Twelve years have passed

“Hey! Wake up sleepy head, you are late for the first day of training,” says Sujal while pouring water on Max who was sleeping.

Sujal’s hair and beard have turned grey from old age, he is wearing a brown robe.

“Waaaaah” Max wakes up screams.

Max has turned 12, he has a sharp shrill voice, his hair is as white as snow and eyes as red as blood. He is about to start combat training today.

“Why can’t you teach me at home grandpa?” said still sleepy Max.

“Well because it is a rule for any child who is of age 12 or above to go under combat training.” Says Sujal while packing up food and water for Max.

“But why is it a rule?” Max asks curiously.

“It all started 12 years ago, our village was attacked. Many good people lost their lives like this village’s head, his son and your parents. The head’s wife became the new leader of this village. She had lost so much and did not want to lose any more people, same goes for others too. So she made few rules which stated:

All villagers must learn to fight.

All children will start taking combat lessons after turning 12.

Our village hired some experts in combat from the X Association. They taught the basics of combat to everyone. You should be able to at least defend yourselves,” said Sujal while looking at Max.

“Don’t worry grandpa, I will learn to fight and protect you!” said Max with spark in his eyes.

“Well you can protect me later, first go and learn how to hold a wooden sword properly,” Sujal said laughing.

Max picks up the bag Sujal had prepared for him and rushes out.

He reaches the field at the outskirts of the village, where the classes were held. There were around 20 children in total, ranging from age 12-17. The field was beside the river, children were sitting in an open area which appeared to be a classroom.

“Hello children,” said a man, as he sat down on the mat.

“Hello Burt sensei!” all children said in unison.

“I can see a new face in the crowd, please stand up and introduce yourself,” Burt said smiling.

“Hello everyone! I am Max, I am here to train so that I can defend this village.”

“Yeah right, the person who got our loved one’s killed will defend us,” said Nate who was sitting at the back of the group.

All children start staring at Max.

Nate was the grandson of the late head of village, he had started his training at the age of 10. His grandmother ( current head of village) started private combat training for him at home. She was paranoid after the deaths of her husband and son. She despised Max. But she could not do anything about it as Sujal was well respected in the village and she also respected him. So the only thing she could do was fill Nate’s head with despise and hate for Max. Nate had grown up hating Max. Finally he has a chance to get some revenge on his sworn enemy.

“Stop it Nate!” Burt said in a stern voice.

“Why should I stop? Is what I just said not the truth?” said Nate shouting while pointing at other children.

“Yeah!”

“He is a killer”

“I hate Max”

“But i did not do anything, my parents were also killed that day.” Said Max with tears in his eyes.

“I said stop!” Burt shouts while standing up, he hits the ground with a wooden sword.

Silence pursues.

“Stop blaming Max to ease your hearts, if you want to hate someone so badly then blame me. I left the village and joined the army, if I was here maybe I could have stopped them.” Burt said while looking at the sky.

“You could have done nothing Mr Bert, that day they had a Brot trainer with them” said Sujal as he enters.

“Stop crying, it was nobody’s fault,” he says while patting Max’s head.

“Oh! Hello Mr Sujal, I am so sorry that all this happened on Max’s first day,” said Burt.

“Hmm, well i thought that something like this might happen,” Sujal said. “So I was looking from a distance.”

“Brot trainer?” said Max with curiosity while wiping his tears.

“People who fight alongside Brots. If that guy had a Brot that means his combat abilities were above anyone else in the village, nobody stood a chance,” said Burt. “So that’s why you said it did not matter if i was present here or not Mr Sujal.”

Everybody had calmed down a bit, Sujal left and the class commenced.

“Ok children with this lesson we will end today’s class, you can go home now,” Bert said while packing up his stuff.

All the children started to go home, the weather was windy and the smell of mud was lingering in the air.

Few minutes later Max is on his way home.

“Hey Killer! we have been waiting for you,” said Nate while coming out from behind a tree.

Four more boys come out and they surround Max.

“What do you want?” Max asks.

“We just wanted to welcome you,” said one of the boys while grinning.

Suddenly Nate goes and kicks Max in the stomach. Max falls to the ground, another boy kicks him while he is still laying on the ground.

“I have been wanting to do this for so long man,” Nate smiles while kicking Max.

They continue to beat up Max for a few minutes.

“Lets leave, save some for tomorrow,” one of the boys said.

Each of them kick Max one last time, then they turn around towards the village and start to walk. As they are walking they hear something from behind.

“Are you guys satisfied now? Did you avenge you loved ones?” said bruised and beaten Max while standing up.

They are shocked to see how even after getting beaten up so badly he can still stand and talk.

“Let’s leave, this guy will die if we hit him more,” said one of the guys.

“Yeah!” said another.

“You guys are a bunch of softies, who have forgotten what this guy did to our loved one’s,” said Nate while running towards Max.

On hearing this other boys also run with him towards Max. They again beat him up and leave.

“What did I do to deserve this? Do I not belong in this village? My body is hurting all over and I can't even stand up,” Max thinks as he starts crying.

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Sujal comes looking for Max and finds him lying on the ground besides a tress.

“Oh! What have they done to you Max?” Sujal thinks while picking Max up, he brings him home and treats him wounds.

“Grandpa, I am sorry you had to go through all this trouble because of me,” Max says while opening his eyes.

“Are you an idiot? I am your grandpa and I will do anything for you. You will stay at home from tomorrow, no need to go to class. I thought these villagers would have changed by now,.but I was wrong....So wrong.”

“What about training? I want to learn to fight and become a Brot trainer.”

“What!!! No you cannot, we don’t have anyone skilled enough in this village who can teach you to fight. Just focus on healing and I will teach you the basics of fighting,” said Sujal while giving Max soup to drink.

“You know how to fight?”

“Yeah I was trained by skilled men, who were hired by village from X association.”

“What is X association?”

“It is a big clan around this area, a clan is made up of seasoned fighters, they do quests which normal people with no fighting skill cant. There are many clans in this world.”

“Grandpa I have decided that I want to become stronger. How do I get a Brot?” says Max in a determined voice.

“Well you must at least be 16 years old and skilled in combat. There is a tournament held in the capital city and top 5 contenders get to choose their first Brot.”

“Then I will train and enter that tournament.”

“That is a very long shot son, most of the people who enter that tournament are from Noble families. They have been trained since early age in combat and most of them know special fighting techniques. You will be eliminated in first round, you will get injured badly or worse get killed.”

“I have made up my mind and you can't change it” Max screamed.

Well he is stubborn and I can't stop him.

“Ok! You start your training after you have recovered, let’s see how much you can learn in four years,” Sujal said.

He knew there was no way Max could reach that level in four years without any proper training. He just wanted Max to stay in the village, where he was safe.

Max starts training under his grandpa’s guidance. Sujal was a very strict teacher; he taught Max whatever he had learned.

Two years have passed

“I have taught you everything I knew, you are a fast learner Max. I never thought you would learn everything in just two years,” said Sujal while looking at Max with pride.

“But this is not enough, I need to rain more,” said Max.

“Son this is all I can teach you. Give up on this foolish dream, you can become a great fisherman, farmer or even village guard if you stay,” Sujal said with a desperate voice.

“Sorry grandpa but i need to learn more. Yesterday I snuck out of the house and went to Nate’s. He was training there with his buddies. He defeated all 6 boys with just a wooden stick, he will surely enter the tournament. I don’t want to fall behind.”

“You went to Nate’s house? Are you a fool? What if he saw you and beat you up again?” said Sujal angrily.

“Well i had to take the risk grandpa, I needed to see what level he was at. After looking at him, I know I am not even close to him.”

“I have decided that I will be going to the nearby town of Vinna for training. I will find someone there who can teach me.”

“Go to town alone? At this age? In your dreams son,” Sujal laughs.

“I can prove that I am ready, please give me a chance.”

His eyes were gleaming with determination.

“Ok let me think, we will talk tomorrow. For now go to sleep, resting is also a very important part of your training,” Sujal said while pointing towards the mat on the ground.

Max goes to sleep while Sujal sits on the other corner of the hut with a drink in his hand, he did not know what to do.

“Oh Sam and Riva i wish you were here, this kid is a handful. I needed your help and Max needed your love. I miss you both,” Sujal thought while taking a sip of his drink. After a while he also falls asleep.

Next morning

It's around 6AM. All greenery is covered by frozen dew giving a pure white view, villagers have already gone to work.

“Wake up!! So have you decided yet?” asks Max.

“What time is it? First make some tea and breakfast then wake me,” Sujal says in a grumpy voice.

“I already prepared breakfast and tea, see,” Max says while pointing towards the table.

Sujal gets up and they both eat breakfast silently, Max is unable to hide his excitement the whole time.

“Stop shaking your legs, I get it. You are curious, let's talk but finish your breakfast first.”

“Ok! I have decided what your task will be. Whole village is scared of going into the forest as a wild Brot has been seen around here. Wild Brots are generally calm and they do not attack unless you attack them. You have to go and bring me its hair.”

“What a Brot? You want me to fight a Brot?” Max asks with his mouth wide open.

“You want to enter the tournament and also go to a nearby town alone. You will need to fight fierce opponents and Brots on that journey. I am not asking you to fight the Brot, you just have to obtain his hair in any way possible.”

As if he can even get close to a real Brot, one look at Brot and Max will come running back. Then he will drop the idea of going to Vinna.

“Ummm Ok, I will do it. And once I am done you have to let me go to Vinna for training.”

“OK”

Next morning Max packs up his bag of food and water, then he leaves for the forest.

Where should I start looking?

He goes to a nearby lake.

This will be a good place to make a camp, I can stay here and scout the surrounding area.

He makes a small shed using branches and leaves. The sky is filled with dark clouds and it starts to rain heavily. Max hides in his shed, he opens his bag and takes out small rice balls.

The forest looks beautiful in rain, everything is wet, the sound of rain and thunderclaps is loud. It was so cold that Max fell asleep in a few minutes.

Oh, I slept the whole day, it's evening already. I should catch some fish for eating.

Max goes to the lake. As he is about to reach the lake he hears a sound.

He looks from behind the bushes. A dark figure is drinking water from the lake.

It’s the Brot, it looks so scary.

The Brot is around 0.8 meters tall. Brot is of Zebra species, it is white and black in color.

How am I supposed to cut his hair without him noticing?

Max crawls towards Brot without making any sound. He is still a bit far away from Brot when suddenly something swoops down and lifts up the Brot. It happens so fast that Max is not able to register what was happening.

He looks up and can see a large red colored large Bird carrying the Brot.

What the hell!! Is that another Brot?

Max knows he cannot do anything, he waits in the bushes.

Bird Brot drops the Zebra Brot from very high, it hurts but it still stands up. The Bird again comes down very fast and attacks Zebra with its sharp claws. As the bird comes close zebra Brot emits a sound wave, the sound wave confuses the bird, it hits a tree and falls to the ground. The Zebra starts running at insane speed around the bird and then it tackles the bird with all force, bird faints on the impact. Zebra Brot runs away while Max is sitting in the bushes with big wide eyes. He had witnessed what Brot fighting was like and never before in his life he was as sure as he was right now that he wanted a Brot of his own.

The Bird is still unconscious, I should go while I still have time.

Max is scared but he musters all courage, he goes very silently and gathers a few hair of the bird. He then runs back into the bushes.

If that bird attacked me I would be dead in an instant, Brots are so powerful and that Zebra Brot has some kind of Sound power. It was so amazing, with a Brot I can be the strongest in the village.

Max is unable to leave for 2 days as it was raining continuously.

On the third day

Thank God the rain stopped, I am almost out of food.

Max heads back to the village. He reaches the hut at night.

“Hey Grandpa I am back,”

“So was it scary? It's ok son Brots are very powerful, you can try next time.” said Sujal with a smirk.

“Here they are,” Max said while taking out Brot hair.

“What? You actually got the hair? Are you hurt? How did you get them?” Sujal said in disbelief.

Max explains everything to Sujal.

“Well I promised that I would let you go if you completed the task,” Sujal said. He was kind of proud of Max as he survived in the forest for 3 days and even encountered Brots.

Maybe he is ready, I will have to let him go....

“Thanks!!” said Max as he went to sleep.

They decided Max would leave after two weeks.

On days Max is leaving

“Here take this,” Sujal said as he handed the crystal studded belt to Max.

It was the crystal Sujal had found on Max’s body.

“Woah! What a shiny crystal,” Max exclaimed, “ Where did you get it gramps?”

“Well son, I think it is time I tell you everything.”

He tells Max everything, how he found him, about the girl and about the massacre of villagers. Max is shocked and saddened.

“So I was the reason so many people died? Nate was right!” said Max with tears in his eyes.

“You could not have done anything to prevent what happened. My son and his wife gave up their life because they loved you and I would also do the same in a heartbeat. What you can do now is not let everyone’s sacrifice go to waste, go live your life and make something of it. They are watching you from above.”

“I will train with everything I have got and become someone who can protect others.” Max said with a stern face.

After a few hours Max starts his journey to the town of Vinna.

When Max reached the outskirts of the village he turns back, the village looks beautiful.

These people have suffered because of me, one day I will return the favor and help them. I cannot return empty handed.

Max then turns around and walks towards Vinna.