Another day began, it had only been a month and a half since Tyler Mival had gained the freedom to leave the house alone, after all, he had finally turned 12.

The boy woke up with a smile on his face, jumped out of bed, almost falling flat on his face, barely regained his balance and ran towards the bathroom to shower. He rinsed and dried and put on his clothes — just the basics, a gray tunic, pants and black boots he got for his birthday, his favorites.

He went down the stairs and nearly bumped into his father walking into the living room.

‘‘Good morning, Ty’’ his mother, Livia, greeted him as she set the table for breakfast. ‘‘You seem excited, I imagine you want to go out and mess around in the village, don’t you?’’

''Of course!'' Tyler sat down next to his father who was already eating.

‘‘Don’t cause trouble’’ said Carlos, patting his son’s head.

‘‘Dad, can you give me some coins?’’ His eyes gleamed as he stared at Carlos, who shook his head with a sighing smile. He reached behind him, for a small table behind him, and tossed Tyler a bag of coins. ''Thanks!''

The boy swallowed everything on his plate in an instant and ran to the door, said goodbye to his parents and jumped out, the door slamming shut behind him.

‘‘Don’t spoil him too much, dear,’’ Livia muttered, worried.

‘‘Look who’s talking’’ Carlos laughed.

A few people greeted Tyler as he walked through the village, which was not so small, there was a very active market and many merchants moved around the place, making the village of Yoj grow bigger every day.

Tyler was once again bouncing around the place, salivating over the food and his eyes gleaming at the merchandise that changed every day, there was always something to impress anyone who passed by. Brilliant jewelry, from the simplest to the most detailed and huge. Clothes made of material so soft you could sleep standing up just by putting them on. Besides, of course, weapons, bright swords capable of cutting the tiniest strand of hair in midair, shields so resistant that even powerful magic would have difficulty breaking them. Ornate bows and arrows with the most varied effects.

Tyler couldn't wait to get his first real weapon, he'd only gotten permission from his father to play with the wooden swords he kept in his attic. He loved to play with it, had already gotten a few lessons on how to use swords when his father realized that Tyler was really interested — but nothing compared to holding a real sword.

When looking out of the village, in the low hills that were around the village, he noticed that some children were running and playing. He couldn't deny that he felt like running over there and joining in on the fun, but no, today he would devote himself to analyzing the weapons he would like to buy. Of course he wouldn't actually buy them, the coins his father had given him at most could buy a few snacks, but he liked to imagine what it would be like to hold each of those perfect lethal creations.

That's when something caught his eye, some mess had started right back in the way he came from. Without hesitation, Tyler launched himself into an alley between houses and observed where those sounds were coming from. Squinting, he saw a girl running at full speed with a loaf of bread in her mouth and several others in her hands. She was running away from a baker, who didn't look like he was kidding, was really angry chasing her.

His heart raced, that sure caught his attention, not only the situation itself, but the girl was quite beautiful.

As soon as she stepped in front of him, Tyler grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alley. The girl was startled, but she stared at him with wide eyes and surprise as the baker had run through the alley without noticing them.

She looked the same age as him, was that fate? Tyler shook his head and took a deep breath.

''I'm Tyler Mival,'' he held out his hand in greeting.

The girl stared at him for a moment longer, then took one of the loaves of bread she was carrying and placed it in his hand. Tyler was confused and then she said:

‘‘Shion Alme’’ she smiled.