Dante was only thirteen years old living in a small remote village called Zane’s Village, named after the founder Ezekiel Zane. The village was within the territory belonging to the Holy Star Kingdom.

“Hey Uncle Gus, you promised to let me go with you on the hunt,” complained Dante. Uncle Gus just laughed, “if I took you with me, your sister would kill me, and I like living. Besides, when did I ever make such a promise?”

Dante wanted to go hunting with Uncle Gus to replenish the village’s meat supply. But hunting did not involve weapons like swords and axes; instead, the village hunters used their bare hands, traps, and simple magic. They didn’t use weapons because for one, they couldn’t afford them, and two, their ancestors did not use them. It was more dangerous this way so Dante’s big sister didn’t want him getting hurt.

“Go back to the orphanage and watch the other kids,” said Uncle Gus. “Fine, but later we have to spar.” “Ok, ok.” For as long as he could remember, the orphanage was his home. He had been found abandoned by Uncle Gus many years ago during one of his hunts. Everyone in the village was his family. Dante was always taught to be kind and help others, so he wanted to become strong in order to be of use to the village that has raised him.

As Dante approached the orphanage, he saw the little kids playing with a ball so he joined them. Most of the kids were five years old. Two of them were about the same age as Dante. Of course, the ages were not exact since they were all abandoned. After an hour, Their big sister May called, “kids, time to eat.” Dante and the other kids all rushed into the dining room.

“Big sis, when can I go hunting with Uncle Gus?” Dante asked. “Not until you can beat him in a sparring match.” “Then it won’t be too long. I can land some great punches on him. He even said they hurt.” May has always been protective of the kids. She just didn’t want to see them get hurt, but she couldn’t stop Dante causing trouble and getting injured. “That’s because Uncle Gus was just being nice. B’sides an idiot like you couldn’t even last a minute in the forest,” that was John, an orphan about the same age as Dante. Although he trained with Uncle Gus, he wasn’t as strong as Dante. He was a bit scrawny.

“Remember that one time you fell off the tree,” John laughed. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh too, even May. “Hey that was on purpose. I wanted to know how if felt to get hurt and it was five years ago.” Dante was embarrassed. He never faced any danger and was curious as to whether or not he could withstand the pain from falling from a high position. He was serious about becoming strong. As the laughter continued, May chimed in, “hehe, ok enough chit chat and eat up.”

After finishing their food, the kids went off to their afternoon lectures.The orphanage had a few staff members teaching the kids of the various things, such as the world, magic and the different species they knew of. Dante was always in attendance for these lectures as he was eager to learn as much as possible. There were also lectures on mathematics and reading and writing. But Dante would skip those and train; although, May would sometimes find and drag him back to the lectures.

Dante went to his lecture and it was on magic. The lectures were not advance as the teachers knew very little. Only those lucky enough were able to get stronger and manipulate the elements and other forms of magic. Dante himself wanted to learn magic, but he only knew the concepts behind it, incantations, circles, and strengthening one's mind. In the end he had no way of training in magic since he didn’t know any incantations and the one’s the teachers knew were not suitable for him. Everytime he tried to use a simple fire magic, it would cause an accident and he would be scolded by May for worrying her.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

As the lectures finished, Uncle Gus came back from the hunt. Him and a handful of others were seen carrying bloody sacks of beasts. Dante was used to seeing blood. He would sometimes help prepare the meat for dinner. Most of them were earth hares and there were four ember wolves. Uncle Gus had one on each shoulder while the other two were carried by two other hunters. A few of the elders in the village came to thank Uncle Gus and the other hunters for their hard work. Dante went up to Uncle Gus and asked for a sparring match. “Uncle Gus it’s time for our spar.” “Dante! Uncle Gus just came back. Let him rest. There’s time to spar some other time,” shouted May. He was excited. He wanted to prove he was no longer a child. “Hahaha, it’s fine. I have enough energy to have a spar with him,” said Uncle Gus.

When they went to an open field, the other orphans followed to watch. May also followed them; although, reluctantly as she just couldn’t stop Dante. Uncle Gus and Dante were ready in their fighting stance. “I’ll let you make the first move, so come at me with everything you have” said Uncle Gus with a grin on his face. Dante smiled and charged forward. He was quick. Before everyone knew it, Dante was in front of Uncle Gus and punched. Uncle Gus blocked with his arms, bam, bam, bam. The three punches were blocked easily and Uncle Gus wasn’t harmed in the least. But the other kids were excited and cheered. They were surprised to see how see how fast Dante was. However, May just stood there cross armed and glaring.

Uncle Gus threw a punch and Dante didn’t back up. Instead, he continued forward and ducked to counter. Unfortunately, it was expected and Uncle Gus used his free hand to stop the punch and threw Dante. Dante got back up and saw Uncle Gus rushing towards him. They exchanged blow after blow, bam, boom, bam, bam. The kids continued to cheer, especially the younger kids. May just stood there cross armed and glaring.

This continued on for a while and Dante could be seen tired with bruises. He charged towards Uncle Gus and attacked. Uncle Gus was ready to block, but Dante disappeared. He actually moved sideways to attack, landing lean punches. This time Uncle Gus felt them. It became serious. Uncle Gus was pushed back, the excitement in both of them grew. All of a sudden Uncle Gus shouted, “raaagh,” as he threw punch after punch making Dante fly towards a tree. “Dante!” shouted May.

But before she could do anything to help Dante, there was a rumble. It came from a distance. The sky darkened and a light shined so bright from the direction of the rumble. One child grabbed onto May, “what’s going on.” Another asked, “what’s going on big sis?” The light shot into the sky and separated into multiple rays. One ray of light came towards them. Everyone became scared. They all braced themselves. May hugged the kids and Uncle Gus did the same with as many kids he could. All of a sudden the light went straight for Dante.

The light didn’t disappear, at least not completely. Everyone looked towards Dante worriedly. May rushed towards him, “Dante, Dante!” Uncle Gus also rushed towards him, but then a figure came forwards and collapsed. It was Dante and his hand was glowing. There was a mark on his hand of the nine stars. Uncle Gus was shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Dante was unconscious. Everyone gathered around him and Uncle Gus grabbed his hand. “it can’t be…  it can’t be.” “Uncle Gus what’s wrong, is Dante going to be ok?” May asked. “Ok? Better than ok, it’s the mark of the gods! The prophecy… it must be the prophecy.” “The prophecy? You mean the one about the heroes that will one day appear?” May as confused, “are you saying that Dante is the hero?” “Yes, he has the same mark as the one in the story, but I think Dante is not the only one. There was more than one ray of light,” Uncle Gus exclaimed.

After two weeks passed, Dante awoke in his bed. “Dante, you're awake.” It was May’s voice, “everyone Dante’s awake.” Uncle Gus and the other children rushed into the room. The head of the village also came in. The children were all smiling and talking at once. “What’s going on?” asked Dante. Uncle Gus came forward and asked, “Dante what do you last remember?” “I was fighting you Uncle Gus,” Dante replied. “Dante, listen carefully. You were struck by a light, look at your hand.” said Uncle Gus. Dante was shocked when he saw the mark, “it’s the mark from the story.” “Yes, the mark is the same as the one from the prophecy passed down through the centuries. You have been chosen by the Gods,” Uncle Gus explained.