A broken memory

Huff.. Huff.. Huff..

In the busy streets of Temeria, a boy dressed in ragged clothing ran as fast as he could. His body was dirty, and his skin was covered in mud. His feet were stained with dirt and blood, yet he ran like there was no tomorrow.

For Lock, that was the situation. He couldn't afford to stop running if he wanted to go home in one piece. 

He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the burning pain in his feet. The village people looked at him with disdain and disgust. It was as if they were looking at trash instead of a person.

'Huff.. Huff.. I need to get out of here quick! Those bastards aren't going to let me go unharmed if they catch me!' Lock thought. 

While running, Lock kept thinking of a way to lose them. He was getting tired, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer if this kept going. 

'Think! Think! Thin-' but before he could finish his next thought, he was suddenly hit by a fist in the face. This made Lock land straight on the road with a bleeding lip. 

Soon a boy with brown hair came out of behind the tree laughing and celebrating his successful ambush. Lock knew who he was just by the annoying laugh of his. 

He was part of a crew made by Arnold. Arnold was the son of the mayor, which gave him authority over the other kids. The one that hit him was known as Reynolds.

"Haha! I got him by the face!" Reynolds said while laughing. 

"Good job! Hahaha! serves this bastard right!" Another voice chimed in. It belonged to a fat kid around the age of 16. His name was Pug, and he was one of the strongest kids in this village. 

Lock was also around the same age, but he had a smaller frame due to the lack of food. On some days, he had to personally hunt his own food, which was usually composed of rodents or rabbits. 

Lock wiped the blood off of his face and slowly stood up. He looked at Reynolds before lowering his gaze and kneeling on the floor. 

"Looks like you knocked some sense into this nutjob." Pug said it in a mocking tone. Reynolds approached lock and grabbed his hair, making him look up. 

Unfortunately, this was a big mistake. The moment Reynolds made Lock look up, he spit blood on his eye, temporarily blinding him before giving him an uppercut. 

Due to his weak stature, Lock merely managed to push Reynolds a few steps back with his strike. But to him, it was enough. 

His sudden strike caught Reynolds and Pug shocked, and Lock took this opportunity to throw sand and dirt in Pug's eye, blinding him as well. 

'A chance!' Lock thought as he charged at Pug with all his might. 

But before Lock reached Pug, a foot suddenly planted itself on his face, pushing him back down. 

"You must have lost your mind attacking my members like that." A voice suddenly said.

Lock knew that voice very well. He was one of the reasons he was suffering. It was no one but Arnold. The one and only son of the mayor.

Arnold was a skilled fighter and had a great build. His father made sure to give him a good trainer and teachers to ensure his future. 

Lock slowly opened his eye as he heard footsteps getting closer. He tried standing up, but he was greeted with a sickening punch to the stomach. 

Once again, he fell on the floor, holding his bruised stomach. He felt like he was hit by a mace, and the burning pain on his feet was not helping at all. 

"It's been a while since I've tested my skills. It looks like it's your lucky day today. You should be honored that you will witness my abilities." Arnold said with a huge, sadistic smile plastered on his face. 

Soon, the whole area was filled with gruesome sounds. If a person were to pass by, he would think that someone was being mawed by monsters. 

A few more minutes pass by, and Arnold can be seen unwrapping his blood stained gloves. While Lock was on the floor, bleeding all over his body. 

It wasn't just Arnold who beat him up; Pug and Reynolds joined as well. Once Arnold was done taking off the gloves, he approached Lock again. 

"Listen here, if I see you tomorrow at the testing grounds, I will personally "congratulate" you after the ceremony," Arnold said before standing up and leaving. 

Lock laid still for a while. If it weren't for his shallow breathing, one would think he was a corpse. He lay still until nightfall came before finally moving.

Lock grunted before rolling to the side. He looked at the stars in the night sky and couldn't help but wonder why this world was so unfair and ruthless to him.

He stared at the night sky looking for answers, yet in the end there was nothing but darkness. Tears started flowing down his cheeks as he was reminded of a memory. A past he didn't want to remember

... 

A few years ago.

"𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦." 𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

"𝘔𝘰𝘮?" 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.   

"𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺?" 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦. 

"𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺?" 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, "𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺."

"𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺.. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."  

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨.    "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?" 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."   

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?" 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.   

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥."