Jake Schild is the first-born son of Ethan Schild, a veteran Phase 1 Pathwalker who's one of the strongest people in the entire city of Ilma.
Pathwalkers themselves are quite rare to begin with, and only 1 in a thousand people succeeds in becoming a Pathwalker in their entire lifetime.
Those who can keep walking further and keep getting stronger are even more rare than that.
Jake was among the selected few people who were already born with immense talent and luck.
He was lucky because he was born in a loving family, he was lucky because he was born with a much stronger physique than his peers, and he was lucky because he had a supportive father who taught him with great patience.
Ethan taught his every skill to Jake and helped him reach strength beyond what his peers could even imagine.
With Jake's good talent, he learned fast and became skilled in many types of weapons and finally chose a sword as his main weapon, like his father.
By the age of sixteen, Jake was already strong enough to slice a boulder in two with just a single strike of his sword.
He had started training from the age of five, and by now, he was already strong enough to survive against 'Beast' class monsters and stand his ground against them.
Ever since childhood, Jake had seen his father protect others; he had seen his father work hard to save people and do missions for the church.
His father was his 'hero'! And Jake respected his father a lot.
As Jake grew up, he made several friends as he got to train with the orphans and soldiers that used to train in the army training grounds.
And Jake got to learn that others' parents, and especially their fathers, were not like his own.
Some of his friends had alcoholic fathers; some even used to beat up their wives and children, and some were complete deadbeats who never earned anything and just scolded them.
Only then did the young Jake understand how lucky and gifted he was to be born into such a happy and supportive family.
Indeed, he was talented, but without the support of his father, his talent would have all gone to waste by now.
Jake's mother was a hard-working woman; she not only took care of the house, but she even taught Jake an important rule of life.
{Death Before Disgrace.}
She taught him that it was better to accept 'death' instead of accepting 'disgrace' and 'cowardness.'
Under her teaching, Jake grew up to be a confident and fearless warrior; he would rather accept 'death' than run away from challenges!
Running from challenges, running from battles, running from fears, and running from death, he was told to never even think about these things, as 'honor' was everything to a true warrior.
When he found out that his father was sent to bring the infamous arrogant prince to their church as the 'saint,' Jake could not sit still.
His friends, the people he grew up with, and the people from the church were all nervous, and everyone was terrified at the thought of a royal prince living among them.
Jake, who couldn't accept such unfairness, couldn't sit still.
For some reason, he was constantly hearing bad things about that certain prince from various sources, and each new rumor was more exaggerated than the previous one.
By the time Alex finally arrived, everyone in the church was on edge, and they were all very nervous.
Most of them had already made up their mind to do various kinds of tests to figure out how to behave with this new lord of theirs.
The prince Alex was not only just a 'saint' in name, but he was also chosen by the oracle of their god himself!
He had more authority in the church than the pope himself!
Whatever he said, they would have to agree to it, as he was a direct representative of their god!
Jake refused to obey the commands of a person who was infamous for his arrogant behavior and immature demeanor.
And just like every fearless true warrior, Jake did not fear the royal power or anything in the world at all.
He directly challenged Alex, and even when pressured by his father's powerful 'aura,' he still remained determined and refused to retreat a single inch!
Jake had never seen his father get so angry at him, but he could not retreat; in fact, he didn't have the concept of retreat in his dictionary.
What made Jake the angriest was that Alex was still smiling and grinning despite being challenged by him.
Jake considered himself one of the strongest and most talented among the younger generation, and he was sure that he could easily beat Alex in a single attack!
Just from how thin and weak Alex looked, it was obvious he stood no chance against Jake.
And yet Alex taunted him with, 'Don't be late, and don't run away like a coward.'
Those words carried a lot of disrespect and hit Jake pride directly, causing him immense anger and frustration.
That night Jake trained continuously with eyes filled with anger.
…
Training Ground, Midnight.
There was a training ground located on the east side of the church where Jake often trained with Ethan when he was young, and it was still his favorite training spot.
"J-jake… you should rest now… you have a duel to fight the day after tomorrow…"
"Also… you haven't eaten anything at all; you should eat… y-your mom is worried about you…"
Jake, who was swinging his sword in frustration and practicing his sword swing continuously, snapped out of his daze when a feminine voice entered his ears.
He looked back and found his childhood friend and the second disciple of his father, Freya, sitting on a bench nearby.
She removed her helmet with a hesitant and embarrassed look on her cute face.
Her short greyish hair made her look extra cute, causing Jake heart to skip a beat after just a single glance.
"Y-you need to take care of your health too, you know… I will get angry at you if you stay in such a sour mood like that…"
Freya was a shy girl, and she stuttered a lot, as she found talking to others very difficult, and she had social anxiety.
Jake and his family members were the only people she found easier to talk to, as she had grown up in their care.
"Err… I-I was just a bit too emotional… Forgive me, you are right… I need to calm down…"
"Don't worry, I will go back to sleep after I am done training for one more hour…"
Freya shook her head helplessly at Jake's words as she got up from her seat.
"Promise me you will go back and take proper rest… I-I shall go now…"
Once Freya left, Jake went on to train for several more hours and only managed to get one or two hours of sleep that night, as Alex's insulting words kept revolving in his head continuously and didn't let him sleep.
That night, Jake had a nightmare in which he was being laughed at by Alex.