On a sunny spring day, in Kane's last moments in the orphanage where he spent the last four years of his life, the last views before he left were soldiers closing the cart and in the background, priestesses waving to the children who had been taken away, along with curious little orphans peeking in from behind the door. The sun's rays falling on Kane, warm and pleasant, reminded him of his mother's love and his happy days in the village. He closed his eyes, and with a deep breath, brought back his memories of his mother's smile, the children of the village with whom he went out to play in the wheat fields, for which they were scolded by their neighbors, and the wooden houses lined up along the sandy road leading into the distance, invisible to the eye. The rustling of tree leaves and deep, tall grass calmed Kane.

He opened his eyes when he felt the cart begin to drive away. Having never left his village and later his orphanage, it was the first time Kane had ever seen so many people and diverse, unfamiliar places as he traveled through the Kingdom. He spent most of his time in the wagon, watching the scenery pass behind them. After leaving Millwood, the oldest in the group, a 13-year-old child, overcame his distrust of the soldiers and dared to ask a question that had been on everyone's mind but was afraid to ask.

"Excuse me, where are you taking us? How far are we going to go?"

Asked the boy, proud of himself for being able to speak up to the soldier. Commander Rayder, disrupting his chat with the rest of the messengers, glanced at the bunch of children looking in his direction and reluctantly said after a sigh.

"We will be traveling for about three days, we are taking you near the capital to Byrock, where the soldiers of the Forsteck Kingdom are training, You will hear all the details on the spot, now sit quietly and do not disturb."

He finished his information, not hiding the fact that he doesn't like children.

The children, finding out where they were going, only had more questions. Even Kane, who had not been interested in anything until now, had unanswered questions in his mind when he heard about the capital. Continuing their journey in stunned silence, hearing only the creak of the carriage and the stomp of the horses, the orphans watched the passing scenery.

"Did you see that kid, with such a dead look? What's the matter with him?"

"They lived near the border, so some of the children were survivors of the Empire's attacks. Adults would still somehow endure such events, but them? They haven't even seen the world outside their village, and they managed to see a true hell with their own eyes..."

"Although in just a few years they will be able to take their revenge, if they succeed."

"We'll see, maybe at least one of them will have a talent worth attention."

He summed up the conversation, sighing.

Kane, bored, watching the wheat fields and forests spread before his eyes, and listening to the soldiers' conversations about politics, fell asleep. After 3 days of boring and drawn-out travel, the children of the orphanage finally heard from one of the messengers.

"Get up everyone, here we are".

Exhausted by the journey, the children, with slight nausea, slowly picked up their stuff and climbed out of the cart, covering their eyes from the sun's rays hitting their faces. The first thing they saw when they arrived was the Forsteck Kingdom's military academy, located just outside the city walls. 

A place full of wooden dummies for training in swordsmanship and archery, bamboo stands for polishing sword skills. Kane noticed more carts in front of him with children coming out of them; they were not the first to reach this place and probably not the last. Everyone's observation of the area was interrupted by the orders Rayder Warlash gave to his subordinate.

"Knight Jamel Pieren, lead everyone to the dormitory, have them settle in and put away their belongings."

"Yes sir!"

The soldier saluted, striking twice with his fist on his armor, making a metallic sound like a drum, then took Kane and the rest of the children to the place where they were going to live for the next few years.

On the way to the dormitory, Kane continued to look at the area in wonder, passing crowds of teenagers as they trained and ran around the square, which only deepened his curiosity about what awaited him, though he's still taking a cool approach to the situation and not allowing himself to stimulate feelings of excitement, having an attitude of what will be, will be.

The messenger with whom Kane arrived brought them to the building after a short walk through the training grounds.

"We have arrived, go inside and get the details from your new tutor" 

After which, the soldier walked back to his commander.

The dormitory turned out to be the largest building the children had seen in their lives, surpassing the orphanage by several times in size. A large, rectangular old building with 3 floors, with boulder foundations and damaged walls that were once white, stained with mud and dust.

They all went inside, seeing only upon entering a teenage boy, who was muscular for his age and had a sword at his waist.

"You're the last group, all of you go to the dining hall through the passage on the right, that's where the tutor is waiting with the rest."

Then the soldier walked back out to the training ground after escorting the last group.

The dining hall turned out to be large enough to fit all the residents of the dormitory at the same time. The place was full of wooden tables, at which were sitting frightened or excited children who had come from all over the kingdom from their orphanages or were sent by their parents. Suddenly, all of Priestess Corinna's charges stood scared, hearing a shout directed toward them by a nervous tutor at the entrance.

"Oi, you in the passage! Sit down immediately in your seats and don't talk!"

Everyone immediately ran to the nearest empty seats, looking with fear in their eyes at the tutor, the first person to yell at them in several years.

"As far as I know, it's already everyone.... My name is Lorenz Shaster, former Attack General, currently, I am one of the tutors in this dormitory. As of today, you are recruits of the Forsteck Kingdom's military, For the next few years, you will be trained here by your tutors until you reach the rank of knight. All your questions will be answered by the tutors to whom you will be assigned, and now that all of you have lined up, I will write down your names and allocate your rooms."

Everyone lined up in one long line, and conversations could be heard echoing in the dining hall as they waited for their room. Lorenz began writing down the names of the children one by one with his pen, immediately assigning them rooms in the order they were all lined up. Kane, who, along with the rest of the children from his orphanage at the entrance, ran up to the random places closest to them, realized they would be living with unknown children.

When it was Kane's turn, the tutor did not even look in his direction, only asked without taking his eyes off the list.

"Name, surname, age."

The boy answered without a moment's hesitation

"Kane Gawter, age 10."

"Room 173 on the 2nd floor, your tutor is Nilon Sager, you will recognize him by the scar on his right cheek, put your stuff in your room and go out to the training ground to see your tutor. Next!"

The boy headed toward the exit in search of the stairs upstairs. Looking for his room, he looked at the area, unconsciously memorizing the way to his room and places in the dormitory, as he have a good sense of direction since birth. 

Being already on the 2nd floor, after walking up the creaky wooden stairs, he heard battle screams from outside the window. He looked outside in search of the source of the noise. He saw training teenagers doing sparring, only the stomping of the shoes of lost children looking for their rooms distracted Kane from the spectacle, and walking along the corridor, he counted down, mumbling under his breath, the placards with the room numbers.

"169, 170, 171, 172... here."

He sighed to himself, tired at the thought of having to talk to anyone inside. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, waited a second in front of the door, then went inside. 

In the 4-person room, there was only one boy besides him, a bit older than him. Full of enthusiasm, immediately approached Kane upon seeing him.