Chapter 1: Hyse and Sasha

Hyse and Sasha had been born in an ordinary village far, far away from Ryuzen. They were not only the same age, but had been neighbors as well, and through their shared childhoods, had been joined at the hip. Day after day they’d play hide-and-seek or pretend to be knights with a stick Sasha had found. They were the best of friends.

From a young age the two of them had realized that there was something inside them, some inner sense they couldn’t explain in words, and when each child approached their parents about it, they heard the same thing: “That’s the Ability you received from the heavens.”

Abilities were miracles bequeathed to humans by their god. There was a certain number of people in the world who possessed these Abilities, which could be anything from increased physical capabilities, magic, or even special techniques that were less easily defined.

In Hyse and Sasha’s village, there was a man who possessed the Swordsman Ability, which allowed him to use first-rate sword techniques simply by picking up a sword. This man volunteered to be the sole security force for the entire village.

There was also a woman in the village who possessed the Lancer Ability. Hyse and Sasha remembered vividly joining their entire village in seeing her off as she left for Ryuzen to purs