Blizzard

After that day, Nathan continued training as usual. But a few things had changed.

He and Lira started living in the old man's house, and at first, he felt strange about Lira's presence. After the man's death, the two became a little distant, as if an invisible barrier had been erected between them.

But that was normal, considering what had happened, and the girl needed time to heal her wounds. In the meantime, she worked in the old man's house, helping him with the garden, cooking and other chores, while Nathan trained.

Nathan, on the other hand, never stopped thinking about the man's death. He perfectly remembered the sensation of his neck being pierced, the blood spilling on the floor and the man's lifeless eyes.

With every swing Nathan made, he was aware that his sword was made to hurt, to kill. That was what Boreas was trying to teach him, that weapons were made to hurt.

And so, training day after day, time passed, and Nathan turned 17.

His birthday was almost at the beginning of the year, so winter was at its peak and snow covered the dirt roads. Nathan rubbed his hands together and blew on his breath, steam rising from his mouth as he looked out of the window of the dojo.

The door opened and Boreas walked in, followed by Lira, who had grown considerably, considering she was eating well now.

Nathan looked at them and tilted his head in confusion.

"What's going on?"

Lira was carrying a wooden box and Boreas was carrying a long black bag.

"What's wrong… isn't it your birthday?" Lira said amusedly.

Nathan frowned.

"Yeah? It's just another day"

He couldn't remember the last time he'd celebrated his birthday. His birthdays when he lived with his family were conspicuous, considering he and his brother were from the Aeterna family.

In any case, Nathan had not celebrated his birthday since arriving in the outskirts. He had only mentioned the date because it had come up in conversation.

Nathan noticed the box Lira was carrying and the black bag Boreas was carrying.

"What is it?"

The old man smiled and scoffed.

"Your gift"

Carelessly, Boreas tossed the bag to Nathan, who caught it and stared at it.

"Gift? Since when you give presents?"

The only gifts Nathan remembered from the old man were instant death and merciless beatings.

"I'm feeling... generous today" Boreas scoffed.

Lira approached Nathan with the box in her hand and waited for him to open it. Nathan hesitated for a few seconds, then opened the box.

Inside was a beautiful black mask with grey accents, sharp eyes, and a set of teeth as sharp as a demon's. Nathan looked at Lira in surprise and then at Boreas in confusion.

Nathan looked at Lira in surprise and then at Boreas in confusion.

"A mask?"

The old man nodded.

"In case you didn't know, your face is quite famous in the city"

Nathan was silent and nodded.

Years ago, he had seen his brother and his parents on television, both were a spitting image of each other. They had some differences, such as haircuts and other facial details that helped to distinguish them, but they were practically identical.

Nathan was about to leave the village, so of course he was going to meet a lot of people. But he couldn't let them recognize him, he was supposed to be dead.

He could suddenly appear in front of his parents' house and happily announce that he was alive... but he wasn't interested in that.

His family was a past he didn't want to go back to. He felt that if he went back, he would be compared to his brother again, and thus be left out again.

This was something Nathan did not want, so he did not want to be recognized as Noah Aeterna's brother, he wanted to be... just him, Nathan.

Accepting everything, Nathan looked at the black bag in his hands.

"And this?"

Boreas shrugged.

"Open it and you'll see"

Nathan bent down and set the bag on the floor, then unzipped it and looked at its contents.

There was a long, curved sword with a scabbard decorated in dark tones.

"A katana?"

Boreas nodded.

"Take it, you can't go around there unarmed"

Nathan hesitated for a few seconds before taking the katana, pulling it out of its scabbard and examining it closely. At a glance, Nathan noticed the sharpness of the blade, he felt he could cut anything with it.

The sword was made of dark grey steel with a black hilt. It matched his mask perfectly.

Nathan stood up and tried to swing the sword several times, he felt that the weight was a little different to what he was used to, but it would not be difficult to get used to.

Nathan put the sword back in its scabbard and returned it to the black bag.

"Thanks, I guess"

Lira looked at him with puffed out cheeks.

"You guess? Just say thank you and be done with it!"

Nathan snorted and laughed at Lira's reaction. Then Boreas asked the girl if she could leave them for a moment and Lira left the dojo with the wooden box.

Boreas reached into his pocket and pulled out a pristine white card.

"Take it"

Nathan looked at the card blankly.

"What is it?"

Nathan took the card as Boreas explained.

"Your security pass"

There was nothing special about the card, it was just that, a white card. But no matter how much he asked, the old man didn't answer, so he had no choice but to accept it.

"From now on, you will understand the real world. Use what you have learned in these years, and you will survive, but it will take more than effort" Boreas explained in a serious tone.

Nathan did not fully understand the old man words, but he accepted them and kept them in mind.

The last few days had been quiet, just enjoying the winter and the cold as he waited to leave.

His relationship with Lira had improved, they had put things behind them, forgotten. Though neither of them would ever forget, for their own reasons.

Boreas was as mysterious as ever, he had given her a place to go, but told him nothing more. Only that he should be careful, for so far, he had only trained with Boreas, or alone, and had no real combat experience.

In short, Nathan did not know the world.

If it was up to him, he would stay in this place forever, he had no problems and could live in peace. The only problem was that Boreas forced him to leave, threatening him with death if he did not.

With that, the day of Nathan's departure arrived. Nathan stood at the door, wearing a black cloak with a hood to keep out the cold. Other than that, he carried only the bag with the sword and mask in his hand.

Boreas was inside the house waiting for him to leave, while Lira looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Will you come back?"

Nathan shrugged.

"I suppose so"

Lira looked at him angrily and the small tears in her eyes disappeared.

"Do you want to have a little empathy?"

Nathan scoffed again at the girl's reaction and gave her a long hug before pulling away.

They had spent seven years together, longer than he could remember spending with his brother. So, he thought of her as his younger sister.

Nathan was a little sad to leave, but he knew Lira would be safe with Boreas looking after her.

Years had passed and Nathan still didn't know what rank Boreas was or what his techniques were, only that the old man was too strong, stupidly strong.

Nathan looked at him and just nodded before putting on his mask and turning around. He didn't need to say anything, he was grateful to the old man, but he wanted to get away from this place quickly.

Nathan walked until he reached the village and finally, he could let out a sigh.

'Ahh... no more hellish training'

***

In the middle of a snowstorm, a figure dressed in black walked with some difficulty as the snow and wind froze his hands.

Nathan had learned to use the essence to a certain extent, he could strengthen his body to feel less cold, but it exhausted him. It was no lie to say that his use of the essence was very poor.

It forced him to endure the cold and keep walking while looking at a map. Every second he had to clear the snow from the map, so he could barely read it.

Besides, Nathan was frustrated because... he couldn't read a map.

'How can it be so complicated... it's just a map?'

Unlike a digital map, physical maps were less intuitive, and in the blizzard, Nathan couldn't see his surroundings to locate himself more or less.

Huffing and puffing, Nathan tucked the map into his coat and walked on for hours.

According to what Boreas had told him, his destination was almost a week away from home, and he had already been there for two weeks and was still lost. But luck smiled on him again.

In the distance, Nathan saw two figures standing a few meters apart.

And these people also saw a figure approaching them in the middle of the storm. One of the men looked at the other and asked.

"Is it me or is there someone there?"

The other man moved his head forward, trying to see through the snow, and nodded. 

"I think so"

Both men waited a few seconds for Nathan to approach before raising their swords and shouting.

"Stop right there and identify yourself!"

Nathan couldn't hear because of the snowstorm, so he only saw the men raise their weapons, stand guard, and stop walking.

The man shouted again, and this time Nathan could understand a little. But it was difficult to communicate, so he took a few steps closer, which the men took as a sign to attack and raised their swords to attack him.

'Huh? What did I do?'

Nathan looked confused as the two swords approached him and without a second thought he stepped back, grabbed the black pouch on his back and quickly drew his sword, unsheathing it and pointing it at the men.

The men took this as a signal for an all-out attack and one of them pressed a button, alerting the intruder.

Nathan was unaware of any of this as he had simply encountered two people who had suddenly attacked him, and he had simply reacted.

Nathan had unintentionally gotten himself into a big misunderstanding, but at least he had reached his destination.