It had been two hours since Kana left Kiluark, on the way she met a few

wild animals and monsters, but they were no match for her in the end. Though on the way

to the capital, she did see a small village devastated with homeless.

‘Is the king not helping these people at all?’ she thought to herself. Kana wanted to help, so she went up to a few of the children and handed them some bread and dried jerky.

"Here, eat up," she said, handing it to the cautious children. Seeing the bread and jerky, they could not hold themselves back from taking it and stuffed themselves until their cheeks looked bloated.

‘So cute!’ thought Kana, seeing them eat like little monkeys.

“Thanks, big sis!” says one of the little girls of the group with tears in her eyes.

‘Big sis? I could get used to this,’ she thought to herself, thinking that she loved that name.

"No problem, little one," Kana replied with a soft smile.

They shyly waved goodbye before running toward a small, ruined building.

“Geez," Kana whispers, shaking her head sadly, wondering if that was where they lived. She once again starts moving toward the direction of the capital.

Two days later ….

“So, this is the capital, huh?” Kana looked at the massive gate. ‘Must have cost a lot to build,’ she thought.

Walking toward the gate, a guard suddenly stopped her. "Stop!" he shouted. "What is your business here?"

"I'm here to join the military. Can you tell me where I should go? " Kana asked him.

“The military? We don’t need brats like you; go back home and stop joking

around kid,” the guard said, disdainfully.

‘What did he just say?’ " What did you call me? Say it again and see what happens!" Kana shouted out, attracting the gaze of the other guards and drawing the townspeople's attention.

"What is going on over here!" shouted a stern-looking, middle-aged man as he approached.

"Sir, this kid says she wants to join the military, but look at her, she is a child! She couldn't even lift a sword, let alone fight!" the guard explained to his superior.

"Hmm, I see. Kid, you say you wanna fight, but can you?" the man asked with a shred of doubt on his face.

"Yes, I can. I have fought multiple monsters in the forest, handled a few demons as well. It was nothing at all!" Kana retorted smugly toward the man.

The stern man looked her up and down. 'Her arms seem quite toned, and the way she carries herself shows she has had her fair share of fights in her life. Her eyes seem to shine with determination,' he thought to himself.

"We can let you try if you can beat one of our best soldiers," the man said.

"Huh? Sir, she is only a child, do you need to have her fight? She could get hurt pretty bad!" one of the other more kinder guards said.

"Don't worry; I can do it with no problem!" Kana replied and proceeded to walk with the stern man to the area where the guards trained.

"Here we are. Kyle, get over here!" the man shouted.

Soon enough, a tall, buff man stood in front of them. "Yes, General?" he replied after saluting.

"You are to fight little Kana here to see who wins," the general commanded.

"She is a child, General. I don't think I could fight a kid, no matter what!" Kyle replied, not wishing to harm the girl.

"Are you disobeying orders?" the general shouted aggressively.

'His strength is at a Grand Knight level, it seems,' Kana thought. ‘

"Sir?" Kyle replied while Kana could see the conflict on his face.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle most people I fight with," Kana reassured him.

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked her reluctantly.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Positive, although I look like a kid, I'm actually around thirty years old. I don't age like other people," Kana explained to them patiently.

"Oh, then I don't need to hold back. Let us fight a fair and good battle!" Kyle told Kana with determination in his voice.

Afterward, we moved into the arena and readied ourselves.

"No killing allowed. If one gives up or is unable to continue, the fight is over," the general remarked, not wanting to deal with the aftermath of a death. If a warrior were to die, that would mean a loss to the army, but if this unknown person were to die, knowing nothing of her background could bring unnecessary complications.

"Begin!" the general shouted while the remaining recruits crowded around the arena to watch the fight between one of their best and an unknown

The second he shouted the command, Kyle rushed forward at an alarmingly fast speed. When he got closer, he swung his right arm to strike her weapon with his sword, aiming to disarm her and end the fight quickly.

But the expected sound of the clashing weapons did not come. Looking around, he noticed the girl seemed to have disappeared. "Where did she go?" Kyle whispered aloud.

Suddenly, Kyle felt the need to move to his right, at the same moment, the girl appeared to his left, her dagger lighting up with a silver shine.

*Whoosh* the blade slashed through the air, the wind pressure alone slicing his cheek.

'This girl! She is stronger than I thought, maybe a grand knight like the general,' Kyle thought, seeing the speed, power, and finesse in her movements. ‘She's trained in fighting, so she may not be lying about being older than she looks because that is not the strength of a fourteen-year-old.'

"You better move faster because if you stay this slow, you will end up black and blue," Kana smugly declared.

She had taken it easy on him so he would not lose the match immediately, but now she would get more serious since he looked at her as an equal opponent.

' Even I could not track that speed, she is above grand knight, maybe sage?' the general thought to himself, watching the fight closely.

Kyle knew this girl was stronger than him and suspected he would lose, but he still wanted to fight such a strong person.

"Alright, let us go all out!" Kyle shouted, manifesting an aura of determination.

"It looks like you are going to try now. I'll end this quickly for you," Kana told him with a smug smile on her face.

Kyle growled at her remark. 'No matter how powerful she is, I will not let her make a fool of me.' He lunged forward while swinging his sword again.

"What happened?" Kyle gasped out in shock before he fell to the ground, unable to move a single finger. "What did she?" he whispered before he passed out.

"What happened?" a guard in the crowd whispered to the man next to him. He shook his head, bewildered like everyone else.

The general was the most shocked. 'I must report this to the higher-ups; her fighting level is hard to find. This would be good news for humanity,' he thought to himself before yelling out, ""Kana wins the match!"

All the recruits cheered and started asking her what she did and how she got so strong; in the end, Kana got annoyed and told them, "Shut up, I'm trying to tell you, but you won't let me answer!" she shouted, silencing the people around her

As they waited for her to talk, she turned toward the general and asked, "So, can I join the military?"

"Yes, but you should go to the castle and tell them you are. With your power, they would accept you there, and you will be far more valued," the general nicely explained.

Kana looked at the recruits who were still waiting for her to answer them. "I see. Well, I beat him because I am awesome! Toodles!" she said before turning to rush off before they asked more questions, and she felt the need to kill them due to annoyance.

"Huh? Wait, that was not an answer! Come back!" yelled a recruit.

Kana ignored them as she continued to walk and take in the sights. She saw merchants selling food, some selling weapons, and many other things around the city. In the end, she stopped at an inn to rest.

After walking inside, she saw a desk in the middle of the room. There didn't seem to be many guests hanging around from what she could see. Shrugging, she walked up to the girl sitting at the desk.

"Hello, welcome to the Moon Dream Inn. How many days would you like to stay?" the girl asked politely.

"I will stay for three days for now to get a look around the city, how much would it cost?" Kana asked her.

"That will be sixty collins," the girl replied with a smile.

The currency here was strange to Kana, but due to the bandits in the forest, she looted a few thousand collins that she stored with her knife.

"Here you go," Kana replied as she reached into the pouch at her waist to pull the money out. She handed them over, and the girl told her which room was hers.

"Here it is, room 4A," Kana said aloud as she opened the door and walked in. "Doesn't look too bad here," she stated as she walked over to sit on the bed.

She thought about what she would need to do next. The first thing to do was to go to the castle and talk with the king. She needed to kill a devil lord because she had a short time remaining to complete the mission. After Kana thought her plans through, she went to sleep on the soft and comfortable bed.

"Kana! Wake up, we got things to do!" yelled Kuko in her mind.

"Jeez, Kuko. I'm starting to think that you are an alarm clock that wakes me at the worst times!" Kana mumbled, feeling exhausted and energetic at the same time.

"Uh, what is an alarm clock?" Kuko asked curiously.

"It is nothing, Kuko, nothing at all," Kana said, too tired to explain. Kana got up and quickly washed up before she headed downstairs.

"Miss, would you like breakfast?" says the girl from the desk.

"Yeah, I am a little hungry," Kana replied as her stomach growled.

"Please take a seat; we will have breakfast prepared soon," she replied as she went to tell the cooks.

Kana walked to an empty seat and sat down. Ten minutes later, a man appeared and sat on the seat next to hers.

"Sup," Kana said, trying to be friendly, something she can be both good and bad at.

"Hmm? Hello, what are you doing in this place? Don't you know that the war will start soon? It is best to leave the capital since it should be the first place attacked," the man kindly told Kana.

" I am here to join the war. I am going to the castle today to apply, " Kana stated to the

kind man.

"Kid, the war is not a game. If you are not prepared, you could die!" the man stated sternly. Although he looked around twenty-three, he seemed older.

'He must not be human,’ Kana thought to herself. "I will be fine, I am older than I look," Kana stated while pouting, she wasn't a child!

"Hahaha, you look like a child to me. Of course, I have lived over four hundred years in this cruel and hateful world. I have seen the terrors along with the blessings," the man stated.

'Over four hundred years?' Kana thought, looking at him in shock.

"Let me tell ya something, kid. This place can be cruel. Most people think the emperor rank is the strongest, but there are seventeen emperor ranks right now and three hero kings."

Kana was stunned, what was a hero-king? And who was this man?

The man must have seen her shock, and he started to explain. "The hero-king is a higher rank than the emperor, but they don't show themselves to the world. There are three factions here, girl. The first is the humans, they have five emperor ranks, and a hero-king, the so-called human king is not the true leader, he only manages the kingdoms."

He stopped to see if she had any questions before he continued. "The next faction is the Devils; they have five emperors and a hero-king as well. The last faction is the Spacewalker race; they have seven emperors and a hero-king as well. They invaded this world nine years ago. This war is between the devils and spacewalkers," the old man stated, finally finishing his story, and blasting my feeble mind with this ton of information.

'The fuck? So, I am not the strongest, after all? Wait, those things invaded nine years ago? That is around the same time I came here, and if this is true, which side is this man on?' Kana thought about the information she gained.

"Uh, which side are you on?" Kana asked him, hoping to not fight this dude.

"Hahaha, don't worry, my race is not allied with them. I was sent to watch after you by my master; he told me to protect you since you are chosen and can help this world," the man replied with a smile, but I could feel that some of his words were lies.

While we talked, the food came, and she started devouring it in seconds, while the man watched with a smile.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Kana remarked as she got up and ran away in record time.

"Hahaha, that kid. At first, I was ordered to kill her, but after watching her these past years, I could not bear to do it. Somehow, I started thinking of her as my own child. Protecting you, making sure nothing happens to her. Kid, I hope that this world will not get to you, and you can always be yourself." the man whispered to himself with a smile as he started to fade away into the shadows.