Prologue.

As the dawn broke over the hill of Hermes, a somber scene emerged. Piles upon piles of lifeless bodies lay strewn across the once-vibrant forest, now reduced to desolation and ruin.

A young boy, no older than ten, stood amidst this grim tableau. His untamed black hair was tied back in a messy bun, framing eyes that gleamed like gold, he moved among the corpses of dead soldiers, scavenging their armor, weapons, and any potential treasures they might hold.

Regardless of his small stature and his poor condition, the boy exuded an air of maturity and a hint of arrogance that was unmistakable.

Clad in weathered leather armor, he carried a sword much too large for his frame on his back, while a dagger hung from his waist. Fear of the dead was now a foreign concept to him as he navigated through the lifeless forms.

"You're still clinging to life, aren't you?" The boy's voice resonated as he gazed down at a wounded soldier, "I can't save you, so don't give me that look."

The soldier, amidst the sea of fallen comrades, bore injuries that spoke of a brutal battle—a clean severance of one hand and a stab wound beneath his left ribcage. Yet, against the odds, he clung to life, breath by tenuous breath.

The soldier followed the little boy who was glancing down at him with his eyes as his body had completely given up on him. But the words the boy spoke, had completely shattered even the tiniest hope he had.

"What I can give you is a painless death and end your misery," the boy continued, drawing his dagger, "Looking at the condition you're in, I am sure you won't last too long but I doubt you wanna take that gamble."

"Let's make it simple. Blink once if you want me to kill you and blink twice if you just want to be left alone."

Despite the crude words that came out of the boy's mouth, the soldier felt a sense of relief wash over him as without the slightest hesitation he blinked once accepting his fate.

"A wise decision," the boy acknowledged. "By the sun emblem on your armor, I can see that you're a warrior of the Valeria kingdom."

"Thus, let me beseech Sol, the god of the sun, to guide you to an afterlife of solace, for you are a deserving warrior who fought till his last breath."

The boy raised the dagger as high as he imbued the blade of the dagger with a delicate layer of mana. In a heartbeat, the blade plunged into the soldier's heart, ending his suffering in an instant.

The soldier's eyes slowly lost the life they gave off but despite it, a faint smile graced his lips.

The boy withdrew his dagger, cleaning it with a bloodstained handkerchief from his pocket to check the blade, "Shit! I fucked up my dagger again."

"This cheap stuff that they give to soldiers is clearly not meant to last long." he sighed, discarding the fractured blade. He turned to the soldier he had just killed, "Lucky bastard to die and never awake."

"If this was a game, I would've seriously gotten so many exp from killing all these half-alive soldiers." The boy shook his head, "As if my luck would let that happen,"

"Now let's see what you've got!" The boy without a second of hesitation, started digging through the man's belonging.