“Are we almost there?” Prota said quietly.

John coughed. It was hard to remember that she was still a child in some ways. She had matured far beyond her age. Circumstances did that to people. But some things were still childlike about her. John really wanted to poke her cheeks or something, but if she was annoyed at the moment, that would likely result in a frozen hand.

“Destiny?”

“Mm… probably only a few more hours,” Destiny said after some thought. “Why? Do you need anything?”

Prota shook her head. “Tired,” she muttered, then laid her head on John’s lap and fell asleep.

“...damn,” John said quietly. “I guess a long trip is too much for her?”

“You’re holding up pretty well,” Destiny pointed out.

“You, too.”

“I’ve been on long carriage rides. Things like cars don’t exist here, so any long distance travelling is always this long. Portals just can’t be put everywhere.”

John shrugged. “Makes sense. Why don’t you introduce some inventions? I’m sure you’d make money off it.”

“That’d ruin this world, John. And you haven’t answered my question. Were you a frequent traveller or something?”

“I’ve done other things similar,” John said. “I was placed in solitary confinement for a week, once. They locked me in a tiny room and gave me bread and water every day.”

“...seriously?”

“Yeah. I broke out after a while. I had company, though, so it wasn’t too bad.”

Destiny shuddered. John was speaking really casually, but that couldn’t have been comfortable.

“Damn. You… you good?”

“Yeah, yeah, it was a long time ago. It wasn’t all that bad, either. Don’t worry about it. Keep going, though. You were eight at the time. You’re… what, eleven now?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there’s only two more years. Surely you’re almost done.”

Destiny nodded. “Right. So…”

~~~

I woke up in my own bed, the sun streaming through my window. Everything came back to me in an instant. The forest, the trial, and that fox.

I looked up. The fox was sitting on my bed.

“You’re still here?”

A squeak.

“What do you want?”

Another squeak.

I didn’t know what it wanted. It wasn’t offering a bond. I didn’t know what a bond felt like, but seeing as nothing felt different, it probably wasn’t trying to bond with me. It just, well, hung around. It would go in and out like a cat, sometimes here, sometimes not.

My family was curious about it, and I was forced to explain what had happened. After a bit of convincing, they seemed to accept the fox as a sort of pet. It would wander around, taking scraps of meat from people. No one gave it a name or anything. We just called it “that fox,” and let it drop. There were more important things to attend to.

A week later, I was in a forge. The reward for completing the trial was a custom weapon of my choice. All Windbreakers had personal weapons made by the royal blacksmith, partners that would serve them for life. I was taken to the smithy and introduced to the head blacksmith, Darren Ornn.

“What’dyou want, boy?” he said gruffily. He was short, but not too short. He was either a really tall dwarf or a really short human.

“Mr. Ornn.”

“What?” he said. “I don’t have all day.”

“Can I participate in the making of the sword?”

“You?” The blacksmith roared with laughter. “Your hands are far too soft to be handling the hammer, boy.”

“That’s why I need your help.”

I didn’t know why I asked for this. I was certain that this master could make a weapon infinitely better than I ever could. But that memory of my father pounding away at a sword kept bothering me. The god slaying sword. It was both the name of the legendary sword and the name of my ability. It’d been a long time since I’d held one, but I knew.

I would fufill my father’s wishes. He was probably long gone, but I would make a sword that would slay even the gods. A sword to cut through anything. I didn’t know what that was supposed to look like, but there was a sword my father held dear to his heart.

A katana.

I didn’t know if it would be practical, or if they even existed in this world, but I couldn’t just forget about it. There had to be something that would remind me of who I was, what I’d done. I’d come to terms with leaving my old world. There was nothing left for me there. But I still needed something to ground me.

So we started. I drew a diagram and explained what needed to be done. Thankfully, Darren’s skills were the real thing. He quickly understood what kind of blade it was and began instantly. His eyes shone, likely at the prospect of making something new and unique, but he kicked me out as soon as he started.

“I- I’ve never thought of this. No one has.”

“Really? No one?”

“Boy, do you think swords are made of trees? Metal ain’t cheap. The process of folding metal over and over means you need more of it.”

“But custom weapons-”

“Custom weapons always want enchantments and special features. Your sister, for example. A hammer that heavy needs weight magic and what not. That folding feature was something special, too. But you’re not asking for anything fancy. You just want the raw steel.”

“Well, an enchantment to recall it and auto repair would be nice-”

“Bah, pleasantries. Those can be put on anything. They’re easy to set up.”

The process started with that. I picked out the sheath, the handle, and the wood, but I wasn’t allowed to do anything else, other than some customizations.

“The forge is too hot for you, boy. A halfling like me can withstand the heat. You can’t.”

“But-”

“I’ll call you when it’s safe. I don’t think you understand, kid. The process of folding mythril over and over is something only the hottest of forges can handle. I can handle that heat. You, on the other hand, cannot. Now get, boy, before I throw you out myself.”

Despite his claims of not having all day, he spent two days before calling me back. Laying on the anvil was a long metal blade, red and hot. The image of my father came rushing back as Darren hammered away. I saw my father standing at the forge in place of the royal blacksmith. Right.

This was his dream.

“Come. How is it? Good?”

I looked at the blade. Something in my heart stirred. I slowly picked up a hammer and pointed.

“There… there, and there. And then do this… and refine that… then sharpen this…”

I didn’t know what I was doing. All my suggestions were based on nothing but instinct, but the blacksmith seemed to agree. I watched as he hammered and forged, the blade slowly taking shape under his tools. The smell of metal and ash filled my nose as I sat there for hours, watching my sword come to life.

Finally, it was done. Even in the darkness of the forge, it shone.

“A masterpiece,” Darren exhaled. “I’ll never make something like this again.”

“What?”

“This is your blade, boy. You made this.”

“But-”

“Anyone can hammer this shape. But you… you saw something in it. I don’t know how you knew what to do, but you knew. I cannot claim this as my own.” His eyes shone. “It may have been my hands that molded the metal, but it was your mind that shaped the image. Take it, and give it a good name.”

He handed the sword over to me with respect. I grabbed it in my hands. It felt like an extension of my arm, perfectly balanced. I swung once, cutting cleanly through the air, a silent swish following the blade. The grip nestled perfectly between my fingers, the guard sitting just above, shining brightly.

“Deicide,” I whispered. “The God Slaying Sword.”

Darren handed me a simple sheath and shooed me away.

“Go. And make good use of that weapon.”

~~~

John nodded. “Can I see it?”

Destiny handed it over, and John slowly unsheathed it.

“Interesting,” he said quietly, checking out the weapon.

“What? Not good enough?”

“Dunno,” John shrugged. “I don’t deal with high quality weapons.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just do a little fucking around. I throw random bullshit at people and see what works. You know me. You’ve fought against me. I’m not a good fighter or anything. Why waste a high quality weapon on someone like me? Something like that’s way better suited for you. Someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Destiny just stared. “Then why did you want to see it?”

“Just out of curiosity,” John said, returning the sword. “And even I can appreciate a good sword. It’s pretty sick.”

“...you just wanted to see a cool sword?”

“Yeah?”

John leaned back, tilting his head in curiosity as he looked at the sheathed blade. “What will you do if that sword breaks?”

“I’ll make a new one.”

“Aren’t you attached to it?”

Destiny shook his head. “That’s not the point. I’m attached, yes. But the sword itself isn’t what’s important. It’s what it means to me. I can always remake the sword.”

“Then what’s the point in making it so valuable to you?”

“What?”

“You can just replace it. So then why not use it however you want?”

“You confuse me sometimes.” Destiny unsheathed the sword and stared at his reflection. “Just because something is capable of being broken doesn’t mean it’s trash. It just means that we can’t hold onto it forever. Right?”

John closed his eyes. “Yeah. I guess.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Neither person knew what to say.

“Well? Keep going.”

“What?”

“Your story? What, you made your sword and then went to deal with some shady organization?”

“...you have this really weird way of switching topics really quickly, you know that?”

“I’m special.”

“...you say this as if it’s a good thing.”

Destiny sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Well…”

~~~

Training continued as normal for me. My older sister had her own weapon, a heavy mythril hammer. It was constructed with magic so that it could be carried around conveniently, turning into a briefcase when not in use. It would hang on her back, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

We sparred together a lot. I hate to admit it, but she almost always won. Even with all my years of training, I still couldn’t match her. Granted, I could see mistakes in her form, her technique, but it simply didn’t matter. My fists could never match her hammer, so I had to use a sword to match her, a weapon I wasn’t very familiar with. On top of that, mana took people places I never would’ve imagined. Even the strongest soldier from our camp wouldn’t have been able to match this ten year old girl.

She was very kind on the outside, but inside was a monster more terrifying than the dire wolf I’d faced in the forest that day.

A year passed. I learned a lot that year. It was then that my talents as a battle mage really began to bloom. It wasn’t uncommon for children to dabble in both casting and fighting when they started, and although I was practicing third circle magic while performing at the level of a strong novice, I was also being taught by two incredible people.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

That all changed when I progressed to the level of a warrior. I’d been told by the goddess that I’d have talents in both fighting and casting, so I’d assumed it was just a rare talent. However, I hadn’t been told of exactly how rare.

Displaying multiple affinities hadn’t helped either. Most children started out with only one affinity toward a certain element, and a few special ones displayed two. As time progressed, affinities would grow, and children would develop more, but most didn’t start with that many.

I’d started with four.

My parents didn’t treat me any differently, though. Neither did my sister. The only thing they did was raise their expectations of me. It felt… good. I didn’t want to be anything special. I was the hero, but I also me. I wanted to be a son and a brother, to have a family and enjoy peaceful days. It’d been so long since I’d last experienced a life like this, and I was growing addicted to it.

That was about to end.

Between the time of my trial and my ninth birthday, I’d grown closer to the princess. As my parents were close friends with the royal family, they thought it’d be a good idea to let myself and the royal princess grow closer. Perhaps it had to do something with how close we were in age, but I personally wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea. Unfortunately, there was no one to oppose the idea. Hart had already expressed her desire to act as the captain of a guard rather than be a bodyguard, and none of the other Windwalkers had opposing opinions. All the other heirs were grown, or too young. However, that alone wasn’t enough. The individual in charge of protecting the princess needed to be capable. Strong enough to protect her from any threat.

For the first time since coming to this world, I found myself cursing my talent.

I’d been receiving training in bodyguarding, so I was given a trial of sorts. Protect the princess while she moves around today. There would still be official bodyguards present, but they would be hidden, waiting in the shadows. The princess had yet to receive a Windwalker as a bodyguard. As I went to the palace, I found myself growing nervous. I had only met the princess once, and we had both been mere toddlers.

Fortunately, the princess was a very kind person. She was shy at first, hiding from me, but that was alright with me. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the idea of holding such a prestigious position, and if she didn’t want me, then it was fine, right? I stepped forward, bowing as etiquette demanded.

“Hello, your majesty.”

She was having afternoon tea on the terrace outside. It was a pleasant day, with blue skies, calm winds, and a pleasant early summer warmth. I pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

She didn’t shoo me away but clearly was wary of me.

“I’m Destiny. You can call me Des,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be your bodyguard from here on out.”

“...”

Again, a chilly response. The scene felt familiar somehow, but alien at the same time. Other than that, nothing happened. But somehow, I found that I wasn’t so opposed to being around this girl.

That was just our first meeting, though. I’d bring her treats or trinkets I’d find lying around. I was invited to the royal palace more and more, and not just on bodyguarding duty. She was still quiet. Still withdrawn. But it probably wasn’t her parents that were inviting me.

“Your majesty. Here is your tea.” Butler services weren’t part of my job description, but I had no problems doing something as simple as this. I set the pot down, but the girl wasn’t looking at it. She turned to me, her eyes avoiding mine.

“...Cel. You can call me Cel,” she said quietly. “It’s short for Celeste.”

“Your majesty, I-”

“Cel,” she said, poking my chest. “Got it?”

“All right, Cel,” I smiled.

That was probably the first time I could’ve called ourselves friends. She opened up a lot more after that. We talked about Scholaris, or the mana beasts, or anything, really. As she opened up, I found that she was a cheerful girl, full of kindness, almost to the point of naivety. I later found out that this was one of her weaknesses.

It was night. I was up practicing magic when I felt nature call. I slipped through the halls and went to relieve myself. I was going back when I heard a voice. It was the king. I knew it wasn’t right to stop and listen, but… surely just one time was forgivable, right? I was mature. I could keep a secret.

“...good influence on her. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her smile.”

“Her healing ability is very unique. I’ve never seen such a strong healing ability.”

“She’s naive,” I heard the king sigh. “She wanted to help others, but the noble families… they wanted to exploit her ability. She didn’t know of the concept of malice before that time. She was young, but I should’ve taught her-”

“It’s not your fault, your majesty.”

“Please. I told you to call me Varin when we are alone.”

“...Varin. You have a wonderful child. All we can do is raise them the best we can. The world will throw challenges our way, but all we can do is face them, right? Your daughter will grow up to be a wonderful ruler.”

“Haha. Using my own words against me, I see. Very well. I hope your son will grow up just as equally fine. He is, after all, our little one’s first friend.”

I felt my face heat up. No way. She didn’t have any friends? That would explain a lot. And those circumstances of hers… no wonder she’d been so cold to me the first time we’d met.

As the year passed, we grew closer and closer. I had come to the realization that I didn’t really have any other friends. School wasn’t something that existed for everyone here. You were homeschooled, and even then, what use was math and science in a world of magic? All one needed was rudimentary reading, writing and arithmetic. I wasn’t in a village or city, so there weren’t many other children for me to interact with. I saw other Windwalkers at family gatherings, but none were near my age.

So, just as I was Celeste’s first friend, she was just as equally my first friend.

~~~

Destiny was about to keep going when John interrupted.

“Hey. Hold on. Back up for a second. Really? Really?!”

“What? What did I do now?” Destiny yelled. “Seriously? Do you have an issue or something?”

“You dense motherfucker! Do you not see it?”

“See what?”

John sighed as he buried his face in his hand. “It’s not his fault… the [Author] did this… just accept it…”

“...what?” Destiny said. He couldn’t hear John’s mumblings.

“Celeste- the princess- whatever. Do you really think she was your first friend? In this world, I guess. But do you not see it?”

“But-”

“No, no buts!” John exclaimed. “I- ah, I keep forgetting you don’t see things the same way…”

“Are you ok? Motion sick, maybe? You’re not making any sense.”

John sighed and shook his head. “Celeste is you. The you from the camp. This time, you’ve taken the position of… what’s her name, Four? Sorry, I’m bad with names. That girl that approached you. You did the same thing to her. That’s why you found yourself going back. Because it reminded you of your past, if not subconsciously.”

Destiny opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“Then what? You rejected her. And she kept trying. And then she was your first friend. She taught you how to live, in your own words. How to be happy. She opened up. And it helped you. Sure, you didn’t get hurt cause you were a dumbfuck idiot or whatever. But still. It’s the same thing. The same story. Maybe that’s why your meeting felt so familiar?!”

Destiny’s mouth slowly shut. He frowned in irritation at something, then turned to Kit, who seemed to be laughing.

“It’s not that funny. No, I- no. Seriously, Kit. How am I supposed to be able to see something like that?”

John shook his head again. “Don’t- never mind. I forget that something like that isn’t easy to see.”

“How did you see it?” Destiny demanded. “Seriously. What kind of normal person sees something like that?”

“I’m mister psychic see the future guy, remember?” John said, waving his hands around. “Just finish the story.”

~~~

My life from age nine to ten passed peacefully. There was talk of us both attending Scholaris at the age of twelve, but that was still a few years away.

There were still bumps in the road.

It was shortly after my tenth birthday. The princess and I were walking in the forest, followed by two guards. She’d wanted to wander around the castle, and it wasn’t like there was any reason to stop her. Surely the castle perimeter was safe, right?

“Look at this, Des!” Celeste exclaimed as she ran down the path. “This is a special flower. I read that it’s used in potions!”

“Are you going to be a potion maker instead of a princess?” I teased. “Come on, what’re you going to do with that?”

“Hmph! You’ll see,” she said, still clutching it in her hands.

“Here,” I sighed, taking it from her. I pushed it between the strands of her hair, and the bright yellow flower blended in well with her golden silky hair.

“U-um… thanks,” she said, her face turning red.

We continued down the path, Celeste fascinated by everything she saw. There wasn’t much, but she found it all very interesting. Suddenly, there was a shout. I whirled around to see a guard’s neck get pierced by a knife. The other was suddenly grabbed, his head engulfed in flames as the caster holding him cast a fireball in direct contact with his target.

“Des-!”

I whipped around and saw that the princess was alright. She held onto me, shaking.

“...quiet,” I said in a low voice. The two assassins approached us.

“What about the boy?”

“Kill him. We don’t need him. The boss said to only grab the girl.”

“Why the girl?”

“Does it matter? Just take her.”

I glared, unsheathing my blade. “You’ll have to get through me first.”

The two men looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

“You? That’s hilarious!”

“Did you hear that? The little boy’s gonna-”

They stopped laughing as I leapt forward, blade flashing in the sun. They quickly regained their composure and faced me, weapons out. I didn’t care. My mind didn’t have time to think. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t lose anyone else close to me.

I swung my blade with all my might, but it was easily stopped by a small dagger. Sparks flew as metal clashed with metal, but I didn’t falter, bringing my blade back and taking a big leap in retreat.

“Not bad, kid. Not bad. But we’re better.”

The caster raised his hand and chanted, summoning a volley of fire arrows. I chanted a spell in return, summoning balls of water, but it wasn’t enough. My spells were pierced, the water sizzling away into steam, forcing me to leap out of the way. I winced in pain as a fire arrow pierced my calf, the fire scorching my skin and closing the wound. A shout of pain escaped my mouth as I fell to the ground, the pain piercing through my body. I felt dizzy but held myself together, spitting on the ground before struggling to my feet. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating, but I wasn’t about to lose here.

“You should’ve stayed down,” the man grunted. “You might’ve lived.”

I raised my blade, sparks flying as I barely parried an attack. I saw the edge of the knife mere inches from my face, sliding along the edge of my blade.

“You’ve got the instincts of a warrior for a kid so young. Who are you? Some kind of secret weapon?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I said, trying to ignore the pain in my leg. Suddenly, there was a warmth that spread across my body. I could feel the muscles in my leg stitching themselves back together.

“Des,” Celeste whispered. “We’ll be ok, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Don’t worry.”

I clenched the handle of my sword and faced my opponents once more.

“A healer of that level? At that age? No longer Breaker wants her.”

“No kidding. She’d sell for a lot.”

Sell? What? Were these slavers?

“You’re not putting a single finger on her,” I growled, pointing the tip of my sword at them. “I told you. You’ll have to go through me.”

The two men looked at each other and sighed.

“Well, we tried. Sorry, kid.”

There was a bright flash. A flashbang?! No, those didn’t exist. Then what was-

I stopped thinking as a searing pain entered my stomach. My years of experience told me I’d been stabbed. Suddenly, a heavy blow hit my head from the left, causing it to ring. I felt something wet leave my nose. Blood. Something pinched at my arms. Fire.

Too much. Too much was going on at once. I was blind. Disoriented. I felt myself throw up, the smell of iron piercing through the bile. Something warm and wet trickled out from my ears. Something hard was under me. The ground, probably.

An indeterminate amount of time later, I could see. My vision was blurry, but I watched as Celeste was being tied up.

“Des!” she yelled, reaching out. I tried to reach out, but I couldn’t. My body wouldn’t listen to me no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even yell, no matter how much the pain hurt. I wanted to pass out so badly. Rest would’ve been welcome, but I forced myself to watch as Celeste was carried off.

The last feeling I had was that of failure as unconsciousness took me away.

When I woke up, the sun was still in the sky. I blinked slowly, checking my body. It was… fine? I flexed my fingers and was surprised to find that they were responding normally. No, even with mana recovery, something like that shouldn’t be possible. My body wasn’t capable of doing something like that.

“Cel!” I yelled, sitting up straight. No one was nearby. Panic settled into my heart. I checked my surroundings. I still had my sword. Thank goodness. I had to go after them.

A squeaking sound got my attention. I looked to my right and saw the fox. Why was it here?

What happened next was unbelievable. A bright light surrounded the fox as it grew. I covered my eyes, shielding them, but when the light died down, the fox was gone. In its place was a woman in a shrine maiden’s outfit, a single pink fluffy tail trailing behind her. Furry ears sat on top of her head, twitching as she looked at me with a mischievous smile.

“Now, it’s my turn to save you.”