"Your future child is not going to survive... he has no life force, I'm sorry"  

Gladius' mother wouldn't stand for this. She spent the next 8 months praying to the divine, but heard nothing in response.

It wasn't until the weeks leading up to the expected delivery that she relented.

But, thanks to the benevolence of an Ancient deity she finally got her answer.

One night, while the house of Jones was asleep she was awake. Silently weeping in the courtyard a dark presence made itself known. Shadows swept through the rose bushes withering the plants away, the clouds obscured the glow of moonlight. 

"Witness, mother, and be sated." The ancient entity said

"Who are you?" She asked

"I am your salvation, I know your heart's true desire..." It proclaimed 

"Then you know all I want is for my child to live" She responded

"Give yourself to me, fully, and I will ensure the life of your unborn"  spoke the dark deity

Without a second thought she offered her hand to the darkness. It enveloped her form, coursing through Malina's veins. 

For the first time she felt her baby kick, but there was an uncanny strength to it. Malina wasn't perturbed, in fact over joyed. 

When she did give birth, Malina was drained of her life force and it was given to Gladius.

Gladius' father, Atticus, never held what happened to his mother against him. In fact, they never mentioned her again. Atticus was the king of East Main Village ironically located to the west of Capital City. East Main exists as an independent nation on the northern continent while the other two continents fight against Capital City following the death of Saint Mickey.

Mickey was nothing but a clergyman when Capital City had control of the Eastern continent, Africa. All was lost for Africa, but hope was strong always in the church. But when Capital City officials decided the entire church island was the right location for another military base that was a step too far. The church mounted a religious revolution against Capital City, and when Mickey lead the charge into battle to save the life of 3 young fae girls at the Great Execution. He was revealed as a hero, but the infamous General Feros caught Mickey and executed him on the same gallows he saved those 3 girls. Africa rallied behind the church and with their massive numbers, overwhelmed the weakened Capital forces. Pushing them out of Africa and declaring independence and starting year 0 when Gladius was only twelve. 

The South continent The Greenlands made substantial efforts to keep Africa as independent as possible, funding their war against Capital City.

Twenty Two years after birth, year 10, Gladius has been training non-stop to be the world's greatest fighter. His older brothers Vadius and Fabius, never acknowledged just how hard he worked to get as strong as he became, constantly mocking him for failing to study and instead "wasting" time playing with swords. 

But in his hero heart, Gladius knew he was destined for greatness.

Gladius was born blind and made the most of it by training his other senses to the point he developed what the elves call Blindsight.

On a sunny evening in East Main Village Gladius finds himself sitting beneath the Tree of Life, one of only two Great Trees left on Gaia. Here Gladius contemplates his life. He thinks about what it means to be great, what it would take to achieve something tangible. 

But his thoughts are interrupted when Gladius notices a peculiar rodent scurrying down from the tree towards the central part of the village. 

Without Hesitation Gladius chased the rodent through the streets of East Main, curious where the little rat was headed. 

They breached the manor gate, down to the central market, Gladius bumps into several elves passing by, but he lost the rat. 

"Hey what's the big idea pal" One masculine elf accosts.

Gladius pays him no mind and wanders down a dark alley way, where he finds a sewer manhole ajar.

With no qualms Gladius opens the entrance to the sewer and leaps down.

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Immediately his senses are all under attack by the stench and foulness of the sewage.

"What was I thinking" Gladius says out loud as he starts climbing back up. 

But he hears the distinct whirring of electronics in the distance echoing through the round tunnels.

He hesitates for a moment, then decides to explore more. 

The tunnels of the sewer are rank and slick with filth, but also strange wires and machinery not native to the elven village. The sharp angles and straight edges of the design are clearly signs of Capital City tech. But what they're doing here, we have no idea.

Gladius steps through thick sludge and suddenly triggers a trap! 

"INTRUDER ALERT!!!" Red lights start flashing and the walls of the sewer come to life.

Mechanical arms extend from all directions attempting to grab Gladius, he fights back with fervor holding nothing but a practice blade. Gladius strikes the first hand reaching toward him, then the second, and the third, but his feet are grabbed from under the muck. 

In an instant Gladius is pulled beneath the mire. He can't hold his breath, Gladius is sinking away.

But by the grace of some rodent god something reaches out into the muck. A small creature dives down and severs the robotic hands before a second small creature helps pull Gladius out of the depths.

Coughing and on the verge of vomit, Gladius reclaims his senses. It was a small rodent family that saved him!

"What are you thinking Kyle! The elf will kill us when he sees us" The smaller rat says

"Check your glasses Simon, this one's blind. Besides I couldn't just let him sink in shit" Kyle retorts

"I can't be apart of this anymore I-" Simon is cut off

"Thank you" Gladius says

The rat boys share a glance

"What are you doing down here?" Simon asks

Gladius, thinks for a moment, he really didn't have a good reason to come down here.

"I... I was... It felt like I... There's something down here, isn't there?" Gladius gather 

"Right... there is a weird guy who's been messing up our home. We usually survive down here well enough, but ever since those traps were installed we've had to search for food up above" Kyle tells him

Gladius has an idea "Help me find this guy and I'll make sure your family is fed forever. You can even be a part of our village." He offers

"Really, you can't promise all that." Simon claims

"I can, I am Gladius Jones, third heir to the Jones family, we control the village." 

The rat boys take an aside, then ever pragmatic accept Gladius' offer.

In mere minutes they lead Gladius through the rest of the tunnels, avoiding several traps with other rat corpses lining the walls. 

Gladius is met with a circular steel door blocking him access. The walls at this point are more machine than stone. 

Simon scurries up to an intercom system and speaks a phrase into the microphone.

The two rat boys abscond away back to their sanctuary.

As the doors open Gladius is met with a horrifying display. Dead elves, torn open, their limbs being replaced with robotic augmentations. Monitors in every direction surveying the village. Mechanical arms on every wall, dissecting parts from each elf. And at the center of it all, a human man wearing a bloody white apron and medical mask staring Gladius straight in the face.

"Gladius Jones, pleasure, I've been expecting you" The doctor ominously states

Gladius wastes no time, barreling past the bodies and brandishing his wooden blade. He bats away the robotic arms with ruthless efficiency.

But before he can strike the doctor Gladius is stabbed in the back by an Elf corpse, risen from the operating table being controlled by mechanics.  The robotic corpse jams its exposed humerus deep into Gladius.

"Thought you were smarter than that." The doctor mocks "Oh you'll make an excellent robot"

Something dark wells up inside Gladius, with an overwhelming sense of pure rage Gladius reaches back with both arms over head, grabs the elf corpse by the neck and hurls it at the doctor, pulling the arm bone out of his back at the same time. 

Gladius leaps forward and bashes his wooden sword into the doctor's head so hard it breaks. Gladius doesn't let up, he continues battering the broken blade into the doctor's face until nothing is left but  a bloody mess. As he steps back from the gore he notices the doctor stabbed Gladius several times with a scalpel. Gladius falls backward, coughing up blood. Red liquid oozing from every open wound. Gladius slowly loses consciousness.

"Oh no, this is bad." A familiar voice rings out

"It's okay, this lab is full of medical equipment" says a second voice

Then darkness.

Gladius awakes in a panic, sweat dripping down his face. 

"Where am- what happened?" Gladius exclaims

"It's okay, we patched you up real good" Kyle tells Gladius

"Couldn't well leave our meal ticket to bleed out" Simon says

Gladius looks at himself, his stomach covered in bandages tightly wound around him.

He takes a deep breath.

"I should have figured out what the doctor was doing here, I mean, obviously making cyborgs, but why would Capital City send him here... What are they planning... nothing good" Gladius rambles. "One thing's for sure... my training is over."