It was a hazy day, although the sun was already up the haze kept the seas dark.

There was a single boat there floating where a man dressed for the cold shivered and stayed.

It was the village chief who was waiting for the boy, he could smell the salty sea. He covered his body with his coat while shutting his ears with his hands. He couldn’t take it, hearing the screams of the bandits that were getting massacred.

The salty smell of the sea began to be filled with a pungent smell of blood. The village chief could identify its smell as the visage of the boy flashed in his mind.

A few minutes passed and finally, the silence showed the end of struggle. The village chief had to remove his hands from his fingers to double-check.

“Should I sink it?” a question from the boy. The village chief could hear it although he could only see the silhouette of the bandit’s ship.

“SINK IT!” the village chief screamed. He would be insane to take that bloody ship.

“THWACK!!” a sound of wood getting slashed. That sword that the village chief’s father had hidden in the basement was well-used. The bandit’s boat slowly sank, the sounds of bubbles and planks were the clear signs of it.

The Village Chief’s boat rocked a bit, it was Simon who had landed back on their small boat.

The village chief though it was dark could tell that there was blood on the boy’s body, but not his.

“Let’s go back now… thank you for defending the village,” the village chief said as he began rowing the boat.

Simon also took the oar that was on the right side of their boat and began rowing too.

To the village chief, Simon’s back felt distant, he was in a different league. The old man really raised a different one, he wondered how many lives the boy had taken already.

“He is too young,” the village chief muttered.

<--->

It was the end of winter that year, Simon just turned 10, and they were standing just outside of the fisher man’s village. The boy now was clearly larger than how the old man remembered him, while the old man himself had totally aged.

Together with them were the Black Hood and the Village Chief, it was time to say goodbyes, to move on, time doesn’t wait for anyone.

“Thanks for defending the village again, take the sword away with you too,” the village chief said. If the 2 stranger didn’t visit their village he didn’t know what would have happened to them.

“We are going to take it anyway, I’ll let the boy use it until he breaks it,” the old man said reaching his hands for a shake. The village chief held and shook it.

“Be careful, out there but it must be the other way around,” the village chief’s final words as he looked at the boy and threw a wave at him, the boy just nodded.

The old man smiled, thinking to himself that he should have trained the boy a little bit about socializing. If what the boy was saying was true then he has been isolated for some time now.

The village chief also shook the hand of the Black Hood, the old man and the Black Hood subdued the bandits that were attacking by the land, the two were monsters in their own right.

“Thanks for the hospitality,” the Black Hood said as he was shaking the chief’s hands.

The Village Chief with one final look waved at them as he left going back to the Fisher Man’s Village. “Please don’t come back! I don’t want any trouble!” he said “Though I have no choice but to help you aren’t I?” but he was not one to forget debts.

The old man and the Black Hood appreciated those words, it was rare for adventurers or those who walk in their path to find someone like the village chief.

“I thought you would immediately leave after fixing the bandit attack?” the old man suddenly asked the Black Hood.

“... He said that of all the Heroes of the Era, you had the most lonely back, he said to me that I should take care of you, but you look fine now… officially you are dead, try not to steer commotions-” then the Black Hood formed a C using his hand “-Doesn’t matter now does it?” the Black Hood said before he began vanishing in thin air.

“Is he still alive?” the old man asked.

“No, he failed the ritual,” the Black Hood answered before he completely vanished.

There was a still silence in the air before the old man faced the boy. “You got a good sword after 3 years?” the old man said remembering why they went to the Sun God’s Peak after all.

“It's still light,” Simon said.

“You know, I ran out of gold, how about visiting the hideout of thieves?” the old man suggested, it was a piece of information that the Black Hood had given him earlier.

“Let’s go!” Simon smiled.

The old man smiled back, they were back on their journey again.

<--->

The cavern was located east of the Fisherman’s Village, even the chief didn’t know of such a place.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The two arrived, it was just half a day of slow walk.

The first one who noticed the Caverns was Simon.

“I can see it!” the boy said even though he was a few steps behind the old man, his snake eyes did have some special perks on them.

“Slow down boy, we have all the time in the world,” the old man wittingly said.

The two were walking following the southeastern shores. The shore continuing east became a slope and it divided the path, one that led to the higher grounds and one to the cavern.

The two arrived at the spot, the bandit’s base. It was well hidden but the boy immediately found the entrance that was only blocked by a wooden makeshift door.

“Simon, just crush it!” the old man said while he was watching Simon’s back, the boy was trying to open it up.

The suggestion was well taken, the boy drew his sword and cut down the door in 2 pieces.

“Let’s go now!” the old man who was getting annoyed by the weather entered first.

Simon who could see in the dark immediately found a torch that was hanging on the walls of the cave. The boy immediately noticed that there was something strange with the torch. He poked the old man using the torch’s end.

“Oh! That’s a magic tool, these thieves have it good! Let your magic flow into it!” the old man said.

The boy followed and the torch did brighten up.

“It's made out of monster parts! Give that to me and lead the way!” the old man again made a command and the boy followed.

The cavern was wide but the ropes were their guide inside. After walking for a while they finally found the base of the thieves. Although it was a bit slippery and dark the base was well organized.

The thieves had dried quarters where they could sleep, it was located on the west side of the cavern’s natural slopes, another spot for their food stash on a higher ground and loots on the lower.

“Oh! This is a treasure trove! I’m going to check the stash!-” Like his spirits have been ignited, the old man pointed at the lower boxes that were closer to the lower part of the slope. “-Go check the food storage!” he said to the boy while he pointed upwards.

It was logical that the thieves would put their food stash on a higher ground, or it could be wet but Simon didn’t think and just followed the old man’s instructions.

In a few moments, the two began building a fire. The beds were still clean, and some were usable but rather than being used, the old man used them to create a fire.

“I’m starving! Let’s have a feast today! In honor of my recovery!” the old man said as Simon placed a large rock that they would be using for cooking.

“Boy! I saw a spring of water at the center, take a bucket! I need to clean the meat to be sure!” the old man said, he was holding a wooden bucket he got from the loots of the bandits.

“Also I found this!” then from his other hand, he placed two wooden swords on the ground. “Let’s practice after eating! Let’s see how far can you go now!”

It was a high-quality wooden sword. It was for training.

<--->

It was another day and the Old Man and Simon were on it again early in the morning.

The old man rushed into an attack and the boy was in his natural stance.

“Smack!!!” The boy received a good attack, still, he had to use his feet to stop it. The old man’s sword was really hard to parry. The old man withdrew his attack and went off stance and the boy immediately noticed it “Was I really fed by a wolf’s milk?” the boy asked, he had a chance to extend the brief pause and he took it by asking a question.

“Yeah, you sure were. I was really surprised. This might be why you are abnormally strong,” the old man answered. The old man had an inkling about the boy, the eyes were all the clues he needed.

“I don’t think so, you are still much stronger than me, old man. I can’t beat you,” the boy remarked.

Even though the old man had just recovered, in terms of skills and abilities when holding the sword he was still sharp.

…

Every day the two would practice. Days became weeks and weeks became months, as the old man sharpened the boy’s skills he was also getting back in shape.

They didn’t have problems with food because not only that they have some food stash from the bandits, the boy would sometimes fish the whole day.

Still, the old man had his plans, he wanted to bring the boy to the central. If they could only reach the Neward Clan then everything would be taken care of… he knew that he was losing time.

On one of the nights that they were eating the old man had decided to inform the boy of his plans.

“We will be living after a few days. We will be going into the central,” the old man said, he was already cooking and Simon was excitedly watching, something really never faded.

“Okay!” the boy said, he didn’t think of anything too deeply.

“Maybe we will visit Newark,” the old man continued. The fish that Simon caught were starting to smell good now, their freshness and sea flavor at their best aroma. “If I’m lucky enough, I could accompany you up to the Hadrian Academy. I’ve got a friend there who would take care of you.”

“I see… when are you going to die?” there was no tone of worry in the voice of the boy.

“I don’t really know… maybe I’ve got 4 to 6 years more,” the old man said as he tried to remember what the Pam said to him.

The boy was silent but his demeanor didn’t change he was still excited for the fish.

“This one’s finish, you get one first,” the old man said.

The boy happily took it, he was using the carving knife that the old man gifted to him. Memories began to flow into the old man’s mind. Memories that would evoke some things that he shouldn’t have thought about.

<--->

The human frontiers. An uncontrollable region. These lands evoked the unknown and the ever-changing perils. Unlike the tamed lands in the central continent, these lands made it look like life was so cheap.

Nobles sent from the center to the frontiers were initially considered an honor to their families, camouflaged as a service to the emperor. However, as times changed, it became more of a death sentence for them.

The rate of nobles dying in the frontier was really high.

It was not only nobles that were being forcefully sent to the frontier. Criminals too were sent to the frontier, to be eternal slaves to work on the eastern frontier farm if they were lucky or in the underground mines on the far eastern end of the world.

While the farms were managed by frontier nobles the mines were managed by the Explorers, it was their main source of income.

Now for the ones reading the papers of a rider that was in front of the Castle of the Elfords, it was strange that he was here. He was a noble, and he was on the frontiers with a clear purpose in his mind.

He had 2 pieces of spear that were hanging on his horse’s back, bringing weapons was a norm to the frontier so the guards didn’t mind it. He was all covered with thick clothes as the cold weather was not suitable for him.

The fortress was of free entry but the boy himself went and approached them. He was asking for some information about a noble too.

“We understand, you better go to the adventurer’s guild,” the guard said.

“Thank you, the frontier is a black hole to me,” the rider said. He then removed his cloak, he was still young which surprised the two guards. But he was really tall and his voice didn’t say so.

“The noble I’m looking for looks like me, does anything ring a bell?” he asked.

“Sorry, many people pass these gates, it's impossible to remember his face but we will remember yours,” the guard said.

“My name is Elijah Yearno… please remember my face, my twin's name is Daren Yearno, he brought his personal knights with him,” Elijah was tall for his age, and his voice was deep too.

“Sorry, if he really did bring knights with him then we would have known, try asking the other gates especially the southern one,” the guard then returned the papers.

“It's refreshing to know that throwing my title doesn’t work in the frontier doesn’t it,” Elijah had already been in the frontiers for a week now, nobody cared that he was noble.

“Nobles had a very bad reputation in the frontier, the only name that carries weight in the whole frontier is the Elfords,” the guard said, he was proud that he was a knight who served the Elford Clan.

“I will keep that in mind, thank you for your time,” Elijah put back his cloak and resumed his walk inside the Elford’s Fortress.