-Moon Year1045, the Outskirts of Polemos, the City of War.-
A young man in his teens — roughly 185cm, with brownish hair streaked in yellow, a slender build participated in a small sparring tournament for a few gold coins. That young man? — Beni, still striving to become a hero despite everyone he knew telling him to "stop and be realistic for once". To him, he was being realistic. He was following his dreams just like everybody else around his age. Nothing could stop him from pursuing his choice to be a hero.
The organizer looked up from the wooden table and frowned at this boy who wasn't even of age yet. He had doubts — serious doubts. But he still gave the boy a chance to back out or continue to fight. He can't keep him out from his own decision.
"Kid, are you sure about this? If you sign this contract, you will be pitched up against soldiers — war veterans even." The kid IS tall, he can give that to him. He was taller than most of his competition actually. Polemnoan citizens are usually short statured, their average height being 175cm for the males, but 165cm for the females.
Beni didn't show much hesitation in his decision. His fiery determination overcame his fear. He NEEDED to win in order for his trip to Megalopolis for the Ceremony of the Personae. He wanted to watch the ceremony for himself, the crowning of the Personae was a one-time thing and it would not happen again.
"I wouldn't know if I won't try, hm? It's a mere sparring tournament — wooden swords and all those harmless dull tools. What harm would it do me to try and do my best!"
His cheerfulness made even the rough organizer smirk. It was... incredibly refreshing, just seeing someone so young be so happy to fight in a competition made for adults. He pointed to where Beni could sign on the paper using the quill provided to him by the organizer
"Whatever you say, kid. Just don't get yourself too badly beat. I wouldn't want your parents making a storm out here after you get hurt by them-"
Then a voice came from behind Beni — undoubtedly a female voice. He turned around to be greeted by Meia, his friend ever since birth. Their parents were friends, so they were "forced" to be near eachother in their earlier youth.
"Beni! So this is where you ran off to, hm? I'm not surprised, though. A tournament registration site isn't odd for you to be at. Here, make sure to drink it."
She scoffed, shoving a gourd of tea into his hands, brewed by yours truly. After a few minutes of conversing with her, Meia left to do some house chores — but not before wishing him good luck.
An hour later...
The tournament was being held in an open field with fences around to stop the spectators from interfering. Beni unfortunately was fighting in the first match. He was going up against a soldier from Polemos, clearly arrogant. I mean, why wouldn't he be? He's going against a 17 year old. They settled at their each respective sides of the makeshift arena after a while
3... 2... 1... FIGHT!
The soldier made the first move, rushing in with his guard down — delivering a strong swing from the side, his wooden sword cutting through the air with a woosh! Beni — at a strength advantage, but at a disadvantage in experience — had to use the soldier's arrogance against him, managing to block the strike and move backwards to think about his actions.
The soldier was taunting him, believing that despite Beni's tall stature, since he was a child, he would win easily.
"Come on, kid. I know you're trying things because it's your youth — but be smarter about it!"
As the taunting continued and the fight prolonged, the soldier started getting more annoyed and erratic due to Beni not backing down. Normally they should've started getting tired by now — but he wasn't. Slowly, little by little, he let his guard down to go full on the offense and end this long match already.
His guard was down, wasn't it? Beni managed to grab his wrist mid swing, allowing him to get a strike off because of an opening. Though the soldier managed to evade it and pull his hand back — he proved that he was getting tired. Beni can definitely win. Then in a fast-paced sequence of events — Beni performed a feint, then attempted to sweep his feet off the floor, but the soldier ended up avoiding it- wait, the soldier's off balance, he messed up! Beni went all-in — it's either he wins or he doesn't, but he's taking that risk. Beni swung, but the soldier did too...
BENI'S STRIKE MANAGED TO HIT FIRST!
— Beni won
The crowd turned silent... but then — it burst into cheers! Even the organizer who at first doubted Beni started cheering. The soldier froze and frowned... he knew he lost fair and square. He was a Polemnoan Soldier! He wasn't an elite, but still a soldier. He left without much argument(But his pride did take a big hit).
Beni stood there, his breath shaky... but regained his composure due to the crowd, straightening his posture and smiled, waving at them and laughing — not out of arrogance, but due to the joy of knowing the fact he was capable. He walked back to the sidelines, being cheered on and slapped on the back as a congratulations.
"H-Hah... that was really something-"
A couple of hourslater...
Beni managed to win the entire tournament, receiving 12 gold coins, which was more than enough for the carriage to Megalopolis(5 gold coins). The first thing he decided to do, rather than spend it on his wants — he went to the bakery and bought 4 gold coins worth of pastries for his sister Karia.
The moment he gets back home, he's greeted by her. But what she didn't expect, was for that surprise gift on a random day. They were all her favorite pastries that she hadn't gotten to eat in a while, due to the nearest bakery to them being closed down.
"Beni! You shouldn't have-"
He chuckled, placing it on the table for her to eat now or later. He sighed, stretching and walking around, then suddenly looked back at her.
"Are mother and father back?"
She shook her head, munching on the pastries. They'd be back in a few hours atleast
"Nope, not yet! They'll be back in a few hours"
Beni chose to go sleep for the remainder of the day, entering his room and collapsing on his bed...
But then he had the nightmares again. It's always been a constant in his days for the past 2 months. It always comes back whenever he thinks its gone. He's back in this dreamscape where a giant statue of him — cracked and mossy was inside the water, peeking out slightly. But this time, the scenario is different — it flickered into a battlefield, bodies around ████, █████ sprouting from ███ back, . His eyes widened — what was happening and why ██ was doing this... he didn't get it, ██ was supposed to be a ████, not this. But then — he saw it. The ██████████████ of ████████████.