It was a dark, rainy night. No sign of the moonlight anywhere. The raindrops were tapping everywhere, and lightning covered the great skies, illuminating them.
A man covered in a black cloak was walking alone through the narrow streets of Toledo.
Nothing of him can be seen except his golden, bright eyes through the dark.
He knocked on the door of a small home.
Knock, Knock.
No one is answering.
He knocked more, yet there was no sense of anyone.
He held the door handle and started pushing it slowly so it wouldn't make any sounds.
After breaking the handle without any noise, the door was opened, but no one was there.
The man started looking everywhere.
"This house is the size of a room, yet I can't find him," he murmured.
After a quick search, he stepped back into the rain, and when the lightning struck, he saw someone standing in the tall tower of the temple.
On its edge, a teenage boy stood motionless, glancing at the city below.
His brown hair whipped in the wind, rain running down his glommy face.
"What is the point of this pathetic life if all it means is to suffer?" His voice cracked.
Tears ran down his cheeks. "I am tired of being a failure."
"Why is my life like this!"
He spread his arms and closed his eyes, preparing to jump
"Let me end this once and for all."
He jumped!
But seconds passed, and he hadn't even felt the wind rush past his face, so he opened his eyes only to find himself staring directly at the floor horizontally.
"Ahhh! What is going on? Am I dead?!"
He was crying and screaming.
His tears were dropping from this height with the rain.
"No kid, you are not dead, but do you wish so?"
A man was holding him by the collar of his robe, rain dripping from his expressionless face, while his eyes stared at the boy's soul.
"Didn't you hear me? Do you wish I let go?"
The boy was staring at him while continuously sobbing with a cold stare.
"No p-put me back, I want to live!"
The man pulled him back up.
"If you are not brave from the first intent, why bother trying it?"
"Why did you stop me?!" The boy was screaming his lungs out and tearing, no one could tell if it was out of frustration or from the shock of what just happened.
"I asked you, didn't I? Whether you want to die or live," The man was speaking with a calm tone, not of who really cared whether the boy died or not.
He was still staring bluntly at the boy.
"What is your name kid?"
The boy was still tearing up, his arms wrapped around his head to keep it from shattering.
He lifted his head, slowly taking a look at this stranger who had just appeared a few minutes ago before saying his name, "Hazm…that is my name…"
"Hazm…" the boy murmured
"What is your clan, young lad?"
Hazm squealed, "That is none of your business, Old man."
The man kept his expression, but inwardly he scoffed, "Jeez, I don't even look old to be called that."
"Ahem…I just meant to inquire hazm" he laughed in his heart from the attitude of the kid, "my name is Alyar."
"You are not from here, are you?" Hazm asked with suspicion in his heart. "Your garments are not from the center of Andalus.
Alyar sighed in his heart, "I am not even from Andalus. I am from the Far East. A merchant, a traveler. I've been living in Andalus for the past years. And now I just wander through its divided kingdoms since the civil war."
"I guess this land never lost its beauty despite that civil war long ago," he laughed gently.
Alyar realized that he spoke too much, and the boy calmed down a little. "Come. Let's get down from here. We'll head to that tavern and put this stiff night behind kid."
"I will pay, don't worry," Alyar took another cloak from his robe sleeve.
Hazm, who was hungry and wet, didn't object.
At the Tavern that never sleeps, where women sing and men laugh, could be heard meters away.
Alyar and Hazm entered.
"2 drinks please," Alyar used his 2 fingers to show the bartender.
"Here are your drinks, Alyar."
"You seem to come hear more often," Hazm spoke without looking at Alyar.
"Yeah, I come here to relax after a hard day of working."
"So why were you on top of a tower in the middle of the night?"
Hazm stared at the table for a few seconds before he spoke. "I have grown weary of this laugh. I have no dream nor ambition; fate and life are against me. I feel nothing but numbness all the time."
Anyone around Hazm can feel this negative energy and depressing aura.
Alyar kept drinking and was thinking, "This boy's aura is very depressing, I can make good use of it-"
Hazm cut off Alyar's line of thinking, "I will leave, okay? I am feeling very uncomfortable being in such a place…I discard places such as these."
Alyar was caught off guard.
"Why? We just came here?"
Hazm spoke in a strict tone, "I don't know you and you don't know me, so leave me alone."
"I don't want to hang out with a stranger."
The conversation was going very well, but what's with the sudden change of heart in Hazm? Alyar was thinking.
Hazm got up from the chair, seemingly worried, looking around the place as if he was worried about something or someone.
A group of 5 men sitting at the end of the tavern were staring at him with an intimidating look.
Hazm's eyes met there menacing stare.
His pupils dilated, and he started running toward the exit with hysterical fear.
"Hey, wait! What is wrong? We are not done." Alyar tried calling Hazm when he saw him run.
The people around were looking at him and hazm.
Hazm didn't listen and left through the exit.
Alyar scanned the area fast and saw five men getting up from their table towards the exit.
He grinned and got up from his chair, "Time for some blood to be shed".
He got up and walked to the exit, following the men.
***
Outside, the men were chasing after Hazm.
"Come back here, you bastard," one of them spoke up while another shot an arrow with great precision.
Hazm managed to barely dodge the arrow but tripped and fell on the ground.
A man walked to him dressed in an elegant robe and armor.
"It seems, young boy, you don't know who you are messing with! Where is the money we told you to get?!"
Hazm spoke with hesitation, "I couldn't get the money yet...if you just give me more time, I will try to."
"How come you couldn't collect such an amount as 500 silver coins in a span of 5 months?"
"Sir Mashal, First row warrior in the army of the king of Toledo...please, have mercy, I barely find enough money to feed myself."
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, you scum." He kicked Hazm in his stomach, making him vomit.
"Oh, don't empty your stomach yet, a lot more is coming. If you haven't lost my package, you won't be indebted to me like this and would have kept your job."
"All this was happening while Alyar watched from the roof of a house. He didn't want to interfere, as he wanted to see more of Hazm if he was really special, as he felt.
Hazm smiled with agony at Sir Mashel. "You are rich, what will 500 silver coins change for you?"
"It is not about money, it is about the package you lost!"
"I told you it was stolen from me, and I couldn't defend myself or the package." He wept, "I am weak, couldn't even defend myself from a group of bandits, and can't even use echos."
"Wait, you can't use echos, not even the lower end of it." Sir Mashel and the group of men with him started laughing, "You are even more pathetic than I thought!"
Echos was a way to harness the body's energy to enhance its physical abilities. The pure form of this energy is called Noor (*Meaning Light*), it flows through the body and originates from the heart. This Noor can be amplified to muscles or the brain to improve sight, strength, endurance, and vitality.
There are levels to mastering this energy and being able to use it in the form of echos. Most First Row warriors like Sir Mashel are level 2 or 3 of echos, while the highest level is the ascension echos, which is level 5.
Many unlock their Noor flow after puberty, but to be able to use echos, it requires training under an academy or mentor. Hazm hasn't had this privilege in his life, so he wasn't able to control his Noor. Most teenagers in Andalus society go to these academies, so not being able to at least use level 1 echos is considered a shame, and you will be prohibited from many normal things in life, such as jobs and marriages.
This was the harshness of life; only your power matters to people. If you are strong, you will be respected, but if you are weak, then you are nothing but wheat straw, easily crushed.
Hazm started crawling away from the laughing men, but Sir Mashel didn't leave him and stepped on his foot to stop him. "Where do you think you're going?"
In pain, Hazm was, "Please leave me alone, I promise to leave the whole kingdom!"
Sir Mashel has no empathy for anyone.
"Cut his arm, may he learn from his mistake," he told one of his men.
The man unsheathed his sword.
"How are you guys?" Alyar appeared from the shadows, his eyes glowing.
Everyone paused in looking at him
"Who are you?" Sir Mashel asked