Through the woods, two kids were running. One of them was a boy approximately thirteen years old with black short hair and blue eyes. Another one was a slightly younger blond-haired girl with brown eyes. Both of them were wearing simple and tattered clothes. With a face full of tears she was holding the boy's hand while running. Because of that, she did not see a small pile of stones lying on the ground and tripped over landing on her knees, and started crying even more.
"Mom, dad..."
Seeing her on the ground the boy turned around and ran up to her.
"Sister! Get up, we need to run!"
The little girl just looked at him and said while trying her best to stop crying.
"Big brother, mom, and dad they... I can't anymore."
Hearing that her brother decided to pick her up and run with her in his arms but before he managed to he heard a sound of something running fast in their direction.
He steeled himself, closed his eyes, and with clenched fists, and said to his younger sibling.
"Listen to me sister. Run in that direction until you get to a city ok?"
He pointed into the distance and seeing her nod he continued.
"Don't look back. I will take this beast as far as possible, so run!"
With this, she started running in that direction while crying even more. She knows that her brother will certainly die from the demonic beast chasing them.
'It's all my fault. If not for me all of them would have escaped. They should have left me behind!'
She wanted to stay with him but that would make his sacrifice meaningless so she forced herself.
Seeing his sister running away his eyes narrowed and turned away. He saw a beast come nearby dashing right at him. It was a huge bear with a lot of red and black energy emanating from it.
Noticing that he got the attention of a monster he dashed in the direction opposite to the one his sister took. Unfortunately, a bear was faster than him and slashed him with so much force that the boy was flown several meters before hitting a tree. This attack created a huge wound on his back while the impact made him break a few bones and lose consciousness.
'I hope you will survive...'
With that, he closed his eyes while smiling, fully prepared to never open them ever again.When the bear saw that its prey surrendered it loosened its guard and calmly started walking near to finish its hunt.
Suddenly a sword flew its way slashing off one of its legs. It started howling in pain and looking around for the attacker.
Out of nowhere, a figure clad in white-blue robes appeared right before, kicking it. It was so powerful that the bear was sent into the air. Meanwhile, the figure who appeared to be a middle-aged blond-haired man threw a spear made out of blue lightning at it. The spear pierced the beast, killing and burning it.
The man immediately turned to the unconscious boy and started examining his condition.
'Broken ribs, a cracked skull, and blood loss. He won't survive another few minutes'
With that in mind, he took a pill from the inner pocket on the right side of his robe. He took a look at it to make sure to get the right pill and feed it to the boy. After that, he grabs both palms of the boy and closes his eyes to circulate his energy to help guide the pill's effects into wounds.
After half an hour the boy's condition started stabilizing, his wounds closed and bones reconnected slightly. Despite that, it would still take some time for him to fully heal and regain lost blood.
When he finished the process the man took an apprising orb from his storage artifact and placed it on the boy who was lying on the ground.
These kinds of artifacts come in various forms. Some are rings, earrings, and even whole sets of armor. The most important parts about it are a special type of array and the material it was engraved on.
A few dozen seconds later the orb started glowing which made him smile widely. It indicated that this boy has potential and that means that he can take him to the sect and nurture him into a cultivator.
'I will take him to the sect and we will see what kind of an element he has. Who knows he might even be a genius. Either way, I have to wait until he wakes up to ask him what happened here.'
With that in mind, he took him to the sect. With his speed it took them only a few hours, if it was a normal carriage it would probably take months to reach it.
Boy wakes up lying on a bed. He looked around and noticed that he was in an unknown place. He barely stood up due to the pain he feels all over his body.
He notices that he is inside of a simple room without many types of furniture. Despite being made of cheap and shabby materials the place keeps giving him a feeling of comfort.
A man enters a room, looks around, and sees him.
"You're finally awake. I've found you almost killed by that demonic beast. Fortunately, I was nearby and rescued you."
Then he remembers something and says.
"Ah right. My name is Lewis and I'm a great elder of this sect we are in."
He deliberately did not say the name of the sect because the young boy across from him might get scared that he was taken to a demonic sect due to all the rumors that were circling among the masses.
While thinking about that he takes a chair and sits down facing the child.
"So, mind introducing yourself and explaining what happened to you?"
The boy starts fidgeting a little and starts narrating his story while starting to cry.
"My name is Auron Fade. My family which includes me, my sister Ayda and my parents were just normal villagers. One day a lot of knights, cultivators, and others attacked the village. My sister and I ran away while mum and dad stayed to buy us enough time. Unfortunately, during the run, we encountered a demonic beast and split up."
Lewis was listening through the whole story and when Auron stopped explaining he said.
"Where did your sister go?"
At that question, the boy stopped crying and calmly said.
"To the neighboring town. Please, can you find her?"
The elder sighed and decided to send someone to help find her while also thinking that after those two days that Auron was unconscious, she is either dead or worse but he might still try and hope for a miracle.
"I will send someone to find her."
Auron then immediately bowed on the ground thanking him. The man he was talking with was a great elder of some sect. That only means that he has a great standing and also a great power. Normally people like that would never even glance at a mortal like him. At least that was what his parents told him in the past.
"Thank you, my lord!"
Seeing a young boy bowing before him, Lewis mentally rolled his eyes and felt uncomfortable. He similarly comes from a poor family and while compared to other elders is pretty kind and calm. Thanks to that he is the most liked elder among the disciples in the sect.
"Stop bowing and call me great elder or elder Lewis."
Then he proceeded to take a set of clothes along with some food out of his space artifact and left them at the small table nearby.
"Here. Eat something and clothe yourself. I will be back in an hour."
When he left, Auron sat by the table and started eating his food and after that, he changed into the clothes given to him by the elder. Weirdly the clothes seemed too big for him but after he finished putting them on they shrank to match his size. Then they fell face first on the bed and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Lewis was walking down a hallway towards the mission hall.
Mission hall is a place in the sect that as the name implies distributes mission to disciples. Everyone can make a mission as long as it is not against the sect's interests and has to pay spirit stones for those who complete it. In case the mission can't be fulfilled 9/10 spirit stones are refunded to the mission giver while the remaining spirit stones remain in the sect.
The reason for Lewis coming here is simple. He wants to issue a quest for finding Auron's sister.
'I don't know what happened, but I will help your son as much as I can. Just like you did to me, Master.'