Chapter 1

The Beginning

It was a new day in the stunning city of Akadia, capital of the Kingdom of Orion. Merchants were beginning to open their shops, students were preparing to attend their classes, carriages were beginning to make the hustle and bustle of people going to work. And the city was incredibly alive.

The young boy named Tian Tempus was still asleep in his room, oblivious to everything that was going on outside his little world. In the kitchen, his mother was preparing breakfast with his two younger brothers. Tian's father had passed away five years ago from a heart disease, and the young man suffered from insomnia as the date of his death approached. So there were only four of them at home.

The two little brothers ran to wake up their older brother, heeding their mother's orders.

“Tian! Tian!” said his brothers to wake the young man up, as they jumped onto his bed.

The young man, somewhat drowsy, began to wake up. He was sleeping on his stomach, with his arm tucked under his pillow. His body felt quite heavy from the fact that he had only slept for a few hours. He just wanted to keep resting since it had been so hard for him to sleep well all week, but his brothers weren't helping much.

Bounce after bounce, the little brothers jumped and jumped on the bed of the poor boy who longed to enter the world of dreams again.

When suddenly there was a loud sound as if something had broken. Instantly, after the sound, the bed began to tilt to one side.

“We're falling! We're falling!” said the two little brothers at the same time.

Tian jumped out of bed with his eyes still half-closed and rather annoyed.

“Out! Dwarves!” he shouted.

The two boys ran out the door laughing loudly.

Tian stood for a moment, trying to somehow manage to wake himself up. He touched his face with his hands, then his eyes. He sat up in the broken bed as best he could, and began to look around his room.

It's been two years already," he muttered to himself.

Tian's room was no big deal. It was a ten-square-meter cubicle. It was full of all kinds of objects. A continental map hung on the wall; clothes everywhere; an open closet full of misplaced clothes; a bookshelf with wooden models of soldiers and dragons.

There was a small wooden desk full of papers and books, on Elisia's science and religion; a photo inside a picture frame; a cup of cold coffee, and a small white glass.

He walked over to the table to stare at the picture for a moment. It was a man with a huge smile hugging a little boy of about three years old.

“If only you were here, everything would be different...” he said while making a slight smile.

Next to the desk to the left was a mirror hanging on the wall. Young Tian began to look at himself in it carefully.

After a while, he slapped his face with both hands and blew out a quick breath of air. He rummaged in the closet next to his bed for some clothes and got dressed.

After having cleaned himself in the bathroom next to his room, he went down the stairs slowly and yawning loudly, while scratching his head trying not to fall; as he pretended to remain somewhat asleep, under the eyes of the two little boys who were on the ground floor. The stairs creaked quite a bit and his little brothers began to see how their brother seemed to be walking through quicksand.

“One more step... one more...” he said as he went down.

The two little creatures stood expectantly as Tian put on a little morning show. Once on the ground, they began to clap loudly for their brother as he bowed.

“Go to the table,” said the mother.

Tian went straight to sit at the table to his left. The table overlooked a window with a well-tended garden full of flowers. As he looked at it, the two little brothers, already seated, were fighting over who could grab the most purple fruits. They were fruits that they had picked themselves from the tree in their garden.

“Stop fighting, there's moratina for everyone. Can I get you some coffee, son?”

“Yes, thank you, Mom,” Tian said as he ate a moratina.

“This year the tree yielded quite a few, unlike last year. We must make the most of it," said the mother, smiling and trying to sit down.

“I wish papa were with us, and he could see how the tree was doing. He always used to say that the mulberry trees made the soul happy.”

“I'm sure he would be very happy to see how it has grown, but not only the tree but you three as well," said the mother, staring at the two little ones as they smeared their faces with the juice of the fruit.

“Yeah...," said the young Tian, somewhat depressed.

“Well! But today is a big day for you, you start your classes at the military school.”

“Tian is going to be a warrior!” said one of the little brothers.

“Ha ha ha, I'll be a soldier, to protect you two and Mom. But not a warrior. Warriors don't charge money. And I like money ha, ha, ha, ha.”

One of the little ones puffed out his cheeks and grumbled, while Tian continued to laugh.

“Well, I think you're going to be late, son. You should get going,” said his mother, looking at the clock on the wall.

“That's right. I'll hurry to catch the train. Elein may have already left,” he said thoughtfully.

Tian got up from his chair, took a quick sip of coffee, and grabbed his bag that was by the door, already packed from the night before. He greeted his mother with a kiss on the cheek, his two little brothers with a hug and a squeeze on the cheeks, and went out the door in a hurry.

The two little ones and the mother came out to see their brother running away. Tian turned back and saw the three of them waving at him from a distance and as he ran he too waved back with a smile on his face.

The mother watched as her eldest son had grown into a full-grown man. Her eyes were full of pride, she had raised a conscientious, honest, and dignified person. Someone with love inside. An honest person. He knew he had done a good job.

Son, be strong in this new stage of your life. I fully believe in you and that you will be able to overcome all the trials that come your way from now on. You are very strong. I know that everything will go well for you.

The mother thought to herself as her son's silhouette faded into the distance.

Young Tian was running down the street happy because it was finally the first day of classes at the military school and after much effort, he had been accepted.

He was ignorant of what fate would have in store for him…

[https://i.imgur.com/SNo09DS.png]

The train station was one of the busiest places in the city, overwhelming for many people who went to work in the morning.

The entrance was most striking. It was divided into two huge wooden doors that opened wide. Between them was a statue that stood ten meters tall. It was a beautiful woman with a steady gaze forward. She was holding a book half-open. And she was wearing an imposing armor. She was the goddess of wisdom, Kamoris.

Tian stood gawking at the statue, not noticing that the train was about to leave. The beep of the last call that the train was leaving was what brought him back to his senses.

“Oh, no! The train!”

He began to run at full speed through the crowd of people inside the gigantic station. He ran at full speed through the crowd of people inside the gigantic station.

“Hey, watch where you're walking!” said a passerby who had been unlucky enough to run into young Tian and bump into him.

“I'm sorry!” he said as he tried to approach the train, though the ticket in his hand was almost blown away by an unexpected breeze, fortunately, he managed to catch it in his mouth before it went beyond the tracks.

As he reached one of the entrances to the train he came upon a man wearing a white suit and a hat with a metal star in the center. He was serious and expressionless as if he hated to be working in that place. Tian quickly handed him the ticket and the ticket collector stamped it with the symbol of an eye, with four curved lines at the ends.

The ticket collector blew a horn that sounded throughout the station. The train closed its doors and started to pull out.

It was an old coal-black train. It had a very striking white steam when seen from afar. It had the symbol of an eye painted on its sides as well as the stamp on the ticket. It had short distances; it traveled all over the great Akadia. Only one station separated it from the center of the city.

It did not stand out for being the best train, as far as appearance was concerned. It was well known that in Lumen the trains were by far the most aesthetically beautiful. But in Akadia they still used the same trains from a hundred years ago.

Tian took a breath of air already inside the train and began to walk, little by little, forward, crossing the carriages. When he reached the second to last carriage, he stopped and looked in the direction of all the seats.

In the left seat, there was a boy with his father, he was wearing a rather curious little hat, which carried a feather on the side, they were looking out the window; on the right one, there was an older man, quite paunchy, asleep with a brown suit like the earth; behind him only a few empty seats. Further back was a lady wearing a very long white dress and a flowered hat; again in the seats on the left side of the carriage, just on the second to last seat; there was a young woman with reddish hair, who was reading a book with much excitement as if she had just found some secret clue to some treasure or the like.

Tian was excited to see her and quickly walked over and sat down on the seat in front of her.

He tried to say but was automatically interrupted by the young woman who had raised her hand as a sign for him to stop.

She continued reading. With a smile on her face that denoted joy. After a while, it changed to anger, then back to joy, then back to anger. And in the end, she became completely serious as if she was disappointed.

“Mmm... this is... ABSURD!” she shouted in the middle of the train, as she threw the book onto the seat next to him.

Everyone turned to see what was going on, and Tian didn't know where to put himself.

“Hey, Elein, don't yell! They're watching us," he said worriedly as he looked back.

The people went back to doing their business, ignoring the situation, realizing that they were only two young students. Since they were dressed in the official costume of the students of the kingdom.

“It's just that this book is a complete mess, Tian. It's nonsense. I still can't believe people like this rubbish! I spent what little Linen I had left," said the young Elein indignantly.

“It's Vasta Pulen's new book, isn't it? I think it's called..." He thought for a moment, then continued, "Oh yes, I remember! It's The Warrior and the Magician. I've read a bit of the book, and it's actually quite dramatic at times, but I like the characters. You really don't like it?

“No," she denied flatly, "Why should the most charismatic characters die in these stories? That... Vasta Pulen... he seemed to hate his protagonists.”

Tian sighed.

“Well, the truth is that your tastes are very peculiar, not all stories have happy endings. It's not for nothing that it's one of the best sellers, you know?” he said as he picked up the book from the seat and glanced at it.

“People nowadays read nothing but rubbish...” said Elein while looking out of the window at the scenery outside the train, there was a small silence and she changed the subject. “We made it, Tian, after so many efforts we finally got into the prestigious military school of the Kingdom. Are you aware of what that means?”

The young woman's gaze was full of life and fire. Elein had tried to apply twice in the past, but both times she had been rejected. According to the school, she was not an emotionally prepared person to be in the military. Her family had died in the war. And in certain exams, she used to fail; due to her lack of temperamental control.

Tian, unlike her, had never considered being in the military until just a few months ago. He wanted to help his family, and he knew that the military made a lot of money. That's why he set out in a new direction in his life. Guided by his friend's words, he enlisted in military school. Maybe this is the best thing to do, to take a new path, a new story, the young man thought to himself.

He had spent the last few years mourning his father's death. And it was time to turn the page.

“I would never have imagined being a military man," Tian said.

“It was fate, I'm sure of it!” cried Elein.

“Fate or perhaps, simply, a certain person had been insisting on me for months, until he convinced me…”

“I'm sure it was fate," she said, ignoring the young man completely.

“Hey, are you even listening to what I'm saying? Tian asked a bit worried.

“Sometimes…”

“Sometimes?” he said in surprise

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, don't worry about nonsense, Tian. Our destiny awaits us. Soon we'll be in the military, and we'll climb to the top!” she said excitedly.

“You're still talking about becoming Supreme General?”

“That's right, don't you want to go to the top?” she asked in surprise.

“I'll settle for enough money," he replied disinterestedly.

“Bah, you must aspire to more!” she said as she patted him on the shoulder.

A man's voice that sounded throughout the train interrupted them. It said: Next station Felger, next station Felger.

“It's Felger!”

“Don't tell me..." said Tian a bit discouraged, leaning his head with his right hand and his elbow on his leg, looking out the window.

“I forgot to buy the Physical Arts book!”

“Oh no... no, no..." he said with a worried face.

“Please! Come with me to buy it,” she exclaimed.

“We're not going to make it to school on time!” he said, very determined.

“We won't be long, there's still time to get there,”

“Are you out of your mind? Look at the time, it's twenty-five minutes before school starts,”

“As you wish!”

Elein stood up with a start, quite annoyed, she looked at Tian very hard. Her eyes looked like a volcano about to erupt. Tian looked at her with some fear, it seemed like she was going to do something at any moment. When suddenly, she stuck out her tongue and walked away.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

What an unexpected woman, by the gods... he thought as he watched the young woman make her way to the exit door.

Tian got up from his seat and approached the young woman's side. And she said without looking at him:

“You don't have to come with me if you don't want to, mate.”

“Ha, ha... look... the truth is that I forgot to buy the Physical Arts book too!”

Elein opened her eyes wide and smiled.

“It's something that happens, isn't it?” She looked sideways at the young man.

At that moment Tian, unable to stand it any longer, began to laugh out loud. Elein instinctively started laughing too. And the two young men laughed like crazy, while the train arrived at the station. The people in the carriage, unlike before, looked a bit annoyed; because of the fuss, those two were making.

FELGER STATION, FELGER STATION.

The train began to stop little by little until it stopped completely.

The two young men, now calmer, stared at each other, nodded, and as soon as they got out of the train, they began to run away from the station.

[https://i.imgur.com/SNo09DS.png]

The Market of Lights was a very beautiful place to stroll around at night, the passers-by said, but during the day it was nothing more than an ordinary market. What was most remarkable about it was the number of people from all parts of the kingdom who came to buy objects and merchandise of all kinds.

It was a very long street, full of stalls. But somewhat narrow. Everything was out in the open and in full view of everyone. Shops selling clothing, food, scrolls, books, and even weapons for battle.

“Hey, Elein, this is very narrow, it's full of people, you can hardly walk,” he said as he dodged a man in front of him.

“Don't complain, you little rascal, and enjoy the walk a little more.”

“What do you mean, a little walk? We have to find a bookstore fast that sells the one we need! said Tian, a little worried.”

At that moment, Elein, ignoring what young Tian was saying, approached a clothing stall.

“Look! Look! Tian! Tian! Isn't this dress so pretty? Do you think I'd look good in black boots? Umm... I'm not sure though... better, white?”

Automatically, after saying that she went straight to the next stall.

“We're supposed to buy the books…”

“Oh, but they are grimeas roses. They say that if you burn them they make a very nice smell. said Elein, as she picked up a strange purple rose.”

Tian, a little impatient, was biting her nails, while she saw how her dear friend was wasting her time, looking and touching everything without buying anything. At that moment she noticed that just two stalls to the right, there was a man selling books.

He looked at Elein and thought that he would have to buy the books himself, since getting her out of the state of euphoria, from seeing so many things, would take more time than they had available.

He approached the stall and sniffed around a bit. It was just another stall in the pile, just another little square among them all. But this one was crammed with books in plain sight. The gentleman manning the stall was an old man with grey hair and a grey beard, rather unkempt. He had a greyish robe that was badly tattered and he looked asleep.

“Could he be a vagabond, ordered to watch the shop for a while?” thought Tian, as he looked at him carefully.

“Excuse me... -ahem... EXCUSE ME!”

The old man woke up suddenly, moved around, and almost fell out of the chair he was in.

“Eh... Eh... yes, yes, yes, yes... That'll be 40 linos please... hic!”

He's drunk on top of that! he thought with a rather quizzical face and raising an eyebrow.

Hey old man, I don't want to buy a book, I don't want to buy anything.

Ah... yes, it's 50 linos. said the old man.

“Oh yes, 50 linos,” said Tian as he put his hand in his pocket, “50 linos, you old fogey! I haven't even told him which book I want to buy.”

“I'm sorry, young man, I'm a little old for all this, I'm taking care of my grandson's job, heh, heh,” said the old man, while he opened a flask of some liquor.

“Yes... I'm sure it's old age,” Tian said suspiciously, his arms folded.

At that moment, a rather busy boy quickly approached the bookstall.

“Grandpa! Oh... Are you drinking again already? You know the doctor has forbidden it,” said the old man's grandson.

“Nobody commands me, hic! I am free... hic!”

Excuse me, student. My grandfather has quite a drinking problem. But he didn't have anyone to watch the stall while I took my daughter to school. I had to ask him," said the grandson, as he took the flask from him by force.

Did I ask you to tell me about your dilemmas? I just want to buy these books at once... it's getting late, Tian thought.

“N-No problem, we all have our business to attend to. Don't worry,” said Tian.

“How kind of you, Student. Surely, with people as understanding as you, the kingdom could become a better place in the future,” said the grandson.

“With people like me? Ha, ha...” he said as he stood thoughtfully, “I only want two copies, first edition of Physical Arts, please.”

“Of course. Wait a minute...”

The grandson looked through some books he had in a bag behind him. He took out two dark blue ones, with the symbol of the kingdom on their covers.

“Here you go,” said the grandson, with a wide smile. As he handed the book to Tian, "That'll be twenty-five linos for both of us.

“All right," said Tian, digging into his pocket, and pulling out some gold-colored coins. “Here,”

“Thank you very much, young student. May this new course be full of exciting challenges and adventures for you,” said the grandson, still with that smile on his face.

“And may you pick up lots of girls, hee, hee, hee, hee!” added the old man.

“Ha ha...” Tian laughed wryly.

After that, he bowed formally and began to walk away from the stall. Tian hadn't even started his classes. And he was already quite exhausted. Having to deal with his friend's trouble and her whims was not a very pleasant thing to say. And even though he had known her for years, he never got used to it. Tian wasn't a very patient young man, but thanks to her friend, he was learning to be much more tolerant than he was in the past.

When he reached the stall, where Elein was before, he realized that she was no longer there. He began to look around for her friend but to no avail.

"Where has she gone now?" he thought as he touched his head.

[https://i.imgur.com/SNo09DS.png]

The young Elein, on the other hand, had let herself go, looking at all the stalls and chatting with the people in the shops. But at no time did she buy anything, as was to be expected.

Some people were happy to serve her at first, but when they saw that she didn't buy anything, they got annoyed and threw her out. Most of the people of Akadia were hard-working people, not willing to waste their time with curious onlookers, no matter how many students of the kingdom they were.

But this mattered very little to Elein, if not almost nothing. She was a young girl, quite rebellious, and always liked things to happen the way she wanted them to. If someone didn't agree with her opinion, she tended to ignore that person. Capricious, self-centered, and very bad-tempered. The young woman had everything to lose, as far as attitude was concerned. How could someone like that become Supreme General? That's what her friend Tian wondered. But she was completely convinced that she was going to make it. She was always striving for her self-esteem to be high. Looking with her head held high in the face of all obstacles. And most of the time succeeding in overcoming them. "The Great Elein Fayer" that's what everyone in the kingdom would call her, the young girl thought, every day.

She believed that for a dream to come true, you had to visualize it as long as you could and never take it out of your mind. Only then would you be able to turn the goal of fulfilling it into a way of life. All your actions would lead you to the destination you desire, as they would always be taken with your dream in mind.

“Well... there's nothing worth buying. Not even those new potions everyone's been talking so much about, are they out of stock by now?” she muttered as he touched his chin. “Well, whatever.”

At that moment, she realized that she had gone quite far away from the stall where she had been with Tian. She thought for a moment and said:

“Stupid Tian! He's lost again! He's hopeless, this man.”

But the one who was really lost was her.

The young Elein began to retrace her steps to try to find the "lost" Tian. But she couldn't quite remember the last store where she had last seen him.

Little by little, the young girl's impatience rose and rose. Her breathing increased, and she bit her nails and gnashed her teeth.

“Tian... Tian... Tian...” she took a breath of air and shouted, “TIAN TEMPUS! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU EVIL BASTARD!?”

The people strolling through the market; the vendors at their stalls; children running around the street and even some animals, were perplexed to hear young Elein screaming.

“I've told him to always keep his eyes open so he doesn't get lost, but he never listens to me..." she said as she stamped his right foot repeatedly on the ground. And she crossed his arms.

A person like Elein was someone very difficult to control, her temper had led her to make many mistakes in the past, but she was convinced that even being the way she was, she would manage to move forward and accomplish her goals. Very doubtful it had to be admitted. But still, her stubbornness would not allow her to listen to reason.

Some guards patrolling the place had been warned by a merchant about three shops down the road that a madwoman was shouting strange things. Very annoyed, he told the guards that such a person could scare away customers and tourists. And even give the market a bad image.

The guards, reluctantly, had to heed the merchant's claim, since they were in charge of guarding the area. And if they spread the word to any of their superiors, that someone was making trouble, without them taking care of the problem, they would probably get a pay cut.

Elein kept shouting her friend's name relentlessly, sometimes quieter and sometimes not so much. Annoying all the people around her.

“What a disappointment, to have to meet this lout...” she crouched down for a moment and shouted again:

“Tian! If you don't show up right now, I'll tell everyone in the class that you still collect children's toys! And I don't think you want your reputation to be ruined from day one, do you!”

But Tian was nowhere to be seen, the young woman thought that maybe she should change tactics... Make a flag with her friend's name on it and wave it around the market? No, besides, where would she get the cloth? She could climb a building and try to locate him from there, but that would waste a lot of time. And though she'd already lost enough, even she knew better than to delay that long, even if it was the first day of school.

“Hey, you!” said the guard, raising his hand as he approached the screaming girl.

She continued to think of some way to find Tian. Not realizing that she had caught the attention of the guards in the area.

“Hey!” the guard shouted emphatically.

Elein closed her eyes and began to grunt in annoyance, as she hated being interrupted when she was thinking something.

“WHAT?!”

The two guards jumped back a little in shock. And then they pulled themselves together in annoyance.

“What do you mean, what? You rude girl! You're bothering everyone in the area!”

“I don't see anyone,” she said, looking at the people around him and putting his hand on his forehead to get a better look.

One of the guards was beginning to get really angry, seeing how the young Elein was mocking them.

You'll have to come with us for a moment, we'll tell your parents or your teacher.

Elein became completely serious, her head was down, and she looked like she was going to cry at some point. The guards looked at each other in surprise at her behavior.

“H-H-Hey... what's wrong with you?” said the guard, trying to tap him on the shoulder.

At that precise moment, Elein smiled.

She pushed the guard in front of her, grabbed something from his waistband, quickly, and ran.

The guards turned and one of them shouted:

“Hey, come back here!”

The guards began to chase the young girl running through the streets of the Market of Lights. Elein smashed everything in her path as she ran, she threw buckets of fish, crates of fruit when she accidentally bumped into them, a cat got in her way and almost stepped on her, and the poor cat screamed with fright. But the young girl didn't care about anything, she just ran and ran.

Tian came with a mountain of books trying to walk as best he could through the people. Out of nowhere, he began to hear shouts from some people and some guards. "Could it be some thief?" he thought, as he tried to take a look, moving his head, a little, to the side.

Elein automatically appeared in front of him and said:

“Elein, finally... I've been looking for you, help me with these...”

The young woman took his hand, not caring in the least what the young man was about to say, and dragged him running with her. Tian's books fell and were scattered on the floor. He saw how all his savings, which he had spent on those texts full of knowledge and wisdom, were trampled by people.

“No, my books!” he said as his eyes watered with grief.

“You'll buy others, don't cry,” said the girl as they ran.

Tian accepted that there was no turning back now. Much to her dismay, she was once again in some of the trouble her best friend always used to get into.

“Who are we running away from? What have you done this time?”

“Nothing, I was just looking for you.”

“And in what way?” He squinted a little, but it almost made him stumble.

“Careful, ha ha ha," she laughed, watching Tian almost hug the ground. “You know how the guards are around these parts.”

“I just hope no one got hurt this time…”

“You can relax,” she said, agitated.

The two young men kept running until they came to a corner, turned, and ran into a very narrow alley. They ducked behind some very large boxes that were there and hid.

The guards passed by, oblivious to the alley.

The two, seeing that they had lost them, began to breathe a little easier.

“What a nice little walk, isn't it?” said Elein, trying to laugh as hard as she could, since she was exhausted.

Tian didn't look very cheerful. He was sitting on the floor, legs crossed. And he sighed several times, angry.

“I'm fed up, Elein! It's always because of you that we end up in trouble! I'm tired of these games...”

Elein looked at him in shock, never had Tian dared to speak to her like that.

“And what did you want me to do? Let them catch me on the first day of school?”

“First... day... of school,” he said slowly. “THERE IS NO FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ANYMORE! Because of your wonderful escapade I also dropped the two Physical Arts books I had bought, besides, did you see what time it is? I've been looking for you all over the market, I thought it would only take us a while to buy the books... but you went for a "little walk" like you always do.”

“I was looking for you, too!” she said with a sharp pain in his chest.

“I can't do this anymore... we are now students of the military school of the kingdom. Didn't you care so much about your dream of being Supreme General?”

“But... That's it!” she exclaimed excitedly. “I stole this from the guard before, it's a stamp. If we make an emergency permit and seal it with this. We'll be able to make believe that we couldn't arrive on time because of some mishap.”

Tian took the seal and looked at it carefully.

“You must grow up, Elein…”

“Look, if I write on a piece of report paper, in good handwriting, and stamp it, it will be perfect!”

“And where are you going to get the reporting paper?”

“Well, from my bag…”

At that moment the young Elein had realized the terrible failure. She had lost her bag with everything she needed for the first day.

“I don't have those report papers. Only the superiors and the guards have them, I guess you have some at home because your parents were military...” said Tian, serenely. “Anyway, your plan doesn't make any sense. These guards will end up reporting that two students caused trouble, and the only two students who are probably out of time are us. If we had gone with a false report, we would have been caught right away. Besides, the guard would, at some point, realize he's missing his stamp if he hasn't realized it already.”

Elein dropped to her knees on the floor. It was the end for her. She hadn't realized she hadn't brought her bag. And they had already lost more than an hour since the classes had started. In her mind echoed the words, which one of the instructors of the kingdom, said after the entrance exam and she had completely forgotten:

You must know that being a military man of the realm. is not child's play. You are the ones who will defend the honor of our nation, in the future. The ones who will protect its inhabitants and watch over its safety night and day," said the instructor, looking at everyone in detail. The first day of classes is one of the first tests. Those who don't show up on time. You will be expelled from the military school. Please, take your work seriously and be responsible adults, we will see you in a few days cadets, and always remember, ORION LIVES INSIDE US! he shouted enthusiastically, placing his palm on his chest.

She had a blank stare, unable to hold it, she began to feel rage. An anger directed at herself. She knew that if she wanted to achieve her goals, she would have to start changing her attitude. She could no longer take life lightly. But how was she going to do that? Akadia's military school was famous for being one of the strictest and not at all lenient. They never forgave any serious offense. They knew that, in order for their students to become the defenders of the kingdom, they had to educate them very severely. They had to be extremely capable, almost perfect soldiers. And to forgive certain types of mistakes was unthinkable.

“I'm going to school alone...”

“You're going?” she asked, a little surprised.

“I'll try to work it out somehow, even though there probably isn't any solution, but it doesn't hurt to try. Don't follow me. At least, I'd like to go quietly.”

Elein looked to the side, chagrined. This time, aware of her immaturity. She felt dejected.

Tian left the alley and walked through the streets of the market. But the young and sad Elein did not move from the place where she was. Her mind was thinking of all the solutions that could exist, but in all of them, she would have to beg to be forgiven for her fault. But she was very proud. She was not one to bow her head to anyone.

He had a constant struggle inside him. He didn't know what to do. The reality of life had slapped him full in the face.

As best he could he pulled himself together and got up. His body felt a little heavy, he walked slowly, leaning against the moldy wall of the alley. His black boots were stained with something sticky, probably the remains of some fruit he had stepped on before.

Everything was a mess. The young woman's rage and helplessness increased with every step.

They're not going to let me go to school because I'm a little late on the first day? Damn instructors! Anyone can make a mistake like that, she thought.

Everything had to go as she wished. Everyone was to be at the service of her designs. But she was nobody. Just a capricious, self-centered, immature little girl.

“Ah... I've ruined everything... father. All the effort I had put into getting into this school... What was I thinking, am I a prisoner of my emotions and my whims? she muttered, as she leaned against the wall and let herself fall. Father... Mother... it's been so hard since you're no longer here with me... Tian... he doesn't understand me, although it's not his fault... I'm someone so strange...”

The poor young girl, hurt and grieved, wept. Everything had gone so fast. She could never have imagined a life without her parents. And although little by little she was getting over it, there were certain moments when the feeling of loneliness was so strong that she could not resist feeling pain.

There she was, with her soul torn apart, in that filthy place, full of garbage and sick rats. Waiting... But... waiting for what? That maybe her good friend would come back saying that everything was all right? That everything was going to be all right? The world, the people, were not going to tolerate her selfish acts forever. The world didn't work the way she wanted it to. That's why she wanted to be someone great, someone, respected by everyone. A person loved by the world, someone free and with power, a lot of power.

[https://i.imgur.com/SNo09DS.png]

In another part of the market, there were three hooded men in brown robes. They were on the terrace of a building in the area. One of them was looking through a spyglass at the center of the city, more specifically at the royal palace.

“It's still early,” he said without taking his eye off the instrument to see. “We have to wait a little longer.”

“Soon? It's been several hours already. We can't wait any longer, give the order, they're probably finished by now.”

“No, you have to wait for the signal,”

“I hope the master knows what he's doing. I've never quite trusted these filthy Imperials,” said the one at the back of the three.

“We have to trust him, anyway, we have no choice,”

“I'm seeing something. It looks like they've already acted,” said the one with the spyglass.

“Quick! Give the order!”

The one who was watching the center of the city moved his robe to the side, and pulled out a small crystal from his side. He pointed at the sky with it and began to spin it, giving it the shape of a spiral.

“Come on! Hurry up!”

The man with the crystal snorted in annoyance. What he was doing required a lot of concentration and his companions were not helping him much. They were nervous. Afraid of the time.

After turning it, he quickly moved it to the side and a bright blue light shot out from the small piece of glass, directed towards the sky. It ended up exploding and causing an intense yellow light.

“It's done,” he said, relieved.

A guard had just caught what the three of them had done.

“Hey, you guys, what are you doing up there?”

The three men glanced quickly at each other, and one rummaged through his bag for something. He pulled out a black cube-shaped stone. He began to recite something unintelligible, holding the stone in both hands. But due to his nervousness, it slipped out of his grasp and fell to the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Shit...” he said as he picked up the stone on all fours. “It's okay... now!”

“Quickly! The guard is coming this way”

“I know, I know, I know…”

He finished reciting the strange spell and placed the stone on the ground. From it came a straight thread, like a rod, which then expanded to form a uniform portal; black, its edges a dark violet. It was very unstable, trembling.

The men began to enter the portal, and the last one to enter turned for a moment to look up at the sky. Curiosity was seizing him. He couldn't help but want to appreciate what was about to happen in the city, but pressed by the distant voices of his companions, he stepped into the portal.

The guard alerted his companions, who were close to him. And they went into the building. They went up to the third floor and then to the terrace. To find that the hooded men had disappeared. The only thing left was that black bucket on the floor, which one of the guards picked up and looked at it carefully.

“Wh-what... what... what... what is that?” asked a guard, looking up at the sky, puzzled.

The one with the bucket looked up, and a shiver ran through his body, his jaw opened slightly and his hands began to tremble.

What they were seeing seemed to have come from another world.