"The flowers of youth can only be tainted by hardship."

Before saying it to Leran, Sae had kept this sentence in her mind for far too long. There was a particular person that perfectly embodied this quote, someone she knew from the past. But what the Ice Mage really didn't realize at first was how similar a father is to a son. And indeed, she felt like Neitar and Zey were much of the same. Forged by different times, united by growing up much before they really should have because of hardship.

Now, one could not notice at first because of the now-balding white hair and the wrinkles that inhabited his face, hollowed in his once very handsome countenance and that reached the palm of his hands, but Neitar wasn't actually that old. He had just grown up so fast. Sae, who knew he was not even sixty years old, had seen him when he was only a young man, blinded by love and delusions of protagonism -- much like a talentless Zelta -- which is part of the reason why the old man was so sympathetic towards him. Much of the nature of the head of the village, his resolve and his stubbornness, all came from the same event that the Ice Mage had seen only fifty years prior, in the last war that brutalized the kingdom, filling it with new atrocities that the citizens had then tried to forget in vain.

It was called 'The War of the Peasants.' That name wasn't chosen randomly, it was just the synopsis of one of the most dramatic events in the entire world: the uprising of the lower classes from the regions at the border of the country, united by the same goal, to wipe the world from the nobles that trampled them economically. While it may seem like the third-world soldiers were in the right, what they did back then was equally terrible.

Because of the low amount of soldiers in the army, they were forced to act, destroying the countryside while demanding with their weapons as a threat that every family sent someone to fight along with them. It was an unavoidable military draft that didn't spare people with disabilities, people that were sick and even men and women that were already old. Families who refused would die.

As such, the Sheilos family, a poor one in the inner part of the countryside, had been forced to send one of the two teenagers it had to the war. It was a tough choice -- the elder one, Jie, had magic sickness and was one of the few people in the world completely unable to learn any spell, even the simplest, while the other brother, Neitar, eighteen years of age, had just married a girl who was pregnant.

Neitar said that he'd go, that it'd be simple and easy and that he'd run from the war when it was possible, coming back to his home. That was the amount of hope that everyone from the countryside had in the rebellious forces. His wife decided to follow him; the army also needed healers and her healing magic could've been useful to save people who were about to die. It was also not a risky job, so Neitar agreed.

They truly loved each other. Neitar waited for his wife, Lisa, to give birth to a son he would've loved so much. He was carefree back then, felt like he was immortal and because of that he barged into the war with high hopes, thinking that if he just stayed back there was no way he'd die. And that's what happened at first.

After all, the War was going without any problem for the time being. The rebellious forces were easily defeating the nobles and Neitar didn't even have to step in and fight in the first rows. His magic knowledge was as basic as it gets, so he could only shoot arrows from a distance and use lightning magic to light up the night sky. He wasn't very useful but that fact had saved him from going in the middle of a fight.

But one day, one battle was not like the others.

"Be safe." Those were the last words that his wife, Lisa, had said to him. He was still in the base where the peasants hid the food they got from the nobles, waiting for orders to fight the newly arrived Duke of Ashtam's army. When Neitar saw the face of the gorgeous girl he had married, his heart skipped a beat. Her smile, her golden-colored eyes and hair and the swollen belly caused by the baby she was carrying, his son, made him believe he really was the luckiest man in the world.

"Of course, love. How could I die with you waiting for me?" That was his answer as he smiled in return, his green eyes being lit up by the moon's sky and his long blonde hair shining with the stars. He was her hero.

But he wasn't ready for such a responsibility -- that was Sae's opinion about the matter -- which is cruel in itself, because for him to be able to carry the burden of something as meaningful as another person's death he first needed to experience how little his actions mattered in the great scheme of things. And, as the moonlight shone on the big army of peasants, they started their journey to attack the Duke's forces before he could bring them to a safe place for the night.

As Lisa watched the heroes go she felt her heart beat faster. It wasn't the first time nor would it be the last in this War, yet she could never shake off that feeling. She was afraid because she knew that the young man at her side wasn't invincible, that he should be scared. But he wasn't ever afraid, which terrified her to death. What if he was to underestimate the dangers of War? Why hadn't he run off with her yet, as he had promised when he asked her to come with him? Was he liking it?

While those thoughts invaded the mind of Neitar's wife, in the middle of the night after a walk of around two hours the army saw the Duke's territory and a few of their warriors, set as guards for the camps where the army slept.

The first one to talk between the peasants who had always been silent during the journey, not having much to say, was their commander who fearlessly stood still while watching the guards that hadn't noticed them peering from a hill. "This will be easy." He announced, to which there was an immediate small cheer that broke the silence of the night. "And if not?" Thought to himself Neitar, but didn't have the courage to say it.

He knew those words were just used to make the soldiers fight with more courage If you have a great advantage, after all, there's no need to say it. So, protected from sight by the shadows, the group of peasants got closer and closer to the Duke's sleeping army. 

It was then that, suddenly, the enemy army arrived from the surroundings of the hill, showing it had all been a trap. While the soldiers saw them arrive, nothing really changed in their behavior. All of the people fighting were ready to fight and die for the army, so it wasn't a big problem to lose the surprise effect when they'd have to kill these soldiers at some point anyway.

As such, there was an immediate engage from the peasants army in the hill of Halas towards the enemy army that had less people on their side. Neitar immediately decided to get in a safer position and started shooting arrows thanks to his crossbow from the safety of the top of a tree, without being noticed while he was hitting shots left and right on enemies and allies alike, that would not do much because of their armor anyway.

Still, the battle was unsurprisingly going extremely well for the side of the peasants because of how much they actually outnumbered the army's warriors.

That was until a spark flew from the sky. As it reached the ground, it immediately destroyed the ground near it and the people who were fighting close, creating a great amount of dust that wouldn't let Neitar see anything. It took a few seconds for the dust to clear and for a person to emerge from the filth and muck that the spark had caused; that figure had dark hair and brown eyes and had a scar all over his right eye.

A figure that Neitar was so scared of, yet didn't know. It didn't took long for the skilled mage that had casted the spell to say who he was, though.

"I am the Duke of Ashtam, Seryla Ashtam. And I will end your life, filthy creatures!" He screamed, then casted spell after spell. Realizing that death was waiting for him by his hands, the green-eyed warrior decided to run and go back to the camp to tell the other commanders about what he had seen. Realizing there was nobody in the forest behind him and that he hadn't been seen so far, he made a run to escape from the Duke before he'd be inevitably chased down.

Neitar ran for his life; he didn't want to leave the girl he loved to raise a child alone, so he mustered all his efforts to escape from the battlefield. When he didn't hear the sounds of screams and death anymore, he raised his head up and looked at his surroundings. As he saw no people near him, he sighed in relief and looked around him for a place to hide or for the direction to come back to where he had come from.

Yet, he saw neither. What he saw was a little girl with a hood on her face, sitting alone by a small lake, watching her reflection in the water. She hid her hair perfectly with the hood and all that Neitar could see was the black dress that she was wearing. Seeing her, the soldier had a reaction that he hadn't had in front of the Duke, that he couldn't explain. He was... even more scared, because such a person, so defenseless in a forest where death had grown, seemed like a demon ready to take his life.

"W-who are you?" He asked, but did not receive any response from the person in front of him. "Are y-you here to kill me?" He asked again, trying to look strong and not cry, but extremely terrified. 

That person didn't answer to his question, but told him something of her own: "You know, if you die here nobody will come look for you." While he was ready to interrupt such a weird question as his anger prevailed on his fear, she then said something again: "it's no use if you tell me they will. Your life is meaningless in their eyes, your mistake was to think you even mattered in first place." Those were the words that she said, which stunned Neitar for a bit.

"So, did I not run away from the war because I thought they needed me?" He asked himself in his mind as the hooded girl stayed silent for a few seconds, waiting for him to answer. "I know I'm bad at this. I have no impact on any battle... I just see them dying..." He said, remembering how he couldn't do anything as the skilled mage had killed people he knew, his commander and many other members that he had talked to.

"What do you mean? You did great. That's what war is all about, after all, staying alive. And here you are. Your heart still beats, faster than usual I'd assume, since you must be terrified. Still, you live. Be grateful you have a second chance... You have a family, don't you... you want to see them, don't you?" She asked, not able to understand what troubled him. It was not his fault if he lacked power, but he still managed to keep himself alive. What outcome could be better than that?

"I have a wife... she is pregnant, but the peasants will never let me leave to live with her... they'll kill me before, if I run now they'll come looking for me." He explained, to which she nodded.

"You know what would definitely make them accept your departure? You could kill the person that's coming for your head and that will arrive in around two minutes, then ask to depart with honor because of your battle scars." The girl explained, but Neitar only understood the last part. "The Duke i-is coming?" He thought.

"Y-you have to run! I can't beat that mage... the Duke of Ashtam... I will die... run! He'll kill you too!!" The green-eyed soldier concluded, before going back to running in the opposite direction of where the army had fought. But a soothing voice stopped him as something changed in the atmosphere, as if the hooded girl had decided to put just a small amount of her power in her voice to make him feel more relaxed.

"You don't know magic at all, do you? That's fine. First, you need to have resolve. The Duke of Ashtam only cares about your life as a reward for his good deeds by the king, do you think you're worth so little?" She asked, to which he shook her head, much less scared than he previously was because of the angelic tone of voice of the hooded stranger. "Alright, then. I am not a fan of people who think so little of living, as such I'll help you deal with him. Just follow my steps, I'll make it real easy." She explained, but Neitar immediately complained.

"I can't do it. I was never able to cast many spells, I--" He was soon interrupted. "Just trust me. Close your eyes, you've casted before so you can definitely feel the mana float inside your veins. Now, relax. Nothing is going on. Everything is peaceful, your wife is happily sleeping beside you along with your newborn baby in a field of wheat under a tree that protects you from the sunlight, imagine that." She muttered as Neitar had decided not to argue any longer and was now being easily pulled in his imagination. "Can you hear the sound of a harp playing right beside you, playing the song of a peaceful life?" She had used no magic to play any instrument and there was no actual music, but the green-eyed man nodded as if he was hearing it.

"Perfect. Now, there's a monster in front of you. It wants t-to take them, i-it wants their l-lives." She said, intentionally cracking her voice at the end for it to be more realistic. "You only have one shot. It must be precise. Feel the harp change its tone, feel the magic channel inside you and the inspiration for a new, beautiful song dance deep within your soul. Now, there's a new harmony; you better make it sting." Her angelic voice kept on going, to which Neitar started unconsciously casting a spell with his eyes closed.

"Star Fire Spear!" He screamed with all his power, then heard a crash that made him open his eyes.

As he did so, he saw the Duke of Ashtam on the ground, protected from a spear ignited by his own willpower just barely by a barrier. "And so, it didn't work?" He said as he saw the Duke safe and sound inside the barrier.

"Of course it did. I casted the barrier." She laughed, to which he was flabbergasted. "But that was pretty good. It wouldn't have killed him, but you're improving."

"So, you were an enemy all along?!" He screamed to the girl whose face he still wasn't able to see as she hadn't moved an inch from her original position.

"No, I'm just not a hypocrite who would kill after saying that I value life. I'll take care of him." She said, then the Duke, who still couldn't talk because of how terrified he was, collapsed on the ground.

"And so, my efforts were useless?" He asked when he saw the Duke disappear, changing his sight towards the girl that had helped him, who he wanted to thank with his next words. After all, she was already extremely strong and could've killed Seryla Ashtam in the blink of an eye. That was what he had realized by seeing how powerful and inspiring her magic was: he knew this was no opponent that he could beat and for a second even wondered if his entire army could manage to do so.

But there was already nobody  in the spot where the girl previously was. "So, it's done..." He whispered to himself, preparing to leave the battlefield. He'd say that he killed the Duke of Ashtam, although that wasn't the truth. He was sure that's what she would want. "The battle can be won without the overpowering force of that mage." The man concluded, not looking back.

But this was just the start of the lesson, of the hardship that would've led him to growing up.

"This was just a diversion, the kingdom's army is attacking our base!"