Nico struck the raffia frame repeatedly until the wooden sword his mother had crafted for him broke apart, one end ricocheting to a distance.
He panted heavily.
Sweat dripped slowly down his cheeks and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Nico!" A feminine voice called softly.
It was his mother. The woman who had taken care of him and his sister without any ounce of complaint. If it were just anyone, they'd take their anger out on the children.
And Nico, he felt he was indebted to her. All he ever wanted was to please her, protect her and his sister but destiny was against him.
His fate? Sealed. Born with no mana core.
"Shit!!" He cursed under his breath. This wasn't how he envisioned his life. Two years ago when he turned five, his mother had told him about his shattered mana core because of the circumstances of his birth.
Nico was born on the night of the hollow comet, the worst of all bad omens.
"Nico!!" The voice called again but Nico didn't move from where he was. His seven year old fists clenched tightly, the sweat in his upper body gluing his shirt to his body.
A woman walked out of the wooden house close to the small field where Nico trained. The four training dummies made of raffia were now scattered everywhere. Their house was among the many houses in the village.
Each house was well lit. According to the rumors, any house without enough illumination was prone to get attacked by wandering spirit beasts at nights like this.
The woman stopped upon seeing Nico. She looked up at the sky to behold the white moon which was soon about to be covered by clouds.
"It's late, little Nico." Her voice was calm. Soothing. No iota of pain.
And that was what Nico hated. He hated why she had to hide her feelings. Hated why she had to pretend she was okay all the time. It's not like she would ever agree to disclose the truth behind her pain even if he asked.
Nico let go of the remaining half of the broken wooden sword and it made a soft clattering sound.
"It's not enough–" Nico said, hardly audible.
His mother approached him slowly and knelt behind him. She placed her warm hands on his small shoulder to soothe him.
"That's enough. I know you're scared of losing to those bullies again but don't push yourself to the brink." She said calmly.
Scared? Did she really think he was doing this out of fear? If only she knew how badly he wanted to grow stronger just to protect him.
He turned back to face her and was immediately pulled into a warm hug. Her warmth instantly deleted the angry face he had on. Maybe this was his restraint. His mother.
"The food would get cold if we don't hurry in." She said and stood up, her hand searching for Nico's.
She walked him into the well lit wooden house. The interior had a warmer view. A yellow lamp hung on the ceiling, two other lamps at the windows. A big wooden table in the middle of the room and four connected chairs around it.
One end sat a girl. His twin sister. Her black hair packed into a bun. A rather large scar evident on her neck. Nico gritted his teeth as his gaze caught the scar.
Memories of how the neighborhood bullies tried to kill him but instead Eleanor took the hit, scarring her neck. Unlike him, Eleanor had a mana core and was able to practice magic, unlocking fire element two years ago.
Genius mages were known to unlock their mana core at the age of three. This only meant Eleanor was also bound to be a great mage in the future. To be by her side, Nico knew he had to be the strongest swordsman ever, since that was the only art he could practice.
But his mother was his only teacher and she only knew the basics of swordsmanship. A real bummer.
His sister too was unable to hone her flame element because of poverty. They could barely afford to eat let alone afford a good mage school for Eleanor. Nico sighed, stress evident.
"You should eat more–" Nyvera's gaze was directed to Nico.
"You train all day and barely have time to eat something." She said and began to dig in.
Her warmth. It was unlike any other. And Eleanor, the quiet one. She just concurred to what their mother said by shrugging her shoulders.
"Eleanor–" Nico called, his voice filled with overconfidence and determination.
"If anyone tries to hurt you or mother, I'd make sure to cut them down with my sword." He declared, making that optimistic face. Eleanor was unfazed by his words.
Nyvera rubbed his head softly with a light chuckle which made him blush.
Nyvera watched her two children gobble up the food– mushroom and dough, the little she could provide. She watched them eat the food with content written all-over them.
They were her pride. Even though her husband never came back like he promised, she knew she had to be patient. She was proud of them both.
Nico was impatient, quick to anger and determined while his sister was calm, reserved and resilient. If anything, she wanted them to stand by each other in the future.
The dangerous howl of wind disintegrated Nyvera's thoughts. The wind was so strong, it blew the lamps out.
Nyvera stood up. The kids were still focused on their meals. She walked to the window and looked out into the pitch black night. The night was eerily silent like there was barely life in the village.
Something was wrong.
The only illuminated house was theirs.
Nyvera had only taken a step. She was about to warn her children to get into hiding when the wooden house was blown into bits and every inhabitant was sent flying to different directions.
Chaos! The whole village wailed loudly as they ran towards the gate to exit.
When Nyvera got wind of the situation, she sprung up to her feet. The sight before her was breathtaking, bodies everywhere covered in blood. Her palms became sweaty. Even though the night was chilly, Nyvera could tell her heart was burning.
Luckily, her children were within range.
"Nico!"
"Eleanor!'
She ran to them. Nico woke up as soon as he heard his name and began to stand up still unaware of the situation at hand. Eleanor had fainted from the impact hence she was carried on her shoulder by Nyvera.
"Mom?" Nico called as Nyvera grabbed his hand pulling him to join the other fleeing villagers.
"What's happening?" He asked but she said nothing.
She began to push her way through the crowd of escaping villagers. Why tonight? This village had been protected for years by the higher authorities, so why? In her haste, Eleanor was knocked off her grip.
Nyvera stopped instantly, her eyes widening in shock and fear. She looked around for traces but Eleanor had disappeared. Stomped upon, maybe.
"No. No, no, no!!" She exclaimed.
Grabbing Nico into her arms, she ran to an empty wooden shed. She looked around to confirm there was no rampaging being in sight then she dropped him.
Nyvera let out a sigh and tears streamed down her beautiful eyes. For the first time, Nico saw his mother broken.
"Nico–" she began but the tears flowed too freely and she paused to let it out. Nico watched his mother show her true emotions for the first time.
The boy was confused. He knew not what was happening. All he could understand was that the villagers were fleeing.
"–you're my good lad. Mommy will come back for you." She had her head down and her tears stained the cemented floor.
Nico became teary.
"Mom?" He called but she was already heading back into the destroyed part of the village in search of Eleanor.
"MOM!!!" Nico yelled with tears streaming down his eyes but she didn't stop. As fast as her leg could carry her, she ran.
Nico made to move but he was unsure of where to go. The only thing he could see was the sight of fleeing villagers and the tears in his eyes didn't seem to stop.
Nico took three steps to get a better view of the village. He was curious to know why everyone was fleeing. While he stared at the bodies on the ground, his stomach rumbled violently.
Then his gaze narrowly went up into the sky.
A man. There was no illumination but Nico could tell he was wearing a straw hat. Nico strained his eyes to catch a full body glimpse.
The man slowly raised his arm pointing towards the direction of the fleeing villagers and hundreds of beasts began to swarm the village in a stampede.
Restless, Nico's thoughts flashed to his mother. His sister.
They were all about to die. The tales of rogue beasts was slowly starting to become reality and the person behind it was;
The man in the straw hat.
There was a loud screech in the sky. The man had unsheathed his sword. Nico caught sight of his mother running back towards him screaming inaudibly.
The man sent out two invisible strikes from the sky where he floated. The strikes were accompanied by sharp winds heading towards the fleeing villagers. Upon impact, it blew everything apart– trees, houses, wooden trucks and even moulded statues of past heroes were no match.
Nico shielded his face with his arms to gain balance.
By the time Nico dropped his arms, the whole village was dead silent. The fleeing villagers had been massacred. Nico's eyes widened in shock, fear and agitation.
Nico turned back and in his almost blurry vision, he caught his mother stopping in her tracks, locking her gaze with him, tears falling freely down her cheeks holding a heartwarming smile.
Even though he couldn't hear what she said. He knew she mouthed,
"You're my hero."
Before her head slid off her neck.
Nico stood, paralyzed by the sight before him. This wasn't real. It just couldn't be.
A few hours ago, his mother was all smiley and happy.
Nico took one step to approach her but he wobbled. The man in the straw hat landed on the ground leaving a shockwave that pushed Nico back by a few inches.
But Nico's gaze didn't leave his mother's lifeless body. His eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened.
Without mustering a tear, he roared.
His display of loss caught the man in the straw hat's attention. The man drew out his sword and began to slowly approach the boy.
Nico slowly turned his head to face him.
His face anything but happy.
Anger, rage, hatred, vengeance. They were all evident in Nico's face. The boy bent down, picked whatever his hand touched– a long stick.
He sped towards the man yelling,
"I'll kill you!!!"
The man in the straw hat was taken aback by his show of courage but he didn't seem to care. He waited patiently for Nico to enter the killing range.
As Nico ran aimlessly towards the man in the straw hat, he was plunged in the heart with his sword.
The man in the straw hat lifted Nico up with the sword still in his hands and pinned him to the wall.
Nico squirmed and coughed blood. His body became heavy and he could already feel the cold embrace of death. His vision flickered and his breath became saggy.
"Clean up the bodies before the council is alerted."
That was the last thing Nico heard before he breathed his last. The man nonchalantly drew his sword out of Nico's lifeless body allowing him to fall face first into the ground.
The man then leapt into the sky and vanished.
The night became silent once more. The only thing audible was the sound of crickets and croaking frogs. The wind became cool and tender once more and the moon which had been covered by clouds shone even brighter.
There was a soft sizzling. Nico's right index flinched