The world was an empty shell. The sky held nothing but darkness and no life existed.
The gods created the <
But then the gods asked themselves, "we created a masterpiece of a world yet none would judge its perfection?"
So the gods decided to placed the minor divine spirits that lived within the realm of the gods.
"Why should we go live in that world without the blessings of divinity?"
"Why should we abandon the flourishing life of being a god?"
Oppositions came from the minor gods but the power held by the ruling gods forced them down regardless. And so, the Spirit Race, the first of the world's inhabitants were born.
While it may be true that their divinity had been stripped from them, their body still possed a residual of that blessing. That blessing permeated within the earth upon a Spirit Race's death and as a fertilizer will be used as nourishment for plants. Herbivores would eat those nourished by the divinity of the dead and then Carnivores would prey over them.
This cycle of predation, an ecosystem that was built under the fading divinity of the Spirit Race, became the foundation of the World.
Over time these animals that was an integral part of the cycle mutated into beings that closely resembled the Spirit Race.
The Beast Race was born.
They were different from the Spirit Race but they possessed natural qualities that made them superior to the Spirit Race in some aspects. Cooperation between the races began albeit there were conflicts occassionally.
Until a thousand years later, two gods fell from the sky, a Man and a Woman and from them began the birth of the Human Race. Their names were---
-An excerpt from the "Genesis of Races", a research of Grand Magistrate Elindor
Chapter 1: The Cursed Girl
10th Sun of the Month of the Flame, 557 After Divine (AD)
"You useless slave!"
A middle-aged woman slapped a girl with lilac hair. That girl was wearing ragged clothing that appeared loose on her body. Loosed as it was due to her frail figure, her limbs were thin and her face was devoid of vigor. The only color that appeared on her face was the swollen cheek.
"Ugly, lazy and an idiot! I don't even know why your bastard father wants to keep you!"
The girl's face was indeed the way the woman described. She was indeed beyond what human comprehension was, at least, to what normal humans can fathom. And the girl felt it was a curse upon herself, unknowingly blaming her ownself for something she couldn't control.
"Get out of the house Lucielle! You can't even clean the house...for god's sake! Get out before---"
The woman kicked Lucielle pushing her off for a few meters. Pain coursed through her abdoment but Lucielle tried to persist on the pain. Showing her weakness would only give this woman more pleasure. Adhering to the woman's words, Lucielle ran off the house.
She was the daughter of the woman's husband thus she was her step-mother. But her standing within the household was no less than that of a slave. Although slavery was not banned in the country where they lived, it was still frowned upon in rural areas where the livelihood is borderline poverty.
It didn't help that she was not blood-related to her so called father.
Thirteen years ago, her so called father had a wife who had trouble giving birth. It was as if fate delivered a baby Lucielle into their doorsteps. However, back then, her distorted figure was already apparent, at least that's how her so called father had recounted the story.
The wife perished not long after and Lucielle could barely remember her face.
She didn't know if it was because of guilt or a promise but Lucielle was kept within the house even though her so called father remarried. Though she knew for sure, she would never be treated as a daughter.
That Lucielle was running off with tears in her eyes but she was used to this treatment. And as she was running in the muddy roads of their neighborhood, the people around noticed her fleeing figure.
Although she was running, she could see their eyes and hear their whispers.
"Isn't that the cursed child?"
"Yeah, that hideous thing."
"His wife must have been cursed by that thing."
"Died a year after adopting it."
"What a foul thing."
"She should have been sold to slavers a long time ago."
Lucuielle bit her lip as she hastened her pace. Again and again, she would run away from all of these.
Before, she just ran off to a place where she could sulk for a while. But now she had a destination.
Although to her this hell would go on for eternity, it was something she had long accepted. The woods to her left and the farmlands to her right. She could see the cows and sheeps grazing on the field. She could feel the warmth of the Sun.
Lucielle had always appreciated everything else in the world.
"Old man Ran!"
Eventually, she arrived at this place, a wooden cottage close to the outskirts of the village where she lived. She knocked on the door as she called out the name of this cottage's owner.
"Ohoho! You are here early... come in."
A voice from within the place answered her. Lucielle opened the door as she obtained the owner's permission.
"Hm? Why are your eyes and cheek swollen?"
The old man asked Lucielle as he was sitting on a chair and cutting carrots and cabbages. He wore a simple and dirty robe but his eyes were brimming with joy contrary to his age.
"Something happened in the house..the usual. Nevermind that! Is Alan here?"
"I had asked Alan to get me some wood. Hurry and call him. This stew will be cooked soon."
The old man answered as he continued dicing those ingrediences. Lucielle nodded in response as she left the cottage and went further into the woods.
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That old man who lived in the cottage was called Ran. He was a former mercenary in his youth but after his hay days he chose to retire here at the outskirts of the village. She knew nothing of the old man's past. She met him once when she ran away from home and offered her shelter when there was a storm that day.
The old man had his journeys in his youth and would sometimes tell Lucielle stories.
It did not take long until Lucielle heard chopping sounds. The woods behind the cottage was dense but it rarely had any animals in there and it was usually very quiet making the chopping sounds very conspicuous.
As she went through a clearing, Lucielle saw a boy whose figure was no bigger or less than her's but his body was well-built compared to his age group.
"Alan!"
Lucielle called out to the boy who was chopping wood. Beside him, there was a pile of chopped lumber tied down by a straw.
The boy turned around seeing Lucielle greet him but he pouted as he saw the girl.
"You didn't go this daybreak. We promised we'd practice the sword."
Lucielle was startled for a bit and then hurried bowed her head down as she apologized.
"Sorry. They had me get fresh milk from the cows in the barn."
Upon learning of her alibi, the boy sighed in return. He knew of her situation and he wasn't surprised at all.
The boy and the girl had interacted for much since their meeting. It was during the time Lucielle had met Old Man Ran. Alan was an orphaned boy. His parents died in the War. What was tragic was neither was a combatant. They were merchants. Since then, the old man took him in instead of being sold off as a slave by debt collectors.
As to how those debt collectors were sent away, even Alan knew nothing. The old man would only smile when he would ask him. At least, that was how the boy narrated his story to Lucielle when the she asked.
"You've been slacking off in your training, are you sure about this?"
The boy asked as he took the pile of lumber and carried it on his back.
"You know there's no chance even for me..."
Lucielle sighed and shook her head.
"What are you saying? Anyone has a chance."
The boy patted Lucielle's shoulders.
These two could be said to be closer to siblings than best friends. Alan had no parents and so he was generally alone and had to fend for himself. While Lucielle was considered an ugly creature throughout the village. No one would get close to her, regardless of age. And the people that truly accepted her was this boy and Old Man Ran.
"Thank you Alan," Lucielle followed behind him as she continued, "you really want to become a Knight?"
"Didn't I tell you before? I want to avenge my parents."
Alan's eyes lit out a sharp glint. Lucielle knew of the boy's hatred towards the Spirit Race. In a war between the two races, several casualties of war had been incurred. This cycle of hatred that kept going on and on it was unfortunate that a young buy was swept on its waves.
"No matter what I will become a Knight, no, I will be a Knight! Even if my social status is trash, as long as I show them my strength---"
The boy swore as he gripped his handle on straw which bound the lumber. Lucielle saw this and nodded her head.
"I will support you Alan."
"Eh?"
The boy dumbfoundedly glanced at Lucielle. He was bewildered by these words.
"After all, I can be considered your sister now."
She said proudly raising her head up. Seeing this, the boy simply laughed. Although he didn't admit it, he felt warm within his heart. He had been extremely grateful of this girl's presence in his life.
Yes, he was grateful.
The stars were already shining in the night sky when Lucielle made it home. She looked up into the sky.
It was beautiful. She never had enough of this sight. If only her face, her life and her destiny was as beautiful, but she knew of her standing. The gods had long disappeared from this world but the things such as luck and blessings still existed, at least, that was what she heard from Old Man Ran.
Home.
That was something unfamiliar to her. As she went over the hill, she could see everything. The house, the barn, the pig pens, and the stables. The man who adopted her inherited a medium sized farm from his father. He was one of the many who farmed in the far outskirs of the village.
Lucielle went down and proceeded to the place where she usually spends her night. But she did not go to that house. She went further behind the barn. Behind that barn was a small entry point covered only by a wooden board.
That was a storage area that was once used but it became her "home" since her so called father married that woman.
"Become a Knight, huh?"
When she recalled Alan's ambition, she also thought.
What if she aimed to become a Knight? What if she tried?
Hues of black and blue dyed the sky as Lucielle hiked the hills just over the wods behind Old Man Ran's cottage. This was their usual meeting point.
"Lucielle! You are late!"
Alan waved his wooden sword. He was standing besides Old Man Ran who was sitting on a wooden chair.
"Sorry! I had to do my chores early so they won't look for me when they wake up."
Everytime Lucielle goes to their early training she usually do all the things she was commanded to do. Feeding the animals, cleaning the backyard, checking on the stables and all other things in the farm. This usually takes her an hour or so but she was used to it.
"Here catch!"
Alan tossed a wooden sword at her which she promptly caught. They would train with the sword on top of this hill during daybreak, every day, ever since she met Old Man Ran and Alan. Old Man Ran was skilled with the sword in his youth so he would often give pointers to the youngsters.
"Here I come Lucielle!"
A vertical slash came at her. It was a quick strike and if not for Alan warning her she would not have been able to react on time.
"Ehk!!"
Lucielle groaned as she parried the slash with her own sword. The difference in strength was apparent and Lucielle was pushed back a couple of meters.
"If you don't stand your ground you will lose again!"
Alan kept swing his sword. Although Lucielle had trained the same time as the boy, the difference in their body, will and natural talent showed. It was not because of her gender but her living conditions had made her body malnourished. The boy also had a drive to become strong which was something the girl had yet to realize for herself.
"If only you could use <
She remembered those were the words the Old Man had told her when she started visiting him. <
The Spirit Race, being descended from the gods, could make use of nearly every magic excluding Light and Void. Void was a magic theorized by the Grand Magisters as the limit of the world although none had yet to see it. The Human Race could use only <
That was a rule, a law set by the gods, as mandated by the Pope that ruled the Holy Order.
In return, humans were gifted the <
It was natural for beings in this world, living or not, to possess mana. But there were unlucky ones who does not yet they were truly rare. One in a million they said. Once Lucielle learned of her uniqueness, she was neither surprise nor sorrowful.
It was truly like that. She anticipated it. Due to her experiences growing up, she had believed herself to be the manifestation of all misfortunates. A cursed being who was there to exist to be hated by destiny.
"Not yet!"
Lucielle swung her wodden sword horizontally startling Alan. He immediately pushed his legs back to evade the cleave of the sword. However, he carelessly reacted to Lucielle's action which left an opening. Seeing this, Lucielle thrusted her wooden sword forward aiming at the boy's chese.
Alan grinned. That was a misstep! Was what he was saying within his mind. The moment Lucielle made her move the boy angled his body to the side and his right leg swept on a cleave. It hit the girl's hand which knocked the wooden sword off course.
Not wasting this opening, Alan recovered his stance and swung his wooden sword which abruptly paused stopped at Lucielle neck.
"I won! Nice try Lucielle!"
Lucielle sighed but she did not feel dejected for losing. Old Man Ran clapped at their performance.
"You two have grown. Alan, you are ready for the Knight Order on the 15th Sun. You should ready to leave tomorrow."
"Yes! I will definitely not fail you Old Man! "
The Holy Order, the governing body of the Human Race's Knights. Even Kings have to bow down to their commands.
Several branches have been erected in the continent and all countries have them. A small contingent of Magistrates and Knights would go county to county in each country they govern and see through the aspiring kids hoping to join the Knight Order.
The age limit was 15 years old. It was because that was the time where the blessings of the gods would be at their peak, at least that was what the Holy Order's Apostles had decreed.
Even then, the selection was gruelling and no more than ten or so kids from thousands of candidates in a country gets selected to be trained.
Neither status nor gender could decide your fate. Only talent and skill.
Lucielle too was enamored by this prospect. However, her talent in combat was abysmal but Old Man Ran had always said she had potential. She was grateful for the his way of encouraging her.
The next day was the 12th of the Sun. This was also the day Alan would leave. Lucielle, who was a few hours earlier than the usual, was heading towards their usual training location. This may be the last time Lucielle would see the boy that she considered a family.
But, she never expected it to end the way it did.