A small child with long white hair, an oversized shirt, its small furry reptile-esque tail was poking out of its back, a blank expression on its face, as if in a daze. A man with the same colored hair as the child lowered themselves to their level, placing their hand gently atop their head.

"Child..." He spoke, a smile on his face. "You are my treasure... one of many... but just as important as the rest." He pulled his hand away, looking to the door behind him. "I must leave soon..." He looked back at the child, "I *will* come back, okay?"

The child nodded, not truly understanding what was happening before the man left, exiting through the door before the clamor and shouting of children gained the child's attention.

He spun around and met with a vast field, the children calling for him, running to the sound and color of it all. It was a new feeling, a sense of joy coming over him.

He turned halfway across the field, looking for the door, missing, gone. The child was confused and before he could mull it over, he was interrupted by one of the children, specifically a young boy with short black hair and bright blue eyes.

"What's your name?"

The child didn't know how to respond to the question, enamored by the boy's eyes.

Another boy came in from behind the child, a hand on his shoulder and a smile on his face, his pitch-black eyes and yellow iris being a vast standout, his long black hair matching the long white hair of the child.

"His name is Lux, and I'm Yaru!"

The blue-eyed boy smiled, "I'm Token!" Token paused, chuckling to himself, "I've never met a Faurna before!"

"Yeah, not much of us around..." Yaru paused, "Does it... bother you?"

Token cocked his head, "Why would I?"

Yaru glanced over at Lux before shrugging, looking back over to Token, "Who are the others over there?" He pointed to two girls in the distance.

Token quickly glanced over at the girls, "Those're my friends!"

Token ran to them, motioning for Yaru and Lux to follow. Yaru looked to Lux before smiling, grabbing Lux by the arm and dragging him over to the rest of the group.

Token grabbed a small blonde girl with glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, both hands on her shoulders, "This is Max!"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

A magenta-headed girl nodded to the Yaru and Lux, "I'm Ariane."

Max gave a slight bow to Yaru and Lux before running off and hiding behind Token.

Token chuckled, glancing over his shoulder to look Max in the eyes, looking back over to Yaru and Lux, "Do you guys wanna be our friends?"

Yaru nodded to Lux, looking back over to Token, "Yeah! We'll be your friends!"

******

"It's not often that you get to see a big shot like you leaving their country." A man commented, looking on at the children which were playing together, Lux lagging behind.

The white-haired man sighed, "DIdn't have much of a choice."

"Why?"

"Some peons are making an uproar about them being Faurna, saying it's disgracing a bloodline, and well... it isn't exactly a good place for children."

"Since when did you care about such things?"

The white-haired man exhaled sharply through his nose, "They are different... its a bit hard to explain but I can't have them face reality *just* yet."

The man next to the white-haired one shrugged, "Well... I don't mind taking care of them, I'm already taking care of the others after all. I'll put them in school and the like..." He looked to the white-haired man, tapping his shoulder, "How's that?"

"I'd like that."

"How'd you get a Faurna wife anyway?"

"Went to the Faurnalites, found someone I liked, then I courted them. As to the normal."

"Right... so... why isn't she here?"

"Dead, assassinated."

The man nodded, "Ah, I see why you brought them here now. Should've said that first."

"Don't want a dead kid on my hands... all of them have survived so far and these two won't be any different. But I feel... if I take the youngest, Lux, and give him this happiness and then take it away..."

"Take it away?"

"I do want to see what'll happen but... I can't, not now."

"Crazy bastard."

"You've retired now yes?"

"Yeah?"

"Have your senses dulled?"

"No."

"So you've noticed that - that boy, Token, is quite special."

"Yeah, I've noticed, what're you getting at?"

"He'll be great for my boys. Train him well, make him the strongest in the world."

The man sighed, "Okay?"

It would be years from now, 20 or so...

Token, now a man, covered in wrapping and the like, arms bound to his chest, a bandana tightly wrapped around his eyes, only his feet being free to move around the blank canvas in which he was surrounded.

He used his feet to eat food set neatly on a plate before being interrupted by a knocking at his cell. He stopped what he was doing and the door opened, a priest of the Tir'adagh entered, hands clasped in prayer before using their finger to mimic the lines scrawled across their body before bowing to Token.

"Sir..."

Token screwed his lips, "What?"

"A tower has been spotted in the ocean. As you know, that is an oddity so..." The priest paused, "There will be an expedition... will you participate?"

Token sighed, "Sure, why not, I'd have to anyway."

"You don't *have* to, sir. But... it'd be preferred if you'd come."

"Anyone else coming?"

"Two, you and Gregori Marstarkov."

"Only us?"

"The others either rejected the idea or are normal citizens that'd prefer not to get involved."

Token shrugged, "It's why I like you guys, you don't force people into doing shit."

The priest chose not to comment, turning on the balls of their feet, and leaving the room, Token ripping off his own restrictions and following behind him.

By now, in the current time of this man's life, he is considered the strongest human in the Mass Cluster of Marsees, the land in which Humans, Arcana, and Faurna reside.

Token now sets off, years into the future, the strongest amongst the strong.