The beads of sweat run over the boy's skin. He breathes heavy as he hurries his way across the maze-like alleys into a dilapidated building. He makes way into the dining room and bumps into another figure, almost dropping the items he was carrying. As he sets the items down carefully, he feels a sharp pain on the side of his face as the man slaps him with the back of his hand,

"Be careful, boy! Those things are worth more than your entire life." He scowls.

"If you were on a diet and dropped some weight, maybe I wouldn't have almost dropped it." The boy murmurs.

Another painful slap hits him again, this time knocking him into the ground.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, Jervaintus or I will have you live your life on the outskirts of this city." The man looks down on the boy.

The man grabs the items that was brought in and marches up the stairs, slamming the door afterwards.

Jervaintus laughs at the pain, little amounts of blood trickling down his mouth. He closes his eyes as he imagines finally getting out of this place but not before he gives the slave-driver the ass kicking he deserves.

The next morning, a girl's voice awakens him from his sleep.

"Wake up, Jervaintus! Master is almost here!" She rocks him awake.

He slowly gets up as the girl helps him. The slave driver approaches before them and looks at Jervaintus. He looks down upon him,

"Had a good sleep?" He feigns concern.

"Pretty much." Jervaintus stretches.

"Good. I need you to accompany me somewhere." The slave driver commands.

They both venture out to the city square. They move through the thick crowds of the populace. The soldiers bearing the red flag of the militarist kingdom of Hozran march back through the city proud of their victory, a victory paid with a great price, their numbers are now few.

The slave driver pulls the boy toward the castle. They approach a line of men leading towards a table that is manned by another soldier. He calls for the soldier's attention and gestures to the boy.

"My nephew would like to enlist for the army." He grins.

"Bullshit, old man. He's not your nephew." The soldiers leans back.

"W-well…he's got an able body and the kingdom needs as many men they can get." He pushes his case.

As the two men argued, Jervaintus notices a man in dark gray armor, his eye and mouth painted with a huge scar. He steps in,

"How old are you, boy?" His regal voice catches his attention.

Jervaintus musters all the courage he can to speak,

"Seventeen, sir. I will be eighteen this year." He replies.

The man gives a half grin and looks toward the soldier.

"Enlist the soon to be man." He orders.

The subordinate hesitates and sighs and asks for the information concerning Jervaintus. In the corner of the boy's eyes, the slave driver receives a coin purse from the intimidating man. A deal was made.

"Let me guide you to the barracks, young man." The figure gestures to the way.

Jervaintus feels off from the man. Like he is a terrible yet powering being. He wonders what the others are up to right now and if he were to ever return to his friend, the little girl.

"Sirena, I wonder if she'll be alright." He thinks to himself.

"What is your name, boy?" The man cuts off his thought.

He straightens himself up,

"Jervaintus, sir." He looks at him.

The man introduces to Jervaintus as General Wilhelm. They enter the barracks and he guides Jervaintus to his bed, a wooden and broken down frame with a bedroll stuffed inside. He flashes a smile to Wilhelm,

"Better than sleeping on the stone cold floor." He says eagerly.

"Remember this: you're Hozran Military property now. Do as what your superiors say and keep your head down and perhaps you may serve as a valuable soldier in this kingdom." Wilhelm gives Jervaintus a uniform and pats on his shoulder before he leaves the barracks.

Jervaintus changes his clothes and goes off to sleep. The next morning, he is forced awake. He tries to come back to his senses and sees a dominating figure looming over him.

"Rise and shine, little man!" The man barks at him.

Jervaintus scrambles to stand up the best he can.

"I am your commanding officer in charge of training you. By the looks of it, you are at least capable of manual labor. Your first task is to clean and shine each and every soldier's armor in this room! Here is a rag, and here is a bucket of water. Now get to work!" The officer's voice howls through Jervaintus ears before he notices that he has gone.

He immediately grabs the nearest armor he could find and proceeds to clean it. He would not risk himself to whatever form of torture that they have set up for him, should he not do his tasks.

Three years of running errands, feeding soldiers, shining boots, and hauling cargo has passed. Jervaintus has finally been promoted to a squire. During those painfully long three years, he studied the basics of combat and military strategy but he still has yet to hold an actual sword.

As he finishes his last day of being a servant cleaning the library room of the barracks, a man approaches him.

His voice was the same as the calm before a violent storm,

"Are you Jervaintus?" He asks.

He finishes up and sets the broom aside,

"Yes, sir. What do you need?" He routinely replies.

"I am Lieutenant Durkins, the knight you're assigned to." The man reaches out for a hand shake.

Jervaintus does his best to keep a poker face. He spoke casually to a high ranking officer. He is used to being treated like trash from his superiors but this is a good change of pace.

"Hey kid, you're spacing out." Durkins points out.

"Oh, sorry. I'm used to having people barking at me like rabid dogs." Jervaintus firmly shakes his hand.

The two engage in a short conversation about training Jervaintus in sword fighting as Durkins will go out on a scouting mission to the Jyus Society, the rival kingdom of Hozran.

Jervaintus picked up learning the sword extremely well, to Durkins' delight. They sparred together frequently. Jervaintus' styled is a cold and calculated method of tiring out his opponent and then aggressively push the tempo once they let down their guard due to the fatigue.

The day of the mission came as Jervaintus and Lieutenant Durkins is accompanied by a small company of soldiers to camp on the outskirts of the Jyus Society. They stealthily moved at night through the forest and into the mountains.

Jervaintus stake out their target, a village near the river than runs down the mountains. He regroups with the others and reports that a small force of Jyus soldiers are patrolling the village's borders.

Durkins gathers his troops,

"Alright boys, remember the plan: ambush and take out the mages first and once they open fire, flank them into hell. Split off into two groups. Jervaintus sticks with me. We wait until nightfall" He briefs them.

Under the cover of darkness, they make their way into the village. They climb up the local inn where the enemies are sleeping. They find a couple of soldiers in one room who they easily dispatch of quietly.

The group splits off to search for the rest of the soldiers. Durkins and Jervaintus' group finishes checking on a farmhouse. Durkins signals the group to stop and get into battle positions. As they turn around they see the Jyus soldiers in a shield formation, with their spears pointing out.

A man clad in fine, blue robes emerge from the shield wall, carrying a bloody helmet of a Hozran soldier. He mockingly laughs at them,

"You brutes are so as gullible as moths to the flame. My king will be pleased." He scoffs at them.

"I heard about you. You have slain many villagers, especially the children of my kingdom." Durkins clutches on his sword.

"What of it?" The mage places his hands on his hips and puffs his chest proudly

"I am going to enjoy killing you." He charges at him head on.

Jervaintus instinctively runs with Durkins but are stopped by a dark, insidious fog erupting from the ground beneath them. The Jyus soldiers also panic from what's happening. The mage orders them to stand their ground as the ground opens up. A large, disfigured hand emerges from the earth, followed by a large tattered cloak which hides a gargantuan mass of black tentacles.

"What in the hell…" Jervaintus readies his sword.

"It's a-a-a-an abyss demon!" The mage fires off a fireball which engulfs the demon.

His grin now turns into a look of terror as the creature's hand takes a hold of him while its other hand wipes out the Jyus soldiers.

Durkins orders the soldiers to retreat. They run across the river but the monster is in pursuit of them. It grabs holds of Durkins' leg and lifts him into the air. Jervaintus reaches him just in time and stabs the tentacle around his ankle. This is enough to make the beast flinch and drop Durkins. Jervaintus helps him up as he and the other soldiers escape from the beast.

They stop and rest at a clearing and catch their breath. Jervaintus approaches Durkins,

"What manner of creature is that? I've heard of the abyss demons but this is something I couldn't have imagined." He struggles to catch his breath.

As Durkins is about to answer, the demon reaches them. It grabs an unlucky soldier and consumes him in front of the others. The sight freezes Jervaintus in his place. The blood and the guts of the man as the demon devours him is burned into his mind. As the demon finishes, Jervaintus grins and approaches the beast with malicious intent.

"Jervaintus, we must retreat!" Durkins tries to get through him.

"That was an entertaining display, foul creature. Now the show's over." Jervaintus enters into a state of deep concentration.

He dodges each of the creatures blows and methodically makes cuts into its tentacles. Durkins is surprised at how Jervaintus' demeanor changed like a switch.

"Switch to your bows, give him cover fire." He commands.

Minutes past by and the creature is still standing. Physical attacks do not seem to work against it, Durkins thinks.

"Jervaintus, we must retreat back into the city, now!" He argues.

"Oh no, I'm having fun here." He ignores his commands.

The creature lands a significant blow on Jervaintus, sending him hurling to the ground. As the creature takes a step forward, a flaming portal appears above its hand. This distracts the creature as a knight in white and red armor decends, his sword of flames slashing through the demon. He unleashes several more cuts on the demon until it is reduced to cinders.

As he sheathes his sword, he turns towards the group and says his greetings. Durkins' eyes widen in awe,

"Impossible. You must be Godfrey of the Fire but the legends say that you died." He speaks to him.

"You are correct, but the legends are wrong. I come back to this world bearing news for your king. Take me to him." There is a sense of urgency in his voice.

Jervaintus is helped up by the soldiers and looks at Godfrey.

"Well, color me impressed." He bows his head down from the exhaustion.

"I could say that same. I should thank you for buying me some time." Godfrey voices his approval.

The group, now with Godfrey travel back to the the capital city in Hozran. Durkins speaks with their king as Jervaintus is taken to the healers.

Godfrey approaches the king and tells him that he has ascended into godhood and has went into the other kingdoms to ask for their help. He explains that he can save humanity from the coming darkness if the king would unify all the kingdoms.

Meanwhile, Jervaintus recovers on his bed and recollects the recent events.

"I have this weird feeling that things will only get to be more fun from here…" He thinks to himself.