We arrived in front of a big round building and there were lots of statues of people I didn't know and colorful draperies.

I didn't understand anything but the priest Damien could explain it to me and the runic writings underneath, I could read but the words didn't say anything.

Then I recognized Dad, Iolo, the hero Shepard, Dupré and others I had not yet met.

I recognized the copy of Dad's axe except that the real one was not made of gold with stones but a simple iron one and solid.

Then a bust with the bad guys and the terrible Exodus here in 1/3 scale, still very impressive.

You could see the sword in his chest and blood painted on and I got a shiver.

It must have hurt him.

Thinking about it I felt like that pain.

I felt sorry for this beautiful creature that everyone thought was scary.

Then we came to background paint recreations of jungles, swamps and stuffed monsters.

There was also a library with books for sages and nobles who wanted to consult the bestiary codex. There were also skeletons and dried reapers. Some deranged nobles kept this type of monster to do degeu stuff, other buddies told me.

Dad then told me where they had found the Mondain codex and that it was carefully kept under a glass bell

Then some boring stuff to do with the virtues and how to measure them but it was a trick to finance the templesBut dad insisted...; some monsters, magic and brute force are not enough to reach them. Especially specters, ghosts and ghosts that are not very niceYou had to be balanced so that your weapon could touch it... Otherwise you would die!

I mean, I have my whole life to figure out how this mysterious thing works.

It's a thing with the 8 virtues and I only see 7...

I'll come back when we're older.

I was disappointed with the museum which looked more like a mausoleum than anything else.

In a word, it was boring...

The part for the monsters was forbidden to non mages or non wise men and only daddy could go there and his friends.

But I wanted to go out...Please...

"Daddy... Daddy. Is it over?"

Ragul "I see that you didn't like it..."

"Dad... it's old people stuff... You can't touch anything or see it up close and the monsters are all dried and stuffed. They're not scary at all..."

Ragul: "Other children would have cried...but I understand"

To take our minds off things, we strategically passed by the brolly and toy shop again. Daddy passed by and I was saddened except... he turned around and offered me a wooden sword.

"A WOODEN SWORD!"

It was solid and had an iron handle and a metal guard for practicing wrists. There was a nice suede scabbard with it and Iolo offered me a wooden armor, to train my weight.

I jumped on the neck of my letter carriers and we rushed to the exit.

It was time to go back. There was a moonlight run the next day as well and we both met up at Cove. I was looking forward to seeing my friends from Cove and also from Britannia.

It was evening and I could smell the good smell of soup waiting for us and a spit turned and some roots cooked to sharpen the meal.

I jumped on mom's neck and Saphie had come to stay the night to welcome us.

Several days passed and Dad taught me how to do reels, the poses and sequences to remember and the basics of boots.

To tap, I didn't use my beautiful sword but a stick that I had carved myself. A year passed, then two and Dad started training me with the knife and then the axe.

My main training was to... splitting logs and cutting dead and dry trees.

Then put the logs away to dry. It was heavy but I was building muscle...

I didn't even have to practice.When I picked up the small axe, the shock would bounce back into my arm.

So I picked up the adult's axe, much to Dad's astonishment.

"Can you hold it with one hand? I have to take both after a few moments".

My strength was almost abnormal but dad thought I must have the makings of a champion...Then, when I was 8 years old, one evening I was leaning against the wall of the house, peeling an apple with my penknife, I recognized familiar footsteps.

"Rjhhh"

"BLIZZARD!!!! You're back!"

The brave beast had returned with his foal and mare. Daddy was smiling and offered the horse family some apples they loved.

Ragul: "You see the colt... when he is ready, and you too, you can ride him if he becomes your friend."

"Dad? But how?"

"Blizzard is a companion, more than a horse. You can form an unbreakable bond, and both you and he can rely on each other. We've saved each other's lives many times and believe me, he can fight.

He has already knocked out brigands from behind with irons. His sixth sense has also gotten me out of trouble with the creatures of the shadows.

He knows how to see what we can't see, and for that, he's an excellent horse."

"Ohh!"

"Now it's your turn to play..."

Thus, I had an animal playmate.

But Dad had given me an absolute rule: "You don't try to ride or load or rope a friend. He's the one who decides and comes to get you..."

I decided to call him Milo, which means "the wind that blows" in old Britain.

At the end of my nine years, I was beaten by dad in a duel every morning. We didn't get hurt, but I got hurt a lot.

Ragul "You rely too much on your strength! Look, you are stronger than me. Thanks to Thor... but you need to increase your speed and technique. The devil is in the details so pay attention."

Then winter and I ran next to milo to catch him but nimble and quick, I slipped between his legs and ended up in a snow drift.

"Milo!!! where are you hiding you run too fast! wait for me!"

From the window mom looked at me and had a little sob

"Esme? Are you okay?"

- From the window: Miloo...Milo where are you?

"Torin... He's growing up too fast...time goes by too fast..."

"I know... I know Esme... Is this the prediction? "

"Yes... I am afraid..."

Ragul: "Yes, I understand... but I have done everything to make him strong and loving and when you look at him, I think we could have done better."

She wrapped her hands around her husband. And my parents were watching me play in the snow with Milo.

The other children would probably come along, but since they were almost grown up, they helped their parents and grandparents when they managed to survive old age and the weight of the ages.

"Milo... I've got you! ... aye!"

I stumbled.and, surprised, I had not heard the young man behind me.

"Hello YOU!"

I turned around, as if terrified to have heard an unfamiliar voice

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

The boy wearing a red pourpoint with crimped iron washers and a green cape knelt down in front of me. All I could see was his black hair, finished in a ponytail

"Ohhh what a beautiful scale? Can I see it?"

It was my lifelong pendant... One day, dad told me, that he would protect me and that I was born with this scale in my hand... Strange... it doesn't make sense... I thought.

Dad then opened the door violently but not too much. In a firm tone he said: "Torin... we are going to leave"

and he went towards me and the stranger then continued his way. Followed by milo, I jumped in the footsteps of my father who had a longer stride.

Then the path covered with a thick layer of snow, the sun reflected with a thousand fires.

Then we arrived in an area where there were monsters that blocked the road. They were giant bats.

They had a body like a ram and horns but also sharp teeth. Dad said to me, "Watch and learn".

He showed me one of his boots and the bat was cut in half and fell to the ground. Then the disengagement technique.

The other 3 had the same fate and there was a fifth one that was damaged. Dad gave me a short sword, more like a bread knife but my strength had to compensate and I also had to be careful not to break the blade.

A bread knife was much cheaper than a basic beginner's sword.

"HANHAAAARGh!"

And I finished off the monster that was my size without flinching or flinching.

"Congratulations... Now you will feel the strength of the monster flowing through you... This is called experience. This is how you level up to become a knight one day..."

In the evening, we were against a rock by a campfire. We were on our way to a hunting shelter higher up. I fell asleep against dad, his warmth at my back protecting me and the fire near my feet doing me a world of good.

Ragul : "Be careful, kid, you'll burn your feet one day.."

But I whispered half asleep: "Dad, you are the strongest in the world! He smiled and held my head to his heart. The next day I was ambushed, but I had the damn habit of making war cries and little roars. After a few jumps, still under Milo's watch, I was out of breath from my battle with Dad.

"You're getting better Torin. I'm proud of you! And I'm proud to be your dad!"