The bells of Vandor rang at dawn hollow, ceremonial tones that echoed through marble corridors and silken halls. Every ring meant another celebration for the kingdom's princess and dukes, and another reminder to Amelia Vandor that she was nothing more than a prize in a golden cage.
Her eyes, silver like morning frost, stared out from the palace balcony. Below her, knights trained in the courtyard, their blades clashing in sharp rhythmic bursts. She watched them with quiet hunger. If only I had been born a man, I could stand among them, she thought.
But in Vandor, women of noble blood did not fight. They smiled, they curtsied, and they married whoever their fathers decided. Her fate had been sealed the moment she was born betrothed to the first prince of Valoria, a man she had met only once.
That morning, her maid whispered, "My lady, the royal dressmakers await. The engagement ceremony is in three days."
Amelia turned away from the window. "Then tell them they'll be waiting a long time."
The maid gasped, "My lady!"
But Amelia was already gone.
Night came with a whisper of rebellion. The palace slept under the moon, veiled by clouds. Amelia wrapped herself in a travel cloak, her heart pounding like thunder trapped in her ribs. She had spent years pretending to be the perfect noblewoman, smiling through every banquet and blessing. Tonight, she would rewrite her fate.
She escaped through the servant tunnels, the scent of burning torches fading behind her. Each step away from the palace was a step away from the life she had chosen and toward the unknown. By dawn, the white spires of Vandor were far behind. With a heavy breath and a sense of relief, she stumbled upon a land, a land that whispered it would devour the unworthy. Monsters, spirits, and the cursed remnants of broken Hearts roamed beneath its shadowed canopy.
She entered without hesitation.
Days turned into weeks. Her body was bruised, her clothes torn, and her soft hands were blistered from gripping stolen swords. She trained in secret, fighting beasts until her arms trembled, and her mana ran dry. Each scar on her skin was a rebellion carved into flesh, proof that she refused to be weak, pushing herself to the absolute limits.
But one night, as she collapsed from exhaustion beside a dying fire, a voice called out.
"You'll die training like that," it said.
She turned sharply, sword raised, but the figure before her was... strange. Neither man nor woman, draped in white and black robes that seemed to shift with the light. Their eyes gleamed like twin moons.
"Who are you?" Amelia shouted.
"Who, me? I am nobody but a lonely traveler," the figure said softly. "But once, they called me the Nameless".
Amelia relaxed and replied, "A Nameless? Never heard of that."
"I was not given a name since my birth, so people called me that," the stranger replied.
She wanted to make sure he was not a threat, so she tried to sense his mana. The instant she did, her knees buckled. The air itself bent around him, reality trembling as though unworthy to touch his presence. When she came to, she lay on the ground, drenched in sweat, having been knocked out by his overwhelming mana.
The person smiled faintly. "Shouldn't have tried that."
When she woke up, she asked immediately, "Who are you? A nameless person can't be this strong! Answer me!".
The person replied calmly, "I told you I am nobody and accidentally stumbled upon you while traveling."
With an angry face, she replied, "Do you think I am a fool!".
He again replied, "Of course not, but this is the truth. I am just a random guy; there's nothing to be so serious about."
She believed him just for this time.
In the days that followed, the Nameless person lived with her. He taught her many methods to survive in the forest, like how to fight against beasts that hunt by scent. Over time, she began building trust with him but was still unsure of his identity.
"You wish to become the strongest," he said one evening as they watched the sun bleed into the horizon. "But your wish is impossible."
"Because I'm a woman?" she asked.
"No," he said quietly. "Because you chase strength to prove something to those who will never understand you".
His words cut deeper than any sword. Yet, she didn't stop.
"I don't need them to understand," Amelia said. "I just need them to see."
The person studied her, then smiled not kindly, but with a spark of curiosity. "Then survive my training. If you do, I'll give you something no mortal has ever touched."
He left a sword buried in stone with its hilt engraved with scales that shimmered like dragon eyes.
Amelia asked with burning curiosity, "What is this?".
"The Dragon Divine Eye Sword," he said. "Only one worthy of both light and darkness can wield it and use its true potential."
At first, Amelia didn't believe it. But upon close inspection, she couldn't believe her eyes: it was the legendary sword once wielded by Anor, the strongest person who stepped on earth, and known to have been lost a few hundred years ago.
When she looked back at the man, he had already disappeared into thin air with no traces of ever being there.
She was confused and even questioned if the man ever existed in the first place, realizing that it was all an illusion. She understood everything: that the sword had called her, and she found herself lucky to have found something that only existed in stories.
And so, Amelia tried to lift the sword but was unable. She decided that no matter how many years it would take, she would become the wielder of the great sword. She trained every single day for many years, fighting monsters and attempting to pull the sword, but she failed every single time.
When the day finally came, her hands trembled as she gripped the hilt. The ground shook. A blinding light split the forest sky as the blade lifted free, whispering her name.
Amelia had become something more than human after eleven years of dedication. Her Heart, once pure and fragile, now pulsed with both Light and Darkness, a balance no mortal had ever achieved.
A single message burned into the ground:
"You sought to prove yourself. Now the world will witness you".
Years later, after becoming a great sword wielder, she traveled all around the world and witnessed the horror that the cursed had brought to the people. She felt very sad while seeing the sight of people dying from hunger, and some who even took their own lives. She decided that one day she would bring an end to this.
Amelia arrived in the Kingdom of Asper, drawn by rumors of a grand tournament, a gathering to choose the strongest warriors from all five kingdoms. She had wandered too long, fought too many battles alone. Now, this was her chance to make it to the top.
As she stood before the massive golden gates, the wind brushing her braid across her face, she whispered:
"Maybe... this is where I'll finally see how far I've come".
But in the crowd's noise and the banners' shine, her heart stirred uneasily, as though the world itself was holding its breath.