It was the morning of an ordinary summer day, there were few clouds in the sky and the sun illuminated the leaves of a long and dense forest that, due to its proximity, managed to hide a small village.
The place had low walls and beautiful houses, in its center was a square that led to a large three-story building similar to a church and in it a golden bell, next to it was a division in the village made by a river that passed through it. with a wooden bridge on top that led to the other side of the same village.
Despite being small, it was a very rich place, the streets had white stones that made the ground easy to walk on, in addition to having a road that seemed to lead to other cities and towns.
In the scenery it was possible to see a house a little bigger than the others, it had two floors with rooms on the top that in one of them there was an open window.
The same window gave a view to the interior of a room, in it it was possible to see a support on the wall that carried a sheathed sword next to a table that had a note that seemed to be the handwriting of a young man.
Through the glass window, the sun's rays entered and illuminated the face of a boy who, when he felt the lighting, frowned, the light revealed his messy brown hair, uncomfortable with the light, he turned around but the environment was already heating up, the that made him fret and sit up in bed to escape the sun.
Still with his eyes closed and with a troubled expression, he took his hand to the back of his head while scratching, seeming to situate himself where he was.
His eyes opened revealing the brown color of both, with the difference in the right eye being a little darker than the other.
He took his hand to his forehead while scratching his hair, revealing in the right corner to have light marks looking like cuts a little lighter than his skin.
Still with a lazy expression, he looked at the room, gradually locating himself, but soon noticed the paper on his table showing a suspicious expression, demonstrating that he did not remember that sheet there.
With a simple movement he could get up and walk with heavy steps to his desk, as soon as he arrived he would take the paper and start reading, still scratching his head.
As his eyes passed over the letters they were widening, finishing reading the message the young man looked at the window with his eyes completely wide and spoke.
"Filth."
He recognized the letter and grabbed the sheathed sword on his wall then ran to his closet collecting his clothes with a hasty look, preparing himself for the start of a new day while thinking.
"Damn, this time Oli won't let me escape..."
Soon he took off some clothes and ran towards the door of his room, opening and closing it shortly after passing in hurried steps.
Downstairs it was possible to see a large hall with a wooden floor, in this hall there were several young people who trained blows in the air with wooden swords.
The rhythm was constant and everyone did the same swing while talking after swinging.
"HUH! HUH!"
In front of them all there was a man with light brown hair and blue eyes, his body was big and powerful with some scars that showed strength, in addition to his tight shirt that showed his muscles better.
At his waist was a large sheathed sword and he looked at all the young people with a serious look, his expression gradually changed to one of anger and then he screamed.
"COME ON, MAKE THE RED HAWKS NAME COUNT, I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU!"
Hearing their leader's phrase, the youths took a deep breath in unison and struck at a faster pace while shouting even louder.
"HUH! HUH! HUH"
The stimulus had worked which made the leader smile as he looked at the young people, the rhythm seemed to continue until he heard hurried footsteps coming down the stairs and he already closed his face with a serious expression.
From the stairs came the same young man who was upstairs, he was now wearing a light brown outfit with white sleeves, in addition to having a cord that held a glass with a red liquid inside, while also wearing wool pants and boots, on its back was a support for the sheathed sword that was holding it.
The young man continued to run towards the exit of the place until he heard a voice that said.
"Where do you think you're going, Arthur?"
Upon hearing the leader's call, the young man stopped his run by diving forward while braking with his feet and hands, he showed a disappointed look and looked back, changing his expression to a calmer one speaking.
"Dad... I'm going hunting with Oli, he called me and I'm already late, can we leave the training for later?"
"I know, Oliver asked you to hunt, he came here a while ago."
"I'm later than I thought so… I'll be back for practice dad, I promise."
The sentence was as tattered as the expression on the young man's face, he even put his hand behind his head as if he already apologized while his father stared with an almost laughing look, but still staring.
The silence seemed like it would last between them until they both listened.
"Not so fast, Arthur."
The words came out with a bold tone which made Arthur recognize whose voice it was, while he rolled his eyes with a bored expression as he spoke.
"Oh no..."
"Oh yes."
The answer was given as a shout that came out of the crowd of students, from there emerged a young man who showed a wide excited smile, he had his blond hair short and spiky, his eyes turned brown and he wore a simple peasant outfit while having a wooden sword on his shoulders that went down and up giving light strokes.
"You came at a great time, Arth. I have something new to show you and I'm sure you'll be surprised, hahaha."
With a wide smile he tilted his head slightly in a defiant tone despite speaking clearly excited, meanwhile Arthur remained with a bored expression as he sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
"You too, Chris? My father who trains us, you and I have the same techniques, what is the use of fighting a mirror?"
"Speak for yourself, all the defeats made me stronger and now I feel like I will win."
Hearing Chris's sentence, Arthur kept his eyebrows down, the young man with brown hair closed his eyes thoughtfully as if trying to remember and spoke.
"What's the difference between our points? An extra 30 wins for me?"
"It was only 18, don't overdo it."
"How can you say something so sad so loudly?"
"It doesn't matter, this time I feel like I'm going to win… Come on, Arth. Don't take it away from me, I guarantee it will be better than hunting."
The blonde spoke excitedly and with a smile on his face as he swung the wooden sword in the air, but his excitement didn't change Arthur's expression at all, who just continued to be bothered and looked back at his father.
"Help me, dad... If I'm late, Oliver will go hunting without me."
The leader looked at the two young people, their behavior was already common since they fought with wooden swords since they were young, Evans smiled as he watched the two young people staring at each other while Chris swung the sword with enthusiasm, unlike Arthur who remained with the arms crossed trying to talk.
Both continued talking, until Evans still with a smile on his face clapped his hands, catching the attention of both.
Soon after, the leader walked to a deposit of wooden swords, from there he took a simple sword and faced it as if evaluating its quality, but with a quick movement he turned his body and threw the sword towards Arthur.
Chris widened his eyes being caught by surprise, but Arthur looked and took the sword with both hands making an expression of pain as he received the weapon, after which he looked at his father and questioned.
"What was that, Dad?"
He looked at the dojo leader who had a calm and even excited expression, but who then smiled and spoke.
"Arthur, if you want your freedom, earn it. Beat Christopher as quickly as possible and you can leave, however, if he holds you back or you lose, you will have to stay in the dojo all day."
Hearing the phrase, Arthur lowered his eyebrows with a sickened expression, but soon Chris widened his eyes smiling and spoke.
"Thank you, Master Evans. It's perfect, Arth, so you won't be able to run away from me."
The sudden change made Arthur scratch his head with a bewildered expression, then he sighed, showing dissatisfaction, but then unsheathed his sword.
"What can I do? Let's put an end on this..."