A difficult childhood

Tarken, capital of Lixus Province in Reddard Kingdom, was roughly divided in four parts. In the west lived the nobles. The south was for the commoners. The east was occupied by the very poor. The north was the area for the soldiers. In this day and age, military strength was paramount to the survival of a city and, at a larger scale, Kingdom. Danger mainly came from local outlaws, the neighboring Kingdoms and the infamous Beasts.

Beasts inhabited most parts of the continent. Some more populated areas were even considered as forbidden zones and avoided by humans. Stronger than regular animals, Beasts had the ability to control Essence to some degree. The weaker Beasts were barely stronger than wolfs. The stronger Beasts, however, could contend with the humans' strongest individuals. They were capable of ravaging cities and countries in a fit of rage.

The Lixus Province was located at the border of the Kingdom. From the Province, one could enter the Galbur Kingdom or the Xitan forest, a forbidden zone with the size of three large Kingdoms.

Life in Tarken was harsh. Around half the population worked in the fields to provide food for the city. The job brought little money but allowed them to survive. Close to a fifth of the citizens were soldiers, both female and male. Soldiers were usually well fed but risked their lives on a daily basis. Times of peace were few and far in between but battles happened every day. Casualties were especially high for new recruits. Veterans were at a lesser risk due to their higher rank and greater strength.

Consequently, many children of soldiers became orphans. Like many other cities, Tarken set in place an orphanage to gather together these children. The orphanage was situated in the north part of the city. They were housed and provided with food. The soldiers regularly came to instruct children aged eight and above in combat. They were raised to make the next generation of soldiers.

Rael's father was one of those fallen soldiers. His mother died while giving birth to him. His father raised him alone. He was a strong Warrior and a city guard.

During a patrol, he heard a commotion in a restaurant. A drunk teenager was heavily hitting an old man, who apparently sat in his place. He stopped the young man to put an end to the scene. The young man got even more angry and left the place in great strides shouting profanities. He was the son of an influential noble in the inner circle of the city Lord. The father did not reprimand his child but instead used his connections to send Rael's father to a suicide mission during which he died. At that time, Rael had just turned six years old.

In his time alive, his father taught Rael many things. In particular, he transmitted him his love for the sword. His father raised Rael to be self-dependent and responsible. His job required him to often make patrols in the outskirts of the city and nearby villages. Those missions could last up to a week.

While this forced Rael to mature more quickly than his peers, he was still a child. When his father died, he was devastated. Before the soldier that announced him of his father's passing, he put a strong front. When left alone, however, Rael burst into tears. The soldier gave him the news in the evening and Rael cried for hours, well into the night, until he eventually passed out from exhaustion.

In the following days, Rael moved to the orphanage. Due to the high mortality rate of soldiers, the establishment housed a few thousands children. Rael took no time to find a new group of friends. There was Borg - the strong one, Eith - the agile one, and Karl - the crafty one. All were of Rael's age and shared the same passion for the sword. Similarly to Rael, they had just joined the orphanage. In fact, Borg's father was in the same team as Rael's father when he died.

Friendship grew quickly between them. Sword fighting was their way of bonding and they practiced combat the majority of the day.

Their obsession for the sword at such a young age was very unusual. The odd scene made the orphanage's staff laugh and the visitors smile.

It happened frequently that soldiers came to visit this place to see the children of their fallen comrades and provide some support. On one particular afternoon, a strong Warrior and an old hand at the sword by the name of George stopped by the orphanage. His gaze was soon drawn by the four boys however. Their battling against each other made for a peculiar sight. Amused, he went to them and decided to teach them a little bit about the sword before checking on a friend's child. He taught them the fundamentals of cutting with the Oberhau - downward cuts, and the Underhau - upward cuts. The children listened to the brief lesson with great interest.

In the mind of the young boys, 'Oberhau' and 'Underhau' were more than simple cuts. They sounded like some sort of secret techniques. Treating them as such, they made their mind to train the secret techniques in secret. The group changed their training grounds to an unfrequented corner of the orphanage.

Two weeks later, George came back to visit the orphans. He decided to also check on the four children he taught. Yet, they were nowhere in sight. Asking around he soon learned of the location of their hideout. The children were less discreet than they thought. They were quite loud when playing and the staff found them without difficulties. They saw no harm in their actions however, and left them in peace.

George observed Rael's group for a moment before approaching them. He was surprised by how well they had learned his teachings. He decided to teach them some more and watch over their progress. The young boys were delighted to learn yet another secret technique. They trained in swordsmanship with even more vigor.

With Rael, Borg, Eith and Karl practicing the sword together and George stopping by to teach them the fundamentals of swordsmanship every few weeks, time passed quickly. Weeks turned into months and soon two years passed.

In the middle of autumn, on a fateful day, George came with bad news to his hard-working students. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and would leave for another city closer to the border. By consequence, he could no longer teach them. In those two years, he already taught them all he knew about the fundamentals of swordsmanship. Until they became Warriors, there was really nothing more to learn. All that was left for them was to practice and perfect their foundations.

The separation was hard on the boys who had already lost their family. To manage their emotions, they turned to what they knew best: sword practice. Redoubling in efforts, the children filled their days with sparring, practicing the techniques and a little more of sparring.

The next year, on the first days of spring, ten or so soldiers came to the orphanage to teach children above eight years old in swordsmanship. Excited to learn more about the sword, Rael's band soon left disappointed. The lessons were extremely basic and of low quality. At their orphanage, children above eight years old numbered more than a thousand. Each soldier instructed more than a hundred children. It was no wonder that the teachings were of lesser quality than George's.

Rael and his friends ignored the free lessons and trained on their own.

Two more years passed.

—

"Haha, Rael, I finally surpassed you. Yesterday evening, I finished comprehending the 'Splitting Rocks' technique. You stand no chance against me now!"

"Borg, Teacher told us many times that we shouldn't learn sword techniques before perfecting our foundation. Ever since you've became a Warrior, you've neglected your foundation. You wasted your time comprehending this 'Splitting Rocks' technique."

"My foundation is strong enough. And sword techniques are the mark of the Warrior."

"Eith and Karl agree with me, there is still much to learn from the basics. Even more now that we learned to control Essence. Don't just rush into learning new techniques."

"It's been several months since we became Warriors. And all this time, you've been using Essence without techniques. You've already wasted too much time. The other children are already becoming Warriors and are learning sword techniques. If you and the other two fools don't hurry up, you will be left behind everyone else. You've already lost your lead."

"I guess there is no point debating further. Let's resolve this as we always did, through battle."

In an open forest, the two young boys launched themselves at each other. Swinging his wooden sword while circulating his Essence in a particular way, Borg initiated the 'Splitting Rocks' technique. The weapon soon gained a strong momentum before shooting towards Rael. Boosting his body with Essence, Rael first turned to the side before striking the side of the incoming sword with his own. Borg's sword was deviated and missed his target. The next instant, Rael placed his sword against his friend's throat.

"What an impressive technique indeed!" exclaimed Rael.

Embarrassed by his performance, Borg turned red. Usually, he could contend with Rael for at least 10 minutes before losing. This was the fastest defeat he ever suffered. Borg was very surprised as he somewhat expected a one-hit KO from his new technique.

"I want a rematch."

Borg recollected his spirits before launching himself at Rael once again. This time, he waited a few minutes before suddenly executing his technique to take his opponent by surprise. The results this time were even worse as he was defeated before completing his technique.

"Again."

Borg could not admit losing to Rael in such a manner. Even less with his invincible 'Splitting Rocks' technique. He leapt time and time again at Rael. He did not win a single time, however.

"Your technique is too slow and predictable," commented Rael. While he liked provoking his friend, he nonetheless wanted for Borg to improve. 'Splitting Rocks' was a strong technique, yet one with clear flaws.

"That's because I still have to master it. Soon, you'll see, I'll surpass you."

Rael readied himself. His friend was stubborn, but he would make his friend understand hopefully through repeated defeats.

In this manner, the duo sparred for a few hours. To Borg's frustration, his new technique never once gave him the win. If anything, it seemed to bring his combat abilities down. Exhausted, Borg eventually gave up.

"The sun is starting to set down. We should hurry back. You win this time."

Taking a few moments to pack their belongings, the pair then rushed towards Tarken and entered by the nearest gate.