Two figures walked in a remote area; a boy and a girl were wandering around in a vacant lot at the entrance of an abandoned temple.
"Wait for me here, Leo; don't enter until I tell you, understand?"
"Yeah, Liz," Leo replied in a downcast manner, then muttered, "Why do we have to come to this creepy temple every day? ... and why do I always have to be the one to accompany her?"
Leo's sister, Liz looked at him with a teasing gaze. "Oh? Don't tell me, are you scared, Leo?"
"N-not at all!"
Liz laughed and added, "I'm just kidding, just kidding~ Besides, I already told you, Leo, since I made a pact with Ginivere, I have to come and pray at this temple every day, so be a good boy and wait here."
"O-okay"
Humans and sacred creatures called seres can form a friendly bond through a pact; this pact could be anything from offering food to other types of activities; in other words, it's an exchange. In this way, seres lend humans their powers.
Leo and Liz are villagers from a small village in Paldez called Verulia. Leo is a young boy with green eyes but very thin and flimsy in appearance; on the other hand, his older sister Liz is also similarly green-eyed and has beautiful long brown hair.
Liz approached the doors of the old abandoned temple, whose structure was covered by vines and overgrown wild grass. However, judging by its type of construction, one could say that the temple must have been very opulent in older times.
Liz stopped halfway remembering something.
"Oh right, Ginivere doesn't like dark places; Leo, take care of her until I'm finished," she said while throwing a small silver necklace with an emerald-colored gem in the middle.
Leo caught the necklace, and after holding it in his hands, he found it curious that the artifact had a light weight.
"Huh, so this is an amulet," he said in amazement as he looked at the small emerald embedded in the small necklace.
An amulet is the object used to carry seres; the object could vary; it could be a sword, a glove, etc. An amulet was not easy to obtain; only people with special training could acquire it.
Leo sat on a bench outside the temple. He kept looking in the direction of the temple with a worried expression. Leo could not wait to leave that place, and for some reason it gave him chills.
Several hours passed and it was beginning to get dark; not only that, several monsoon clouds began to accumulate, announcing that rain was approaching. Leo thought: I have to tell her, it's getting late... But then he recalled Liz warning him not to enter without her permission.
"What the heck do I do?" he said desperately. Maybe he should wait a little longer, he thought.
Tap tap.
"Huh?"
He felt an unpleasant presence, and at the same time he felt a stench strong enough to cover his nose.
At that moment, the necklace that Leo was wearing in his hand began to shine, and he heard a voice in his mind—the delicate voice of a lady but with a troubled tone.
[Run for your life, Leo; you're in danger; don't worry about Liz; she'll be fine].
"Ahhhhh." In that instance, Leo heard his sister scream.
Of course he didn't know how to react; he thought I couldn't leave Liz.
He aproached the entrance of the temple and slowly opened its flimsy doors.
"Liz, we have to go! , somethi-! Liz?" Leo whishpered while desperately scanning the entire area with his gaze, but unfortunately for him he couldn't locate Liz; instead, what he saw was something he didn't expect.
In the center of the darkroom, there was a gigantic silhouette, yellow eyes that glowed faintly in the darkness, and a tail full of scales stood out.
Leo was open-mouthed; he thought his eyes were playing a trick on him, but they weren't.
A huge bolt of lightning fell, announcing the rain and illuminating the entire interior of the temple. Leo could clearly, although briefly, see the strange creature that was in front of him.
Green scales, teeth as sharp as knives, and the entire floor covered in blood. A giant lizard.
Leo, with trembling feet, tripped on a piece of wood that was on the floor.
Crack
"...!!!"
The sound was loud enough to draw the attention of that creature. Upon seeing Leo, the giant lizard snorted through his nostrils and charged at high speed towards Leo.
With a single leap, that creature was already so close that his fate seemed unavoidable.
Leo stumbled in shock, falling on his buttocks.
"This is the end... I'm dead," he thought.
However, once again, Leo heard the delicate voice of the same woman, this time with more urgency than before.
I told you to run away! [I'll hold this creature off for a few seconds; take advantage of the moment and go!]
The creature launched an attack with its sharp claws at Leo but was unable to hurt him.
A green sphere separated Leo from that beast.
Is that Guinivere's voice? Leo thought
What are you doing? Run!]
Leo ran with all his might, between tears of confusion. As he advanced, he thought more and more about his sister. Will he be okay? Should I go back? What will I tell the others in the village?
But he filled himself with courage and headed to the town. "This is not the time to get discouraged; I must warn the others what is happening; everyone is in danger with that beast wandering around."
...
Once in the town, Leo stopped to take a breath. He was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat; however, good luck was on his side, or so he thought, because all the neighbors, including the mayor and his cousin, were gathered for some reason in front of the entrance of the town.
"Everyone, listen up!! It's impotent," he shouted loud enough to get everyone's attention, but he stopped to take a breath once more.
"Oh, it's Leo! Why are you sweating?"
"What's wrong with you? Why are you so agitated?"
Leo looked at everyone present and burst into tears. He wanted to say many things, but he didn't know where to start.
"A monster, a giant lizard! And Liz, she..." Leo tried to communicate the message between sobs, but.
"Liz? Who is she? As far as I know, you only live with one person, your cousin, am I wrong?" The man who spoke was Lenorio, the mayor of the town, a small man dressed in a purple tunic with a big mole on the nose, known for having a horrible attitude.
"I think your cousin went crazy Priscilla," continued the man.
"Who is Liz Leo?" said Priscilla, Leo's cousin.
"Huh?"
Leo was stupefied; how could they forget his sister? She was very respected by everyone in the town, a warm person who always helped those she could, and with her abilities granted by her Seres, she cured the sick and elderly women in the town.
"Stop joking, it's not funny; I'm serious!" Leo, losing his patience, shouted desperately.
"Leo.." The mayor of the town approached him and said mockingly, "Don't tell me that you have been consuming drugs." What you describe is a lizardman; those beings were eradicated by the new king! They are extinct, understand?"
"...."
"What? Are you going to keep crying? Why don't you become a man once and for all?"
Leo always felt hatred for the mayor because he always looked strangely at Liz and Priscilla, along with the other women of the town. He was a hateful and disgusting guy.
Everyone left while laughing and making fun of him; they took him for a madman when he had never told a lie in his life; even his cousin looked at him with a worried face.
"Why does no one believe me? What is happening? Dammit!" Tears ran down his cheeks while his hand formed a fist.
"Hey Leo, are you okay?" Priscilla tried to comfort Leo.
The necklace once again glowed green; this time the collar lifted up and pointed in a direction.
"!!!" Leo and Priscilla stared at the collar in shock.
Leo felt a tremendous force pulling him, making it impossible to resist.
"Whoaa"
"L-Leo?"
Leo let himself be carried away, as if a person had pulled him. He walked for several minutes at the same time his cousin followed closely behind him.
They arrived at a small wooded area not far from the town; right in the center of that area lay the silhouette of a person, more specifically a kid.
"Good heavens, we must help him quickly Leo."
The boy was wearing white clothes similar to those worn by the kingdom's royal knights; however, there was a peculiarity: his clothes were torn to shreds as if he had been in combat.
"Hmm," the boy opened his eyes slightly and looked at Leo and Priscilla, although his gaze fell on the latter.
Extending his hand, he weakly exclaimed towards the girl, "I nee-I... Khe..."
Leo and Pricilla looked expectantly; perhaps the most correct thing would have been to immediately help the boy; however, in the town they had the custom of listening to the last will of someone dying; given the boy's condition, they both thought he might not make it.
"Please don't abandon me, Khesar." That strange boy spoke in a low voice, as though he were hallucinating or remembering a past memory.