Black Sword and Fragments [Vol. 1: Unforeseen Conspiracy]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dream and Glory!

It is a very peaceful morning. In the “Kingdom of Kreo”, where the small town called “Irongrass” is located, the people of that town are again starting their daily morning routine. There are these groups of working out men, a rather few numbers of Carriage Drivers waiting for their passengers, and of course, most importantly, there are roaming Royal Soldiers that are always present here Twenty-four-seven. This morning town will never be peaceful without them.

Meanwhile, in the largest wooden house located as well in the said town, a group composed of twenty children were born by the big door. They came out like ants that were disturbed in their burrows. They left their lady guardian as they hurriedly race to whom will get to the three carriages first.

Their lady guard halts for a moment as she stares at their shrinking silhouettes. She sighed at that joyful scenery and a sweet smile formed on her lips. Not long after, the lady also followed the young children and got into one of the carriages.

A few minutes later, the parked carriages began their run. A trace of sadness and regret can be seen in the lady's eyes as she took one last glance at the big wooden house.

As soon as the figure of the three carriages continue moving away, the wide green lawn was left rippling in the weak winds of that place.

Meanwhile, after an hour and a half, inside the big wooden house... 

"Ha! Yah!" Shouted firmly by the little boy as he used his two little fists to draw punches in the air. And before releasing his third punch, he fixed his posture, smirked confidently, and released a high jump kick!

In his mind, he thought that his move was super amazing, and he felt so proud that he was so talented in how he executed that attacks. However, not long after, he fell off as he lost his balance. His butt also smacked on the wooden floor. It made sense, after all, he was still too small to control his body movement and balance.

Even though in his mind he thought that his attacks were perfect, in truth, if the others can just see it, especially the elders, might be, they will laugh at the scene. They will think that a little kid is just a little kid after all.

"Aw aw," frowning, the little boy whispered as he soothes his butt with a rub. “No way, this can't be... I need to know sooner how to feel the magicules before I turn six!”

In this world, all the beings that have a life can feel magicules in their surroundings. nevertheless, to have this ability, everyone is bound to wait for its long process. Not all people can feel the magicules just right after being born. People often feel the magicules on their surroundings every time they turn between the age of nine and twelve. But in an extremely rare case, few chosen ones have been blessed by heaven. They have unlocked this ability even though their age was just six and below, and they are the ones who often stand at the top of strength.

The magicule is the natural energy of this world, the life. In everything in this world, magicules will never be absent. This magicule energy supplies not only the capability of the creatures here to live, but also the durability of the plants, soils, and as well as rocks. And the beings who has the ability to feel the magicule energies also can manipulate it of their own will.

The magicules can enhance the force in the body of the users who use them—if they will make the energy flow correctly to the part of their body that they want to strengthen. And of course, this is what the previous boy hope to happen. He wants to feel the magicules so that he can now start practicing how to use this energy correctly. 

This little boy's name is Allastor Frauzz. His looks are just pretty average compared to the other few children, yet, his unique ash-gray hair and his red-colored pair of gloomy eyes give a unique decoration to his overall looks.

He was still frowning and feeling dispirited by what happened earlier. He stood up hunching as he lazily shook the dust off himself. In his mind, no matter what else he does right now, there is no way he could feel the magicules sooner.

“I still have a lot of time and I'm still young, but,” he paused for a moment. “It would be better if I could become a ranker sooner! When that happens, I'll rule the whole Kreo Kingdom and nothing can ever stop me! I can buy everything I want, and most of all, grandpa Allan will consider taking me to his 

adventure when he finally gets home!”

He smirked at that idea, but not long after, his face returned into a frown. He sighed and looked at the stack of books near the door of his room. He stared at the books intently as he narrowed his eyes. It seems like he wants to unfold them.

“For now, I should re—”

When he looked up, he saw that on top of the bookshelf lay a pair of bread buns and a glass of milk. His saliva dripped a little as his gaze locked upon it.

He shrugged his shoulders and then closed his eyes, “right now, it would be better if I eat good food first so I can grow up fast, right? Oh yeah, I'm still too young to think about those magicules and all about those ranker kinds of stuff. Right, right... The right time for me to feel the energy around me will come naturally and requires no effort!”

He was about to take a step to reach those foods, but one of the sounds he used to love and is also familiar with him, stopped him from taking another step. It was as if he heard a thick Wooden sticks bumping each other wildly over and over again at that moment.

He could never be wrong about what he has heard...

“A duel between rankers!” He shouted, raising his eyebrows. He immediately ran to where their window is, got a chair, and stepped on it as he peeked the outside. Now, he can see what is happening. He gulped when he realized that the two middle-aged men are already in the middle of their intense duel.

The middle-aged man wearing a rubber armor focused his energy on his feet, and then violently leaped—down and towards where his opponent stood.

 "Sword bash!"

The man in rubber armor's sword glows as it violently slid down. Seeing that, the other man immediately prepared his spear.

He bravely parried the bursting attack, causing him to feel the heaviness in his arms.

In the next moment, the two men had already begun exchanging their attacks and blows. 

As their different weapons clashed, violent winds began surging between the two—causing the grasses below them to ripple wildly. The man with the spear smirked when he felt that the right time for his plan has come. From his weapon, brightening energy started to form.

The eyes of the man with a sword weapon began to tremble as he realizes that something seems off.  Sweat started dripping down his forehead as he finally realize what is happening. "Don't tell me, Logan, you already have that skill?!"

 "Heh. What? You already have an Idea, yet still, you resort to continuing your cheap tricks? HAHAHAHA!" Logan, still having his wide smirk, responded. "You're still easy to beat when it comes to strategy, Zen!"

Logan's expression became earnest and even brighter energy formed into his spear blade. 

"Fury-strike!"

Simultaneously with his utterance of ‘Fury strike’, three blurry images of him simultaneously attacked Zen’s direction.

The spear was repeatedly stabbed into his opponent's abdomen and chest. And with the power coming from the spear, the strikes on Zen's body could be heard.  nonetheless, Zen wasn't much harmed by that attack from Logan. After all, the spear he used is only designed for a clean duel. Its tip isn't that sharp and it is only made of wood, hence it does not cause any serious damage. Besides, Zen also has a stronger magicule energy compared to Logan. 

Zen's body flew out and his back hits the tree.  After that, feeling his body tiring, he just leaned against the tree trunk. “Puah! I lost again.”

Logan can't help but laugh at his friend's disappointed face. Eventually, he proudly responded. “Heh. This is the magic of training! People may come good and betray you badly, but the result of your good training will remain! This is the result of my training while I wait to feel the magicules in the surrounding.”

On the other side, Allastor who's watching the men from the window swallowed his saliva. Time seemed to slow as he stared at Logan with admiration. He is seeing logan as if he was a golden trophy shining with pride. 

He clenched his little fist as the light of hope flashed in his eyes. He already made up his mind this time. "This is it, the answer I needed! I should train my skills while I wait to feel the magicules!"

He took a deep breath in and at the same time as his sigh, was his wide smile.  "I will be a strong adventurer and I will travel all the continents in Illunor!"

A few minutes have passed, and while Allastor is still looking outside the window, a group of other children appeared from his side. Some of these kids are about the same age as him. And in front of the children was a rather beautiful lady. 

“We are home!” Happily greeted by the lady. She looked at Allastor standing beside the window—causing her expression to become complicated.

The lady walked near Allastor Frauzz when she was seen by him. Her eyes averted around him as she spoke. “Allastor, you should go with us next time, all right? We are your friends here. If you keep on staying here while we are strolling at the Kreo Capital, you will miss the happiness of being a child.”

“Ts. I'm sure, Allastor is still dreaming of having the ability to feel the magicules sooner. It is impossible to happen. He was still five years old and on their tenth birthday only does the people often become a ranker.” Inserted by the boy who has droopy eyes. If they would just look for a few seconds, they will notice how ugly this child is. The edges of his eyes are dark and his nose was flat. However, Allastor didn't pay attention to what he said. He only looked straight at the lady on his side. He smiled and shook his head. 

“It's okay, Aunt Ishara, it will never be long either until grandpa Allan returns from his mission. He will take me home.”

Because Allastor ignored the boy earlier, that boy's forehead wrinkled, but it never last even for a few seconds. He instead sighed. He realized that it was wrong to talk when he was not being asked. In addition, Allastor and he are still not that close. It is because Allastor was only staying here for five months and he also don't talk and interact too much with the other children.

But on the other hand, Ishara became sad about what she had heard from Allastor, and she became even sadder while staring at the child's innocent smile. She knows the true reason why Allastor was left here in the orphanage by his grandfather Allan. Even though the old man told Allastor he will return after his mission, it was only a bluff. She knows that the old man Allan Frauzz can't return anymore.

Allastor was still smiling at Ishara and a trace of hope can be seen in his eyes. Ishara didn't want to see this smile fades, that's why she forced herself to just forget the truth about his grandfather. In her mind, this is not the right time to tell little Allastor about the truth.

Ishara smiled back to Allastor, “Okay, but you should also go with us some other time when we travel to the city, all right? It would be better to enjoy some days so you can't feel that the time runs slow.”

Allastor Nodded, “All right, aunt Ishara, that's a promise.”

“Ohh, Allastor, I just remembered something,” she paused, smiled, and brought out a wooden sword from her [Space bag]. “There are so many memories that were left to this sword because this was a gift for me by a very special person on my third birthday. But now, I'm giving it to you.”

The [Space-bag] is a kind of item that can store anything that has no life. Inside of it is a space of twenty square meters. That is why you can store many things in it as long as it did not exceed the space from the inside. And this amazing item is also very convenient since no matter how many items you store, its weight will remain at one kilogram at max.

Ishara bent down near Allastor—causing her shoulder to be on the same level as the boy. She also gently offers the sword to the child.

“Are you sure, Aunt Ishara? I can have this sword?!” Excitedly shouted the boy with his eyes sparkling. 

As a response, Ishara nodded. “Mmm. ”

Allastor excitedly grabs the offered sword and his smile was as if can reach heaven as he smilingly looks at the lady as well. “Thank you so much!”

Ishara can't help but smile at Allastor's reaction to her little gift. She just thinks of gifting the sword to Allastor since she often observed that Allastor is interested to become an Adventurer.

----

two years have passed...

Outside the Orphanage is the wide space of greening lawn. Allastor is standing here in his simple attire. He is currently using the sword that was gifted by his Aunt Ishara. On the side of his feet is an open book. He is copying the stances of the person drawn on the pages. Just like him, this person is also using a sword—this book of sword stances is a Sword-Mastery book[Grade E].

two years have passed since Allastor started his training with a sword and now, he finally reached the last page of the book. He was also seven years old now, no matter how, just like the normal people, he still didn't unlock his ability to feel the magicules in the surrounding.

On the other side of it, aside from his assumption to become a ranker sooner, Allastor became close to the other children in the orphanage. It is because every morning, he offers his time to interact with the others, while in the afternoon when the sky became orange-colored, he uses that time to train with his wooden sword.

“Hay,” Allastor just sat on the grassy field of the lawn while staring at the very last page of the book, “I already finished every ounce of knowledge I could get from this book about the [Grade E] Sword Mastery. I now need to train with a higher grade sword mastery book. If Granpa was just here, I'm sure that he will buy me a [Grade D] or [Grade C] version of this, or might be, he will get me an amazing teacher!”

“Hmm... about that... It was now two years since Grandpa Allan left me here in the orphanage. I wonder to what places did he possibly go?” Said Allastor, thinking while rubbing his chin. “After all, Grandfather is still a strong Gold-rank adventurer. Might be, he was on a hard mission right now.”

While thinking deeply, Allastor heard footsteps that are coming right after him. And when the footsteps finally come to stop, Allastor looks at what this person might be.

Allastor smiled when he saw Ishara. Her expression is worried while her head is facing downwards. 

“Allastor... might be, it is the time you need to know the truth.”

Allastor's eyebrows rose to what he heard. He doesn't have any idea of what the lady is trying to convey. He stood up before he responded. “The truth? what do you mean, Aunt Ishara?”

A trace of complicated expression can be seen in Ishara's eyes, although, she continues what she wanted to say.

“About your grandfather Allan...”

-----

Votes and Feedback are highly appreciated! <3