Bound By Freedom.

His Strength

My name is Elif, I'm a 17 year old young man who's cleaned up over the years, and I aspire to be one of the greatest royal knights in the world.

To accomplish my dream, I attend Kasi Academy. It's a school located in the Kasi Kingdom, the capital and largest territory in the Kasi's Empire. The goal of the academy is to train young men and women who want to become Shields Of Kasi; the strongest military force known to man. These knights carry out the will of Emperor Kile, protecting the innocence and integrity of the world.

Becoming a shield is only the beginning for me. While it's true that I want to protect the world and stop people from experiencing the nightmare that ended six years ago; I can't experience true happiness until the day I meet the boy who saved my life.

"Yet another morning of you daydreaming," the soft voice of a friend cut through the old visions running through my head. To the right of me was my best friend, Hailee.

She and I have been together since forever. We've gotten through the past and present together,and we work hard to ensure that would be true for our future.

"I don't think reliving those days is good for your mental health," she said with a sarcastic smile, disguising her obvious concern as a joke. We were sitting in class, as the day had just started.

Like usual, I was zoned out with a pencil and journal on the table we sat at. I think the simple design and our placement in the room made it easy for me to get lost in thought. Sitting in the middle row, surrounded by four white walls that were only decorated with notes on the basics of senergy and combat.

I looked over at Hailee, as she was rummaging through a small bag of candy, "The past kinda drives me, you know? Even though we had a horrific childhood, it managed to lead us here."

She shrugged her shoulders as she downed a handful, "That may be true, but dwelling on the past can also hold us back."It doesn't," I said as I folded my arms, "I feel like I'm the best version of myself that I can be." "Really? I would argue you could be better, but I guess I'm one to talk."

I know that's right. Hailee is the last person I want to lecture me about doing my best. The truth is, anyone with a blind eye would deem me the most talented person my age, but that ain't true. Hailee is more talented than me by a mile. Since I was young, I was able to walk with the wind, but Hailee could dance with it.

The only problem is her work ethic. Instead of going above and beyond, she only does what's needed of her.

I'm not mad or even disappointed at her for it. When we were saved, she chose to live her life as simply as possible. Hell, whenever she's not dressed for school, she's usually just wearing a tank top and shorts.

Our house mother even tries to get her to change her hairstyle a few times, but she's set on having a ponytail; she says that it's easy, simple, and she still looks pretty.

"Alright, students!" Our teacher, Mrs. Farren, had a bright smile on her face like every morning. "It's time for roll call!" she said, with a huge smile on her face.

Ninety-nine percent of classes in the school are known for perfect attendance. After all, you would get kicked out for missing too many days. Unfortunately, our class is one-percent that could just never meet that perfection.

"Markus Coleman," Mrs. Farren called out. To nobody's surprise, there was no answer because Markus had never shown up to class. Mrs. Farren shook her head as she chuckled to herself and continued down the list, "Elif!" My eyes locked with hers as I raised my hand. The pity she had for me was obvious."

"I see you, Elif, and Hailee too, who's still third, by the way."

"We still haven't dropped," Hailee remarked.