"Stop right there!"
Kyrian, who had been looking at the guard raising his hand to attack him, turned his face toward the voice. Someone was coming toward him with heavy steps.
The soldier kneeling on the ground and the other one straightened their backs as soon as they heard the voice. Their faces were tense.
"Captain Rurik!" both said in unison, bowing in respect.
The man didn’t care about the two and looked at Kyrian with interest. Then he approached until he was a meter away from him.
Kyrian looked at Rurik, he was taller than anyone in Frosty Village, in fact, the largest person he had ever seen. Broad shoulders and scars on both arms, which were bare. His face was ordinary, with short dark brown hair, and despite being full of scars, his face was the only place untouched.
Kyrian looked into his eyes. Cold, but looking at him with some interest, and that was enough.
"Brat. Do you really think you have the strength to become a soldier?" Rurik asked, crossing his arms.
Kyrian didn’t hesitate and answered right away.
"Yes, after all, I’m stronger than they are. You can test me as much as you want," Kyrian said, pointing to the two soldiers who were bowing.
The two frowned, wanting to say something, but couldn’t, because Rurik suddenly...
"HAHAHA, really interesting. Boy, what’s your name?" Captain Rurik laughed, a hoarse sound that echoed through the empty and silent morning street, the coldness in his eyes lessening a bit.
"Kyrian, I’m four years old," he answered honestly.
Captain Rurik was even more surprised, studying the boy for a moment.
His eyes landed on Kyrian’s empty gray pupils, finding no iris.
’Where did this brat come from? To have the strength to bring down one of my soldiers before he could react.’
’Besides that, he shows no sign of fear or hesitation in front of me. And he seems extremely confident in himself.’ Rurik thought quickly before speaking.
"And why the hell would a child like you want to become a city soldier at your age?"
"To become strong. Very strong. I saw that soldiers are everywhere in the city. They’re strong, eat well, and train. That’s perfect for me to become stronger." Kyrian replied honestly.
If he could do it, it would be the best thing possible. He would start training and learning to fight quickly after arriving in the city. Besides, he wouldn’t have to worry about food or shelter if he lived there.
The captain looked at the boy, who was extremely small compared to him, but felt a determination far beyond his age. He was satisfied.
"Alright, brat, you’ve convinced me. You can join the recruitment. But you’ll need to prove to me that you’re fit to become a soldier." Rurik said, with a rare smile on his face.
Kyrian could feel that the man in front of him was happy for some reason. But that was perfect, a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Come on, come in and show me you’re not just talk." Rurik said, turning and entering the barracks.
Kyrian didn’t waste time and quickly followed the captain’s steps, passing the soldiers at the entrance without giving them another glance.
The two exchanged looks.
The soldier who had laughed at Kyrian’s words suddenly spoke.
"This doesn’t make sense, it’s not right. How can the captain let a four-year-old take part in recruitment? If he gets hurt and it spreads through the city, it’s going to be terrible."
"Shut up! What the hell do you know? That... that can’t be the strength of a child, that’s a little monster..." The soldier who had felt Kyrian’s strength firsthand said, feeling awful, unable to believe he had less strength than a child. But when he thought about what happened, he knew that no matter what he did, the result would be him on his knees after being held by the brat.
...
Kyrian followed Rurik into the barracks. There were two main buildings, both extraordinary.
They passed them until they reached a square stone courtyard. As soon as they arrived, he saw that the courtyard floor had numerous red lines marking it.
Some lines were faded, others fresh, as if recently repainted.
Kyrian sat above the first of the lines after hearing Captain Rurik’s words.
"Recruitment will happen in two hours, when everyone has arrived. So, wait at your mark," he said as he walked away, soon disappearing into one of the barracks buildings.
Kyrian watched his back until he disappeared, then closed his eyes, deciding to take a nap until it began.
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the building, peering through a small window, Rurik watched Kyrian.
’Let’s see if you have the patience and discipline to wait two hours in the same spot. Or if you’ll walk around,’ Rurik thought with a faint smile as he looked at the child.
He had already decided to accept Kyrian either way, this was an absolute genius like he’d never seen. Finally, someone with ambition, just like he had. But he still wanted to see everything the brat was capable of.
*********************************
Outside the barracks, thirty minutes after Kyrian had entered, young people of all kinds began appearing, lining up in front of the barracks.
After a little over an hour, thirty-nine sixteen-year-olds were perfectly lined up.
Most were clearly children from families with some money, judging by their clothes. Others bore the marks of heavy labor on their arms.
One of the two soldiers guided them to the courtyard and ordered everyone to stand in a line, and they did. Soon, the soldier returned to his post.
For the first five minutes, everyone was quiet, then small murmurs began. It was impossible for people their age to remain silent, especially when anxious about recruitment.
Little by little, many began talking, but the main topic of conversation was obviously the same.
As soon as they had arrived at the courtyard, they had all looked at the child on the first line in confusion.
"Who do you think that little one is? Why is he here with us?" asked a handsome blond youth.
"I have no idea, he hasn’t moved even a bit since we got here. He’s so still that if I didn’t see him, I’d say he was a ghost," another said, not far away.
"Hey... maybe he’s the son of a soldier, or even the captain... for him to be here without that soldier who brought us saying anything, then he must be the child of someone important." A skinny boy with a timid expression said.
Soon, everyone accepted that answer as the most likely.
Kyrian had already woken up about fifteen minutes ago. His eyes remained closed. The surrounding murmurs didn’t matter.
He was there for only one reason, and that was all that mattered.
At that moment, Captain Rurik appeared, walking slowly toward them until stopping a few meters away.
Behind him were four soldiers, all holding spears. Even the captain himself held a spear, almost as tall as he was.
Kyrian finally opened his eyes.
"Welcome to recruitment!" Rurik’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears, authoritative.
"The city of Falk, as the last city of the country of Valor, is extremely far from the others and therefore practically independent. It is up to us to protect ourselves from the fierce beasts and the bandits that plague our peace."
"You are here to become strong and capable , to protect those in need. Weakness here is not an option. UNDERSTOOD?" Rurik said, looking at everyone.
"UNDERSTOOD, CAPTAIN RURIK!"
Everyone’s voice rang together. The only one who said nothing was Kyrian, since he didn’t know he was supposed to speak. He was now thinking about what the captain had said, Country of Valor. Now he knew the name of the place where he was.
"You will face three tests. Strength, endurance, and finally, you will fight. If you fail any, you’re out. If you pass..."
’Well, then the fun begins,’ Rurik thought the last sentence to himself.
"Follow me, let’s go to the place for the first test."
The four soldiers moved forward and told them to form lines.
Soon, four lines of ten youths formed, and they followed Captain Rurik to another courtyard.
"First, lift and carry for twenty meters. If you drop it, you’re eliminated," Rurik said, pointing to a row of massive square stone blocks.
The recruits looked at each other, some nervous, others confident. Meanwhile, Kyrian, who was first in the last line, waited.
His height compared to the others was truly comical.
Then they began, one by one, attempting it.
Some, who had been waiting and training for this, succeeded, sweating and groaning in pain but reaching the mark. Seven youths succeeded.
Others stumbled or lacked the strength, letting the stone block fall to the ground with a dull thud.
Then, it was finally Kyrian’s turn. Captain Rurik crossed his arms, watching him.
Kyrian approached the block, crouched down, and with little or no effort, simply lifted it. In fact, he frowned. It felt easier than he imagined.
’What happened to my body? There’s no way this strength is normal. Everyone else had such a hard time, what did those particles do?’ Kyrian thought as he walked, and without even realizing it, he reached the twenty-meter mark with ease.
Then, he set it down. The courtyard, which had been in complete silence, was startled and pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of the stone hitting the ground, finally returning to reality.
As soon as Kyrian had started moving, everyone had wondered what he was doing. When he crouched down, they thought it would be funny to see him try to lift the stone that was half his size.
But now, the only thing that happened was that they stopped breathing altogether in that moment.
The captain said nothing, but a small smile formed on his lips as his fingers tightened slightly around the shaft of his spear.
Soon, everyone finished the test, some happy, others with terrible expressions.
"The first test is over, eight passed. The rest failed, but don’t worry, you’re not out yet."
"You will take all three tests, and we will decide at the end if you stay or not, even if you fail one of them. But if we notice that one of you is hiding your strength to be out, you can be sure you’ll spend the rest of your life in the barracks cleaning the courtyard." Captain Rurik said with a threatening look at the group, while some of them trembled.
"Next test," he then ordered, as if nothing had happened.