Hope

Aaron opened his eyes and sighed, feeling the cold morning air invade his makeshift hut. The straw bed he slept on was hard and uncomfortable, but it was all he could afford. He stood, stretching, and looked around at the small space he called home. There were few things in the cabin, just a small table, a chair, a wood stove, and a few pots and pans and cooking utensils. Aaron dressed himself in the clothes he had sewn himself, some old pants and a worn shirt. He didn't have much money to buy new clothes, and life in the dangerous city of Deep Silver was not easy for ordinary young people like him.

Deep Silver was a dangerous and dark city, situated in the heart of one of the most chaotic and hostile regions of Lynsere. The city was once famous for its arcane silver mining, which was a major source of wealth and prosperity, but now it is only a shadow of what it was 130 years ago.

The city is notorious for being a violent and unstable place, where even the law of the Order of the Magi has no power, with only the law of the strongest prevailing. Gangs and bandits roam the filthy, filthy streets, ready to rob or kill mere common folk. The residents of the city are mainly common folk who still seek to find a mere silver lining in the depths of the earth. They live in small, humble houses, often with several family members sharing the same space.

Because he lives in such a place, Aaron has learned to be careful and suspicious, keeping his belongings close and his greatest treasure hidden in a hole in his hut. His father's old bow.

Aaron, after eating his piece of moldy old bread, knows he had to live another day struggling to find some silver. Aaron takes his old and almost broken pickaxe that was borrowed from the owner of the mine, leaves his hut and walks to the silver mine on the outskirts of town. He dreams of being able to leave that place where he lives and be able to have everything he has always wanted, food and a warm place to rest.

Upon arriving at his work site, Aaron joined a team of miners and spent hours digging narrow, dark tunnels under the earth. The mine was a dangerous place, with frequent cave-ins and poor ventilation. A risk to his life, but it was the only way he could find some kind of treasure and become rich. Aaron used his pickaxe to break rocks and search for silver veins, while his colleagues used carts to transport the ore out of the mine. The dust from the mine filled his lungs and made his eyes water, and the heat was unbearable.

But the hard work made him dream more, when Aaron finally found a piece of old arcane silver, a silver that had already exhausted its magic, but could still be sold. He almost screamed with joy, but kept his cool and took the old arcane silver out and put it in his sueño boar leather satchel.

He knew that this discovery meant extra money and the possibility of getting better living conditions. So he walked to the only store in town. The Hope Grey store, where all kinds of things were sold and where whatever silver was found was sold. Aaron spent hours in a gigantic line to finally be attended to by an old, fat man.

"What do you have for us?" Asked the old man, looking at Aaron's backpack.

Placing his backpack on the table and opening it slowly, Aaron shows his old silver and speaks:

"I came here to sell this.... I want a good value for it."

The old man laughed at his face and spoke:

"Good price hahaha, young man, I can offer you 500 silver coins for these stones."

"Silver? Only 250 silver coins? I can't even buy a 1 kg of flour with that, I'll sell it to you for 500, that's a fair price." Said Aaron with his hand on the countertop and looking the salesman in the eye.

"Haha" Laughed the old man coming closer to Aaron and putting his cold greasy hand on his shoulder.

"That's 200 coins... Or leave immediately before I call the Guard" Spoke the old man with his cigarette breath.

Aaron looked back and saw 4 men, all wearing a black cloak with a white shield symbol on the chest, white gloves with a small stone studded in them... it was the Guard, men who worked for the Order and who controlled the cities to maintain 'good'.

"No problem. I'll take it, the 200 coins..." Spoke Aaron visibly angry.

He walked away with his 200 coins and upset with his sale, with those coins he could only buy 2 potatoes or 1 baguette. The joy he had at finding the silver was short-lived. The silver he sold for a low price was sold at an exorbitant price to other people, he was stuck in an endless cycle of hunger and hard work, his hope was running out as time went by.

He went back to his hut and sat down on the muddy ground. Looking at the view of the city, he spoke to himself.

"I need to get out of here..."

Looking at the coins in his hand, he felt an ache in his chest, the sadness he felt at that moment made him weep pitifully. The night was covering him, the birds were disappearing, and only a darkness was there with him. Until a light shone around the city, a flash of purple light lit up the sky. He stood up slowly and stared at it, he was shocked, he had never witnessed anything like it, he was amazed, marveled at the view... Until the sky screamed, a bang in the sky made him fall to the ground, a portal appeared in his view.

Navigators were coming out of the sky, some kind of flying ship powered by wind controlling magicians, they were the Order. Fireballs were spat out by the navigators, fire controlling mages were the weapons of the navigators, the city was burned alive. Aaron could hear the screams and the houses exploding with the fireballs. In less than 2 seconds, a navigator appeared behind his hut, a fire controller mage called out and shouted for his magic.

"Ignis!"

The light from the ball fell on Aaron, who looked back and only felt the heat. And an explosion took over what was called home.