The wind blew over my face, shook my shirt and the bag. I watched the fields of vegetation for some time, while unwillingly holding a cart with various types of vegetable-based spices. I sighed, I avoided closing my eyes, but the memories came. They always came.

“You were in the paper” My father said, snapping me out of my trance.

I turned to him. I was bewildered, removed from my consciousness, my eyes focused on nothing.

“It still scares me”

“I know that. It's not something you can win overnight, you know?”

"I'm afraid... I don't know if I want to fight anymore." I held back tears, felt a tightness in my chest, and then continued. “But I felt I had to do it, why I don't know”

“Champion… One step at a time, no one starts by facing a minotaur. And I'm proud that you followed what you thought was right”

My dad was very worried last night, but he and my mom have a certain knack for staying calm — or hiding their despair. This has helped me. Seeing them worry me would make me tense and insecure. Emy didn't know what happened. I thought it should go on like this. If it was scary for me, who's to say for an eight-year-old.

“Are you sure you want to deliver today? I give you the day off”

“No, I can”

“Okay, make sure you don't exaggerate”

Kanro walked towards the trail giving brief glances back, before turning the curve towards the city he made two with his hand and smiled - giving a wink at the end. If I remember, today he goes to a meeting as well to talk about farm security. My mom went to help with the defense guard, so Emy… should be at school by now.

I gripped the cart's pull iron firmly and tried to move it. I grunted. It's a fucking heavy order, even using all the strength of my body I moved with extreme difficulty - memories of my thin body in the mirror came to the surface, made me grit my teeth. Mental note: I need to train physically.

Panting, exhausted and sweaty, I found myself in the middle of Rua de Karin. A little less busy than usual. Good. That way they would keep their attention away from my humiliation of not being able to carry a simple cart.

"The news brat? I thought your attitude was pretty shitty, it was like of a fearful one,” said a tall boy, with beige hair and a sneer on his face.

The blue cape with the moon symbol next to a sword symbolizes the school of King Enguerrand — or the tenth King of Laum — so the problem was right. I returned my attention to the cart. I tried to ignore it, to pretend I didn't feel anything with his words, but part of me agreed.

His fist hit my face and I fell, coughed and hurt my arm. A kick followed to my stomach. I desperately had to suck in air to avoid the darkness that sprang to the corners of my eyes.

“You can't even use magic. Pathetic”

My vision was blurred, I saw several drops forming a stain on the floor until I heard a female voice calling me.

“Hey, are you okay?”

I turned to see her, the girl helped me to my feet.

“Don't mind him, Zelforne is an idiot just because he's in magic school”

“I tried”

"You're the newspaper boy!? Incredible!” She said squeezing my hand with both hands. “I thought it was very brave. My name is Aria.”

“Nice to meet you, Aria” I said, giving him a weak, confused smile.

“Well, I need to go now. And I believe you too. Bye-bye.”

Aria ran and was out of sight as quickly as she arrived. She acted very fast. An enemy, a friendship, I would say. I continued on my way, stopped at the beginning of the damned hill. A tear ran down my cheek, my face would surely scare anyone as my indignation was stamped on my face.

After a lot of struggle, I got it. Delivery was successful. I screamed, clapped and fell on my back. After all, I deserved it. I took off my sweat-soaked shirt and laid it on the floor, my breathing ragged and my racing heart making me dizzy. I spent a few minutes on the ground beside the tree. Her house was at the top of the hill, so no one passed unless they came to visit.

I must have dozed off, because I woke up with a strong taste of drool. Strong gusts of air hovered over me, I realized they were shaking everything around me. They shook the tree until the trunk creaked. I got up scared, looked at the city looking for rain. Anything. The sky was partly cloudy, and the wind suddenly stopped. Confused, I decided to walk down the path. Until I saw the test boy — who beat me — training with a wooden stick. What's he got with that stick?

He was sweaty, wearing only dark blue pants made of thin, tough fabric. Veins were visible in his muscles, his abdomen was well trained; its speed, surprising. Each swing, each attack, carried a built-in aura of air similar to a serpent-shaped tornado.

I crouched behind a tree that had a rough air around it, took a few cuts, but managed to stabilize myself and have a good view.

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

"It's past your time to train" said a tall woman with a real sword at her waist.

“No”

“Why? I have already said that rest is essential. And if you really want to defeat a being like that, you're going to need a lot of time”

"I don't have much time, Xelar! To defeat a being like that minotaur I need to train and not rest. You would have crushed him, just like Alatar did” He stared at the woman, his gaze sharp. Gusts of air formed around her legs.

“This is not the time for this, you'll end up injuring yourself if you strain your muscles with magic like that!”

Are his muscles over the limit? He looks in perfect vigor. I backed away carefully and walked aimlessly through the streets of Karin. My mind lost, scared, not knowing how I could be an adventurer if I could barely run. I looked at my thin body and snorted, closed my eyes and let the thoughts flow. I failed, but is it because I was rushed?

I'd never been much for exercise — and obviously not magic — but even so, I had a small desire to serve as the wall's guard. For some reason, I walked in front of that boy. And even though it was useless, that I was unable to protect him, I felt that my presence there, in front of that monster, would make a difference.

In the end, I only gained trauma in relation to huge creatures with the potential for genocide. It still hurt to think, my heart was still racing, a tear was still falling.

I walked to Miss Heigor's library. I showed my card to the receptionist and sat at a table far away after picking up a book about a bird. I flipped through a few pages. Apparently, this little bird goes up in flames before turning to ash to be reborn. This is grotesque.

“Lumi? Looks a little shaken up today” Miss Heigor spoke, placed her hand gently on my shoulder and continued. "Want to take an extra book today?"

She was quite old. White hair, tall glasses, a colorful shawl. She was always in a good mood, which surprised me.

“No…just…discredited”

"Well... Can I help you in any way?" She pulled out her chair and sat down.

“I don't know. Until yesterday I wanted to be a guard, I heard so many cool stories. And I'm here, afraid. Never, never, never will I be able to beat that one…” I swallowed hard, felt my throat burn. “minotaur.”

"Lumi... Do you think a great champion started out facing a minotaur? They frighten even the veterans among the Diluculos Auras. And you, you walked in front of a boy.” His voice was calm, and reassuring.

"Why would that be an incredible feat, Miss Heigor?"

“Because that's how it starts. On the ground you had courage, unlike many of the trained warriors who fled without a second thought. So calm down. Aim for a shallower target, I know you can”

At that moment, she put her arm around my shoulder and smiled weakly. She got up and left and I was grateful that the library was empty this afternoon.

I came out of the library holding a book on goblins. I decided today that I would hunt one. If I run, I might be in time for the test for the collectors team. I broke into a run, noticed the sun already setting and the lights of the stores gaining prominence. The fountain gushed just as I passed.

I arrived at the guild looking like a condemned man. I was panting, eyes wide, kneeling on the floor and feeling my vision go dark. From the library to here it is around two hundred meters. Considering I fell — intentionally — to rest only three times was my highest record.

After several minutes of trying to catch my breath, I finally walked over to the lady at the counter. I must have looked awful, because her expression when she fixed her eyes on me was frightening. If she hadn't disguised it then I was going to run home.

"Hello!” I said, a little louder than desired. “I'd like to join the team of collectors.”

"Well…" she said, eyes wide and a smile forced. “ See if you meet the requirements, please.”

She put a paper on the table and I took it. Minimum requirements for the collector team: Be sixteen years old, in good physical condition, persistence, dedication...

I felt my eyebrow wiggle on its own, I didn't fit any of these prerequisites. I returned the paper, defeated, to her hands.

"Can you... try from here...?"

“Two months” I said, looking away.

I walked back to the huge wooden guild gate with metal parts and sat down. There were few people here today. The polished metallic quartz gray had a few cracks and a few cuts, which meant it must have had a test here too. I watched the large chandelier illuminating the circular area with white flame candles. I noticed that the energy emitted by it gave life to the other means of lighting in the place.

“Hey, boy!’ A tall and reasonably strong man called me from the corner of the room, he was accompanied by two other people.

I looked back to make sure there was no one else, and then I replied:

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Weren't you the one who wanted to join the team of collectors? If you haven't given up yet, get closer”

I walked over to him slowly, still confused.

“I'm Captain Cirlan, I lead Karin's city collection team. Are you really up for this job? It's not easy to collect.”

"I..." I think of Heigor's words, my father's. To overcome this is up to me. Well, that worries me. I want, I want, I want! If a goblin I wanted to hunt, I needed to start.

“Yes, I want.”

“This brat doesn't fit in” said the man behind Cirlan, he was muscular, had long gray hair and wore a dress shirt with the buttons loose in the chest area.

“Kaled, let the leader finish!” Said the girl with blond hair, a green and white dress and a bow and arrow. Her exhausted blue eyes fixed on me, I looked away awkwardly, feeling my face burn.

“We have a One Weight box here. Lift her up, and I'll let her in even if she doesn't meet the requirements.” He pointed to the wooden crate on the floor.

“I'm in.”

Kaled chuckled, and said something about my not making it in a mocking tone. The archer just looked worried. I sucked in all the air I could, crouched down and held the box. I tried to get up. I grunted, both out of effort and frustration. I felt my entire body heat up, all my muscles working. But even with all my efforts, I fell to the floor—and the crate remained static.

Kaled burst out laughing, Cirlan watched me warily.

“Not a box of Weight One. Leave him alone, Cirlan”

“He's right, I can't”

“The physique is something that is built over time, there is no need to be in a hurry for it”

“You're still young, little one. You will have other chances.”

“This is an arduous task, brat. You are unable to carry a Level One crate, let alone accompany us on a journey. Better come back when you're ready, I don't want to carry any extra weight on the mission.”

“Two months! I'll be back in two months!”

The three looked at each other, confused.

“I will be sixteen”

“No, not two months” Cirlan threw a bronze card into my hands. “We'll be leaving in a few days, be ready.”

A feeling of euphoria touched the pit of my stomach, then rose to my face and made my mouth curl into a wide smile. My breathing quickened, but this time, it was for good reason. I screamed so loud that everyone around looked up. Kaled smirked, it looks like he has intentions of making me sweat. I don't know why he accepted me, but it didn't matter. I was in.

Without touching too much on the details, I walked away happy, hummed, bounced, and yelled most of the way home.

The trail was always scary at this hour. I looked through the trees, only a dense fog hovered with no sound coming from there. I squirmed closer to the wall. In it were long-spaced torches. But at least they lit up.

The only sound was my footsteps on earth and fire, as time passed I heard my breathing. Whether it was because I was nervous or because of the silence I don't know, but a huge urge to run was growing in me.

The penny dropped when I stopped walking and the torches went out in the wind. A sudden strong wind. A step back, from inside the woods. Someone was here.

For a moment I understood my body screaming run.

I turned around, shaking, an immense black aura made my body slam against the wall and crash into the floor. I gritted my teeth and felt horror wash over my face. Two red eyes formed in the mist, it was something big. That thing displayed sharp teeth, it made my heart want to jump out of my chest. My feet tingled, my body refused to react, tears began to flow — until a voice came from over the wall.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

I looked up and saw the figure of a blonde elf who, leaned her arms on the edge of the wall and gave me a cute smile.

“Yes… it is,” I said, sniffing with my nose. Every part of my being thanked her for being there.

I asked for her supervision to go the rest of the way; and luckily, she agreed.