1 Chapter 1: Again

It happened again. Again he couldn't do anything. He wasn't able to protect his family. While he went into the forest to collect some firewood they attacked again. They attacked after 6 years of staying in the shadows. Why now? Why me? What did I do wrong? Those were the questions that went through the mind of the young man.

The young man was kneeling on a muddy field at the entrance of a gigantic forest. He was wearing ragged clothes which were stained with dirt and water, as it was raining. He had long black hair which was tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. With his defined face he looked at the ground in front of him. What stood out from his face were his eyes. They had the colour of the blue sky. The sky which every living being lives under. They give out a gentle feeling. But as the state the young man was in now, they displayed nothing but sadness and sorrow.

In front of him, laying on the ground was his older Brother Shogo. His death was the cause of his sadness. The young man named Ryoichi was holding his cold hand. He looked unto Shogo's body. His lifeless eyes, the slash across his chests were all indicators that he was truly dead. Ryo still hasn't accepted reality. He wished that he was seeing an illusion. But deep down he knew. He knew what happened to his beloved brother. As he was staring at Shogo's corpse, he tried to remember the past six years.

Six years ago they used to live peacefully in their little hometown called Dewgarde. At the time Ryo was 12 years old and Shogo was 17 years old. After their hometown got attacked by mysterious attackers they had to flee. Ryo saw how his parents got murdered by a masked man with his own eyes. But it all happened so fast for him. He still had to realize what had happened. He was glad that his brother thought quickly and fled with him. Who knew what would've happened if they stayed in the vicinity of those attackers.

Since that attack he and his brother travelled around, trying to find work so they could live. But they had no chance with their appearance. They looked like beggars. Ryo only had his clothes when they left their hometown and Shogo aswell, except his sword which he was carrying around all the time. They were rejected by society, so they lived in the wilderness. Any person would describe them as savages. But it worked out so far. They had lived without major problems in the wild.

Again, Ryo observes his bothers face. His face had no emotions and he knew, that that face will never reflect an emotion again. The tears flowed down his cheeks, yet Ryo didn't make a sound. In addition to being overcome with sadness, he felt useless. He felt useless since he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect his brother. Again, he felt the same emotions, which he had felt for the first time six years ago.

Now anger was being built up inside of him. He slammed his fist into to muddy ground, further staining his clothes. But he didn't care. He slammed again. And again. And again.

"Why?", he was muttering to himself repeatedly.

Then it stopped raining. Ryo also stopped slamming his fist into the mud. He came to his conclusion. He was not strong enough. If he had been trained in the art of the sword or the art of magic, he might've been able to do something. He wanted to get stronger. He wanted to get revenge and avenge his fallen family members. His objective was being pieced together. Then Ryo stood up. He loosened the belt around his brothers waist and took it off, including the sword which was attached to the side of it. With its sheath, he dug up the ground, then carefully laying his brother into the newly made grave. Before he put the dirt back into the hole he hesitated for a moment. One last time he took a good look at his brother. Then he covered his body with dirt. After the grave was done, he crafted a tombstone out of the firewood he collected earlier. It was not the prettiest of tombstones, but it was better than nothing. As he started to walk away he looked back.

"Thank you, Shogo" said Ryo.

He then walked away from his brothers grave and disappeared into the gigantic forest.

Ryo was passing though the woods. To his left and right gigantic trees rose up into the sky. The trees were as twice as thick and tall as any other trees. That's why people call it the Giants Forest. Ryo didn't really know what he should do in order to become stronger. As he was walking on the mossy ground, he came to the conclusion that he should travel to the next big village. There he could maybe undergo the exam at the adventurers guild. If he passed that he could start taking on jobs. Obviously he would pick the jobs where saying monsters is required. That was his plan in order to become stronger. But first he had to pass the Giants forest. The forest itself wasn't that dangerous, but there were still some smaller monsters wandering around from time to time. Ryo had to be cautious. Especially since he didn't know how to fight. The least he could do was being prepared in case such an event occurred.

Only a few rays of light fell through the leaves of the enormous trees. Because of that the forest had an ominous atmosphere. Even so, he continued to walk. On the way he picked up some berries and edible plants. He knew that those were edible since his brother had taught him a few years ago.

He continued to walk for a few hours. He hadn't encountered any problems. The only problem was, that he was getting tired. The events that happened today made him more exhausted than usual. Ryo decided to set up a little camp next to a tree. He didn't have much time until the sun would set, so he hurried crafting a place to sleep. When the last glimpse of light vanished behind trees, Ryo had crafted a small tent made out of sticks and leaves. It didn't provide much cover, but he hoped that it would protect him from the rain, if it happened to rain again. He lit himself a fire next to the tent so that it would keep him warm during the night. Ryo was feeling extremely tired now and he layed down under his tent. Again he thought of the things that happened today, but he didn't have enough power to think about it for too long, since he fell asleep after a short time.

Ryoichi woke up in the middle of the night. He was sure that he heard something. He looked around, but he didn't see anything because it was dark. His fire stopped burning for some time, so there was no light around him that would light up the darkness for him. He then heard a faint giggling. The giggling sounded evil. Ryo remembered that he had heard this sound before. It was the sound of a wood imp. Wood imps live in the forest and they are usually hiding during the day, but get active during the night.

"At least wood imps move alone", thought Ryo to himself. Then he heard another giggling sound. Then one more. Then two from behind him. He immidiately realized that there were more than just one imp.

"Why the hell are they moving in a group!?", thought Ryo.

He pulled his sword out of his sheath. Then he heard the giggling sound again. This time it was fairly close to him. He swung his sword. His swing was followed by a shriek. Even though he didn't see anything he was sure that he hit an imp. But it was too early to celebrate. The shriek alarmed the other imps. They all attacked Ryo at once. He couldn't defend them. Their little sharp claws dug into his flesh. It wasn't that deep, but they hurt. Ryo lost his balance and fell on the floor.

"You can't be serious right now.."

Did Ryo really fail to complete his goal? Already at the beginning of his journey? No. He had to get up again. He tried to stand up again. While trying to stand up, he saw a faint light in the distance. It was definitely a lantern. Then out of nowhere the lantern fell to the ground. Then a gust of wind followed accompanied by the shrieks of the imps. Then the lantern was picked up. The light of the lantern approached Ryo. Then it stopped in front of him. Now Ryo could see who was holding the lantern. It was an older man in a long robe and a large straw hat. On the side of his waist there were a sword and sheath attached to it. Ryo realized that this old man had saved him. But who on earth was he?