“Yula, are you alright?” Her grandfather spoke. His hands slowly clasped around her hands. His is massive in comparison. “I’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t happen again.” She spoke with a pained expression. “Here, we must treat the burns immediately.” He rushed to his cabinet and began pulling out vials of oils and ointments, mixing them into a …

The cold pouring rain over the small and frail body of a small child. His degrading body and sickness darkened his bright blue eyes. Tiny strands of white hair soaked from the rain, sitting with his mother as she held him close. Her sunken cheeks reflected the state of her starvation. However, she did her best to take care of …

A trembling sensation shocks through my body. My fingers barely grip the handle of my blade, but stricken by my fears, I don’t draw the blade. Sweat dripped down my face; frantically looking between the assailants, I tried to devise a plan to escape. “What’s wrong? Ready to piss yourself, brat?” Approaching, one of Gale’s subordinates taunts me. Yula looks …

After my shower, I returned to my bed—bruises across my arms and body from my constant training and battle against Eckhart. A heavy sigh escapes my lips, looking up at the ceiling before falling back into bed. The white strands of my hair spread across the sheets. With heavy eyes, I found myself quickly falling asleep. It wasn’t long until …

Carlo rushes forward ahead of Caleb and is quickly parried by Eckhart. The veteran warrior grabs his wrist and twists it around to his back. A strained cry of pain escapes his dry lips. Caleb, switching to Dragon’s Fang, advances swiftly to save him. Eckhart twists Carlo’s arm again and uses him as a shield. Anticipating the young boy to …

“Caleb! Carlo!” Eckhart shouts to us. Today, of all days, was unbelievably hot; Carlo and I were sweating a river. With heavy sighs, we approached our teacher. Carlo had his curly hair tied up to control its wild length. My hair wasn’t any better than his. Celia offered to cut my hair, but I decided I wanted to grow it …

After saying our goodbyes, we left the Aris manor in our family carriage. I hid the tears away from Caleb as we rode away. “Are you upset, Tia?” My father looked at me and rubbed my hand gently. The soft brush of his fingers was comforting. “I will miss talking to him; he made this past month…really fun.” “I’m glad. …

The early morning was quiet. The soft snow had settled alongside the roaring winds. Fully prepared and determined, I arrive with Carlo. Standing in full view with all his armor and sword, Eckhart examined us with prying eyes. “Today marks your first day in developing your Divine Arts and Swordcraft. Carlo, you pick up well on the sword, excellent. However, …

A couple of hours pass. Carlo was shivering from the cold as we did our best to stay warm. The winter was only getting worse, and soon, we would have to worry about it affecting our training. “If I figured it would take him this long to come back and tell us what we should do, I would have just …

After leaving Julia, saying his goodbyes and wishes to her, he exits the street and meets with Carlo and Eckhart. It is past noon when Eckhart stands with Carlo, waiting for him. A stern look on Eckhart while Carlo is a bit more laid back. “Are you ready for your first lesson?” Eckhart asks. “I am not sure how well …