“I have to go, I’m sorry Mira.” Lock said

 

“I understand. If is what you love, I shouldn’t stand in-between you and your dream. Does that mean our relationship…..” Mira said with reluctance in her tone.

 

“Yea, its… over. I’m really sorry I don’t want to limit your future choices. I’m sorry.” Lock gently said but with a hint on determination as if to not only assure her but himself that it was the right decision.

 

The moon shone gently on the young couple that was facing the first crossroad of their lives. They were sitting at the bus stop while discussing what their future plans were, unknown to what their choices on this day might entail for them.

 

There were still another 20 minutes left till the bus came, and the two teenagers were sitting there. Quietly and full of uncertainty as to what the future may hold.

 

The boy with black eyes and brown hair wanting to go abroad to do further studies on his dream. To be a Swordsman.

 

The girl with brown eyes and black hair wanting to stay in the current country to become a Summoner.

 

Two completely different routes with completely different futures.

 

The world was full of strange and wondrous things. Whether it be the monsters that plague the world or the innate ability in humans that adapted to fight these monsters.

 

Time slowly passed as the two continued to ponder on what they will do. Lock was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly as if he was unsure of what he should say at this time.

 

“Is it possible to not break it off? We can video call each other every night, we can meet once a year, I don’t mind saving money to come meet you at Seria during the holidays, we can...” Mira started to speak in a flustered tone as if trying to unload the questions she had in her mind as fast as possible.

 

“Stop, there are many other good men in this world that are better than me. I want to focus on my Swordsman training at the Swordsmen Academy in Seria. They have the best program, instructors, and equipment in the entire world when it comes to being a Swordsman. ”

 

“I got accepted to this prestigious Academy and my aim is to be a Sword Artist in the future.”

 

For any profession in this world, there are grades to determine how strong a person is.

 

The beginning for any profession is Trainee, each grade also includes a rank from 1 to 9. An example would be what Lock is, he is currently at the Sword Trainee 7th rank. Which is also the same level as Mira who is a Summoner Trainee.

 

The next grade is the Learnt grade which is the grade where people can start to get jobs to earn money. But this grade is mostly considered by many as the true start of a profession in this world.

 

After Learnt is the Expert level followed by Noble and Artist. Artist being the highest grade anyone can achieve in a profession. The grade that young Lock aspires to achieve.

 

The Artist grade, no matter what part of the world is highly sought out for. Currently in Estria, the country at which the two young teens were at, only had 6 Artist level experts.

 

“I want to be like Kyle Mafle. Being able to destroy mountains in a single slash and roam the world without anyone stopping him.” Lock said with fervor in his eyes as he looked towards the moon.

 

“B-bu-but….” Mira begins to stutter on her words before letting out a sigh as tears started to appear on her eyes.

 

“Th-that's Lock for you, always being stubborn.” Mira lowered her voice and mustered up the courage in her heart to sound strong for both of them.

 

“There’s no stopping you, so I wish you the best of luck. Ca-can we at least continue chatting online?” Mira gave up on trying to persuade him, as she knew nothing she said will change Lock’s decision on going.

 

“I feel it would be best if we stop talking altogether. I want a fresh start at this new place and I don’t want anything from Estria holding me back.” Lock said with a mixture of sadness and assurance in his tone.

 

“What do you mean by that, you, you arrogant…..” As Mira was about to let loose, the bus that Lock was waiting for arrived.

 

“I wish you all the best in your future and I really cherish all the times we had together, no matter what happens in the future. I will always look back on the moments we had together. Take care. Bye.” Lock lowered his head and said with a warm and determined tone.

 

As the bus stopped in front of him, he ran back and gave her a warm hug before whispering gently into her ears “I’m sorry” and quickly boarded the bus. Not looking back.

 

As the bus left, Mira stood there with tears dripping down her face, she felt that she lost all power in her body and fell on her knees before curling up into a ball with her head behind her knees. Crying with all her heart, she sat there, on the icy cold floor with no regards to her current image, hoping that once she let it all out, she would feel better.

 

On the bus, Lock was facing out the window sitting at the back seat of the bus with one hand covering his eyes as if to stop the tears from coming out his eyes. Sadness started to overcome him as he started to regret that he may have made the wrong choice as his heart ached. It was in pain as if he lost something.

 

This was the first relationship the two teens had in their lives and was also the first breakup they had to experience in their 15 years of living in this world.

 

Whatever the past contains, it is the past. Time will always move forward. And for these two whom are below the age of 16, this was the biggest hit to the heart they have felt. They may get over it, they may not and may even dwell in the past their entire lives wallowing in their sorrow.

 

Time past and it was the date that Lock was leaving Estria for Seria. He opened his phone and blocked all his friends from contacting him as he wanted to start anew and break all his past relations with any of his friends. He only told Mira that he was leaving as he felt that she was the only one who deserved to know.

 

He stood at the departure hall waiting. He was not sure what he was waiting for but felt like he should wait.

 

“Lock, you have to go, the gate will be closing soon.” Lock’s parents said with a mixture of sadness, pride and happiness in their eyes as their son was accepted into such a prestigious school but would have to leave them.

 

Lock’s parents were not born in Estria and were from Goitar, a country constantly bombarded with monster attacks. Lock’s parents fought these monsters for their country in the army. They also met each other there. Both of them we called the Twin Blades in Goitar and remained undefeated when together.

 

Lock was born in Goitar during their 2nd year of marriage. Lock’s mother, Shelia due to taking care of Lock had to stay home and Lock’s father, Marko was always out on the battlefield. However, because of this, the number of times they had with each other grew lesser and lesser. There was even a time where Marko did not go home to see his family for a year.

 

This lead to Marko being very depressed as he was not there was his son during his growing up phase. Seeing this, his best friend, Mav who came from Estria to Goitar for military training had seen this going on for 5 years had enough. He went directly to the King as he knew going to the higher-ups in the military will take years to approve of his plan.

 

He pleaded that he wanted to go back to Estria and wanted to bring Marko’s entire family there, on the basis that Marko receives special training at Estria. Mav had saved the King’s life once so he held a special title as Goitar’s Protector despite being a foreigner. The reason he chose to plead to the king for Marko’s family be moved to Estria, was that it was safer there and more developed compared to Goitar, giving their child a better environment to be raised in.

 

The King who had seen all of Marko’s achievements as well as taking account of his clan, agreed to this as he felt it would be good for Marko’s mental health as well as making Marko more loyal to Goitar if he were to let him go to Estia.

 

But the King set a condition, and it was for Marko, Shelia as well as Mav to return to Goitar to fight if a level 7 monster wave were to occur.

 

Mav agreed, but stated that Shelia may not be in the best condition to fight until Lock, their son was 10 years old. The King did not have any problem with this and swiftly sent out the order that Marko’s family will be moved to Estia until further notice.

 

Marko was saddened that he had to leave his homeland for another. He was initially angry at Mav for making such a decision on his behalf and was almost about to break off all friendship he had with Mav. But when he saw his son 5 years old, and how he did not know many things about him, he became grateful for Mav did. And immediately kneeled before Mav thanking him with all his heart.

 

However, Makro did not leave immediately and requested 2 years of time off from the military to bond with his family. The King again allowed this and also gave Marko’s clan another plot of land to care for due to his achievements.

 

Marko spent the time given to him happily with his family and even had another son called Mhav in respect to Mav who gave him this time of peace. Marko’s family the Rahau clan was also very famous for being a military family so they were naturally well off and did not have to worry about having food on the plate even if Marko was not working.

 

“Marko, Shelia, take care of yourselves. Remember to bring back my grandsons for me to see at least once, no, twice a year.” Marko’s mother said as she was seeing off Marko’s family which was leaving for Estia.

 

“Old hag, stop worrying so much, you will definitely get to see your grandsons. Marko bring them back thrice a year for me to see, if you want to bring them back more often, I will have no problems with it.” Marko’s father added nonchalantly.

 

“Sure sure, we will come back as many times as we can to visit.” Marko said weakly in response to his parents.

 

“We will definitely take care of ourselves and come back to visit with your grandsons” Shelia replied with a gentle smile on her face.

 

Currently, the Twin Blades were having similar feelings about how their parents might have felt when they sent them off the first time.

 

“Take care of yourself Lock. Remember to brush your teeth and eat proper meals, and...” Sheila said affectionately to Lock as if he was still a 5 year old child.

 

“Relax Shelia, he knows how to take care of himself, just be sure to call back if you have the time.” Marko looked at his son with a stern face, but under his fierce expression was a hint of pride and warmth.

 

“Sure sure, I’m going now, take care. See you soon.” Lock said as he gave his parents a hug and walked towards the gate for boarding the plane. Before walking in, he gave one last glance towards the entrance of the airport before walking in.