"Nerd!", yelled James while kicking me. "Oh! Little Adam is going to cry, ist he?" I was used to James bullying me every day, saying that I was a nerd, weak, that I would never be able to do anything, but I always said that I would never let it get into my head. Although this time, there was something different, it was like something broke in me. Maybe I am weak, maybe I will never measure up, maybe I will always be a loser.

I remained after school and rushed to the only place where I could find peace; the library. I sat there for hours remembering every day being humiliated and ridiculed. I cried for hours, but then, I thought to myself. Crying won't help ease me, but a good story will. I could live the world through other peoples visions and minds.

I rummaged in the library for a long time trying to find the perfect book to get me out of this mood. I had read most of the books, and so, most were pale and uninteresting. I kept searching and searching until I found an isolated corridor with only one book at the end of it. Why is this book all alone here? Is this even part of the library? I came closer and closer to the book and reached for it slowly. I was waiting for something to happen, but I pulled the book slowly towards me, panting in fear, as I pulled it towards my chest, my heart stopped, but nothing happened.

Well, that was a near-death experience. I took the book and sat down to read it, the cover was leather and the title read Mystical Dangers and how to Defeat Them. I read the book and discovered many dangerous creatures that we believed were myths; Dragons, Medussa, and the Minotaur are examples. The book was the diaries of a heroic warrior that slew all of these monsters during the Rainessance. The most dangerous of monsters, although, only had a vague picture as a description. The picture showed a big dark cloud with red eyes, and under the picture was some text that said, " No one ever saw Gyvor but the blessed warrior, the 7 weapons' chosen, the only hope for humanity."

Wow! That was unsettling. When I tried to look for how should "Gyvor" be slain, I only found traces of torn out pages. The rest of the pages were blank. I rushed through them only to find a hole in the book with a dagger inside it. No, no, no, no, this can't be happening. What is this!?

I took the dagger out with precaution and looked at the writing on it. It said," You are the chosen, you have immense power, but you need us to unlock it, we represent the 7 continents if you want to find the next weapon look for Latin America."

"No! This is not happening" I started murmuring, "This is all just a dream, yeah, a dream." I threw the book inside my back and rushed to the bus station. As I pushed through the school doors I realized the sky was black. "It's night already!" I said, "Heh, it's not like anyone is waiting for me." I reached home and snatched an envelope out of my mailbox as I went inside. "Heh, another payment deposit. It's just so pathetic, the fact that that's the only thing mom does to help me. She was the one that married another guy after dad died and isolated me from her world. It's funny how there are only two links that connect us; blood and money, but she doesn't seem to care about the first."

I went to my room and unpacked my books out of my bag, and as I relaxed on my bed relieved that summer vacation started my mind kept darting to the book. What if I am humanity's only hope, am I just going to let down the whole world just because I want to keep my head down. No, this is probably just a tale to scare children to their beds. It was like there were two characters inside me, one wants to stay on the safe side and one willing to do a leap of faith. Even if it's not a fairytale, do I have what it takes to defeat Gyvor? You were chosen by one of the seven weapons, that must mean that I can do this. You're right, I must do this, I am humanity's hope.

I opened the book and took the dagger out. "Hmmm, South America? Ok, but, 'where' in South America?" I said, "Well, for starters, the dagger is made out of what seems to be basalt based on appearance and texture. Old, made of basalt and is in South America, oh my god, the Moai! I need to travel to Chile, but..." Since my mom married a rich guy and sent me a lot of money and it was summer vacation I was capable of traveling, but this was the point of no return. "do I want that? No! If I back down now then I truly am the loser James said I was!"

I looked up the nearest flight to Chile on the internet, and it was the next day, so I booked it, packed my bags, and slept dreaming of what I will find on my trip to there. The next morning, I arrived in Chile, checked into the hotel and head upstairs to my room. The next thing I was standing in front of a moai statue. I looked at them for a long time trying to figure out where the next clue is. If everything in this chase has a deep meaning then the statues should too. Hmmm, they seem to be standing in a straight row. They must have had a job that relied on order, like guarding! They must be guarding the next clue! I ran behind the statues and took out the book from my bag. "Good thing the dagger is inside the book," I whispered," or else the airport security would have found out about it." I took the dagger out just as I saw a rectangular slot chiseled on the rock behind the moai. This must be the part where I insert the dagger.

I slowly slid the dagger inside the slot and I heard rumbling voices, when I took the dagger out again a rock slab opened and inside was the next weapon. An axe

Why does an axe inside one of the oldest structures the world has ever known cease to surprise me?. As I took it out, I saw some writing on the back. It was in Arabic, but I understood it with ease. It said, " You have traveled half of the Earth in search of the unknown, but now, you shall travel all in search for your next quest. You shall reach an island where the red sun shines on the blossoming trees on the dead river."

Just as I was trying to figure out the meaning of the text, I noticed a guard gazing at me. Nothing suspicious at all, I am just a kid, kneeling behind a Moai, with an axe and a dagger in my hands. It's something you see every day. Most of you would say that my reaction was the dumbest thing anybody would do in a similar situation, but I was just a young boy scared to death, so that was the only reaction in my mind. I stared at the guard for about five seconds, then started running. Consequently, the guard started running behind me, and the chase began.

I kept running around the island, jumping over obstacles and ramming through people on the hope that I will lose the guard, but he was still following me like a homing missile. I will never outrun him. He is always behind me. He will catch me, but what will he do after that? Will he send me to jail? I don't want to go to jail. I kept panicking, which was not good as it slowed me down, but just as I was about to lose hope, I found it, I found an escape route. There was a cruise ship just leaving Eastern Island's port. I ran with all the power I had left in me and jumped from the port across a wide gap of crashing waves on the hope they won't be the last thing I see. My legs didn't land on the ship, but my hands did. I helplessly pushed myself onto the ship's floor, gasping for air and watching, as Eastern Island slowly faded away into the horizon.

The ship was on its way to Chile, the closest country to Eastern Island, but the cruise would take a whole day, and because I was not authorized to be on there I had to find somewhere safe to stay for a whole day, and where did I choose? A bathroom stall.

As I sat in the stall, I got my axe out and tried to figure out the words, "Red sun, travel all, island, blossoming tree? What does any of that mean? Ok, step by step, right now I am in South America. I traveled from Europe that what he means by half the globe, but If I were to travel all the globe from South America, I will end up in the same place. That means I must travel all the map, which will end up with me in Asia. There are so many islands in Asia, but only one is associated with a red sun and blossoming trees, Japan!"

The moment I reached Chile I sneaked outside of the ship and rushed form my hotel, nearly all of my bags were packed, so I took them and boarded a plane to Japan. On the flight, I kept thinking about where to go in Japan," An axe is used for chopping wood, and the writing does mention blossoming trees, so I guess I have to go to a cherry blossom park, but which one? Blossoming trees on the dead river? The Hiroshima Peace Park! It is a park filled cherry blossoms on a river, and the park was built to memorialize those who died because of the atomic bomb. It matches all the criteria." There was something else that kept me hyperactive, but this one also made me nervous.

A man was staring at me, studying every move I made. When the plane landed, he followed me through the airport. Why is he doing this? I can't go to the park now or he might do something. I have to lose him first. I got into a cab and told the driver to drive around town as fast as he can. At the beginning he refused, but when I told him there is extra pay, he agreed. Even then the mysterious man was still tailing me. Once we gained speed on the high way, I yelled, "Stop!" The driver panicked and slammed the brakes, therefore, the man's car slammed into our car. A fight ensued between the two drivers and I escaped through the confusion and hid behind a gas station. I looked through my bag for the dagger, but instead, I found a watch. When I grabbed the watch, it transformed into my dagger.

Just as that happened, I heard a noise behind me. I turned quickly to find the man standing behind me. He grabbed me by my throat and raised me. "You think you can defeat Gyvor, the slaughterer of knights, the one who shall prevail! You're only a boy! Looks like the ancient weapons made a mistake," he said. I was starting to choke and my vision started to blur, so I stabbed with my dagger helplessly, my last chance of survival. Suddenly, his hand loosened and I fell. I had stabbed directly into his heart. He was bleeding, but his blood was...... black.

"Wha.. what?" I hesitated, bewilderment filling my eyes. "You will never be able to defeat the sacred one," the guy's voice was now demonic, harsh and evil," he is the most powerful the undefeatable the everlasting. No matter what you do, you are nothing but a pesky commoner, remember these words before you die at his hands." Suddenly, his large tall build faded into smoke that raced towards my taxi's exhaust. "What just happened!? What did I get myself into?" I murmured. Just as I stood up, I felt some heat behind my back, only to find the taxi on fire and the driver running in terror. I jumped as far as I could away from it and seconds later, BOOM! The taxi blasted into a million pieces, each covered with an inferno of flames, revolving around a massive ball of fire.

Luckily, I jumped away just in time to avoid a piece of shrapnel racing towards me. My belongings and most of my money though were not as lucky. They all turned into unidentifiable black ashes. "Nice, now everything I own is cremated, what a wonderful day, what a wonderful day indeed." The only things I had left were 70 dollars, the clothes on me, and the 2 weapons. I went to the hotel as it was the only place I could go. I had just closed the door when I heard hard knocking on my door. I took off my watch, which transformed in a blast of light into the dagger, and held it close to my chest. I closed my eyes, opened the door and slashed. Suddenly, my hand stopped. Someone was holding it. I opened my eyes to see a tall old man wearing a silver cloak gazing at me.

"I do not intend to harm you," he said calmly, "I only wish to talk to you."

"We can talk if you let my hand go," I said. He released me and we sat down. "I am Halvor, we have been monitoring you for long," he said, " and we have reason to believe that you are the chosen." "First of all," I replied, "who are 'we'?" "We are the guardians," he answered, "we are the reason this galaxy is not consumed with darkness and death." "Gyvor?" I predicted. "Vozag, we refer to him as Vozag," he replied. "Why?" I asked. "Because Gyvor is not one creature, but rather a fusion of many creatures," he replied, "Vozag, Bruzen and Rennok. Each resides in an era, Vozag being the one in ours. Together they form the multi-dimensional threat known as Gyvor."

"Wait so you mean there are different dimen..." before I could finish my question we heard the sound of an explosion followed by screaming. Halvor and I rushed to look out the window only to see a shadowy man yelling in a demonic voice "Where are you, proclaimed hero?" "Stay here," ordered Halvor. He then jumped through the window and landed in a superhero-style only to confront the attacker. I stayed in the hotel room looking my mind eager to jump in, hating to be in a helpless situation looking at others fight for me. Me being the irrational person I am, I jumped through the window. That's not the weird thing, the weird thing is that I didn't feel so much pain, but I ignored that because of the fact that the shadow guy had grabbed me. "Didn't I tell you to stay up there," yelled Halvor.

The guy was going to stab me in the neck when he suddenly went limp and fell onto the ground lifelessly. Another man wearing the same silver cloak Halvor was wearing, but he looked a bit older. "So you must be the chosen, I am Aprix, and I am going to be your teacher." "Teacher?" I inquired. "Follow us," ordered Halvor.

“Where are we going?” I asked. “Manai Falls,” answered Halvor. “Why?” I inquired. “It's where The Hero's Dream is, and stop asking questions,” answered Aprix. I followed them until we reached a deep cavernous trench with waterfalls lining the sides. “Where to know?” I asked. “Leap,” ordered Halvor. “The hero must have faith,” said Aprix. As soon as they finished talking they both dropped into the trench and disappeared into the fog and water. “No, no, no, no. There is no way I am doing this,” I said, but I felt as if something was pulling me down, something urging me to have faith, to believe, to take a leap of faith, and without noticing, I was already on the air, falling towards the water. I shut my eyes, but when I opened them again, I was standing in front of the opened gates of a large ancient city.

It looked like it came out of an old Arabian story. I then saw Halvor and Aprix emerge from behind me. I immediately asked, “What is this place?” “It is our city, our land, the place we train, the place we defend, it's The Hero's Dream,” replied Aprix. “So this is where the guardians are?” I asked. “Correct,” answered Aprix. “Come,” ordered Halvor. We went to the largest building I had ever seen, it was not tall, but it covered a lot of ground. As we went in, I kept looking at the inside of the building that didn't cease to amaze me. It was lined with redwood and glass shaped into beautiful domes and structures. We went into an isolated room with many golden murals on the wall. “I recognize that guy,” I said. “The ancient hero?” asked Halvor. “Yes, he is the one that wrote the book I found the dagger in,” I said. “The sacred texts!” exclaimed Halvor, “Where is it?” he asked. “It burned with my other stuff,” I said. “Dammit!” yelled Halvor. He then held my shoulders and asked, “Do you remember what was in the book?” “Yes, it was the hero's diaries, and it explains how he defeated all the monsters until Gyvor, but these pages were torn out.

Do you know what happened to him?” I asked. “Look, I was a kid when this happened, so I'll try to remember as accurately as I could. One day, a helpless freezing man was found outside The Dream (short for The Hero's Dream) we rescued him and helped him recover. In the beginning, we thought he would leave, but he stayed and learned, and we accepted that, but one day, he came to our master with the seeking weapon, your dagger, and his mark was found. He had intensive training, and he sailed the land, defeating monsters, beasts, giants, and even demons. Every day he would send us about his achievements and location. Until one day, he said he had defeated all the monsters in this world, and that he will face Gyvor, we waited to hear about his success, but it never came. We never heard of him ever again, and until now we don't know where he is. In his last message, he said he was in Egypt, but after that, there was no follow-up,” narrated Halvor. “What did you mean when you said that he stayed to learn? What did he learn?” I asked. “He learned the mystic arts,” answered Halvor.

“What are the mystic arts?” I asked. “The mystic arts are eight groups and three levels. The beginner level has the five essential elements; air, water, fire, and earth. The high level has two elements; metal and electricity. Lastly, there is the expert level, which has only one element; blood. We determine the trainee's element using his mark, which is always on the shoulder, we classify the elements based on how hard they are to master. I should also mention, we cannot create or destroy the elements we master, but we shape them from one shape to another,” replied Halvor, “I just remembered, you should have a mark too, it should be on your shoulder.” He cut my sleeve and looked at my shoulder, but there was no mark, the same thing happened with the other shoulder. “I… I... I don't understand, how could you have the seeking weapon but not the mark.”

“Which camp should he go to?” asked Aprix. “Ah, yes, put him in the blood cabin for now,” answered Halvor. I followed Aprix into a scarlet cabin with emerald highlights. The door had a sign that looked like a ring of blood, obviously to signify the cabin. As I went in I saw many teens of my age practising, some were practising how to attack with blood, others were practising how to heal with it. Aprix opened my room, which I must say, was cosy. He told me that this was my room and that I had to change my ripped clothes.

I took a shower and wore the blood cabin clothes, which were a scarlet T-shirt with dark red murals on it and simple blue pants. I stood in front of the mirror and thought, The same brown hair, the same tanned skin, the same dark brown eyes, the same moderate height, but it seems that as I continue on this, my feelings change. I don't know what to feel anymore, should I just leave this place and forget all that happened, or do I stay and learn? I have to stay, I have to prove that I am the hero, if what they say is true, then the world's fate is in my hands.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the sound of the door opening. Outside, was a girl that I saw earlier in the healing room. She had short black hair and grey eyes and the same height as mine, but with a lighter white skin tone. "Aprix wants you to come down to training, follow me," she said. I followed her into the healing training room. Aprix was standing at the front of the room with many students, wearing the same clothes as mine, sitting in front of him.

The girl and I sat next to each other as Aprix started to explain. You have been learning how to heal people with blood magic, but today you will learn how to defend yourself with it, just for emergencies. We will cover basic defensive tactics that you could implement when in danger. Please stand up and pick your partner. I looked at the girl and asked, "Wanna partner up?" "Sure," she replied. we stood up on opposite sides, facing each other, but with a 3-steps distance between one another. "I never had the opportunity to ask for your name," I said. "May, my name is May," she answered.

Aprix interrupted our conversation saying, "One of you will attack the other with normal non-magical attacks, while the other will use pre-known blood magic to defend. Let's see what you already know." "You could start attacking," said May. "If that's what you wish," I replied. I started to launch at her, and suddenly I found a solid red disk thrown at me. I think she intended to knock me down, but instead, I jumped and tripped over the disk and fell on her. Our faces were just inches apart when we heard war horns.

I stood up and asked Aprix, "What's happening?" "There is a raid," answered Aprix, "The Hero's Death are attacking." "You mean like the guy we faced outside the hotel?" I asked. "Yes," answered Aprix just before he started running. I decided to follow him, but as we went outside I suddenly stopped. There were thousands of those guys fighting our trainees with what seemed like dark magic.

I didn't have time to look for a long time because just after I went out, a spear launched into the right part of my chest, and the world went black. The next time I woke up I was on a stretcher, my vision was fuzzy, but I could see lakes of blood coming out of my chest, and I started coughing it too. I also noticed, something like a blue forcefield around my chest, which was probably the thing that didn't make me feel any pain.

I was rushed into a room, where many blood trainees healed the injured. I was put on a bed with May as my healer. "Oh no, this looks bad," she said. She then started using blood magic to heal the wound. "The wound is deep, I can't heal it from the surface," she said as she tore my top. Shock filled her face just after she tore it. "Aprix might want to see this," she said.

After a while I heard victory screams coming from outside, we won. Aprix rushed into the infirmary just after I heard them. “I heard you requested my presence as soon as possible, May. Is that correct?” said Aprix. “Yes, you need to see this,” replied May. “What is it? I do not have time for this,” said Aprix with anger. “I might have found the new guy’s mark,” answered May.

“What!” exclaimed Aprix. He followed May to my bed, then she said, “He was badly injured in his chest, so I healed him up, but I also found this.” She pointed at my chest. I was still dizzy but I could see that there were grey shapes of a dagger and an axe crossing on my chest. Aprix looked perplexed, “It’s the correct mark, but.... but it should be on his shoulder. I shall ask Halvor about this matter, for now, he should rest,” said Aprix just before he left the room.

“Come on now, I should get you to your room, you need some rest,” said May. “No, no I can go on my own,” I said as I stood up from the bed, but I immediately winced. May came directly to hold my hand over her shoulder and help me. “So, I never got to know your name new guy,” said May as we were walking. “Adam, my name is Adam,” I said. “Ok, broken boy” said May jokingly. “Says the girl with broken aim,” I replied. “Heh, good one…. Adam,” said May humor filling her voice.

We reached my room and May set me on my bed. “You should get some rest, if you need anything, you can always call me,” said May before going to the door. “May!” I said stopping her, “Thank you for all the help, I owe you my life.” “Just get some rest, I will talk to you again once you wake up,” said May as she exited the room.

I could not bring myself to sleep, so I just sat on my bed and looked at my dagger. I decide to check it out again, in case there was anything I missed. Just as I held it, it started shining in a blinding white light, and transformed into a wave of light that passed through the veins in my hand to the mural on my chest, which also proceeded to shine. I panicked, and immediately thought about the dagger coming back, which is what happened exactly. The wave went back in the opposite direction from my chest, through my arm, and into my hand in the form of the dagger.

I experimented with this principle with both the axe and the dagger many times, and found out that each mural can store its dedicated weapon, and I can just wish them into existence. To be honest, at that point I was too tired to figure out how to master these tricks, so I just stored both weapons and went to sleep.

I woke up to May waking me up saying, "Get up Adam, Halvor wants to see you." I got up and took off bloody shirt, when I realized that May was still in the room, glancing at me, I stopped and said, "Do you mind." "Just wear your shirt and meet me outside," replied May as she left the room.

I put on the blood cabin hoodie and went outside. “Come with me,” said May. “And you’ll be,” I said (referencing a song in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, if you don't get it then… I guess just search it?) “What?” questioned May. “It’s nothing,” I replied. I followed her to the massive building I went to the first time I came to Hero's Dream. We stopped at the door and May said, "I think I should leave you now." The door opened and Halvor was standing right behind it, arms crossed, and said “Actually Miss May, I would suggest you come in too, after all, you were the one that found the mark.”

We went inside and Halvor sat at his desk while Aprix was beside the wall. He motioned for me and May to sit, so we did. “So, I hear you do have a mark, but it’s on your chest?” asked Halvor. “That is true sir,” I answered. “Just call me Halvor, please. Please tell me how you found out about it,” said Halvor. “Well, May was the one that found it and I personally think she could explain better than I could,” I replied. He motioned for her to speak, and she followed saying, “He can into the infirmary with a deep chest wound caused by a spear, I had to tear his shirt off to have access to the deep areas in the wound, and that was when I saw the mark. I proceeded to call Master Aprix and inform him about the matter immediately after the raid ended, and that was the last of that.” “Fake!” yelled Halvor with rage and anger, his voice filling the room. May looked shook and that was not surprising, but what was surprising for me was that Aprix looked even more shook than May.

“The mark can’t be on the chest, it never was, it never will be! It was probably some drawing or tattoo that he schemed to infiltrate the camp!” shouted Halvor. I stood up and said, “I can prove it’s real.” “Show me,” said Halvor in a low and challenging tone. I rolled up my sleeves, and summoned the dagger in one hand and the axe in another and retracted them back into the mark. “Dark magic! You will be imprisoned this moment!” yelled Halvor before he called the guards. The guards stormed into the room and tried to grab me immediately, but suddenly I heard the guard scream. Apparently, May had attacked the guard to defend me. The other guards lashed at her, but she held them of and yelled at me saying, “Run! Adam, run!” I could not bring myself to do it, especially when I felt like she could be in serious danger. I looked over and Aprix was stopping Halvor from getting to May. It looked like they were having a pretty serious argument, and suddenly Aprix turned over to look at me and said, “I’ll get her, don’t worry just run!” I had no time left to think, so I just dashed straight for the exit, and just after I left, I saw a blinding white explosion coming from the building. It was then that I realized, that I had no choice but to escape The Hero’s Dream.