The Grand Duelist

Ezreal stood nervously in front of a wooden door.

In his hands was a wooden tray with a steaming hot bowl of vegetables on top of it. Beside the bowl was a glass of water, and a jug of alcohol.

Although the size of the jug of alcohol greatly contrasted the size of the other objects placed on top of the tray.

Ezreal didn't look like he was having any problem holding the tray.

His hands remained steady and unmoving.

But the beaded sweat that formed on his forehead made it obvious that Ezreal was incredibly nervous.

Why wouldn't he be nervous? 

When Ezreal successfully escaped from Reinhardt through the use of the Bead of Absolute Escape. He was severely injured from Krid's outburst.

He thought for sure that he would die at that moment since it was impossible for him to endure the attack of a furious Legend. But unexpectedly, Krid didn't attack him out of anger.

Instead, Krid merely gave a bitter smile before walking towards this room in front of Ezreal right now and never coming out once again. 

At first, Ezreal thought that Krid became depressed from what he and his master did, and Krid may have already committed suicide inside the room. Although this idea was flawed since Krid didn't want to die until he was reunited with his granddaughter and disciple.

Ezreal thought that it was still necessary to check for his brother Krid's well-being.

But he wasn't able to enter the room. There was a barrier made out of Mana in front of the door.

The strength of the barrier wasn't that strong.

Ezreal reckoned that he could easily break it with a single palm strike.

But he didn't dare to do so...

After all, inside that room was Senior Krid whose mentality was definitely unstable.

Ezreal didn't want to take any chances for he was afraid of accidentally exacerbating Krid's anger towards him.

"Sigh... I guess I can only leave this here." Ezreal placed the tray he was carrying on the ground.

He turned around and made a final glance at the door of the sealed room.

But before he could even take a step forward...

Krid's voice from inside the room stopped him in his tracks.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to give me some food? Don't leave them there, come here." 

Ezreal couldn't decipher what Krid's emotions through his words. He could only turn towards the door, lift the tray from the ground and walk inside the room with a somewhat nervous expression on his face.

He raised his head and he found Krid before a wooden table.

In front of Krid were several dozens of goatskin parchments.

"What are those, brother?"

Ezreal subconsciously uttered when he saw the drawings and labels contained within the goatskin parchments scattered face-up on top of the table.

"Oh, these? They are blueprints." 

"Blueprints? Like outlines that will guide you in your work?" Ezreal asked.

Krid nodded and smiled, "Yes, that's right."

Ezreal lifted his head and stared at Krid. Complicated emotions flashed across his face.

He looked like he wanted to speak, but not before Krid asked him something.

"Don't you want to know about why I am studying these blueprints? Look at them, do they not look familiar to you?" Krid revealed a teasing look as he gestured towards the blueprints scattered above the table.

Ezreal stared at the blueprints and he seemed to have understood something as he exclaimed, "Wait, they really look familiar! They look like the Rapier of Grandeur and Beauty!"

"Hahaha, that's right! These blueprints are for the Primary Weapon of your master, the Grand Duelist. Ever since I received that revelation from the previous Grand Duelist. I knew that I had to make these things in advance." Krid laughed out loud and a smug look appeared on his face.

"You made all of these in advance?" Ezreal absentmindedly uttered.

His gaze deeply scrutinized the blueprints on the table and he couldn't help but focus at one of them. He tried turning his eyes towards the other blueprints, but his eyes felt like they were glued on that particular blueprint. He couldn't turn his gaze away nor close his eyes.

What the fuck? What is going on? Why can't I move my eyes? Wait, I can't even turn my head! 

A panicked expression appeared on Ezreal's face, but then Krid's laughter suddenly rang out. Awakening him from his reverie. But his shock further deepened when he found himself out of breath after only staring at one of the blueprints for a few seconds.

"I forgot to warn you, my brother. You're not supposed to stare at them for a long time. These blueprints are imbued with my Divinity and the will of the previous Grand Duelist. If you take a look at them for too long then your eyes would've burst into bloody mists..."

Ezreal bitterly stared a Krid, "Why didn't you tell me about that earlier, brother..."

"Well, you looked so excited."

"Why wouldn't I be excited? These are the blueprints for master's weapon, you know? These are the blueprints for the weapon of the current generation's Grand Duelist! How can I not be excited about that?" Ezreal fiercely retorted and Krid lightly chuckled before tapping his shoulders.

"I do understand what you feel, you don't have to explain yourself any further." A rare smile surfaced on Krid's lips.

He heaved a sigh and said, "Us devotees of the Grand Duelist really understand each other, don't you think?" He even winked towards Ezreal's direction causing the latter to feel somewhat strange.

If I recall correctly, this brother of mine only had a single lover in his entire life. Since his lover died, he never pursued another woman. But why?

Ezreal thought about the wink that Krid gave to him and a shiver ran down his spine as he hurriedly shook his head and dispersed the terrifying thoughts that appeared in his mind.

When he awakened from his trance, he hurriedly changed the topic.

A somber and hesitant look appeared on his face as he said, "Brother, why are you treating me like this? Are you not angry at me?"

Krid stared at Ezreal and said, "Nope, I'm not."

When Ezreal received his reply.

Cold sweat dripped down his back and he felt inexplicably nervous. He couldn't understand why, but he felt that it was far better for Krid to give a lengthy reply than to directly say that he wasn't angry at him. 

"Are you really not angry at me, brother?" 

This time, Krid didn't reply. Instead, he stretched his hand out towards the steamy hot bowl filled with vegetables. Wolfed it down in an instant, before reaching for a jug of alcohol and also chugged it down. All of these took time to describe but it only happened in a few seconds.

By the time Ezreal realized what happened, Krid released a mighty burped that awakened Ezreal from his reverie.

Krid then proceeded to act like nothing happened as he calmly replied to Ezreal's question from earlier, "As I said, I'm really not angry at you my brother. In fact, I realized how selfish I was for trying to sacrifice my own life in exchange for the life of my granddaughter."

Ezreal turned to look at Krid, but he didn't speak. He felt like Krid was about to say something so he kept his silence.

"Ever since that good granddaughter of mine stayed with me, she had never really experienced a childhood that every child in this world should experience. Apart from the hammer, the anvil, and the sword..."

"She had no other friends than me. But I admit that I was prepared to give up my life for her sake, but after what your master did. I realized that I was too selfish."

"I imagined how she would react to my sacrifice, and according to her attitude. I am pretty sure that once I died for her sake. She would thoroughly devote herself to the legacy that I would leave, the pursuit of creating the strongest weapon in this world. Furthermore, I am sure that she would also not rest until she gets revenge against the Kingdom."

"Now, do you think that she deserves a life like that? I already deprived her of her childhood, and if I died then my selfishness would also deprive her of her adult life. That is completely opposite to what I wish for her!"

"I want her to mature like an ordinary young woman. I want her to adore someone, fall in love with that someone, give birth to kids. Raise them up, and eventually die, proud and happy while surrounded by her grandsons and granddaughters..."

"That is something that I wish for her." A rueful smile appeared on Krid's lips as he continued.

"But I do admit at this part that I am also displaying my selfishness..."

"After all, even though my intentions for her future are pure. Everything that I wanted for her was something that I haven't achieved myself. I want her to live a life that I desired all this while. That is all that I want..."

"Until I see that she has a bright future ahead of her and she can finally wean from my protection, I cannot die until I see that day." 

Krid lightly chuckled and Ezreal stared at him absentmindedly. Although he knew that these were Krid's main motivations in life. He never really thought that much about it until now.

He thought that Krid was just acting like a grandfather to her disciple, but it turned out that he really was this serious about it.

But then a bitter smile of envy appeared on Ezreal's lips.

He envied Krid's motivations in life, he wanted to have the same motivations as Krid, but something like that couldn't really be forced. 

Would there be a day when I will also have the same motivations as his? The motivation to protect something or someone, and the excitement of seeing them grow until they have the ability to be independent away from your protection? Will I also have that day in the future? 

Well, of course. It's not like I do not want to have kids, but I am not talking about kids in this context. When I ran away from home, I didn't really have any motivations behind my escape apart from wanting to spread the word about the myths. Now, I am feeling a little bit lost as to why am I still here.

Ah! 

I know...

A light smile escaped from Ezreal's lips.

Krid noticed Ezreal's smile and he couldn't help but comment: "So you finally realized it, eh?" 

"Yeah..."

"As long as I keep on following my master's tracks..."

"I am sure that someday, I will find the reason for my existence! Until that day arrives, I shall not leave my master's side!"

Ezreal revealed a rare look of determination on his face and Krid couldn't help but chuckle: "Wow, so someone like you who's probably older than me can also have a mid-life crisis?"

Ezreal's figure visibly trembled and he turned to look at Krid with a bitter smile: "Brother can you not do me like that?"

"Hahaha..." Krid chortled and he then stood up, stretched his languid body before turning to look at Ezreal with a wide smile on his face: "How about we set that aside for now and do some work?"

Ezreal looked at him with confusion, "Some work?"

Krid gestured at the blueprints on the table and answered: "Yes, let's work together and find the most appropriate blueprint for the Primary Weapon of The Grand Duelist and your master!"

Ezreal instantly shot up from his seat before excitedly rushing towards Krid's side. He didn't even say anything in reply.