Arthur had never been like other children. While they ran through the streets of Menhet, playing and laughing, he preferred to sit on the crumbling walls near the ancient necropolis, staring at the horizon.
"Why can't I be like them?" he whispered to himself, clutching his small pendant tightly. The symbols on it glimmered faintly under the morning sun, as if they were listening.
The city beyond the tombs was alive with the usual noises—merchants shouting, carts rattling, the clatter of footsteps—but above it all, a rumble of power rolled through the sky. Arthur froze. His sharp young eyes widened.
Far off in the desert, a battle was unfolding. Two figures hovered above the sand, surrounded by energy so intense it made the air shimmer. One glowed like the sun itself, flames dancing across his arms. The other shimmered with a deep, flowing blue light, like rivers carved into the sky.
Arthur gasped. He had heard stories—whispers of powerful users who could command the forces of the world. But seeing it with his own eyes… it was terrifying, magnificent, and impossible all at once.
"They're… fighting?" he muttered, gripping the edge of the wall. "But… why?"
A bolt of energy shot from the sun-colored warrior, igniting the sand beneath the blue figure. The boy stumbled back instinctively, ducking behind a broken pillar as the shockwave swept past.
Arthur's heart pounded in his chest. He was just a child, just an orphan… but even at this age, his mind raced. He studied every movement, every flash of energy, every shift in the air. His curiosity and courage overrode fear.
"What… if I could do that?" he whispered. His tiny hands tightened around the pendant. The symbols glowed brighter as if responding to his thought. For the first time, he felt a pulse of energy in his own chest. Not full power… just a spark. But enough.
The battle raged on, warriors unleashing torrents of sunlight, waves of water, and storms of sand. Arthur's eyes followed every strike, every dodge, every flash. He didn't fully understand what he was seeing—but he knew one thing: he wanted it. He had to understand it.
A small laugh escaped his lips, nervous but determined. "One day… one day, I'll be able to fight like that. And I'll know what it feels like to be strong."
The desert wind howled, carrying the echoes of the battle toward the city, and for the first time, a child named Arthur realized that the world was bigger, more dangerous, and far more extraordinary than anyone had ever told him.
And somewhere deep inside, the pendant shimmered, faintly whispering:
"Your path is beginning. Watch, learn… survive."