Birthday

Atop the walls, a handsome young man could be seen sitting on one of the battlements. His gaze, directed towards the sea, from afar he could see the towering portal that leads to his home, he missed his family, his siblings especially, his red eyes shone as he set his gaze longingly towards the way home. It had been ten years since he had started his training, or hell as he liked to call it.

The giant was not a forgiving teacher, with every limit he reached, he had to push further and further until he can't push anymore. He was at the peak state of a human being and more. Sir Hjilmar as he now called him had ingrained the use of every sense of the body into him, hearing, smell, sight, touch, taste. Admittedly he wasn't able to grasp the taste aspect of the training, something about humans not being attuned to nature as much as the other races, he said.

His training with him all but transformed him into another person, he was 6"4 now, gone was the boy that arrived into the city of Candelabra, and born was the man who would kill all that was even remotely tainted with Chaos. His lean build was packed with muscle, all of which was condensed and capable of churning out force that can take a man's head off.

His long black hair would have flowed down onto his shoulders if it wasn't tied into a bun, no doubt an influence from his teacher. The only thing he had willingly picked up from him as he didn't want to cut it. Something that the giant approved smilingly, which only annoyed him, but he had to admit, he looked good with long hair. The only time it was cut was when he had unknowingly set fire onto his hair and had to shave it off so he that he wouldn't look like a fool, and that was a few years ago.

His reminiscing was interrupted when someone tapped his shoulder.

"Hey kid, miss home?" he turned to look around and saw one of the soldiers that was frequently assigned to this part of the wall. He was decked out in shining metal from head to toe, his mask was not affixed so he could see his face.

"Hey Charlie, what's up?" Curtis answered he frequented this part of the wall as the soldiers assigned to it was usually nice to him. He ran here every time his training was finished. He liked to gaze at his way home, and he usually joined in on their dinner.

"Ahh, nothing much, it's been pretty long since we've been the last hit, so it's pretty boring, join us for dinner later, we're having a hotpot." the solider grinned, he loved eating hotpot for dinner, as that usually meant he'd be able to eat a lot.

"Sure, I'll go up after I wash up. We had a bit of sparring earlier so I'm pretty dusted up." Curtis agreed, he missed home, but for now, there was nothing he could do. Hjilmar said he was still too weak. So the atmosphere back at the estate wasn't the best, he felt like he has been training for too long, the giant kept pushing him so he ran here to loosen up, the soldiers here were a rowdy bunch. Pretty dedicated to their job, but still loose enough to have a welcoming attitude. So he enjoys their company, they tolerate him being here as they made him feel that he belongs here. the other divisions were pretty serious at their job and kept on chasing him away.

"You'll be fine kid, just keep at it." the soldier said as he left, going back to his post. Curtis never really knew how, but they usually knew how he really felt. And knew what words to say to soothe him.

"Thanks, Charlie, I'll be back soon." he finished, as he jumped down the battlements, straight down onto the hard grey stone serving as the foundation of the wall.

~~~

Arriving at the estate he immediately felt something was amiss, not because everything was quiet, but because it was too loud. The whole estate was lit up, every room was filled with noise, the sound of laughter echoed out, even from outside he could hear the giant's raucous laughter.

Heading inside he was greeted by Edna, the pirate captain who kidnapped him ten years ago. She was holding onto her daughter. She seemed to be nauseous as she wasn't looking good, the little girl was pale.

"Hey kid, what took you so long?" she called him out as he approached. Looking at her now, Curtis was now taller than her, he reached to greet the kid, asking if she was okay, she was born roughly 8 years ago if he remembered correctly, the pirate was ecstatic when she announced that she was pregnant, something which gave him a bit of reprieve from training as the giant became busy with preparing for the child, even busier than the mother herself.

Curtis was thankful for the pirate, she had trained him on ways of using weapons, she did not look like it, but she was a master of all the weapons known to man, she just prefered her spear. And so she helped Curtis find the weapon suitable for him.

Surprisingly the weapon best suited for Curtis was a two-handed axe, the only way he could describe it was that he loved the feeling of bringing down the weight of his weapon onto his enemy, all the while splitting him in two. It was a cathartic sensation, focusing all of your strength, all your emotion into a huge swing, onto the enemy and ripping them apart.

His choice had irked the giant at first, he had wanted him to take a bastard sword as a weapon like him. Curtis thought it irked him as the Ax was the preferred weapon of the Dragonkin's, Sir Pumba himself even went down to the estate to give him some pointers on how to use the Ax. Something which only made the giant even stricter in his training.

The first time he faced those dregs was over 3 years ago, Hjilmar wanted him bloodied and so, Sally brought over her squad and forced him onto them. They brought him into another dimension where he faced those abominations, those creatures of hatred and fear. To make it simple, those who are infected with chaos are swallowed up by their negative emotions, their own chaos per se.

Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth. It looks simple, but they are the easiest manifestations of chaos. Their main driver is fear, the fear of something or someone not being good enough, not being able to overcome what challenges they face in life. And so, once these seeds of chaos are sown, their evil god takes advantage of them, the Bruha (Witch) can influence them, she injects her power onto those with seeds of chaos, she fuels their desires and manifests herself in them.

She turns them into mindless monsters, capable only of doing her bidding. Curtis faced those dregs in the battlefield. Their unending onslaught into their defense line unsettled him. They did not cower even in front of superior strength. The deaths of their compatriots didn't bother them at all, in fact, it only seemed to fuel their desire to sacrifice themselves for their god.

On the battlefield, it was normal to be drenched in their blood. His team was all but bathing in the blood of their enemies. Curtis was as well, with each swing of his Axe, he was sinking in the blood they spilt. His armor, slippery from their blood, his hair, drenched in their blood, his ax dulling from the blood and meat stuck onto it. But they could only keep fighting, they weren't taking any casualties. His squad leader told him.

"We aren't losing today, fight to your heart's content. This is only the proving ground, the Bruha (Witch) sends her excess soldiers here. After a few hours, the tide dies down," his words made Curtis think. She was only removing excess soldiers? Where did she even get them from? If this is what she was capable off, what was the end game here?

After the battle, Curtis could only lament, on what his family was facing. He wasn't there. He was here, fighting a battle miles away from home. Hjilmar had assured him that his home country was safe. It was as far away from all this bloodshed. But he couldn't help but worry.

Bringing himself back to reality, he looked at the little girl still looking pale. "Hey Lou, how are you?" he asked. The little girl came up to him, only to vomit onto his feet. Curtis a bit surprised shot Edna a look. "Sir Hjilmar was too hmmm. Excited about showing Lou around his friends," she explained, still annoyed at the giant for making her daughter sick. "The guys are inside, go on ahead, I'll bring Lou 'round back and get herself cleaned up," she added. Ushering Curtis to go in.

"Right, I'll go on ahead," Curtis said goodbye to the mother-daughter pair and headed to his room. Seeing the number of guests inside the house he couldn't help but wonder, what was this all about? He wanted to get in on the news so he went up to his room, washed up, and came down into the dining room, dressed in fresh clothes.

Arriving into the room, he could see a lot of guests roaming about, Sally, her commanding officer was here. The giant was in a corner chatting with his fellow mountains along with a few council members, the friends he made while he was here. They were mainly soldiers from Sally's command, but they were close to him. Berrick was over the table drinking some wine.

Curtis walked the table Berrick was in he wanted to say hi and get out of there. He picked up a few desserts and was about to head to the training ground when the giant caught sight of him.

"Kid! There you are, we've been waiting for you!" Hjilmar bellowed out. His words caught everyone in the room's attention.

"Today you become a man!" the giant roared, the mountain moved closer to him and picked him up. Curtis didn't like being manhandled, but as they were inside the estate, and he didn't want to cause a scene, he could only suck up the embarrassment.

"Today! My latest student becomes a man! He has been bloodied, he has killed! Today he will be a man of his own name!" he placed him down, forcing him to one knee. Curtis finally understood what all the fuss was about. The giant did mention that once he comes of age, he will take hold of the assets his family held here in Candelabra, he threw that memory onto the back of his head at the time, he didn't care for it. But now it came for him.

"Curtis De Leon, I as the representative of the Gigantes, recognize you to be of the De Leon lineage, I recognize you as blood of my blood, and lastly, I recognize you to be one of the guardians of Candelabra." he finished.

"The Dragonkin's stand witness." Sir Pumba stepped out of the crowd and vouched for the ceremony.

"The Night Elves stand witness." Miss Klee agreed.

"The Human faction also stands witness." The old man vouched, raising his hand.

"And with the majority of the council agreeing, all of the stated above will come into fruition. Curtis De Leon, you are now fully emancipated and may take hold of your families' property and assets here in the city,"

Curtis looked at the people staring at him. It seemed to perfect. The timing, the intentions, the look of it all seemed so in sync. The truth was that he didn't want to stay here any longer, not when his family needed him. With him inheriting the De Leon's previous property here. It was akin to him settling down. He didn't want to stay here any longer. He missed his home, he missed his family, he didn't even know if they were safe, the last news he got from the continent was a year ago, when Bruce the night elf spoke to him in passing, telling him that his parents were safe, but his siblings were missing, and lastly, all traces of his family's estate and people were missing.

He looked at the people in front of him. He didn't know what they were thinking, everything felt perfect in the city. But outside, with Chaos lurking about, it was hell for the people affected. He needed to see for himself if his family was safe.

It was time to leave.