He was disgusted.

Disgust at the grotesque reality in which they lived, terrified by monsters of such malice that there was no comparison.

Jin hadn't seen anything like it in all of his sixteen years, but now he could see what his father and brother wanted so much to protect him from. Still feeling the wave of astonishment pass by, he tried his best to breathe through the whirlwind of guilt that choked him.

The Devourer had been defeated, but the city of Ferris would never be the same.

In an attempt to put some judgment on his head, she was the first to share her perspective.

Eliza assured Jin that the villagers would eventually return to their homes, eventually carrying on living as they were no purists. Farmers would summarize their routines, working on the land and harvesting the fruit of their well-deserved harvests. As the days went by, the battlefield that had now ruined several houses along the main street would be eventually renovated. And with that, people would go back to having their normal lives, despite the setbacks. But Jin knew very well that Ferris's village would never be the same, because at least one person would never return to his home. That night he would pray—to allow Faust to find his beloved family on the other side, that was the least he could do.

But the minimum was not enough, because Faust was not the only one who had suffered. If this world were so violent everywhere, this story would repeat itself over and over again and there would be nothing he could do. He was not strong enough like his brother Vendrick to make any difference, and that harsh reality was what kept him on his knees all that time.

And that disgusted him much more than Eliza or Vendrick could ever imagine.

This world was painful, cursed, corrupted and Jin was not compatible with it, the sudden shock of perspectives took his consciousness to another moment, someplace else.

***

Next to the warmth of a bonfire stood a man and his son. With a bent leg, Alaric looked at the frail child next to him. Back then, the child struggled to understand what that meant.

That interaction…

“Let me tell you something son, this is important… When you are old enough, you’ll have a crucial choice, and you’ll be forced to make a decision…”

"Me? What kind of choice? ”

“A choice that led me to where I am today. Some people see this as an opportunity, others see it as bad parenting. And only when you are an adult, you’ll have the perspective to realize if it was a good decision or not. However, you may not go back on it another time. It is a simple decision but it must be taken on your 16th birthday. ”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“For the past 15 years I have been trying to teach you as best as I could the ways of life. I taught you how to cook, how to gather water, and most of all — I did my best to protect you. ”

“But all of this will turn meaningless shall you decide to step away from the village and turn your attention to the horizon. The world that you haven’t yet seen… In the next summer you shall decide if you want to continue living the life you grew to love, or discover an unknown world to you, a new reality that you’ll have to adapt to."

“I want to become an Elemental Warrior, and become renowned just like you. Famous and powerful enough to be respected anywhere I go. ”

As if brushing aside that comment, the father resumed his speech. Something that he was holding on for more than a decade to say.

“I have tried to protect you the best that I could. It is a decision that even I, one of the strongest in the kingdom cannot delay it further. If you so decide to respond to your calling from Sanctum in the next summer, you will have a moment when reality will come knocking. It will not care about how you were raised, or how you behaved. It will reap and take all the same.

"-"

“And then I want you to think back to this moment. This moment right here. I want you to ask yourself, how were you feeling when you were here, safe and with a roof under your head. ”

“You’ll see things, terrible things. And you will have to accept it as they come. ” He said.

But why did do I have to?

Why should he, of all people, bow to the miserable situation in which mortals live and become insensitive to the cursed injustice that plagued them. For Jin this worldview was strange, and not one he was used to seeing.

The distorted reality, as his father promised, really came as he had warned a year ago. And even with the people he had started to admire now, accompanied by the person he had admired his whole life, they were not enough to protect the village.

Jin would never accept this reality as his own. Because it shouldn't be anyone's. He now envied the brat he was a year ago, who complained with his mouth full while his father was on a hunt looking to fill his plate at night.

But one thing was certain, he did not regret having responded to his call from Sanctum. He was aware that leaving Kaban Village implied leaving childhood behind, and how it brought more responsibilities. Now he needed to look after a group of people, and in this case, an entire village with his group. However, Jin would not accept this cursed reality as his only truth.

In this accursed world, power was everything.

And if he could achieve enough power, he would not need to bow to the corrupt and evil reality that was before him. He could shape the world the way he would like, maybe with enough strength he could show the world what his childhood was like, what it was like to spend his days without worrying for a second about the demonic beasts that inhabited this world and brought chaos to human civilization.

Yes, that was what he was going to do, and he would do anything to get it.

He needed to become more powerful than Eliza or Vendrick and really bring about the definitive change that this world needed.

He would seek out that red-eyed ascendant's name, and allow power to be achieved by any means. Such a honorable goal would certainly make his mother proud.

Proud of the son she could never see turn into a man, but under that very bright moon, opened his eyes to his true calling.

And just like that, he could live in peace with himself. Only then could he regain that feeling he still had in his memories.

That feeling, that privilege of being able to worry about futile things. To allow himself to live in peace once again.

Clenching his fists, and rising from the ground was a young man, no.

A grown man who would do anything to gain power and shape the world in his own way.