I was quite confused for dad reacting without shouting, so much that my mind turned blank and I went to the dining room table which was part of the living room, in fact it was next to the sofa where we used to sit to watch TV. I sat down in front of dad and, as soon as I did, he told me in a serious tone that wasn’t natural to him at all.

“You don't know what you're saying, Sabela. Adventuress? Do you really want to waste your life with rubbish like the Children of the Sun?”

“I know exactly what I'm saying, and it's just what I want to be," I told him, not backing down a step: I would be an adventuress no matter what it took.

“You don't have a clue, you think being an adventurer is only a game, but it's not a game, if you get killed you'll die!” said dad, barely holding back the screams that wanted to jump out of his mouth.

“OK, you’re right, but I don't care about dying!” I shouted, thinking of my 900 lives gift. But of course, Dad had no idea about my power.

“What are you saying, Sabela, don't even say that as a joke! There's only one life and it's not worth wasting it for the Children of the Sun, you think it's so nice to go on adventures, but in the end all you do is killing monsters!”

“No, I said that because I have a skill!”

“What kind of skill? Smelling like a pig, or something like that?”

That felt like a knife in the back, but I kept my screams because I didn't want a fight unless he was able to understand that with the skill I had gained, being an adventurer was going to be pretty easy.

I caressed the handle of my axe thinking that the best way for him to understand was to see how much life I could spend. Once done, surely there would be no problem and he would let me be a Children of the Sun adventurer.

The problem was where the axe would hit me: in the heart? I had a feeling it would be difficult to hit it right. In an eye? I was really scared of that. On the forehead? I thought the bone there would be pretty hard. At the end I decided that I would open my throat because with an axe so sharp it would be very easy to slit it.

“Are you sure about that?” Dad asked me.

“Every time less...wait. What are you talking about?”

He didn't answer me. He got up from his chair and walked to the sofa. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. His voice was dark between his fingers:

“I’m talking about that absurd thing about being an adventurer”

“Of course I’m completely sure! It's my dream, Dad!” I replied and also got up to stand in front of him.

“Did you really kill a goblin and a hobgoblin in the forest?” He asked me, without taking his face off his hands.

“That's right, I took them both out" I said and decided that maybe it wasn't the best time to tell him about my skill or even about the throbbing I felt coming from the axe.

Dad scratched his beard, still not looking too convinced. But I could see he was giving in, and I wasn't going to be the one to miss this great opportunity. He massaged the sides of his head and lay back on the sofa, closed his eyes, his face showing the tremendous concentration with which he was thinking.

Dad got up from the sofa and started pacing the small area between the living room and the exit door. The poor man started walking around on a red carpet. I didn't blame him for the doubts he had because mum died because of her adventurer job. Finally, he suddenly stopped, looked at me and said:

“It's OK... That's fine! If you want to be an adventurer and forget a wonderful life cutting down trees, well, it's up to you...”

It made me very happy because I thought he wasn't going to give me his permission. I mean, I was of age and, in theory, I could do whatever I wanted, but I preferred to have dad's approval.

Dad raised a finger to the ceiling and said to me:

“On one condition, an adventurer named Abdon came to town recently. If he sees that you serve this purpose of being an adventurer, then you can be. But if he tells me that it is a waste of time, then it will not be. I don't want to send my daughter to her death either, okay?

“Of course, I don't want to end up dead either..." I said and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, which stung me a lot because of the big beard he was wearing.

I spent the rest of the day without doing too much because I was quite nervous about the fact that I was going to fulfil my dream of being an adventurer. I tried to phone my best friend Lucía, who lived in the nearby village of Huertomuro, but the line wasn't working. In fact, it hadn't worked for about a week.

“It’s the same. I'm going to see her tomorrow anyway," I said to myself.

The next day I got up early, but for a very good reason. I wasn't going to the forest to cut down trees, but to the village to meet the adventurer who knew dad to see if I was good enough to join the Children of the Sun. I had no doubt that I would make it through: I wasn't bad at fighting after a lifetime of battling forest goblins and, on top of that, I was a Marked who had the power of 900 lives.

About that, when I was taking a shower I realised why people like me were called Marked: I got a mark in the shape of a burning heart on one of my buttocks. That made me happy, but also a bit nervous, because even though it was irrefutable proof that I was one of them, I had it on my butt and I didn't like the idea of having to show it off for people to believe it.

After breakfast I took the small path that crossed the pine forest and led to the main road. In less than twenty minutes, I entered the village of Huertomuro. It had an air of abandonment and no one was to be seen on the streets, which was nothing new because there were hardly any people living here due to the fact that we were too close to the Nightmare Nation. The small stone houses remained with their windows closed and in a sepulchral silence, blankets of mist drifted from one side to the other, and despite a few steps back there was a bright, round sun shining.

The village was only about twenty or so houses, all packed around an earthen square where there was a fountain with a statue of an ancient heroine called Xoana: she was big and strong, with a kind smile lighting up her face. I liked the name very much and I always thought that if I had a daughter, I would name her that name... Unfortunately, that will be a dream that will never come true...

The barracks of the Children of the Sun stood opposite the fountain. Well, barracks is too big a word, for it was like a small, squat house, no different from any other in the village. But above the door was the smiling sun, the emblem of the adventurer's guild.

Behind the counter was my best friend Lucía Lugeros. She is the receptionist of the barracks of the Children of the Sun of Huertomuro and she had on her chest the badge with the silver sun. In the Childrens, there were different categories of adventurer: Platinum, gold, silver, bronze and wood.

My friend Lucia is pretty good at what she does and maybe she could do better, but as she is stuck in the village she doesn't have much chance to move up the ranks. When she saw me come in, a sweet smile appeared on her face and she said to me like this:

“Good morning, Sabela. How strange to see you here at this hour on a Monday, why are you here, do you need help with the goblins?”

“You know that goblins are easy for me to kill, but I met a hobgoblin and I managed to kill this one too” I said, and Lucia's mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yes, but the truth is that I ended up deaded,” I confessed, as one doesn't really like to tell lies or embellish the truth.

Lucia put both hands to her mouth.

“Oh, by the blessed Helios....”

“Yes, I did die, but...”

“Sabelita, it’s said I ended up dead, not deaded...” she said, without giving me time to explain.

“Yeah, aren't you surprised that I died and now I'm here? Huh?”

“Hey?! You died of dying for real? Oh, blessed Helios! The only explanation is that you've become a Marked One, was that Sabela? Now you have an ability?” said Lucia, I wasn't too surprised that she got it right because she was one of those people who knew how to use her head.

“Yes, it's called The 900 Lives, and that means I can die all those times” I told her, although the prospect of doing so was not a pleasant one.

“You're not messing with me, are you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “And where do you have the Mark? I want to see it, I've never seen one!” She exclaimed, super-excited.

“Well, I have it in my butt” I said, not really wanting to show it to him because we were in the guild of the Children of the Sun and it didn't seem right to do so. Besides, I’m not an exhibitionist.

“Show it to me!” Lucia shouted and slammed the reception desk down hard.

“I'm not going to show you my butt!” I told her and I took a few steps towards the door, maybe telling her where the Mark was wasn't such a good idea, but the truth is that I didn't expect her to react that way.

“I want to see the Mark!” Lucia shouted and jumped over the reception desk and went straight for my trousers and, being nimble as a monkey, she had no trouble in grabbing them and pulling them down.

“Don't be a baby, Lucia, come on!”

“I want to see your ass, Sabelita! Show me your ass! It's the first time; I've seen your ass before!” Lucia howled, looking totally crazed.

I held on to my jeans as if my life depended on it, and thanks to that I prevented myself from showing my panties.

We stopped at the same time because there was a large man standing in the doorway wearing black armour decorated with a skull with an open mouth. What was most striking about him, apart from his large size, was the spider-like scar that covered the right side of his face.

“I'll be back later” said the man and left the barracks.

At least, this calmed Lucia's spirits.

After the scene in the barracks we decided to have lunch because it was about time. Lucía locked the barracks of the Children of the Sun and we went to the only restaurant in town, which was also in Xoana Square. It was advertised with a sign that simply said: “Reztaurant”. When she saw it, Lucía snorted like a cat.

“And can you believe that Mr. Oink doesn't change its name! I tell him every day, but he never listens to me!” Lucia said, wrinkling her flat nose.

“I don't care, he cooks well and that's all that matters” I told her and she turned in my direction, clenching her fists and raising them up and down.

“I've told Oink a thousand times that it's awful! And do you think he listened to me? Restaurant! It's not so difficult... It shouldn't be so difficult... By Helios, what one has to put up with...”

“But the food is tasty” I told her and, as I wanted to eat something, I took her by the hand and forced her into the restaurant.

Inside there were a few scattered tables, a wall full of stuffed animal heads: deer, bears, wild boar, and the owner watching cartoons on TV with Solman punched a few baddies.

The owner was known as Mr. Oink because his head was like that of a pig. It was not that he looked like one but it was as if at birth he did not decide whether to be a man or a pig and a mixture of both came out. But it did not matter what he looked like, Mr. Oink was a nice man who did not deserve what was coming his way.

“Mr Oink! It's restaurant, not reztaurant! When are you going to change the sign once and for all?”

"Well, today!" said Mr Oink, smiling with the innocence of a child.

Lucia thought he was making fun of her and got pissed off. Although she was usually the kind of person who would trip over the same stone twice and apologise for doing it so often, she hid in the depths of her soul an uncontrollable anger and if she wasn't careful she might even end up being devoured by those flames.

“But do you think I'm stupid or what? Do you take me for an idiot? This is intolerable! Mr. Oink, you're a disgrace of a person! I don't like you, that's all! You're fat and lazy and you smell like a pig and your food tastes terrible! Do you know why we come here to eat? Do you think we like your cooking? No, no and no! This is the only restaurant in the whole fucking village! It's torture to have to come here every day to suffer through what you wrongly call food! Why don't you just close the restaurant and leave? Do you think anyone would miss you in town? Huh? Why don't you go to Nightmare Nation and leave us all alone? There's nothing about you worth mentioning for good or bad! I hate you and everything you stand for!” Oink, who had never seen Lucia's hidden side before, was pinned to the spot, looking like a little lamb fresh from its mother's womb. “Have you nothing to say?! Are you going to stand there quietly with your piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy face?!” Lucia roared.

“I like your cooking," I said, but to no avail.

Mr. Oink, without saying a word, pulled out a large sign from under the counter where was written that: “Luzia's Restaurant”. The letters were handwritten, I liked them very much because they were in cheerful colours, and they were on a green field with many flowers. Thick tears were streaming down Mr. Oink's cheeks.

“I was going to hang it on now... It was going to be a surprise... You've always been good to me...” Oink's voice was fragile and it seemed as if it would break at any moment.

Lucia, as pale as milk, said in a whisper:

“Lucia... Lucia with a zeta…”

Mr. Oink's sign slipped from his hands and he sobbed with deep sorrow. Then he ran to the kitchen and Lucia looked at me, her cheeks flushed with shame.

“Sabelita... Do you think... do you think he's... upset?”

“You're supposed to be the smart one...”

“Helios blessed... You know how I'm like when I get angry... But I don't really mean what I said! I have to apologise to him!” Lucia said and ran into the kitchen from where we could hear Mr. Oink crying.

I was left alone in the restaurant dining room and the worst was that I was extremely hungry. I amused myself by watching TV: Solman was facing the evil Dr. Luna, in this episode the villain gave people red candies that turned them into heinous monsters. My stomach let out a roar like a bear. I stroked my belly while a hamburger was pictured in my mind. I liked them with as many things as possible: bacon, an egg, lots of cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions and lots of hot sauce. My fantasies were shattered by an inhuman scream coming from the kitchen and I realised that the problem had become a big problem.

I didn't think twice and ran to the kitchen. The first thing I saw was Lucía collapsed on the floor with a wounded head. I didn't have much time to worry because my attention was stolen by an animal roar. A few steps away from my friend it was Mr. Oink, but it was no longer him, it was something else: it was a monster.

To say that he changed a lot would not be enough to make you understand the magnitude of the change: his head split in two and opened like a monstrous mouth and even some pretty sharp teeth sprouted on the edges and his brain turned into a tongue that moved from side to side in jerky movements.

I knew what it was: a fallen, the worst kind of monster. It's one of the things they first teach us at school: sometimes people when they are very desperate change and turn into terrible monsters. Blame it on the Curse, a kind of disease that originated inside the Nightmare Nation.

I had never seen one before because it is extremely unusual. I was so scared that I only wanted to run away, but if I did, Lucia would most likely end up in its stomach and that was something I would never forgive myself for. Besides, what kind of Daughter of the Sun would I be if I abandoned a defenceless person like that. I took my axe and pointed it at the monster.

“Prepare to... er...to be defeated” I shouted, wanting to say something cool, but it didn't come out too well.

I rushed towards him without thinking because maybe it would take him by surprise, but no sooner had I taken three steps than something moved so fast in front of me that all I saw was a blur and then I discovered my arm flying away from my body, still clutching the axe.

I managed to take a few more steps before I fell to my knees on the ground, the world was darkening around me and I tried to stop the bleeding from my severed arm with my left hand, but the blood was pouring out between my fingers in abundance.

Mr. Monstrous Oink raised his arm and his hand was no longer a hand but long, bloodstained sword blade. It was that weapon that cut my arm and it was the one that fell on my head killing me again.