… 10 years later…

Mirio looked out the window of the classroom wistfully. A wonder filling the back of his mind as though something more was out there but whatever it was still remained beyond his grasp. The other students chatted amongst themselves and interacted with Vivi who was their teacher for beast language and who was a half rabbit person herself.

“In beast culture there is an important festival they have every year, where each of them comes forward to a wishing tree, they place a tag with their name on the tree and make a wish. So now let us all go around the class and make a wish”

Mirio sat in the back, far away from most of the class, he never felt all that comfortable in front of crowds. There were too many variables to consider, too many eyes upon him, and he could feel them in a way that left him to feel exposed. He still had no idea who he really was at heart or why he was here…

A boy with bright red hair yelled out “I want the ability to make anything I touch into gold so I can be super rich!”. A girl with purple hair turned away and mumbled to her friends “No fair, that was what I was going to say!”.

“I wish for the fastest horse and cart in the world!”, “I want to be able to teleport”, “I want mind control! That way I wouldn’t even need money, and could convince anyone to do anything I want”, “Eww! Pervert! I want the ability to burn perverts to dust with a look”, “Ahh! No don’t get me wrong I didn’t mean like that, please don’t burn me to dust!”.

“Mirio, your turn, what do you wish for”

Mirio looked up at the class as they turned towards him, it was as if time slowed, and he read into the meaning of the lesson the teacher was giving. He thought quickly and in an instant put together that the beast people had made this event in order to pray for a good harvest, or to give hope to their people in times of plague and despair, and in that understanding he resolved an answer, though it was not a real wish it would do in order to satisfy the requirement of the class.

“I would wish for the end of plagues, and the good health of everyone, so that they might live happily”

The class became quiet for a moment as they registered the difference in tone of his wish compared to others. Mirio turned back to the window and looked out towards the mountains in the horizon and thought to himself, “why ask us to make wishes we know won’t come true… I would rather think of a way that we can make those things happen for real… But they are things you can’t just reach out and grab with a sword arm. It all just seems so helpless, we are at the mercy of such things in the end…”.

A girl named Sierra continued to look at him from across the classroom as everyone got back to naming their own wishes again. She was awestruck by the way his jawline caught the light, the way his hair blew in the wind, and the depth of focus in his eyes, as if his heart burned like a flame behind them.

“Class dismissed everyone, you can all head home” Vivi declared.

Mirio began gathering his things, and gathered them into his satchel and swung it over his shoulder.

“Oh, hey there, Mirio was it?” the cute wide eyed smile of Sierra stood in between Mirio and the doorway.

“Uh, yeah that’s me” he said nervously, unsure of what was going on.

“I thought that what you said in class was really selfless, it made me think on things deeper, like why we wish for things”

“Okay, thanks but really I think the beast people made the wishing tree to give hope to their people, I was just making a wish in line with that, it wasn’t selfless or anything”

“No no, that isn’t true, it was selfless even if you don’t see it that way. While everyone was excited to make the wish their own, you saw it deeper. It was really something”

“Ha, don’t be silly” he said while scratching his head, entirely uncomfortable with her level of praise.

“Is it okay if I talk to you some more some time Mirio, my name is Sierra by the way”

“Uh, um, okay I guess so” Mirio said while starting to question in his mind why he was so bad at creating conversation. Was it because he was taken off guard? Or was it because a girl had shown interest in him and he didn’t know how to take it in stride? Or did he just feel like she had gotten the wrong idea of him, and put expectations on him he knew he wouldn’t live up to? Whatever it was he was glad the conversation was over so he could reflect on it some more.

“Have a nice rest of the day Mirio, we will talk later, bye!” she said with a wave and a smile ear to ear.

Mirio walked down the dirt road at the back of the school, and started to jog through the woodlands. School was held in a neighboring village from his own. His village Gimly was one of five villages that supported trade routes around a peninsula used as port for sailors looking to avoid storms from the southern Galion sea before they journeyed northwest via the grand canal which allowed them to cut through the continent and head to the north sea towards the beast kingdoms. Darlan was to the west of the canal, north from Gimly the midlands once you got past the misty meadows, and to the east a mountainous and swampy region that leads to elven forests and the eastern kingdoms.

Gimly wasn’t too far, it was about a ten kilometer journey, which took him less than an hour to cover because he was in shape enough to jog the whole distance. He ran the journey in order to make it back in time for guard training in Gimly. With a lively spring to his step cut through the market square and powered towards the forge.

“Hey Darius”

“Oh hey Mirio, your new sword is ready, take a look”

“Wow, its beautiful craftsmanship, and its light and well balanced just like I’d expect from you”

“Mhm, and you will notice it has three magical rune slots, it took me forever to figure out how to get them right, but I think it is my finest work yet. I sadly don’t have any runes on me, but if you ever come across any, your sword will be ready for them”

“A runeblade, at last, I’ve always wanted one of these”

“Well, it's my way of saying thanks for helping out at the mine”

“No problem, those wererats were small fry”

“Haha” Darius said as scratching his head “You say that, but they look like pretty mean customers to me, and I’m not sure any of the other guards could handle them solo like you did, excepting maybe the tower”

“Yeah I suppose you are right”

“But what he does with a massive axe, you do with that deft footwork of yours and your uncanny awareness you have… If you two clashed I honestly don’t know who I’d pick to win”

“C’mon Darius, you know I’m not competitive like that, he’s a comrade”

“Yeah you are right, no point in speculating, ah well, see you later then”

“Mhm, I’m off to training”

Mirio slipped through the curtain at the back of the forge and while expecting to see the training field empty saw the captain and the other guards were already there an hour before training usually starts.

Mirio “Hey guys, what's up? You guys are way earlier than usual”

Captain “It is time Mirio, time you take your final test with us, and join the ranks of the guards”

Mirio was in shock, “But… No one under the age of 21 has ever joined the guards before, how could it be”

Captain, “The men are here today to watch on as you fight three of the best amongst the guard, Dereo, The Tower, and Myself… If you can beat all three of us, no one will argue your right to stand amongst us”

Mirio, “Why all of a sudden?”

Captain, “It has been a long time coming, and what you did in the mines, made it clear that by holding you back we are not upholding our oath, to protect these lands with ALL of our power”

Tower “Mirio, fight me!”

Dereo “Show everyone what us guards are capable of”

Captain “And don’t you dare hold back”

Mirio looked back towards the forge, Darius’ head was poking through the curtain, he smiled mischievously as caught, and then threw a thumbs up.

Mirio “Shit”

Captain “Ring the town bell, we need an audience, we aren’t doing this to prove this just to ourselves you know”

A couple of guards ran to the town bell

DING DING DING

Before long the stands of the arena were filled with the village people.

Captain “I call you all here today to watch a special test of one of our trainees. In recognition of his work at the mines clearing it of an infestation of wererats I have decided that despite his age, we will test him in the old ways. I am invoking the challenge of trial by combat for him to gain by its right what he cannot attain by his age alone. If he passes today, there will be no doubt that he is worthy of being one of us”

The crowd murmured in hushed excitement, “whoa we get to watch a fight”, “the old ways, a trial by combat, how long has it been?”, “is he going to fight that monster of a guy there”, “look it’s the tower!”, “no way a kid can win against the tower, this is all just for show”, “is that the kid, he isn’t all that big, he just looks ordinary”, “he took out wererats? Aren’t they magical creatures? Resistant to normal swords and arrows? How the hell did a kid do that”.

Captain, “Listen up! He will be first fighting Dereo one of our most diligent guards, he never misses a days training and stays longer than anyone else, and after that the Tower, the strongest of all our guards, and then finally he will fight me in order to test his wits and if he can handle himself against an experienced combatant. If he performs well in all three I ask that you as our witnesses make the call on whether he is worthy of being one of us!”

Crowd: “Oh so he will fight the tower, I don’t envy the kid, just look at that monster”, “Ah its Dereo he helped fight off the wolves by the hunting lodges, he is always diligent and never gives up on his task no matter how hard it gets”, “Fighting the captain, that seems a tall order, his experience no doubt has any kid beat no matter how talented”

Captain, “Let it begin! Draw your swords!”

Crowd: “Whaaaaaaat! With real blades! The kid only has leather armor on!”, “He is too young to wear full plate like the others… So it makes sense but isn’t this unsafe?!”, “

Captain, “Don’t worry the boy is an acolyte”

Crowd: “An acolyte!!!”

Mirio “Call forth the armor of the spirit, and shield my body from harm, mage armor”

Mirio moved his two fingers of his right hand in an incantation circle, and called forth ethereal blue armor that sat on top of his training leathers. He then pulled his rune sword from its sheath at his hip, and narrowed his eyes on Dereo at the other side of the training ring.

Crowd: “It's a rune sword! Look a rune sword!”

Dereo smirked, and drew his sword forward with a flash. “Sorry my friend, but I won’t be going easy on you, be on your guard because I won’t fight like I do in practice. Behold my own special form of fighting I developed on my own”, his rear hand disappeared behind his back to where Mirio could no longer see it.

Mirio, “So you have been hiding some training sessions from me I see, smart”

*Mirio quickly thought about what a hand behind the back could help Dereo do, and quickly realised that it could either conceal a second weapon, or was used to improve his parry and reach… The best approach would be to provoke him to use it earlier than would be ideal so it would lose the element of surprise*

Mirio closed in carefully towards Dereo, looking past him and only observing his silhouette outline. Drawing his concentration to any cut in his body’s shape in order to anticipate the attack.

Dereo lunged forwards with the tip of his blade like that of the swordmasters in the east, flicking it in a short circular motion in an attempt to busy Mirio’s sword tip.

Mirio dropped his sword tip and raised the hilt of his blade and stepped forwards, clashing steel against steel with a loud scraping sound. Dereo clenched tight his lips not expecting Mirio to be so aggressive from his first jab. Dereo took three quick back steps to recover space, but Mirio followed with four and slid a foot out to the side, shifting out to an angle.

Dereo *grr he is right in my face, he will grab for my wrist*

Mirio smirked and lunged his back hand forwards in a sudden motion with his lead foot stamping on the ground. Dereo flinched and withdrew his blade closer to his body and then wildly swiped at Mirio's neck.

Mirio seemed to stay in position until the last moment, but then raised the hilt of his blade and ducked the slash, then he sprung to Dereo’s blind side and stepped his lead foot to the outside of Dereo’s. He flicked his sword around and over the top of Dereo’s and grasped Dereo’s wrist under his armpit held firm by his lead hand.

Dereo *shit, he feinted, shifted sides, and got hold of my sword arm in a matter of seconds, I have no choice, I have to use it! Now or never, I won’t let him beat me this easily!*

Dereo brought the tip of his blade downwards, and then braced his body for a spin, turning his back to Mirio, and revealing that behind his back was a dagger. It spun back at Mirio’s face with frightening speed.

Mirio instantly popped free of his grip on Dereo and bent backwards like a reed. The swoosh of the dagger cut just millimeters from his face.

Mirio *I figured it might be that he learned to dual wield, I am glad I provoked him to reveal it early. He is already flustered too, that should work in my favor. I bet he thinks I was trying to end it quickly, but I knew the technique and grabbing him early would never fly, I can’t believe he fell for that fake out so easily*

Dereo spun back into fighting position and then flurried with a series of strikes and slashes from each hand like the Elvish clans from the eastern forests.

Mirio stepped in rapid succession, twirling and twisting as he let each strike pass by him as though just jets of air and gusts of wind. And on the eighth attack he lifted the hilt of his blade and cracked it hard into the back of Dereo’s elbow knocking him off balance. He then flicked the point of his sword forward, and moved sideways back towards the center of the ring. His breath was calm and steady, while Dereo turned quickly with agitation.

*Dammit, he not only wasn’t affected by my attacks, but I wasted energy, and he now stands in control of the center, which will reduce my mobility… How? Did he anticipate this? Did he already know I would attack like that? How could he know that, impossible, I just have to keep fighting*

Mirio brought his mind into silence, it was as if the wind itself could flow through one ear and pass out the other. He never felt more at peace than when in battle, it was as if all his senses heightened and each motion of his body sung with a musical note.

Cling! Clang! Ting! Shhhhh! Tap tap tap.

A flurry of blows from Dereo, followed by a blade lock, and Mirio adjusting his footwork to get out to the side of Dereo.

Mirio *Its over*

Mirio stuck out his front foot and dipped his head to the side.

Dereo *Like hell it is over!*

Dereo turned quickly and thrusted with all his speed. But the blade flicked past Mirio’s ear, and a clunk hit against his lead foot before it could find the ground. Dereo’s eyes shot open as he realised Mirio had stepped to his blindside to set up a trip, and had slipped his pierce in order to keep the distance close enough to pull it off. How did he have that kind of composure in a battle, it would take incredible nerves to pull such a thing off.

Time suddenly began to speed up as Dereo crashed face forwards into the dirt.

Mirio kicked away his blade with the same foot that had tripped him with the grace of a cat, and then spun the tip of his runeblade to Dereo’s neck before stepping back and sheathing his sword.

Dereo chuckled as he stood up, “talented as ever I see” and then took a bow. Mirio bowed back “thanks for the bout”.

Crowd: “Whoa, Dereo was fast, but he ended up tripping over himself”, “The kid mostly was on defence, can’t really make a determination on that alone, good they will have more bouts”, “Did you see he tripped him, is that legal?”

Captain, “And now for our second bout, Tower, step into the arena”

“With pleasure, finally! Ahahaha!”, he said as he drew his great axe from his back. His meaty hands and scarred knuckles gripped onto the hilt with enough pressure to strangle a wild boar.

Mirio cleared his head with a breath in and then slowly back out. He softened his gaze and focused on the tower’s aura, gently letting his physique come into focus. Threads of white light began to climb up and twist around the Tower’s limbs, small dots of intense light shone brighter than others like jewels upon each strand of light. Mirio’s gaze was known as the eagle’s eye, used to bring forth vulnerabilities and to increase the accuracy of strikes.

“Hurmph!” the Tower growled

Captain, “Begin!”