The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 361 - Aleni's Past

            The first and the last memory that Aleni had regarding her eyesight happened on the same day she lost. After being taken out from a cage when she was only five, some strange man that had long black hair blinded her with a hot knife. After that, she and many other kids of her age who also had been robbed of their sight were transported to some sort of island where they had to survive by themselves.

          The kids didn't know anything about the world, so many of them died when they ate Poisonous mushrooms or because they drank seawater for too long. Aleni survived during the first few months thanks to the fact that she quickly found an anthill and ate the ants coming from it. She also drank the rainwater that fell from the tree and ended up in a nearby pond.

            After several months while feeling most of the time hungry, Aleni began to develop her senses to the point where she could even hear ants moving. Once that happened, she managed to hunt bigger animals to quench her hunger, but that also made her get hurt plenty of times when she tried to catch deers and wolves. Even without her sight, she could easily kill a wolf with a throwing knife when she was only seven. The island had become her home, but the island was strangely silent. She knew what happened to the many other kids, but she decided not to think about it.

            When she was eight, Aleni noticed that the same men who brought her to the island had returned. She tried to escape from them, but she didn't succeed even for a single hour. They were expert hunters, and she was only a newborn baby if compared to them.

          Aleni was thrown away in another strange world, and in this one, things were even harsher than before. She was forced to fight with other kids around her age, and those who lost were beaten even more by the instructors. Eventually, the kids began to get used to all the beating and began to fight for longer. Even when their bones were broken, they kept fighting until one of them fell on the ground unconscious. In the blink of an eye, the kids learned where they had to hit to make the enemy lose the air in their lungs, to paralyze them, and to even make them fall instantly. At the age of ten, those kids had fought more than the vast majority of soldiers all over the world.

          They soon began to learn how to use poison and how to withstand poison as well. Several kids died since their digestive systems seemed weaker than the others, and some died because their bodies didn't stand the daily dose of poison. Those who endure that would learn how to make poison and all kinds of tools that could help in the assassination of a target. Their knowledge regarding herbs was almost unrivaled… during that time. They also learned how to move without being detected and even how to disappear in plain sight.

          When all those skills were mastered, the instructors used some sort of spell to make the kids completely obedient to them. Once that was done, they began to receive missions… At first, they had to kill simple targets, but eventually, they were tasked to kill important people.

          Aleni was particularly good at invading Residences at night, so she killed many targets without being found. In the end, she became the most famous recruit of the organization since she succeeded in all her jobs without being found. However, she suddenly received a new one when she became fourteen… She was to go to Sairus kingdom and follow all the orders of the king. The owner of the slavery spell became Dalyor since that was a mission like no other.

            The first time Aleni met Dalyor, Drian, and Laiex, she could sense a deep animosity coming from them. They clearly didn't want to rely on an assassin to keep Ameria safe, but it seemed that they didn't have any other choice.

"Protect Ameria with your life. If you fail, take your own life," Dalyor said.

              The slavery spell engraved that order inside Aleni's mind, and thus, it became her life as a bodyguard of Ameria. At first, nothing happened since she spent most of the time inside the castle. However, after a couple of days, Aleni received the order to protect Ameria outside the capital. Apparently, she was going to a lake alongside other noble kids.

              Aleni couldn't understand why she would do that when she had a huge bath at home for herself. In any case, Aleni planned to do her job. However, when she tried to approach, she realized that someone had noticed her presence… it had been Zaos.

          Aleni quickly retreated, and in the end, she wasn't spotted, but that had been the first time someone noticed her. It had been because she began to question why those kids were having fun? Until now, she had been close to Ameria, Drannor, and Zaos when they were practicing in the castle, but he never felt her presence.

          Soon after, Aleni noticed that it had been exactly that which let her presence be found. When she didn't think about anything, she was like a rock… a rock doesn't have a presence. For quite a while, Aleni didn't have to do anything. She only observed Ameria day and night and grabbed food and water from the kitchen when it was time to eat. She also slept in the corner of Ameria's room, but Aleni would wake up whenever she moved.

            Things stayed peaceful for several months. During all that time, Aleni began to wonder what she was doing. Still, she only questioned herself when Zaos wasn't around since he was the only one who could find her. However, things got complicated again when Ameria received the invitation to Noemi's birthday. From that point onward....