Over the years, the country of Trate was a flourishing capital. It had many happy citizens, and wealth beyond your wildest imagination. Then one day, the great King Remos succumbed to an illness, and after that, his son, prince Xander took the throne. Xander was a selfish king; he cared about no one beside himself, he was overtaken by his greed…

In the small village of Sisari, a boy age of 18 was lightly twirling his fingers in a puddle, humming a dainty little tune. He had brown hair and blue eyes, a brown and slightly torn tunic, weathered jeans, and on both of his sides was a sheath with a sword within it. His eyes watched the ripples spread apart in the puddle as he removed his fingers from the clear water.

"Aron!" A voice came echoing from the field. "Aron! Where are you?"

The boy got up and dusted off his clothing. "Looks like Taylor is coming… let's see what he wants, I really hope it isn't a new spell…"

"Oh! Aron! There you are!" There was a slight sparkle in Taylor's eyes, he too was about 18 years old, he wore an old brown cloak, his hair was a dirty blonde, and his eyes, a dark brown. In his hand was a basic staff with a sparkling gem at the tip of it, "Guess what?" he smiled, "Common! Guess!"

"Gee… I couldn't imagine." Aron rolled his eyes. "Could it possibly be a new spell?"

Taylor gasped. "How did you know? Have you been training in second sight?"

Aron rolled his eyes and looked away from him. "Perhaps it's because you always learn-and butcher- a new spell every time you talk to me?"

Taylor glared angrily at him. "I don't butcher them! WATCH!"

Taylor clutched his staff tightly and raised his staff into the air, "FIREBALL!!!" A bright red light protruded from the gem atop then staff, and balls of fire came out of it, the balls of fire… were… heading straight for Aron…

"DAMN IT!" Aron immediately drew both of his blades and knocked the flaming balls away from him. "DAMN IT TAYLOR! Why can't you control your spells?" Aron sheathed his blades once more and crossed his arms. "It's so irresponsible…"

Taylor sighed. "I… try… I'll get better… my father says I will… heh… I have enough spells for a while… at least it didn't blow up this time!"

Aron sighed and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's ok. Besides, I can't use spells, you got me there, but you really ought to learn to use them before you fry my ass."

Both of the boys laughed.

After the laughter subsided, Taylor became wide eyed, remembering something. "OH YEAH! I remembered… your mother wants a word with you for a bit, you better hurry home!"

Aron sighed. "Oh boy… I hope she didn't find out about the mess I left in the kitchen…"

The two boys to Aron's house, only to arrive and hear a woman inside screaming at nothing in particular.

Taylor looked at Aron and shook his head. "This is where I leave, I hope to see you alive tomorrow! Bright and early man, we have a job to do!"

Aron sighed and entered the house, bidding Taylor farewell.

Inside was his mother, a tall, well built woman. She wasn't bulky, but she definitely wasn't weak. "Where were you when I called for you? You weren't out walking in that farmer's field again were you?"

Aron looked down. "No mom… I wasn't…"

"Good." His mother walked over to the kitchen and began to cook something. Aron followed her, flinching at every move of her arms. He was expecting punishment, but instead, the mess was gone and she turned around and smiled at him, "And I'm sure I don't have to remind you that it's dangerous outside of our little village."

Aron looked up at his mother. "MOM! You know that I'm a trained warrior! Trained by the finest… I'm training to be a powerful mercenary… just like da-"

His mother clenched her fist and held it up to his face, she began to yell loudly, shaking the pots and pans in the room, "ARON! YOUR FATHER DIED BECAUSE OF THAT! WHY DO YOU WANT TO BECOME ONE!?"

Aron became quiet, looking down into the corner of the room. "Because mom… I… I have to become stronger… I have to do this for the sake of our village… dad used to keep us all well fed and happy with the money he made… I think its time I did so myself…"

His mom sighed and hugged him. "I know that our village is suffering, but that doesn't mean you have to be the sacrifice… honey…. Follow your own path, find someone to settle down with… don't get involved with any of this…please…"

Aron knocked his mother's arms away. "MOM! I'M NOT A CHILD ANYMORE! I'm going to do this. I'm going on tomorrow's mission. I'm going with my sensei and Taylor… we're going to start our first mercenary job… Mom… I want for you to not worry, I'm going to make sure I make it out of this all right… and don't try to stop me, I decided I am going to do this no matter what happens."

His mother watched him amble up to his room, she tried her best not break into tears, but this event proved too much for her, she began to quietly weep. "Why did you have to leave us… why couldn't you be here to watch over our son… Doren… why did it have to be you…"

Aron lied on his bed, sighing and closing his eyes tight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny marble sized glowing orb. He casually rolled the orb in his hand, the gentle light illuminating his room. He held the orb up to his mouth and whispered to it, "Dad… I promise you… I won't disappoint you…"