After we defeated the [Giant Gray Wolf], I was completely exhausted.
I literally let myself fall to the ground on my back. I felt the earth hit my back with a dull thud, but I didn't care. At that moment, I just wanted to rest. My arms stretched out to both sides, open as if I wanted to embrace the ground, while my chest rose and fell with each ragged breath.
The sky above me was a spectacle. Orange and golden tones mixed with the first dark blues of the approaching night. The sun was slowly hiding on the horizon, painting the world with its last rays.
Beautiful, I thought. Very beautiful.
I was panting uncontrollably. I was exhausted, I felt like my chest was going to burst at any moment. I couldn't get enough air, and what had always been natural — breathing — was now terribly difficult. Crazy.
This is the first time, since I started wielding a wooden sword, since I started training day after day with the master, that I've felt this tired.
That [Giant Gray Wolf] was incredibly fast. And strong. Seriously, that magical beast was fierce.
If it hadn't been for the master's help — even though it was with a kick, but I'm grateful — I wouldn't be here anymore. From the very first instant, when it lunged at me, if I had reacted a second late... no, better not to think about it.
And I had promised my older sister at dinner — when she was crying — that I would return in one piece. That nothing bad would happen to me.
How naive I was, I thought with a bitter smile. Seriously. Not even a week has passed and I almost lost my life. How funny, Aito. How funny.
But that promise wasn't just a play on words. It was an oath.
And now, if I wanted to fulfill it, I would have to train until exhaustion. More than I had ever trained.
I must train my body more and more. Harder than when I trained at the palace. Until my bones can't take it anymore. Until they scream: "we can't go on." Until I can no longer wield my sword. Until the sword falls from my hands just from exhaustion.
Until my hands are unrecognizable from how red they become from wielding my sword so much. A thousand, no, thousands of times.
I must do all that and more if I want to fulfill the promise I made to my older sister.
Because promises must be kept. And even more so if you're a man — I know I'm a child, but I will be a man.
Or otherwise, I won't return in one piece as I promised.
Or in the worst case, I won't even be able to return. I'll be devoured by the monsters that are loose in the forests, villages, towns, cities... in every corner of the world.
And that can't happen. I can't let that happen.
And it's not just because of the promise I made to Calithia. It's for myself. I have to survive all these challenges for my own sake. I must keep standing until the last moment if I want to succeed in this world.
That's what I told myself before leaving the palace.
---
Since I was little — although I'm still a child, but I mean when I was smaller than I am now — I never liked many things at once. Well, yes I did, but they were all connected.
My mother once told me: "Children always like several things at once, they always want something new. If they have a toy they really like, they never let it go, but the instant they see another toy — even if it's inferior to the one they already had — they no longer need the one they were using moments before."
But I wasn't like that, my mother told me. And now I realize she was right.
I mention several things I like: food, magic, learning, discovering new things, asking questions. They sound different — and they are — but, as different as they are, they're actually one thing.
Discovering.
When children my age leave their toy for another, it's also a form of discovering. I understand that.
But they forget the first toy and cling only to the new one.
I, on the other hand, don't let go of any of the things I appreciate. It might sound greedy, I know.
But that's why, since I was very little, I've liked adventure stories. About powerful wizards. About ancient heroes. About how they went out to travel the world.
And for that same reason, now that I'm finally fulfilling my greatest dream, I can't let some magical beasts come from who knows where and ruin it completely.
No. I can't let this stupidity happen. It would be a slap in the face to myself.
---
While I'm lying on the ground, thinking about all this, I remember something important. Something related to my companion, my childhood friend: Lilia Marville.
Lilia is very powerful. Talented. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to defeat the [Giant Gray Wolf]. Maybe I would have achieved it, yes, but not so quickly. I might have run out of mana before finishing the fight. Or I might have won, yes, but with the difference that I would have been much worse off than I am now.
Maybe right now I'd be bleeding more than I already am. Fighting for my life. Unconscious from blood loss.
The master once explained to me that when you face an enemy or suffer an accident and you don't stop bleeding, two things can happen:
One: you can pass out from all the blood lost, and sleep for days — in the worst case, weeks — without being able to open your eyes. But at least you're still alive.
Two: or, in the worst scenario, you die from excessive blood loss.
Number two is much worse. Imagine: you fight a magical beast, you suffer, you struggle, and in the end you manage to defeat it... but you also lose your life. You can't even celebrate.
I don't like that kind of victory. I never will.
Speaking of wounds and blood... before entering this forest, three days ago, before embarking on the journey, we bought magical potions.
Magical potions are liquid substances made by alchemists. They combine different types of magical herbs and have the ability to heal deep wounds, restore energies, even regenerate limbs in extreme cases.
There are many types. From those that heal the most serious things in an instant, to those that only heal superficial wounds — like this cut on my cheek caused by the [Giant Gray Wolf].
Lilia carries about ten potions in her bag. Small bottles but high-grade, capable of healing much more serious wounds than this scratch.
But I'm not going to waste a potion on something pointless. This wound isn't serious. With resting for a while, sleeping, it will close on its own. Little by little.
---
The sunset was advancing. Soon it would be completely dark.
We would have to find shelter: a cave, a protected clearing, any safe place to spend the night.
But before that, there was something more important: dinner.
We're not in the palace anymore. There are no cooks, no best chefs in the kingdom preparing banquets for us. From now on, we will be the ones who have to find our own food. Hunt it. Prepare it.
Or starve to death.
And what better place to get food than a forest.
"Hey, brat," the master's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was approaching me, his silhouette outlined against the orange sky. "Let's go hunt for dinner."
I felt a flame of happiness burn in my chest.
I always wanted to do this, I thought. Always.
I jumped to my feet, ignoring the pain in my muscles.
"Alright, master," I replied with a smile. "Let the hunt begin."