Happy Birthday!

Lucien woke up the smell of fresh bread and the chirping of birds outside. He rubbed his eyes, then yawned.

“Morning sweetie. Ready for breakfast?” asked his mother.

Lucien smiled, “Yes mother!”

As Lucien ate his bread his father walked in the door.

“There you are my boy, ready to learn some basic self-defense?”

“Yeah!” cheered Lucien.

“Good, meet me outside, when you finish your bread,” Instructed his father.

Lucien stuffed his bread in mouth, took a small drink of water to help swallow it, then rushed outside to meet his father.

“Alright son. The first, and I think, the most important move you need to learn. The dodge.”

“Not a punch?” asked Lucien confused.

“Well, knowing how to punch will come in handy, but if you can’t dodge, you won’t be able to create an opening so you can punch,” his father explained.

“Oh, I understand.”

“Good, try to hit me.” Lucien hesitated.

“You’re my father, I don’t want to hit you.”

“I’m not you’re father right now. Now, I’m the leader of the bullies that take your bread and beat you up every day.”

Lucien clenched his fists, then threw a punch towards his father’s stomach, but his father stepped back out of Lucien’s range. Lucien stepped forward and tried again, this time with a left punch towards his father’s side, but his father dodged again. His father dodged again and again, until he grabbed his son’s head.

“You see, I created an opening, I could have hit you a couple of times. With certain attacks, you are vulnerable to certain counterattacks if your opponent dodges.

Lucien took everything he could in and tried to apply it.

“You try it now.” His father got ready to start throwing punches. “I’ll start slow, ok.”

His father threw one punch that was so slow it looked like it was going in slow motion. Lucien was able to dodge it very easily.

“You can go faster than that Father,” urged Lucien.

“I just want you to get the feel of it.”

His father threw another punch. This time a little faster than the last. Lucien stepped right to avoid it. Another fist came at him, this time even faster. Lucien ducked.

“That’s it son!” his father encouraged him.

His father continued to get faster and faster, Lucien now beginning to struggle. Then suddenly his father gave a low sweeping kick.

Thud!

His father swept Lucien’s legs out from under him and he landed on the ground.

“His father laughed, “I’m sorry son, but that’s another lesson in battle. Anything goes. Your opponent will try anything to throw you off guard. Be alert.”

His father help Lucien up. Lucien rubbed his butt that was now throbbing in pain.

“You ok?”

“Yes Father.” Lucien replied. “Let’s go again.”

The two worked at it for a good three hours. Lucien’s father taught him about punching, kicking, and using the environment around him to his advantage. Lucien absorbed all the information excitedly.

‘I’ll be able to bring the food I earn home now.’

Lucien had high hopes and couldn’t wait to test out what he had learned.

“Don’t get any ideas about fighting others now,” cautioned his father. “This is only for self-defense. Don’t go looking for trouble. After all, there’s always someone stronger than you.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Come on. Let’s get you something to eat.”

His father lead Lucien back to the cabin. Inside an apple and some more bread was on the table.

“Wow, an apple! Thanks Mother!” Lucien yelled in excitement. His mother smiled then looked at his father. Apples were rather expensive since they weren’t as common around Cleardale. Lucien took a big bite out of it and chewed. The sweet juices filled his mouth, reminding Lucien to slow down in order to savor the flavor. After all, he rarely was able to enjoy such a luxury.

“I have a surprise for you son.” His father announced. Lucien looked up after finishing his apple in wonder. His father then revealed something he was hiding behind his back.

“Wow! A wooden sword!” screamed Lucien as happy as could be.

“Happy birthday Lucien!” exclaimed both his father and mother as his father handed him the wooden sword.

‘That’s right! It’s my birthday!’ Lucien forgot since he was so excited to learn self-defense from his father.

“It took me forever to carve this out of a piece of wood. It’s good wood though. You could whack it as hard as you could against a tree and it wouldn’t break.” His father informed Lucien.

Lucien marveled at it as he glossed it over with his eyes.

“Thanks Father! And thanks for the apple Mother!” exclaimed Lucien as he rushed over and they gathered into a group hug.

Lucien rushed outside to play with his new wooden sword. He jumped and swung at his imaginary enemies, laughing as he went along.

“I should probably teach him how to use that properly.” His father stated.

“What for, he looks happy just the way he is.” His mother wondered.

“You never know, he may have to defend himself against a goblin or…an ice bear. The mountains here are full of those. Plus, I want him to help me start hunting soon. I’m not getting any younger.”

“I understand sweetheart.” Smiled Lucien’s mother.

“Hey Lucien,” Lucien’s father called.

“Yeah?” Lucien stopped mid-swing at his imaginary foe.

“I’ll teach you the basics on how to really use that.”

“Ok.”

Lucien’s father walked over to Lucien and knelt down in front of him.

“You should start off by holding the sword with two hands. When you get stronger, you can move to one hand. There are pros and cons to both ways. When holding with one hand, you lose the control that you have with two, but with one hand, you have one hand open to use for holding a shield or another sword. In extreme cases, you can use your open hand for attacking as well, but that requires more strategic moves.”

Lucien concentrated intently. He absolutely loved to learn new things, especially if his father was the one teaching. He loved the way, his father explained everything so thoroughly to make sure he understood, but didn’t throw anything to complicated at him.

“With two hands, you can strike with more power since you have both arms and your body to use as the driving force. When you attack, use the sharpened part of the blade. When parrying or blocking, use the flat part.”

Lucien clasped his wooden sword with both swords and swung down as hard as he could.

“Like that father?”

“You got it son. I’ll hang up a bag full of dirt on a nearby tree branch that you can practice on. If you practice hard with the self-defense skills and the sword play, I’ll get you a bow and arrow next year.”

“Really?” Lucien asked as his eyes lit up in excitement.

“Really.” His father promised.

Lucien hugged his father’s waist again, before they continued working on his sword skills.

After a few hours in was time for dinner.

“We have one more birthday present for you,” his mother announced. She then moved aside to reveal a small chicken.

“Oh wow! Let’s eat!” urged Lucien as he rushed into his seat at the table.

Lucien took a bite and let the juices of the bird fill his mouth before swallowing.

‘So good!’

Lucien finished then ate a little piece of bread before his mother made him get into bed.

“Come on Lucien, you got to get up early for school tomorrow.” He mother ordered.

Lucien climbed into his bed and his mother tucked him in.

“Mother?”

“Yes sweetie.”

“Someday, I’ll make us lots of money so we can eat like that every day!” announced Lucien.

His mother smiled and kissed him on the forehead before stepping back out into the kitchen.

Lucien smiled as he thought of his dream, then fell asleep.

…

Lucien awoke the next day with the shirt that his mother had been knitting at the foot of his bed. He smiled and yanked the one he was wearing off and pull the new one over his scrawny torso. He then rushed out into the kitchen where his mother had prepared him a small piece of bread.

“This one is for breakfast, and this one…” she pulled out another small loaf and gave it to Lucien, “...is for after school and you go to work.”

“Yes mother!” replied Lucien. “Did father already leave?”

“Yes, he got up really early this morning to go to work at the Ice tops. Now, get going. You’re going to be late before too long.” His mother ruffled his white hair.

Lucien ran off, back into town, towards the school. He ran barefoot on the stone path that ran through the middle of town past shops, bakeries, and armories until he stood before a stone building with two stories and a small yard of grass.

Outside were a couple of boys playing with sticks, pretending to be knights in battle. Lucien thought it looked fun, so he walked closer and was about to introduce himself.

“Ok everyone, inside please!” called a beautiful woman with pink hair in a tight bun with glasses, wearing a dress with a white top and a poufy white bottom that reached down to her knees.

Lucien rushed inside and down a tall narrow hallway into the first classroom on the left.

The school had four classrooms. The classrooms were large enough for a hundred students, but each class only had around fifty to seventy students. The first floor held the first- and second-years’ classrooms. The second floor contained the third- and fourth-year’s classrooms. In each classroom were wood tables around thirty feet long and four feet wide. Each table further from the front rose a little bit higher as to conserve the view for the students sitting in the back tables. In the front of the classrooms was the teacher’s desk and a board.

Lucien didn’t know where to sit. He decided to sit the second table back from the front and sat in one of the wooden seats towards the middle in between two other boys.

“Hello everyone! I will be your teacher for your first year!” announced the same woman who called them inside earlier. “You can call me Ms. Grell or plain ole teacher. I want you all here in your seats on time from now on. I won’t be calling you in anymore. Now, I will begin to take role. I will call your name and when I do, please respond by standing up and saying here.”

There were about fifty students in Lucien’s class. Ms. Grell began to call names she was reading off of a list laying on her desk.

‘If this is in alphabetical order, I won’t be called until the very end.’ Lucien looked around the classroom at his new classmates. There were some faces he thought that he saw before around town, and then others he had never seen before.

He waited and watched other students stand when their names were called.

“Oh…” gasped Ms. Grell. She had a worried look on her face as she called out, “Lucien Verglas.”

Everyone in the room gasped and looked around in anticipation, waiting for someone to respond.

Lucien stood up. “Here.”

Everyone stared at Lucien as he stood there with a confused expression upon his face. The kids around him started to whisper to the others around them.

“Who let someone from that family in here?”

“He shouldn’t be here.”

“Did you hear what their family did?”

‘What’s everyone so worked up about?’ Lucien looked around him at the staring faces, then sat back down.

“Well then, I guess that’s everyone,” sighed Ms. Grell. “I’ll get started. The classmates around you will be your classmates for the next four years, so get comfortable with them.” Everyone looked at Lucien uncomfortably.

The teacher then began to hand out paper and pencil to everyone in the room as well as a couple of books. Lucien was in awe. He had never had books or paper of his own.

“Teacher!” called Lucien. “Can I draw on this?” All the kids gave him weird looks.

“Of course, you can. These are all provided by the Monarchy. They are yours to keep,” responded Ms. Grell.

Lucien’s grew excited with those words. ‘Wow!’ He looked at his pencil, bundle of paper, and books. He only saw paper at the place he washed dishes, but he wasn’t allowed to touch it. After all, paper has a cost as well.

“Well, I’ll start by teaching you how to write,” Ms. Grell stated. “Please take hold of you pencils and a piece of paper.”

Lucien and all the other students obeyed and followed Ms. Grell’s hand with their eyes as she began to write with a special pen that drew bright letters on the board.

They spent an hour practicing how to write, then moved on to reading. Lucien grasped everything almost immediately. He was a very quick learner, and Ms. Grell took notice early on. For the next hour, Ms. Grell introduced the basics of Math.

For the last hour of school, Ms. Grell went over the very beginning on what they know so far about the history of the world.

“As you know, we are on the planet Nalaerus. We don’t know much about the first humans, but they had a very difficult time trying to survive among all the monsters present. They eventually began to gather together and form their own nations and bring together the strongest warriors among the humans to fight them off. Humans from all over the world began to flock to these nations or create their own as it was a system that worked. However, the most fearsome monsters began to single out the humans and formed their own army; the Kretans. Kretans are large human-like creatures that stand fifteen feet tall, and don’t have faces excepted for eyes that glow white. These creatures are the most intelligent and powerful of all monsters in this world. It wasn’t until the first monarch of this country formed an alliance with numerous countries, gathering the strongest warriors we humans had to offer, that we knew safety once again. They drove the Kretans back to their homeland establishing peace once again. We haven’t seen the likes of one since. It is said the Monarch of Verglasia was so powerful and struck so much fear into the Kretans, they are afraid to attack again. Now three hundred years later, here we are. For this year we will be focusing on what happened after the Monarch established this peace.”

Ms. Grell took a deep breath after explaining all of this, then wondered if she should explain more. She took a look at Lucien Verglas whose eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity. She decided against it.

‘I don’t want to create any problems for that boy.’

“That will be all for today. Class dismissed.” Ms. Grell announced.

Lucien was a little disappointed at this. He wanted to hear more about the first monarch and how he exactly was able to push the Kretans back.

Lucien slid his chair back; gathered his books, paper and pencil; and stood up. After pushing his chair back in he looked around the room as noticed everyone was looked at him.

‘Why does everyone look at me like that?’

He smiled at them all. Some in response frowned or looked the other way.

He continued out into the hallway towards the exit so as to head to work.

As he walked outside, he remembered the loaf of bread his mother gave him. He pulled it out and was about to chomp down on it, but someone called his last name.

“Hey Verglas.” Called a voice. Lucien looked to his left to see the boys that were playing with sticks in the morning.

“Oh, hi guys…” As he got a closer look at their faces, he noticed they were the usual bullies that beat him after he was done washing dishes for the local tavern.

They all walked towards him slowly.