My father is a giant, though if you were to look at him you might be surprised to hear it. Even though giants have the ability to change their size and weight, my father was born with a mutation that made him shorter than most giants. He still has the same strength and abilities that the giants have but he can only grow as tall as the kilometer-long trees of the great Berkton forest and not taller than the highest of mountains like other giants. He bares four eyes that burn greater than the sun, He had long unkempt dark hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and he apparently lost his arm in battle when he was younger. That is what he has told at least. 

My father picks me up from the ground, holding me in his arm and letting out a belly laugh. 

"HaHaHa!" 

“Did you have fun exploring Berkton my boy?” He says his voice echoing with glee. 

“Oh yes. There were so many different things, like different shops of all sorts and people!” I told my father. 

“Sounds like you've had fun.” a third voice says coming from the shed, this one a bit more hoarse.

Then out of the shed walks an old man wearing a white tunic and matching brown pants carrying a tall box on his back. Behind the old gray man is a woman around my mother's age wearing a black dress, her brown hair trying to cover up a scar that runs down the left side of her face. 

"Grandpa! Auntie Madeline!” I yell out in surprise. 

I jump out of my father's arm and greet the two. After greeting the two and leading them inside we all sit around a small table, My father takes out a bottle of some red liquid and pours it in three cups. My grandfather was offered one of the cups by my father, but he simply shakes his head as he pulls out a small flask from his pocket. 

“And here you go.” My father says after handing me a cup of water. 

“So how was it experiencing the real world?” My grandfather asks his voice a bit raspy after taking a swing from his flask. 

“It was so fun! There was so much stuff in just one place.” I say, excited. 

“There was so much noise and there were a lot of people selling stuff. Some were selling big pelts of fur and I saw big black stone towers that were spitting out smoke. Oh, and there was this bookshop with a strange man who made lights fly around. It's almost like the stories you used to tell me.” I told him. 

“Is that so!” My grandfather says with a laugh. 

“Wait moving lights? A magus? Out here?” Madeline asks my mom, surprised after hearing what I said.

“Yeah. He told us he was a retired explorer.” My mother explained.

“But why here, there isn't much for a scholar to find out here.” Madeline says.

“He probably found enough out in his travels, either enough for one man to read his entire life or he found too much” my grandfather chimes in taking another swing from his flask.

“And that reminds me of something.” he continues as he stands up to go get the box he had with him as my parents and Madeline continue to talk. 

Before walking back to us I see my grandfather stop and look at the box in his hands. I couldn't see clearly but it almost looked like he was whispering something. He then calls upon me. 

“Arameth, come here will ya. I have a gift for you.” 

I did as he asked. Now standing in front of him he bends down a bit so we see each other eye to eye. He slowly opened the box, now also having the attention of the others. 

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.” he commands. 

I do as he says again. Hearing the creak of the wooden box’s lid open more. After some hesitation, I feel a cold metal-like form being laid onto my hands. It almost falls out of my hands because of its weight but as quickly as I grasp the form I can feel it get lighter as if it was reshaping itself to fit me. When I Open my eyes I see that in my hand lies a sword as black as the night sky. A long sharp obsidian black metal mass, a blade that looks sharp yet dull at the same time, its crosguard sticking out like spikes, its grip woven in a brown leather and its pommel formed like tear drop. It was the very same sword from my grandfather's last expedition.  

I let out an audible “wow” as my golden eyes get wider as I inspect the sword.  

“Beautiful isn't it.” My grandfather says. 

I only nod my head. I can't let out a word, it almost feels like I'm in a trance. 

“Makes you think. How can something so beautiful be so deadly?” He continues. 

“Well, it's yours now Arameth.” He tells me. 

“It's finally yours…” He says now with a lower town. 

I start to swing it around. The feeling of holding a sword in my hands feels awkward, I almost fall over since the weight of the sword feels like it's shifting constantly. But as I hold the sword it reminds me of the many swordsmen and women from fairy tales. My father quickly stands up and stops my swinging so I don't hurt or break anything. 

As I held it I felt a little weird, because my parents would never let me hold a weapon before. So a thought crosses my mind and I quickly look over to my father. Who looks like he already knows what I'm about to ask. 

“Then can I…” I say.

My father looks at me and says.

“Yes. I think you're old enough to start to learn the basics of swordsmanship. If you still want to learn of course.” He says with a smile.

Since I first heard of stories of people exploring the world and warriors who battled mighty beasts I had always wanted to learn swordsmanship and fight like the warriors from the stories. But whenever I asked my parents they would tell me to wait until I was older, and now I could finally start learning. I had tried to copy what my parents did from a distance using sticks but I could never truly grasp what they did but now I would. I would be able to start being like the warriors, from my books that became mighty kings. 

With a big smile, I say. 

“Yes!” 

“Then we better not hear any complaining.” My mother told me jokingly. 

"Wait. You're going to teach him, Miranda? You could barely train the soldiers back in the day, so how are you planning on training a kid with no experience.” Madeline teases my mother. 

“I guess you could say patients with age” My mother snaps back. 

“Sure…But anyway boy. If your parents are having a hard time trying to teach you then why don't you just ask them to take you to Fardum. Since it just happens that yours truly just got the position as head teacher in the arts of warfare and fighting.” Madeline tells me. 

“You became a teacher?” My father says surprised.

“Yeah. My reputation must be far greater than expected.” Madeline bragged striking a pose. 

“But honestly how much did you pay them for that job?” My grandfather teases Madeline.

“Oh go eat horse dung, old man.” Madeline responded. 

So the evening continued with my grandfather talking about the things he saw while traveling the continent and Madeline sharing stories from her and my mother's past, and eventually, Grandpa and Madeline left into the night. Grandpa went to a small inn that was located in Berkton. While Madeline had planned to travel into the night on her horse. Before she left, Madeline gave me a gift. It was a necklace. A blank coin with the word “Virtue'' etched into it, hanging from a leather rope. She threaded the necklace over my head and let it hang from my neck.