Disclaimer: I do not own Perfect World (International or otherwise).

Author's note: I know it's a bit rushed (and mad short!), but when I had first written this story, it wasn't intended for fanfiction. It'll get less rushed (and longer! LOL) seeming in a few chapters.

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Men and women stared at me as I left Etherblade; to them, a woman with a sword sheathed at her side was ridiculous. But let them think what they wanted.

I had spent all of the money ma had given me. Every single cent. I bit my lip; I hoped when I told her the good news of being given a quest from the Elder she would forgive me and understand a sword could come in handy.

Unfortunately when I arrived home, she eyed it with disgust.

"Oh, Xeria…"

"Ma, I'm sorry," I held it out to her so she could examine it, but she turned away, disappointed.

"I gave you that money for you to buy what you pleased, I admit that. But I thought you would buy yourself a nice dress, or some jewels," she turned to look at me with sad eyes, "I didn't think you'd waste it on a worthless—"

"Ma, it's not worthless!" I clutched the sword to myself, in fear she'd take it away, "I'm going to learn to fight, ma!"

"Don't speak like that!" her eyes glowed with fierceness, "You are a lady, Xeria, and ladies do not fight! They do not even touch these vile, filthy, life-taking things!"

"It's a sword, ma!" I looked at her as though I had never seen her before, "Why can't you support me with this?"

"You are going to bring this family shame."

I glared at her, "Don't worry about that. I won't be a part of this family soon. I'll be eighteen and I'll leave, ma, don't you worry."

"And just where will you go?" she spat at me.

I looked at the sword, knowing perfectly well what I wanted to do, "I'll join our army. I'll fight."

"You will do no such thing!"

"I will!" I turned on her, "I will! And I'll avenge father because you're too pathetic to do it yourself!"

She fell silent, sitting down in the chair nearest to her.

"Ma," I immediately regretted it, "ma, I didn't mean it…"

"No, no," she waved me away, "you're right. I am pathetic. I'm afraid."

I squatted down next to her, "Ma, this is something I want to do. Please, support me." She didn't answer. "I…I got a quest from the Elder today."

She turned to me, surprised, "You did? After the history you two have…"

"He's a vile, evil old man and I won't go back on my opinion," I smiled, "but I'll get to visit Archosaur."

Mom was…pleased, I suppose, since I received a quest, even though she didn't understand why the Elder gave me one. I'll be damned if I knew myself. He hated me, and I knew it. I hated him, and he knew it. Call me crazy, but the Elder seriously gave me some bad vibes. It's like he wouldn't care if he had to kill a hundred people to save his own ass. But, he was a Mage. Our oldest Mage. Like I mentioned before, us humans have a hard time getting them to live past eighteen, let alone for eighty freaking years. And since a Mages lifespan was longer then a regular Human's, the Elder's eighty-plus didn't even look as old as my mother's forty. Of course, we still couldn't compare to the Elves, with their 400 looking like our 20.

But, I wasn't worrying about the Elder's evil intentions or the lifespan of Elves vs. Humans. Hell, I wasn't even worrying about my aunt and cousin who would be arriving in a few days. All I cared about was learning how to fight. Later the day I showed ma my new sword I was outside just…holding it. I would close my eyes and concentrate on the weight of it. The feel of it in my fingers. I would shift myself through some simple stances, eyes closed, and pay attention to nothing more than the weight and feel. I treated it like an extension of my body.

Ma had to force me into the house six hours later. I had missed dinner.

The next day I sat and watched a couple of boys my age sparring with wooden swords. I studied their moves, their techniques. When they left a few hours later, I went over the moves with my sword, slowly, and memorized them. I watched them again the next day, rememorizing and learning new techniques. On the third day I approached them with my own wooden sword made out of the floorboards of my room.

They laughed at me for wanting to spar with them.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"Women can't fight," the one with blond hair laughed. The other, red haired, shook his head in embarrassment, giving me a sorry shrug.

"I bet I could beat you."

"There's no way," Blondie laughed again, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Scared?" I smiled.

Red raised his eyebrows and sighed, "Just kick her ass and let's go."

"Aw," I smiled, "it's cute how you think you can win."

With a smile Blondie raised his wooden sword and pointed it at my throat, "Alright. Let's go. First person to be disarmed."

We faced off; I knew neither one of us knew true skills. I had learned from them, and they had learned from improvising. I would have to watch a real master some time.

He swung at me but I easily flicked his wooden sword aside. As he lifted his arm I stepped in, closer to him, and his swipe sliced the empty air where I had been. I tried to keep my smile modest.

"Surely you're going easy on me because I'm a woman."

"Surely," he spat.

Another swing; I slid my fake sword up the side of his, then hooked it under his wrist and twisted. It flew from his fingers.

I sighed, "Surely I'll need better opponents if I'm to learn anything."

They didn't come back to spar the next day.

I practiced my own made up techniques on my own, first with the wooden sword, then with my real one. Every three hours of practice I would stop and take an hour to practice hand-to-hand combat against the air or on a tree; kicking it, punching it, chopping it, and the likes.

My relatives had arrived a few days before I had to return to Etherblade. My aunt looked at me with disgust, complaining to my ma about how she raised me all wrong and I would disgrace her family. Ma tried not to agree nor disagree. The son, however, was five years younger than me, and would watch me practice, asking me now and then if I would show him a technique.

When the time came for me to journey back to the Elder for my quest I felt better prepared. I wasn't a professional, nor did I believe I could defeat anyone trained by a master, but I definitely knew enough to defend myself if the time came.

Well, against anything not-too-deadly.

I said a sad goodbye to my mother, promising I would see her soon. After all, it was only a few days journey to Archosaur, and once I delivered the letter, I'd be on my way home.