This story was lovingly edited by Wesley Au, you're the boss!

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The sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing softly through the grass. The river was flowing soundlessly and the birds were chirping with delight. Summer had gifted them with yet another beautiful day.

At the entrance of Sophia Village stood five people, backpacks stuck to their backs full of clothing and food. Two of the children present would not see the village for a long time and they were giving the town a good farewell. The brown haired boy stood on top of the East Bridge as he looked at the majestic entrance of his childhood home. The blue haired boy was stuck in the embrace of his father, who sadly couldn’t join them on their journey.

“It is time,” said Uncle Max who was looking at this scene with some annoyance.

“Alright,” said Olaf and the big man squeezed his boy tightly one last time before letting go. He took a step back and looked at his son. “Ragnar, know that whatever happens at the Academy, always remember that you’ve got a home to return to.” His face was serious and his eyes were reflecting the surroundings brightly.

“Off course I will, dad, this place will always be my home,” said the young boy with a quivering voice. He knew that he wouldn’t see his father for the next year.

“And Mia, please listen to Uncle Max on the trip,” continued Olaf as he looked at his daughter. “Also make sure to come home right away, or else papa is going to be lonely.” It was painfully obvious that he was trying to stay strong in front of his children, but he never shed a tear.

“I will dad, I’m not enrolling in the academy just yet, don’t you worry,” said the little girl with a large smile on her face. She didn’t have to say her goodbyes just yet as she would return soon after, but she knew that her father was crying in his heart.

“Got your things, Ragnar?” asked Uncle Max.

Ragnar looked back at his backpack and nodded.

“Alright, then we’re off. We’ll be back in 10 days, Olaf,” said Uncle Max. “I’ll keep your little princess safe. You’ve got my word.”

And with these words the group of travelers, led by Uncle Max, started to walk away from Sophia Village across the East Bridge. When they reached the other side both boys stopped to turn around and wave at Olaf. He waved back. They each took a deep breath and turned around again and never looked back.

The big blue haired man was watching the childrens’ backs until they went over the horizon and kept staring at the road until the sun went down. His heart was trembling, his eyes had started to water up and small streams of water reflected from the man’s angular cheeks.

His only son was just sent to the Academy to learn how to kill. His youthful innocence would be lost forever, turning him into a true man of war. Would any parent wish for this?

—-

Three Days Later

“Are we there yet?” asked Mia as she was happily skipping next to Uncle Max.

“For the thousandth time, no!” he said with an agitated voice. “We’ve still got two days of walking left, now stop asking!” And he shooed her away by waving both his hands. The girl took the hint and ran over to the two boys that were walking a few meters behind.

Ragnar and Ymil were already bored with their road trip. It had been three days since they left Sophia Village and they hadn’t encountered anyone else. They were traveling through a forest but no magical beast had attacked them yet. That would have been much more entertaining than just walking along the road.

“Geez, why is this part of the country so empty?” asked Ragnar. “Where are all the beasts?”

“They have all been hunted down. This forest is really close to the capital and wild beasts are a luxurious commodity,” answered Ymil.

“Then why are there so few travelers on this road?”

“Because this road leads to peaceful places where no fighting occurs. Apparently the borders are much more populated,” replied Ymil. He’d read a few books on the subject and Uncle Max had explained some of it in more detail when he asked about it.

“Why would those places be so much livelier?” asked Mia. She’d always wondered why Sophia was such a peaceful village.

“Because they’re fighting, I guess?” answered Ymil as he held up both his hands.

“That’s right,” Uncle Max had apparently heard their conversation. “The border with the Xenth Empire is an economical hotspot because there is a constant need for food and weaponry. The seaside cities have the same problem, their constant fighting with the sea creatures consumes a lot of supplies.”

The children thought about that for a second. In their entire lives, they’d only encountered the odd few monsters and bandits, but none were truly devastatingly strong. According to Ymil’s books, the sea creatures attack humans in order to eat their flesh. It isn’t a necessity for them, but apparently they got to taste a pirate’s hand at some point and found it to their liking. They were rough, deadly and merciless. The seaside cities had to make sure those creatures didn’t attack the rest of the country.

As they were discussing the state of the country, three specks of black contrasted with the light brown of the dirt road. Three hooded figures were standing on the middle of the road barring the way for any travelers.

“Children, please listen up,” said Uncle Max as he eyed the three men. He slowed down to meet their pace and whispered, “Those guys don’t seem to be up to anything good. Be prepared to run into the forest on my command. I’ll try to handle them.”

The three children nodded. Uncle Max might be a stick in the mud, but he knew his stuff.

As the group approached the three figures, their outlines because much more defined. They each wore the same black robe and covered their faces with a black cloth. A sword was dangling from two of their belts, the middle one appeared to be unarmed.

“Halt, travelers,” said the middle man and he took a step forward. “This is New Halram territory, if you want to proceed you’ll have to pay up.”

Uncle Max’s face grimaced and motioned the children to take a step back. He looked around him and then faced the man, asking “Alright, kind sir. What might that price be?”

“1 gold per adult, 20 silver per child,” said the middle man as he was looking at the slender man in front of him.

“That price seems to be a bit too high,” said Uncle Max, astonished. Twenty silver was enough to feed an entire family for a month and one gold was five times that amount.

“Prices are what they are,” said the man. He then took a stance and a blade appeared in his hands. It was a pink bladed cutlass, the hilt was made of brass and a yellow stone was stuck to the bottom of the hilt.

The other two men unsheathed their weapons and also took a defensive stance.

“Please don’t make this harder than it has to be,” said the man with the pink sword.

“Kids, I believe this is your cue to get out of here,” said Uncle Max and he lifted his hands to his head. His soul was a book, it wouldn’t help him in combat.

Before turning around to sprint into the forest, Ymil quickly asked, “What do we do with the other two?”

“I leave those guys to you,” replied Uncle Max as he looked back at the boy. His face revealed a sinister smile. Seeing the kids nod and run away, he turned back to his opponent and asked, “So, kind sir, want me to play with your little pink sword? Can’t imagine you can please a woman with that.” Uncle looked at them as if to provoke them.

The man was surprised, did that kid… Wait a minute, did this man just make fun of his soul?!

Mad with anger, he charged at the man in front of him. His sword extended, he intended to finish the fight in a single blow.

But Uncle Max took a single step to the side and avoided the thrust effortlessly.

“Are you always this forceful?” he asked as he gracefully turned his body. “No wonder you’re not popular with the ladies.”

The man stumbled further and fell to the ground. His comrades had seen this happening and started their attack as well. The kids didn’t matter, this man had just insulted their friend!

—-

The children rushed between the trees as fast as they could. The woods were densely forested and they swallowed a few bugs as they ran.

Ragnar slowed his pace a bit. “Alright, Mia, you keep running,” commanded Ragnar. “Ymil and I stay back for a bit.”

“But why?” Mia asked.

“We’re going to take care of the other two,” replied Ymil who stood beside her.

“That’s right, there were two more men hidden in the forest, probably to help their comrades in case of emergency. They started to pursue us the moment we ran,” said Ragnar. “So we’re going to take care of them.”

“Please let me help!” pleaded Mia.

Ymil shook his head, “No Mia, these guys are dangerous. I know you’re good with your hammer but these guys aren’t like any monsters we’ve fought.”

“But I…” Mia didn’t like feeling useless in these situations. She was always considered the weakest because she’s both the youngest and the only girl.

“Look, we don’t have time for this. You can come with me,” said Ragnar. “Just be prepared to defend yourself.”

“Alright!” She exclaimed cheerfully.

“Okay, Ymil, you go left, Mia and I go right. That way our pursuers are forced to split up.” He looked at Ymil with a serious look.

“Yes, I can handle myself. Good luck to you guys!” And he dashed off into the woods.

“Mia, we’re running too. I fight better in open places,” said Ragnar. Mia nodded and they quickly ran in the other direction.

—-

There was barely any sunlight in this forest, the large canopy overhead blocked most of light that would come in, leaving the ground dark and humid. It was also fairly warm, hot enough for tropical trees to have grown in the odd places. Birds were flying in every direction and bugs were making chirping sounds. Some monkeys could even be seen swinging in the tree tops as the two blue haired children tried to outrun their pursuer.

Although Mia was heavily focused on her running, Ragnar was observing his surroundings whenever he could. Unlike Ymil, who sensed people through spiritual fluctuations, Ragnar used his ability to sense any movement. He had trained his senses to the best of his abilities in order to be able to receive and counter any incoming attacks.

As he was absorbing the forest into his mind, he would also sense the presence of their pursuer. He was really good at concealing his movements and Ragnar had lost track of him on multiple occasions. They were a rough 50 meters ahead of him but this distance was rapidly closing.

As he was contemplating what to do, he felt a cold breeze of wind brush against his cheeks.

“This way!” he shouted and darted in the direction the wind had come from. Mia followed her brother without question, quietly following.

As they ran, they exited the forest and were blinded by the bright light they encountered. Momentarily blinded, Ragnar lost track of their pursuer again.

“Alright, this spot seems all right,” he shouted and took a few step away from the forest. He took one step forward and summoned his icy blade. Mia rushed behind him and quickly summoned her favorite weapon, the hammer with golden patterns.

They stood there, facing the forest for a few seconds when a big-bellied man came walking out of the forest. He was nothing like the three bandits they had just met, this man was wearing khaki baggy pants and an open red vest that is clearly too small for his size. His chest was fully visible and there was a forest of hair on it. He had dark brown hair and a dirty mustache that made him look older than he actually was.

“There you are, lil’ brats!” shouted the man. “You kids sure know how to make a grown man run for his money.”

“Looks like you could use the exercise,” shouted Mia over Ragnar’s shoulder.

The man sneered, “what did you say, little girl?!” His eyes narrowed as he looked at the two children.

“She said that you are fat, little piglet,” said Ragnar while raising his sword slightly. The man could attack at any moment.

“Aw bollocks, and here I was sure I’d let you live because you were cute lil’ pugs,” said the man and he placed both his hands in front of him, gripping the air as if it were the hilt of a sword. “But now I won’t feel bad for killing you.”

As he said that, he summoned his soul to his hands. With a flash of red, a large steel colored machete appeared in his hands. The surroundings reflected from the blade’s sides because the surface was extremely well polished.

“See kids, I used to be a butcher. Pigs, cows, horses, you name it. Then my village was ransacked by bandits,” said the man as he took a similar stance as Ragnar, they were both wielding large sword-like weapons after all.

“And I regret to say this, but this blade has cut nothing but humans for a while,” he said with a sad look on his face as he looked at his blade. He then stood upright and proclaimed: “But it’s all for a good cause! With this weapon I will cleave my way to a brighter future!”

Seeing the man’s attention shift a bit he started to advance. He rushed forward with his sword extended. Mia still stood on the side, watching her brother rush towards the oversized man.

“Woah!” shouted the man. “At least let me finish!”

As he saw Ragnar approach he took a step back, preparing to parry the blow. Lifting the hilt of his sword to his shoulder, he looked at the youth that was painstakingly going to thrust his sword forward.

Ragnar stopped in front of his opponent, but instead of thrusting his blade forward, he rotated his entire body. Creating momentum with his spinning body, Ragnar initiated an overhead cleave, aiming for the man’s shoulders.

He didn’t expect this blow, but that didn’t really matter. He only shifted the edge of his blade slightly and the mirror like surface of his soul reflected the sunlight in Ragnar’s eyes. Blinded by the sudden light, Ragnar slowed down just slightly, enough for his opponent to drop down and kick him in his stomach.

The kick was extremely powerful. It contained enough force to not only cause Ragnar to stop his attack, he was also sent flying backwards for two meters falling into a pile of dirt.

“That’s dirty!” shouted Mia, who had seen it happen.

(Narrator: Involuntary pun, I swear!)

The man didn’t react to her, his counter-offensive had started. No that Ragnar was on the ground, the man raised his machete over his head and swung it down at the downed boy.

Ragnar didn’t waste a moment, his sword started to glow bright blue.

—-

Ymil’s pursuer was different from the fat man. This attacker was clad entirely in dark green drapes, the colors blending well with the leaves of surrounding trees. His hair was dark brown, just like the butcher, but he had it tied in a ponytail at the back of his head.

After seeing the kids split up, he gave up all pretense of subterfuge and pursued Ymil openly. They had run around the forest for a while before Ymil was out of breath.

“I have to admit, boy,” said the green clad man as he approached the tired boy. “I was surprised you guys had figured us out. How’d you know?”

“Your,” puffed Ymil. “internal. Energies.”

The man was surprised. Detecting others using their energy flows wasn’t commonly taught to commoners, let alone a mere boy. If he truly learned it at this age, he must have an exceptional tutor.

“Boy, we could use men like you,” said the man as he pointed his hand at Ymil. “You’ve got the potential to be the greatest missionary for the New Halram Army.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that the word of a bandit would convince me,” Ymil had apparently recovered somewhat. He was preparing to face his opponent. He lifted his fists to his head.

The man sighed, “I guess we started off on the wrong foot. Don’t hate me for this.”

The stranger lifted both his hands in front of him and two black blades appeared. The two knives were made of pitch black metal, a single yellow stone stuck to the hilt of the knife in his right hand.

“Why don’t you materialize your soul, boy?” asked the man as he saw Ymil prepare to fight bare-handed.

“I can’t right now,” replied Ymil and he lunged forward.

Ymil was within the man’s range within three seconds, which gave the bandit barely enough time to react. Ymil’s first punch was directed at the man’s face, which seemed the least protected. A normal opponent would have been struck, but this man’s weapons were light and his reaction speed was quick.

The punch met the hilt of his dagger, deflecting the force past his body. Ymil’s body rushed past but never lost balance. As he passed his opponent he bent forward and lifted his hind leg, the foot aiming for his head again.

This time it connected, the blow hit the man fully in the face and he was pushed out of balance. It created a deadly opening in the opponent’s defenses.

But one should not forget that the man was wielding knives and Ymil quickly took a step away from his opponent, avoiding the wild slashes the man was dishing out as he was falling down.

*plof*

Ymil watched the man land on his butt, smiling faintly at the fact that he was a match for this adult.

*swoosh*

His amusement was quickly replaced with surprise when the man threw one of his daggers. He couldn’t dodge the blade and it hit him on his right hip.

“ARGH!” screamed Ymil as he grasped for the wound. The knife was already gone, but the wound was definitely still there. It wasn’t a very deep wound, but Ymil would be limping for days.

“Give up, boy,” said the man as he sat up. “Nobody survives a puncture wound like that.”

But Ymil didn’t give up, he knew that his Spirit Brace had lessened the impact quite heavily, the wound wasn’t as severe as the man thought.

“Aye ‘tis but a scratch,” said Ymil as he stuck a thumb in the wound. The bleeding stopped considerably.

“Allow me to kill you off swiftly,” the man stood up and readied his knives.

Knowing he couldn’t fight head to head in his current state, Ymil chose to retreat. He ran into the forest, as fast as he could, leaving a small trail of blood behind.

The man in green smiled and started to follow his prey at a leisurely pace.