The most important time of the year had come again, there was just a few days left before the examination to enter the most prestigious school of the world, and the last candidates were arriving the scholar city of Axsvir with the most amount of free time to, at least, try to get the best equipment they could, everything was necessary to pass the test, glory was assured for those who graduate. Within the loud noises of the vendors and merchants, a couple was checking the equipment of a store for her daughter, the girl, of around 15 years old and brown hair, was watching closely the shelves, trying to decide for something to buy. The vendor noticed that their clothes were not from those lands, but, around that time of the year, it was normal to see foreigners walking, after all, that was the most important School City, but the father noticed the nervous behavior of the salesman.

“Is something wrong?” Asked the father without drawing the attention of his family.

“No, nothing…” Answered the man. “Is just that the merchants or the families are not the only ones excited for the new school period.”

“What do you mean?” Inquired the father, looking at her daughter, hypnotized by the dagger kept on a shelf intentionally high, so everyone could see it.

“Thieves… well, it does not matter.” Answered the man with a calmed expression. “In any case, the guards are always walking the streets for that reason.” The vendor also noticed the girl watching the dagger.

“Daddy, can I have this one?” Asked the excited girl after reading the information of the weapon.

“Sweetie, that is a dagger, it won’t suit you…” He was the type that wants the best for his family, and the sight in her daughter was more that he could handle. “Try getting something else.”

“But…” The girl looked sad.

“Actually, the dagger is called Eagle’s Talon… and it actually can be used with every class.” The merchant walked to the shelf so the family can have a better look at it. “It is not a weapon, it’s a high level material collector, so, basically, it can be used by everyone.” The man handed carefully the dagger to the girl, almost immediately, the crystal on the dagger changed color to a light blue.

“You see, my daughter is the best defender in our town, still I don’t feel the dagger will be useful to her.” Said the father with pride, his daughter was lost looking at the reflection on the collector.

“Then… How do you expect your daughter to collect the materials on a hunt or after a battle with a scorched?” The merchant looked confused.

“Hunt?” The mother asked, then she noticed the sign stating all the armor and weapon request are suspended. “I see. You are a Blacksmith.”

“That is correct, and I am proud of it… you see, every warrior, including the students, need to get better equipment from time to time, for that reason, the collectors are used to farm the materials from different sources and then, a blacksmith is contracted to create the armor or the weapon the Templar needs.” The merchant took the collector from the girl and put it back on the shelf.

“Isn’t it better to buy the materials somewhere?” Asked the mother, looking at her daughter watching the shelf with the dagger.

“It can be done, but is not always the best option, the gods blessed the lands, so every person need to work hard to become stronger, that is the reason why you are better with the tools you made or the ones you got the materials for… But, if you don’t want to buy it, I cannot force you. Not every Blacksmith can make the result be fully compatible with the person who did not get the materials” The man walked to where he was before, waiting for the answer he knew was coming.

“The price…” The father started, his eyes where saying something…

“Is reasonable, we will take it.” But the wife said the opposite, and ignored her husband, the daughter, as well as the merchant were happy.

“I am glad to hear that you are a clever family.” He gave the dagger to the daughter with a smile. “Take care of it, and it will be with you for years.”

“Yes, thank you!” Replied the girl with a big smile.

“You need to know, the collector will change the shape depending of the mana infused to it and the objet you want to farm, so you will be covered, and the store box is quite big, so you can hunt to your heart’s content… just, don’t get killed in the process.” Said the old merchant with a smile. After a few minutes, the family left the place and joined the river of people outside of the store.

“You want it back?” A voice sounded near him, and a girl with silver hair showed from the back.

“Nah… they remind me of my family, leave them be.” The merchant was used to the girl to appear in that way, but did not look at her, he was still smiling remembering a distant past.

“Then I’ll sell it somewhere else…”

“Wha- No!” But it was too late, she had already left. “That kid is gonna get killed one day… and me, eventually.

The day went on while the family walked the stores as fast as they could, the parents were trying to get most of the supplies their daughter could need before the end of the day, while the girl was hypnotized by the jewel of the handle and putting mana on the collector, watching how the blade turned to a pickaxe, then a scythe to turn into a dagger once again. The two parents looked at her girl with a smile, even when the cost of the dagger, along with the spear they bought for her to the merchant, was too high, they were trying to save up money from the supplies so the girl could have an extra for her first day.

In the past, the town they were from spent a big amount of money and resources to take some kids to the School City, but none of them could even pass the entrance test, so, after the negative from the town chief, they took all the money they could save to give her daughter a chance to have a better life, and some of the neighbors helped them as the girl had true talent for the Defender role.

Suddenly, a ruckus started behind them, taking the father from his thoughts and memories, both parents stopped to see what happened, and, when the girl noticed her parents stopped, they we pushed by a strong wind, and the only thing they could see was silver trail that passed between them, and the dagger was gone, when the family noticed, they were devastated, almost all of the money was spent on the collector, at least the spear was with her, and they rushed to perform the linking ceremony, to prevent it being stolen. The father thought that it was a bad idea to buy something that expensive, and the mother knew what he was thinking.

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“Stop! Thief!” The guards were behind the silver trail that was still running through the crowd, and, as always, after some effort, the girl with the silver hair finally lost her pursuers. She looked down the alley in front of her, the guards were running from one place to another, and the amount of that year was absurdly high. “Dammit! She got away… that is why we told them to have at least one Templar, so we can…”

“Sure… that could be a problem…” The girl answered to herself the conversation of the guards, knowing that even one Templar, even one student would be enough to prevent the thefts, but the school had never involved with the city in that way. The girl jumped off the roof from where she was standing, making sure that no guard was there to catch her. She moved through the streets she had seen for over 10 years, until reaching a derelict house, perhaps for the time or the lack of care, but it was her hideout and her home.

After hiding the dagger, she sat in the old, almost destroyed bed, thinking that her goal was almost at her reach, so she walked out of her house once again.

“One last attempt for today and we can call it a day.” She said with a low voice. “I’m leaving…” Her smile vanished for a moment when she said to the empty place, but showed again while walking the streets and her hair danced with the warm breeze in the search of the last victim of the day. Unfortunately for her, the inexperienced thieves alerted too much the guards and the people, making it more difficult to find someone that could be targeted, watching how some kids were apprehended by the guards, so, it was time to get something to eat and end her day.

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A boy was walking the streets with the bare minimum of luggage with a tired face, but with a smile, he reached the city before the guards closed the gates. The first thing he wanted to do was eat something, the rations he packed ran out a couple of days ago and he was just eating the fruits he could find on the way to the School City, but, as the money he had was enough thanks to not passing through many cities, he decided to go for something to eat.

Guided by his nose, the boy decided to enter the closest inn, which was almost full of the families, but he was able to find a spot near the counter, and, a few seconds later, a big man with no hair on his head, approached the table where he was.

“What you want, young man?” Even with the rough voice, the guy sounded very kind.

“Anything especial…?” The boy was not sure, but then, the smell hit him again. “Whatever is producing that smell is fine for me."

“For me too.” A girl with silver hair sat in front of the boy, putting a bag of apples and bread on the table. “He will pay, and make it quick it’s being a lot since we last ate.” The man looked at the boy, that girl is famous on the streets, but the boy seems to not care.

“Two big bowls of meat stew, right away!” The man left the table almost immediately, while the couple on the table were lost on their own thoughts until the man returned with the food.

“Will this be enough?” The boy put a golden coin on the man’s hand, which left and returned a few moments later.

“Here is your change.” The man handed a bunch of silver coins. “Anything else?”

“Yes, is there an available room for me to stay?” The boy asked while packing all the food he could in his mouth.

“Sorry kid, we don’t have any, but…” He was interrupted.

“I can take you to one place, I know they have rooms available.” They both smiled and continued to eat, while the big man just thought that the poor boy will be left with nothing. They left the inn when the lights were being lighted, the girl with the silver hair guided him through the streets, and, even when he was led for different shady streets and alleys, the boy seems to not care.

“Let me guess, pretty boy, you got to the city to be part of the school, yes?” The girls asked without looking at him.

“True.” He simply answered. “Are we too far? I wanna sleep ‘till morning.”

“Not much, but tell me, what role are you? Defender? Vanguard, perhaps?” She turned her head to him with this question.

“I’m a forger.” The girl stopped and started to laugh loudly.

“I haven’t laughed that much since ever.” She said, cleaning the tears of her eyes.

“Is there something wrong?” The boy wanted to laugh too, but he could not find a reason to do it.

“Nothing, I just didn’t think this would be so easy.”

“What do you mean?” He inquired.

“You’ll see…” Sparkles shined behind her, after this, the same sparkles flew to become into an old chain with a hook at the end. She spin it and threw it to the bag with the silver coins that the boy had on his waist.

“Hey…!” He wanted to say something, but the silver trail was getting away from him very fast. The silver hair seemed to be swimming in the air while the girl was still running minutes later, but this was not like the other times, so she turned to see the boy with the black hair and the skin tanned by the sun closing his distance with her, showing eyes full of determination, but with a smile on his face. The girl started to run again.

Minutes were going by, but the boy was not giving up, she noticed that he was not tired, but her mana was running low and the long race was tiring her up. She turned her head one last time to see that the boy was even closer, so she had to do something to lose him or she would catch her, and that was not an option. The sparkles showed again, and also, the chain, she used the hook on the end to pull herself to the top of a building, and she smiled when the boy stopped in front of the building, looking everywhere to catch her, there was also some crowd looking at her, and even some guards, but it didn’t matter, she finally got away.

She sat in the roof of the building with a satisfied smile, knowing that a forger wouldn’t be able to reach that point. The view was something that she liked to see from time to time, after all, she didn’t hate the city, but the people that lived there, the one that turned their back to a lost child.

“Nice view.” The boy said while sitting next to her. She then noticed the voices from the crowd below. The girl with the silver hair recognized the voice of one of the guards. She feared what will happen if she got captured, so she decided to fight.

“How…?” The sparkles appeared and the chain spread like a snake, she was preparing the launch an attack at any time.

“Training.” He answered while standing again.

“That is… impossible!” The hook of the chain flew towards him with her yell, but the boy avoided the attacks very easily, she saw how she was oyed by a mere Forger, someone that is supposed to not have combat skills, but her eyes were seeing something different.

“Is possible.”

“Shut it!” Three more attacks here the hook flew to his face, neck and stomach, again, no effort in avoiding it.

“Predictable.” He jumped towards her, the attacks did not hit, and he hit her with the palm of hi glowing hand. “Melt.” The silver sparkles showed again, but this time was not her doing.

“What!?” She saw how the chain was in his hand. “FORGER!” She screamed and ran to him, she will at least try feign an attack and escape, but the chain wrapped in her legs and she fell.

“You lack control, and now…”

“Take the money and leave me… I don’t want to be capture by the guards.” The tears in her eyes convinced the boy, and the chain disappeared in golden sparkles. “I…” She stopped, the wind brought voices that felt nostalgic, she had heard them before, telling her to run in a specific direction, and so she did.

The path she was hearing was like the wind pushing her to run faster, no sound was behind her, and, after minutes she was back in her hideout, alone. Later, in her bed, she felt bad for her missing chain, it was a gift from the merchant he talked with in the afternoon, the only time a person showed kindness to her in that city. Tomorrow she would talk to him and buy another one with the money she could get for the dagger.

She woke up for a mild sound in her house, she attempted to call the chain, but it was not there, and all the memories returned, it was a bad time to have a battle with the raiders gangs that crawl within the city, or even a guard. Running was an option, but the exit was in the same place the sound came from… it was not good, that day was getting worse with every minute.

She took a peek from the room to the entrance of the ruined house, in her hand, she materialized a rusty dagger, the second most important possession she had, as a defensive weapon, but, when her eyes adapted to the light in the living room, she could see the silhouette of someone standing in front of the main door.

“You’re gonna regret this!” She yelled while running with her high speed towards the man, but the person just turned around and catch her hand.

“You should be more careful, this may hurt someone without a protection.” The guy was back, he was able to follow her there.

“You!?” She yelled with panic and rage. “What are you doing here!? H-how did you find me?” She was really confused, and something really bad crossed her mind. “Are you gonna turn me to the guards?”

“Guards? No.” He said without thinking it too much, she saw him too relaxed.

“So- w-what are you doing!?” He lifted her over his shoulders and started to walk outside the house.

“You told me that you would help me find an inn where I can spend the night, and I am really tired, so let’s go.” She was even more confused now.

“Put me down, you weirdo!” She yelled in embarrassment while the night was finally raining over the streets of the city.