Side Story A

~ The Sky Moves Sideways ~

Part A-1 : Turning Point

Hunger.

That's probably one of the few reasons why I kept on moving forward. Either it's the thirst of power, wealth, or even knowledge; but there's something even more enticing than all of these combined.

That is, the hunger for feasting upon a wide variety of delicious meal at bay which inspires me to explore the entire world for my journey to be the ultimate gourmet ever lived. Normally I ate so much the things that came to my interest to the point my stomach hurts alot, that's probably one of the reasons why I couldn't venture on lengthy adventures until I am able to control my desires.

Many people believed that I was born with a fragile stomach; one that aches a lot even in the slightest action of 'chewing a bit more than what my internal organs are capable to digest'. My family also regarded me as the most arrogant, foolish, and reckless member of their own very bloodline that had ever lived; before that, my grandfather was pretty much known as the most absurd adventurer ever in our family.

He firmly believed that life is completely similar to an RPG game, and every single thing in life should be treated as it was inside an RPG game nonetheless. I don't even know what does that mean, since I didn't really understand how to operate this gaming consoles anyway. Not only that, I had a hard time reading even the simplest books. Even from a child, I was diagnosed of being dyslexic unable to even complete the primary level of education in my hometown.

I know that I am stupid. When the other human and the elven kids went together to school during my childhood, I was mostly here in my family's adventurer guild; honing my abilities by practicing the little things that I can do every now and then. Picking up my beloved wooden club and start practicing my swings right here and there, hoping that one day I could easily decimate my enemies with some few swings from my club.

Every morning I tried doing marathon runs across the city. Not only it is good for health, but also helps to maintain my stamina on the long run. Along with many other exercises I've done in my childhood, I finally grew up to be a young teenager with a tall and athletic stature, finally able to control my body as I pleased. Back then, I'm able to run faster and hit harder than most people in town that I know of.

Although in my family, I'm probably the weakest one right here and now. My grandfather makes fun of me every time we tried to spar; he easily beat me head on without breaking a sweat during my teenage days. I also had my big sister who's sweet and gentle, though in fact she's an extremely strong fighter in addition of knowing so many powerful magic.

Ever since she was a kid, she's a child prodigy who's able to study and master things easily. I wasn't able to use magic at all since I can't read, but I remember myself able to learn the other things while being taught verbally by my grandfather. For me, learning things by doing were mostly the only thing I could pursue in order to strengthen myself.

Many years had passed since the day I made my resolve to be a man who my family could rely on, and that long awaited day finally came when there's a draft coming in by the King's Decree.

Xxx

"Sis, even though I'm not cut out to be an adventurer, I will do my best as a soldier in honor of our beloved Kingdom, Avalon."

At the time of the military draft, I was about 19 years old of age, which is about the average age of new soldiers that were drafted at that time. The youngest one were that one 15 year old lad, and that kid was really energetic and motivated; he' s also really talented as a soldier regardless of his small and girlish stature which kinda made me thought for a second, he's more suited to be a cross-dressing maid rather than a soldier.

I barely had passed the examination because of my terrible results at the written test, as I could only read and write barely. Even though I aced all of the physical examinations, it pretty much hinders me from getting a high rank of an elite soldier because I'm pretty much a stupid person, regardless of how hard and fast I could decimate my opponents. Oh, and one more thing; it was the mercy of one commander here who gave his approval to let me in through a 'wild card' system, which is the only reason why I had passed the examination.

Technically, I had failed the expectations of my family by resulting in a great failure with my attempt to enlist as a soldier, but then in one way or another, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had shown itself so blatantly in front of me.

Entering through the 'wild card' system means that, I won't be getting the same training program as everyone else due to my lack of literary intellect, but I will instead undergo a special intensive course that would make use of the things I'm fully capable of.

"Hey you greenhorn, from this day on, you will undertook the way of the Barbarian. I am deeply impressed at your intense aura of bloodlust when you decimated several opponents at once even in an unarmed combat during that sparring examination earlier. Regardless of you having learned no martial arts technique at all, you had showcased a rare kind of talent I haven't seen in my entire life. From tommorow on, I will personally train you to become a great warrior. Be wary that my ways might be really strict, mark my words."

Enough of this flashback already. So yeah, I said that words to my big sis after I returned from the examination. It was pretty late back then, even though it wasn't really dark at night; you could say it's still around the evening time.

She gave me a piercing look right at my very eyes, probably trying to figure out whether I am lying or not. Pretty much I believed that my family already had lost hope in me since I'm not really bright from the start.

...but I will prove them wrong.

Even though I'm not that bright in mind, I will become the person with the brightest heart ever.

"Ah...I see that you had passed, Regulus. Grandpa's already anticipating your return since so many hours ago."

That was pretty much the only thing that my big sis said to me before we headed back home. Albeit faint, I could see a trace of smile in the corner of her lips. That alone had caused my entire heart to brighten, seeing as she always looked at me with such expression of pity.

From far away, I could smell a scent of a delicious meal being cooked from inside the guild. All of the working out from the afternoon earlier sure makes me really hungry, hope that I don't eat too much like the last time and the time before that.

"Oh, and one more thing, Regulus. There's only vegetable meals present for dinner."

"S-seriously? You've gotta be kidding me..."

Ah damn it, why today of all times?

Why now on all occasions, that I must I eat up the vegetables which I truly hated ever since I was a kid?

It's probably going to be a really long day, starting tomorrow.