West of the continent of Aerthos lies the Kingdom of Solara, containing the small town of Dragonspire and the Mountain of Magical Monsters. Dragonspire is one of those places where the whole town arises early; one can feel the dull, pre-dawn air nibbling at the limbs that slowly submit to the rising sun. This is a town where work was already being done. Even the youngest were up, risen to begin their daily exercises, by the time they were six or seven years old.
In the eastern edge of Dragonspire, where sunlight dapples the ground by passing through the trees, a huge group of children, some two hundred or so, is gathering. Divided into three age groups, they face three square, strapping, middle-aged men in simple short-sleeve shirts and crudely-cut trousers. On the north side are six-year-olds, in the middle, nine- to twelve-year-olds, and on the south side, thirteen- to sixteen-year-olds.
"If you wish to be fit warriors, then you must train hard from an early age," their leader said. He was a tall, austere man with great presence. His eyes passed along the front of the youngest group, who stood silent and rigid, their eyes wide under his scrutiny. This is Draven, Captain of the Guard for the noble Reshin clan which oversees Dragonspire.
"You are commoners," Draven carried on, "unlike the nobility, you will not have secret manuals that tell you how to harness battle qi. If you wish for respect, to become a person of treasure, then it can only be achieved by honing your might through sweat and effort. Do you get that?"
"Yes, sir!" the children barked together as one, their voices resounding.
That was better, Draven thought. He could see that while the younger children were confused, the older ones knew exactly how long it was when his words sunk in. In Aerthos, tradition entails that a man has to start the vigorous training since he was a child. Those who did not are more or less, looked down on by the rest. After all, in this world, it was power and coin that held sway against all else. If one did not have the power, then even the richest of the men were shunned against—sometimes by women. On the other side, all these innocent children knew: they had to be warriors to be respected and live a life of pride with no shame and glory.
Draven started them with the 'Qi Building Stance,' a simple exercise to build strength and focus. Nearly two hundred children rapidly set their legs apart, bent their knees, and pressed their hands down at their waists, like Draven had done.
"Remember, focus your concentration, calm your mind, breathe as usual!" repeated Draven, loud enough to be heard in a deep voice, as he continued pacing between the children. He could see that the older kids already had practice in this position, since they were all facing each other with steady feet and level heads, while the little ones, he noticed, kept wobbling and some nearly fell. He turned looking to his two co-instructors, "You two take the middle and southern ones, I will take the young ones."
When Draven neared the youngest children, it was evident they got amazingly anxious. "Uh-oh, here comes the Head Monster," a golden-haired kid, popularly known as Jared, was whispering to a friend.
Draven moved among them, his face grim but masking the feeling of pity. These children were but fledglings and inexperienced at that; however, he realized the more they started on the road of discipline, the more chances of them surviving future battles. He knew though that driving too hard upon the initiation of training was counter-productive.
"All of you, stand straight!" barked Draven, and the children snapped to attention. Continuing with his persuasive tactic, Draven took his shirt off, displaying his body, supple from years of turmoil, but crossed by so many scars from battles. The children's eyes went large, and they were impressed by his strength and the marks of his warrior's life.
Striving to impress them more, Draven lifted a humongous boulder and threw it nonchalantly. He then shattered a blue stone boulder lying at a distance with just one hit of his fist. The children were dumbfounded and their liking for Draven increased manifold.
"Remember, if you've reached the potential of your body, even if you're not using battle qi, you can become a powerful warrior," Draven said to all of them. "A sixth-ranked warrior can become an officer in the military, gain access to the secret manuals to cultivate battle qi, struggle to become a first-ranked warrior. That way, you can also be a part of the army, even if you're only a first-ranked warrior. If you aren't just a first-ranked warrior, you can't be considered a man."
The children, especially the youngest, exerted great effort to hold their stances, but in no time, many began to falter. Draven watched, his face strict, but inside he was well pleased with their effort. One boy stood out among the youngest group: Renji, six-year-old heir to the Reshin clan. He at least held the stance as long as some of the older children, despite his young age.
The impressed Draven stepped to him. "Renji, how are you feeling?"
Renji smiled, small canines showing. "Good, Uncle Draven."
"Good. You performed manfully," Draven praised, and with that, ruffled the boy's hair, Renji beamed with pride.
Draven was extremely attentive as the cast progressed into the waist-strengthening part of their rehearsal. Renji, for all his years, did not yield with the best of determination, holding his position much longer than many of the older children.
On noticing this, Draven directed Lorry to have a different tool for training for the next day: dyed branches to be shoved under children's waists, making sure they kept up the right posture while walking—or the dye would mark them in order to work them twice as hard.
Draven stated that core training was important, relating it to being a vessel for the battle qi. According to him, the higher the quality of core training, the more qi a warrior could store and be powerful on the battlefield.
"Today's training is over," Draven stated, for training sessions were strictly organized within the Dragonspire town—twice a day, once at dawn, and once at dusk. The moment the session ended, the children asked almost instantly in unison, "Uncle Draven, tell us a story! " This had become a daily occurrence following the morning lessons where Draven told tales of his military past or big occurrences of the continent. They were the town-realized children, and nothing but stories of military legends would quench those children. Draven enjoyed these times to inspire the children, thus further disciplining their dedication to training.
He believed in the best results coming from voluntary effort.
Draven's face relaxed into a smile as he began, "Today, I shall tell you the tale of the Four Supreme Warrior bloodlines, known throughout the continent." The children's faces shifted, their eyes lighting up in excitement. Renji sat on the ground, his heart thumping in his chest with anticipation. "The Four Supreme Warriors?" Renji's ears perked up; he listened intently.
Draven went on, steady, yet excited a little within his voice. "There were four Supreme Warriors who appeared on our continent hundreds of years ago. They are as powerful as gigantic dragons. They could stride across millions of armies and kill any general easily. These four warriors are legendary: Dragonfire Warrior, Phoenixflame Warrior, Whitetiger Warrior, and Turtledome Warrior."
He explained their rankings, "Warriors have nine rankings in total. I'm at the sixth-rank warrior. I can smash boulders and knock down trees. But the ninth-rank warriors are barely seen, even in our own Solara Kingdom. The Four Supreme Warriors are well above the ninth rank. They are at the very pinnacle of warriors. At the top of the rankings, they can be grouped with the Saint-level warriors.
Draven's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he described what the Saint-level warriors could do. "They can melt giant icebergs, stir up the seas into furious waves, crumble mountains, topple entire cities, and make meteors fall from the sky! They are virtually unbeatable, the ultimate embodiment of power.".
The children were silent, overwhelmed by the magnitude Draven was describing. Draven indicated a mountain further in the distance. "See Dragonspire. How huge is it?" The children nodded as it was something everybody would take notice of. "But it can be destroyed by a Saint-level warrior in just a blink of the eye," Draven compared it. Stunned, the children had fear for a while, then the mix of fear and longing crept in.
While the children slowly painfully disappeared towards their homes, Draven, Roger and Lorry were standing there. He observed the children leaving with a smile on his face. "Those kids make up Dragonspire's future," he said, impressioning Oswego 312.
The scene was reminiscent of their younger days as Roger and Lorry reminisced. "Captain Draven, your power is now far bigger than Potter's back in the old days. I believe with Dragonspire under your command, it shall be the strongest among the other towns here in our region," added Lorry with conviction.
Curious, Lorry asked, "Captain, how do you know so much about the Four Supreme Warriors and Saint-level warriors?" Draven looked a little sheepish as he admitted, "Actually, I'm not entirely sure about their true strength. They are all legend figures, and no one has seen them for years.".
Lorry and Roger were stunned. "So you've been telling the children stories without even knowing the real deal?" Draven only smiled. "I may not know their strength exactly enough to place them in line, but I saw a Saint level of a mage blow whole armies and cities to mest; I know a Saint should be on the same strength. I was trying to get the kids to train harder, to see if they have what it takes, and well, I'd say by their reactions that it's worked."
As the other children went their separate ways, he walked home, still thinking of becoming one of the Saint-level warriors. As the other kids set off in their different directions, he made his way to the Reshin manor, which by now was a dilapidated shadow of its former self. Renji couldn't keep thoughts of his future off his mind. Standing before him was the manor—a remnant from the rich history of his clan. He was sure it was well past its original prime, but he was not.
Before long, Draven, Roger, and Lorry had caught up with him. Renji was so excited that he turned to Draven and asked, "Uncle Draven, can I become a Saint-level warrior too?" Obviously, Draven was quite stunned by this sudden question but was moved by how serious Renji sounded. He had thought about how hard it is to become a Saint-level warrior and how much effort one needs to put in. It's an enormous task to be a Saint-level warrior, but Draven said, "I think you have that potential to become great.". Renji, determined, asked to train with the older kids. Draven accepted because he was impressed by Renji's drive and will to train hard. So, a new journey began for Renji as he started to train with the central squad of ten-year-old children and continued training under Draven.