Long ago, the once peaceful CS World faced a crisis. Power over living things became unbalanced, causing some to die and others to become too powerful. War broke out over resources, while others struggled to survive. It was extreme chaos.

So the Creator himself gave power to four people to restore balance to the world; they were known as Spirit Guardians. Sarjoun, guardian of the land, sea, and sky; Maira, guardian of energy and health; Tansa, guardian of the climate and weather; and Bollag, guardian of space and dimensions. At last, peace was restored... or so everyone thought.

Monsters started to appear, and ravaged the land. They were too powerful to stop by the average person, and many lives were lost. While some still believed in the Spirit Guardians, others lost hope, even going as far as to blame them for making things worse.

However, one region decided to take a different approach. The largest and most prosperous region of all, the land of Qirja, took matters into their own hands. They made an army called Fighter Knights, people specially trained to help others in need and to destroy the monsters who threatened the land.

But would the Fighter Knights be able to bring peace to the world once again? Or would the chaos return? This... is the story of brave youths who fought to save their world...

-----

Kyte

"Take this, monster!" I said, as I slashed it in half with my trusty sword. "BAYUM! That makes eleven!"

"Seriously Kyte, when are you going to let me do something?!" Said my best friend Lock, holding his bow in one hand and an arrow in his other.

"Your fault for bein' too slow. Go train somewhere else if you can't keep up."

"Somewhere else? Aren't we supposed to be a team?"

"BAYUM!" I yelled, as I slashed another monster. "That's twelve!"

"Kyte!"

"Sorry Lock, but we can't be a team anymore."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Fighter Knights are grouped up as a pair of a guy and a girl."

"Wait, you want to be one now? I thought you were totally against it before."

"Yeah, but I understand why they're grouped like this now."

"Oh, really? Mind filling me in?"

"Because sending girls out all alone would be dangerous, obviously. They need a guy to protect them."

"That doesn't seem like a very good reason."

"What do you mean? All girls are weak; it's common knowledge."

"Even Vahlde?"

"Who's that?"

"You've never heard of her? She's a very strong fighter from Tilov."

"Tilov? Isn't that the place full of rich people?"

"Yeah well, even our king thinks she's skilled."

"The king's advisor is your father, right? It's no wonder you know all this..."

"You would know too if you'd pay attention for once."

"It's not like it's easy for me to notice things, ya know?"

"Ah, right." Lock put his bow away. "Alright, we should head back to town. If you want to be a Fighter Knight, it's best to apply now."

"But I thought you haven't trained enough..."

"And whose fault is that!?"

--

"I've got some forms at my house." Lock said, while we walked back to town. "Let's pick those up before going to the castle."

"What do I need a form for?" I asked him.

"It's to evaluate your fighting style. It makes it easier for them to decide who you'll be paired up with."

"Oh... I thought they just chose randomly."

"Not everyone's like you, Kyte. For example, medics aren't able to handle monsters by themselves, so they'll need to be grouped with a swordsman or fighter."

"See, and that's another reason why girls need to be grouped with guys."

"There are male medics, you know."

"S-seriously?!"

"Hey, you guys!" A small boy in a red cloak ran up to us. It was obvious (at least to me) who that boy was.

"Oh look, it's the midget."

"Shut up, Kyte! I'm not a midget!"

"Morning, Aero. What are you doing here?" Lock asked him.

"I was waiting for you, Lock. I wanted to show you a new spell I've been working on!"

"Is it as useless as the others?" I cut in.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sorry Aero, Kyte and I are going to the castle to apply to be Fighter Knights. You can show me later, okay?"

"Huh? You're going to be a Fighter Knight, too?" I asked him questioningly.

"I might as well, if you're going to."

"Me too! I'm going to be one, too!" Aero added.

"Aren't you a little too young, midget?"

"Grr! Stop making fun of me!"

"Kyte has a point, Aero. Maybe you should wait two or three years, first."

"B-but..."

"Let's go, Kyte. Before it's too late." As we continued walking, Lock turned to Aero. "We'll be going now. See you later."

--

After that, we went to Lock's house to get the forms and went to turn them in at the castle.

"There."

"Hey Lock, how much ya wanna bet Aero'll still apply?"

"Please, Kyte. Don't jinx it..."

Just then, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a blonde-haired girl carrying a purple lance on her back.

"Wow, she's pretty cute..."

"That's Vahlde, the girl I mentioned earlier."

"W-what?! No way; you're kidding, right?" I took another brief look at her. "But she's way too cute to be her!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't say that to her face..."

"And what? Oh no, the scary girl's gonna kill me!" I decided to walk up to her, then tapped her shoulder. "Hiya."

"What is it?! What do you want?" She asked, with an angry expression of her face.

"My friend says that you're that Tilovan, Vahlde, who's rumored to be very strong."

"Yeah, so?"

"But that can't be true, right? I mean, you're a girl, and everyone knows strong girls can't exist."

"What do you know?!" She asked, with an even angrier expression then before. "The only ones who are weak are the ones that say others are weak!"

"I am not weak! I'll show you!" I responded furiously, then took out my sword.

Rather than react in the same way, she instead lightly placed her lance of my head.

"Hm?"

All of a sudden, I felt sharp bolts of electricity shoot throughout my body. I could almost hear them, even.

"Just as I thought..." Was the last thing she said, before I blacked out.

--

"Hey, Kyte! You alright? Wake up already!"

"Wha! Huh?" I said, jolting awake.

"Wow, she totally creamed you." Lock said, while helping me back up. "You shouldn't have provoked her like that."

"S-shut up, Lock..." I responded, still reeling a bit. "How long was I out?"

"About two minutes."

"Hah, is that all? Not so tough, huh Vahlde!?"

"I'm pretty sure it's because she went easy on you."

"You're ruining the moment!"

"Attention, everyone!" A man in heavy armor (probably one of the king's guards) shouted. "If you have applied to become a Fighter Knight, please proceed to the main gathering room!"

"The main gathering room? Just how many people are here?!"

We (and everyone else) followed the guard into the gathering room. There were hundreds of other people crowded inside.

"... A lot." Lock answered.

"Yeah, I never would've figued that out myself." I said sarcastically.

"Alright, everyone!" Another guard shouted, from one of the indoor balconies. "You will each get a card with a number on it. Find the other person with the same number as you, for they will be your partner from now on."

"Where are they?" I asked, then saw a card appear in front of my eyes. "132..."

"I got 84, Kyte." Lock said to me, showing his card.

"Darn, it's not the same as mine!"

"Obviously not... I'm going to look for my partner now, see you." Lock stated, then disappeared into the crowd.

I sighed. "I wonder where my new partner is? Doing it this way is so inconvienient..."

I started swimming through the crowd, until I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ow..." I looked up, and saw a familiar face.

"Jeez, watch where you're going!" She said, with her previous angry expression.

"Er, long time no see?"

"It's you again! What do you want this time?!" The person in front of me was, obviously, Vahlde.

"Sorry, I'll be on my way..."

As soon as I turned around to leave, I noticed something on the ground.

"What's this? A card?" I said, holding it up. "132..."

"That's mine! Give it to me!"

"Your number is 132..."

"Yeah, so?"

"It's the same as mine."

She stood there silently, with a less angry, more shocked look.

"Heh, you're so lucky. I mean, you get to be teamed up with me!"

"Y-you better not get in my way, understand?!" She exclaimed, her angry expression returning.

"Tch..." I'm the one who should be saying that...

--

After everyone found their partner, we were grouped in order of our card numbers.

Why couldn't they have done this before...?

"Take your numbered assignments on the wall. This will be your first test."

I went to the wall and took the sheet with '132' on it.

"Let me see it." Vahlde said sternly, sticking her hand out.

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Reading it is the leader's job."

"Who made you leader?"

"I'm the guy, so I'm leader by default."

Rather than complain further, she proceeded to whack me with her lance instead. This caused me to let go of the paper I was holding, and surrender it to Vahlde.

"Ow, that hurt!" I said, rubbing my head.

"That's it? This is easy..." Vahlde stated, looking at the paper she apparently already read.

"What does it say?"

"What are you, deaf? I just read it out loud! You should've listened!"

"It's kinda hard to hear someone after getting whacked by a lance!"

"Alright fine, here." She said, forcibly handing me the sheet.

"Thanks..." I read the paper. 'Escort a man to his home village'. "Huh. I guess this will be pretty easy."

"So let's go! We shouldn't be here wasting time."

"Fine, fine..."

End of 1st Chapter