It was the year 1433. Many people lived their lives in contentment, but fate had other plans for them.
A boy with black hair and dressed in a simple white tunic ran across a barren field, tending to a herd of camels and goats. His name was Beta œ Rosuia. He lived with his mother and two sisters, far from the bustling cities of the Kepler Empire. His father, once a knight of the Kepler Emperor, had been executed—betrayed by his own comrades and punished to death alongside the former king.
The knight and the king had both been beheaded in front of the masses in Hela, the capital city. With their father gone, Beta and his family had fled to escape the wrath of the new rulers, a foreign entity known as the Eastern Suzerainty of Kepler. These rulers had seized control not only of Kepler but of many neighboring empires as well.
The new order was powerful, with a structured system divided into sectors and subsectors, each ruled by its own set of laws and overseers. Beta's family had been forced to the edges of this new world, where they lived in fear of being discovered.
In this world, some people were blessed with strange powers, obtained from fragments of an ancient force. These powers were unique to each person, with most individuals possessing only one. However, under certain conditions, one could gain additional abilities, known as sub-skills. Yet, there existed those with an even rarer gift—"Myths." These were abilities that could negate or reflect any power used against them, making their bearers almost untouchable.
Beta sat alone on the edge of the field, surrounded by sand and date trees, his thoughts clouded with worry. He wondered how he could earn enough coins to keep his family fed. That afternoon, he returned to their small home, built from sand and stones. Inside, he found his two sisters asleep, their bodies frail and sickly. It seemed as though they wouldn't last much longer.
He handed his mother a few coins he had earned by selling camel and goat milk. With them, he bought six pieces of bread and a small amount of shahii. They ate together in silence, each of them taking their share sparingly. After the meal, they lay down to rest—his sisters sharing a thin blanket, his mother sleeping on the cold floor under a bedsheet, and Beta on the hard ground nearby.
The next day, Beta returned to the field. He decided to take on more work, heading to a construction site where an obstacle was being built. There was a rule: a man could only work for ten hours, earning two coins for each hour worked. With no other choice, Beta agreed to the terms and began working tirelessly.
After several days, he had earned enough to buy food for his family. He told the overseer he would return in three days and began the long journey home, a twenty-three-kilometer trek across the desert. He could have hired a monkey-drawn cart, but he couldn't afford the expense. Every coin was needed for survival.
After nearly a full day of walking, he reached home. His mother's hands were blistered and burned, a result of her constant labor to keep the family going. Beta wanted to tell her to stop, but he knew it was a necessary sacrifice. Without her efforts, his sisters wouldn't survive.
Beta dreamed of a better life—a life where his family could live without fear, where he could be someone of importance in this harsh world. For his family, he was willing to sacrifice anything.
To be continued...
Next chapter...
Chapter 2 : Brotherly love ||