《The Wayfarer》 Chapter 1 - The last mission I was surrounded by a swarm of black snake like looking things, or better yet known as death scythe wyrms. I groaned and curse at my squadmates who should have lured these ugly shit away. Our squad''s medic, Raul along with the tail scout, Stacy, were supposed to be guarding the perimeter while I configure our bomb to setup here. Seeing no other choice, I sped up the configuration as my fingers tapped furiously against my wrist gears panel. I tap the side of my gear and chimed in our communications link. We almost never used this since we operate covertly and in radio silence. "Yo guys, what the fuck happened with covering my back?" "Hey Will, uh, we''re in a fix right now since the distractions that Richard and James setup didn''t attract the queen." "Raul''s currently running overdrive on berserk to round them up. You should see him riding his kite upside down." "This isnt a joke guys, there''s a swarm here." "Shut it, Stacy. We''re doing our best here, Will. Please hang on." "I''m sure you can handle it, Will" My squad consists of the worst kind of badasses mankind has to offer. In this team, being a badass consists of just two things: cowardice and shamelessness. You might think that being a coward is being pathetic, but that''s only true if you''re stupid as well. My team mates are smart cowards, we do every filthy-quick kill to accomplish our objective. This world is unfair, we''re just playing by its rules. And what I meant by shamelessness, is running when things get impossible. We''ve encountered death so many times that it becomes standard procedure. After civilization collapsed, mankind struggled in the dark with little technology. It has been up to our corps to protect Sanctuary, the last bastion of mankind in this decrepit world. There are no easy missions. The only kind left for those willing to leave the walled habitat are the insane missions. That is why we''re called the Hell Marines, we go to hell and back to get our folks bits of hope and security. This is also the reason why we''re in this continent working on wiping out these creatures ugly as shit. These are one of the thousands of scourges of humanity. These dark creatures survive in all types of environment and preys on all living things. It will not be long before it runs out of food here and come to sanctuary. I barely finished setting up the megabomb that would wipe out the hive of these wyrms, when my comlink buzzed with Raul''s message. "Hey, we just killed the queen. We''re getting back in position." "Never mind, I''m just about to finish this anyway. Where''s James and Riley?" "They still haven''t finished disposing the other Queens" "Did you just say Queens??" "Yeah, it turns out we''re at the intersection of three colonies. The info we had was wrong." "Damn. Alright, I''m gonna clean up these insects." The first of the wyrms rushed in to attack just as I finished activating the bomb autoactivation lock. I whipped out two guns with barrels twice the size of my arms. Six wyrm heads explode at that instant. I love this weapon. It''s called cannon magnum. It''s energy efficient unlike the plasma and beam weapons. I modified it to lessen its terrible recoil, on the other hand it produces its own ammunition, by feeding it with a few grams of soil. The bullet it creates is made of a carbon vacuum. It implodes upon impact, super compressing any mass within a radius of 1 meter to a small pea-sized ball. The only catch here is the fire rate. The weapon isn''t automatic, and it takes only 12 shots to consume a magazine full of soil. Just as I finished off my ammo, a second wave of wyrms dived in from the trees. I dropped my guns, and whipped out a second set of guns from my second arm holster to wipe out the second wave. The dropped guns stuck to my leg guards, where they magnetically slide back to my hip. I got eight of these guns, and four belt holsters. Two belts slung from my shoulder to hip with four guns on my torso, which tragically looks like suspenders. With the guns attached to it, it looks badass though. Another, connected with my backpack, two guns reachable when I pretend to raise my arms to surrender. And of course, one on my hip, two guns on each side, like a cowboy. I''d be called a real gunslinger, if not for the exoskeleton and the headgear that makes me look more like a cyborg than a cowboy. After clearing the rest of the attacking wyrms, I took out my photon blade and fell down several nearby trees to hide the bomb. I messaged the team via comlink. "Bomb planted." "Good job, Will. We''re establishing the dropship point over here too. We''ve only finished off one of the queens, while the other one serves as the distraction for the other wyrm tribe." James, our squad leader, finally confirmed their status via comlink. "Location for the dropship?" "It should be 60 degrees from your location at 5000 elevation. You know the plan." "Affirmative." I searched for a few souvenirs from the carcasses of the wyrms and managed to picked up a few shining implosion balls. Despite how they look, they''re actually quite heavy, I put them in a tube containing antigrav fluid. I''ll decompress some of these later to give to our science guys as samples. While I was looking for some more balls, I saw something shiny in the dirt, and dug it out. Analysis reveals it to be made of wood and nothing else. It seems like junk from this world''s pre-existing civilization or something another marine carved up due to plain boredom, but it looks good enough to me to keep as a souvenir.. A short while later, James messaged us that they''re finished. "Team, dropship''s on the way. Be here in two minutes." "I haven''t finished picking souvenirs yet!!" Stacy protested. "Just take a random eyeball or claw." "I''m not like you, Riley! I''m looking for a fruit or a flower." "That doesn''t prove you did anything here, Stacy. Are you a tourist?" I remarked. "I''m not like you psychopaths with your trophies!" "Hahaha - Shut it, guys!" James laughed, caught himself in time, and scolded us, just to show he''s "serious". I took out my kite, or technically speaking, light weight flight assistance device. It uses antigrav for propulsion, but it serves as a glider as well. As I soared toward the rendezvous location, something large and dark streaked towards me. It was a spectre dragon. It was a fierce territorial creature, but it''s quite rare to see one defending its territory since it''s also incredibly lazy and nocturnal. The ruckus made by the wyrms must have pissed the dragon residing in the nearby marshes. My squadmates seem to have seen it before me while they glided around the dropship location. The comlink chatter resounded all at once. "Will, get the fuck down! A dragon''s after you! Lose it!" "Riley get your antimatter rifle loaded" "No time, sir. It take a while to unpack it. Let''s strafe it with photon guns" I saw the team that looks like specks in the distance dash towards me, and a shining dot in the sky that was our dropship. It was then that I made my decision. "Don''t strafe it! Fall back!" "What are you saying, Will!?" "The bomb will take care of it. I''ll be bait!" "But it will get you in a moment!!!" I pulled a flashbang and a smoke grenade. The dragon stopped and roared. "Solved! Dont attract it anymore. Mission comes first. I''ll dig in that ravine and survive the blast." I sent out the map location of the ravine. The chatter stopped for a few seconds in our comlinks. "We will return to retrieve you in 48 hours, Will. Be sure to survive." James finally decided. Thinking that I have enough water and ration bars here, I confirmed. "Yes,sir. " As I hear the beating wings of the dragon again, I retracted my kite and adjusted into free fall towards the narrow ravine. The ravine looks like the cracks of a broken plate, a tectonic shift gone awry I suppose. My sensors indicate that it isn''t deep enough to reach the magma veins, so it should be safe. I streaked downwards in a headstrong dive, I can hear the sounds of the dragon become distant. I confirmed in my wrist panel that the dragon has given up on me. As I descended down a few kilometers toward the ravine, my comlink buzzed. "We''ve boarded the dropship." James said. "We''ll be out of the bomb range in 30 minutes. Hide before then." Riley added "I''ll have you pick a souvenir for me when we return" Stacey chimed in. "Give her ashes bro. haha- OUCH!" Raul added "See you in 48 hrs" I finally signed off. After entering the ground level, I deployed my kite once more. As I glide into the ravine, it became too dark to see any ledges to land. Switching to night vision, I can see several spire like mountains jutting out from down below. If I had to, I can drill a hole in one of them. But I finally spotted what appears to be a cave in one of the spires, and decided to land there to bide my time until the blast cleans up the surface. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. After some time passed. I felt the earth trembling. I activated my thermal suit, a heat absorbing nanobot layer provided by my exoskeleton. An hour later, the trembling stopped and the walls near the top of the ravine burned into orange smoldering rock. Even the sky was burning til late into the night. After a few hours, rain started falling. This lasted until dawn, and until noon the next day, when a fierce howling wind blew across the land. After noticing that the thick dark smoke was flowing into this ravine with the river of rainwater. I immediately flew out despite the possibility of a storm brewing, knowing that the worst is already over. It would also be too hard to navigate out of the ravine once visibility is gone due to the smoke. After breaking out of the ravine and struggling against the fierce winds, what I saw shocked me. Although I could no longer be surprised by scorched land, due to the number of similar missions we''ve had in the past, what surprised me was that there was another layer beneath the land that was now peeking through the earth. There was a white circular crystal sparkling beneath the soil, which can only be seen from the height I was gliding from. Looking down from above, the great swamp and jungle of the death scythe worms are all gone. With their eradication, they would no longer be able to threaten this world. I continued looking down below, speculating that the circular crystalline structure might be an ancient spaceship or city. It seems quite a coincidence that the center of the blast was also the center of this strange rock. Noticing something strange down there, I glided lower and zoomed in on the ground. There was a groove that looks like a pedestal on the surface. Unlike the rest of the land which was still glowering hot from heat, this part seems to have already cooled down. I was able to confirm this through thermal vision. In the center, there seems to be a hole in the shape of something that looks strangely familiar. Curious, I landed on the pedestal. As I approached it, something in my pocket suddenly began vibrating. It was the artifact I picked up yesterday. As soon as I opened my pocket, it flew towards the hole amd fitted it perfectly. I was stunned. I braced myself, thinking that I must have activated an alien spaceship or something similar. I was slightly disconcerted when nothing happens after a few minutes. In relief, I exclaimed to myself, "Well, that startled me." A sudden chime sounded inside my head and a voice started talking. "Start confirmed" I was alarmed. Did I just activated something through a shitty voice command?? I suddenly whip out my wrist panel and check my radar and physiological monitor. Aside from sudden rise in heart beat and brain activity, nothing else seem to be spiking. Okay, nothing to worry about. No alien force invading my body. I immediately try cancelling whatever process it is. "Cancel! Abort! Close! Disable! Commence self-destruc--" Wait a second. Nothing seems to be working. I jumped off the pedestal, or at least tried to, when an unknown force, knocked me back. I looked at my wrist panel, and identified the field preventing me from escaping as a gravitational field of unknown origin. I took out my photon gun and shield and shot the invisible wall, but they all pass through. I stumbled down and saw my feet being disintegrated little by little, like paper on flame. It felt painless but I know fully well the shit has hit the fan. I might as well sign off. Taking out my comlink, I decided to log what happens to me now, faced with possible death or danger in the next few minutes. My voice trembling, I whispered into my comlink, "Lieutenant W-William Cooper, encountered, no, accidentally activated alien artifact and started unknown process that slowly disintegrates his body. At 2214 hours on the 613th light year of 4432 AD. Estimated completion - at fiv-four minutes." I paused and saw that the consuming light has reached my knees. "Trapped and faced with imminent death with no other recourse or survival possible, I hereby signoff and bequeath my remaining assets to my brothers in the service." I paused. My eyes felt heavy, I pressed the back of my hand against it and felt something hot rolling down my cheek. The corner of my lips felt heavy, I did my best to smile in defeat. Unlike the dangers faced in battle, it seems a lot sadder knowing you''re about to die and there''s nothing you can do about it. I held my comlink one last time and said my final message. "Team, sorry I fucked up. Thanks for looking out for me these past twenty years." I swallowed hard the pain in my chest and steeled my heart for what''s about to come. I took off the rest of my gear and threw them out of the pedestal so that the corps can retrieve them. At least, this seems like a painless death. I closed my eyes as the disintegration reached my nose and I couldn''t feel my face anymore. I heard the voice one last time, before I lost consciousness. "Commencing planar travel. Please stand by." ----------------------------------------- Silence filled the battle room in the Sanctuary Marines headquarters. The contents of Lt. Cooper''s blackbox were displayed in the big screen on the wall. The blackbox records the visual and audio data directly retrieved from the brain. Due to numerous and strange encounters of those who leave sanctuary, this has been the protocol for all citizens. This greatly helped the habitat identify threats and opportunities the past centuries. However, only the top rank officials knew of the existence of this blackbox. A cough came from the oldest officer convened around a square table. There were only six of them. The man who coughed was the president. The others were his staff generals. The president looked at a balding gentleman opposite him who removed the near invisible spherical object from the wires of the screen. "So, we can assume that Cooper discovered a waygate?" The president asked. "We can only speculate, sir. The only clue we had was the auditory data. Even the message log he recorded was all static. Furthermore, except for testimonies from his team, and our personnel here. All recorded evidence of Cooper has mysteriously vanished. We believed that this might be connected to his disappearance. " "Wait, back up" A young looking general wearing wireframe glasses, gestured towards the balding gentleman. "We were able to retrieve data from the blackbox but we lost data right here in the base?" The balding gentleman looked at the only female staff general inquisitively. The woman nodded. "Indeed, that seems to be the case. Perhaps it has something to do with the blackbox as a living entity. Although it''s a non biological life form, it has great memory storage and recall that could simply not compare with other methods of record keeping. Furthermore, it has top notch survival abilities." "Oh. I didn''t know that. Is that why it''s only discovered twenty miles outside Cooper''s portal?" The president asked pressingly "Yes, sir" The woman answered tersely. "Moving on, the blackbox data is the only surviving account of Lt. Cooper. Although we''ve tried reconstructing some of his records, the same phenomenon happens." "Describe it exactly." "The paper disintegrates, the digital files get truncated, even visual and audio transcripts become just white noise a few hours after Cooper''s narrative is completed." "So the only memory we have of Cooper is this blackbox?" "Indeed, sir." "Then, let''s commemorate him with this in the institute. Decommission this blackbox, allow it to live in a habitat dedicated to Cooper in the Heroes hall." "Heroes hall, sir? Isn''t that too much? We can''t even write his name permanently." "Yes, Heroes hall. There, his record of 3124 missions and other battle statistics fit." "I doubt it will work sir. But we''ll try numbers or cryptography. It will somehow work out if we refer to Cooper as a John Doe." "That''s it then. We''ll hold an unrecorded ceremony for him as a John Doe and commemorate the hall two weeks from now. Meeting adjourned." The president and the staff stood up. The youngest general whistled and said in a low voice, "3000 missions? I hope that place is ready for him" "You''re taking the Hell Marines too lightly." The president remarked, looking at him in disbelief and amusement. He unconsciously rubbed his Hell Marines tattoo in his left arm. The ex-hell-marine now turned president sighed and mused to himself, "Cooper was barely thirty and he already past my record? I hope he returns." Chapter 2 - New life, new world William woke up with barely a glimmer of consciousness. He felt wet and weak. Like waking up from a coma, he can barely put up a thought. He tries opening his eyes, but his previous memories flash before him instead, like the day he enlisted in Sanctuary, the training they had in the mountains, battling against monstrous insects, and the time when he first lost his limbs and the pain he had when it was reconstructed. When he was able to partially open his eyes, the memories dim like fragments of a dream he could barely hold unto. He hears excited chatter he can''t understand. At that moment, he felt something separated him from the white world, he tries to understand why he was lifted towards the heavens. In reality however, he was lifted by the wetnurse and hung by his legs. The nurse was scared he wasn''t breathing. William felt his buttocks slapped. The shock caused him to cough and suck in a deep breath of air. His lungs felt the cold air like a thousand needles. The pain shocked him and he screamed. The mother and the nurse smiled happily as the healthy baby boy cried hard. Inside, William was terrified believing he was in the after life. Days quickly passed by, as William drifted in and out of sleep. The memories of his previous life becomes buried by dreams made of the whiteness of cloth, the warmth of his mother''s embrace and the taste of milk. He also has nightmares, made of simple worries, thirst, loneliness and the foul smell of his own poop and urine. He learned that he''s now ''Jiro'', a new-born child in this new world. Jiro begins to forget he was once William Cooper. His past life''s memories remains only in his dreams. His world was now the cradle that he was in. He doesn''t know that he was an aloof foul-mouthed guy in his past life who has given up on the world. He only knows that everything feels so familiar to him that he delights on being able to wake up and live. He was a child who smiles spontaneously. One late afternoon, a man with thick red mat of a hair visits him and draws various symbols on his body. The man frowned as he finds out that his child has inherited his bloodline. He lifts the baby and kisses the boys forehead. The symbols flickered red and the baby sweats as the protective magic his father laid upon him seeps into his soul. A woman peeks from outside the half-opened door, she smiles as she sees the heart-warming gesture her husband did to the baby when he finally arrives home after several months. The woman enters the room, looks at her husband and embraces him. "Welcome home, dear." "I have signed my resignation." "You''ll be a good father. Don''t worry too much." Jiro''s father has returned home. ------ In the village of Hillrock, on its third hill, a commotion was happening in one of the houses situated there. A nine month old baby managed to climb up a tree but doesn''t know how to get down. Jiro was only six months when he learned how to walk. Following his older sister everywhere became his favorite hobby. She was nearly four years old, but she teases Jiro by feeding him something delicious, and afterwards, she would run away and hide from him, when he wants to eat more. That morning, she fed him a carrot cake so delicious, that against his fears of going outside the house, he managed to follow his sister up a tree. The young girl didn''t know and thought Jiro would eventually give up once he steps outside the house and get scared silly. He frowns at Kyla and called out "Kah-la!", but she was already too high to hear his small voice. A few months after he was born, Jiro learned to make expressions. He would make puppy eyes when he''s hungry or when he wants to be taken outside. Or he would frown when he doesn''t want to take a bath. Most of the time, he gets what he wants. But he also began to be tormented by a lot of faces. Each morning, a little girl''s face would pop up outside his crib, and poke his butt. She would run laughing and shouting throughout the house when she finds out he pooped. On afternoons, she seem to take great pleasure in talking to him. He would listen to her complaining about being scolded. On some rainy days, having nothing else to do, the girl would poke and pinch him trying to figure out how to make him change expressions. One day, Jiro got irritated and tried biting her, but this only made her gleeful. For some reason, she started sneaking bread and fruits to feed him like her pet. This is how Jiro also learned to talk. His first word is surprisingly "No", and the next word would be "Kah-la". A woman''s shout can be heard from inside the house, it sounds mad with worry. "Kyla, where are you?! Where did you take your brother?!" The perpetrator was up in the tree checking a bird nest she found yesterday. She was alarmed at her mother''s question. She looked down on the lower branches, and sure enough, her younger brother has followed her. She looked in shock at the chubby determined face of the child and exclaimed, "Jiro! Aren''t you afraid of falling down?" The baby look at the girl''s face for awhile before finally understanding what she meant. He looked down and suddenly started trembling. The very thought of falling down made the toddler shiver as he remembers all those times he fell down from climbing his crib, and those instances he tripped and stumbled into things. Seeing Jiro''s teary face at the thought of being hurt, the girl started giggling and climbed down to sit next to Jiro. She hold him still as he finally calmed down. Their mother spotted them sitting on a branch side by side just outside the window. She heaved a sigh in relief, and shouted. "Kyla, get him down from there! You should wait until he''s older to play with you!" Kyla frowned at her mom''s accusation. Jiro looked at her, afraid of their mother''s scolding, and said "help boss". She wanted to say that it''s Jiro''s fault for climbing up, but just kept silent. Being the "boss", she decided instead to talk to Jiro. Poking his forehead with her tiny fingers, she admonished him. "Jiro, you have to think before you act always, okay?" Jiro looked at Kyla with a puzzled look. He doesn''t get it. Kyla climbed down and reached up to take Jiro down. The tree was actually not that tall. She smiled at her mom and quietly carried the toddler to their house. ---- One afternoon, a black haired man was talking with Jiro''s father. They were discussing something important. Earlier that day, nearly a hundred knights pass through the village to buy supplies and to fix their equipment. One of those knights is this man currently sipping a cup of coffee in the pantry. "Thanks for the meal, Shao. I skipped breakfast to prepare the cavalry early morning for the journey." The knight said to Jiro''s father, Shao. The man nodded at the knights words, and refilled the guest''s coffee mug. "Don''t worry about it. I take it that Argent troops are going to battle again with the demon lord?" Shao heard from passing merchants that the nearby kingdom, Argent had been mobilizing troops since last month. "Perhaps for the last time, my friend." Dave unexpectedly let loose a wide grin as excitement filled his face. Shao''s expression changes to a grin as well as he began to suspect what it is. Nonetheless, he voiced out his guess to confirm it. "Could it be? Are you planning to finally defeat the demon lord?" Shao''s voice sounds like he could not believe it. But deep inside, he already knew that it''s only a matter of time that the menace to the south will be gone. "In fact, I''m returning to the battlefront." Dave''s face glowered with a triumphant expression, then turned serious. "We were on the verge of destroying it three days ago..." Dave paused. His face turned dark as he remembered something and the smile that was there before vanished. "We haven''t verified the condition of the heroes yet... but based from the missives it''s likely they''ve all died" Dave replied tersely, seemingly not wanting to continue, but Shao gave him a look and Dave continued. "It was Rick, Helmint, Shiro and Josh. The rest were leading the armies in the council of twelve''s forces scattered at the borders." Dave and Shao had fought together with the twelve heroes in the previous battles against the demon lord''s forces. They were part of the squad of the hero candidates. The squad fought on every battle that the Church of light have on their plate, but Shao had retired early and wasn''t able to keep in touch with the other members. "Shiro was the first to fall. It was an ambush. The full force of the demon lord was released against her. His grudge against her is deep. Shiro shielded the squad though, if not for her, all the heroes, including us knights, could have died. Helmint single-handedly drove back the infernal horde of direwolves that attacked our rear after the demon lord opened a hell gate. The knights were helpless against the direwolves'' black flames without Shiro''s enchantments. Helmint took up the vanguard however and rescued half of the knights including me. But the flames started burned his soul force until he could barely raise his shield. As a last resort, he used up his remaining soul force in addition to his life force to create a seal against the other planes, which sealed and prevented additional gates from being summoned." Shao was stricken. In one fell swoop, two of the most powerful adventurers he''d known died just like that. Both Dave and Shao''s eyes turned misty as they recall the quiet priestess Shiro, who used to clobber them with her staff whenever they annoy her by being too reckless, and the big jolly drunk mage, Helmint that seems to eternally reek of alcohol. Shao clenched his fist in frustration. Angry despite himself. Unable to contain himself, he whispered sorrowfully. "They should have known she''d be targeted first. Shiro nearly killed the demon lord countless times, she was also the pillar of the group, because of her healing. As for Helmint, they all knew he was reckless, why didn''t anyone stop him from going too far? They depended too much on Shiro to stop them. And what of Paul, Regis, Lira and Kell? They should''ve known that Shiro was the only support for the team! That thrice damned oaf of a general does not seem to know what he''s doing! That damn brat of a prince should have picked better advisors..." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Dave could only agree with Shao''s bitter opinion. Ever since the throne was handed to the first prince, the young ruler''s ambitions railroaded existing policies and realigned military strategy for his own interests. First, reigniting old conflicts with the rival states, just to have a casus belli (reason for war). Second, overextending the kingdom''s territories by subjugating lesser powerful neighbors, not minding the rocky relationship they had with powerful neighboring states and ignoring the diminishing stability of the outer regions. Now, with the mismanagement of the army and the death of the heroes, it could easily be seen that the kingdom might be headed for disaster. "What of Rick and Josh?" Shao pressed on, after a few minutes of silence elapsed. "Rick got too close to the demon lord''s shadowmancy. He... was turned into a puppet. Kline and Reus had no choice but to kill him. With Shiro gone, only the bishop or cardinal could have saved him in time. I tried to talk them out of it. To seal him instead, but they say the demon lord could possess his body when he dies. My company, the fifth contingent, was supporting the heroes when it happened. We began to battle our corrupted knights. We had to kill our own friends. I... Rick... All of us, didn''t expect that monster to have that much mana left to cast shadowmancy... It turns out there was a mana vein..." Dave''s eyes dried up, and what replaced it was a hollow look as if he was reliving that event. Shao look thoughtful. A mana vein is a well of magical power, this would have explained how the demon lord was able to survive the endless campaigns set out by Church of Light against it. "A mana vein, huh?" Shao stared into empty space, imagining the might of the spells unleashed by the demon lord. "How were they able to defeat him?" "That was Josh. He transmuted the mana vein into his soul force. He was unable to contain it. Most of the remaining knights fainted at that moment when his soul force pulsed. I was able to hang-on long enough to see Josh self-destruct to wound the demon king." Shao turned silent. He whispered "Josh... Always reckless... to the point of being stupid even. Even the demon lord would not do that. The soul force is part of the soul... he should''ve thought it over..." "Josh couldn''t have known, Shao. Don''t blame him. He''s not you... But to transmute something like a mana vein?" Dave looked at Shao. "What have you taught him?" Shao shook his head and answered calmly. "I never taught him that. He borrowed some of my books. He might have gotten the idea from there... But, perhaps, he knew all along what will happen... He loved Shiro after all. I could only understand that." Dave''s voice turned to a whisper. "You have left us far too early. I know I''m not cut out for hero level. But you? You could have been there, Shao. You could have saved them." Shao hung his head, heaving a sigh. He could not come up with an answer for that. The knight stood up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He dons his helmet, clears his voice and spoke a bit too hurriedly. "Well, that was a good meal. Thank the missus for me, Shao. I had to get back soon. Sorry about that" Shao knew that deep inside, Dave, like the heroes in his old squad, believed he had abandoned them, when he resigned nearly a year ago and left without saying anything. As his old friend turn to go, Shao clasp Dave''s gauntlet and patted his back, mustering the courage to finally tell his old friend. "I''m sorry too. I could have helped. But fate has not been good to me either." Dave saw Shao''s expression of helplessness, and whispered, "What do you mean?" Shao gave his friend a sad smile as he closed the door. His softly spoken words could reach only the knight. The knight look struck when he heard his friend''s words. His eyes felt moist again and now he finally understood why. He took his horse and flew towards the village square to gather his men. He was the knight captain after all. --- Shao took out a bottle of Semicoral liquor from his desk. He looked at the town crier scroll before him. It was a written account of the recent events across the continent the past two months. His old friend left it with him. In the headlines was the news that of Verona''s completion of the bulwark walls. The eastern region of the freelands was shielded by the Church of Light''s holy city, Verona against the hordes of undead affected by the blight in the badlands. This news would be a great relief to the rest of the freeland kingdoms. Shao''s wife, Fujin entered the study carrying their child Jiro. She frowned at the sight of her husband, cradling a glass of brandy, staring out the window lost in thought. "Shao, did something happen? That knight from yesterday... wasn''t he part of your old squad?" Fujin asked. "It''s the heroes. We lost four of them to the demon lord." Fujin gasped. Jiro looked at his mother''s stiff face, and reached out to touch her. She calmed down when she felt Jiro''s touch. "Don''t worry, they got him in the end. I''m not being summoned." Shao smiled at his wife''s worried face. "That''s a relief. I thought we''d lose you again." Fujin sighed. "How''s Jiro?" Shao asked, changing the subject. "Oh, he''s becoming so precocious. Yesterday, I found him up in a tree. He might have climbed up by himself. Kyla''s not saying anything though. She''s too protective of her brother." Fujin replied, sensing that Shao did not want to speak of his military background any longer. "That child grows up so fast. Didn''t he learn to walk just a few months ago? I bet he''ll learn to speak soon." Shao said in surprise. Fujin smiled at that. "Ah, but dear, he already knows. Jiro, talk to your father. Don''t be shy." Fujin stepped closer to Shao, giving the young toddle to his father. Shao held Jiro, as the child reached out to his fathers serious face and pinched it. "Pa. smile." A chirping melodic sound came out of the baby. Shao was overjoyed when he heard his son called him father. He lifted his son and laughed. "Hahaha. I will, Jiro." Shao swung his child, thrilled at having a possibly genius child. "How did he learn?" Shao looked at his wife in wonder. "Oh, you know, how much Kyla loved to talk to Jiro, even back when he''s just a few months old. I think he just picked it up from observing her." Kyla entered the study, wondering what''s happening when she heard her parents laughing and the mention of her name. Jiro was still struggling against his father, lifting and bobbing him up in the air. At the sight of Kyla, his boss, Jiro''s eyes lit up in hope. "Kah-la... help!" Jiro wailed as his father played with him, throwing him up in the air. Kyla could only smile and shake her head. It was Jiro''s turn to endure their doting father''s playfulness after all. The gloom in Shao''s heart gradually disappeared as he spends time with his wife and children. --- Jiro seems to easily pick up a lot of skills and knowledge while following Kyla around. He also sits with her when their mother teaches her words and helps her read books. After learning how to read though, she began spending mornings outside of town, where their mother started teaching her magic. The kingdom''s laws forbid the casting and practice of any form of magic near residential areas. You can''t even light a fire by magic if you don''t have the permit to do so. Only those who need magic for their line of work would be allowed. So their mother Fujin, had to take little Kyla and her friends outside of town so they can learn and practice casting spells. Now, Jiro can''t find someone to help him read the picture books because his father was also busy. During that time, his father Shao, had returned to working as a blacksmith on their front yard. So, this is where Jiro stays now during the mornings. He would sit or climb their oak tree and read while waiting for Kyla to return. He would sometimes look at his dad working. When his father catches him looking, he would call out to him and teach him a thing or two about how he does his work. "Here, Jiro. See how this part is glowing. The brighter it is, the better. Now, be careful." Jiro would help his father with menial work like checking if a metal is ready in the forge. He also started to learn his letters. At first, he was asked to write the names of their customers. His dad would say them letter by letter and Jiro would write. After mastering his letters, he learned his words. His father would ask him to write receipts and notes to be attached to the items they finished fixing or forging. "Now, write this down, Jiro. Thank you for the extra materials, mister Xing Cao. Do you know how to use abbreviations? Here, I''ll teach you..." Jiro often received lessons on proper letter writing and grammar as well, so he was able to progress on his reading and writing skills greatly. His father was surprised at Jiro''s learning ability. At first, he thinks it too early to teach him such things. But upon seeing how quickly his son took to reading, and how fast he masters the things he''s interested in, Shao finally gave in and watched out for things Jiro is interested in. He believes that his son is a genius, so he teaches him all kinds of things that would allow his son''s talents to grow.But Shao knew when to draw the line of course. One day he saw Jiro looking interested on him making pancakes, so Shao showed the little boy how to. The following week, they would often catch the little tyke making pancakes for himself with no consideration to his diet or the quantity. Once they even had to give out excess pancakes to the neighboring kids, much to the children''s delight. Jiro however was upset, he intentionally cooked too much so he could have pancakes too for lunch and dinner. Jiro was growing up fast. Chapter 3 - Got no magic in me A few years passed by and Shao''s blacksmith shop became more successful. Often, there were customers from passing troops that visit and chatted with Shao. Jiro soon learned by their stories that his father had been a hero candidate during his younger years. Despite not having any self-consciousness yet, Jiro single-mindedly trained hard to be like his father. By staying out in the yard, he made friends with some children in the village. Together they aspire to be heroes and made plans for their training. By the age of four, Jiro became the mastermind behind the Rockhill Hero-in-training squad. Having read more about how the army trained based on his father''s field manuals stashed in their basement, he naturally became the one who designed the daily training regimen of his fellow hero aspirants. Jiro doesn''t know yet, that in his subconscious he had faint memories of what army training is, which made it easier for him to understand those field manuals. Any ordinary man, would not understand knight level training without reading the basics first, and that type is the only type of field manuals that Shao was given when he trained his own men. The Rockhill Hero-in-training squad is composed of eight boys whose ages range from six to eleven years old. Naturally the smallest one is Jiro. Every morning before daybreak, the small group would gather in the village square, shivering from the cold and still drowsy. Then Jiro would call out to formation in his shrill voice, trying hard to be commanding but would only end up sounding like a bossy brat. Their training needs someone to act as drill instructor. The adults are busy and nobody in their group knows how to do it, so the job came to Jiro naturally. At first, Jiro would try to lower their spirits, by calling them worms and chicken-poop, but his squeking voice and wild gestures would only make his friends laugh. After Jiro went off sulking saying he doesn''t want to do it anymore, the group of friends finally agreed on treating the training more seriously. Thus, they settled on a training schedule that is similar to the army. So early in the morning, they would do army training exercises on the village square. In a line formation, they would stand straight with a tiger look, and would count off as instructed by Jiro. Then, Jiro would commence the exercise. The group would follow Jiro''s cadence and rhythm in doing stretches, push-ups and such exercises. Afterwards if the group finishes early or if most of them were too tired to go on, they would rest until day break, to drink water, or cool off. Then, the group would proceed to the village entrance and inform the village guards that they would go jog outside the perimeter of the town. This was also the time that the small troop assigned by the kingdom would do their morning patrol. Sometimes, Jiro''s squad would jog along the perimeter following the knights in the distance, inspired by the figures protecting their village. Although when they do, the magnified voices of the village guards atop the tower would taunt them saying that there are monsters where they''re heading. Although, they knew that the guards are just playing with them, Jiro would always stick to their agreement with the village guards. One of the agreement, is to always listen to the village guards warnings. This was also the condition that finally convinced their parents to allow them to train outside the village walls. Actually there isn''t much danger outside, because there are only farmsteads spread out. But adults can be over protective. After their run outside, they would gather again in front of the village square. Jiro would run off to find their volunteer instructor for the day. Jiro would often chase after the knights resting in the barracks or one of the off-duty village guards, who would teach them a thing or two about survival, weapons and even magic. But most often than not, they would talk about their experiences with battles against monsters, or skirmishes. But there are also times when the knights are out and the village guards who were off-duty are busy with something else. In those instances, Jiro would come home and beg his father to spend a few hours with them. Around that time, Shao is still asleep, and nothing short of a good cup of coffee and bread would he teach them. After talking with his friends, it was agreed that the baker''s son would provide them with hot bread, and the others would contribute a cent to buy warm coffee from the inn near the entrance. However, the innkeeper told them that he''ll provide it for free if they take his fat, lazy son with them training. And so, the group has a new reluctant member. At first, the innkeeper''s son would complain loudly and would only half-heartedly participate in their morning exercises. But after listening to the stories and the lectures, he began exerting more effort, that the innkeeper was pleased and allowed them to use the inn''s kitchen when the group eat their packed breakfast. As months passed by, the individual strengths of the group members grew. Thus, the training regimen of the group increased. They would jog several more kilometers even in the rain. They also began to go around the village doing manual labor to display their strength like chopping firewood or carrying luggage or trade goods. This earned the good will of the villagers and they started to earn the nickname Hillrock kiddie-troop. What their instructors thought as a phase, wherein children would pretend as training for an army, was finally accepted by Shao and the other instructors as the determination of the children. Thus, they began gradually introducing them to various self-defense and combat arts. The village guards would show them how to craft a simple bow, create arrows and archery. The knights would teach them beginner swordsmanship and shield formations. And Shao would teach them beginner magic. It was during his father''s first lecture on magic that Jiro had been utterly shocked that he had no affinity for manipulating mana. Considering that both magic affinity and talent runs in the bloodline of Shao and his wife, it could only be that their son has been so unfortunate as to acquire a recessive trait, that would only occur once in every tenth generation. Almost everyone in the village can do magic, except perhaps the kid with the down syndrome. Well, they never really knew because the kid never tried... but well. It''s a shock for Shao. However, Shao set this misfortune aside when he thinks of his son''s overwhelming intellect. Shao is very confident in his son''s abilities. The sight of his son''s teary eyed face as he looks at his friends conjuring specks of fire above their hands, moved Shao. He called out to Jiro and talked to him about other ways of using magic. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Now, now. You shouldn''t feel too bad about yourself. Everyone have their own talent. In this case, yours just isn''t the standard type of magic." "But Pa, even Kyla knows how to use magic. You and mom, too. Am I not your child? One of the kids say that they found out he''s adopted because he''s hair color is different. Isn''t that the same as me?" Shao looked at his child, a mere four years old, yet already worrying about such complicated things. Shao coughed and look at his son seriously. "You shouldn''t worry. You have the same eyecolor as me, and you have your mother''s hair color. At best, you should have been adopted from one of our relatives." "Pa!!!" Jiro cried out in frustration at his father''s teasing. "Jiro. I will teach you something only our family can do. You must promise never to teach it to anyone else... Well, even if you do, other people won''t be inclined to learn it anyway because it''s too much of a hassle if you have mana." Jiro''s eyes sparkled at what his father said. For the young child, anything that could make him create fire out of thin air is already enough to make him happy. After all, he doesn''t want to lose out to his sister and to his friends. "To learn this, it will take more effort from you. You must study more things, read more books and write more notes. Can you handle it?" "But dad, I''ve already been doing that..." Jiro mutter skeptically. Shao paused and thought about the collection of notebooks that his son has amassed. The villagers would often bring an old or unused book to gift to Jiro to get Shao to give them a better price for his services. Of course, Shao was particularly weak to seeing his son hop around in joy at receiving something, so it only served to encourage his customers more. As a result, Jiro''s room had become filled with books. Most of these were children''s book, although some were actually long forgotten textbook stashed away and no longer passed down. Despite being advance, Jiro had easily grasped the contents of the book and even began to joyfully answer the exercises and problems presented in those books. Shao was actually surprised when he looked at scrappy notebooks Jiro made out of washed-out newspaper. Such a resourceful and smart kid. "Alright, son. Perhaps its better for you to have an early start. Let me tell you about Heraldry." "Alright, son. Now, I will first show you the concept of heraldry. First, there is the symbol." Shao drew on the ground with a long piece of branch he picked from a nearby tree. A simple symbol of the sun was enclosed inside a circle. "This symbol only represents the idea of the person writing it. Often it is necessary to activate the spell''s incantation." Shao wrote a nine phrased word that Jiro couldn''t read. Its letters were different from what he had learned. The letters surround the circle enclosing the symbol. After completing the words, Shao drew a another circle around the incantation. "These circles represent the structure of the spell. Different types of magic have different type of structure. In this case, this is a simple structure for fire. Last, but not the least, are the parameters." Shao wrote another strange set of symbols around the outer circle. Unlike the previous set of letters, these symbols do not cluster together like the words do. But they are written in a continuous way. The symbols spike out from the outer circle like vines and leaves upon a branch. "The parameters are not really necessary. However, they provide a greater degree of control on how the spell will be released. In summary, this spell array is for creating a small pillar of fire that doesn''t burn. The parameters for this is to make the fire small, concentrated and doesn''t burn." Shao extended his branch and tapped the center of the circle where the image of the sun was. "The final part is to activate the formation. When you activate, you need to picture in your mind the activation and the deactivation of your spell. This requires for you to impose your will by using your soul force to activate the formation. Look carefully." Shao tapped the circle once again. From the center of the circle, bright red, orange flames rose up like a snake climbing an invisible tree. This flame seems to dance about and filled a invisible cylinder. "And there you have it. That is the type of magic, you can do." Jiro''s eyes were shining,then he suddenly thought about the whole process and his head drooped down trying to imagine the amount of work he has to do to create a flame others can do in just a few seconds. "Dad, it sounds tooooo hard and complicated." Jiro whined. "Relax, it''s not that hard once you set out to doing it. Now, do you know why this is advantageous?" Jiro could only wrinkle his brows and look at his father, confused for a moment. "Because I can use it??" Shao chuckled, and began explaining it further. "Well, other than that, think about it. I''ll explain it further in detail. Think about it more..." Shao began drawing a few more examples. And so, the father began training his son not only in blacksmithing, but also runic magic. Little does Jiro know that this knowledge would overlap later on with his past memories to create something this world has never seen before.