The chirps of the birds and the cool morning dew woke me up. I looked around, confused for a moment. After finally realizing that I fell asleep on the rock, I got up and shook my body to regain the feelings in my muscles. I rubbed my slightly swollen eyes - an outcome of my uncontrollable crying - and I stretched my aching body.
After a few minutes of breathing in fresh air and clattering my teeth in the cold, I decided to head back. Since the sun was barely showing its head and the path to the village was covered with the shadows from the trees, I easily found my way back. This was because I traversed through these paths almost everyday for two years. I could walk through here with my eyes closed if I wanted to.
Soon, I was able to see the faint outlines of the village. I unwillingly restarted my aching legs and walked towards the gate. As I got closer, I realized that the village was a lot more rowdy than I ever knew it could be. Usually, only adults would be awake and the other kids would be asleep.
Although this was strange, I put it out of my mind and continued, but suddenly, I was stopped by a guard that stood by the gate. I looked at him questioningly since this has never happened before. Even though the adults disliked him, they didn’t swoop low to the levels of children. But when I saw the look in the guard’s eyes, I thought that today was going to be the day of me getting beat up by some adult.
“Kid, you aren’t welcome here,” the guard said, “Here, if you go north, you’ll find a town. You can scram over there.”
The guard’s words shocked me to my core. I mean, I did hate all the people in this village and I thought of leaving everyday, but I still needed to live. I knew that even if I loved nature and even if being in the woods was nice, it was only because it was a form of escape. I doubted that a supposedly seven year old like me could ever survive long enough to get to another village from here.
I really didn’t want to beg, but I saw no other choice. If I wanted to survive, I still needed a group of people around me. Although I might get insulted every day, it was better than loosing my life. I clenched my fists hard and I was about to kneel to beg, but something stopped me.
Something inside me roared out, crying out that it would not yield against anything. Something inside of me refused to bend under this choice of life and death. My inner voice silently whispered to me, ‘Nature cannot stop you. Nothing can!’ Listening to the voice, I stopped my bending knees and stood back up. I looked straight back at the guard and had a fierce staring battle with him.
“Let me go in,” I said calmly. I didn’t know how I was able to keep calm in this situation, but I did not care at that moment. All I had in my mind was getting all the things I had left in the fisherman’s house and leaving this village for good. I, for some reason felt quite confident about surviving in the wild for a few days. “I will grab my things and leave, but for now let me go in. I promise you that I’ll be gone from this town before the sun sets today.”
“No,” the guard replied. The coldness and the unwillingness to argue about this was clear in his eyes. However, I wasn’t going to give up.
“Sir, let me go in and I’ll be out before you know it,” I said again.
“I said no,” the guard scowled. “Didn’t you hear me you orphan? Nobody wants you here! Now get out unless the place you want to go is the afterlife!” He pulled out his sword and threatened me by swinging it around.
“Can’t I just get my stuff? You people are going to throw it out anyways!” After being denied two times in a row, I felt a little heated and I lost my calm bearing. However, the guard saw this as a provocation which he obviously did not like.
“You piece of shit, just die!” as the guard shouted and swung his sword down, I felt the air in front of me split apart and the sense of death of blaring in my head. When the sword blade was almost upon my forehead, my body started to move instinctively. Time suddenly started to move slowly and everything seemed to move at the speed of a sloth’s.
I tried to move out of the path of the sword, but I realized then that I was also moving at the speed of a turtle! I slowly became more horrified as I saw the time returning to its normal speed. As my death was coming closer I remembered all the events that happened throughout these past two years and I swore to myself that if I was reborn, I wouldn’t be weak like I was now.
I closed my eyes and waited for my end. Five seconds passed. Then ten seconds passed. For some reason, I did not feel the sharp edge of the blade. Was I killed so quickly that I couldn’t even feel it? I opened my eyes and I saw a man erupting with a holy aura.
‘Definitely heaven,’ I thought
“Hmph, I thought I was told that all the children in this village was already present,” the man suddenly said. I grew curious at his words. Was this not heaven? I thought he was supposed to judge if I was sinful or not.
Not being able to understand the situation, I looked at my surroundings and finally realized that I still haven't crossed the gate of death. I sighed in relief, I grew even more curious about the man in front of me.
“My lord!” I saw a fat man running towards us in an unsightly way. I soon recognized the man as the mayor of the village. “Huff, huff, huff,” he wheezed and breathed quickly, seemingly trying to rid the burning feeling in his lungs.
“My lord, this boy isn't from our village,” said the mayor. He looked at the man exuding an holy aura with awe and respect. However, he soon turned to me and looked at me as if I was worse than a pig in his farm. “He's just an orphan. Definitely not something that deserves your attention, my lord.”
“Hmm, is that so?” the man said. He stroke his short yet well groomed beard. Then a formless pressure appeared on top of the mayor.
Boom!
As the pressure pressed down, the mayor struggled to keep standing. However, no matter how much strength he put into his legs, he couldn't go against the power of this man. I grew wide-eyed as I saw one of the stronger men in this village made kneeling without a single touch. I watched the man in awe and I imagined becoming as strong as him. I wanted to be domineering and carefree just like this man.
“My l-lord,” the mayor struggled to lift his face with tears running down his cheeks, “what h-have I done wrong. P-please, my lord, spare this unworthy man.”
“I do not like people who decide that they know what I deserve,” the man stared at the shameful appearance of the mayor. Then he turned to me and said, “Child, go join the others in the village.”
I did as I was told, but I still couldn’t understand what was going on. I did feel good about the mayor being pushed down to his knees. Every time I looked at the mayor, I got reminded of Cain so seeing him in such a state did bring me a sense of great joy. As I passed the mayor who was still on the ground, I smirked, quite clearly seen by others. The angered face of the mayor brought me up to an even greater mood.
As I reached the center of the village, I finally understood why the village was so rowdy. Everyone who was a part of the village was gathered around here and surrounding them were men with full plated armor. When I walked past the armored men, I felt like a demonic beast was glaring down at me. Just their presence alone was enough to make my knees shake. This was a whole realm of difference compared to the guard who threatened me before.
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After going into the encirclement of the armed men, all the other villagers looked at me with disdain. Knowing that I wouldn’t be welcome by anyone, I chose a spot and just stood there, wondering about what this was all about.
Soon, the person who saved me and the mayor had come back. The mayor, however was somehow looking refreshed and clean. Not a speck of dust was on his clothing and his hair was well combed. He had a big smile on his face, looking as if the previous incident didn’t even occur.
“Hmh,” the man coughed, “Citizens of the kingdom of Alzen, I am here on the orders of the king. Children under the age of ten will all be tested. If they were to have the potential of becoming a martial artist, they will be allowed to come with me to the capital.”
At these words, all the villagers erupted with clatter and murmurs. Some were cheering and some were disappointingly staring at their weak constitution. However, overall everyone was happy at the chance of being able to go to the capital. In the village, no one had a future, other than becoming a farmer or hunter. This chance was one in decades and if one didn’t grasp it, they would regret it for the rest of their lives.
I, as I realized that it was a chance of becoming stronger, grew extremely delighted. I shouted and howled as tears of happiness dribbled down my cheeks. The thought of finally escaping the bullies and moving to a new place with new people excited me beyond belief. ‘This is a sliver of hope the heavens are giving me,’ I thought, ‘I need to pass this test!’
I clenched my fists with determination. I stared at the villagers and looked at the people who had always bullied me. I engraved their faces and names in my heart, promising my self to take revenge.
“Everyone, please line up in front of me and place your hand on this ball,” the man spoke as a transparent ball suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Everyone’s eyes widened enough to resemble the full moon. I also could not understand what had happened until a glimpse of a memory resurfaced for a second. I saw small clips of images flash by so quickly that I couldn’t understand what was happening. However, I had heard one word that matched this situation.
‘Spatial ring!’ I thought. After this word popped up in my head, I understood everything about it. It was a pocket of space that was stabilized by something called arrays which was engraved onto an object, usually being a ring.
Everyone else was clueless about how this mystical ball magically appeared out of nowhere. I silently laughed at how they were still trying to understand something they couldn’t comprehend. Soon, however, most of the villagers broke out of their stupor and they started to line up for the test.
I had wasted time laughing at other kids being so surprised that I ended up being around the last. I didn’t think this was bad, though, since no matter when I do test the results would be the same. Also, it was a chance to see the average talent for people and compare them to me.
“Announce your name and age,” said the man as the first villager walked up to him. Then with a threatening smile, he said, “Do not try to fake your age since I will know when you are lying.”
“M-my name is D-Darron and I am n-nine years old, sir!” said a skinny looking boy.
“Place your hand on the stone,” the man said.
“Yes, sir!” Darron shouted and immediately put his hands on the stone. After waiting for ten seconds, the ball lit up with a small and almost insignificant light that was barely visible.
“Tenth ranked mortal talent, you fail,” said the man. He then waved Darron away and tried to move on to the next person. However, his steps were stopped when Darron clung onto the man’s right leg.
“Please, sir,” the skinny boy cried, “please let me go with you to the capital!”
The man looked annoyingly at the boy and signalled one of the armored men. After exchanging eye contact, the armored man came up to the boy and grabbed him. The boy tried to stay on the man’s leg with all his strength, but the power of the armored man was undeniable and soon the boy was out of the way.
“I forgot to mention this, but if you’re talent is under fifth rank mortal realm, then please immediately dismiss yourself,” the man said without any emotion in his voice.
The test continued and this time, there weren’t any complaints from the kids. After seeing that none had passed even after ten people being tested, the ones who failed felt relieved. It was always better to be with others than being alone. If there was only one person who had failed, then that person would have become an outcast. Just like I had when others realized I was the only one without parents.
As more people failed, the hope that the villagers had of living another dream was shattered. They realized that reality wasn’t fair and only people who were truly chosen by the heavens would be able pass. The faint line of hope that they had was almost completely crushed until a bright light shined like a second sun.
“Hmm?” the man raised his eyebrows, looking surprised at the unexpected outcome. “A third ranked mortal talent in this waste yard? You pass, go stand behind me.”
The entire village erupted with cheer. Someone from their village had finally passed this test. Everyone had smiles and laughs plastered all over their faces, but I couldn’t possibly let out a smile after seeing who had passed.
‘Cain!’ anger flashed across my eyes as I stared at the person who had abused me with words and hits for two years. I couldn’t believe that he had passed. The one person I truly wished to fail this test was him, yet he passed with flying colors!
I had to have a greater talent than Cain if I wanted to be free from bullying. I put my hands over my beating heart and prayed that I had a talent that was higher grade than Cain. While I was closing my eyes and silently saying that I was better, I heard another round of gasps and awes.
I looked up to see a shining light that was a bit dimmer than Cain’s but was still not too far behind. The man also had a slight smile, albeit being barely noticeable. The already consolidated line of hope had become even stronger and everyone was leaping with joy. With the exception of me of course.
“Claire, right?” the man smiled. “Fourth ranked mortal talent is pretty good, too. You pass.”
Two of my worst enemies were up there with smiles on their faces. Claire, being the village’s most spoiled brat, had always ordered others to beat me up every time I saw her. Supposedly, she didn’t like breathing the same air as I was.
After Claire, everyone was more relaxed. Five more people were able to pass, but they were all fifth grade mortal talent, just barely passing. However, these five were still talented enough that the capital would take them. The line slowly became smaller and smaller until it reached me.
‘I’ll go to the capital and be stronger than anybody else!’ I thought as I walked towards my new fate.
[th_108_.gif] Hello readers! A new chapter is finally out! The next will probably be here in a week or two. Until then....!