A loud knock wakes me up.

"Get up Blaine, it's already past eight." I hear my mother's impatient voice.

I groan before slowly getting up and rubbing my eyes. Slowly getting dressed, I walk out of my small room to the kitchen where a frugal breakfast awaits, my mother's back to me as she cleans the dishes. Our home is small, but I like it. It's cozy and I can't complain about my family. I'm an only child and my father have been gone for more than a year, but that doesn't bother me. We rarely see him as his work takes him around the world. It might be for the best as they only fight when he is here. Maybe that is why he hasn't come home in so long.

Even with all that, this is a happy and warm home and compared to some other households here in our crappy little village it's good. I have been living here all my life, but I have a big dream. I want to become an adventurer. I'm soon going to be sixteen, and then, when I have become a man, I'm going to travel to sign up and become an adventurer. From there it's only a matter of time before I become a legend. I have been training with wooden swords for the last 3 years in the garden and I even got my first skill last month, [Lesser endurance]! It's not an impressive skill, simply letting me tire out slower, but it's a start!

What I really want is to develop a unique skill, like Charles Remington, the kingdom's most famous adventurer. I heard rumors they were considering adding another adventurer rank above Mithril just for him. News gets here every time the village transporters come back from the capital. Sometimes traders come by but it's rare. [Remington Charge] is only one of the six unique skills known today. I want to grow up fast and make the seventh.

Looking at me worryingly, my mom asks "Dreaming about being an adventurer again?" I know she doesn't want me to become one, but she does her best to try and hide it. She wants to support me, even though it worries her, and I love her for it. My mom is the best! My wide smile is answer enough, as I tell her I'm off to school.

School might be an exaggeration, we are around seven kids, and two of them aren't even ten years old. On my way there I go by Tommy's house as I always do. After a lot of nagging, I have finally been able to convince him to form an adventurer group with me and Carla when we turn sixteen. We are going to become the best team ever! I see Tommy's slender frame walk out the door, his short brown hair and brown eyes making for a very unimpressive view.

As we arrive at school, a blackboard close to some tree stubs, I spot Carla already waiting on her stub. She is a genius who can already cast the light spell! I'm envious of her magic skills, but Magic never held my interest as much as the sword. She told me last week that she is close to learning magic missiles, its the most basic offensive magic, but impressive for her age. At least I think so, considering she only learns from the elder, and have only started her magic training three years ago. I guess some people at the magic academy are better but it's still very good I think! From the corner of my eye, I see Tommy looking at her blond hair swaying in the wind. She is easily the prettiest girl in the village, so I can't really fault him for it.

The class soon start with Mr. Flower and is as boring as ever. I still think his name is funny after all these years, but no one makes fun of him. He is a very strict teacher despite his name. I half listen as I dream about what my unique skill will be like, and before I know it class is over. Mr. Flower has stopped trying to get me to pay attention this last year, thank the gods for that.

After class is over Carla, Tommy and I go to my house. My mother is busy cleaning in the town hall so we are alone. I take out a bag and beam a big smile at my friends.

"What's this?" Tommy asks, and I don't manage to respond as calmly as I would have liked.

"Provisions. We are going on an adventure today." My smile not leaving my face. I would have liked to appear cooler in front of Carla but I'm just so excited!

"I finally managed to get a hold of an Iron Sword, and I have my trusted shield as always." Tommy is frowning, and Carla seems unimpressed.

"Come on guys, there are only very weak monsters around here and the best way to learn skills is in real combat! I think we are ready. Tommy, you can just sneak out a bow from your father's stuff. He should already be out hunting at this time." Trying to get them excited, I keep up a wide smile. Seeing very little reaction from them, I sigh dejectedly.

"Don't you think it's time we faced something real as a team? We are almost adults now, we can handle ourselves." I nod trying to get them in the mood. Carla smiles weakly and nods.

"We should still be cautious, but I believe we can do this. What do you say, Tommy?" Alright, two against one! Now Tommy will have to agree, especially if it's Carla asking.

"Alright, but we can't go north, my father said there have been wolves lurking around there. We should probably go south and hope to find slimes by the lake." I nod at that. We discuss a bit more about what we need to take with us before agreeing on a meeting place. The village has been at peace for a long time now, and because of that, it is easier to sneak in and out than when I was very young. There even is a tree you can climb to sneak back in, and going out is much easier. I already know old man Berts has a ladder we can use.

About an hour later I'm waiting behind Bert's house as agreed. The old man is taking his nap as planned and soon Carla and Tommy are here. Slowly we take the ladder off the wall of his house and lay it against the wooden walls surrounding the village. As I get up on the ladder, I see the light forest surrounding the village, but to the south, very few trees block my view and in the distance, I can see a small lake. Beyond it another forest, much denser and carrying on as far as I can see. Everyone knows that if you continue far enough in that direction you will enter Khalex territory.

I have never seen one in my life, but all the stories about them are scary. Every Khalex warrior is considered at least upper Silver rank, or more. I shudder at the thought of Khalex invading, but as far as I know, it has only happened once a long time ago. Now they keep to themselves in the jungle. No one knows why they invaded, and no emissary of any kind has ever made it back with a response, and the more insistent ones simply never came back. Sometimes I wonder what it's like deep down in that jungle, but that's for later when we have become big shot adventurers.

I jump down the wall, as Carla urges me to stop gaping at the view. It's not that high but my feet hurt a bit as I land. Carla and Tommy soon follow and we are finally out of the village! This is the first time we have been out without any adult's to oversee us. My heart is pounding wildly in my chest. We start walking cautiously towards the lake, taking a detour to hide from the lone watchtower in the middle of the village. I bet Leo is asleep anyway but it can't hurt.

After about a tense hour trecking in the woods, the rush of being outside slowly fades as nothing has happened yet. Not far from the lake now, we slowly move forwards. Taking this seriously, only a few concise whispers have been made on our way here.

We soon see a blue slime by the lake, and I take a quick look behind me. Carla smiles and Tommy looks around nervously. Smiling to myself I feel so happy about taking the first step to becoming real adventurers. Rushing out of our cover to charge the slime, a small yell escapes my lips in my excitement. The slime doesn't seem to care as I get closer to it. Not waiting to see if my friends are behind me, I bash it with my shield, making a large portion of its blue water disperse, reducing its size significantly. Easily spotting the core floating around its reduced body I swing my sword. Moving out of the way enough for me to miss the core the slime tries to retreat to the lake's water, a few paces away.

I see Carla swing her wooden staff at it before I can try again and the slime's core shatters from her blow. The blue water disperses and we all sheer at our first victory in the wild. Even Tommy is smiling widely, none of his earlier nervousness visible.

"Alright! Let's kill some more slimes." I say beaming with happiness.

Carla's laugh fills me with happiness before I spot Tommy pointing behind some tall grass and gesturing us to shut up. I can guess a small form behind. Our victory cheer shortlived, a serious mood settles at the unknown threat. I slowly draw closer until I finally see what is hiding behind the grass. A small baby boar is drinking water until it spots me and squeals. Relieved it wasn't anything serious I turn around to tell them what I saw. Before I can open my mouth I hear Tommy shouting.

"Watch out Blaine!"

I turn around and see a much bigger boar charge at me and start running towards my friends. They quickly start running too. Tommy point's towards a tree with a low branch we can use to haul us up and we all make a run for it. The mama boar is faster than us, and I pray we will make it in time. Both Carla and Tommy are already climbing the tree. As I get close enough to start climbing, I hear Carla shout a warning before pain flares up in my right leg. I fall before I can get a grip on the branch. I see the boar turning around glaring at me, one of its tusks bloody. Before it can charge me again, an arrow lands just in front of it, making it hesitate. I hurry to stand on my good leg and start dragging myself up in the tree.

Tommy draws another arrow and misses again before the boar loses interest and trots away. We decide to stay in the safety of the tree's branches for a while, to make sure the boar won't come back.

"We have to treat your wound now." Tommy's voice is surprisingly steady as he says that.

"Yeah, then we should probably call it a day, I have had enough excitement for one day." Carla sighs.

"Alright Tommy, patch me up." The pain drowned out by the adrenaline until now flares up, and I realize it's pretty bad. It will take a while to go back with this. It takes a lot longer than it should have to patch me up because of the awkward positions we have to try before he can really start putting on bandages.

"Oh no." I turn to Carla before I realize what's wrong. I see a wolf come up to the blood beneath us. Everyone knows wolves travel in a pack. Soon, 5 more wolves start sniffing at the blood, some licking it. What I assume to be the alfa start to growl at us, circling our tree.

I turn to Tommy, who has a serious expression on his face. He draws his bow and hits one of the wolves. I dearly hope we will make it out alive and that he has enough arrows to get us out of this mess. After the first arrow, the wolves are very careful, and Tommy only hits another one with an arrow before he is out. As we sit there and wait for them to leave, I slowly suspect that it's not going to happen. Our only hope now is to be found by a hunter, and that could take days.

"I'm sorry..." It's all my fault.

"It was my idea to come to the lake Blaine, and I'm not good enough with the bow. I'm the one who should be sorry." Tommy's words of comfort don't help. The mood grim, we sit in the tree, looking at the wolves.

"Maybe If I use my light spell when it's darker the hunters can find us?" I'm not so hopeful but it does help a bit. It gives us a sliver of hope.

Silence reigns on our small group, while the wolves patiently circle down below.

Time flies as we sit mostly silent in the tree, waiting for the night to come. Eating some of the snacks I prepared, we get some moral back, when finally the sun comes down on the horizon. We patiently wait for the darkness to shroud the land. Barely able to make out the wolves now Carla finally decides it's time.

"My turn to shine." Carla says, trying to cheer us up with a bad pun. It does make me smile despite myself.

Using her light spell repeatedly, it really raises our hope of being found. The light is clearly unnatural but surprisingly bright.

"Slow down." I tell her, better to use it more sparingly and regularly instead.

"You are right. We should also try to get some sleep. I can stay up." I look to Tommy who shrugs his shoulders. I nod before realizing they probably can't see me that well.

"Alright, that's a good idea, we have a bit more food for tomorrow, but any more than that will be tough."

I can't read their expressions but I'm guessing they aren't very happy about that. I find a better position to try and sleep. More exhausted than I thought, I quickly fall asleep.

---------------------------------

I wake up to a sunbeam hitting me right on the eyes despite the tree's canopy. My whole body aches from the sleeping position. I see the other two still sleeping. I look down and see that the wolves aren't below us anymore. Looking around with hope welling up my chest, I spot a wolf further away by the lake, eating what I think is one of the baby boars. Hopelessness grabs my heart before I try to suppress it with thoughts of a rescue. They must have noticed we didn't come home and should send out some hunters to look for us.

"Morning." I hear above me as Tommy is slowly waking up. He spots the wolf by the lake and his expression changes to something more somber.

Carla wakes at the sound of talking but doesn't say a word. One of the wolves comes by our tree again, sniffing around and growling at us. Suddenly, it jerks it's head to the south, it's ears perked up to hear better. Suddenly, the wolf yelps and runs north, we see the other wolves of the pack follow quickly in its steps, previously hidden by different bushes. Flocks of birds fly away at the same time the last wolf rushes past our tree.

"What is going on?" Carla asks cautiously. I turn to Tommy who knows more about wildlife than any of us.

"That can't be good." he says, tone serious.

"Now is not the time to be mysterious." I try to urge him on, slightly on edge.

"If the animals are running, It means something more dangerous is coming." That can't be good.

"We have to run back to the village before whatever is coming comes then." Carla nods, and we all look at each other for a few seconds, checking if everyone is on board.

"If you have to leave me behind, do it." I say, tone serious. "I have already caused enough trouble."

"Don't say that." Carla says.

"It won't come to that." Tommy tries to reassure me. Not very convicing since he himself is fidgeting nervously.

We slowly start climbing down the tree. Soon we are on the move back towards the village. With my arm around Tommy's shoulders, we move through the woods as fast as we can. I never had a bad feeling before with the whole wolves and everything, but now, I can't help but feel like something horrible is about to happen.

Our slow pace is infuriating, I try to go faster but my leg is still in bad shape. Silence reigns over the forest as we slowly make our way back. After what felt like forever, we are finally close to the village.

As we finally come close enough to see the village, I see plumes of thick smoke rising. What? The village is on fire? How can this be? Very few creatures can make it past our walls, and we do have a few men who are decent fighters.

"Maybe an accident?" Carla offers hopefully. I hope she is right, and that it has nothing to do with what scared the animals.

We push our pace. The pain from my pain barely tolerable, I try to ignore it as not to slow us down any more.

Finally at the tree we can use to climb over the palisade, the others start to climb and help me. When Tommy gets high enough to see over it, I see his face drain of blood as he starts to tremble at the sight. Carla's scream wakes me up from my shock. I climb up the last branch to look over the palisade.

A vision of horror is what greets me. So much blood and so many dead, laying in the mud, several houses burning. Uncomprehending I try to look for the source of the massacre when my eyes finally land on him.

Frozen in place, I look on with terror as his swords tears open the torso of Mr. Flower. Blood splashes and lands on him, already soaked from all his victims. I spot a woman running away behind him when he turns around.

"Mom!" I hear Carla scream as she jumps down the tree and starts running towards her. Her scream and actions waking me up from my horrified state, I jump down. Too slow to follow Carla on her mad dash towards her mother, I look past her at my house which is burning.

Trying to hurry my pace as much as I can with my bloody leg, I run towards my house. On the street on my right, I see Carla casting [Light] to try and blind that monster. My vision blurry from the spell, I slowly see the aftermath. Carla's head rolling on the ground, her mother's body split in two.

Using my bad leg I desperately sprint towards my house. My legs give out after a few paces, and I scramble desperately to my feet. Finally by my house somehow and still in one piece, I shout my mother's name. Suddenly someone grabs me from behind, a hand on my mouth. I try to fight free before I realize it's my mom.

"Shhhh. We have to hide." Tears run down her cheeks and terror is etched across her face. Behind her I see him slowly walk towards us, a mad grin plastered across his face, blood dripping down his sword. Seeing my terrified expression my mother slowly turns around. Both frozen in terror, I don't even notice my gaping mouth.

Slowly, like he is enjoying every moment, the man covered in blood stalks towards us. Only a few paces away now, his red eyes piercing through me, I feel a hot liquid running down my legs. Suddenly, he lunges and plunges his sword deep through my mother's heart.

Jerking unnaturally when trying to take out the sword, he raises it high above me. Trembling from head to toe suddenly, he drops his weapons, clutching at his head. Screaming at the top of his lungs, I hear one word come out of him.

"ENOUGH!" Panting heavily, his eyes suddenly brown, he looks straight at me with the most serious expression an adult has ever made at me.

"Run child." He pleads me. Screaming suddenly again, he lies there on the floor, clutching at his head. The scream makes my blood run cold. Colder than even before. I scramble to get up and start running aimlessly, as far away from this nightmare as I can. Everywhere I look, blood and body parts mixing with the mud. Shaking my head in a fruitless attempt to banish this reality I continue running, falling due to my leg on several occasions.

A long scream so loud I can barely believe it comes from behind me and I look back as I see him completely still. I hide behind a house by the wall. The wall burned down in the other direction, but from here I don't dare make a run for it. Minutes pass by as I observe him. My iron sword still at my waist, anger slowly replacing terror, I start to consider stabbing him before he recovers.

Gathering my courage, I manage to take a step in his direction. Anger and rage replacing fear. Tears stream down my face and I ignore them completely. Focused only on the man laying a few ways away. Ever so slowly, I stalk towards him, my confidence growing as his immobility is confirmed. Now only a few paces away, I draw my blade when suddenly he jerks awake, breathing heavely. I stand completely still.

He stands up, turns his head and looks me straight in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry kid." Sadness permeates his words. I stand there, completely still, not able to make any sense of anything.

Slowly, he walks away through the wide hole in the wall made by the fire, still burning on the sides of it. The vision somehow unreal, his figure surrounded by fire and destruction. As he disappears into the distance, I take a look around at the destruction around me.

Mixed emotion stir inside of me as I take it all in. One emotion stands out. Hatred for the man who did this. I take a step forward, then another, and follow after him.