Aah'

X woke up screaming. Those stupid visions had followed him to the world of dreams as well. One was the sight of a bloody old man smiling at him, his hairline pushed back all the way to the back where pure white hair flowed down like a curtain. There was also another person, completely covered in dark purple bandages. There was someone else, a shadow of inky darkness the looked at X with a slight smile, as if they knew each other quite well.

The vision of the cave was the most common, though, the shadow of a giant winged creature, standing behind a massive lavafall, an elder version of X himself standing at the bottom of the falls, immune to the heat, standing in the Fire Escape stance. The attack was something X could still not wrap his head around. Did he really change into a stream of golden flames, or was that also a dream?

X got out of the cot, expecting an injured body, burnt to a crisp. He had turned into flames the previous day, after all. He then took the same stance as the one in his dreams, the one he took before slicing off the demon's neck. He imagined holding a hatchet and knelt forward, his body heating up.

X closed his eyes, and imagined himself in the same rock, under the same lavafall, in the same cave. He could imagine the sound of the lava splashing, the dim light of the lavafall, and the brighter light from the tooth-like tips of the giant creature's jagged wings. He took in a deep breath and was about to complete the rest of the attack when a voice startled him.

'I don't think this house has done anything wrong. Besides, if you burn it, we have to be homeless. Quite the life for a retired Stage 3 knight, huh?'

X opened his eyes and the scenery changed immediately, from a burning hellscape to the hut where he lived for the last five years. He looked at his Grandfather and shrugged, muttering a soft "Sorry". Frederick did not hear the apology, and instead walked right past X, straight to the kitchen. Opening a shelf, he started pulling out random things from the pile of stuff that lay there and threw them behind him without a second thought.

X was shocked. His grandfather was an orderly person. He had an order for everything and hated it when X made a mess of his house. Was the same person, making a mess in the same house right now?

Finally, Frederick called for X, and when he came next to the old man, he saw a small metal chest in the back of the shelf. It was engraved with strange carvings and characters that did not seem to be of any readable language, just lines arranged in random sequences.

Frederick opened the chest with a flick of his fingers, and within it, X saw a cushion, with the imprint of an axe on it. This must have been where he kept that metal axe, X thought. Frederick casually pulled out the curtain, and under it was a hatchet. A very familiar hatchet. A hatchet made out of simple steel without any inscriptions, away from the shiny golden armor, and the lavafall. The hatchet he saw in his dreams.

Frederick took out the hatchet and turned towards X. On seeing the hatchet, X jumped back so fast, that he felt like he was out of his skin for a moment. Fear and surprise caused his body to heat up, threatening to burn the house. Frederick was surprised by X's reaction and asked X to join him on a walk. Frederick stepped out of the house, and X walked behind him reluctantly, still sore from the previous day's fight.

'Your reaction on seeing the hatchet, I was not expecting that. I thought you would be happy or shocked since you rented a weapon, but?'

Frederick raised an eyebrow at X, signaling him to continue the conversation.

'Yesterday, when I saw you fight against the demon, I froze. I was scared. Very scared, and I had a heat attack before. I tried moving forward and fighting, but the heat just spread through my body, and my head started hurting. I thought maybe I had a mental heat attack, but instead, I had these...visions, I guess you could call them, and I saw many sights that I can't recall properly, but among them, there was one I clearly remember. A cave, a massive shadowy winged monster behind a lavafall, and down at the bottom I was there, older and stronger, wearing some kind of costly armor. And my weapon was.'

X pointed to the hatchet that was placed securely in Frederick's hand. The retired knight gasped in surprise, then after a moment of silence, passed the weapon to the child.

'Keep it. If you saw it in your visions, it probably means that this is important to you somehow. You see, I think that these visions might be a key to unlocking your forgotten memories, even though we don't know what they are. Didn't you just turn into fire because of them?'

X nodded, somehow being at peace with this sudden idea. The thought of the visions fixing his messed-up memories brought peace to his mind.

'Fire escape?'

'What was that?'

Frederick asked, anxious to change the topic so that X did not feel awkward.

'The fire thing. Do you know what it is?'

X asked nervously, wanting an answer but also not wanting it at the same time, afraid of what it was.

'Yes. Most knights have abilities, like sudden bursts of strength or speed. Some are considered better than others, but everyone is unique. Unless you come from a specific tribe where everyone has the same abilities, you are special, although your powers may be affected by your ancestry.'

Frederick spoke in a tone similar to that of a teacher in the children's school down in Terlem. X understood it, and also what Frederick was saying between his sentences. Knights have powers, and X has powers. It was kinda obvious to him.

'You want me to be a knight.'

'Only if you want to be one.'

X nodded in assent. Frederick smiled and gestured for X to sit down on a rock. He kicked the ground hard, and rocks rose up to make a seat for the old man.

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'You know something. I didn't even have powers until I reached Stage 3, and even then it took a long time to get used to it.'

'What is your ability.'

X asked enthusiastically.

'I gain the powers of the last demon I killed partially. It's regeneration, speed, and strength, although most demons are naturally weaker and slower than me. A small portion of their main abilities, if I am lucky.'

He raised his hands, and an arc of electricity flowed between his fingers.

'If you want to be a knight, you have to join a training academy. There are many of them, I am planning to start one here in Terlem, but I will give you the list of good ones...'

'Can't I join your school?'

'I don't plan on starting it right now. Maybe five years.'

Frederick told him about all the prestigious academies in the Kingdom, and X listened to him intently. But after a while, a single question popped up in his head multiple times over.

'Which one of these did you go to.'

'None of them. The place I went to was called the Royal Academy. Back then, it was much easier to get in there, at least twenty people per year.'

X was surprised by the number. Twenty people only. All the other academies Frederick has spoken about had at least a thousand students. Making up his mind, X spoke out.

'I think I should go to...the Royal Academy.'

'No, don't waste your life trying to get in there, everyone who tries has years of personal training and comes from some of the most powerful and rich houses in the whole Kingdom, the whole continent.

'You are the one that told me always to aim high.'

'But the academy is at Rossenberg, the Capital of the Kingdom. It is a little less than 300 kilometers from here. And the city is not easy to live in or to get to. You will have to travel across the continent and cross the Apline mountains. It will take at least a few months, and the academy entrance exam will begin in another 6 months. Will you be okay?'

X nodded confidently, and although he was still scared of the hatchet, he took it in his hands. Surprisingly, his hands automatically moved to the handle and found a few small dents on it. The weapon had been used by him for years, and the handle had been molded so that his fingers could easily maintain its grip.

The weapon gave him a sense of familiarity, and when he grasped the hatchet, it glowed bright golden for a few seconds, illuminating the whole room. X asked his Grandfather about the hatchet, extremely curious to know how he had come across this weapon.

'Well, you could say it was a gift. The Dragon Knight received it from a dragon, a real dragon who helped in making gear for all of the knights in his squad. J-The Dragon Knight gave me my axe when I was a knight, and when I retired, he gave me this hatchet, since except for me, no knight used any weapon even similar to the hatchet.'

'Who is the Dragon Knight? And what is a Dragon?'

'The Dragon Knight is a national secret. Everybody knows who he is, the strongest knight, but his identity is a secret I have to keep even from you. As for Dragons, they are great creatures mentioned in legends of old, described as giant reptiles with scales harder than the strongest steel, and a breath of flames so hot that nothing could withstand it. They had wings too, and despite their great size, they moved so fast, that you wouldn't be able to know where they were until they appeared right behind you. The Dragon Knight was the only person who could converse with them, and until he appeared, Dragons were mere myths.'

' How big were they? Like, as big as mountains'

X asked, hoping to find out at least what the giant winged creature in his visions was.

'According to him, they were around ten meters tall at minimum.'

Ten meters tall. That's impressive, but too small. The creature in X's dream was thousands of times larger. But now at least he had found a way to fill in gaps in his head. Maybe the creature was a bigger variant.

Frederick then placed a small pouch in X's hand. X opened it to find quite a lot of gold coins. With this much money, Grandpa could live for the rest of his life without moving a muscle, so why did he still work as a woodcutter?

'That was meant to be for the training center, but well, it's a worthy investment.'

Fredrick spoke with a smile, walking back home to search for a robe that was not torn. The Apline mountains were very cold.

That evening X met with all the people he had known in the village, which was not too many. He met the timber merchant and profusely apologized for making a fool of both of them when he went out to all wood. He met the butcher and profusely apologized for having burnt his hatchet. The butcher was astonished but did not ask X for payment, since he was afraid of being burnt like his hatchet.

X played with the little kids in the village, and when they got to know that X's brother was going to be a knight like Frederick, they caused quite a riot in their homes. Finally, he met the knights, and they had a thanking contest, where both sides thanked each other for saving their lives constantly.

That night, X slept outside the hut staring at the clear sky, thinking about how much he would miss this village. Although at times he felt like he was not a part of it, this village was the only part of his memory that was full. The only part that he knew was real.

The next morning, X hugged his Grandfather tightly. He was wrapped in so many robes, that he looked like a moving Clothing store. His pouch was kept underneath the fifth robe. Then he set out, leaving behind the only part of his life he remembered, to find the rest of it.

'Oh, I forgot to tell this to him, but the Academy only accepts four students a year now.'

Frederick spoke after X had left the village.