2 The Master

Somewhere inside a forest was a wooden hut. It was old and shabby as if no one had touched it for decades. Suddenly, the wooden hut got illuminated by a bright blue light.

That light gave the dark and lonely surroundings some life. Just for a moment, the wooden hut looked like a clean peaceful resting house.

Unfortunately, the light disappeared as the hut got restored to its usual appearance. Two young boys were in the hut.

These were the descendants of Ralka Goldblood. One of the brother seemingly taller than the other one was already standing with his hands on his back. He was called Alfred. He was 10 this year.

The other one slowly stood up and patted his clothes. This was Blade Goldblood. He was two years younger than Alfred.

Unlike Blade who had long golden hair, Alfred had short black hair.

They looked around the surroundings and found nothing particular other than the dirt around them.

"We have to find the old man with the Goldblood necklace just like they instructed us."

Alfred signaled Blade to start searching for any clues or signs. The wooden hut was considerably big so the brothers had to separate. They both went in one of the many rooms of the wooden hut and investigated on their own.

While Alfred was looking around, he heard a high pitched scream from another room.

Alfred casually looked behind him and smiled. That was the voice of his 'dear' brother. He slowly walked to the room only to find Blade on his feet while pointing fearfully in front of him. Alfred stared at the direction of his finger and saw an old withered body sitting on a chair. It held an empty glass bottle on one of his hands while sitting there with lifeless eyes, staring at the ceiling.

What surprised the two brothers wasn't the dead body but the golden necklace on it. Was this the hidden master their mentors told them about? If so, why is he dead?

Many questions surfaced in their heads but all remained unanswered.

Blade started panicking! He really didn't understand what was happening here. The instructions he received were just to find the master in the hut and train under him until he would be strong enough to face the Swords.

He kept shivering and crying on the ground. This made him look like a pitiful madman.

Meanwhile, Alfred approached the corpse and took the empty bottle with one of his hands. He tried sniffing it but the moment it got close to his nose, he immediately threw it down.

It smelt really horrible! Did he drink this? If so, was it suicide?

He wiped his hand on the corpse's pants before taking the necklace off the it's neck. It was a golden necklace but it didn't shine at all. It was very light and had no other special characteristics.

While Alfred was examining the necklace, Blade had already managed to calm down and slowly stood up. He curiously approached Alfred and stared at the necklace.

Alfred put his arm back behind his back knowing that nothing interesting came out of it after he lazily threw the necklace to Blade.

Blade didn't really expect this action so he barely managed to catch it. He opened his palms to examine it but saw that there was nothing in his hands!

Alfred's expression silently frowned seeing the development of the situation but strangely, Blade was smiling.

"Alfred! Alfred! This necklace somehow gave me many magic spells and other amazing stuffs!"

Alfred's stunned face slowly faded away when he heard him. That didn't stop him from asking questions.

"Did that thing raise your mana pool? What spells can you access?"

He continuously asked Blade his questions. Blade closed his eyes before answering him.

"No, it didn't raise my mana pool. I can only see some of the spells. There are other spells but they are all blurred and foggy."

This resolved the actual problem of having no one to teach Blade magic. Alfred really didn't need any of these spells. He has already been diagnosed by the Elders and the results were just enough for him to never even be able to even feel the presence of mana.

The only reason he was sent here was just to act as his little brother's guardian or maybe just to continue the Goldblood bloodline.

Alfred looked out of the window and saw that it was still kind of dark. It seems like it was still very early in the morning because the darkness was slowly fading away. He immediately thought of exploring the surroundings.

He looked behind him and saw that Blade was still closing his eyes. Maybe he was still trying to uncover the other things he got from it.

"Wake up Blade. We have to get out of here and explore for a bit. We have to find out where we are what is our situation to be able to survive."

Blade slightly frowned hearing his brother but still opened his eyes and followed his lead out of the hut.

Alfred carefully looked around and examined the surroundings while walking.

All he saw was trees but the further he went, the less they appeared in numbers. They walked for an unknown amount of time. They didn't know how long they were walking but the sky was already bright.

"Let's rest for a while Alfred! My leg hurts."

Blade started complaining. His face was all red and sweaty. He also struggled breathing and was walking sloppily.

Alfred smiled seeing his little brother. During the whole trip, his hands were always behind his back and not even a drop of sweat could be seen on him. He looked at Blade with distain as he slowly nodded his head.

Blade clearly saw his expression but he was in the wrong here so he couldn't retort. He could only sit down in shame and do his best to recover.

Meanwhile, Alfred took out a monocle-like item from his belt with one hand still behind him. This was a multifunction belt that could hold basically anything. This belt was manufactured by him personally. His family were the most famous magic tool creators in the Magic Continent and he considered himself as the best of the younger generation.

He didn't really like anyone in his family other than his mom, the one that taught him everything.

In his memory, all their interactions were just based on work and study. They didn't only focus on the magic but also went to mechanics, human body and even psychology.

No one ever befriended him due to his title of 'bastard'. His mom taught him that relationships are nothing that strings that are used to control others. She often told him of how she managed to seduce the prince just so she could access to the royal library.

After her death, Alfred didn't even bat an eye. He continued on perfecting all the skills he got from his mother while acquiring new ones.

Maybe that was also another reason to send someone of his kind here with Blade. Well, it was at least better than falling in the hands of the Swords.

He called this monocle like item 'magic eye'. He created it by using a mana suction device to condense many tiny thin layers of circular concentrated mana and superimposed themselves together. The later was attached to a special metal.

He put the magic eyes on his left eye and the metal holding it magically attached itself on his skin so that he didn't have to hold it anymore. He arrogantly put his hand back behind his back and looked through his left eye.

The magic eye gives him the ability to see further and to access the mana view.

The trees surrounding them were no longer as thick as before so he decided to use it now. He casually continuously turned his head. He stopped doing so in a particular direction and smiled.

He took off the magic eye off and put it back on his belt. Alfred continued on walking without signaling Blade that was still taking a rest.

Blade quickly stood up seeing that hid brother already started walking. He run to him in fear of being left out.

Two brothers were slowly getting out of the forest: One with his arms behind his back and an arrogant smile that hid confidence and distain, the other trying to keep up with his pace while gasping for air.

They were hiding behind a big rock. Alfred has carefully peeking at the edge of it. He was looking at a gate. The city he found was surrounded by giant walls and the only entrance was the giant opened gate.

The only problem was that there were guards on the gate and the surroundings had many patrols frequently passing by.

"What are we going to do now Alfred?"

Blade asked Alfred with slight quivering voice.

Alfred didn't answer him but kept on staring from the edge of the rock.

Only after a long while did he get off from there and approached Blade.

Blade took a step back in fear when he saw him get near him because Alfred had a very strange smile on his face.

Before he could take another step back, a fist came into his field of view. That was the only thing he saw before everything became dark.

Alfred smile slowly faded away as he emotionlessly carried Blade on his back. He put on a tired and panicked expression and ran towards the gate.

The soldiers heard sounds from the forest and one guard seemingly the captain of the others signaled an archer to aim. The archer raised up his bow and aimed towards the forest but he loosened his grip when he saw two little boys clumsily heading towards their direction.

He didn't know what to do so he looked at the leader and awaited further instructions.

The leader signaled him to lower his bow and he approached the two children.

As he came closer, he saw their features. They had similar faces but the one carrying the unconscious one was obviously older.

When the older one looked at him, his tired expression had a hint of hope. He tried to hurry in the leader's direction but he fell on his knees. The leader thought that he was tired due to the burden he was carrying on his back so he quickly hurried and helped both of them. He first put the unconscious one in a comfortable position on the ground before checking the condition of the other.

The boy was gasping for breath as he continuously muttered some words. "Wa-water..."

The captain took the gourd off his belt and put it on the boy's mouth. He took big gulps of water and his breath finally regulated.

The boy looked anxiously at the other one on the ground before looking at the captain with his helpless eyes. He grabbed his sleeves as tears slowly poured down his face.

"Please help my brother!"

"Calm down. Breathe and talk slowly."

The captain slowly reassured and comforted the boy. Only when he released his grip off him did he warmly asked him.

"What happened to you?"

The boy shivered as if recalling everything that happened.

"The mage rebels attacked our caravan...our parents...they..."

He tightened his fists and punched the ground. "I couldn't do anything...I'm a coward...I...escaped."

The leader felt at the same time pity and admiration for the little boy. He decided to help them for the moment.

"Don't worry. You are safe now. I'll bring you to my home and see what will happen."

He ordered one of the guards to carry the one on the ground and he grabbed the boy personally and carried him on his back.

They entered the gate and headed to the gate captain's home.

Nobody notice it but as they advanced, Alfred had a smile on his face...that smile full of confidence and distain...that smile was...