‘‘Sigh… the tax from the empire is gradually growing at an extreme rate. If this keeps going our village will have a hard time next winter. How are we going to solve this, John?’’ 

Inspecting a sheet of paper in hand, an old man gazed at the person standing close to him while asking as a gloomy atmosphere loomed around him.  

‘‘The empire is truly falling, it’s becoming rotted more and more to the very core. The people are suffering yet it does nothing but only make it worse.’’ Peering at what was written in the paper, John spoke in anger. ‘‘This tax is simply outrageous!’’ 

‘‘Damn it, It wasn’t like this when I was still within the military, how could they demand this much tax!? No village would be able to pay this without going broke, we’d be lucky if we manage to save even 10 silver this month for food!’’ 

‘‘Ha... even if we save 10 silver like how you say it, feeding the village is still impossible with that amount. The only reason the village has not starved was all because of you John, the money you got from hunting danger-beasts is the only thing that hasn’t made our situation worse than right now.’’ 

‘‘I’m sorry to burden you like this but the village can’t do without you.’’ The old man said guilt could be made out from his voice. ‘‘Heh, It’s fine Chief I’m not too old yet doing this isn't taxing on my strong self.’’ John flexed his arm and grinned.   

Although John's muscles were hidden by his sleeves, anyone could still tell his arms contained quite a powerful strength within them. The strength which he has honed through his years of fighting and training while being a soldier is still maintained even after retiring.     

‘‘We can always count on—’’

‘‘—Uncle uncle, look what I found while digging through the riverbank!’’ Before the Chief could finish speaking, a young boy looking to be no more than 8 years of age at best stormed open the door, and holded his small hand out excitedly. 

Having the boy suddenly enter and interrupted their conversion. The Chief, seeing the boy, immediately put away the gloomy atmosphere which hung around him and eyed John, telling him to do something.   

Knowing what the village Chief was telling him through the action, John fake coughed through his hand and hunched down. Smiled brightly at the boy, ‘‘What do you have in your hand, little Tatsumi?’’ 

As Tatsumi heard what his uncle called him, his excitement dwelling as his cheek puffing out in a cute pout. ‘‘First, Uncle, I’m not little so don’t call me that! Second, here look I found a strange blue stone with a cool mark on it!’’ 

At first, the boy was still pouting while asking John to not call him little, but after talking about the rock his expression immediately reverted to brimming with a child-like smile.   

When seeing Tatsumi's face puffing out in a pout, John only smiled knowing his nephew disliked being called little. But he didn’t have a choice as he didn’t want his nephew to see the gloomy atmosphere around them, so he said that to divert the boy's attention away. 

Although that was one reason another is because seeing his nephew's reaction was just too amusing.  

Seeing the boy being all happy and excited again when talking about the rock he found, John said. ‘‘You found a strange stone? Alright alright, let me see.’’ He grabbed the blue stone that his nephew was so excited about and inspected it.

‘‘Mhm, our little brat here found quite the strange and unique stone here. I have never seen a blue stone like this before, the mark seems quite ancient too.’’ Fondling the stone, John tousled Tatsumi’s hair as he said. ‘‘You say you found this at the riverbank?’’

‘‘Don’t call me little!! But yeah, I found this at the riverbank.’’ Shouted at his uncle at first, Tatsumi nodded his head at his uncle's question after grumbling inwardly. 

Being called ‘little’ was something he never liked, but even though he told his uncle his uncle never stopped calling him that. Which annoyed him a lot, but also made him feel helpless as he couldn’t do anything about it.  

‘‘Oh. Tatsumi found quite the interesting thing, the rune engraved on it is complex and well done.’’ The Chief examined the blue stone carefully within John’s hand and said after thoroughly studying it. ‘‘You know something about this stone, Chief?’’ John raised his brows, asking.  

‘‘Do you know something about it, Chief? Please tell me, I want to know if there is something more special about it, and not just its color or the mark on it!’’ Tatsumi also asked, eyes sparkled with curious gleam. 

‘‘Ho ho, if you're that curious I’ll tell you what I know about it.’’ Seeing the boy with two big green eyes filled with curiosity, the old Chief laughed heartily as he said. ‘‘But don’t get your hopes up I only know a myth about it as well.’’       

             

‘‘It says in legend, blue stone with rune engraved on it is a symbol of dream link that connects the person holding it to another person much further and further away from him or her through the process of dream while sleeping.’’   

‘‘Though the person would only meet each other in dreams at first, but gradually as their meeting continues to increase through the amount of times they meet. The blue stone would interconnect their fate together, eventually converging and the two people would be able to meet each other in reality.’’

The Chief explained under the watchful eyes of the boy and John. 

But unlike John who seems to only smile along while listening to the story as he was hearing a Beautiful fairytale that is being told. Tatsumi on the other hand, eyes only brighten more and more when hearing how the blue stone can link two people's dreams together.

‘‘Is it true that this blue stone can really connect two people's dreams together even when they're far away from one another!?’’ Tatsumi asks with intense enthusiasm and a deep fever contained in his gaze.

‘‘Sorry my boy,’’ the Chief shook his head gently, ‘‘This is just a myth I heard when I was still young. Unfortunately, it’s not real.’’ 

Tatsumi’s enthusiasm and fever immediately disappear as disappointment overtakes him the second the village Chief says that. 

While the disappointment continued to linger within the boy, John placed his hand on top of his  tiny head, messing his hair up. Causing Tatsumi to send his uncle an angry glare. 

‘‘Now, now, Tatsumi. Look at the bright side, at least you found something with a myth behind it. You could show it off to the other kids. I'm sure they will be jealous of you’re fund, you'll be the only kid with it making you the most popular around here.’’ 

‘‘Really?’’ 

‘‘Yes. My little Tatsumi,’’ John said as he placed the blue rune stone back to Tatsumi's little hand. The village Chief also gave the boy a gentle smile, ‘‘Your uncle is right my boy. Now run along, you can show the stone off to Ieyasu and Sayo. They'll be impressed if you tell them the story.’’ 

‘‘I guess so. Alright, then I’ll show it to them, at least it still looks cool.’’ While still feeling a little disappointed, Tatsumi eventually replied. 

‘‘So Tatsumi you say you were on the riverbank when finding this right?’’ Walking forward to the door he was about to open it and leave the room, but his uncle’s next word froze him instantly.  

Tatsumi hand’s on the doorknob quaver slightly, without turning back to face his uncle directly. Voice shaken, he responded. ‘‘Yes, uncle.’’ 

‘‘Were you there all morning?’’ Tatsumi gulped down silently, nodded. ‘‘So I presume you didn’t do the hundred labs around the village like I asked you, right!’’ John's voice darkens as he continues to speak.   

‘‘Then what are you waiting for, go do your morning labs! And since you didn’t when I asked you to, another hundred labs will be added!’’ 

‘‘Uh! Another hundred isn't that too much!’’ The boy couldn't help but say after hearing his uncle telling him to run an extra hundred labs around the village.

‘‘Mmm, does that mean you're not going to do it?’’ John's expression hardened into an eerie dark smile immediately. ‘‘No, I’ll do it right away!’’ Tatsumi didn’t hesitate to storm out the door. 

‘‘Haha, that boy is quite a bright and cheerful kid isn’t he!’’ The village Chief spoke after Tatsumi was completely gone. 

‘‘Yes, he is.’’ A gentle look touched upon John's face, only for it to be covered with shade of dark the next instance. ‘‘I want him to continue growing up in a place where he could laugh and fool around as much as he wants, but sadly, it won't be possible.’’ 

‘‘…hm’’ the Chief sighed gloomily in agreement with him. 

…

‘‘Ha...ha...ha…!’’ Tatsumi hunched down and grabbed hold of his knees while panting heavily with exhaustion. ‘‘That’s 200 laps.’’ Feeling completely out of energy he laid himself down on the hard ground and grumbled under his breath. 

But as he closed his eyes to enjoy the warm bright rays of light touched down on him, a shade suddenly covered his face, casting the warmth away. In an uncomfortable manner, he re-opened his eyes and gazed right into another pair of black eyeballs. 

The black eyeballs belong to a little girl the same age as him. 

She had long black coloring hair which went along with her eyes, her face was cute like a doll, and a white flower accessory could be seen on the side of her hair. She wore plain cream-colored robes, and a sly smile touched upon her small little lips.

It was Sayo, one of his friends he always hung out with. 

‘‘200 laps, see, I told you. You should have done it right away when he asked to do the laps, and now 200. Are you regretting it now?’’ Sayo giggled, seeing him lying down and looking exhausted from head to toe.

Hearing her giggle the boy couldn’t help but become annoying, his lips curled up as he scoffed at her. ‘‘Hmph! Although I was forced to run an extra hundred labs around the village at least I found something precious that outweighed it.’’ 

‘‘Oh, then where is this precious thing which is supposed to outweigh the fact that you just ran 200 labs?’’ Listening to his tone sounded so proud, Sayo asked with a glint of curiosity. 

‘‘You want to see? Then here, this will definitely make you jealous!’’ Despite running at low energy at the moment, Tatsumi stood up quickly and excitable took out the blue rune stone. Waving it around and showing it off to her.  

‘‘Give me that,’’ Sayo took the stone away from his hand and carefully looked at it. But as she proceeded to examine it, a sneer overtook her expression. ‘‘You’re such an idiot right now, Tatsumi. This is just a piece of stone.’’ 

‘‘Wha…!’’ Having her respond not the way he expected, Tatsumi looked speechless and a slight part of his cheeks became red. Only after a moment passed could he utter. ‘‘What do you mean it’s just a stone? Look, it's blue, and it has a cool carved on it.’’ 

‘‘And so what?’’ 

‘‘And so what? Don’t you find it cool as well? I mean just look at it!’’ He took hold of the blue stone and held it close to her face. ‘‘Yeah, but it’s just a stone.’’ Sayo's tone was flat, completely uncaring about the uniqueness of it.      

Sayo continuously responds which shows her complete disinterest in the stone. Any amount of excitement at finding the stone was immediately depleted in him, his hands clenched tightly together as he thought inwardly with a grumble. 

Stupid uncle! He lied to me, although this stone is cool other kids aren’t interested in it a single bit…! 

‘‘Tatsumi! Tatsumi! Uncle John is calling you!’’ 

While dwelling on the matter by ranting inside, he heard a boy’s voice rushing and calling out to him. Tatsumi snaps out of it and cocked his head toward the rushing figure in interest. 

‘‘Ieyasu, uncle is calling me?’’

The boy called out to him was named Ieyasu, having short somewhat-unruly brown hair and eyes. And wearing normal countryside clothing just like him, the only thing special about the way he dressed was the white martial arts headband on him.   

Ieyasu was a boy the same age as him, they had grown up together so they knew each other quite well. The moment Ieyasu arrived close to him, he immediately answered Tatsumi's question. 

‘‘He wants you to meet him for training for today. He says that if you are late another hundred labs will be added, so you better hurry it up.’’  

  

‘‘What! But I just got done with running and I’m exhausted right now!’’ Tatsumi whined a little when hearing about his training today. ‘‘Ha… oh, fine.’’ He sighed, resigning himself to his fate knowing he can’t escape from this.     

‘‘But before that, do you think this blue rune stone is cool.’’ After resigning himself Tatsumi turned to look at his friend intently, then showing him the stone in his hand. ‘‘Yeah. It’s cool, but why did you ask?’’ Ieyasu tilted his head in confusion.   

‘‘Great! So is it something you would envy me for having it?’’ Tatsumi's eyes sparkled brightly as he asked. ‘‘Uh, no, not really.’’ Ieyasu answered as his expression became more confused over what his friend was trying to get at.  

‘‘Haa… never mind. Pretend I didn’t ask anything,’’ Tatsumi just put back the stone, looking defeated. Then walking away without saying anything further. 

‘‘Umm… is there something I’m not getten?’’ Seeing Tatsumi walking away with a look of defeat, Ieyasu turned to Sayo, asking. Sayo let out a sigh, and said. ‘‘Don’t worry he's just disappointed that no one is impressed by his stone.  

‘‘Oh…’’ 

... 

‘‘Urgh!’’

Tatsumi blasts through the air and lands on the dirty ground 10 feet away with a thud. Rolling on the ground briefly, he stabbed his wooden sword down and pushed himself up with it, charging toward his uncle once more.   

‘‘You have Spirit, talent, and a strong physique. But...’’ John smiled at the boy charging at him, ‘‘You're far too headstrong. And such a thing could be fatal in real combat.’’ 

John then proceeded to sidestep as Tatsumi struck downward, and then without giving the boy time to react he moved his wooden sword to the boy's neck.      

‘‘Tch!’’ Tatsumi glared at his uncle and clicked his tongue, unwillingness could be seen within the depth of his gaze. The next instant, he twisted himself and thrusted his weapon at his uncle's  smiling face.

‘‘I’m proud to see your unyielding spirit.’’ Perceiving his nephew's thrust, John only continued to smile as he raised his weapon and swiftly struck out with it. Sending Tatsumi’s wooden swords flying through the air. 

Thud! He gently smacks Tatsumi's head with the wooden weapon, causing the boy to yelp in pain while sending him a death glare. Laughing at the sight, he hunched down, brought his face close to the boy, said. 

‘‘You lose~’’ 

Proceeding to continue to give his uncle a death glare, Tatsumi eventually sighs softly. Admitted his defeat for the millionth time. ‘‘Yes I lose, but uncle…’’ he said, gazing directly into his uncle's eyes.

‘‘Hm?’’ John gave his nephew a questioning look. 

‘‘This is for Lying to me!’’ Tatsumi clutched his small hand into a fist, reising it, he punched his uncle's jaw without hesitation.

A smacked sound rings out as John jaw’s make a sickening noise, as he was sent toppling a few feet away.  

 

‘‘What was that for!!?’’ Standing back up, John asked his nephew. 

‘‘Humph! You said the blue rune stone would make others envious of me but Ieyasu and Sayo were showing a complete disinterest in it. You liar.’’ Tatsumi shoots his uncle an angry glare. 

‘‘I...well…’’ John wryly said. ‘‘... I’m sorry.’’

‘‘Better.’’ Hearing his uncle apologizing, Tatsumi reises his chest up and fully accepts the apology. 

‘‘You seem to have forgotten something, little Tatsumi.’’ 

‘‘Hm!’’ The boy confusedly gazed at his uncle, while his uncle only smiled back darkly. ‘‘The training is not over yet, and I might be feeling a little vengeful right about now!’’ 

—gulp!

Tatsumi gulped down nervously as he replied with a smile that couldn’t be called one. ‘‘Bring it on, I'll beat you for sure this time.’’ 

…

‘‘Damn! The old man really didn’t go easy. My body is aching all over!’’ Tatsumi complained as he sat down on the bed, feeling the soreness from the training. ‘‘And look at that, because of him my training sword is all chipping now.’’ 

‘‘Ha…’’ Tatsumi releases a sigh and opens the small drawer close to him. Taking out a small knife, he started to cut away the chipping part of the wooden sword. ‘‘Hmph, I'd make sure to beat him one of these days.’’ He mumbled while cutting away the chipping part of the wood.

But as he continued to cut away at the chipping part of the wood, without paying attention, the knife grazed his ring finger. Cutting the surface layer of the skin and causing a small drop of blood to leak out.     

             

‘‘Ouch!’’ Tatsumi yelped a little from the sudden pain. ‘‘Damn. I need to be more careful when handling sharp stuff like this,’’ he said, putting his ring finger in his mouth.  

‘‘Oh, well. it's about done anyway,’’ Tatsumi raised his wooden sword high up and smiled happily when seeing it far less chipped than before. Feeling happy he proceeded to put away the knife in the drawer and laid his wooden sword next to him.   

As he was about to lay in his bed, he suddenly remembered something. 

Rummaging through his pants pockets, he took out a blue stone. ‘‘Hmph! They may not like it, but it’s still cool.’’ After saying that, he also proceeded to put the blue rune stone in his drawer. And went to bed. 

But what he didn’t know was that, while holding the blue stone with the hand which was grazed by the small knife. His ring finger that was leaking blood unnoticeably dripped onto the stone. 

And unbeknownst to him, as he silently slept and emitted a small snoring noise. Inside the drawer, the blue stone started to emit a blinding light as all the runes engraved on it began to glow brightly.