Chapter 1: The Small Guy in a Corner
Walking down the street was a fourteen-year-old kid. Eadar was small for his age and was tanned at the face, but the rest of the skin is white. Brown hair and brown eyes and a weak physique, all giving a fed up and wooden feel to him- and he was small.
He is walking with a sheath (where a sword is normally kept), also wearing a red hoodie and navy jeans - nothing special. The sun was shining like a jewel entranced by magic, he could feel the radiation the sun emitted. He arrived.
'Thank god.'
The cool air in the shop pleased him as he rustled the money in his hoodie's pockets, pleased that he had the right amount of the gems and jewels.
He was not poor, he and his mum were in a better financial position ever since his father left. His father left when he was around twelve, his mum says he died but he sadly knows the truth.
Eader wanted to help his mum after everything she has done for him.
He was grabbing the groceries: pasta, tomato sauce, lettuce, minced beef and bottled water.
However, while he was getting the water, he bumped into somebody, he stopped his tracks for a second and turned to the person and he said sorry while he walked away. The people eyed him until he arrived at the cash register.
Most of the time he studies to increase the chances of a better job- his grades are better than average.
Ms Cumas was most of the time not at home, because of her accountancy job, which had a below-average salary.
The clerk gave him an eye as he placed down the goods, then behind him, she thought she should mention something but she left it. Feeling a bit of guilt when the very young man left.
'Kids these days really should go with their parents when going shopping.'
She shrugged her shoulders and saw him leave, then the group appeared in front of her. Eadar was out in the sun again.
'Really?'
He was displeased by it. He turned his head around and saw not many people in the pretty confined block.
Maybe I should run home and take a shower afterwards?
He may not be strong or muscular but he was fast and had great stamina. In his school, he was one of the fastest.
But before he could start, some people showed up behind him. It was the person that he bumped into. They enveloped him from behind. He glossed around, a bit puzzled.
'What do they want?'
He was starting to sweat from the heat and gave an annoyed face.
"Hello," one of them greeted with a wrong smile.
"Hi," he replied, "what do you want?" He said it with a strong and stern voice, hoping they would not annoy him. However, it was hard to do that if some people are just taller than him.
'Curse damn genetics.'
Ironically, his mum and dad are above average height, just him. He looked at him, "I'll be frank," he responded," do you have any money?", he paused for a bit. "No, do you have jewels?" He put his hand out, making his smile grow from anticipation.
The other two chuckled behind Eader. Now the mentioning of jewels has come twice and to clarify, it is the currency of this world. Gems were more the pennies and shillings and the small amounts of pounds and dollars.
Rather than jewels being expensive and worth many gems, in the less developed countries gems would be used when in the more prosperous countries, jewels would be used.
Eader glared menacingly back (or tried to) "Sorry, but I don't have any money. I spent it on this," he pointed at the bag.
He did not stop looking at the guys face, just to make sure he would not do anything stupid. Despite this, he did not pay attention to all of them.
BOOM!!
The sinister man's friend kicked him hard," you little runt," he snickered. He was a much heavier man than Eader, possibly twice his weight.
The other two laughed. Eader looked around, twirling his head frantically. He hoped there were other people around him, maybe they would help a man in need (more a child). Every body tried not making eye contact and walked by fast, he twisted his head.
'The clerk?'
He turned and saw her out the window. She was paying attention to the situation but she did not care.
'Damn, that female dog.'
He gave an annoyed look, ignoring her. On the other hand, he sighs happily when he finds the groceries intact- still in his hands when he got kicked, but he forgot about his sheath. It simply slipped off and he did not realise it.
He stood up and he made it open. His body was covering it so the three could not see it. The emptiness of the sheath.
Eader stood there with his eyes glaring at all of them now. "Oooooh, so scary," it was a high pitched voice from the third guy. He was skinny but a tall lad. Eader was glad that they did not summon their swords, if they did then he would be dead.
"Now you get it," he said while he was going in for a punch. Eader saw the punch coming and saw this as his lightened opportunity, he ducked and made a run for it. He sighed happily then gave a grim face forward avoiding the few people in front of him.
'A sword.'
Sadly…
He did not have one…
To not have a sword was not to have a brain or heart. That's how people were made to have such a realisation of having such a magical but deadly tool.
You could not get anywhere in life without a sword since everyone had it.
Swords are manifested during the early stages of puberty (around where the menstrual cycle first begins or when the testosterone is first produced) or before. They apparently said secures the magic or something. Despite this, Eader already hit it three months ago- blaming it for his height.
But some got it before so it was still a mystery for him and his mother. However, it did not stop him from carrying on with his dreams. He has not assigned a sword to the government (but everyone forgets at that age), but you need one to get a job.
The lads just looked confused, then they ran after him. It was a complete surprise to them that he just moved like that. They tried to look for him, but no luck for them. Eader could run so fast because that was the only special thing he could do.
His dad used to say," if you only know one skill hone it to the best of your ability", this was when Eader showed how fast he was but he knows he only meant it more for a sword than anything else, it angers him every time. Even teaching him the basics of sword fighting.
Eader showed it on his face, stretching it too far. After a while, he made it home, running swiftly. He took deep breaths before the door, looking behind himself.
No sign of them, that's good.
He felt all the sweat pour down from his face to the floor.
Eeeew.
He then checks his back, wanting to put his sheath down. The groceries sling out of his hands dropping onto his doorstep.
No, I forgot my sheath.
***
The alleyway was not filled with many people. This pleased the old man, walking down it slowly. He was able to do what he was meant to do with no haste. He looked around as he would have to get used to the area if he wanted his little experiment to go well.
The old man wore a summer hat and had a walking stick. The summer hat was a very reflective yellow, making people think twice about looking at it.
The shade underneath put it in a good position for people not to his face, having a magical beard just growing from the darkness.
The walking stick looked pretty fancy but that was about it. The old-timer wore shorts similar to swimming trunks, a tropical shirt and flip flops. One would think he was a tourist on a beach- all needs now is a tropical coconut drink.
He kept on pushing his stick forward, making him travel further. He arrived at a pretty forbidden place. The only thing that troubled him was a convenience store clerk but he took the risk, mainly because he put a lot of cameras in the area- perks of being rich.
He smiled and he made a stick appear from his back. It was something that he held the whole way through.
SSSSSH.
It was a silent but windy sound. The sword had become enchanted when he tensed his arms. He chuckled.
'This may become a craze on social media, but I do not care.'
He looked at the sunny and bright sky.
'Would help me out, really.'
The sword was put in place and the man walked away. He noticed something at the corner of his eye as some partially blinded him.
'What is this?'
He looked around and saw it. He thought for a full second and gave a wizardly smile.
'If I enchant this as well and put a tracker on the inside, that would help me out a lot.'
He bent his legs, lowering slowly.
GRUNT!
He placed a small chip in and walked away, opening his phone and tapping away.
The reason he did that specifically was to see if there was a slight chance that a person may find the wooden sword, and pick it up which would be one in a million- they would also take the sheath, it looked pretty fancy too.
He did not have to hurry back because of this and this pleased him. He smiled the whole time. And the clerk? She was irrelevant, literally, she did not pay attention to the man at all.