Hundred was a 12-year-old boy who lived with his mother and father in the humble District 14 of the Kingdom of Theria. His life was once very happy.
He was an energetic boy, but in the area where he lived, there were few children his age, so he grew up without friends.
Hundred was fascinated by his father's adventure books, and he spent entire days reading them.
His father, Suly, worked as a farmhand on a nearby plantation, while his mother, Tiara, was a homemaker.
Though they didn't have a lot of comforts, they always had enough to eat and wear. It was a peaceful life in the countryside.
Each morning, Hundred would help his mother tidy the house. Sometimes, he'd even help her cook.
His mother was kind and always took care of him when needed. His father was a hardworking, respected man.
Suly loved teaching his son how to read and write. He also loved sharing wild stories from when he was younger—stories from the time he served as a knight.
Though the stories often seemed exaggerated, they always carried valuable lessons.
Life was good—until the day King Albert Von Kennedy III died of tuberculosis.
Soon after, his firstborn son, Pattis Von Kennedy, was crowned the new king.
And from that day on, Hundred's life turned completely upside down.
A month later, the new king raised taxes on every business in the kingdom.
With prices going up, Suly's earnings weren't enough. He had to work longer hours and much harder.
After three months, Hundred's family had to start rationing food. To help, Tiara took a job as a seamstress in a clothing shop during the afternoons.
Sometimes, both parents would come home late at night, leaving Hundred alone most of the day, reading fantasy books.
One day, bored of reading the same old stories, he decided to go for a walk.
While passing a bridge over a river, he spotted a boy—using Mana to perform magic.
He was controlling the wind. Hundred was hypnotized by the tricks the boy was doing. So, he approached him.
— Hey! My name's Hundred. That thing you did with the rocks was so freaking cool!
— Nice to meet you, Hundred. My name's Damian.
— DamiAN? What a badass name! Totally suits you. You're handsome and you can use magic! Are you some kind of new God-sent prodigy?
— Haha, nah! I just know a few tricks with rocks, nothing more.
— Still, the fact that you can use magic already makes you insanely awesome! said Hundred, very impressed.
— My dad says finding someone who uses magic is like finding gold in a mountain.
— I just got lucky because my mom can use magic too—so I inherited it from her.
— That's so sick. Your mom must be amazing too.
— She is... but not just because of magic.
— Well, she must be special in her own way too.
— She is. My mom's super kind. But I barely see her these days because of her job.
— Yeah... and it's all because of that evil prince!
— Maybe the prince had a good reason to raise taxes. My dad's a knight, and he says those taxes are important to keep the kingdom stable.
— Wait... what?!
— Your dad's a knight?! That's epic! Your whole family's just awesome.
— We're not as awesome as you think. We're just a normal family.
— "Normal"?! Your dad's a knight, your mom uses magic! Come on.
— SighLet me explain...
Hundred and Damian spent the whole day talking about their lives. Later, Damian showed him some more magic tricks.
Time flew by so fast, they didn't even notice it was getting dark.
They agreed to meet at the same spot the next day. Hundred said goodbye and headed home.
From a distance, as he reached his gate, he could hear his parents shouting inside the house.
— Sigh... Here we go again.
— Suly, tell me you didn't come home drunk again!
— Whassshh... Leave me alone! I just wanted to relaaaax a bit.
— Are you serious?! You're wasting all our money on booze!
— Get out of my face!
— I'm not going anywhere until—
— SHUT UP! You have no right to tell me how to spend my money!
— (slap)
— Suly! I swear, you'll regret this!
— Shut your mouth, bitch! You should do whatever I tell you to!
— Suly, no... STOP! Please, stop!
Hundred's parents were locked in a violent, ugly argument—both verbally and physically.
Two hours later, when the shouting finally stopped, Tiara locked herself in the bedroom and cried.
Hundred was devastated. It felt like his parents might separate at any moment. He kept calm and went to bed, hoping to see Damian the next day.
The next morning, everything seemed normal. After his parents left for work, Hundred went to the bridge to meet Damian.
But when he arrived, Damian wasn't there.
He thought maybe Damian was just late, so he waited.
As hours passed, his hope slowly faded. By sunset, he went home.
That night, again, his parents were fighting. Every morning and night, the yelling returned—sometimes over food, sometimes over furniture, or even petty things like an unwashed cup.
Eventually, they began avoiding each other to prevent further conflict.
Three days had passed since Hundred last saw Damian. So, he returned to the bridge once more.
He saw Damian sitting against the stone wall, slumped down. He ran to him.
— Huff... Huff... What happened?
— You didn't show up the other day. I waited for you the whole time!
— Leave me alone! said Damian coldly.
— What's wrong? Did something happen? You can talk to me, you know.
— I don't want to talk. Just go away.
— Even if you didn't want to talk... why would you call me a stranger?
— ...
— My dad was killed three days ago... by a group of thieves.
— I'm... I'm so sorry. You must be feeling terrible. I can't even imagine losing my mom or dad...
— ...
— Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. If you want, I can leave and give you some space.
— What are you talking about? Why would I want you to go?
— Well, earlier you said you wanted to be alone...
— You just said you're my friend, and now you're walking away like that? A real friend would tell me a joke to cheer me up.
— Wait, wait... I got one!
— What does a duck say to its girlfriend?
— Uhh... I don't know?
— Quack-quack-kiss!
— Hahaha! Because they're ducks! Got it! You even do the sound perfectly!
— Yeah, weird skill, huh? Not many people know I can do that.
— That's the first joke a friend has ever told me.
— And that's the first joke I've ever told a friend.
— For real?
— For real real!
— Growing up without friends sucks.
— Hehe... You're right.
— But now we've got each other.
— You know, Damian... I wish I had tons of money. Maybe then my parents wouldn't fight so much. Life would be like it used to be.
— Sounds like you're going through some tough stuff too.
— Yeah... but I try not to think about it too much. I just want to find a way to help my mom and dad be happy again.
— Now that my dad's gone, my mom says I'm the man of the house. I have to help her and my sisters however I can.
— The only thing I can think of is becoming a knight and avenging my father's death. I want to get strong enough to enlist.
— The kingdom only accepts knights from age 15. So for the next three years, I'm going to train as hard as I can to reach my goal.
— I just want to find those bastards and make them pay for killing my dad.
— Maybe I could become a knight too. People say knights earn a lot of money. We could train together! What do you think?
— But I'm going to train with magic.
— Don't worry! I'll train with swords, spears, even halberds. I'm gonna be the best swordsman in the whole kingdom! Then I'll make tons of money!
— Haha! All you think about is money!
— Not just money! I think about girls, and friends... and the stuff money can't buy! said Hundred, full of energy.
— Haha! Okay, okay. Having infinite money would still be awesome though.
— For real!
— Hey...
— What?
— Tell me another joke.
— Haha! Okay, here comes another one!
From that day forward, Hundred and Damian became the best of friends. They met every day, training together with one goal: to join the knights of the kingdom.
And with that shared dream, they would do whatever it took to make it come true.