Chapter 1

Marcus Cain dashes around his cabin, on his beige wooden floor. It seems like he's being chased by someone he's familiar with since he's grinning and giggling. Marcus' hair is similar to his father's, Bruce Cain; short, unruly and white like fresh snow. Though Marcus' eyes were more similar to his mother's, Wendy Cain; a cool icy blue that almost seems like they shine. Marcus has olive skin similar to his father. Marcus hides under the dinner table playing a game with his younger brother, Samuel Cain. Marcus recently turned seven, while Samuel is three years younger. Though that's not his only sibling, Selena Cain is the most recent addition to his family and is three years old.

Samuel checks under the table and sees Marcus. Samuel smiles as he tries to grab him, but Marcus rolls out of the table and begins to run upstairs. Samuel chases after him as fast as he can. Samuel has a similar appearance to Marcus, but instead of white hair he has golden hair like his mother. He also has eyes like his father, a brilliant, deep green as if they were emeralds.

Selena appears at the top of the staircase and leaps towards Marcus as he runs up. Marcus tries to catch her, but his feet are at the edge of the steps and is pushed back by her momentum. Marcus shields her with his arms and body. Samuel hesitates as he sees them crash onto the floor. Marcus groans as Selena cries. He opens his eyes and sits up to check if Selena is injured. Selena points at the stairs and mumbles as she cries.

"It's ok. It's ok. Selena you aren't hurt." Marcus reassures. Samuel kneels next to them and brushes Selena's hair back. Selena has long, flowing hair like Wendy, but it's the color of Bruce's hair. She also has green eyes like Bruce with her bangs between them.

"Selena, you can play with us." Samuel offers. Selena nods and lessens her crying. Her skin though is more similar to her Wendy's, with a fair tone. Wendy comes out of a room and goes to the staircase. She's dressed in a hooded white robe that slightly hides her attractive figure. Once she removes the hood from her head she reveals that she has long, flowing hair that reaches to her waist.

"Are my babies ok?" She asks with a worried expression. She walks down the stairs. Samuel assists Selena to her feet before helping Marcus up. Marcus leans on Samuel for support as he slightly sways. Wendy touches Marcus' cheeks with a smile. "Heal," Wendy whispers. "Is that better?" A faint green glow coats Marcus. Marcus smiles and leaps into the air as if testing his body.

"Yep, much better. Thanks mom." Marcus stretches. Samuel pats Marcus' back and dashes away.

"Tag!" Marcus flinches and lunges towards Samuel.

"Red light." Wendy says in a calm tone. Marcus and Samuel come to a slow halt. Selena glances back and forth wondering what's happening. "Time to study." Marcus and Samuel weakly agree. Wendy has them study math, the common and angelic tongue, and the history of the continent. After a while of studying, Wendy decides to begin making lunch.

Bruce enters the house with a sheathed sword in his palm. Greenish blood splattered on his dark leather armor. Wendy halts her movement in cutting the meat and glances at Bruce with a smile.

"I'm home." Bruce mumbles in a tired tone, placing the sheathed sword against the wall next to the door. Selena runs as fast as she can to Bruce.

"Daddy!" Selena shouts. Bruce's weak face brightens with an honest smile. He kneels with open arms.

"Bruce!" Wendy shouts. Bruce flinches and widens his eyes. Black wind appears, sweeping the greenish blood from the armor and throwing it outside. Selena hugs Bruce with a giggle. Bruce without hesitance hugs her back.

"Thanks honey." Bruce says, glancing at Wendy before looking at Marcus and Samuel. "No hugs, for your dad." Bruce teases. Samuel and Marcus rush to him and Bruce hugs all three.

"How was the hunt?" Marcus asks, walking to the sword.

"Oh it was fine, nothing special. Why?"

"Maybe you can take me one of these days. You promised that you would train me once I became seven."

"Yes, yes I did. Do you want to start training now or tomorrow?"

"Now!" Marcus shouts excitedly. Bruce nods his head with a smile.

"Alright, meet me outside." Bruce says standing. Bruce walks up to Wendy and hugs her from behind and kisses her cheek. Marcus rushes outside. Tall and big oak trees surround the cabin. A partially finished wooden fence outlines the house's garden and yard. The trees block most of the sunlight with only some rays passing through the gaps of leaves. Marcus grabs a stick and draws circles on the dirt ground. Bruce exits the house.

"How are we starting?" Marcus says, running up to Bruce. Bruce chuckles and rubs Marcus' head.

"First give me 30 push ups," Bruce orders. Marcus complies. Marcus is able to do 10 with relative ease, but his arms start to tense as he ramps up that number. "Lower. Let your chest touch the ground lightly." By 16 he starts to take breaks that last a few seconds as he breathes more roughly through his mouth. "Inhale as you go down and exhale as you push up." Marcus nods as he repositions himself. Marcus does the steps Bruce gave and takes less breaks as a result, but collapses on the ground when he reaches 30.

"That was hard." Marcus states rolling onto his back.

"You did good for the first time. Try to implant that breathing technique to this next exercise. In 30 seconds you will start doing sit-ups until you reach 30." Bruce states, while observing Marcus. He agrees with a nod and attempts to rest as much as possible before the 30 seconds are up. "Start." Bruce orders. He starts to approach a hill near the outside of the fence.

Marcus uses the breathing technique throughout the process. He inhales as he lowers himself to the ground and exhales as he goes against gravity. Around 20 sit-ups he starts to slow down despite his breathing technique. A small amount of sweat drips from his forehead as he pushes through not trying to rest for long periods.

Bruce climbs the hill and overlooks several boulders of great mass and dozens of rock formations with trees and plants growing from some of them. He looks at Marcus who is resting and whistles at him. Marcus glances at Bruce. Bruce is motioning for him to come over. They both walk down the hill and among the rocks and boulders.

"I'm going to have you carry one to the top of this hill and back down," Bruce says, gripping a sizable rock. Bruce hands the rock to Marcus. Marcus tenses as he tries to hold the rock in place, but slowly lowers it. "It's ok to take breaks. You never want to over do it to the point of injury." Marcus tenses his arms multiple times and lifts the rock. Bruce observes his form with a curious glance. For a beginner with no instructions it was impressive at least. Marcus moves at a slow pace trying to maintain his strength carrying the rock.

Marcus staggers as he reaches the base of the hill. He drops the rock on the ground and tries to raise his trembling arms. His eyes slowly drift close as his legs shake trying to remain standing. He falls forward with his eyes closed. Bruce catches Marcus on his back. He takes him back home with a grin. Bruce lays Marcus in bed and returns to the kitchen of his cabin. He sits at the end of the table and laughs.

"How'd he do?" Wendy asks, setting a large dish of beautiful meat and vegetables. She grabs herself a portion. Samuel gets one about the same as Wendy and Selena has a significantly smaller plate.

"He did fine, better than expected. I even suspect he's a foreigner."

"Most likely, he was always quick to learn." Wendy responds, cleaning some of the mess Selena makes.

"Yeah, but that could be because he's our son." Bruce says, before eating.

Marcus wakes up with him flinching as he moves. Wendy walks into the room and sees Marcus sitting on the edge of the bed resting his arms on his leg. Wendy sits next to him and gives him a hug.

"Want the pain to go away or do you want to endure it?" Wendy asks, summoning a green circular symbol. Marcus stands and gives Wendy a smile.

"No thanks. I'm gonna try to endure it as best as I can."

"That's nice." Wendy says, as kisses Marcus' forehead. "Lunch is ready." A while after lunch, Bruce takes Marcus outside to continue his training. Bruce is carrying a set of thick dark brown leather armor. Bruce hands it to Marcus who observes it.

"Can I wear it?" Marcus asks, with a smile.

"In combat you will be wearing armor and other things, so you will also train in them." Bruce explains. "After a year of training I will start to teach you swordsmanship and hopefully your ability will manifest by then and we can train that too."

"Ability?" Marcus questions as he starts to equip his leather armor.

"It's more or less an extension of yourself, you use your stamina and will to create the desired element of your elemental pool," Bruce demonstrates by forming a black wind sphere in his palm in an instant. "Though this isn't like magic. Magic uses an energy that is all around us, but we can only use it if we practice to control our mana."

"Like mom and her healing!" Marcus shouts, pointing at the house.

"Yes, like her healing. Also there is something called Aura that utilizes the person's life-force, but that is something that can't be taught unless you unlock it yourself." Bruce rubs Marucs' head. "Let's get to work." Bruce orders.

~

A year has passed since Marucs' training. It got more intense and longer as the months went on. Samuel joined a lighter, less intense version of the training as soon as he turned five. Wendy also decided to teach them how to cook, dance and garden. Bruce gave Marcus a wooden sword as he turned eight, sword training was after physical training.

One day, during sword training. Marcus collapses onto his knees, gasping for air as he stabs the wooden sword into the ground gripping it tightly.

"Marcus?" Samuel calls. Samuel rushes to Marcus and reaches towards him. A pulse of bluish grey wind emits from Marcus. Samuel gets smacked by the impact and is launched a few yards away. Bruce catches Samuel.

"He's unlocking it." Bruce states.

"Unlocking what?" Samuel questions.

"His ability." Bruce answers. Marcus shuts his eyes as his body tenses. Veins start to pop on his forehead and as he yells a soundless roar.

"He's in pain!" Samuel rushes towards Marcus. Bruce blocks Samuel's path with his hand. Pulses of strong bluish grey wind emit like a ripple effect. The grass around Marcus begins to get torn away as the pulses continue.

"Relax, his pain will be temporary. It's the price for power." Marcus begins to relax his tense body. Samuel rushes by his side and kneels in front of him.

"Odar." Marcus mumbles as he collapses onto Samuel. Samuel holds Marcus against his shoulder.

"Who's Odar?" Samuel asks. Bruce has a frown as he grits his teeth. Black wind pulse outward cracking the ground.

"What does that god want now?" Bruce mutters. After this event Marcus didn't wake up till the next morning. Bruce teaches Marcus how to use his element. At age seven Samuel joined the real training and didn't unlock his very own element, fire, until the age of nine. Selena joins them in training at age of seven where she also unlocks her own element, earth.

~

Bruce infuses his wooden sword with a layer of strong wind. Marcus mirrors Bruce's technique. Bruce nods and another layer wraps around the blade of his sword. Marcus matches, though the speed of its coating is lowered. Bruce grins as he layers another. Marcus grits his teeth as a third layer of bluish wind begins to form, but fizzing out slowly.

"Two is fine for now." Bruce states as a layer vanishes. He condenses the two layers of black wind into one. "Fuse them or you won't stand a chance." Bruce orders. Marcus nods in response and fixes his breathing. The bluish winds combine though a bit unrefined as the wind struggles to maintain its shape and strong wind.

"Let's finish this quickly." Marcus states, stepping closer to Bruce who does the same. Marcus strikes first, Bruce blocks. A burst of wind emits on impact. Marcus strikes faster and faster with each clash. Bruce manages to block each strike. Marcus leaps away. Marcus focuses on his breathing and enters a stance. His left foot moves forward and the blade hangs behind him over his right shoulder.

"Marcus," Bruce says entering a stance with his sword pointing at Marcus. The wind around Marcus' blade twirls rapidly. Marcus lunges forward and swings his wooden sword in an overhead motion. Bruce narrowly dodges it. A shockwave emits as it reaches the lowest point of the swing cracking a small portion of the ground. Bruce rests his sword on Marcus' neck and laughs. "That technique isn't good against people beyond your level."

"Unless I have a way to close the gap, like an enhancement," Marcus responds.

"Yeah, or you could outsmart them." Bruce turns and begins to walk back home. "Oh and if you plan on going to the forest with them make sure they stay close."

"Got it dad." Marcus walks up the hill and meets Samuel and Selena who are sitting while overlooking the field of rocks.

"We can finally look beyond this without dad." Samuel says, rubbing his hands on the grass.

"Only because Marcus is 12." Selena states as she stands. "How was the sparring?"

"He countered me again," Marcus grins. "But one day I'll land a hit on him."

"Let's go to that big tree first." Samuel points at a massive tree that towers everything in the area. It's about 300 feet tall and only a dozen trees come close to it in size, but they are still noticeably shorter.

"No. Dad said to never go there, hell even more ordered us not to." Marcus reminds.

"I know, but think about what could be there." Samuel argues.

"We'll go another time. Most likely when we are older." Selena says walking down the hill towards the rocks. Marcus follows as Samuel stands and rushes ahead keeping within sight, but remaining in the front.

Dirt paths guide them. Deers prance around staying cautious of the siblings. The lush forest is lively with creatures. Samuel doesn't stop glancing at everything. Selena stares at her surroundings in awe. Marcus grips his wooden sword as they venture further down the path. Bruce warned them that the Godwin Forest has two rival tribes that fight for territory near the big trees; the Silva Ogres and the Godwin Centaurs.

A thunderous roar storms the forest. It emits from one of the big trees. Several woodland creatures sprint away from the big tree. First it was the small rabbits, raccoons and birds. Then it was deers, foxes and moose. Several dark brown bears rush behind them, but not in a chasing manner. As the bears dash one comes straight towards us not slowing down.

Marcus moves Samuel and Selena behind him. Several creatures were passing through so their movement was limited. Marcus hands his sword to Selena as he positions himself to crash with the bear head on.

A large four legged creature leaps in between them. Its body was similar to that of a large horse, towering the bear as it only reached its thighs on all fours and halting it in place, but it was made up of thick dark brown wood. The hooves were that of grey stone with additional patches of stone located on top of its wooden body like natural armor. Branches covered in the lush green leaves of the forest made out its tail. It had a human shaped body attached to the horse-like one, though this too had no skin and was mostly made up of wood and stone. Its chest had an extra layer of branches that twist together and wrap around the body leading to the center where a yellowish green gemstone was embedded glowing bright with health. The head was like a mask that had moose-like antlers with branches covered in leaves representing the hair.

"Sam, Selena, this is probably your first time seeing a Godwin Centaur. Don't aggravate it in any fashion. If you do, their herd will come to protect it." Marcus states, stepping back. The bear goes around still in a rush. It stares at the three and points towards back home with its stone-like arm. The centaur trots ahead glancing at the animals.

"What were they running from?" Samuel asks. Selena begins to walk towards the big tree.

"Where are you going?" Marcus stops Selena grabbing her wrists.

"Well obviously something is happening and we need to stop it. Didn't you see all the animals? They were terrified, they even needed the Centaur's help to guide them."

"I kinda wanna see what they were running from." Samuel states, before dashing towards the tree.

"Sam! You dumbass, comeback here!" Marcus calls. Samuel doesn't respond and keeps running. Marcus starts to chase Samuel with Selena close behind. Samuel stops and stares at a large creature. It grabs a hold onto a Godwin Centaur with both of its large hands and smashes it on the ground. Two other centaurs laid motionless with their gemstones cracked and dim. The creature's mossy green skin was covered in scars, but repaired by patches of branches that sowed the wounds together.

"Is that the Silva Ogre?" Samuel asks, hiding behind bushes. Its massive body is almost as large as their cabin. It grabs the gemstones from one of the motionless centaurs and eats it. A crackling roar similar to a kitten, is directed towards the ogre.

"Yes and by the looks of it a young one." Marcus answers, observing the creature's large height. Marcus notices the ogre walking towards something. The ogre flexes its fist as if reading to punch. A small red scaly lizard-like creature growls at the ogre. Its bat-like wings give away its species in an instance. It's a dragon, a red one. The ogre stands over the baby dragon, no smaller than a kitten. The dragon trembles, lowering itself to the ground. The ogre raises its fist. Marcus charges and leaps grabbing the small dragon and barely managing to dodge the powerful strike.

Marcus widens his eyes and breathes heavily pressing the dragon closer to himself. He stares at the ogre who glances back at him. Its face frowns and marks Marcus as a new target. Marcus attempts to control his breathing and holds the baby dragon close to his body with his left arm. As Marcus gains his composer back he readies for a confrontation. Bluish grey wind begins to gather around Marcus' right fist. Two layers of wind wrap around his fist similar to what he did with the swords.

The ogre launches his fist to crush Marcus and the dragon simultaneously. Marcus retaliates as he strikes with his fist making an explosive impact against the ogre's fist. Marcus is blown away crashing into a tree with his back.

"Marcus!" Samuel shouts. Samuel leaps out of the bushes with worry. Marcus leaning on his back holds out his hand in a stopping gesture. Samuel halts and stares. The ogre growls as his bones are being coated in branches and vines, sealing the wound. It walks towards Marcus with a sinister frown. Marcus stands using the tree as he pulls himself up.

"I'm fine Sam. Let big brother handle this." His arm is shaking as his knuckles clearly have torn skin. Blood drips as he tries to close his fist. "Take Selena away from here." Marcus gathers two wind layers and condenses them to one. The bluish grey wind rotates at incredible speeds. The ogre strikes with all of its might. Marcus grits his teeth and swings his trembling arm causing another explosive impact, though this one was much larger.

"Marcus!" Samuel screams, though he lunges forward his legs resist, remaining in place. Selena walks out of the bushes gripping the wooden sword tightly with her eyes wide open.

Marcus crashes into several trees. A sharp pain crawls all over his arm. Marcus breathing heavily as he stands once more. His right arm struggles to lift above his waist as it trembles viciously with blood dripping from his fist. Marcus looks towards the scared dragons as it tries to bury itself further against Marcus' body. Marcus laughs and glances towards the petrified siblings. Marcus spits blood and glares at the ogre.

The ogre roars at Marcus gripping its wrist as it had a missing hand. Roots emerge from its open flesh and wrap around each other taking on the shape of a wooden hand. The ogre treads on the path to Marcus and prepares to swing once again. Marcus grits his teeth as he attempts to raise his arm once more as wind begins to gather.

He wouldn't win the trade here. Samuel breathes more heavily as he takes a step towards the brawl. Selena watches Marcus' laugh go to desperate anger and drops the sword. She dashes towards them and dropkicks the ogre. It didn't move him much, but was able to get the creature's attention. The ogre turns and swings his fist at Selena who is still mid-air. Samuel launches himself forward, and in an instant, fiery crimson flames clad his fist before he delivers a hard punch to the ogre's ribs. The ogre takes a few steps back before the flames explode, engulfing a chunk of the ogre's body.

Samuel's arm shakes as he breathes heavily. He flexes his fist before checking on Selena. The ogre roars as it pats the crimson flames. The burn markings don't fade or get covered in branches. Marcus widens his eyes as he notices.

"Fire! Fire is its weakness!" Marcus opens his fist into an open palm. The wind that gathered around his fist spread around his arm in a twist-like motion. A small wind-like sphere forms in his palm, spirling in constant motion. He manages to walk to Selena and hands her the dragon.

"Are you going to be okay?" Samuel asks as Marcus walks besides him.

"Gather another attack like that, but this time aim for the chest." Marcus commands. Marcus breathes knowing this is the last time he can attack with condensed wind. Marcus grits his teeth and veins start to pop as he runs. The ogre swings his wooden fist towards Marcus. He notices that the fist was starting to shift into a sharp blade, so without hesitation he dodges. The ogre grins as his attack continues now aiming for Samuel who was behind Marcus. Samuel tries to stop his movement and reactively uses his arms to attempt to block the blade.

Marcus with a clear shot steps forward readying his palm strike to the torso when he notices the situation on the ogre's grinning face. Marcus changes his target to the ogre's arm. With a swift motion into an uppercut. Marcus makes contact with the creature's large muscular arm. The impact and shock wave raises the arm upward, causing it to miss Samuel. In addition, like a spring, the wind around his arm launches upward rapidly. A sizable beam of wind bursts through the arm blowing it off. The ogre's arm immediately begins to regrow like his wooden hand, but at a slower rate.

Marcus attempts to gather more wind, but only a few light breezes are gathered. Not enough to use as an attack. The ogre no longer grins. It glares at Marcus as it notices his weakness. Black wind grips around the ogre and lifts it up with ease. Bruce rubs Selena's head as she remains on the ground holding the dragon. He has his other arm aimed at the creature flexing his hand slowly becoming into a fist. The ogre falls lifeless as Bruce closes his fist.

"How was your first battle?" Bruce asks, approaching them. Samuel begins to tear up, wiping the tears that escape his eyes.

"Well it could have gone a lot better." Marcus states, as he falls on his back.

"No, you guys did great. I'm proud. You fought to protect and not to fight. That alone already makes you guys great warriors." Bruce picks up Marcus over his shoulder and they head home.