♫ (Novo Amor - Repeat until Death) play this while reading if you want to ♫
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"I guess this will suffice until tomorrow." A young pale, sickly boy said as he was gathering mud beside the riverbed. After filling his bucket with mud, he immediately ran towards their small house made of twigs and stones.
"Grian! Where have you been? Your dad is waiting. Go see your father now, he's going to leave soon." A malnourished, middle-aged woman with brown hair said.
"I just gathered mud mother! Please make us some mud cookies!" Grian, the sickly boy pleaded to his mother.
Grian's mother sadly smiled and nodded. She pointed to the trees, signaling his son to go see his father. She then grabbed the bucket of mud and proceeded to make mud cookies.
It was their everyday food. Grian's mother sells mud cookies to other families living in the Bocht – a densely populated slum beside the river.
Life in the Bocht can be said to be the poorest of the poor in the country of Helios. A huge circular wall is built around the Magical City Capital of Mor- where the humans, militia, elves, dwarves, nobles, and the royal family live. The Bocht is not a city, it is a garbage dump site where the people that were exiled, or those that are considered trash, lived.
The Bocht is a barren wasteland without any Elan Vital (mana). The natural EV on the Bocht was absorbed by the wall powered by magic ores, and forcefully released inside the wall. The magic ores are made artificially using magical beasts and minerals. Chemically made magic ores produce toxins that can cause death.
Although Grian's family is poor, they were a very happy family. Grian gathers the mud for his mother to make cookies with. His father works as a guard in the gates of Bocht. It can be said that Grian's father can be considered as the lowest rank of militia in the country of Helios. Although a guard, his remuneration is just enough to buy drinking water for his family.
**
"Grian where have you been? I only have a few minutes left before I guard the gates again." Grian's father said as he tied his long brown hair.
"I'm sorry father, I took some mud for tomorrow so we can have more time to practice sword!" the young boy happily said as he gasped for air, tired from the running.
"Hahaha! My young boy is eager to learn the art of sword! Okay, I will ask my friend to guard the gates tomorrow so we can have more time to practice. Too bad, my time today is up! Just continue practicing the Deamhan Technique I taught you and I will see you and Meredith tomorrow." His father happily spoke as he ruffled Grian's white hair.
"Oh, and I will bring you fish for your birthday tomorrow! Is brea liom tu son!" His father yelled, waving and walking back towards the gate.
Grian was giggling while walking towards their house. Thinking about what his father said before he left.
'We're going to eat fish tomorrow; I wonder what fish tastes like?' Grian thought.
Grian grew up eating mud cookies, if they have extra money, they can buy and eat vegetables and rice; but never fish and meat.
Though they live beside the river, it was chemically polluted and there were no signs of life. The Bocht River is the dumpsite of industrial wastes from the capital. At least seven people that live in the Bocht die every day either from illness or old age.
"Mother! Mother! Father said he will bring fish tomorrow for my birthday!" Grian excitedly told his mother.
"Grian, you know Sister Celia, right? I asked her here today to pray for your 14th birthday. I know it should be tomorrow, but she needs to go back to the capital later in the day." His mother kindly smiled.
"Hello, Grian! Happy Birthday! I brought you some candies." Sister Celia said as she gave a few candies to Grian. He put one in his mouth and hid the other 4 under the bed made of leaves covered in cloth.
Grian smiled and bowed to Sister Celia. He could not contain his happiness.
'Wow! Fish tomorrow and candies today? This is the best birthday ever!' Grian thought as the nun touched his forehead and spoke a prayer.
Sister Celia is a nun from the capital that visits the Bocht every three weeks to teach children like Grian. It was word of mouth that she used to be a noble but decided to dedicate her life as a saint, helping children at the Bocht. If a child turns 14 and shows potential in academe, Sister Celia will take the child with her to the capital.
After a few minutes of prayer and Grian eating candy, Sister Celia left and bid goodbye to Grian and his mother.
**
"Grian! Meredith! Wake up!" Grian's Father yelled as he was running frantically towards their small house. Grian and his mother were sound asleep but were woken up by a large explosion.
Meredith took Grian by the hand and ran outside where they met her husband. Meredith instantly hugged her husband and asked.
"Leonard, what's happening?" She was too frantic to notice that Grian was hit by the group of people running away as was thrown a few meters back.
"We need to run now!" Leonard said as he looked at Meredith with frightened eyes. He then noticed that Grian was missing.
*BOOM! BAAAM! BLAST!
Multiple explosions and fireballs shot from the wall. Screams, cries, agony, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
"Mother! Father!" Grian yelled as his small sickly frame ran across the opposite of the crowd searching for his parents.
"Leonard! There's Grian!" Meredith yelled with all her might as she pulled Leonard with her and ran towards Grian.
A few more meters and they might have held Grian in their arms as they ran away from the explosions.
*BOOM! BAAAM!
Grian's eyes widened, in front of him is his father burning and his mother's leg remaining.
*Ssssshzhhshhhhh
Grian can hear the sizzling sound that was made from his father's burning flesh.
Tears started falling from Grian's upturned blue eyes. He was walking slowly towards his burning father engulfed in red flames, reaching for his melting face.
"Run- "Leonard managed to whisper before he completely turned to ashes.
"NO! NO! NO! Please!" Grian pleaded helplessly as he gathered his father's ashes on his hands.
Still weeping, he scanned the area to look for his mother and saw her lying beside a burning tree. The explosion caused Meredith to fly a few meters away from Leonard and lost a leg.
Grian ran to his mother and kneeled. He put her head on his thighs and gently caressed her face.
Meredith was badly hurt and could not speak; droplets of tears were falling from her eyes. She could only hum a tune that Grian knows well, it was his mother's favorite song.
"No! Mother Stop, please! Conserve your strength, I will get help!" Grian, while bawling, told his mother. He gently put his mother's head on the ground, then stood up to get help.
Grian stopped when Meredith gently tugged his right leg. It was a desperate call of a dying mother to her son, but Grian was too desperate. He gently removed his mother's hand and kissed her forehead.
"Please wait, mother, I will get help," Grian whispered as he ran to get help.
'Is brea liom tu son.' Meredith thought at her last gasp of air.
While running, he saw survivors ran towards a group of people wearing white.
'It's the militia! My mother will be saved!' Grian thought while he squeezed through the survivors. A few minutes passed and he managed to grab one of the militias by the arm.
"Sir please! Please! Help my mother!" Grian was down on his knees, crying and begging.
"What do we have here?" A fat guy wearing a white uniform smiled and spoke. He walked towards Grian and held his face tightly.
"Oy oy! His eyes are blue! You said this place is filled with Gnaths! Why is there a noble here?" He angrily asked the other members of the Letters. He grabbed Grian's hair and pulled him up to the ground.
"Ow! Sir! Please help my mother!" Grian was three feet above the ground, struggling to remove the fat man's grip on his hair.
The other survivors were gathered by the Letters and then one by one, they dropped dead like flies. They burnt anyone injured and old. They spared the pretty young girls and boys, but their feet and hands were shackled.
Gnaths are what they are called. Humans with no affinity towards any element and cannot gather EV. They make up only a small percentage of the country's population, that is why they were exiled on the Bocht. No one needed humans that are dead weight and do not amount to anything.
Young Gnaths that are pretty to look at are sold as slaves to the Arleith - humans with affinity or can gather EV, Rogaire - militia and their family, Letters – Special unit made up of Rogaires and the Meith - the nobles.
"B, he might be someone important! His eyes are blue, we are so fucked if they find out about this." Another member said.
"Well then, let us get rid of the evidence!" B said as he threw Grian on the ground. The other members started to gather red flames on their hands, ready to burn Grian on the ground.
"Hmmm- wait! He is too pretty to be killed; he might be sold for a few units. His eyes are the problem- Yo! M! throw me the dagger!" B screamed at the other Rogaire named M. He was a thin man with brown hair and buck teeth wearing the same white uniform.
Grian, realizing these men will not help, crawled away slowly but was immediately caught by B.
"Where are you going there, little buddy?" B playfully said as he pulled Grian's legs and sat above him.
"Don't move and it will hurt less," M said to Grian. He was standing behind B watching him attempt to poke the young boy's eyes.
"Please! Please let me leave! My mother needs help!" Grian continued to beg, but he knew there is no way out.
B struck the dagger on Grian's left eye, quickly pulled it then struck his right eye. The dagger was thin and small. It left a linear bleeding scar in the middle of Grian's eyeballs.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" Grian screamed his lungs out. He was too weak, too hurt, too tired to move, and he was losing a lot of blood.
'Who would care for a Gnath like me and his dying mother? My mother is probably dead too. I should have stayed with her.' He thought to himself and cried blood, regretting leaving his mother's side.
"If there is a God, please help me," Grian whispered as he was crying blood on the ground.
"HAHAHA! Okay men, count your slaves. Whoever has the most slaves will get an additional 500 units!" B cheerfully yelled at his men.
"You already won! You purposely did not kill that little blue-eyed brat so you can have more slaves, you fucker!" M disappointedly threw a bag of 300 units at B.
The other members of the militia followed, giving their units to B but were disturbed when an old man fell from the skies that caused a huge explosion in their area.
Some of the Gnaths that were shackled, got free and escaped. Some of the Rogaires near the explosion died and the others immediately followed the escapees, trying to capture them again.
Grian was left lying on the floor, he sat up, but he could not see. He heard a slight groan beside him, so he put both of his arms in front of him feeling the area, crawling towards the sound.
Grian did not know why he moved, he could have waited for his eyes to bleed out and die.
'I guess I do not want to die alone.' He desperately thought as he moved towards the sound.
He felt a bearded wrinkly old man with his hands and decided to tap his head to check if he is still alive. He felt where the man's wrist was and put two fingers on it to check his pulse.
Something he learned from his late father. The old man's pulse was too weak to be felt and he stopped groaning, so he put his fingers beneath his nose to check if he is still breathing.
"Sir? sir?" He felt a small breath of air come out from the old man's nose, so Grian lied down beside him.
'I am sorry mother, I left you all alone. The least I could do is be with this old man until his last breath.' Grian thought to himself as blood and tears continued to pour from his eyes. He could feel that he was slowly losing consciousness so he decided to introduce himself, in the slim chances that the old man survives, someone will remember his name and that he lived in this world.
"My name is Grian, today is my birthd- "Before Grian could finish his sentence, the old man whispered as he gasped for air.
"Boy, do you wish to have power?"
Grian put his head near the old man to hear him better. Grian thought that he was starting to hear things. For all he knows, the old man could have been dead. He cannot see, and his ears are ringing from all the explosions. He sighed and lied back down.
"Do you wish to have power? Yes, or no? Just answer me damn it!" The old man spoke as loud as he could then he coughed up blood.
Grian was quiet, he could not see, and the ringing in his ears will not stop. He was aching all over his frail body and was feeling light-headed. He was thinking about the fish his father will bring him later for his birthday.
'I wonder what fish tastes like?' He was feeling woozy and drifting away from reality.
The old man could not wait anymore. He wounded his palm until it bled.
'Of all the people in this world and I get stuck with a dumb kid, could my luck get any worse.' The old man thought as he was grabbing Grian's hand.
The old man saw a small circular tattoo on Grian's left hand, a similar one he had on his, but different.
"Oh, what a lucky day!" He said, the old man whistled a tune as he cut Grian's hand.
Grian was reminiscing the happy moments in his young life with his loving mother and father. He was thinking about what could have happened if the explosion attack did not happen. He was both laughing and crying at the same time.
'Mother could have made more mud cookies, I could have tasted fish, I still haven't shown father that I mastered the Deamhan Sword Technique, If I knew I will die today, I should have eaten all the candies I saved- '
He woke up from his trance-like state when his hand was cut. The old man shook Grian's bleeding hand with his, smiled, and spoke.
"See you later kiddo!"
The ringing in Grian's ears stopped as he finally lost consciousness.
*DING!
[Welcome Son of Solaris!]
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