Book 1 Chapter 3: Your Soul towards an achievment of ruthlessness

The man didn't ask of their past, he didn't even speak much at all as he continued forward at what seemed to be a leisurely pace. However for the two boys behind him, he was like a gust of wind floating across the ground. Each step of his carried him 10's of theirs, thus the entire time he was moving, the two brothers were sprinting behind him.

Hours passed like this, with him stopping to let them catch up and rest before leaving again. Night came, and he stopped to allow them to sleep for a while after they had gathered wood and lit their own fire.

Another day and night passed like this and yet he still hadn't given them the large pelt they had slept well under before.

Day and night, night and day.

The two couldn't even remember what day of the week it was as they had solely focused on running for their lives with no other energy left to think of trivial things.

Slowly the snow covered trees disappeared, leaving a white landscape untouched by humans and mankind. This was the far reaches of the forest that touched the city they had come from, and was a piece of land that few travelled into as it was too out of the way from main city roads.

Thus, as the two brothers took a much needed rest and looked around they could only see pure white as far as the eye could see.

"What drives you?" The man asked after a while, watching them gaze around at the glistening snow beneath their feet.

"Power…strength…" The shorter of the two mumbled. The taller one looked at his brother and then back up at the man before he nodded in agreement.

"What does it take to gain these things?" He took several steps forward and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

They rubbed their chins for a while in thought before the taller one spoke up first, "The way to gain power…is through a meticulous journey of the unknown"

The man looked down at the shorter of the two brothers who meekly muttered under his breathe, "I was going to say something like that…"

"Good, you see the symbology of where I have been taking you…don't fall behind" He patted their shoulders a couple times with his large hands, turned around and sped off into the distance. They didn't hesitate to follow right up and after him. Glistening snow flowed by their vision, and after another night of bitter cold the man finally gave them the pelt. It was heavy, but not too heavy for them to pass off back and forth as they continued to follow him endlessly.

The snow slowly faded into another darker colored forest. Strangely the snow didn't settle on the trees here and thus the ground had a deep contrast between the dark colored trunks and black needles that the trees had on them, and the white snow at the base of the trees.

"Almost there…" The two perked up their heads and began to run with all their might, at this point the two had glazed over eyes. If it wasn't for the fact they were holding the bag between them, they may have gone without speaking for a long time. It was a state of utter fixation.

The trees reached down towards them, tugging at their skin and leaving marks across their body and yet they continued to run unabated by any other thought then moving.

The man stopped and held his arms behind his back, looking down from a cliff to a level of ground hundreds of feet below.

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

A chorus of sound rang out periodically, and as the two brothers heard the endless chatting the color slowly came back to their eyes as they fell at the edge of the cliff and gazed down below.

Down far below the cliff, which wrapped around a section of sunken forest, several tens of miles across was a sea of trees with many buildings dotting it in sections. Right beneath them at following the cliff wall was a group of men who were constantly punching the cliff face, each time they did a chunk would be sent flying. It looked as if they were digging with their fists.

"They say…in this section of the forest their once lived a man so powerful that he rose up into the sky and threw a palm at the earth below him. For tens of miles across the earth sank downwards, leaving a perfect cliff face at its perimeter. The snow never fell over this land, and great wars were fought around it. That man…did indeed do that, the reason why I know was because he was my ancestor and I am the master of the current era of training that resides in this land."

"The master?" The two asked in unison.

"Yes…the headmaster. This is a hidden place, on the outskirts of your kingdom and beyond this point is a land of monsters and creatures. We are at the border the land of the damned, and thus we are hidden. We train warriors, soldiers, mages, and monsters. Those below you are soldiers, training in martial arts with the very earth beneath their feet as their target. When I first met you two, you had a deep seeded hatred against something, and by following me for so long I have driven that hatred into a goal…power…strength…wisdom…it matters not…I have stopped you from destroying yourselves without an outlet to vent. I have given you a goal to focus your souls upon…a long road."

The two continued to heave as the blood rushed to their heads, trying to regain the air that their bodies had let dwindle within. They truly couldn't remember what had happened in the last several days, it was as if it was a dream. Yet here they were.

The Headmaster grabbed the two with his large arms and simply stepped off the cliff.

An attendant ran at break neck speed before slowing himself, he tidied up his clothing and then walked casually over to a man carrying two boys.

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"Your lordship…" He bowed politely while looking the two over.

"I know what you're going to say…my heart is too kind, I take in too many…it is sons and daughters like this that need guidance the most. Help these two find a room, and then have them checked for potential…" He dropped the two onto their knees and ruffed up their hair before leaving.

The main attendant had to pick them up by their shoulders as they wouldn't stop bowing towards the man as he left, a reverent look was plastered into their eyes as they watched him walk away.

"Who is he…" Solomon asked after a while.

"He is the headmaster and lord of these lands…his name is the Silver Wolf Spear, Ezken Illiad…he is a mighty wielder of magic, and a great and power warrior…respect him for the rest of your lives for what he has given you…as…he had given the same opportunity to me…"

"You were an orphan too?" Alexander asked as a sad looked came over his face.

"We aren't all…but strangely the best of us are…don't fret on it young one, you are not alone…my name is Sulfax, and I lead the main tasks he gives out and take care of things as…a butler…" He said 'Butler' with a strange smirk on his face, as if he hated being called it but it was the most direct way of saying his position and thus he couldn't help but say it.

"Anyway…let us get you a room with the others of your age, and from their go to several instructors who will determine what path is available to you…"

"Thank you honorable Master Sulfax!" The two bowed to him, he smiled in return and patted them on the back before walking off at a slow pace for them to follow.

Soon, after several minutes of walking they came to a stop in front of a wide half-moon shaped building that was dark in color. It looked as if it was made of the same wood of the surrounding trees, and from a distance almost blended in with the environment of the sea of trees on its periphery.

"This is a dormitory…this specific one is called the Black Moon, if I recall there is available space in room 12…go inside to see." He whapped them on the back and sent them forward to the middle of the crescent shaped building where a large dark door stood proudly.

Inbetween the crescent or what filled up the space of the rest of the 'moon' was a gazebo that was 20 feet across, 2 gardens, and a walkway. The rest of it was streams and creeks of water that ran in a circle, almost like a spiral of flow.

The two gazed around inspecting every bit of the scenery before arriving in front of the large door. It slowly slid open, and beyond it was a man in black attire who quite litterly unlike the other man looked like a butler. Except this man looked to be over a 100 years old and very ancient.

"Come in…" He said in a croaky voice before closing the door behind them.

The inside wasn't magnificent, but the walls were made of stone. In fact, the inside reminded them a lot of castles from the stories they heard as even smaller children.

"I heard that room…" before Solomon could even finish his sentence the old man stopped in his tracks and held his hand up without even looking back at them, "That room is taken…you will stay in room 13"

The two shrugged, it didn't make a difference to them what room it was.

He walked for a little while following a winding hallway. The first room they had entered was wide, and following this way it opened up wider and the ceiling opened up to two walkways with doors lining the wall adjacent to it from a railing. Several people were walking back and forth and chatting up on the second level, each glanced down at the two new comers.

"Here we are…" He pointed to a solemn door that stood far away from any doors nearby. In fact, the two questioned whether or not it was even a room. There answer?

They opened the door to find it led down steep stairs into the ground, and glancing back at the old man they found he had disappeared where he had stood.

"Where…" Alexander looked around, but the people above them didn't seem to flinch at the man's disappearance.

"Come on…we have to check it out…" Solomon dragged Alexander towards the door and the two disappeared behind the door as it closed behind them.

It went down about 20 feet before they finally touched cold stone. The same stone lined the ceiling, and even the walls. Several unlit torches lined the walls as they walked, and Solomon had to take out the flint and steel from the bag to light one of them.

Its warm glow illuminated their surroundings and showed a dark opening at the end of the corridor they stood in.

Walking into the room they found it to be old and dusty, as if this space hadn't been used in years.

They wanted to be angry, but in fact even this old dingy space was better than the one they had stayed in before. The room was circular, with the roof at about 9 feet. There were no beds, no tables, it was entirely empty. However, in the middle of the room was a large metal bowl set into the floor. It was made of an unknown metal that was warm to the touch.

Solomon tripped, and before Alexander could catch him the torch struck the side of the metal. A brilliant flame came to life, and the two looked stupefied at the unfueled but ever burning flame. It wasn't a warm glow, it was rather crimson in color but as the light slowly became brighter it illuminated the room even further. Warmth slowly spread out and around it, and after a while the room actually became quite temperate.

"Amazing…" Alexander bent down and noticed strange zig zagging lines that wrapped around the outside of the bowl. They flickered like flames as well, and became dim in some areas before brightening up again.

"This…is our new home" Sol said after a while of watching the flames. The light danced in his eyes until he turned away from it and waved for Alexander to follow him.

The two made their way back up the stairs, and silently closed the door behind them.

They walked back down the winding hallway, and behind a desk set against the far wall from the door was the same old man they had seen except now he was dozing off contently as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Thank you senior" They both whispered before silently opening the front gate and closing it behind them.

The old man propped an eye open and smiled, before closing it again.

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Solomon and Alexander didn't receive someone else to help them around or guide them and thus were left to their own devices to wander. The trees in this area were much denser then up above the ring of cliffs, it was quite strange. Those above were probably 5 feet apart minimum, whereas the trees here were less than a foot apart. To wrap around one tree, two fully grown men would have to spread their arms as wide as possible to meet each other's hands on either side.

The reasoning for this? They couldn't guess no matter how hard they tried. The closest guess they had, was after that all powerful individual blasted this land flat, people replanted trees in a chosen pattern and thus the reason why the trees were closer together was because they had been made to be.

A teen was walking by with several of his friends when his gaze landed on two boys idly staring at the trees around them and chatting. He nudged his friends with a devious smile on his lips and walked over to the two.

"Hey! You two seem lost, I was just walking to the bathroom building, why don't you two join me I could probably get you a job there? I am indeed of high authority" He said this with an amiable smile, but his friends burst into laughter.

Solomon and Alexander looked at each other and then back at the teen who was several heads taller than them. They began to have pitiful faces, and their eyes looked lost as if they were innocent children. They slowly and shyly walked over to the teen until they were less than a foot away from him. Alexander was about a head and a half shorter than the teen, and so when the two walked over the teen kept his gaze on him.

"Sir…sir, would you please show us around?" He asked in a perfectly innocent tone. Solomon next to him nodded his head meekly and stepped forward a little closer to the teen with the bag he was carrying up to his chest, as he held it in his arms.

"Sure! I would love to, in fact this good brother will even…Fwhoo…" The wind escaped him as Alexander punched him directly in the groin as hard as he could. The teen bent downwards and Solomon took the chance to land his knee right in his face.

The teens friends were laughing when they instantly quieted down, some of them had angry faces but the ones who could see Solomon from an angle shuttered involuntarily.

"Wait!" One of them shouted before the rest of them jumped down on the two boys.

"Why?!" The one right behind the teen who was doubled over asked in bewilderment.

Solomon looked at them all, studying each of their faces. All of them focused on his as well and shuddered as they noticed a metal glint shining on their friends throat.

Alexander slowly stepped forward and kicked the teen, who was still holding his nuts together, onto his knees and stood next to him while holding his shoulder.

Both of them exuded murderous glares that no child should possess. It was obvious that Solomon had a blade to their friends throat and so none of them spoke up as a realization came to mind.

Alexander patted the teens shoulder a couple times, "All of you are going to walk away from here, and when you are gone…we will leave your friend here."

Solomon nudged the blade harder against the teens throat and gripped his hair with his other hand, "Nobody is going to bully us…or we are going to kill all of you. Don't think that I won't…or I swear even in death I will haunt your souls to the nether realm. I didn't follow lord Ezken to end up being bullied here too…fuck off, or ill slit his throat."

"Fucking…ruthless" Several of the teens muttered under their breath. The second that Solomon had said 'Lord Ezken' they knew these children weren't ordinary, and the fact they he may very well be behind them frightened the living shit out of them. They were just ordinary teens brought in by several small clans to train here; they couldn't be bothered at such an age with politics.

The teen currently with a blade to his neck was staring daggers at Solomon. When Solomon's gaze landed on his the murderous glint in his eyes became deeper.

"If you continue to stare at me like that…I'll kill you right now."

The teen felt his soul quiver, and his eyes shifted down to the ground. He would have his revenge, but for now he wasn't in a position to negotiate.

After the rest of the teens disappeared beyond the path in the distance, Alexander walked over and punched the teen directly in the jaw. He was a child, but his strength wasn't bad in the least.

Solomon didn't release the blade from his neck as intended, and kept it in place.

"Why aren't you releasing me?!" The teen shouted through clenched teeth.

"Because…you want revenge…we are the only ones worthy of gaining revenge." Alexander who was looking down at his fist, looked back at him and retorted.

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

"Fuck you!" The teen tried to stand up, bluffing that Solomon would even kill him!

Solomon stabbed him in the knee, shoving him to the ground before he hopped up onto his chest and began to wail down on his face.