According to Neo, he had used to work with his father at the city market, selling the items his father forged by hand. He always carried a small, blood-red sword with him, forged from a rare material called “Lasir-Stein”—his greatest treasure and the only thing he had left from his beloved father.

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  Neo quickly became a good friend of the group, but we knew the chances of seeing him again after delivering the medicine were slim. At last, we reached an old hut near the top of the mountain. An old man named Schredlo was already waiting for us. He gave us the long-awaited herb. Thanks to Neo’s crafty negotiating, he managed to get it for 2,000 Olevs. We were incredibly grateful to have Neo with us.

  Finally, we began our journey back to Ohnsheim. On the way, we encountered all sorts of creatures. The most notable were the massive stone golems we spotted from higher ground as they marched in formation. Having grown up in a big city, I had never realized how many beautiful beings roamed this world.

  Other than that, nothing particularly special happened during our return. After four long days, we finally made it back and headed straight to Neo’s house to give his mother the medicine. The boy was endlessly grateful and again started crying uncontrollably from happiness. Sensei Bi-Shi-Zu had taught us kindness, and we did our best to live up to it. Neo’s joy was a reward for us in itself.

  But even though those four long days had passed, evil had beaten us to it. For the first time in our lives, Aurelia and I were forced to show what we had learned in combat. On the property, we encountered twenty ominous creatures that were in the middle of taking over the house. These “men” were about 1.95 meters tall, had no faces, and looked badly decomposed. The sight of them made me think of my parents, of waking up with them in that trash bin.

  The men saw us and attacked immediately. I grabbed my football and beheaded two of them who came charging at me. Their heads exploded when I blasted them with full force, leaving behind a pool of blood so hot that the grass around it caught fire.

  Neo was terrified and retreated, protected by Aurelia’s shield. While Aurelia gathered her strength, she also had to stop the men rushing at her. With her bow, she never missed: five shots, five hits, each one straight into the creatures’ hearts—but it had no effect. The situation wasn’t improving, so Aurelia decided to gamble with fate. She withdrew her magic shield from Neo and, in the same moment, unleashed a hailstorm of stones she had pulled from the ground, raining them down on the creatures. Every single one of them dropped motionless to the floor, while I managed to take out eight more.

  Five were left. Aurelia took care of four of them with another barrage of stones. One remained standing in our way—but this monster was different from the others. He was over two meters tall, with a long beard and the aura of a leader. We could tell this fight wouldn’t be over quickly, but I still didn’t want to waste any time and tried to finish it fast. I ran up and launched my football straight at his ugly head with full force—no effect. He caught the ball and hurled it back at me at tremendous speed. I was wrecked by my own weapon.

  Curled up on the ground in pain, I lost my composure. After all that training, after all those days of giving everything I had, I was brutally brought back to reality. Aurelia tried everything she could with her magic—torturing him with magic lightning, no effect. The stone barrage? No effect. Not even her shield, meant to protect her, could withstand his attacks. The leader’s blows were simply too strong, and all I could do was watch as Aurelia, after her shield finally shattered, was sent flying several meters by a single punch before slamming into a rock.

  To this day, I don’t really know what happened in my head at that moment, but when I saw that, I felt something change inside me. My pain vanished from one second to the next, and my body began to change. My skin turned blood red. I was now looking the man straight in the eye; my rage was boiling over. My reflexes, my sense of smell—everything changed and, for a brief moment, it was as if I had become someone else entirely.

  Consumed with hatred, I charged at the man and landed a flurry of blows that finally showed some effect—but still not enough to bring this demon down.

  I knew these newly awakened powers wouldn’t last forever, and I tried to end the fight quickly. But the longer it dragged on, the weaker I became, until the villain managed to knock me down again. The situation seemed hopeless. Just as I was once again crawling on the ground and my journey appeared to be coming to an end, Neo showed why he should never be underestimated. While I had been fighting, he had climbed up a tree to calmly watch the battle from above. It didn’t take him long to spot the creature’s weak point: its neck.

  Just as I was about to be finished off and the man came closer and closer to me, Neo seized the perfect moment. He drew his little sword, which suddenly began to shine as bright as the sun. Shouting, “YOU DON’T GET TO HURT MY FRIENDS, NOT IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS! TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!”, he leaped down and struck the two-meter-tall demon right in the neck. It worked. The creature collapsed immediately and dissolved into thin air.

  But one problem remained. Neo’s mother, who desperately needed the medicine, wasn’t there. Aurelia and I summoned what little strength we had left and carried the medicine into the house. But what awaited us there was a shock: the bed was empty. A trail of blood led to the living room—then suddenly stopped. Neo’s mother was nowhere to be found.

  Completely broken, the boy collapsed in tears. He had officially lost his last anchor in life, any reason to go on—no strength, no will, no purpose. I understood his situation all too well. I had once been in the exact same place before I met Sensei Bi-Shi-Zu. So, just as I had learned from him, I tried to put his teachings into practice. Still weakened from the fight, I took Neo aside. Just as my sensei had once done for me, I had a deep conversation with him. Aurelia supported me wholeheartedly.

  “Neo,” I said, “I know exactly how you feel right now. I went through the same thing. I lost my strong father and my wonderful mother in a single instant. I can feel your thoughts, the urge to give up—I’ve seen it all with my own eyes. But I won’t deny your strength. You’re incredibly smart, and no matter how bad things get, you manage to keep a clear head. You were the one who saved my life. Without you, your courage, and your sharp mind, my journey would have ended today. I want to ask you to join us. Start your own path with us—to protect other families from this fate, to stand for what is good in this cruel world, to overcome your grief and pain and turn them into strength. I’m asking you, Neo: join us.”

  

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