On the outskirts of the Kingdom of Darlick, in a small town by the mountains, stood a modest orphanage. It was built from bamboo and the cheapest wood. Its roof was made of packed straw, covered with crooked clay tiles. It was clear that each tile had been carefully molded by hand and then dried in a kiln.
This was the place where orphans lived—children who had either been thrown away or left at the orphanage door. Sometimes children who had ended up on the streets would wander here by chance. The one in charge was the headmistress, a woman named Frida—a mature lady of fifty, with thick black hair in which a few silver strands were beginning to show. For her age, she had a very slender, even gaunt body with taut muscles.
One only had to look at her hands to understand that her life had been filled with physical labor. Her palms were covered in cuts and scars, and her skin was rough and dried out. In this world, it was already rare for a commoner woman to live to such an age. Perhaps she had simply been lucky to live out here in the provinces and not in a big city.
Besides Frida, there were four caretakers who also lived in the orphanage. In truth, all of them had once grown up under this very roof themselves. Now they were young women with rather ordinary appearances. Their figures could hardly be called delicate either, as they worked no less than Headmistress Frida did.
In essence, the women hadn't stayed at the orphanage out of kindness or noble intentions. For them, this place was almost their only chance at a relatively peaceful life. The children's situation was no better…
To end up in a place like this was a blessing! In this world, the death of a child was something completely ordinary; no one would even bat an eye. On the other hand, the caretakers could also live more or less normal lives here. The city held nothing for them that could even remotely be called a "good life." This was a world of ruthless warriors and strength. You could be killed, raped, or enslaved simply because you were weak. Situations like that happened all the time and didn't even evoke sympathy in bystanders or onlookers.
In another world, this orphanage might have been a little slice of paradise… Mountainous terrain, plenty of greenery, clean air, and even a small river flowing down from the mountains…
But unfortunately, in this world commoners could barely remember the taste of meat. If it ever appeared in a family, it was only in dried form so that it would keep longer. And that happened once every few years at best, and even then only if they were lucky.
This was because the wild lands were home to countless ferocious beasts. Not even every warrior dared travel far beyond the city's outskirts, let alone the peasants. They said some of these beasts could reach three meters in height and ten in length.
Only the strongest, who were fortunate enough to bring down some game outside the city, could enjoy the delicacy that was meat. There were also ordinary animals, like birds or small, tasty critters. But they too were food for the ferocious beasts. If you wanted to steal food from such creatures, you needed immense courage and flawless skill.
This world was ruled by strong people—warriors who could fight and protect themselves. The strong were the unquestioned law, and the weak were livestock.
There were legends of people who could develop their strength to such an extent that they could affect the forces of nature and even summon fire from thin air. Those capable of such miracles were called cultivators—those who had managed to develop the so-called energy…
However, for commoners that was just a pretty legend. Stories like that were told to children so they would have something to dream about. Strength was something universally respected. That was why, deep down, everyone wished to possess it.
Here, in this place, lived a little seven-year-old boy named Kai. He had snow-white hair and incredibly bright azure eyes. All of this made him stand out among other children and adults alike. Frida had told him how one day he was simply found on the riverbank not far from the orphanage. He was lucky that one of the caretakers had found him. Otherwise, he might have been tossed into the river or even eaten by beasts…
From early childhood Kai had been extremely calm and level-headed, and what was surprising, even frightening, was that he reasoned like an adult and learned to speak almost as soon as he was found by the river. It seemed as if the boy's mind grew and changed twice as fast as everyone else's, though his body developed at a completely normal rate…
He almost never cried and, astonishingly, he quickly found ways to understand and get along with the other children—and even the adults. All the orphans loved him and many called him "big brother," even when they were older than him in age. That could be explained by the aura of calm and reason he carried.
There was even a local legend in the orphanage that right before Kai was found, the entire area lit up, and on a sunny day the sky was pierced by thunder! Frida loved to tell this story, and the other children eagerly believed it, because Brother Kai was clearly different from them.
Kai was kind to everyone, yet he always kept a certain distance. For many, it was a mystery what was really going on in his head…
One shouldn't have illusions about life in the orphanage. In this place, life was "easy" only for the clueless little ones. From birth they believed that hunger was normal. Even with Frida and the caretakers working themselves to the bone, there still wasn't enough food for everyone. Sometimes there were days when the children didn't eat anything at all… On such days, the adults did everything they could to distract them and make up some cheerful reason why they had to endure just for today.
Kai was a very curious child—if you could even call him a child… At seven years old, he already knew the lay of the land and the geography of everything surrounding the orphanage. Fortunately, there were no ferocious wild beasts in this particular region. Kai often slipped away from the orphanage into the nearby town to steal food or earn some money for it. But who needed a useless seven-year-old brat? So most of the time, everything came down to theft…
When he was caught, he would miraculously survive, and his injuries and wounds would be nursed for weeks back at the orphanage. Yet even after countless talks from Headmistress Frida, Kai still ran away regularly. He always knew that if he could scrounge something up in the settlement, his brothers and sisters would get more to eat.
One day, as usual, Kai decided to sneak into the settlement to find some scraps of food. After making sure Frida wasn't nearby, he climbed over the fence and immediately ducked down into the grass to hide.
"Big brother Kai, the headmistress is going to scold you again…" came a timid voice behind him.
Turning around, he saw a little boy standing there with a guilty look on his face. It seemed he fully understood that his older brother was doing something bad and felt for him…
"Jean, quiet!" Kai hissed through his teeth. "If you keep quiet about me sneaking out, I'll bring you something tasty!" he added with a grin, then immediately crawled away, hiding in the grass.
An hour later, he finally reached the small village. Naturally, he didn't go in through the main gate, so as not to draw unnecessary attention.
The streets were very untidy… The paths between the houses were just mud mixed with straw and gravel. The houses were built from wood, and the roofs were covered with bamboo and tiles. Only occasionally were there buildings that were partly made of stone. The villagers were mostly skinny but very wiry. That was the result of a lack of food but an incredible amount of physical labor.
The village was protected by the chief and his small clan. They were all strong people, and that alone allowed them to maintain this little town. Rumor had it that the village chief had even begun to faintly sense energy in his body. No one knew whether that was true or simply what everyone wanted to believe. After all, their safety depended entirely on those people…
Kai noticed that on this day everyone seemed very troubled; there was an air of panic and anxiety. Because of that, it was actually quite easy for him to steal a bit of food. At that moment, he saw a large crowd gathered in the main square, and curiosity flared up in him. He started squeezing his way through the villagers to hear what was going on.
In the center of the square, on a raised platform, stood the village chief. Kai clearly felt a mysterious aura coming from him and immediately remembered the rumors about the chief's energy and strength. But right now, that wasn't important, and Kai didn't give such things much thought.
"You all listen!" the chief began. "Today a rumor spread that the neighboring Empire of the Ghostly Halberd has begun an advance against our Moonlight Empire. For now it's not a full-scale invasion, just a probing of the borders. This information can be trusted, because it comes from Lord Flick's own manor!" he said sternly, sweeping his gaze over the villagers.
"But don't be afraid! Even though we're on the border, I don't think our village is of any interest to the Empire of the Ghostly Halberd. For warriors like them, we are nothing more than ants. Who in their right mind would bother to crush an ant if it doesn't bite?" the village chief asked rhetorically, hinting that the villagers were not to cause any trouble.
At that moment, Kai tensed slightly. In some ways he agreed with the chief's words. But after thinking for a bit, he smiled slyly… In an hour of such chaos, he could steal quite a lot of food! That would definitely help the orphanage survive, especially if enemies really did come here. Besides, they were just children—no one would bother with them. There was nothing to worry about!
And so, until evening, Kai prowled around the village, slowly gathering up provisions…