In a large kingdom named Barnham, lived a boy and his family. This kingdom was a very successful one compared to the others, the knights were strong, the people were good, food and material was plenty, it was everything a king would wish for. A utopia, or that's what an outsider would say.
There was a special power in this world that everyone is born with, this is called an Affinity. This is a magical power that allows you to manipulate the elements and laws of the world, but in Barnham, if you are to be born without an Affinity, you will be disposed of. This kingdom's strength should not be underestimated. The knights here are put under brutal training to hone their mental, physical and magical abilities to the maximum. Barnham has a record of 23 wins and 4 losses in war, and those four losses were ambushes.
Barnham is represented by a light blue crest with a sword, all knights have this emblem built into their armour and weapons. The King and Queen of Barnham were also no joke. King Earl, a king with the absolute voice, once given a command the thought of disobeying should be the last thing that comes to your mind. Queen Iris, was a beautiful woman whose words were almost a blessing to the ear, you couldn't help but obey when hearing them.
But these two monarchs were the ones who controlled everything that happened in the kingdom, there were no third parties, only a messenger to carry messages to and from. Both the monarchs' goal is to create a kingdom so big and powerful that it could stand alone in a world war. So everything they did that affected Barnham had to be done.
At the age of 15, all children in Barham are taken to the giant field near the castle of the king and queen. This is where they do the Affinity test. It's carried out fairly simple, all the child has to do is hold the handle of a sword and wait on the gem planted in it to change colour. That small activity alone decides your entire life.
Arkus Komuya, a white haired boy, was lined up with 19 other children waiting on their turn to do the Affinity Test.
His eyes scanned everyone's face, observing them and the spectators. He fiddled with his fingers and bit his nails as his eyes glanced at everyone around. It was a really exciting moment, not just for him but all the other kids.
Some children get their Affinity test done even at the age of four, but there seemed to be none of them this year. It was a rare occurrence and an exciting one, normally that child's Affinity is very strong and had great potential in the future.
The nervous boy was seventh in line, a scary position to be in from his perspective. The first child went up to the sword that was held in place inside of a rock. The children had to stand 20 feet away from it, in case of any energy bursts, they weren't common but safety came first. Energy bursts are caused by the reaction of a massive amount of condensed magic power and the gem adapter that changes colour.
Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all nervous for their child, since this test decided their fate, and fate is unchanging. After the children had done their tests, and told their guardians the results, there were loud cheers and screams in congratulations.
This made Arkus even more nervous. Will his parents still be proud? Buckets of sweat pelted the ground, as he began to bite his fingernails again.
The children that had gone to do their test before Arkus had been blessed with rare Affinities. When a boy had claimed the Time Affinity, the people cheering had tripled, even some knights were applauding him. They shouldn't have been this happy for something he didn't work for, and that boy's grin was ear to ear as these voices cheered his name. Arkus was too busy being nervous to hear all the cheering.
"Fantastic!" Someone shouted.
Another child had just claimed the Ice and Gravity Affinities, truly rare. This year's batch of children were much luckier than last year's. The best Affinity claimed last year was Sound, and he died from getting too cocky and taking on a Great wolf.
As the children claimed their Affinity, Arkus's spot in the line got closer to the front.
"Arkus Komuya, you're up." The knight, with a ruby emblem on his armour, standing by the sword, read off a list.
His heart fell to his feet. He took small steps and made his way to decide his fate. Now standing before the sword, he glanced at his father in the crowd and gained an immeasurable amount of courage. This was it, Arkus waited for this moment his whole life. He placed his hand on the handle.
.
..
…
Nothing. Nothing happened.
He removed and placed his hand over and over again. Eyes tore into his skin, some with empathy, disgust and pure joy from this outcome. The knights chuckled at his worried expression, they laughed at him trying for a different result. The knights' laughter grew and spread among the crowd.
"Bahaha! What are you the devil's favourite victim? With luck this bad who knows how long you'll survive after today!"
"And here I was thinking the gem was malfunctioning, it seems you're the one who can't function! Baaahaha!'
"What's the point of living if you have nothing!? Huahaahaa!"
Terrible, terrible words pierced Arkus's skin as if they were arrows. He had all right to be nervous with people like this around. The other children laughed hysterically, at how worthless Arkus had become. The Komuya family.. was no more.
This was an outcome that Arkus had never considered. The chances of being born without an Affinity is second to impossible. Cursed souls like Arkus are bound to have life in hell mode, only misfortune would come his way now.
Catching a glimpse of his father's back, he quickly left the field chasing behind him. He hadn't tried to look for his mother since she left early to prepare dinner. Arkus's parents weren't mean or anything, they always tried their best to avoid attention and embarrassing situations. It's how the Komuya family was, but Arkus ruined that.
After making many stops to catch breath, he finally caught up to his father. He called out to his father, telling him to wait, as he held his knees and gasped for breath. His father stopped, right before the door of the house.
"What is it, Arkus?" In a low tone, he answered, facing his son. Scary, this man was almost never upset, he'd always brush it off like dust to a clean suit.
"It isn't my fault! I couldn't have controlled the outcome." Arkus extended his arms in a way to explain himself. Desperate for an answer from his father, his heartbeat doubled.
His father looked down at him with an empty gaze, freezing Arkus in place. He sighed and kneeled before Arkus, holding his hands, on an eye to eye level
"I know you can't control that. I was only disappointed because I expected so much more from my son. I can promise you that nothing will change our bond as a family." With open arms, Arkus latched onto his father with tears of joy, happy that his family will still be the same. If there was anything that could help Arkus feel better after a bad day, it would always be a hug from his parents.
"Is it still possible for me to become a knight of Barnham?" Arkus leaned back and looked into his father's eyes, hoping to hear words of approval. Being a knight in Barham was difficult, you had to maintain the strength of a beast and the mental durability of a man that has nothing to lose, unless you were charismatic.
With a deep sigh, his father crushed every bit of hope he had. Not something he wanted to do, but something he had to do.
"It's impossible, no matter how skilled of a fighter you are, the chances of the king and queen to take you in is the same chance as you having no Affinity." Basically saying, it's impossible.
Arkus, along with his father entered the house and told his mother everything, and just like his mother gave a sweet smile and reassured Arkus that the family will never change. Ever since they had Arkus, his mother and father always considered him a blessing. Although he was just a regular person to others, he was still very special in their hearts.
"Come on and have dinner, all that suspense must have had you both starving." Arkus's mother placed two plates of food on the dinner table. She was right, whenever Arkus was nervous he always grew hungry in a matter of seconds. This didn't happen often unless Arkus was placed into tight situations.
After finishing his dinner, Arkus went upstairs and crawled into his bed and looked back on what happened today. Why is he the only one in this generation to not have an Affinity? This occurrence was rare but unfortunate. Not only did he not receive an Affinity, he was embarrassed and so were his parents. The people laughed and call him names, without any remorse.
After today, he and his parents would no longer have a normal life, for the entire rest of their lives they will be known as the parents of a useless son. All the respect they had was now lost due to Arkus. Everything they worked for will soon be demolished by their drop in the social hierarchy of the kingdom. That was how things were in Barnham, one mistake and your reputation would crumble within a matter of days.
Saving your reputation was a high risk, the only reward was everything going back to normal like it never happened. If you were liked among many, you needn't worry, you would surely be defended by others around you.
"Damn it." Arkus grabbed his pillow and took it out of the case. "If it's not my fault then whose is it? If I have no affinity, what's the point of living?" With the pillow's case in his hand he walked towards his small wardrobe and took out his belt. Arkus placed the fabric over his head and tied his neck with the belt, fixing the buckle to be extra tight. He dropped his body on his bed, eyes closed, he accepted whatever would happen to him next.
His breath became short, his body didn't want to accept this but his mind did. Resisting the urge to remove the pillow case and belt, he drew for more air but little did he know that only sped up the process.
His body fought so much it drew the attention of his father, who was downstairs, from all the ruckus.
"Hey, Arkus.. Hey!" He dashed over to Arkus and ripped the belt off his neck. "What the hell are you doing, trying to kill yourself?" Arkus looked at his father with his empty gray eyes, even without replying his father understood how he felt.
That look filled his father with sorrow and despair, but he couldn't show that side to his son who had just attempted. He had a feeling Arkus wouldn't get over the day that easily, but he never predicted that he'd take it this far. He just wanted everyone to forget what happened to try and live a peaceful life once more.
Drawing him in for a hug, he patted Arkus's back, "Arkus, listen. There's a lot to live for, even if you don't have an Affinity. Value your life. No matter what anyone says, you still have plenty of things to do in the world. Live, explore the vast skies and the depths of the oceans. The world doesn't decide your limit, you create your own."
"Why do you think I'm so good at everything I do? It's because I believe there is no limit to what I can do. I'm always giving my all, expecting to trample my past self and create myself anew."
His words were true, he did have a lot to live for. Ending his story now won't make things any better. Arkus knew he was speaking the truth but he still couldn't get over the fact that he's the cause of whatever will happen to his parents. Looking deeper into it, he realized how much pain he would have caused his parents if his father didn't arrive on time.
His mother would grieve until the day she died, his father wouldn't find a reason to do anything with effort again, because other than his wife he had nothing to live for. No son to look up to him, no son to teach, no son to spend time with, it would all be unfair.
Holding Arkus's shoulders, his father gazed into his eyes with a hopeful look and said, "And if you think you're at fault, you aren't. Everything happens for a reason, son."
Arkus nodded and wiped away his tears and hugged his father once more. He understood, there was a purpose in everything, even life.
"Don't let me see you pulling any stunts like this again, who knows if I'll be here in time to save you. I'm sure your mother would be just as sad as me." His father got up off the bed, "Now come help me wash these dishes before your mom gets out of the bathroom."
Arkus chuckled and sneakily followed his father downstairs to avoid his mother's selective hearing.
After finishing, the night sky fell and the cold breeze consumed Arkus's room through the window. Wrapping up inside the bed sheets, he immediately fell asleep.
.
..
...
The absence of light was evident throughout the town. Only the dim lanterns could tell you which direction you were going , and half the time you would get lost trying to figure out where you're going, but that wasn't the case for the knights of Barnham.
Although it was the middle of night and almost the next morning, there were still some people who were outside with their friends, not children, grown men and women. Some men were out drinking or having a memorable time with friends, while some women were busy making money, regardless of them having a husband or not.
The footsteps of the knights grew louder as they approached the Komuya family's house. This wasn't a common thing, the eyes of the town's people watched the knights march out of curiosity. A small crowd of people followed behind them, and soon they stopped before the house of the Komuya family. A knight holding a tall spear, with the Barnham emblem on it, faced the crowd and stomped his feet twice to signal the crowd to mind their business. They all scurried away.
The knight who led the others knocked on the front door of the house. First set of knocks, nothing. Second set, nothing. Third set, both parents of Arkus answered from upstairs, and made their way down. The leader knight unsheathed his sword, which also was a signal to the other knights. They surrounded him from the outside of the house and had their backs turned to him to prevent anyone from seeing what was about to take place.
"Sorry, we were asleep-"
A loud thud was made as something hit the floor.
"Esther-"
Another loud thud.
The leader knight signalled for two other knights to enter the house with him.
"Damn, those cuts were really clean, had you been preparing for this?" The supporting knight asked as he observed the headless bodies laying on the floor.
"No, I'm also surprised, haha! Guess I got lucky tonight" He stepped over the dead male's corpse.
"Perhaps you were an assassin in your previous life, bahahaha!" The other knight laughed contagiously, causing the others to join in, even the knights from the outside chuckled a bit.
All this laughing woke up a certain someone. The leaking blood's smell consumed the entire house, and entered his nose. Confused about the scent he got out of his bed and made his way down the short hall, and stood there, atop the stairs.
"Let's go for the kid, he should be asle- !" His words were drained, nothing but a short moment of terror had paralyzed everyone in the room at just the sight of him. There was no need to go looking for him.
Arkus Komuya, has been awoken.
The darkness of the house was overwhelmed by the ominous dead stare Arkus gave the knight who held the sword. Arkus scanned the entire room. Flies seemed to have already picked up the scent of blood and began feasting. The lantern lights were dim, hiding the faces of the now dead parents of Arkus Komuya.
Nothing but killing these knights was Arkus's intent, but he knew how strong they were, it was suicide. No matter how strong he thought he was at the moment, these knights were universes above him. Expressionless, but not emotionless. This very scene tore everything inside Arkus, he wished his body would just allow him to break down and mourn their deaths, but he just wouldn't budge.
Splat!
Blood splashed onto Arkus's face. The leader knight had waved his bloody sword at Arkus, removing all the blood. That single swing of his sword was able to move all the hair on Arkus's head.
"Well, well, well.. If it isn't the son of the worthless parents! Tell me, how do you feel?" The leader knight with the ruby emblem on his armour, laughed at Arkus, and so did the others. Arkus tried his best to think straight but all he kept thinking about was murdering this man.
The simplest answer to his question was, angered.
"I can sense your killing intent, hahaha! It's really sad that you won't be able to do anything about this! Now come on, answer me." With a deeper voice he tried intimidating Arkus into speaking, but that only made him realize something.
This was the instructor knight, from earlier today.
"I know exactly how you feel. Worthless, all you do is bring misfortune to your parents, were you born with the world fighting against you? Hell, if I were your parents I'd send you to go work with the hopeless women outside right now, baahaha!" He approached Arkus who still stood atop of the stairs.
'Push him, kick him down the stairs, do anything to kill him', is what all went through Arkus's mind with each step the knight took. His body and mind knew what he could and couldn't take down, and this was something he shouldn't even be thinking of challenging.
"Take this, and end it all." The knight handed his sword to Arkus. It was heavy, but he could manage. As he stared at the sword, contemplating the decision. No, he can't do this, he valued his life. The world doesn't decide his limits, and if there are, he'll go beyond them, over and over again. Until the world finally understands his message, there is no giving up.
"There's a lot to live for." Arkus finally spoke, these empty words carried the weight of his parents, and for them, he must live. Arkus returned the sword.
"A lot to live for you say? Hmph, just letting you know, the only reason we haven't killed you is because the king and queen said to keep you alive. Lucky bastard." The knight grabbed onto Arkus's shirt and threw him down the stairs.
Thud!
The other knights laughed at his hopelessness.
"The rest of you, prepare to leave. I have a task for you, powerless boy." The knight turned to Arkus.
Arkus stood up and approached the knight, waiting for his orders. Even now, Arkus's killing intent was still strong and couldn't be ignored. It's unfortunate that this knight has his head covered by his helmet, Arkus would've taken that face to the deepest parts of hell with him.
"Pick up the heads of your parents. As punishment for allowing your parents to be killed, you'll spend the rest of the night outside of the kingdom, carrying the heads of your parents with you. Do your best to survive." Those were the knight's final words before leaving Arkus and the corpses.
Disgusting. That's how Arkus described the knight, downright cruel. Ordering him to carry such a thing is pure torture, but the rulers of Barnham allowed this to happen, they ordered the knight to kill his parents. But that wasn't going to stop Arkus from getting revenge. Affinity or not, this entire kingdom will fall.
Arkus picked up both heads and made his way out on the street. The same eyes from before were even more curious about what happened. Women who were friends of his mom cried, friends of his dad held their heads down. All the men who saw Arkus carrying both heads wanted to kill him, but there was a no violence policy against children. Those that break that rule, die, their entire family and them.
As he made his way through the giant dark doors, the knights who were guards, snickered, murmured and some even laughed out loud.
"I heard the leader of the Ruby faction took care of them."
"Yeah, you can tell, he's the only one who could pull off such a clean slice."
"Using his Electric Affinity to increase his speed, I doubt they saw it coming."
All of these were noted, there was no way Arkus could forget who that knight was, even if his memories were to be erased.
"Good luck surviving out there. Grah!"
Wham!
A knight kicked Arkus in his back, sending him flying along with the lifeless heads.
He landed on his stomach as the two heads rolled in front of him and faced him.
"Hey, that's against the policy!"
"Nah, I kicked him while outside of the kingdom, either way who cares, the town's people think he's the one who killed them anyways."
Crreeeek.. Slam!
The giant doors slammed shut, the sound reverberated throughout the forest. Is this really happening? All of this, it simply can't be real. First he was born with no Affinity, his parents got killed now, and he also got kicked out of the kingdom. He was bound to die in this forest too, he had nothing to defend himself.
"Why did father have to stop me?" He finally gained enough strength to at least sit down with his legs crossed. The heads of his parents laid on the floor before him, eyes closed, mouths shut. Lifeless.
Arkus then remembered his father's words and stood up.
Fwssh!
"What the.." A giant gray wolf, at about seven feet tall, snatched the heads of his parents by their hair and dashed off into the dark forest. That was a Great wolf.
This was the last thing Arkus had expected to happen, he fell to his knees and slammed his fists into the ground. There was so much rage built up inside Arkus, it was almost like torture because he had nothing to take it out on. He wished the wolf would have taken him instead but he had something to live for.. his parents.
Now that his parents were gone, the value of his life quadrupled. There was no giving it up now.
"I should have seen this coming." He really should have. He studied tons of articles on the forest surrounding Barnham. Knowing where the wolf was heading, he didn't fret, but getting his parents back was another thing.
A gust of cold air sent chills all over Arkus's skin. He took it as a sign to chase after the wolf now. After a few minutes of running, he finally made it to the wolves' den. There was the Great Wolf who stole his parents and two pups fighting over his parents' head.The hungry pups gnawed at the lifeless skulls. The scene grieved Arkus but he had to stay calm. The den was a small cave so he could circle around from his position and enter from the sides. He waited a few more minutes to catch his breath after running for so long.
Luckily the giant wolf itself was getting hungry and it remembered leaving Arkus sitting down. It seemed to have sensed that Arkus had no more fighting spirit and came to feed its pups first. This was the perfect opportunity for him to sneak inside the den and see what he could find.
While sneaking inside he heard the pups tearing up their dinner, but sadly there was nothing Arkus could do. If he were to touch one of those pups, the adult Great wolf would immediately smell him out and kill him. If those pups were to cry for help, the Great wolf would immediately come running back and try to kill him.
The den was a bit dark so Arkus reached out in front of him to prevent bumping into something. He felt the walls, the ground and.. Fur? Arkus's heartbeat skyrocketed, thinking this was it for him, but he stayed calm and noticed there was no pulse, inhaling or exhaling. Dragging it into the moonlight a bit, he realized that this was the corpse of another Great wolf, without question he immediately took out its canines with the help of some rocks.
The pups were too busy to notice that there was something going on. After gathering four canines he began to sharpen them, using the knowledge his father applied ever since he was a kid. With them all sharp now, Arkus went deeper into the den and searched for a bed that the wolves would use. He took some vines and tied them unto the four canines, creating two daggers. He carried the extra teeth in his pants and made a run for it, the second he exited the den, it was the hungry Great wolf that had been searching for him specifically.
Adult Great wolves were 6-7ft tall and were extremely fast. Arkus had been training in all sorts of combat with his father, but combat with his father and with a Great wolf was a ginormous difference.
"Great, now I'm on the menu. I wasn't trained for hand to three foot wide jaw combat." Without second guessing, he made a run for it. As fast as he could, covering meters of ground without losing breath. But this only lasted a few seconds until the Great wolf caught up to him. Sharpening the teeth was the right choice, even gently touching the blade would split your finger open.
The wolf growled as it chased Arkus, getting closer and closer. Arkus smirked as a tree was nearby, he ran, jumped on it and back flipped over the wolf. Leaving the wolf dumbfounded. Arkus then resorted to his only option, fight. He created distance between him and the Great Wolf.
"Grraouu!" The wolf growled as it charged towards Arkus.
Positioning himself with a one time opportunity, Arkus leaped forward, took two steps and then one to the side, in which he slashed the gut of the Great wolf open. Dark red liquid sprayed all over and the wolf screeched in pain. Arkus spun around to deliver a final attack, but the Great then tapped into its survival mode, it was no longer a predator hunting a prey, it was a fight to the death.
The wound on the wolf began at its front and straight across to its back legs. The wolf could only last a few minutes before it became completely weak due to blood loss.
Arkus took advantage of this and prepared himself for another attack. This time he took out the second dagger, prepared for anything this wolf could throw at him.
"Gruh!" The Great wolf stood in one place, appearing to suck in energy from the air to charge up its final attack. It leaned back with its butt pointed toward the sky and its front legs stretched and clawed into the dirt.
Dodging will be no easy task, that's for sure. The wolf's canines became sharper and its muscle grew larger all over its body, it even temporarily stopped bleeding. Arkus didn't fret, all he had to do was time his attack perfectly and he should be able to win this in one strike, with precision of course.
Arkus leaned forward with his right hand placed on the ground and his left elbow bent as if he was a sprinter in the 'get set position'. Both his knees were bent to a 90 degree angle, ready to rapidly launch himself.
"Grraahh!" The wolf fired itself like a slingshot, leaving small holes in the ground from its feet previous position. There was a 20 meter distance between Arkus and the wolf, and the wolf had already covered 14 meters from just launching itself. Arkus only had two seconds at most to pull off his attack.
The three foot jaw of the wolf extended to 4. Its head tilted a bit to deliver the perfect chomp, however, that was its mistake.
Like a missile, Arkus fired and spun with the blades in his hands. Arkus had launched himself at an angle to cut open the jaw of the Great wolf, the slices went right along his neck, which should have been enough to kill it.
The Great wolf stood once more using the last bit of energy it had left inside to leap at Arkus, pinning him down on the ground. It was unexpected and wasn't what Arkus calculated a few seconds ago.
The blood stained the wolf's gray fur and leaked onto Arkus's face, chest and hands.
The singular blood droplet spread across Arkus's face and triggered the bad memories of what happened earlier. All the rage he had built up for that knight was released into a single shout.
The wolf was about to finish Arkus by tearing off his head but Arkus used his unknown trump card to finish the wolf. His eyes glowed a faint light as his chest filled up with air.
"ALL THIS BLOOD SHOULD DISAPPEAR!"
Pure rage was released out of Arkus's body and before he knew it, he was unconscious.