1 The Journey Begins

Have you ever considered the concept of limits? Well, I have. I've witnessed how people changed, got stronger or even smarter. People who were faster than the wind, and livelier than a pack of wolves. The question remains, what exactly is a limit? What happens when we reach our limits? Or what happens when we surpass those limits? Perhaps my story will shed some light on these questions.

You might wonder, what makes me say those things? Who am I exactly? The answer is rather simple, I've experienced things no common folks experienced. I've visited places no Human set foot in before. You'll learn with time, but let me answer the latter question first. People gave me many names. A traveller, a mad man, a freak. Someone even assured me my name would be forgotten with time, and perhaps it will. Who knows?... My name is Nex... Nex Wintersteed. Now, let us start from the beginning.

I, like many others was just a common guy. Average, or even worse in some cases. I lived in a village called Freemount, which belonged to the Endrosian Empire. The capital was called Endros Imperial City, due to the founder of the Empire, Endros. The closest village to Freemount, was located about two or three days worth of travel away. To the Imperial City? No one really knew the answer. We didn't even know its location, some assumed the Imperial City was just a legend.

Who could blame them? We only have some records which mentioned Imperial City, no one from the village actually been there or ever saw it. Our maps were no different, we didn't know what was out there, since journeying was difficult, and no one really bothered a small village in the middle of nowhere. One thing was certain, especially from the stories of merchants visiting the village. The Great Forest was huge. Supposedly, it covered most of our Empire.

Villagers, including me, rarely left the vicinity of their village. Even merchants who travelled between villages, required protection from hunters. Though incidents were rare, they occurred form time to time. My parents used to be merchants, at least until they died before I turned sixteen years old. They didn't take me during their trips with carts, and their last trip turned out to be deadly.

The loss hit me hard, since we had no other relatives in the village. Only thanks to my parents' house, did I not end up on the street. The Village Chief helped me out a bit, he introduced me to an old carpenter named Terrens. He taught me his craft for a while, before he too passed away. The shop which he owned fell into his eldest son's hands. Fortunately, we were on good terms, and he allowed me to work there.

I worked there until the age of eighteen. That was the age everything in my life changed. Someone appeared in my life, more precisely, I fell in love. Perhaps that was one of the better things that happened to me, but of course life wasn't that simple or easy. She wasn't all that it seemed, and her feelings weren't real.

Our innocent meeting and the first date, seemed surreal. There's that saying; If something's too good to be true, it probably is. My parents left me with one more things besides the house and some of their money. That was our family's heirloom. Supposedly, our family's ancestors were warriors, but I didn't buy at the time.

My father used to practice everyday, but an old sword as an heirloom was really a shabby proof. Nonetheless, they were really strict about that sword, and a bit paranoid. They didn't display it, like a proper heirloom. No, they hid it where no one could see. Moreover, they told me to never show it to anyone, nor use it. I was supposed to keep it safe, even once they were no longer around.

Me and Clara dated for about a year. We didn't get any physical, because she could only offer herself to a husband. I wanted to spend my life with her, she was gorgeous, and different from other village girls. Hence, I decided to propose. The ring cost me a bit, but perhaps more difficult was proposing itself. Took a lot of my courage, to finally show her the ring and ask the important question.

The words 'yes', made me feel light again. The fear of rejection disappeared, but something else happened instead. She agreed, but she couldn't simply do it without her parent's permission. We had to gift her parents something of good value, to prove I could take care of their daughter. She told me money wouldn't work, and instead we'd require something more unique.

At the time, I couldn't see where this was going, but she knew something. I didn't suspect anything, when she asked about any unique items my parents left for me. She masked it as, 'they were merchants, so perhaps they came by something precious'. I didn't have any gems or stuff like that, but there was that sword.

I told her about it, but dismissed it as just a piece of junk. She got livid after hearing about the sword. She constantly nagged me about it, and even asked how it looked like, or where it was. I tried to calm her down, but she just wanted to see it. I finally caved in, and showed her the sword. She cam to the conclusion that my sword belonged to the warriors in the past. That was unique and therefore worth a lot, at least to me.

She assured me her parents would be pleased with such a gift. I disagreed, that sword might've been rubbish and whatnot, but it belonged to my parents who were no longer around. She tried to push the idea, but, I wouldn't change my mind. Later on, it turned out that my willingness or the lack of it played no difference.

Clara disappeared from the village one day. Without a word to me, or the tavern she worked at. I tried searching for her, but no one seemed to know anything. I was convinced something happened to her, and didn't even consider checking for my sword. One day, I did and it was gone. Everything made sense at that stage. She used me, and her plan was to get the sword from the beginning.

The way she acted each time inside my house, the weird questions about my parents. Everything made sense, she knew about the sword somehow, and her plan was to get it. I didn't know why, but that didn't matter to me. She broke my heart, stole the only item my parents left for me, and soon I became a wreck of a man.

I couldn't deal with these issues anymore. There was no one I could turn to, not after what happened. I tried to drink my sorrows away, but that only made things worse. Besides losing my job, my house disappeared as well. Just like that, I ended up on the streets.

That's where my life took a sudden turn. I met another homeless man. An old timer, at least in his sixties. He was the only one kind enough to associate himself with me. He helped me get food, shelter and most importantly, a shoulder to cry on. He didn't complain, even though his life wasn't any better than mine. That was until one day.

One day, he stood up in the middle of my sentence, and said a few words I'd never forget. He spoke words that would change my life. "Youngster, life can be difficult, love can hurt and wealth disappear. I've long lost interest in such things. This old man may seem homeless, but doesn't that mean the whole world is my home? Youngster... Don't waste your life, explore it!".

He then left me with my mouth agape, and never appeared again. He left the village, because I couldn't find him anywhere. Yet, his words remained with me throughout that time. His words made me wonder, 'The whole world my home, eh? So you're saying that, instead of wasting my time crying and complaining, it'd be better to explore my life'.

The old timer gave me a new lease of life. A goal, a purpose to continue, to explore my life. At the age of nineteen, I decided to leave my home village for the first and final time. Nothing awaited me inside that village, only bad and painful memories. There was nothing for me to lose, since I've lost everything already. I could only go forward at that stage.