Puchi*

I stumble and fall, dirt covering my arms and clothes. Fresh blood slowly starts to leak out of the arrow that pierced my upper left leg. I grind my teeth from the pain, but I bear with it, snap the arrow and yank it out from my leg, and keep running.

"I got him! He won't be able to run as fast, we'll catch up soon!"

I hear the bastard who shot the arrow talk gleefully to his comrades. As I see in the distance the sadistic smiles of the bandits who plan to kill me, a deep hatred forms within me.

Torathul, the name of this planet, has five continents. There's the Mainland, ruled by various human kingdoms and beasts that lurk within; the Great Forest, filled with many trees--as the name implies--ruled by the elves. The Deadlands, which used to be full of colonization by humanity, is now a graveyard of what was left after the Demon King invaded it in the second Great War. The Demon Continent, ruled by the Demon King and Devils, and the Draconic Isle, a faraway continent filled with dragons and other similarly-divine creatures.

As my scenario implies, I am a human. In the Mainland, there are 3 factions: the Kingdom of Carthage, the Eastern Empire, and the Holy Temple. From the second Great War, the three factions, after many bloodshed over different disputes and beliefs, made an alliance to band together all of humanity, in order to be able to face enemies like the Demon King in the future.

However, peace is far from being obtained between humanity. I once aspired to be a paladin. To fight for the glory and benefit of mankind, under the banner of the God of Light, Helios, and vanquish the evil of the world. As I look back from it now, I realize just how foolish I truly was.

I used to live in Uthernan, which was the Deadlands before the Demon King invaded. I lived in an outer city of the colonies, and because of the unknown territory that we were in, many extra precautions were made in building the defense of our homes. Walls surrounded the city, and two gates, one front and back, were constructed. The front in order to keep enemies out, and the back to escape. They did this because our city was surrounded by mountains, as it was the only mountain pass between the Tyrad Range, which stretched almost throughout the entire continent. This is exactly the reason why we were the first to be attacked.

Creek*

I walk into the front room of my home, and drag my feet across the wooden floor.

"Selius, you're home again this late at night? You should stop tiring yourself out so much, if you work yourself too hard, I worry you'll overexhaust yourself!"

I turn my head back as I close the front door, to see my mother, a 5'7 woman with dark, long hair stretching to her waist. Her eyes shine with a violet light, and she had a face that would tell one that she couldn't ever be wrong. She wore a brown tunic which stretched almost to the floor. Her usually calm face showed signs of anger and worry. My heart warmed at the sight.

"I must do what I have to, in order to prepare for the examination mother."

"Again with the Paladin examination, you have trained enough! As soon as you wake up, all you do is train, train, and train! Haven't you had enough to take at least one day as a break?"

As I start to walk towards my bedroom, I feel my entire body scream out in pain.

Tch*

"What did I tell you, I can see you've already exhausted yourself far too much!"

I didn't bother to hear what my mother had to say, for I've already heard it countless times. I opened the door to my room, shut it behind me, and fell onto my bed. I instantly fell asleep.