My life had been a strange one. Well, most of it was actually quite normal at least for your average kid in Dalis. I went to school everyday, I did my homework, pyed with friends on my days off, attended festivals when they came around. I missed it, I really did. Then, once when I was 13 that all changed. My parents went out on a trip by sea to a foreign nation for business reted ventures (we owned a small guild which helped us earn our money to pay for our food and home mortgage and so on.)

  They said they'd be gone for just 4 days, and then return the next day. But after the specified amount of time had epsed, I began to get really worried. I imagined the worst possible reasons of why they might not have returned. My fears were unfortunately confirmed as truth- they were dead.

  Supposedly, half way into the journey, they were hit by pirates. They stole everything, and then torched the whole ship and killed everyone to get rid of any evidence of their crimes so they wouldn't have been discovered by the D.R.N (Dalician Royal Navy). When I heard this news, I was absolutely furious. I wanted to go track down those responsible for my mom and dad's deaths and give them the slowest, most brutal death possible. But say I did find them, what was I going to do?

  I was just a child, they were adults. They would probably beat me to a pulp and pilfer me for every st coin that was on my person. I was also extremely regretful. My dad always owned this one sword he'd found on his travels a long time ago, before I was born. I insisted he bring it along on the business trip but he insisted it was fine. "Don't worry Mikhail, I'm just going to be away for a couple of days with mom, and then we'll be back before you know it ! We'll be safe and sound when we come back." If I had just snuck it into his sack before he walked out the door that day with mom, maybe they'd still be around. I still remember that warm, loving gentle smile on their faces vividly. It's the st memory I have of them. Every time this memory unconsciously resurfaces, I grit my teeth and tighten my fist and think- "Why!? Why didn't I do anything about it?" Even though I knew there was never anything that I could do about it back then.

  Because there was no one to support me, I had to give up most of my life. I couldn't go to school anymore, because who would pay for it? I had nowhere to sleep anymore, since my parents weren't there anymore to pay the bills.

  Everything was in ruins from there on out. No one really ever took me in, since in Pom City, my hometown it was every man for himself, everyone only cared for themselves. I avoided the child welfare services as well since I've heard the occasional rumours that Pom's child welfare services were more interested in appealing to the public by pretending like they're doing a good job taking care of unfortunate children just to make money off of donations. But behind the scenes, they barely put in any effort to better the lives of the kids they took in.

  Of course, I never actually knew whether or not this was true- but I didn't want to find out. There was a certain point where things started to get pretty bad. I was starving like I never have before, I was sick like a dog. This new experience hit me like a tonne of bricks- it was a whole new world, one I wish I had never experienced. Thankfully, this didn't st forever.

  I was on my st legs, stumbling around the streets at midnight, with torn clothes, with a body that was dangerously thin, dark eye bags, and the occasional and loud cough that felt like a thousand knives scraping against my throat. I ran into a man, a wealthy looking man. He said to me "Hey kid… you look like you're having a bad time.. What do you say I take you in? You can work for me, and I'll give you food, clothes and shelter in turn. When you're old enough, I'll start paying you too." He could've been a scout for some underground sve ring trying to draw me in, but at that point I didn't care. I would've done anything to get out of that situation, to no longer be on the verge of death. Ever since then, he's sort of been like a father to me.

  I found out that this man was Zantio Svhar- Guildmaster of Svhar Industrial Guild, or Z.I.G as it was commonly referred to as. Z.I.G was a major Guild in Dalis which manufactured magical technology such as magia generators (magia is the magical energy through which magic is casted and technology made possible). They also built magic energy power pnts such as the one in the Seafront District of Pom City. They also worked on custom commissions, though those tended to cost a few extra gold pieces. Later on, I befriended a Zalief around my age who went by the name Yuri Borysenko. We became the best of friends.

  Then, 5 years ter…