"I don't remember how all this 'shit' began. Everyone around me is already dead, those I once loved are dead, so can you tell me why I'm still alive?
I may never get that answer. Even in the moment of death, I can't find the answer. But what am I thinking? In the middle of the battlefield, thinking about such things... I should try to conserve my energy as much as possible until someone comes to try and save me. As the light fades slowly, I hear a voice.
'Save him, please!!'
Who could be shouting that? Well, it doesn't matter. This war began two years ago and has devastated everything around it. How did I get involved in all this tragedy? I will tell you in detail, like my last breath.
To tell my story, I must go back ten years, when I was still an innocent child with dreams and feelings.
I was born into one of the most feared clans in the world, the "Shisui". This clan has two branches that must obey without question under a blood pact. The branches have abbreviated names from the main family. The first is called "Shi", and its main characteristics are black hair and yellow eyes. It's a proud and populous clan that specializes in close combat and tracking.
The second and last branch is "Sui". Their characteristics include blonde hair and green eyes. It's a clan with few members, but they specialize in healing magic and the study of medicine. But among the three clans, the one that stands out the most is the main family.
Their black hair and blue eyes are the clear mark of their clan, specializing in the arts of war. The main family is the pride of the kingdom of Unandir.
Even being born into this grand family, my childhood was not easy. My mother, Eleonor, was a concubine to my father, Lord Alduin of Unandir. I was not a legitimate son, so I had some issues with the rest of the family.
My father had a total of five children, three girls and two boys – and as you can imagine, I suffered a bit at the 'hands' of these children, as I was the youngest among them.
At five years old, my father integrated me into the personal training group of his children.
'I don't want to join them, mom, those kids are mean,' I said to my mother, trembling with fear because I knew I wouldn't return home until the training was finished.
'Don't worry, you'll become a very strong man. I'm sure you'll endure anything with this training,' my mother said. Little did she know, that this training would soon become pointless.
I lived in a house outside the main mansion of my family. Being an 'illegitimate' son, it was more than normal. Suddenly, one night, a guard came to fetch me.
'Who's knocking at the door tonight?' my mother said, and upon opening the door, she realized it was a guard in polished armor.
'Lady Eleonor, I've come to fetch your son, as he is going to the training field,' said the guard.
'Mom, I don't want to go to that place,' I showed such fear that perhaps she believed me. My mother kneeled and said to me:
'My son, I have nothing to offer you, but your father wants to make you part of the army. This is an opportunity you must not waste. Goodbye, my son. I promise I will always pray for you. I love you, Zenoir.'
My mother hugged me and said her farewell. As the guard led me to the barracks, I turned around and looked at my mother's face. Despite the sadness, she gave me a beautiful smile, one I would never forget.
At that moment, I cried like a stray dog, but for some reason, that guard looked at me and said:
'Boy, be strong so that one day you can reunite with your mother,' said the well-groomed guard, and those words struck me cold, so cold that in that instant, I wiped my tears and continued walking without showing any emotion.
The barracks were located outside the city, near a large forest, not far, perhaps a half-hour walk. That night, I had to sleep in the first bed the guard provided.
And thus began my days of training. I trained every single day, from dawn to dusk. Without showing any discontent, I trained fencing with wooden swords alongside my three sisters, who were three years older than me. Only my brothers were the same age as I.
One of my sisters, Nora, stood out among all of us, not only for her skill but also for her beauty and the way she wielded a sword.
That beautiful girl with short hair and blue eyes still considered me part of the family and treated me with respect.
'Come on, Zeno (as she called me by nickname), show some improvement,' Nora said, holding the wooden sword. Despite how tired I was, I had no more energy to continue.
At that moment, I simply collapsed on the grass.
'I'm tired. That's enough for today,' I told Nora.
She walked toward me, pointed the wooden sword at my face, and said:
'If you want to be strong, you must show strength,' Nora said with a serious tone. Maybe she was angry, I would never know.
'Nora, can we train together after the instructors' training?'
'Sure, why not?'
And so, I trained hard until I turned ten. When I reached ten, my training began with something the instructors called "mana."
In the barracks, there were classrooms where the instructors taught, and one of those instructors was Professor Kuro, a man who was neither tall nor short, but what stood out was his long beard. He taught us about the use of mana.
'Mana is the essence of your soul, and you can use this essence to create and shape different things, with the most common being weapons,' Professor Kuro said, responding to a student's question, 'What is mana?'
'I still don't understand much, professor. What kind of "things" can we create with mana?' asked the tall, dumb student.
'Anything in your imagination, as long as it follows the laws of physics,' Kuro replied. This professor explains things well.
Suddenly, a female student raised her hand and asked:
'But professor, what if I want to create a house?'
'You could, but you would die because your mana would run out,' the professor answered.
'Tomorrow we'll teach you how to materialize your soul, so be prepared and well-rested. Tomorrow will be a long day.'
That long day finally arrived. Materialize my soul? What the hell is that?
In the barracks, there was an arena where we could experiment without destroying anything around.
'Well, before we begin, I'll give you an example,' Professor Kuro said, stroking his long beard.
At that moment, he extended his hand, and suddenly I saw photons of light moving toward his palm. All those photons gathered, and the light became round, growing bigger with each passing second until it formed a two-meter-long sword that weighed at least ten kilos. The students were astonished and a little surprised. They had never seen anything like it.
'This is the form of my soul. It is in a normal form, without the mana being "literally" activated,' revealed Professor Kuro.
To be continued...