I sleepily rubbed my eyes as I just opened them. I felt refreshed and energized as I woke from my slumber. I looked around. It still can’t be night. It’s too dark. I felt my stomach growl.

“Mom! When are we going to eat-.” I started, but I cut myself off. The events prior to yesterday suddenly flooded through my mind. I clenched my fists. They’re really gone…

I suddenly felt tired and energy-less. I crawled back under my covers and silently cried. I let out all my pain and sadness and they left my body in forms of tears. My heart ached as I drowned in my sorrow.

After a few hours I got up from my dried pillow and opened my eyes. It was still dark. Oh yeah. I’m the center of Orbis Tower. No windows.

I felt my way around the dark and found myself holding onto a ladder. I realized it was the ladder on the bunk bed. I carefully climbed down it and reached the floor without any troubles. Now to find the door….

I reached out into the darkness and searched around for the door. I hit my foot on a few things on the floor a couple times, but finally managed to find the door. I twisted the door knob and pushed the door.

I found myself in a hallway with small light bulbs hanging off the ceiling. I stared at them. I drew my attention away from the lights as I saw the end of the hallway. I quickly ran towards it, finding myself in a giant room.

I hadn’t notice the size of the room last night. I saw Tech busily working with something at his little workshop.

“Good morning.” I called. “I think.” I added not sure of the time of day.

“Actually it’s close to the afternoon.” Tech replied without turning. He stopped working and turned.

“I’m almost done fixing your Red Katana. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll do.” Tech explained. He moved aside and let me see his workshop.

It was a giant metal table with wooden cupboards at the top full of all sorts of thing. A few lamps were turned towards the center of the metal table. On the table was a strange device that held my Red Katana. I saw Tech was using a strange chemical to sort of weld it. I checked twice before asking him.

“Where’s the other part of the blade?” I asked curiously.

“I put it away. I have a storage room where I put all my scrap metal in. When a blade breaks you can’t just put it back together. It was made in layers and re-welding it together would just fuse all the layers together and make the blade useless. The best way to go is to just smooth out the end of the blade that cracked and use that.” Tech explained returning to his work. “Oh yeah. We don’t have any food in the house. So if you want to eat go buy something.”

He pointed behind him at a small wooden table. On it was a sheathed sword and a bag of Mesos. I un-sheathed the sword to find it was just a plain, old Long Sword.

“Just incase take the Long Sword. I’ll get your Red Katana fixed by the time you get back. Here.” He tossed me two scrolls. One was a recognizable Town Scroll, but I couldn’t tell what the other one was.

“That ones a scroll back to here. I made it myself. That’s why I capture all the Jr. Sentinels. They are the main ingredient.” Tech explained already back to his work. What a busy guy. I tied the sheath of the Long Sword around my waist.

I was about to use the Town Scroll when Tech turned around and skillfully threw a small object into my hand. I examined it to find it was a small key.

“You’re dad gave me that. He said in time I know what to do with it.” Tech said still working on my Red Katana. “Incase you’re wondering it’s a key to his storage. He has all the treasures from all his looting days in it. Well it’s yours. You can stop by any of the storage places to get something.”

I stared at the key. It was a small brass key. The thought of it once belonging to Dad made me feel a little closer to him.

“Thanks Tech.” I whispered as I pocketed the key. I grabbed the Town Scroll and rolled it out in the air. I placed it on the floor and placed my hand on it. It glowed and a light surrounded me.

“Ken! Your dad said happy thirteenth birthday!” Tech called out holding a small note in his hand. “It was in the scabbard.”

“Tech wait!” I called back, but it was too late. A great flash of light appeared and I found myself in the center of Orbis. I eyed the custom scroll Tech had made. Nah. It’d be a waste.

I started walking around town. It looked a lot better in the sun than in the rain like yesterday. I breathed in the fresh air and scouted for food. I checked the bag of Mesos Tech had given me. There was around five-hundred-thousand Mesos(500k) in the bag.

“What to buy….” I said to myself. I looked around the stores. They were all lively and full of people. I saw a lot of people eyeing me suspiciously.

“Look at that dirty boy. He must be a thug. Look at that cheap sword and his ragged Blue Jangoon Armor and Black Jangoon Pants.” People would whisper to each other. I ignored them all and kept going to the next store.

“I’d like a Mushroom Miso Ramen with extra meat and a bottle of Reindeer Milk.” I asked the cook at a small restaurant after staring at the menu.

“Coming right up.” He said cheerfully.

“How could that kid even afford it? He must be a criminal. He’ll probably run after eating without paying.” People whispered around me.

“Um…I’d like it to go, please.” I said in a small tone. The cook agreed. After a few minutes he gave me a plastic bag with a cardboard box and a bottle of white liquid. I paid him the money and quickly left the restaurant.

I found a quiet, peaceful place to eat. It was a small bench and there weren’t a lot of people around. I sat on the bench and took out all the things from the plastic bag. I carefully opened the box as steam rose out. Inside was ramen in a plastic bowl with a giant cap on it.

I took off the cap and placed it back into the plastic bag. I looked at the ramen. I felt a slight disappointment. It looked good and smelled good, but the noodles had soaked a little too much of the soup. They were thick and soggy.

“Stupid people. If they just let me eat there they wouldn’t have been soggy.” I grumbled. Nevertheless I ate it all to the last drop of soup. It was good. I finished it all off with the Reindeer Milk. It was cool and refreshing after the hot and spicy ramen.

I placed all the trash in the plastic bag and threw it out in a garbage can. I took a big breath. With all the rain I hadn’t been out in a while. I decided to head back.

“Hey you! Stop!” A voice called out. I turned to find a shady-looking guy running towards me. Behind me the same cook from before that had given me the ramen was chasing him.

“Return that money now!” The cook called out.

I casually stuck out my foot. The robber tripped and let of the sack of money he was holding. Mesos spilled out. There must’ve been at least five-million Mesos(5 mil) on the floor.

“Stupid kid!” The robber shouted as he lunged at me with a rust Razor. I easily side-stepped it and whacked him in the back of the head with the sheath of my Long Sword.

“Thank you so much.” The cook said. He quickly gathered back all the Mesos. He soon left and left me there with the robber.

“Hope you learned your lesson.” I sighed crouching down to eye level. I sensed something strange from him. I saw a small bulge under his Ragged Cape on his back. I slowly reached out so see what it was.

“You should be more on guard.” The robber hissed. A hand shot out from under his cape and grabbed my arm. I tried to struggle, but the robber held on tight. I bent low and kicked upwards. The robber swiftly jumped back.

“So that was all an act.” I figured. “Judging by your movements right now you wouldn’t have tripped so easily like earlier.”

“You’re pretty smart aren’t you?” he said. I looked at him. He looked a few years older than me.

“But too bad you’re dying here.” He hissed. He reached under his Ragged Cape and pulled out a bow. I was awed by the bow. It was magnificent. It gleamed like diamond, but seemed more precious than a room full of gold.

“I see you like my Bow of Magical Destruction. It fits me perfectly.” He said glaring at me directly. I stared at his eyes. His eyes were a clear blue and his hair was a blonde mess. My eyes were dark and my hair was a black whirlwind.

“What do you want?” I asked gripping the grip on the Long Sword. He just smirked and used Soul Arrow. He quickly shot at me.

I jumped high into the air. I saw the arrow crashed into the pavement where I had stood before. It sent bits of the ground flying into the air. This’ll be a little tough.

I landed on the ground and dashed forward. I came up right in front of him before he could fire an arrow. I drew my Long Sword in a flash and slashed at the robber. He raised his bow and brought it down on the sword. My sword cut into the ground. The robber’s bow was held down on the sword. I tried to pull it out, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Good plan, but not good enough. Getting into close-range combat with a projectile user will get you a slight advantage. It may seal off their projectile attacks, but not their melee attacks.” The robber explained with a smug look.

“Well that’s all for your test.” The robber said cheerfully taking his bow off my sword. He slung his bow on his back again, but this time took off his Ragged Cape to reveal a Blue Tai. From the folds of his robe he pulled out a blue patriot and placed it on his head.

“Well you’re accepted. Welcome to Hidden Street.” The fake robber said cheerfully holding out a hand.

“Huh?” I managed to say after minutes of confusion.

“Hidden Street is an academy that trains people to become professionals in their jobs. To get in you need a recommendation and pass a test. The fight we just had was your test and you passed. Now here’s a pamphlet will all the information. Well I got to go. Others test to do.” He said running off into the distance after handing me a pamphlet.

“Wait! What’s your name!?” I called after him as I sheathed my sword.

“Chris! Bye Ken!” Chris called back.

“How do you know my name?” I shouted.

“Your recommendation, Tech told me!” Chris shouted as he disappeared from sight. I sighed. Man, Tech had been doing so much things for me.

“Thanks Tech.” I whispered into the sky. I pocketed the pamphlet.

I pulled out the custom scroll and rolled it out. I placed a hand on it and a flash of light surrounded me.

“I’m back Tech!” I shouted as the light disappeared. “Thanks for the Hidden Street thing!”

Before I had used the scroll I was overfilling with joy, but when I found myself in Tech’s workshop room my heart skipped a few beats.

“Tech!” I shouted running towards him. He was on the floor covered in blood. He had gashed all over his body.

“What happened!?” I asked urgently. He mumbled a few words which I couldn’t understand well.

“They…….Crow……..info…….I…….not give………they……….mad.” he mumbled.

“Who’s the ‘They’ that wants info on Dad?!” I asked tears starting run down my face as I got a closer look at his wounds.

“People……..looted…..by……him…..” he whispered as he slowly close his eyes.

“Tech! Don’t close your eyes please! Dad and Mom are gone and now if you go. What will happen to me?!” I shouted tears streaming down my face.

“Why do you think I tried to get you into Hidden Street? You can stay there.” Tech whispered with closed eyes. His voice was silent and fragile.

Suddenly I heard a booming noise. It was continuous and sounded close.

“They’re trying to get in. Escape now while you have the chance! Take that bundle with you.” Tech gasped pointing at a long brown package under his workshop.

“Tech I can’t leave you!” I screamed out.

“Ken! Just go!” Tech shouted. He slowly got up and went towards his workshop and shoved the package into my hands. He also pulled out a Town Scroll and activated it and hurried stuff it into my arms.

“Tech no!” I shouted out trying to grab him, but it was too late. The room faded away as I was transported away. I saw Tech there on the floor as the door blew open and people started running into the room and beating on him.

“Tech!” I screamed as I was transported to the middle of a street. My cries echoed through the empty streets. It was growing dark and people were going back to their homes.

I cried for what felt like hours. By the time I stopped it was dark. I stared at the package in my hands. I decided to open it.

I carefully unwrapped it. I saw two gleaming, black sheaths and a note. I first picked up the note.

It read:

Dear Ken,
Well look what I made for you? I used the two parts of your Red Katana as the base for these new swords. Hope you like them.
From Tech.
P.S. The parts from your dad’s Doombringer was the material I used for these swords.

I unsheathed both blades. I was awestruck. They were perfect. They were all black with a red edge.

“Wow Tech.” I whispered softly. I admired them and slashed them around for a bit.

“Well I guess I’ll read this pamphlet after dinner.” I decided glancing at the slightly crumbled pamphlet before returning it to my pocket. I sheathed both blades and picked them up.

I was pretty good at double wielding. Not as good with one sword, but with two swords just seemed like it was meant to be.

I replaced the Long Sword at the right side of my waist with one of the blades and slung the other one on my back. I stared at the Long Sword.

It had been Tech’s. I walked over to a tree in the middle of a grassy field. I clutched the blade and dug it into the ground in front of the tree. Rest in peace, Tech.

“Well let’s see what’s for dinner.” I wondered walking down the street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Insert all the usual things I say]
Sorry I’m short on time. Got to read a book and do a report in two days!!!!!

~That Asian Kid,