For many, that day would have broken them completely. And indeed, Ty’s pride had been severely wounded. However, Ty lacked something that was a major downfall to most: ego. The concept was completely foreign to him. Thus, while Zain’s mockery of Ty hurt the young boy, it did not destroy him. If anything, it only provided more motivation to become stronger and restore the pride he had in his name.

As the days after the event progressed, Ty discovered that a few had not entirely left him. Ones like Jude and Alex, persons Ty had made the quickest impression on, still respected the boy. Even if they all had gone back to ignoring him, he would have persevered; he still had Julie and the kids. Not once did he ever forsake his visits to them for anything longer than a couple days.

And so, Ty continued to grow. He performed the basics without even thinking. Defending, which had once been such a struggle for him was now simple. He devoted himself to the more advanced techniques. He learned to hide his movements, switch from defense to offense in a flash and vice versa, and to analyze the enemy among other things. Without him even noticing his burst, as his friends called it, became much more of a weapon. He now spent less time preparing for it ahead of time and less time recovering after it. The speed increased to the point where his figure became a blur while moving. When talking about his burst, his associates often hailed it as practically unbeatable. However, they knew nothing of its taxing effects. If he went all out with it, he could use it no more than three or four times before exhausting himself. To those around him, he grew more invincible with each day; to Ty, he saw more that needed to be done. Illogically, he associated weakness and failure with having to relinquish his position at the Academy and causing Julie and the kids to return to the streets. Because of this, he trained vigorously during all physical and educational classes. He advanced at a rapid rate and had ascended to the rank of third of R1 after seven months at the Academy.

Ty spent many an evening sitting on a hill close to the training grounds staring at the setting sun. It was on this hill that he found himself at dusk of the day he was promoted to the third position. Alex, Jude, and Mathias, the warrior Ty had fought in his first sparring match, accompanied him on that night in order to celebrate the accomplishment. Despite their festive intentions, the three only ended up relaxing on the hill with Ty watching the sunset as he did.

“Hard to believe a twelve year old is the third best rogue in the academy and second best dagger-wielding one,” Alex commented.

“Thirteen,” Ty replied.

“Thirteen!?” The other three asked in unison.

“Yeah, I turned thirteen three months ago,” he answered.

“But why didn’t you say anything about it?” Jude demanded.

“What’s there to say? I didn’t think it was that important,” he said without any real interest. The other three were taken aback by this surprise. They didn’t know anything specific about Ty’s background but could clearly see it wasn’t a normal one. Every once in a while, an event like this would happen where he acted or thought totally unlike what one would think. In truth, Ty had never been introduced to the concept of birthdays and, as a result, never felt a need to celebrate it.

“So, when exactly is your birthday?” Alex prompted.

“March,” Ty replied simply.

“When in March?” Mathias insisted.

“Don’t know,” Ty said after some time. An awkward and embarrassed silence ensued until Ty stood up. “I’m going. I’ll be in the dormitory in a few hours.” The three sat silently as Ty walked away into the final rays of light coming over the horizon. Ty frequently left campus, even after curfew, and made little attempt to hide it. What was more, the administration never seemed to care. Just where exactly he went was frequently discussed by the boys. Zombies, aliens, vampires, and dinosaurs were usually brought up one way or another but the boys always settled upon the most logical solution: a girl.

They sighed unanimously before heading off to their respective dormitories. It seemed the more they got to know Ty, the stranger he got.