The Continent, a vast expanse, was home to various states, city-states, principalities, and two mighty Empires. To the east, where the land met the sea, rose the majestic snow-capped peaks, the "spiky mountains." As one ventured south, they would first lose themselves in the endless expanse of the steppe, and then, travelers capable of crossing the rugged mountains would encounter the great desert enveloped by golden sands. Those who didn't fancy the heat could find solace in the shadows of the vast forests in the northern lands, or if they continued north even further, they would come across the bone-chilling cold and unmelting snow. But if frigid weather wasn't to their liking, heading west would lead to engaging conversations with the Mariners. These sailors always had intriguing stories tucked away beneath their sleeves. Some people often claimed there were lands beyond the Continent, realms as vast as the Continent itself, but very few were inclined to verify this. Tales circulated of ships venturing too far into the ocean and being devoured by Krakens and colossal sharks, instilling fear in the hearts of every sailor. This was the nature of the Continent, but our story will begin in a small and impoverished state within this vast land.

In the vast expanse of the Continent, there once reigned a mighty dominion known as Telluria. This former powerhouse now found itself weathering an era of pronounced frailty after losing the great war two hundred years ago. That caused much of its land to be separated from it. Their economy had to take a sharp turn after losing a huge part of marine borders and famous trade routes. They were still keeping a small bit of their shores. However, the fishing or trade wasn't as great as before, and the only seashore settlement left on their hands was a tiny seatown called Portofeine. This town used to be one of the least important towns on the Continent before the war, due to the sea here wasn't very giving and the land wasn't suitable for agriculture. However, after it became the only coastal town Telluria had, they built a few ports, and their last remaining shipyard had to be brought here. For that reason, the tiny sea armada of the Kingdom was also waiting here, hosting a small marine base.

After the war, Telluria had to turn into an agricultural society by all means. Thus, they had to put harsh rules on the people who lived in rural areas of the nation. The peasants who lived in these parts became the property of their lords, losing all of their rights and being forced to work at farms for their entire lives. Their lives were beholden to the soil. Many lesser nobles were apportioned responsibility for overseeing these hinterlands, their duty being to ensure the subservience of the peasantry and timely sustenance to the towns. Which resulted in alliteration to eat people like it was a plague. One of the many villages like that was called Sylvanbrook. Sylvanbrook was a tiny and poor village with a noble as poor as its peasants named Hanks. However, despite its poorness, it had an unseen nature and hardworking, warm people.

Life in Sylvan was quite amusing to many. The village sat in the middle of a large meadow, surrounded by the tall, dense trees of the Dark Forest. The village's land extended into a vast grassy field covered in green grass with a few scattered trees. A small cobblestone path ran through the meadow, leading into the forest and then to the town.

When you reached the village center, it blended naturally with the surroundings. A group of small, charming houses filled the area, and a little church stood on a small hill. Nearby, you'd find the villagers' favorite meeting place, a cozy tavern. The villagers loved their life in the village so much that they didn't want to leave. The only way out was through the mysterious Black Forest; the villagers enjoyed sharing spooky stories about it. The more they told these tales, the scarier the forest seemed, and the less they wanted to go near it. Which usually caused people not to be very interested in traveling outside of their tiny village. Their life in the village wasn't very dull for them anyway. They used to work during harvesting times and focused on

crafting woodwork and becoming their own carpenters for their tiny houses during winter times. Wood supply was coming from the dark forest. If there were brave enough people to go there. However, someone was always willing to go for a small adventure since they needed tales to talk about when they were in the tavern on long winter nights. Those stories didn't need to become 'that real' after all. For example, the sound of a bird could be a spell of a witch who occupied the forest. As unbelievable as those stories might sound, maybe they could find a wife who would feel amazed by their stories. Perhaps a pal would treat them to a drink.

image [https://img.wattpad.com/56e263e940d7d3f58c1ca837fd8576287d528784/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f537849714b324153704d526b61773d3d2d313339313034393534322e313738663864653430613761656630663639353632303236323731332e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Nevertheless, life in Sylvan was fantastic and fulfilling to many. However, there were people, maybe just a single person born in this village and spent his childhood playing with sticks around, dreaming of becoming a Knight someday. His name was Thomas. He was born into one of the many families in the village, however, unlike his peers. He was never interested in farming, wheat, or his father's tools. He always had a thing for learning, and sword drawings he saw in the books that he saw in the church instead. The people who lived in rural areas of Telluria were usually illiterate, but that wasn't the case for the old church priest. Thus, Thomas used to run away to church often. Trying to read the books there. His parents were always sad about that. Luckily, the kind priest who saw the shine of someone who would be very important in Thomas' eyes started to teach him about the alphabet and how to read and write. As smart as he was. He was quite quick to learn how to read and write. However, reading the bible wasn't nearly enough for him. He demanded more information about everything. He kept asking about the history and geography of their nation. Poor priest Father Elias was, of course, still happy to teach everything he knew to this curious kid. By that time, his knowledge was not enough for little Thomas. By age 9, he was already done with limited numbered books on the church and even on the noble's house, which strengthened his will to become a Knight in the future. Because if he were a knight, he could easily find books in the capital, and he could become one of the heroes he read about in these stories. The priest, the noble, and even the peasants all laughed at his childish dreams because it wasn't something that was seen for a peasant to become a knight. Knights were selected from great noble families across the nation, and even small nobles, such as their leader, were not eligible to join those schools. They were demanding extra knowledge and skill in the art of sword.

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Thomas, of course, was aware of all this reality. However, he had faith in himself. He kept practicing with heavy sticks he kept finding in the forest as he became older and even more curious about the dark forest. He used to go there so often that her mother had to ban him from going there more than two times a week. His actions were just small enchantments to villagers' days when he was small. But as time went by and he got older, he started to be seen as a workforce by other villagers, and his actions started to be disliked. He had to stop with this nonsense of child dreams and had to endure his destiny, Which was working to feed the nation! However, to Thomas, accepting such a low life was stupid. Why would he spend the rest of his life in a small shitty village when he could go to see the world? Didn't any of the villagers ever wonder about the big towns, the capital, or other nations? Not doing anything for their entire lives was a waste, according to him. The books weren't telling him anything about the real world out there! It wasn't the answer. The bible was talking about lands far away from their village. He was talking about those lands that were mentioned in their holy book. But, only the priest seemed to be interested in those stories.

He was also talking about the magic that was sourcing many kingdoms according to stories he learned from the noble. He clearly stated that magic was accomplishable by anyone as long as they understood nature and themselves. Many sword masters and leaders used to be able to use those powers. Their founder, great King William's tales, were all mentioning magic in them. Why would they not seek the education of magic? Why would they not supply their village with that if they were loving this shithole that much? They could light up the entire village with basic gestures. The energy of the nature was great here. But no.. they had to work in the field and be lazy for winter. To Thomas, it was clear why their country became that weak. If their people were lazy, it was inevitable for them to be poor and lose everything. They were lucky to get those barren lands since probably nobody wanted them. As time went by and as he spoke about those, he became furious. However, they were nothing to do since the laws of the nation banned him from leaving the borders of the town. Also, he had to be at least 14 years old to be able to move on his own without the permission of his family. Laws were harsh but clear.

Luck was on the brink of discovering him, though. On the dawn of his 13th birthday, he woke up in his house. On his mediocre bed, the sun was blinding his eyes. He was muttering to himself, "Great, 13th wasted year..." It was harvesting season. So, he had to join the workforce. It was his 2nd year after temporarily giving up on his dream. He was much more welcomed by other peasants and by his parents now. However, Father Elias and Mr Hanks were aware of his desires, and they knew that he wasn't very happy with his life as a peasant. As Thomas kept working on the field, he broke his hoe. Their village used to like woodwork, and he wanted to show other villagers that he was capable of everything they did even though he was unwilling to do that. He decided to get a stick from the forest. He went huffing and puffing to the forest to find a stick that would replace the broken piece. He was looking through the bushes, and he saw something shiny between the bushes. He reached for it and realized that it was a well-shaped but torn-out, dull, rusty sword. His lips reached to his ears after realizing it was a sword. "Oh my god! And it's on my birthday!" He couldn't believe his luck. He had found a key to his dreams that he hid behind his heart. He quickly grabbed a random stick from the forest as well as the sword and started to run towards the field. He quickly fixed the hoe and left the field. His father seemed a bit angry about it, but he was working nonstop for days and, considering it was his birthday, decided not to say anything about it.

He quickly went to the dark forest again. And started to practice with his sword. He swung it around a bit until he realized that swinging a real sword was not the same thing, even if he worked with heavy sticks. He was expecting a miracle, hoping to become suddenly very good at the sword, but this was a disappointing hit that brought him back to reality. He was an ambitious person who would follow a way till the end if he entered it once, so he decided to keep practicing with the sword until he could at least become a tiny bit good at it. Then he could maybe escape from his town's borders and might try to find a teacher in the capital. And maybe could even apply for the Knight Academy! Thorough, he was aware that as a peasant who was born as a nobody, he had to be very good at the art of swordplay in order to enter that school. If he wasn't wrong, Mr. Hanks once told about exams while he was playing knighthood with his friends when he was a kid. If that exam thing was real, he might have needed to fight against noble's sons who probably worked on the art of sword and the art of magic since they were born! He was 14 years too late to start his journey! After realizing that he might have been too late, he sat down right next to a tree. Started to cry. It was the first time he was feeling such a blow within himself. He always believed that he would be unstoppable once he held a sword. But this... It was the harsh truth of reality. As he cried, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Mr. Hanks was smiling at him. "Can I sit next to you, Tom?" he said in a very fatherly tone. Thomas basically just made a hand gesture to allow him. As he sat next to young Thomas, he made a sigh. "That's a nice sword. Reminds me of the one I left in the forest when I was a young man who had the same dreams as you do now." Thomas did not believe his ears.

-Did you also want to become a knight?

-Ah, yes. It was my greatest dream. However, as I wasn't from the top nobles of the country, my parents did not let me. As I became a young man or, you may even say, an adult, I started to earn some money from the landlord as a so-called exchange for my services around here. Which I used to get that very sword.

Thomas looked at the old rusty sword he was holding. Mr. Hanks kept speaking, "I was quite old to learn the way of the blade by then. I tried for many days, and I couldn't even do the most basic swings, which was natural since I was around my twenties back then. Which was too old to learn such things." Thomas was surprised by those words. "I thought you were here to cheer me up, sir. I didn't realize you were here to tell me it is over." He looked at him with a loving sight. "no, boy, you got me wrong. I am saying that, yes, you are late compared to your possible comparators. However, you are not as old as I was. You are just 13. Yes, it is old, but not too old. Believe in yourself. You are the first peasant I have seen who wondered about the outside world. Look at all these lands." He pointed at the village. "None of the people there even wondered about outside of this forest. But you did! Isn't that enough to make you special?" Thomas started to smile at this point. Mr. Hanks was also smiling upon realizing that, and he handed out a small bok at him. "Here, there was a book that I bought from the city when I first wanted to learn about swords. I threw it away the day I discovered my inability, so you probably never saw that it on my house while you were a kid who was looking for books." he chuckled as he remembered that small kid who was overflowing with curiosity. "I also found it by luck on a corner. I don't normally step in the attic." Thomas was in total shock and disbelief as he started to look at the pages of the book. There were drawings that explained basic sword movements and basic spells that would be combined with it. Hanks was looking at him like he was the most precious person in the world. "Happy birthday, Tom." Thomas hugged him while he was crying. "Thank you so much, Uncle Hanks." Mr. Hanks was such a person. He was one of the nobles who would care for his people in this reality where people were seen as livestock. And he wasn't aware of the fact that that small gesture would shape the history of the entire world. To him, it was just another Wednesday.