In the new world, they had a similar concept to Christmas, where gifts were exchanged, called Luborelia after the god of truth. During the festival people are supposed to be open to one another and give gifts reflecting how they feel. At school, Clara gave me a gift of a doll that had been stabbed to death. She said she made it herself, especially for me and that it represented me. I found it adorable. I ended up feeling bad 'cause I didn't get her gift.
Alex Drossel and his parents came over, one of whom turned out to be a Dwarf baker, making Alex half Dwarf. We ended up celebrating Luborelia in Charlottesquare, which had the largest Winter market in the city. You had the typical carousels, endless amounts of sweets, a giant Ferris wheel, mulled wine for the parents, and so on.
In the meantime, tensions between Clestia and Yudila escalated. Clestia mobilized many of its troops toward its border. The biggest fear of Clestia was that they would be attacked by the Socialist Council Federation of Iomas. The citizens of Iomas overwhelmingly supported intervention on behalf of Yudila, however, the leadership of the country seemed to be undecided. This was because of the international context. The main fear of Iomas was the human supremacist nation of Eislath. Iomas was actively pursuing a pact with Clestia and was not looking forward to going to war with Clestia. The most probable scenario was that Iomas was not going to intervene.
Yudila itself was also in crisis. While General Vagan had seized the capital and most of the major cities, a few holdouts of the previous government remained and fiercely fought against Vagan's forces. If Clestia wouldn't attack the Socialist government would most likely win the war. But if Clestia did attack the Socialist government would have no chance.
Clestia had its own set of issues, merely six years ago they had a civil war, from which they had not properly recovered. House and food prices were too high and the government was in way too much debt. If Clestia got into a full-scale war, especially against Iomas, they could easily risk internal collapse. For Clestia attacking Yudila was a gamble. But it was a gamble that they were probably willing to take.
After the winter holiday was over the war broke out. Clestia invaded Yudila. Protests against the war occurred throughout the Kingdom, especially in Circlehill, that were quickly suppressed by the authorities. Clestia's initial charge into Yudila had been successful, however, the more they went along, the fiercer the resistance they met. The leadership had also bungled their supply lines which Yudilian partisans took advantage of.
I continued school normally. Every morning I saw my father looking at the news with a frown and a nice cup of coffee. Months quickly blew by. The rhetoric in Iomas against Clestia grew with every month fiercer. Meanwhile, the conquest of Yudila was proceeding smoothly. Vagan had supposedly been critically injured by a drone attack.
Seeing how the international situation was growing, I decided to take more of an interest in combat. Unfortunately, I wasn't old enough to be allowed to do firearms training but I asked my parents to go to a mixed martial arts school, I had done some research about. The grandmaster of the various schools was an elf by the name of Nicolas Valli who was over two hundred years old. It's believed that he had mastered all martial arts styles in the world. He also participated in numerous wars, refining his style with his experience during actual combat. My parents agreed to send me to one of the schools located in Oldtown.
Oldtown was as the name implies a town with old buildings. The streets were labyrinthian with old residential buildings acting as barriers. Cyclists crowded the narrow streets, leaving barely enough room for small cars. Every few feet a fresh bakery sold its wares, filling the streets with an endless scent of fresh baked goods. Oldtown was mainly inhabited by Dwarfs.
The Dojo was a large building in front of a large intersection. It had a large gate which led to a large open front yard with various training equipment. The inside of the building was a large hall where students practised their forms. We went up to the master who was an old Dwarf with long greying white hair and equally long grey beard. His eyes were black and had epicanthal folds. He wore a blue gi with a black belt.
"So you are the new arrival. Do you think you have what it takes to master the great martial art of Grandmaster Valli?" He said.
"I guess," I replied.
"Hmpf, you will address me with 'Master'."
"I guess, Master," I corrected.
"You guess, is that right? Let me look at you. You are strong for your age." He said while circling me. "But strength isn't everything. You must learn how to use every part of your body as a single weapon. You must learn to act without thinking. I will make you learn. You will not like it. Go get changed and come back."
"Yes, Master."
The Dwarf smiled, "Now bow before you leave."
I bowed and left to get changed into my gi, which my parents bought for me. When I returned the Master put me through the most gruelling training I ever had. I thought I was doing a lot of training before, but the Master sought to push me past my limits even when I thought I was dying. It was extremely painful, to say the least, but also weirdly rewarding. I also got to learn my first Form.
I attended the martial arts school three days a week for two hours a day. The master made sure to properly condition my body and drill me in all the various forms suited to my belt. On the side, I continue to build up my repertoire of skills. My main field of study was math for now. It's one of the most useful skills for most jobs, after all, many consider math the language of God. My second field of study was on warfare. I looked through all the various weapons and how they were used. I looked at modern military tactics and searched up consistent scientific studies on how well they performed on the field. I also read old classics for strategic aspects. I figured that if I lived in a world of war it's best to prepare for war.
Alex in the meantime would often visit as well. I taught him the things I learned from the martial school. When it came to fitness he had a natural talent. I got my parents to get me some sparring gear and when I tested fighting techniques with Alex I found that he was more than capable at fighting.