One ends so another begins…

~~~~~~~~3 years later Duran age: 12~~~~~~~~

"It's time."

Duran had been going through his training when he heard the deep voice of Marston say those words. At first he had pretended not to hear them, but he couldn't block out the feeling of the giant's presence. He continued to whirl his spear half heartedly through the techniques his grandfather had taught him when Marston spoke again.

"Bad practice-" he was cut off by Duran before he could finish.

"Leads to bad habits, ya I know." Duran's spear came to a rapid halt with the butt of the shaft digging into the ground. The butt of the spear had a thick and short spike at the end with three smaller spike sticking out from the side at a downward angle. This was to make punching through metal much easier while the leaf bladed tip was for slicing through flesh.

Now 12 years old the old war spear no longer completely dwarfed Duran. From the countless training he looked more like a handsome 15-16 year old with brown hair that he kept short, only reaching his eye brows. He stood at 5 foot 6 inches tall making him only about a head shorter than the 6 foot spear.

He now had a well toned body with not only muscles showing across his body but also scars from hunting in the nearby forest. Duran let out a sigh as picked up his shirt that he had discarded to the training ground. As soon as the shirt went on he pulled the spear from the ground and turned to Marston.

Marston saw the tears rolling down the young boys face and stiffened slightly. Seeing Duran like this reminded him that he's still just a child, one not even a teenager yet no matter how his physical appearance may be. Had he not known better he would have almost thought they shared ancestors because Duran was as big if not bigger than he had been at 12.

Duran walked past Marston with his spear in hand, but paused briefly.

"Thank you for everything Marston… truly."

And then he kept on walking leaving Marston behind who could feel his own heart ache for Duran. He followed behind, close enough to keep Duran in his sight, but far enough away to let him be alone. Not all hearts wanted comfort in times of sorrow.

Duran entered the house and was met with the smell of crackling firewood and a faint aroma of various herbs. Directly across from him down a short hall was a door slightly ajar where he could the foot of a bed through the crack.

He gulped silently and placed the spear on the rack to his right before resting both hands into fists at his sides as he walked toward the door. He paused once he reached it and listened to the soft irregular breathing of his grandfather.

"You're emotions are giving you away, Duran. Come in already." Came the soft, hoarse voice on the other side of the door and a faint smile traced Duran's lips. Even on his deathbed his grandfather scolding him.

Finally pushing open the door he sees his frail grandfather laid on the bed with a rag atop his forehead. He had nearly lost all his hair by this point and his cheeks were sunken in as well as his arms losing almost all of the previous muscle Duran was used to seeing.

Duran calmed his emotions as he sat on the stool seated next to the bed, and placed his grandfather's hand in between his own.

"It's time, Duran." The old man smiled as Duran felt the fingers in his hand tighten ever so slightly. He didn't say anything as he knew it would only come out as a sob, so he nodded with tears budding in his eyes. His grandfather smiled warmly at him seeing Duran like this.

"Grab the box underneath the bed—" he was interrupted by a fit of wet hacking coughs and Duran quickly got up with a rag to wipe away the blood and spittle that trailed from the corners of his grandfather's lips.

"E-easy.." the slightly trembling voice of Duran squeaked out. Deep concern could be seen in his eyes as the tears were now flowing again. His heart twisted in pain as he looked down at the man that had taken care of him all his life.

His grandfather smiled again as he softly patted Duran's hand. "The box." He said again, but softer this time. After giving him a sip of the herbal tea to soothe his grandfather's throat, Duran nodded and retrieved the hefty box from underneath the bed.

He had always asked about this box but his grandfather had never allowed him to open it before.

"Go on." The man encouraged and Duran flipped up the latch that held the top together to the bottom. With one last look at his grandfather, Duran opened the lid and inside he was met with neat stacks of gold, silver and bronze coins. The small chest also held some papers and a medallion that read

"Traves Dharkon"

"General"

"Kingdom of Sapin"

Duran looked up at his grandfather with surprise, of course he had known his grandfather had served in the army. But… to be a general was not something he expected at all.

"How?" Duran asked with the exhale of a breath. A smile formed in response on his grandfather's face.

"The attack that injured my core made me weaker than I had been. If you could see mana like some lucky few you would see that I'm currently around the red stage and approaching the black. However when I was in the army I was a silver core mage, one of the few."

Duran and his grandfather talked for another couple hours reminiscing about their fond memories when suddenly Traves paused and became serious.

"The letters in that box are addressed to a few people I knew from the army. A powerful conjurer by the name Cynthia Goodsky, the leader of the adventurer's guild in Xyrus: Tytus Bladeheart.

The letters should easily get you in to the academy or the guild, though I know how you are so I'm sure you want to attain them in your own merit. However the only way to enter the academy is through recommendation or payment, but the guild doesn't have those requirements."

Duran just nodded his head in understanding as he closed the box in his lap and set it to the side.

"I'll do my best to make you proud grandfather." Duran said with a bright yet tearful smile.

"Good, now prepare yourself. When my core finally breaks it's going to release the last of my energy no matter how meager it may be now. Try to absorb it, it won't stimulate your own core but it may be enough so that one day you can become mage like others."

Duran nodded resolutely and moved from the stool to the floor where he got into a meditating stance and closed his eyes. He focused on his grandfather's body and could feel the mana pulsing through his body and leaking out of his core with each heartbeat.

Duran couldn't see the energy in the truest sense but he could feel it and this let him grasp for it with his own energy. He could feel the difference from the mana coming from Traves core compared to the energy he gathers from the spear.

Beads of sweat trickled down his face and his muscles tensed and he concentrated to his fullest extent to pull in the energy, but rather than going to where his core should be the mana merged with his energy. It flowed through his body mixing with his energy and permeating his muscles and bones making them stronger.

He was so lost in the meditation and cycling the now mana enriched energy through his body that he didn't notice the warm smile on his grandfather's face as he slowly faded. Only once he finished assimilating as much of the energy as he could and came out of the meditation did he see that his grandfather had passed on.

His limp body lay in the bed but he looked peaceful and content, Duran held back the tears and rose from his position.

"Don't worry grandfather, the kingdom of Sapin will know the name of Duran Dharkon and remember Traves Dharkon the Bloody General."

A fire could be seen in Duran's almost glowing green eyes as his fists clenched, the silent only disrupted by the footsteps of Marston as he came into the room.

"The pyre is ready." He intoned from the doorway and Duran just nodded solemnly as he turned around.

"Then let's go, Marston."

Marston stared at Duran for a moment and then brought fingers to his lips and whistled one sharp note and 3 more men came in with a stretcher. They nodded respectfully to Duran and then to body of his grandfather before gingerly lifting him from the bed still wrapped in his blankets.

The 3 men and Marston carried him out of the house and towards the center of the town. The entirety of the inhabitants stood in the center, encircling a large pile of wood that made up the funeral pyre.

Many had tears and sad looks in their eyes as they watched Duran walk in front of the men carrying his grandfather. His grandfather had been loved by everyone and the ones that didn't at least greatly respected him. Most had either grown up on stories of Traves the Bloody General or had been around when it happened.

A war hero for the kingdom of Sapin against the elves.

There was an inner circle around the pyre where 2 chairs sat, in these chairs were Duran and Marston as they had been the closest to Traves. Then was the outer ring where the rest stood and they all watched the fire begin to take light and an blazing fire burned away the body of the bloody General, Duran's grandfather was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~chapter end~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I actually meant to start his journey this chapter, but I didn't want it to feel like I was skipping anything someone might want to read.

Next chapter Duran will be setting out.

Also just in case anyone noticed I wanted to go ahead and say it. I've been using a lot of names from a Russian series called Dragon Heart and the "spear energy" is taken from that as well. I won't be adding too much of its stuff but I wanted to at least say that.

Thanks for reading