When Elder Darius finally slammed onto the ground, Alius all but fell off of his back, face first into the dusty ground. Getting up and spitting out the sand in his mouth, Alius looked up to see the elder winding his way towards a shady corner.

Elder Darius took a peek back towards Alius. “Hey, come over here.”

Alius took a moment to look around, seeing himself in an open-roofed area wide enough to fit several average sized buildings. Surrounded by high walls and with sandy ground rolling with small hills. Alius made a beeline for Elder Darius, who was quietly talking with two people. A tanned man leaning against an absolutely massive sword-shaped object. Bearing a chipped edge and colored an ominous grey, it looked like someone had come across a pointy boulder and decided to strap it to a handle.

The other person was wearing a wide-brimmed fedora that could only barely cover the predatory smile splitting his face. He was dressed in black robes that flowed over his body, hiding any skin, or blade from Alius’s view.

Alius slinked his way behind Elder Darius, who promptly grabbed his shoulders and swung him around to face the pair.

“Alius, this is Jary and Ditus. Say hi.”

Alius managed a tiny wave before going back to investigating the state of the duo’s feet.

The one with the sword had shoes made from leather straps. They were old, with the leather frizzing at the soles, but looked very well made. The one in black had boots ending slightly above his ankles.

One thing the pair shared in their shoe choice was a horrible sense of fashion. The tanned, muscular hero look the rest of the man seemed to be was turned into a guy just entering retirement. The sketchy assassin looked more of a farmer from the knees down. Neither of them had their shoes match their outfits.

“Alius?” Elder Darius snapped his fingers in Alius’s face a few times. “You still with us?”

“Now, the shady one is Ditus, and the musclehead is Jary.”

Jary flashed a grin and clapped Alius on the shoulder with a huge hand. “Ol’ Darius here has put us in charge of teaching you. I’ve also heard that you wanted to be independent, free to roam.”

Letting out a chuckle, Jary shook his head. “Kiddo, you’ve got a lot to learn about the rest of the world.”

“As much as I like the impulsive part, it needs to be toned down. Bad things can happen to impulsive people, if you know what I mean.”

Alius let out an awkward cough. “Uh, I actually don't know what you mean.”

Jary tapped his chin a few times before nodding. “You know, that would make more sense, with you being…how old are you again?”

“Seven.”

“The f-” Jary coughed before continuing. “Darius! Why’d you bring a seven year old here?”

Elder Darius shrugged. “That’s when the villages test for cultivation talent. As does everywhere else.”

The elder frowned. “Besides, why didn’t you bring this up when we met?”

Jary responded in a rather loud whisper. “Because he looks- at least fourteen or something! I thought he was just short!”

He did have a point. Alius didn’t have the height of a fourteen year old, but his glistening black hair framed his face in a way that made him appear older. The golden flecks in his hazel eyes had a way of bringing a sense of maturity.

Alius had never paid attention to the way he dressed, but unbeknownst to him, his mother had made sure that the clothes he had available would fit in with any casual environment.

All this caused Alius to appear like a boy in his teens, just suspiciously short.

Jary tilted his head. “Well, isn’t Alius a bit…young?”

Ditus finally spoke with a sigh. “Jary, you were almost married at Alius’s age.”

Scratching his head, Jary squinted at Alius. “I dunno, he just seems…too young?”

Clapping a hand over Jary’s back, Ditus shook his head. “He’ll be of age in less than four years, Jary. Alius here can take a bit of hard work.”

The predatory smile came out from under the shadow of his hat.

“After all, if he couldn’t take that, he wouldn’t be here, would he?”

____

Alius waited off to the side as the adults talked. Respect had been hammered into him by his parents, learning not just to care about his peers, but everyone around him. Sometimes, it meant socializing, but changed based on how you read the room.

Not a minute later, Elder Darius turned back to Alius. “Alius, we’ve known each other for maybe three days now. We’ve only been face-to-face for a couple of hours. Yet I think we’re pretty close already.”

Alius bobbed his head. “Yeep.”

“That's why I think you’ll get along with these guys great! Speedy introductions being your thing and all. Okbyegottagogoodluck!”

“The- what?”

Alius felt a hand bring itself to rest on his shoulder. It had happened more than a couple of times over the past few days, so you could say Alius understood hands from behind on his shoulders. The hand itself wasn’t cold, but reminded Alius of a particularly cold winter two years ago. Five children died of cold that winter.

When the person behind him spoke, Alius felt the same cold shivers he felt then.

“So, let’s begin.”

Alius turned, already knowing it would probably be the Ditus guy, and so it was.

“Begin what?”

“Training, of course. You do want to see the outside world, don’t you?”

Alius nodded. “But, can’t I still explore by myself? I think I’m a careful person. At least that’s what my mother says. I won’t get hurt.”

Ditus scoffed at him. “Heh, the outside world may be no big deal to us, or even to the elites back at your village…”

His face hardened into a glare. “But for you. This you. If you tried to go out now, I might as well kill you myself.”