"Are you sure you wanna continue?"

"Why not? let's go another round!! I still can go!!"

"You' serious?"

"Totally!"

The young man attacked from the left, he knew the old man didn't have a good eye sight from that perspective. But the old man had incredible reflexes even without his eyes. He quickly turned his body and extended his left leg. The steel made its way to the ground. The boy yelled and cursed, and while he was at it, the man turned his own sword and looked at him from above.

"You still have a long way to go if you can't defeat me, and that only lasted like 5 seconds".

He offered his big hand to the young male.

"I don't want your pity". He declined the offer.

"Well son, if you want to improve, the first thing you need to do is to stop underestimating your opponent. That was some fatal move you just performed there. Lucky you I'm your father".

"You call that luck? That was just you taking pity on me!"

"Now, don't cry, if you wanna become a royal knight, you absolutely must learned from your mistakes, and stop being a crybaby for Hera's sake".

"You know what? I'm pissed, I'm just gonna go wander around for an hour or so... don't wait for me at dinner".

"Do as you want, but your mother's the one who's gonna be the angriest if you don't come back".

"Just tell her a bear ate me".

"Sure, why not?"

"See 'u later".

"take care of the bear".

The two of them parted ways in the middle of the woods. Altough it could be dangerous for any other person, both of them didn't hesitate about leaving the other. The forest was their home, and they perfectly knew their ways home, hence, there was no problem in getting lost. They would find joy in that.

Between tree and tree, the smell of olives and grass would acompanny the boy wherever he would go. From his perspective, the vast sky only felt more and more distant as the trees became taller with each step.All kinds of colorful birds would meet his eyes, and the essence of wood had a powerful charm that from time to time would thrill his body.

It felt like a secret paradise for him...

"Mmhhm... why can't I just become a animal like a god and live right here forever?? That would feel glorious. I mean who wouldn't want to live here? The smell of fresh water and the beautiful sight make a great combo".

The boy had found his favorite spot: a waterfall, and he would just sit there for hours, chatting with himself about how charming nature was. Just him, himself and he.

"Really... the castle is the only place on earth were I would like to be besides here. When I marry the princess, I'm going to show her around here".

I used to dream about the possibility of marrying a princess and living in the castle... my ultimate goal was getting a comfortable life with a beautiful woman by my side, and maybe a child to whom I could teach all the basics in fighting.

All of that came to me whenever I thought about my parents, both of them were happy toghether, and they deserved to live happily wherever they wanted. But the problem was that it just wasn't enough for me, I wanted much more than just a "happy family living in the woods", and I thought I could possibly find that in a big castle. Just like the one that was right in front of me.

"If only I could defeat my father".

—RUSTLE—

"Huh?..."

The young man grabbed his sword and suddenly standed up. He waited for the animal to come out of its hideout.

"What is it now... where did that come from? —he whispered to himself—".

—RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE—

The noise had been too close and strong to deny that it was going to attack him at any time. He prepared his feet to move and made the first hit before his opponent.

He ran...

"GAHAAAAAAAA...AAaaaah... uh???"

At that time, I actually had imagined of a great beast trying to murder me, but what I got in returned, was a little boy of around 2-3 years-old. He was really shabby-looking. He had no shoes and his eyes where almost dryied out, as if the sun was gradually losing its brightness.

I tried talking to him and putting away my sword to not scared him.

"Hey kid, umm, are you alright? Did you get lost? It's not common for people to find this place... can you umm, tell me your name?"

But the kid didn't even make a sound, until... all of a sudden, some strangers passed by. He grabbed my clothes and looked at me, I didn't hear anything but I knew inmediately what he wanted to tell me. I hid with him.

"Who are these people?"

They came with a bunch of other kids and they all were in a deplorable state. Some were hit as they tried to sit down, and I couldn't help but noticed one death kid that the other ones kept dragging with them. It seemed like they were not allowed to leave anyone behind.

Then I looked at the kid next to me. His eyes became blank. I thought he was strong because he didn't cried no matter what. I couldn't see tears. However, I saw them from a different kid the next second.

One of the leaders noticed, and he outbursted in anger. He grabbed one stick on the ground and with all his forced, lifted it as high as he could. I did not see the next scene with my own eyes. I hadn't had a terror that great in a long time, and most of all, I wasn't expecting a quick answer about why he hadn't cry yet. The screams and whimpers of the baby were shaking enough for me to never forget them, it became my mark.

When the strangers went back on their way, I standed up and grabbed the kid on my arms.

"Hey! It's fine now, I will protect you, why don't you come with me? I will tell mom to call you son too".

I was scared that if I left the child there he wouldn't be able to survive, or... that they would eventually find him. I couldn't think of anything else.

"You..."

Then he started crying.

"It's fine, it's fine... I'm here right now, cry all you want... I know we're total strangers but... I'm sure you will come to like me, and my family, we're good people".

I took the child home with me.