Chapter 1 – A county of hopes and dreams

 

…

Calm Era, Year 156

Soles were thumping against the asphalt. It was eight in the morning and people’s noises sounded in every neighborhood. There were a few to none street sweeper on the clean road because people didn’t like to throw trashes everywhere, a shameful thing in the county.

People already finished their bath early this morning. Cleaning their house was even earlier, as they had already done it while the sun just risen. Thus, many people looking refreshed and handsome walking along even with their simple clothing.

“Good morning.” A woman fixing her head.

The man dressed in white sando responded. “Good morning.  I don’t get the news. There is inflation?”

“Rumor is that the gold mine has collapsed.”

“That’s bad. My daughter has several devices opened at the same time.” His head became itchy. He leaned forward letting the sunshine blind him. The woman laughed and bid goodbye.

Creak. From the half-open window, a child between nine and ten years old was preparing inside the house. Many people passed by and when they saw the child, they waved and greeted the boy.

“Hi Benny. Morning!” The man also walked and slapped the wall hard.

“Hello Elder Brother. Don’t just scaring people in the morning.” The boy pouted. He fixed the hair at the side. His brown eyes focused on the things he was holding.

The man laughed. “Preparing to go?”

“Yes. I have to walk so I’ll get early.” He beamed; his youthful vigor affected the atmosphere.

The elder guy whistled. “Oh. It will be a long tread. By the way, make sure to save, okay? There is problem in the mine. I’ll go check the bank the conversion of coins right now.”

“Thank you, Elder Brother. See you later in the market!”

The man nodded, put his left hand to his pocket, turned around and waved his last hand.

The boy seemed busy packing things in a light brown colored sack, but time to time he would gaze at the closed room across him.  Seeing the silent close door, the boy stopped looking at it and finished what he was doing ‒ preparing for school opening.

He was now in the age where he could train and become a strong person he always heard from the others. He got it from the older children in the neighborhood, who graduated from the school and told him a lot of stories of having powers. They said that those less fortunate families could only depend on the school to get stronger.

The boy’s mind could not help but wonder. He imagined himself with a yellow cape and wearing a cool yellow tight suit, posturing with few cool poses, smiling at many familiar and unfamiliar faces. He held the hands of one lady in the crowd, lifting her gently yet in manly manner before flying on the horizon. The blue clouds. The slow, turbulent winds brushing against him. It was a fantasy within his grasp. He also thought about various thrilling and exciting adventures that awaited him.

“Heh… I’m amazing.”

The boy lost in reflection for several moments before snapping back to the reality. Tik. Tok.  He looked at the clock, seeing already past nine. He proceeded to the kitchen and brought out many spices from the cabinet above him. It was still high for him in his age so he got a chair to help him. Squeak.

Holding in his hands, he had a bag of monggo beans, pork he’d gotten from the refrigerator, onions, garlics, tomatoes, pork cubes, malunggay leaves, black peppers, cooking oil and chicharron in front of him.

He looked at the ingredients before putting a piece of chicharron in his mouth.

Munch. It was crunchy and the salt didn’t taste half bad. “Hm. I shall buy more of this.” It was cheap but looking for a tastier was a bad decision.

The boy arranged the things in front of him. He looked masterful despite his age; switched on the stove, put a cooking pot on top, poured oil and waited for it to heat-up before putting chopped onions, garlics and tomatoes. The boy added the pork after he gisa the spices. When he saw the pork turning light brown, he poured water until it boiled.

“Next is the magic!” He added the pork cube into the mix and stirred. The boy’s face lit up as he thought how magical this invention was. The taste was better. Awhile later, he put the monggo beans and waited until cooked. Last, he added malunggay leaves, ground pepper and chicharron to enhance the flavor. After a while, with a wooden spoon, he sampled his work. The hot and steaming soup brought satisfaction to his body right after it entered his mouth.

The boy grinned from ear to ear. Sunlight shone on his face from the window, highlighting the happiness he’d felt. “Brother will definitely like it. A wide difference to my cooking last night, eh? I messed up and poured a lot of salt. This time, it is swak, just right of my taste buds.”

The boy looked again at the closed room. He used to sleep in the same room with his brother. But after his parents vanished, his brother moved to the main bedroom while he stayed on the twin room they used to sleep together. He didn’t care though.

“As long as brother is here with me, I will not feel bad. He became like that because of our family. And now it’s my turn.”

“There’s no need to be sad.” Smiling, he thought. His name is Ben, Ben Horizon. He had hazel brown hair, black eyes, thick lips and a round face. The afternoon sun in the wet market tanned his chubby body. Shops sure have roofs, but the heat still affected them. The market was far, so he had to ride in an open carriage.

He determined to go to school today without riding to familiarize with the route though. School start at eleven before midday. So, he had time.

And Ben hadn’t told his decision to go to school with his brother. He had a help with one of his co-workers in the wet market, one adult, to apply for him so that was why he didn’t know the route yet. The farthest he had gone was only the south section.

“What would the school look like? Will it be grand as it looks on the distance? I wonder what the teacher will teach us. Oh, I’m really getting excited!” Eyes twinkling with emotion, he hurried to sit on a chair.

Ben considered his brother wouldn’t like him to go to school. Nothing concrete, but he just sensed it the few times that they talk about power ‒ his brother always had that unresigned atmosphere around him. Anyway, Ben shrugged it off and hoped his brother would come to accept it later.

With that train of thought, Ben soon wrote on a paper. The boy reminded his brother about the monggo soup and to heat-up the dish if it became cold. He cooked a lot of monggo soup so it would last until dinner but he was worried that his brother might eat cold food. He left the letter on top of the table before he slung the light brown sack on his shoulder.

The boy didn’t want to wake his brother, not only because he wanted to leave without noise, but also because he wanted his brother to rest longer. Even though his brother didn’t work anymore, he still stayed up night.

“Ahh. The morning’s heat.” Ben stretched his arms wide. “That’s why bathing in the morning is the most refreshing thing to do.”

“I hoped to have fun with my classmates.”

Finished, Ben went out. The door creaked a little while he was closing it. His shadow was trampled by passersby and soon vanished.

Moments later, the said closed room sprung open, with a crippled person sitting in a wheelchair emerging. The man rolled the wheel with ease. The room was dimmed now, only the light from window illuminated it. His face was dark, with bags under his eyes and a pale face devoid of warmth. He looked at the exit door and shook his head, he knew his brother very much for him to keep a secret between them.

He eyed around at their house. Everything was neat; with old furniture on the comfortable places and spices in the cabinet. He hurdled towards the wall, clicked a switch, finally lighted the room. His sigh echoed and brushed the new ashes on the lamp standing on the table. They lived a thrifty life, which was testament to the regional customs and tradition.

He continued to the fridge, there were only handful of things in there, before getting something out. It was the leftover of the meal that his brother made. The guy heard his relative’s movements last midnight and picked up the fridge’s noise after being opened.

Seeing this, his eyes softened. “Stupid, you should have reheated or just threw this already. You think I don’t know you will secretly eat the leftovers.”

The man scooped a mouthful. His action was fast. He chowed down without heating it, unlike what his brother’s intention. He tasted the saltiness in it. Unknowingly, teardrops fell from his eyes. He pushed his palms in front of his face as if hiding from all desperation he felt.

It was bitter.

…

“La~ La~ La.”

Ben walked out from his house cheerfully. He skipped and hopped like a silly pony. Whenever he saw someone on the street, he would stop, wave at them and greet them with his vibrant and youthful voice.

“Hello Auntie.”

“Hello Uncle.”

“Greetings doggy.”

Everyone in the neighborhood loved this child. He always smiled, greeted and respected everyone. He rarely played around like his age, instead he helped everyone just for a spare of coins. He also loved talking with everyone.

To Ben, everyone was already his family.

The cool looking uncle with his thin moustache always gave him free haircut in his hair shop, the stern-face auntie who had cats everywhere in her backyard, the burly fisherman uncle who always have hearty laugh and big fish, the elder sister who was staring blankly at the sky imagining her knight in shining armor... Everyone was so kind to him that he felt that the world was really beautiful and wonderful.

The only thing he was concerned about was his big brother, who always looked in daze and silent. But when his brother turned around and face him, he always gave him the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. It was too radiant and loving.  He wanted his brother to always smile like that and not be sad again.

Tragedy struck, his brother became cripple and there was no one to work for them. So, Ben, with his young age, started to work in the wet market. He got there due to the recommendation of his neighboring aunties and uncles. Luckily, he discovered that he was strong. He could lift baskets of fishes, fruits, vegetables and other stuff. It was like a cheat, Ben thought about the games he played with his neighbor. He always goes there if he had time and borrow the game. Anyway, Ben was very optimistic about his future.

As he walked, Ben’s eyes lit up. He always saw two old men playing chess when he was riding the open carriage. It was just he passed them rapidly, but he always felt something strange about them. Now that he was just walking and passing by, he can finally satiate his curiosity. “Maybe they are mysterious super strong people!” Ben thought. He imagined that he got lucky and faced a master. That was how novel works, wasn’t it? He creeped towards them and scrutinized everything they were doing.

The two old men had different expression. One of them was frowning hard and pulling his beautiful white beard while the other was chuckling with delight as he traced his long white eyebrows. It looked like he was winning this round. The latter saw Ben nearing and chuckled. “Lad, this guy is losing the game and also the bet, but he doesn’t want to pay. Isn’t he disgusting?” He blew his mouth, towards his foe.

The other guy heard this, almost pulled his beard out and hollered. “You piece of old rag! I won more than I lose. Your debt is much higher than my house!”

“Whoa! Where can you see such a thing? You are so old but you are blabbering such idiocy.” The guy put a wizen and innocent look as he kept tracing his eyebrows but with renowned intensity.

“Heck!” The other old man immediately threw a piece, almost right inside his opponent’s mouth, missing by inch. The latter was so shock that his sleeves and long brows trembled together and his eyes popped out. He wanted to get revenge, but he thought he was too refined for such a barbaric act, so he just placed a piece with a bang.

The two became agitated. Their eyes were red, facial hairs swaying, and their skinny arms blurred. The way they place their pieces was fast and accompanied with loud sound, and they spoke with saliva flying, coupled with intense raging emotions. Ben wondered if the board could withstand their brutality.

Now, Ben doubted his strange impression of the two. Forget it, it might be because of dotage that was why they were strange, the boy thought.

One passerby saw Ben observing the two old men bombarding the board with violence. The person called out to Ben, chuckling. He tidied his sleeves and rubbed the side of his chin.

“Aren’t they strange?”

“Eh? Brother, you also feel that way?”

“Hm. But it looks like the age is just coming to them. When you become older, a strange aura emerges from you.” The person chuckled. He poised like an enlightened master. “They should have stay in home, drink tea and relax. Their body won’t be able to keep up with their age. Sometimes I wonder where their children, or even grandchildren are.” Unfortunately, he didn’t see the two pairs of fiery eyes gazing at his back.

“Well…”

Only Ben detected this. He immediately excused himself and ran as fast as he can.

The person wondered why the boy was running. He looked back and saw nostrils flaring in front of him.

“Brat, what did you say?!” Red eyes shining, two pair of hands turned into devilish claws, and caught the man.

“You don’t know how to respect your elders!”

“You got galls!” The old man with long brows raised his sleeves. He swung his shoulder back and forth.

“Eh! Ah! Huh!” The other one pasted his face against the bystander.

“Err…” The passerby wanted to explain but a kick to his butt interrupted him.

Ben looked back, but when he saw what happened, his face flushed. He hid his face behind his hands and ran even faster. He didn’t want to see more of the sprawled person with his butt pointing towards the heavens.

“Really strange!” Ben patted his chest when he was far away.

Slowly, Ben could see the outskirts of the South Section and the towering school. He felt tired and regretted walking. He should just ride the open carriage, which only imposed five bronze coin per journey regardless of distance. The good thing was that open carriage had twenty seats. So, the driver still earned a lot. Only bad thing was that he needed a lot of horses to feed.

Outskirts of South Section were where wet markets and some small stores were. The supermarkets and high-end stores were way deeper. Ben went this way because his house was nearer to the south, also very near to the school. Or so he knew from his neighbors and co-workers. But he could only smile wryly when he saw the silhouette of the school was still quite far away.

“Ayo, this child comes here. Have you eaten already? How about this smoke-grilled chicken I have here? Come, come!” A kind-looking auntie waved at Ben from the distance.

Ben let out an ivory smile to the auntie and said that his tummy was already full. Instead, he said he would come to the school to learn to train. The auntie felt happy for Ben and blessed him.

At every turn, aunties or uncles would wave at him and smile or tell him to come and give something for him. But every time he would decline the offer, he was in a hurry to school. Ben didn’t know if god was real, but he would believe it due to how bountiful and joyful everyone's life was.

…

This was a county where beautiful pink flowers bloomed in abundance. This flower accompanied the vast forest with its canopy casting shadows on earth. And with the flower’s addition, made the bland image of the forest changed like few master strokes of brush.

To the north was an undisturbed mountain range, with green and orange mixed together. Clouds drifted behind it. West of the forest was a river of thousands of miles of length. It raged from the north to south and exited to the east.

Behind the vast forest, golden fields could be seen that spanned to the horizon having several scattered people busy farming. From time to time, they paused and wiped their sweaty foreheads. It looked arduous, but they were serious about their work. They look healthier though, with oily copper-bronze skin. No one slacked, they had a quota for the monthly produce of the county.

Among them, one man, about in twenties, halted before fixing his hat. He muttered while catching his breath, “Looks like the coming festival will be grand this time. Will mother save for bread and butter? That will be the best if yes. A cow’s meat, cheese, fried on butter, onions and tomatoes, topped with slightly burnt bread – just the thought made me salivate.” After that, he whistled with an excited tune as he imagined the big produce this time.

At his back, a giant and long concrete wall blocked the busy streets and people’s noise behind it.

People called this place ‒ the County of Hopes and Dreams.

A tough and ancient looking concrete wall encircled the County of Hopes and Dreams. The most prominent clan of the county in the field of construction designed this wall. Past techniques and technology were used to make the wall; proof of its old appearance. But it still maintained, obvious to its present-day toughness.

Its history might even date back dozens of millennia. The scratches, cuts and bumps on its surface, remained even with maintenances, was its badges of honor of many horrors it had to face.

Four sections ‒ North, South, East and West divided the county.

The general composition was: North Section comprised mansions of clans and County Lords’ clan, the South Section comprised the business, supermarkets and wet markets, Common folks’ residence was in the East Section and West Section was the camp of military.

In the East Section, all the houses were indistinguishable, thanks to Maestro Gemillin’s design. The houses were only one-story high and which used concrete, steel and wood for the construction. It looked simple on the outside with bland white color paint and shed roof. But its inside had quite the charm of auspiciousness of wood and grandeur of nature. A family of three or four members suited the house; it had one main bedroom, a twin room, a medium size kitchen along with a dining table and a living room.

The authorities adapted the design from a few centuries ago, aligning to that time’s theme ‒ a fresh start, invention and novelty.

It was an enormous project because they needed to demolish the earlier design. It could be said that the county was more modern compared to others. Only leaving behind the old wall.

The county had many families. Thus, to build houses for each of them, lots of time, resources and money were consumed.

Thankfully, humanity had advanced.

Building construction became easier and efficient. It was the least of their concern. Only the artistic designs were thought over.

In the stories passed down from mouth to mouth, they believed the county to be a hub of gigantic behemoths and towering creatures capable of breathing fire with scales as hard as the county wall and claws as sharp as the sharpest spear tip.

These creatures were intelligent and able to converse with humans. They could transform into a human and were able to copulate with humans.

It was the common reason accepted by the people why the wall was very tough, even though it was built several millennia ago.

…