8 Years ago. (Located in the Small Village of Zals.)
A girl with curly blonde hair could be seen standing with a group of kids practicing their swordsmanship. Wooden swords smacking against one another as an instructor seems to critique each move they make.
(Cynthia's View.)
Papa wants me to perfect my swordsmanship so that I can be the perfect knight when the time comes. Getting the chance to protect a noble family or even a king or queen one day is a huge honor.
Something that I didn't think too much about when Papa first told me about learning to use the sword. He's always been a knight himself so I guess it was expected that he would want me to join him.
The instructor walks over to her, taking a closer look at her technique. "Raise your arm a bit higher and try swinging again, it'll feel a lot easier to control." His deep, raspy voice stuck in her head.
Swing! Swing! She begins to swing her sword exactly as instructed until she gets a feel for the technique. The village of Zals was known for its training routines— it was the best place to recruit young knights after the war was over.
A lot of lives were lost during the war so letters were sent out to most villages to prepare their children for training. The kingdoms would need more soldiers when the time came again.
I have been training for quite some time now, I'm 11 years old. I started learning the sword at the age of 7 so my experience is only growing more and more.
Every day starts with four hours of sword training before Papa takes me to hunt low ranking monsters. It was our duty to help protect the village— at least that's what I was always told at the end of the day.
I didn't mind fighting low ranking monsters since it was something new that actually gave me a chance to test my skills. Goblins were always the biggest fear of mine, I heard all the different stories about them.
The things they do to women is absolutely atrocious so I do my best to exterminate them every time I see them. "Cynthia I don't see anything out here today, time for us to head back home." Papa says while sheathing his sword.
"Isn't that weird? We usually see something out here." Cynthia replies with a bit of worry in her voice.
We usually see something out here, even if it's just a few small monsters like slimes. It could be a good thing for it to be quiet but usually it's not good.
They say that monsters always wait for the right moment to attack us, the moment that we let our guard down. I didn't want to believe that but our instructor told us a lot of the stories too.
Screams could be heard from the village, blood wrenching screams that shook her body to the core. "Cynthia let's go!" Papa shouts as he begins to run.
She follows behind him with no hesitation as they both draw their swords, a truly terrifying thing to hear when so far away from home. Smoke could also be seen rising above the trees as they start to get closer and closer to the village.
Monsters begin to let out roars as people continue to scream in terror, blood was starting to paint the houses and roads around the village.
The parents there try their hardest to fight against them since most are retired knights or are currently knights themselves. It didn't seem to make a difference with the amount of monsters that are there.
"Cynthia when we get there I need you to find your mother!" Papa shouts as they reach the village.
Bodies were before them, covering various parts of the road along with different splatters of blood. It looks like a small army of goblins were here with an ogre or two.
A situation that no one expected to deal with today of all days. "But I don't want to leave you behind—" she's immediately caught off.
"You will find her and protect her! I'll find you both after this is done!" He shouts before slashing through a couple of goblins.
Cynthia ignores the tears that begin to flow down her face and makes a run for her house. She made sure to cut through goblins on the way there but they definitely had numbers on them.
This is why it was so quiet out in the forest tonight of all nights, goblins were preparing a big attack for the first time in a long time. There wasn't such an attack in the last five years but the difference was that it got shut down a lot faster.
"Mama! Where are you!" Cynthia shouts as she bursts through the door.
The home she knew all her life was covered in blood, the furniture was thrown every which way, and her mom laid lifeless against the wall as a man stood there.
Drip, drip, drip. Blood drips onto the floor from the man's blade as he slowly turns to face Cynthia. "Ahh, so there was another one here." The Man says with a malicious tone in his voice.
My heart sank— This couldn't be real right? Mama was dead on the floor before me, blood everywhere in the house as if she struggled to get away from the man.
I never really fought against a person before so I don't even know if I can stop this man....
Tears begin to stream down her cheeks as her hands begin to wobble, barely holding her sword up. "Mama..." Cynthia says softly.
Push! "You bastard!!!" Her father's voice echoes off of the walls as he pushes past Cynthia.
Clang!!!! Their swords immediately clash before her as she stands there frozen, it was like her body turned to stone in that moment.
I couldn't move at all, I felt like everything around me was frozen. Papa is fighting the man that killed Mama so what am I supposed to do...?