《PromiseKeeper》 Prologue - A Legend ends, a Legend begins. Prologue A Legend ends, a Legend begins. - - - Somewhere in the universe, there was a young man and a woman both madly in love with each other. Unfortunately, as this tale goes, the woman¡¯s parents were nobles and the man was of common birth. The woman¡¯s parents found out about the man soon enough. They were furious and refused any further communication, but later they figured their attempt to separate them was futile. In the end, they did the only thing they thought they could do; send the young woman far away to school in another country. Later, the night before the trip, she snuck out and met with the man. She told him all about it and that her parents forced her to leave the country for 8 years. The young man made her a promise that night that he would wait for her, and after 8 years, he would be standing right at that very spot until they would meet again. The next day the woman left just as planned and waved goodbye to everyone. If they had paid a little extra attention, someone would have seen that the woman shed a tear as the courier passed the gates. The schools of this world focused on mostly three things. These three categories were Mana cultivation, Chi cultivation, and Medicine and Healing. Only wealthy families could afford to send their children to school so there were mostly nobles attending. This meant that children of common birth, unless the nobles discovered they had massive talent, would never have the chance to attend. The young man left behind could do nothing else then eat dust as the courier left. 8 years later, as the sun rose, one could see a man standing alone. He was wearing a black cape with a hood. Hanging on his belt was a sword without a sheath. Surrounding the man was an aura that show determination and power. He was about 1,90m and his body shape was lean without excessive muscles. It was easy to see that this man had done some serious training. This man was no other than the young man from 8 years earlier, waiting for the woman of his life to return to him as promised. The sun was soon almost at its highest, but there were no sign of the young woman he loved. The man standing there had not been moving an inch from his spot. Seconds turned to minutes as minutes turned to hours. A whole day flew by and no sign of the young woman. The man had still not moved and people passing by had noticed this, but paid him no mind. The next day came to pass, and there were still no sign of the woman. Minutes turned to hours as hours turned into days, and the young woman did not come. The man had not moved at all after a week. Any normal person would have collapsed from fatigue or dehydration. The man must have come to learn how to circulate chi, as only they would be able to push themselves much further based on the level of their cultivation. However, even masters of chi would not neglect food for too long even though they could as it would be really uncomfortable over time. Hours turned to days as days turned to months. Half a year had gone by and the man had still not moved. One could see the he was a little thinner than before. People had taken notice to the strange behavior of the man and there was many rumors going around about him. Some people started to believed he was a prophet waiting for the right moment to speak. Others believed he was an angel sent from the Gods. Days turned to months as months turned to years. 20 years had gone by in a flash and the man had not moved at all. He was so thin that one could almost see the bones. There were a market close by, using the rumors of the ¡°standing guardian¡± as a way to profit. Some people had even started a cult about the ¡°standing guardian¡± that worshiped him as a God among men. It seemed like another day would pass by as normal when suddenly an old couple walked up to the man. They The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.were dressed in neat clothes and jewelry. One could see from afar that they were nobles. The couple studied that man a little and in the end, they started crying. The couple were no other than the parents of the young woman he was waiting for. The couple said that they had heard the rumors of him and they had read in their daughter¡¯s diary that the man she loved would be standing right at that spot. They had not read it before recently and the reason why was that they had been so heartbroken after their daughter died 13 years ago, just 1 year before graduation. As they said this, something that no one else expected happened. After all these years with people coming and going, trying to talk to him or make him laugh without reaction, the man started to cry. There were no sobbing from him and all the chatter, screaming, or sounds died immediately. There was complete silence that no one dared to break. The tears kept pouring and suddenly the man said in a deep voice ¡°Even Death¡­ Will Not... Make Me Break... My Promise.¡± Soon after, the story about the man with his undying love spread like fire in dry grass. The man continued to stand, not moving at all. They started calling him for things like ¡°The Man of Sorrow¡±, ¡°The Promise Guardian¡± and ¡°Weeping Man¡±. 10 years after the incident the man still stood there. Below his eyes, there was still tear streams, but they had long since turned red as blood. Around him there were built a platform and it was filled with red roses. It had become a custom for the people to go to the man to share their grief. As the mark for 30 years went by, the man drew his last breath. Even though some believed him to be a God, he was just a mortal man. However, a miracle happened and even after death, the corpse would not fall. Even in death, the man would keep his promise. Wind and rain could not make him fall as it seemed even the Gods supported him. A couple of years after his death, the old parents of the young woman figured they would dig up the coffin of their daughter and bury it next the man. Everyone, in the end, supported this idea. They dug up the coffin that was luckily in a good shape after all the years and brought it to the spot where the man was standing. It was a big occasion and it had turned into a festival. The parents of the young woman together with the major of the city and some of the castle guards carried the coffin. The army had dressed up in uniforms to show respect and everyone close by was holding a red rose. As they came closer to the man, they could still feel a faint aura of power and determination. Then, just as they brought the woman before the man, another miracle happened. The man¡¯s eyes had clear tears pouring down not like the tears of blood and grieving, but tears of joy. They lowered the young woman into the grave next where he stood. This caused the man to fall forward and into the grave. The crowd stared to cheer and cry at the same time. Later, this was known as to how the Union Festivals started and went every 30 years from then on. In the place where the man had stood, there was now a statue. A statue called ¡°The Promise¡± which showed the man hugging his beloved as they were reunited. This is the Legend of a man which inspired even the Gods to make his wish come true to be reunited and so they decided to reincarnate them both into a new world quite similar; and so a new legend begins. AN/: Hi guys! Please tell me what you think. If it sucked it sucked, but please tell me anyways! I won¡¯t cry I promise, I won¡¯t *sobs* cry GODDA***t! (¥Î?Òæ?)¥Îáê©ß©¥©ß ¡­ anywaaaays, as the first chapter shows there will be romance with martial arts and hopefully I will take you through an adventure like no other (just a tiny bit similar to thousands of stories on this website and more) The story will continue in MC Point of view mostly and btw I like OP MC :) - Sorrowman