forgotten paradise

chapter 4 : the old woman

Besides a small lake was standing a frail 11-year-old boy. This boy was Ron. He stood by the lake with a blank look on his pale face, while a few drops of silent tears left from his black eyes,

"Ron, you really disappointed me. Do you really think! Not being able to become a capable person is the end of the world, you don't need to be disappointed, it's just an obstacle in your life's path, dear Ron, listen carefully..."

Ron let out his frustration when he heard the old woman beside him. 

Then he nodded and wiped his tears.

"Ron, listen carefully. What I'm going to tell him now might be the reason for your change of fate," said the old woman.

Ron nodded and said, "Okay, ma'am, I'll listen carefully."

The woman nodded, "Okay, Ron, how many kinds of living things are there in this world… at least in the Sak Empire in your opinion!!"

Confusion appeared on Ron's face when he heard the old woman's words,

"Ma'am, even a child knows this...there are three types of human beings in this world: warriors, abilities, and... me" when Ron's words arrived. To the last sentence, a look of frustration appeared on his face once more.

The old woman saw this and sighed, then said,

"Yes, you are right and at the same time wrong... Ron, baby, I didn't want to say this to you because this is so dangerous!! . . . But in fact there are more than three types." No, we call them specialties . . . "

Ron looked at the old man in confusion and doubt,

"More than three!?, Specialization!?"

"Yes, there are more than three specialties, and this thing is not known to everyone, because some guard that people can only see the tip of the iceberg!!, . . . Ron dear, I will not mention all the specialties to you because this will not help you."

The old woman 's face showed signs of helplessness, and then she said,

 "...this is beyond your power and mine so don't get caught up in it, I'll mention to you two specialties you might have hope of becoming stronger,"

Ron was getting a headache because of the abundance of information but when he heard the last sentence he got excited.

 "Madam, can I really get stronger despite being incapable! . . . "

The old woman saw Ron's enthusiasm and shook her head in frustration, "Yes, you can get stronger, but don't get your hopes up too much...."

She saw an old man Ron sensed Ron's frustration and quickly said

"I don't mean to disappoint you, but the problem is that the terms and conditions of these specialties are special and difficult..." The old woman took a breath and continued. 

"The name of the first major is the Knight..." 

Ron listens carefully because this is his only chance to get stronger! .

"...it is almost like a warrior’s specialty but a lot more powerful, the similarities between them is that they both push the human body to go beyond its limits, the difference is that a warrior only has three stages of strength but a knight… has seven stages of strength!!" . . . like power users."

"W-What seven levels!? So strong, Madam h-how did he become a knight?"

Ron was shocked and instantly excited and started to think he had such strength! .

The old woman  waved her hand to get Ron out of his dreams and said,

"Don’t get too excited because these knights are so mysterious, because in my entire life of over 200 years old! I’ve only seen one level 5 knight!"

Ron didn't seem surprised by the old woman 's age because this is so common in the world, because every auction of a woman's strength increased his age, since those with abilities are at the root stage.

They can live 150 years!! .

But the most surprising Ron is the scarcity of knights!

"Madam, how is that knight compared to someone with ability!?" Ron asked her.

"Uh, he can even face a star-stage person with ability!" The old woman said, in bitterness, as if she had bad memories! 

"Eh..!!"

Ron was once again shocked by the strength of the knights! Then he said,

"Madam, how can I become a knight!?"

"Hey! It's almost impossible to become a knight, because in the entire Saka Empire the number of knights can be counted on the fingers of a hand!" For you, you still have a small hope of becoming a knight!" The old woman said

"Why?" Ron asked her

"Do you remember the knight I told you I saw!" the woman replied.

Ron: "Yes!"

The old woman  said, "That knight is my friend, and he is the director of the Arlog academy in Bruslin. If you succeed in reaching the city of Bruslin, go to the Arlog academy and humiliate with this letter to its director, and he will accept you as his student if he finds you have the necessary qualifications to become a knight."

Ron took the letter and looked at it and then put it in his pocket and moaned when he heard the rest of her words, "If I don't have the qualifications to become a knight then I can just give up . . . "

The old woman , "Yes, that in itself is only a bet! That’s why I’ll tell you about the other major because you meet the requirements to embark on this major, mage…!!!" The old woman took out a hand-sized black stone tablet and said.

 "Magicians are another specialty… Magicians are superior beings and are also known as supreme humans! This is because their strength is a terrifying simplicity. I can’t tell you much about this specialty, because I simply don’t know anything about it!! Only my knight friend told me about it and gave me this painting because he didn't understand what it was, saying that it had to do with witches! I'll give it to you now as a gift from me because it doesn't help me." The old woman extended the black rock tablet

Ron took him and looked at him closely and didn't find anything special about him and looked confused at the old woman 

"Don't look at me like that because I don't know anything about him, I'll just give you a tip that might help you, and that's to head to the Empire of Darkness!"

"Empire of Darkness!" Ron muttered 

The Empire of Darkness was one of the five empires located on the Continent of Norwood!. It is hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the Saka Empire.

" Yes, the Empire of Darkness, but even though I say this to you, if you want to Save your life I don't advise you to go there!! , because y- . . . "

Before the old woman could finish her sentence, a big explosion was heard

The old woman suddenly became serious and looked deeply at the site of the explosion that was near the child's house beside her.