Days passed since Theo's birth like the passing of the wind. The quiet village embraced him as it would any other child, but the whispers about his strangeness did not cease.
Theo lived a simple life with his mother Elena and his aunt Celia, but the strange and incomprehensible looks that always followed him did not disappear, something he couldn't yet explain.
The voice he heard that night in front of the window, "You are the future, you are the sacrifice," continued to echo in his mind like a mysterious riddle, carrying both fear and curiosity.
One morning, Theo woke up early. Light seeped through the cracks of the wooden window, drawing wavy lines on the floor. He got out of his small bed and walked with light steps towards the kitchen where Celia was preparing breakfast.
The smell of fresh bread and herbs filled the place. Theo stood beside her, watching her in silence for moments, then said, "Auntie, can I ask you something?"
Celia raised her blue eyes towards him and smiled her usual light smile. "Of course, Theo. What do you want to know today?"
Theo hesitated slightly, then said: "I heard a voice in the night a few days ago. It was saying something strange... 'You are the future, you are the sacrifice.' Do you know what this is?"
Celia's hand froze for a moment as she flipped the eggs on the fire. She frowned slightly but didn't show it on her face, then turned to him and said, "A voice? When did you hear it?"
"I was looking at the forest from the window," Theo replied, his black eyes gleaming with curiosity. "I didn't see anyone, but it was clear."
Celia looked at Theo very calmly, despite feeling intense worry and fear at that moment that he had heard a voice in the same house where a Rank 6 mage lived without her detecting it, but she didn't show it on her face. Instead, she smiled as usual and said, "When you grow up, you'll know everything. Don't worry."
Theo felt reassured, and the fear and worry in his heart lessened after hearing his aunt's words, as she was his teacher, his aunt, and another mother to him.
"Are you hiding something from me again, Auntie?" Theo asked, puffing out his cheeks. And his aunt laughed at his silly face as usual, while he continued, "You always make fun of me."
Celia's laughter gradually subsided, then she turned back to him and said, "Go wake up your mother now, Theo. Breakfast is ready."
"Thank you, Auntie," Theo said, and felt some reassurance.
After breakfast, Theo went out for his usual walk in the village. The weather was sunny, and the breeze carried the scent of the nearby fields.
But he noticed the usual looks from the villagers, some curious, some fearful.
He didn't care much, but he preferred to be alone. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice calling him: "Theo! Theo!"
He turned to see Ryan running towards him, waving his hand enthusiastically. He stopped in front of Theo, panting slightly, and said, "How are you today? What do you think about playing?"
Theo looked at him with his usual cold face towards strangers, and said, "I'm fine. But I'm busy."
Ryan frowned and said: "You always say that! Why don't you want to play with me? I'm not afraid of you like the others."
Theo stopped and looked at Ryan with scrutinizing eyes. "Why do you want to be my friend?" he asked.
Ryan smiled and said: "Because you're different! I love magic, and you use it. Can you teach me something?"
Theo thought for a moment. He didn't trust others easily, but something in Ryan's enthusiasm made him feel a strange feeling. "I'm still learning," he finally said, "but maybe I can show you something someday."
"Wonderful!" Ryan exclaimed happily. "You're the best friend, Theo!"
Theo smiled a slight smile, and this was the first time he felt that loneliness might fade a little.
Theo completed his walk for a bit, then returned home to begin his daily training with his aunt.
Theo sat in front of his aunt when he arrived, and closed his eyes. He tried to feel something, anything. After moments, he felt a faint pulse in his chest, as if it were a shadow moving with his breath. "Perhaps I will form my first ring, Auntie," he whispered.
"Good," Celia said. "Now, imagine this shadow circling your heart and taking the shape of a ring until it settles around your heart."
Theo focused more, and suddenly, the shadows began to form around him and enter his body very quickly. His aunt helped him while ordering him in a loud voice: "Slow down a little, you idiot!"
Theo followed his aunt's instructions and sat in the same position for 3 hours until he finally formed the ring around his heart, and it was very black, given that darkness was his primary and most affiliated element, unlike fire. And his aunt sighed and finally said,
"Now stay in your place until the ring stabilizes around your heart." It was very difficult for Theo since it was his first time, but with his aunt watching and guiding him, it finally stabilized, and Theo opened his eyes.
"Wow, Auntie, it seems my body has become a little lighter and stronger than before, and I can also feel the mana flowing through my veins," Theo said with great enthusiasm and joy.
Celia looked calmly at Theo with a small smile forming on her beautiful face as she said: "Congratulations, my little genius." And she took a deep breath and said again,
"Now you must be careful, you might feel the ring has settled around your heart but it hasn't fully stabilized, and it will take several more hours to stabilize now. Also, it's time to train your body, boy."
Theo was happy and smiling, but when his aunt said those lines, he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding, but he didn't care and was excited to share the news with his mother.
After several minutes, the family was gathered at a table eating their lunch, but it wasn't as quiet as usual, rather Theo was sharing his achievements with his mother with great pride and joy while his mother smiled at him and his aunt listened to him quietly, thinking about something.
The next day, Theo woke up to his aunt's voice before breakfast calling him to go somewhere with her.
And Theo woke up surprised, as that was the only time his aunt had woken him up since he was born.
As they passed through the small village and the breeze caressed Theo's face, they walked for a few minutes until they reached a house that was neither big nor small, but looked ordinary.
Celia knocked on the door lightly, but it didn't seem like anyone was inside, but then she smiled and a gust of wind blew from their side, and suddenly the door opened and a slightly bulky man appeared, looking surprised and a little afraid, saying, "Okay, okay, sorry."
"It seems you were going to back out of our agreement, Kyle," Celia said with a calm smile. And Kyle was terrified by that smile and said: "No, no, I was just sleeping, nothing more... Oh, let me see, is this the little one?"
Kyle was a man aged 35 and looked a little unkempt, his hair messy, and he had normal white skin with gray hair and a light beard, and he was holding his sword in his hand while it was in its sheath.
Celia looked at the sword in his right hand and smiled more, looked at him, and said, "Oh, it seems warriors sleep with their swords these days." And Kyle felt a greater threat from that smile.
Kyle smiled a slightly pained smile and said, "Heh, of course, to protect myself from someone." Then he added, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to the little genius now?" Kyle tried to change the subject while smiling.
Celia looked at Kyle then returned to Theo who was standing beside her, and the sense of foreboding in his heart became stronger, and she said to him, "Look, Theo, this is Kyle, a Rank Five warrior. He is the only person I can trust with your training, as he is the only one who can slightly withstand me."
Kyle smiled again, a pained smile, and remembered something, until Theo said, "What? Training what? Aren't you training me, Auntie Celia?"
Celia looked at the boy beside her and said: "Of course, I will continue to train you, but as a warrior, you will train martial arts under his hand during the day, and magic under my hand at night." And she smiled at him a slightly wicked smile, then continued: "It's time to break your body even more, boy."
Theo looked at his aunt with a shocked face, then looked at Kyle, then greeted Kyle, "I will be under your care, coach."
After Celia left and Theo remained with Kyle, passersby could hear Kyle's voice raising it at someone, saying,
"Hey, boy, do 50 more push-ups."
Theo was now being trained by Kyle as if he were taking revenge on him for his aunt's bullying, and he smiled.
"If you don't finish them within 15 minutes, you'll start over from the beginning, and of course, if I find out you're practicing magic, you'll be punished," Kyle said with a smile that terrified Theo to death.
"Can't you have a little mercy on me?" said the poor Theo while his entire body was in pain from the exercise that continued until the afternoon.
At first, he threatened Theo with a stick and ran after him in the forest for two hours, and whenever Theo stopped running, he would hit him on his legs. Then he started with squat, push-up, and sit-up exercises, and he would do the exercise without a specific number, and he would only stop when Kyle told him to. And if he stopped without his permission, he would be hit in the area where the exercise was focused.
Theo only rested when a magical beast appeared in the forest, and Kyle would stop for a bit to kill the beast, and Theo would seize that opportunity.
"But didn't I show you mercy and let you rest while I was fighting the beasts?" Kyle said with a cunning smile, and Theo felt more fear and terror as he smiled ironically at himself.
Another hour passed when he heard Kyle calling him, saying,
"Alright, stop now."
As soon as Theo heard that sentence, his body collapsed to the ground, and Kyle carried him, his smile growing more cunning, until he went to the hardest tree he could find and tied him with a very thick rope.
"Now you will do three punches with each hand and three kicks with each foot here, and whenever you stop, you will be hit with the stick in the stomach or back," Kyle said, smiling slightly and placing his stick on his shoulder.
Theo began training, and Kyle continued teaching him the basics of combat and the history of warriors, and Theo would sometimes ask Kyle questions about it.
"Warriors began appearing tens of thousands of years ago after the emergence of magic to resist the racism and tyranny that came from mages, as they considered themselves gods, and the first and strongest warrior, Zeros, appeared. Only his first name is mentioned in the books, and we don't know who his descendants are, or even the descendants of his assistants and first disciples if they are still around. That is, no one knows who his descendants are except his descendants themselves." Kyle took a breath then continued while Theo was still continuing his exercise, and he had already stopped dozens of times, and Kyle was hitting him.
"He was the first and the strongest, and even now, no one has appeared who would dare to say anything about how they would reach his power or could defeat him, as it was said that merely one of his punches could kill mages of Rank 8 and near Rank 9. And the only ones who could match him were the Rank 9 mages, and they didn't want to start battles with him, as they were the foundation of the mages, and if they were harmed, the mages would fall with them. And it is said that Zeros lived for 3000 years thanks to his strong body and the help of some mages who hated discrimination against humans until he finally died of old age and left behind thousands of Rank 8 warriors. And the battles against the mages continued until the numbers of mages and warriors in the higher ranks decreased and tens of thousands of techniques and spells were lost, at least for both sides, and the two sides reached an agreement, and then the wars and discrimination against humans ended."
Then Theo asked curiously, "Did the discrimination really end?"
Kyle looked at the boy then said: "Of course not, but now at least humans can live with greater peace. Have you seen your village attacked by a mage or something like that yet? Minds have changed, boy." Then Kyle shifted his eyes to the sides slightly.
While Theo was thinking, he saw Kyle standing over the corpse of a beast, and Kyle scoffed at him: "Boy, don't let your mind wander to that extent when monsters surround us everywhere."
Theo looked, then continued his training while hiding his face in embarrassment, then asked Kyle, "How old are you now, boy?"
"9 years old, coach," Theo replied, still hiding his face.
"Hmm, alright, stop and come with me." Theo stopped when he heard Kyle's command and couldn't move and almost fell to the ground from exhaustion until Kyle carried him and took him to the nearest river, then threw him in.
"Cold, cold, no, it burns ah-ahh-" Theo groaned in pain and screamed a little until Kyle heard him.
"Stop, boy, so things don't get worse, and stay still now," he said, laughing at the boy.
Theo calmed down a little and suppressed his screams until his body settled down, then Kyle took him out of the forest and left him at the edge of the village. Then Kyle laughed and said, "Now your job is to go home by yourself." Then he disappeared, laughing.
Theo laughed ironically at himself as he walked staggering amidst the gazes of the villagers, with his house being at the end of the village.
Theo moved until he reached his house, then his mother Elena saw him walking staggering and worried about him, and ran to support him until he entered the house and ate his food, as he hadn't eaten since he woke up during the day. Then he rested for another two hours and went to his aunt to continue her magic lessons.
His aunt was waiting for him in the garden as usual, meditating because she knew his passion and love for magic. And when she saw his condition and his face, she laughed loudly. And Elena looked from afar with worry until Celia used healing magic on Theo, and his fatigue disappeared, and she said,
"Enjoy every moment now, boy," as she looked at the boy with eyes of pity.
Theo didn't understand but continued anyway. And Celia began to explain to him,
"As I told you before, both mages and warriors have up to 9 ranks, and we call them 'Rings' for mages, and you are a mage with one ring, and I look forward to when you become a Rank 1 warrior."
Theo asked his aunt in pain: "Why are you throwing me into that hell, Auntie Celia?" And his face changed whenever he remembered what he had been through, and Celia laughed at the change in his face again.
"Both the mage's mind and body must be in harmony," Celia said and continued while anticipating Theo's questions: "And of course, I am very different from you. Also, a mage doesn't need all this hellish training, but this is for your own good, my little one. Also, don't worry, Kyle might seem mean to you, but he is very considerate and loves you too, and he was looking forward to training you and doesn't have the discrimination that both sides possess, so it is an opportunity and should be taken advantage of."
Theo smiled ironically a little then remembered and asked: "Auntie Celia, how many rings do you have as a mage?"
Celia smiled slightly as she remembered something then said: "I am a mage with 6 rings."