***6 years later***

“Kallistos!”

“Kallistos! Where are you?!?”

A woman’s shouts could be heard all over the cabin

“There you are, do you know how long I’ve been calling out your name” the woman told her son who was in his study room, sitting on his desk while engulfed in his books

“Kallistos, do you hear me?” The woman asked her son who is still reading the book. The woman sighed and left out a soft chuckle as she took her son’s book and asked “Are you listening?” 

Kallistos was startled, he was so deeply immersed in the book he was reading that he didn’t pay attention to anything in his surroundings

“I’m sorry mom, I didn’t realize you were calling me” Kallistos stated as he looked at his mom with his big and blue puppy dog eyes. Blue eyes that shone brightly like they were gemstones

Kallistos’s mom sighs and accepts his apology “I know, I know, *sigh* how can I be mad at this handsome young face” Kallistos’ mom says as she pinches Kallistos’ cheeks and then ruffles his pitch black hair

“Mom!” 

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop but you better go down stairs the food will get cold” The mom says as she goes down the stairs and into the dining room with her son following her

On the dining table several dishes were laid out it looked like a big feast. Kallistos was confused on why there was so much food on the table until his father went in the dining room holding a one layer cake covered in chocolate frosting while screaming “happy birthday!” Along with his wife

Kallistos was shocked. He had forgotten about his birthday. 

“You seemed surprised? Don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday?” Kallistos’ father asks him while Kallistos goes slightly red, as to confirm that he has forgotten his own birthday.

Kallistos’ father chuckled and tells him “how can you forget your own birthday *sigh* you remember even the tiniest details yet you still forget your birthday, well never mind that, let’s eat” the three settled in their respective places and starts to chat and eat together

“So what do you want for your birthday?” Kallistos’ father asks. Kallistos’ enthusiasm went up and he tells his father to wait as he goes back to his study room and grabs a fairytale book

He rushed down the stairs to show his father a picture of an aura knight. An aura knight who held a magnificent sword as he promises to protect the land from any evil that it may cross. A book of fairytales is what Kallistos showed his father.

“You want a sword?” Kallistos’ father asks him as Kallistos’ shakes his head 

“I want you to teach me how to become an aura user” Kallistos’ eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he asks his father, who was a former mercenary that specialized in aura swordsmanship. 

“Hahahahaha, so you want to take after your old man I see” Kallistos’ father chuckled, delighted to see his son have the same interest as him

“fine after dinner put on different clothes and we’ll go to the market to buy you a training sword and I’ll teach you aura swordsmanship”

Kallistos’ eyes gleamed with joy and he quickly sat down on his chair and ate his food 

“Slow down Kallistos, you might choke” Kallistos’ mom chuckles as she sees her son with so much enthusiasm.

After dinner Kallistos and his father went out to buy a training sword for Kallistos. This was when Kallistos' Training started

*** 3 years later ***

For the past three years Kallistos learned aura swordsmanship with his father daily without missing a single day.

Day by day Kallistos improved. Kallistos’ grew rapidly with the help of his father but his father knew that in spite of him helping Kallistos learn swordsmanship it was Kallistos’ talent that made him rapidly grow in a short amount of time, Kallistos' father knew that at the level Kallistos is now in just a couple of moments he would be able to surpass him, his own father, who was a 3rd circle aura master. 

***

Kallistos was out on the field wielding his training sword, sweat was running down his body as he swang his sword towards his father.

Kallistos’ and his father was having their daily duel, It was their 1095th duel with his father winning 785 and drawing for 309. In Kallistos’ father’s mind he knew that their training sessions would end today because whilst in battle Kallistos achieved his 4th aura circle.

As Kallistos attained his 4th aura circle he charged towards his father, swiftly evading all the attacks thrown at him and he swang his sword aiming at his father’s neck and stopping right on time before the sword could touch his father.

Kallistos’ father sighed “I lose” his father dropped his sword and put his hands up in the air, it was Kallistos’ first win after 3 years. This marks the day that Kallistos has finally surpassed his father.

As Kallistos pants from exhaustion he withdraws his sword from his father’s neck and sits on the ground shouting “Finally!” His father sat beside him, congratulating Kallistos for his feat.

“Congrats, son, you finally defeated your old man”

“Now you that you surpassed your old man, why don’t we get you a real sword”

“Really!” Kallistos’ said as his eyes shone brightly 

“Of course that will be my last gift to you as a mentor and also my Birthday present for you”

“But remember to not use that sword to bring harm to others and don't do bad things, use your sword to help the weak and protect those who you care about”

“I promise!”

“Alright then, wash up and meet me in front of the house”

Kallistos quickly ran inside their house, running past his mother who was cleaning

“Slow down Kallistos you might fall” His mother warned him 

“Alright mom, sorry” Kallistos slowed down a bit but as he got out of his mom’s field of vision he speedily ran towards the bathroom and washes up.

***

After washing up Kallistos and his father went to the market and bought a sword.

As they were buying the sword from the market they heard a loud blast followed by screams of people, Kallistos' father hurriedly bought the sword and went with Kallistos to check what the commotion was all about, what Kallistos and his father saw was horrifying the knights from the neighboring Kingdom started invading the village and killing the villagers.

The village where Kallistos was, was one of the villages near the border of the Etherea Empire, a border that separated the Etherea Empire from the Kingdom of Ambrose.

Flames could be seen at a distance as the Kingdom of Ambrose declared war against the Etherea empire.

As the flames grew Kallistos couldn’t shake the feeling of fear, he doesn’t know why but his body couldn’t move, it was as if it wasn’t the first time that a tragedy involving flames had struck him. Tears flowed down his eyes involuntarily.

Kallistos’ father shakes him up trying to get him back into his senses. As Kallistos got back from his senses, he was still trembling 

“Kallistos, listen to me go to the central of the village and notify the knights that the Ambrose kingdom has invaded” Kallistos’ father told him as he held Kallistos’ face

“What about you?” Kallistos asks his father worriedly

“I have to go there and save your mother”

Kallistos looked at a distance and saw that their house was caught in the flames. Kallistos' fear spiked once again.

“Kallistos! Listen to me go to the center of the village, ok? I promise I’ll be fine and I’ll save your mother. So go! Go!”

Kallistos nodded as he ran towards the center of the village as fast as he could, holding the sword his father recently bought him.

As he got to the central plains of the village he notified the knights in the village

The knights of the village started to ready up and notified the central city of Etherea about the current situation, asking for help.

As the knights united to subjugate the invaders, Kallistos secretly went with them wanting to help save his parents

As they got near the part of the village that was under attack, Kallistos suddenly dropped his sword, in front of him was a burnt corpse of two people, their faces was so severely burnt that no one would have been able to recognize them. As if being burnt wasn’t bad enough, 3 arrows was shot on the back of each of the corpses

Kallistos’ eyes started welling up with tears, although their faces were burnt to a crisp, Kallistos could see the rings which his mother and father always wore. The names of his parents were engraved on those rings. He knew at that moment that it was his parents corpses, as he looked down on the corpses, Kallistos' body fell on the ground and tears started flowing rapidly down his face.

Kallistos couldn’t move; he was in a state of grief, panic and fear. As people died all around him, he could only sit beside his parents corpse, body shaking with fear, his mind in disbelief. 

As he was grieving, a knight of the enemy kingdom ran towards Kallistos and swang his sword aiming for Kallistos’ head.

To be continued…