For Xiaojun, the world was always a brutal one. Even before the War of Sin. Even before the presence of ungodly creatures. And far before he had picked up a weapon, the world was a punishing one. A world where the strong die, and the cruel survive.

Dajing was the capital of the Jiaguonese Empire as thousands of different traders, workers, and artisans went in and out of the city per day. The empire, being known as the central kingdom to the east, had its good share of prosperous rulers and its even more prosperous emperor. But if one moved past the obvious displays of wealth, they would find the true state of the empire: poverty.

“You’re the damned son of a whore! Just lay on the ground and die!” The young Xiaojun was left bleeding as the group of men ran off with his well earned bag of rice. At that time, the boy was just another poor kid in an even poorer part of the city. As he struggled to get to even his knees, his empty stomach roared in pain as if his own body was eating itself. “Must… eat…”

Part of him wanted to blame his father and mother, whoever they were. When he was young, the women of the brothel just told him to leave. “Beat it kid,” one of the women scoffed. “If you’re asking for whoever your mother is, you’re not going to find them here. There are plenty of bastards just like you.” From then on, the boy had only one person he could count on: himself.

Working any job that provided that necessary cent of satiation, he ate every meal instantly. Either he would eat his food, or someone would take it and eat it for him. As he learned to believe in that principle, he grew stronger and stronger. Like a flame burning in the cold, his body grew strong despite the continuous aches of his stomach. “To survive, I need to be strong.” No that wasn’t it. “To survive, I need to be cruel.” That was when he gained his strongest weapon: pure terror.

It all started when he was surrounded. Holding a bag of dried rice in his hand, Xiaojun could make the easy conclusion: these delinquents wanted his food. “Throw it over to us Xiaojun!” they jeered at him. “If not, we’ll have do more than break you into the street!” Unfortunately for them, they didn’t realize that Xiaojun had grown stronger since the last time he had gotten attacked.

Xiaojun started by quickly grabbing a shard of broken porcelain from the ground. With it, he immediately lunged at one of the boys and began to prolifically stab his eyes with it. “Blood everywhere! I can’t see!” the victim cried. The other boys count only watch as Xiaojun began to brutally launch his fists into the boy’s ribs, breaking them with each strike. “Do you want my rice? Do you still want my damn rice?” Xiaojun crazily laughed. “You can have it once I scoop it from your stomachs!”

Within moments, the bystanders began to run as Xiaojun was left with a crying victim in front of him. Xiaojun’s smile disappeared as he looked down at his bag of rice. Aggressive and relentless fear was the prime reason he was able to keep food in his stomach. Even though he felt sick by forcing a smile when committing harm, he knew that this was the only way he could survive.

“People are afraid of monsters.” Squatting in an alleyway and cooking the rice in a stolen pot, he came with this conclusion. “People are afraid of the dark because they fear monsters. People are afraid of strange noises because they fear monsters. People are afraid of inhumans because they fear monsters.” With this thinking, he had a final thesis. “I must become a monster if I want to survive.”

Growing stronger and growing crueler, Xiaojun put his theories into practice. Instead of finding himself as the victim, he found himself as the attacker. There was no need to endure mindless labor when he could just scare the food into his own palms. In short, Xiaojun became a bully who terrified those smaller than him. But there was eventually a time when he bit off something he could never chew.

The carriage moved through the city as the nobleman sighed in the safety of his cart. “What an ugly part of town,” he mumbled to himself. “The people here just waste away in their hovels. And the stench! The heavens have damned this place by just the scent alone!” Part of him wanted to spit on each and every vagrant they passed by.

Suddenly, the cart stopped as the servants dropped it right where it was and ran. “He’s got a sword! Get out of here!” The nobleman fell out of the dropped cart as he looked up to see what was causing the commotion. “Who in hell’s name are you? You better explain yourself before—” The nobleman froze as he looked at the menacing tyrant before him.

The figure stood tall as he held a rusty, yet large blade in his hand. Wearing a dark cloak, the figure oozed an aura of significant terror, even for the nobleman who previously only feared taxes and tasteless meals. “Who are you?” the nobleman stammered as he scooted away from the large figure.

“I want all of the gold in your luggage right now,” Xiaojun demanded. The nobleman frantically nodded as he began to scamper away. “Have it! Take as much as you want!” Without having to even loose a strike, Xiaojun watched as the nobleman ran off on his own. The entire cart was his for the taking.

With a smile on his face, Xiaojun opened the wooden door of the carriage to find a large box. Kicking it open, he found piles upon piles of gold and silver coins. They shined like stars he had never seen, as such capital was almost unheard of for bastards like him. He reached his hand inside and scooped a large handful of the money. He could see it right there: a house, food, and plenty of days without needing to bully or fight his way to survive.

“Are you sure you want to take that?” a voice echoed behind him. Turning around, Xiaojun jolted when he saw the large warrior behind him. Wearing heavy cataphract armor and wielding a large guandao, the warrior wore a white mask which covered his mouth and nose. “It only takes a bad day to turn a king into a peasant. Are you sure you want such an unstable life?”

Xiaojun growled as he pointed his rusty sword right at the man’s armored neck. “What do you know?” he demanded. “Do you know how many days I’ve gone without eating before? How many cold nights I had to endure under the cold night?” But the warrior said nothing as he calmly moved the sword away from his direction. “You do not know it yet, but your soul is on the path for a destiny far greater than this basic thievery.”

Enraged by this warrior’s lack of fear, Xiaojun wildly swung his sword, aiming right for the warrior’s head. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the warrior blocked the strike with his armored hand. “You are strong for your age,” the warrior noted, “but you will only waste your potential by staying in these streets and hunting for more victims.”

The warrior then crushed the sword with his grip alone. With the explosion of shrapnel, Xiaojun stumbled back, raising his hands to cover and defend his face. Years of being a victim made him used to be kicked and punched into the ground. But despite expecting relentless wrath, he found something else: a hand to help him up.

“I will take you to someone,” the mysterious warrior said. “But first, you must trust me and allow yourself to grow.” For a moment, the boy hesitated. For the first time in his life, he was treated with a strange sense of kindness. “Trust you?” he muttered. “How can I trust you when I’ve never had anyone to trust?”

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To this, the warrior replied with a kindred voice. “You must take a chance. As I said earlier, it takes a bad day to transform a king into a peasant. But it takes a good man to transform a peasant into a king.” With nothing else to lose, the boy grabbed the man’s hand. It was time for him to see if he could become his own king.

Following the mysterious and masked warrior, Xiaojun followed him all the way into the forbidden city: a place where only royalty and other interconnected people could venture. Greeting the guard, the strange warrior only had to look at the soldiers for them to allow access. “I apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused! Go right ahead!” they said with strange enthusiasm.

There, Xiaojun saw a strange arena-like structure which had been hastily constructed and erected. Funneling inside were dozens upon dozens of soldiers and warriors, each one ready to prove themselves to the party of noblemen and guests. “I want you to go inside,” the mysterious warrior instructed to Xiaojun. “It will be a hard battle and you cannot count on pure terror to win the day. But if you exert every will of your being, I assure you that you shall prosper.”

The warrior gently pushed the young man forward. “What do you mean? What should I—” But as Xiaojun turned, he found that the warrior was gone. It was as if the strange being was nothing but an apparition from his imagination. “The bout shall begin soon!” someone called, “please hurry inside!” With nothing to lose, Xiaojun headed inside.

Standing amongst dozens of other faces, he still somehow stood taller than many of them. “Who is that?” elite foreigners in the crowd murmured. “Is that some kind of warrior’s son?” Looking at these foreigners, Xiaojun noticed their strange appearances. These strangers had blonde, brown, and even white hair as their white skin proved paler than the average Jiaguonese shade.

But there was a specific face that took his attention. It was a young woman, looking to be a few years older than Xiaojun. She was blonde, and her hair was cut to reach only the top of her neck. But even with this unconventional feature, her eyes glistened with a golden sense of beauty. Xiaojun found himself staring at the noblewoman, only to realize that the two had locked eyes. Afterwards, he looked away immediately, pretending as if it was a mere accident.

Suddenly, a larger foreigner stood from his seat as he raised his glass of wine as well. “Thank you for this grand event Emperor Wang of the Jiaguonese Empire! We are honored by the food, wine, and the strong warriors before us!” He then turned to the warriors in the arena. “For years, my homeland of Vesterland has been undergoing the bloody War of Sin as brothers turn their blades against one another! As a result, I wish to recruit the best warriors here to provide my kin a grand source of soldiers to lead our kingdom to peace!”

Four younger men began to nod as they continued to sup their wine. From their resemblance to the foreign king, Xiaojun could already assume that they were his sons. The only one who didn’t have a smug look on their face was the blonde girl who sat like a calculating scholar. A part of Xiaojun knew that she could see things mere men could not.

“The fight shall consist of individual bouts where two men must fight with identical blunt weapons! The ones who pique our interest shall either move on to fight another warrior, or will be recruited on the spot! As a result, it is wise for all of you to show us your best immediately!”

The warriors were escorted to a reserved area of seating as two of the fighters were randomly chosen from them. Removing their armor and clothing, they revealed their scarred and battle hardened bodies. The crowd cheered as the both of them were given wooden swords. “The loser shall be the one who either surrenders or fall incapacitated! Begin!”

The warriors stanced against each other as the crowd continued to cheer. Xiaojun watched at their technique carefully. This was the first time he had seen anyone remotely skilled in the art of fighting. One of the soldiers held his sword above his head, as if ready to lunge, while the other kept it level and around his body.

Suddenly, they charged against each other and loosed dozens of different bouts in that one moment. The wooden swords clacked against each other as different angles and strikes were being utilized. This match looked less like a fight, and more like a game of strategy and tactics. Studying hard, Xiaojun took mental pictures of each move. The downward strike. The upward block. The thrust. The parry. All of them were being written into his mind.

In the end, one of the fighters struck the weapon out of his enemy and gently placed his weapon at the man’s throat. It was a calm way of saying that if they had real blades, the fight would end with a lot more blood. “And Shoujo has won!” the king announced. “You shall work for my eldest son: Grimwald! He will have more than a few uses for you!”

The crowd continued to clap as the loser left the arena empty handed. It put an ugly picture into Xiaojun’s mind. If he ended up losing his fight, then it would be a return to the streets. It would be days of robbing and scaring people into giving him supplies and food. it was strange. Perhaps the day before, he could’ve cared less. But now that the strange warrior gave him a vivid picture of hope, there was no choice but forward.

He continued to watch each and every bout carefully, making sure that every move was documented into his mind. “The winner is Qiang! He shall serve my son Charles!” Xiaojun knew that he was no match for these warriors in terms of skill and technique. That was why he had to do his absolute best if he wanted to succeed.

“You! It’s your turn to fight!” one of the men said to Xiaojun. Standing up, the boy removed his cloak and stood in the arena. The crowd gasped and looked at his body. He was much younger than all of his contenders, but he had many of the same scars that they had. “Is he some kind of prodigy?” No. He was just unfortunate.

“Begin!” Xiaojun did his best to imitate a stance by holding the sword close to his body. Meanwhile, his skinnier opponent jumped on his toes and held his sword outward. It was as if the man was a bee ready to sting Xiaojun if he ever got close. “Everyone here thinks you’re some kind of strong warrior,” the man taunted. “But I see the truth. You’re just a scared kid trying to make an impression.”

The man lunged forward, presenting a thrust which hit right into Xiaojun’s abdomen. In response, the young man keeled down as the man continued to laugh. “All that muscle and height just for that? You surely are a coward.” He raised his sword as the crowd held their breath. Little did he know that Xiaojun was holding a smile.

There was something the young man noticed through all of the fighting, a very basic detail: the arena was filled with sand. Just as the contender prepared to swing and defeat Xiaojun, the young man threw a handful into the warrior’s face. The crowd gasped when they saw this dirty tactic being put into practice.

The disoriented warrior began to swing wildly and inaccurately as the sand continued to irritate his eyes. All Xiaojun had to do was calmly walk behind the man and slam him into the ground. Suffocating the man into the sand, Xiaojun calmly watched the man kick and swing about as the crowd began to boo. “You are a warrior of dirty tricks! How can you even call yourself honorable?” All of them were booing except for the blonde girl. She was giving a sly smile instead.

“Release him!” the king demanded. Xiaojun complied and stepped back. Being released, the contender coughed and scampered away from the young man in front of him. “You demon! You fight like a monster without any sort of class!” The king seemed to agree. “Indeed! You shall be disqualified from this tournament!”

Suddenly, the blonde girl began to stand above the crowd. The boos and cries went silent as she continued to smile. “Father. You say that you wish to release Vesterland from the clutches of war, and yet you expect battles to be fought with convention?” She pointed to Xiaojun. “This man did as you asked: he fought with the resources allocated by his environment. Do warriors in battle not do the same? If we expect to win with foolhardy tactics, shouldn’t we just accept defeat?”

She gave her finals words as her family and the crowd stood awestruck by the words of the intelligent woman. “Since you have yet to allocate me any of these soldiers, allow this man to serve under my ranks instead. While you look at the warriors who have already reached their full potential, I look to one who can reach even further.”

For a moment, the king was speechless. But after giving an eventual smile, he raised his hand. “Then it is settled! The man known as Xiaojun shall be under the service of my one and only daughter: Nina! May he serve and save Vesterland with his service!” Thus, Xiaojun’s journey would truly begin.