"Hey mom?" a little boy called out.

"What is it hun."

"Can I go play with uncle today?" his eyes looked unusually large.

"...okay. But be back at dusk."

"YAY! I love you mom!" he said while he went to give her a hug.

*sigh*

"Tristan better not teach him too much magic." she shook her head and returned to her morning chore.

The little boy's family lived in a small village on the outskirts of the empire's territory. Their house was just like most of the others around, small, and wooden. Only the village head had a two story house. Their house had three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. Little was inside of their house, two couches were placed facing each other in the living room with a small table between for drinks.

The little boy ran out of the little house and into the forest that surrounded most of the village. It was unlikely that anyone who saw the little boy running into the forest by himself wouldn't be worried, but they knew about him. They knew that he loved exploring more than anything.

"I'm gonna be a triple s class adventurer one day! So a forest like this is nothing!"

Those were the words that the boy proclaimed to anyone who tried to stop him from wondering off by his lonesome. Being only six years old some of the adults worried but knew they could not stop such an energetic little boy. In this little unknown village, everyone had to depend on each other, they were all family. Who could crush their little six year old relative's dream? The forest itself wasn't very dangerous after all. No monsters were in there, the worst would be a regular bear.

The boy ran while yelling out his uncle's name.

"Uncle Cedric!"

He ducked under the fallen tree from last week's thunderstorm. His naturally nimble body was able to maneuver the wet green grass without falling. When he saw big pools of mud in the tree crowded area he would slow down and move carefully past them. He didn't want to get his boots muddy.

One day the boy had accidentally dropped some porridge on his shoes and cried until they were cleaned.

If an outsider were to look at them they would see nothing special, "Just some brown leather boots." they would say. But to the boy, they were his most precious belonging.

They were a gift from his father Patrick. The boy used the ones handed down from his older brothers, he was constantly made fun of by the other kids in the village. Although they meant no harm the boy was hurt. After seeing the expression on his son's face, Patrick worked for months skipping some of his own meals to be able to save enough to buy those boots for him.

His father who usually paid him no heed, went out of his way to buy the most expensive boots in the village for him. With this act of kindness he felt extremely loved.

He continued to move until he reached a small clearing. A small log cabin was in the middle under a single large tree. The boy moved and sat on a stump, one of the many remains of the cut down trees.

He pulled out a small scroll that his uncle had gotten for him.

"Use this to contact me if I don't respond to your calls."

Is what his uncle had said to him.

The boy put his hand on the scroll and sent mana through it.

Rustling could be heard from inside the cabin.

"Hehe."

The boy giggled. [Uncle Cedric brought home another lady.] he thought.

After a minute of waiting two people came out.

One, was a tall, slim, red haired man and the other, a petite, blushing, brown haired girl with freckles sprinkled across her face.

"Were you baby making with the inn keeper's daughter?" the boy asked with a smiling face.

"Ack! W-why d-do you think that?" Cedric stuttered.

"Because mom always says that uncle is a womanizer."

"Why you gotta be like that Hellen. I'm your brother. You should at least paint a good picture." he mumbled.

"A-ah! L-look at the time. I must be leaving now. See you again Cedric." The girl waved awkwardly and ran back to the village.

Cedric sighed as he looked longingly at the girl.

[Maybe they didn't finish.] thought the boy.

Cedric whipped his head to his nephew and points.

"TODAY!" he yelled. "You will be learning fifth tier magic my padawan!"

"YAY!"

The boy couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face and in no time his lips were spread from ear to ear.

"Stop smiling like that kid. I know your happy and all but it's kinda scary."

"Don't worry uncle. Even if I were to turn into a monster, I'm sure you'd be brave enough to defeat me!" He said, another smile was plastered on his face.

"Kekeke. You're right. Lets practice inside." He lifted the boy up on his shoulders and carried him inside.

"Alright little nephew of mine! Today you will be learning..." he stretches the sound.

"Learning what?" the boy interrupts.

"Okay, come on. You gotta wait a bit. I'm building up the excitement here."

"Kaaay." he obediently sits down on the messy bed and covers his mouth.

"You will be learning..." he crouches down. "HEALING MAGIC!" his arms form a Y.

"Ooooooo"

The sound the boy made was just like that of a group of friends teasing another friend who went to talk to their crush.

"The spell is called [Flash Heal]. Super important for minor damage. An experienced adventurer group can't go into dungeons or labyrinths without someone knowing this baby!"

The boy tried casting the spell relentlessly with his uncle's instruction until his mana ran out. This lasted well past noon.

Huffing and puffing the boy fell to the ground exhausted, only managing to cast it once correctly before he fell.

Cedric reached for his nephew worried. He was worried that this talented little boy would be disheartened because he couldn't do it more than once on the first try like the other ones.

He didn't think that for long though.

As he was carrying the boy to the bed, he heard the tired mumble.

"I did it..."

Cedric smiled as he put the boy to sleep.

He went to the couch and laid there. Soon falling to his dreams as well.

.

.

.

.

The boy awoke in an empty room. [Where am I?] he thought.

Then it hit him. He was in his uncle's house. He began wondering where his uncle could be.

He looked through one of the windows. [Uh oh] he stood up and put his boots on.

[Mom is so gonna kill me!] He opened the door and began walking back.

*Crackle*

He heard a strange sound.

It was a sound the boy knew well. It was the sound that came from the thing that kept him warm in the winter and the thing that cooked his food.

He looked up into the sky.

Smoke. Lots of smoke.

The boy stood there frozen. [I-it can't be] he thought.

He slowly moved forward. The rustles in the bushes didn't scare him. He was too busy wondering if what he had thought was true.

"..."

He could hear it. Faint cries.

He moved faster. His breaths getting ragged.

With each step he took he could hear the wailing getting louder. He could feel the air getting hotter.

At some point he started running.

"He hah he hah"

His breaths were becoming wild.

"Guk!"

He had tripped and landed in mud. He got back up and started running again. His shoes were dirty. But he didn't care. He stepped in animal droppings. But he didn't care. He fell again. One of his boots fell off this time. But he didn't care.

All he cared about was his village. His family.

He reached the village.

Not a single building was standing. It was warm, but he felt cold. In front of him were a bunch of bodies huddled together.

Burned.

He was unable to recognize any of them. His eyes moved around, scanning the rest of the area. They landed on a single body. It was hung by the tall sign that welcomed people into the village. He walked towards it with heavy steps.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

When he reached the body, it was beaten black and blue, all the hair had been pulled out and one of the arms were hanging off only attached by the skin. The boy looked down, red hair was scattered about.

Everything was spinning. He leaned forward and retched.

He had lost his boots, his hero, his family, he had lost everything.

He heard the rustling of the bushes. Out came a fully armed soldier. He bore the insignia of the Alden Kingdom.

"Everyone! There's a survivor!" shouted the soldier.

The boy turned and started sprinting away. Soldiers followed suit.

He leaped over one log and under another. He ran for what seemed like hours.

"UGH!"

Finally he had tripped.

"He's over there!"

He started crawling.

His foot was grabbed and he was turned around.

[Ah. So this is it huh. There's no reason for me to fight anymore.]

The soldier that saw the boy flinched at the resigned look on the boy's face.

"I'll do it." the soldier said.

He unsteadily raised his sword.

"Sorry kid. You and your villagers won't die in vain. We'll conquer the Aldians."

A flame ignited inside of the boy. His family weren't killed by Alden knights, but by the empire's knights. They had used his village as a way to justify their stupid war. They had massacred their own citizens. And thus the boy had found his reason to fight.

Revenge.

The sword swung down.

*Thud*

Multiple dull noises could be heard.

The boy got up on his feet and looked around him. Six soldiers were laying knocked out by the tall trees.

He bent down and picked up the sword by his feet.

The crows fled from the tops of the trees.

.

.

.

.

"Hey old man! Wake up!" The young man kicked the tent next to his.

"What is it?" The old man said in an irritated voice. "Were these plains too bumpy for you to sleep?"

"No. Come out here and look at that."

The old man crawled out of his tent on all fours wearing a small hat with stars sown on.

"You want me to look at a dead person?"

"Yes I do...not. He's obviously alive." The young man said.

The young man moved up and used water magic on the collapsed boy.

*Cough cough*

The boy opened his eyes.

"Hey there. You sleep inside a bear or something? Why are you all bloody?" The young man asked.

"..."

There was no response. His eyes are just looking at the clear blue skies. The sun was only at the start of its rise.

"Let's see. How do we do this." The young man put his hand on his chin.

After thinking for a while he stuck out his hand.

"I'm Reinhard. What's your name?"

"...Carlyle."

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There will most likely be another chapter that's posted today before 10 pm CST