Morning light spilled across the floating streets of Astral Virel City, painting the silver rooftops in gold. The wind carried the scent of rain and stardust from the upper districts where the sky bridges touched the clouds.
Young Reji stepped outside his home barefoot, his messy dark green hair still untamed from sleep. In his hand was a worn wooden sword, scarred from years of reckless swings against trees, walls, and imaginary enemies.
He lifted it toward the sky with a grin too fearless for someone his age.
"I'll get stronger than everyone… and surpass my parents!"
The words echoed through the quiet morning.
His eyes drifted toward the old tree standing near the hill behind their house, the same tree his father once split with a single strike during training. Reji pointed the wooden sword at it dramatically.
"My parents are amazing. They always support my dream." He smirked mischievously. "Meanwhile my little brother's just gonna cry and hide behind mom again."
He laughed loudly, but the laugh slowly faded as the morning breeze passed him.
For a moment, the city became quiet.
Reji looked down at the wooden sword in his hands.
"…But strength's weird."
His smile softened.
"Everyone in Astral Virel talks like strength is everything. The strongest warriors become legends. The weak disappear." He stared at the marks carved into the wood by years of training. "But if strength alone mattered… then why do strong people still lose things?"
He remembered the tired look in his father's eyes after returning from battle. The way his mother smiled warmly even when she was exhausted. The silence adults carried when they thought children were not looking.
"The sky's huge," Reji murmured. "Yet even stars disappear someday."
The wind rustled the tree leaves above him.
"So maybe becoming strong isn't about never falling." He tightened his grip on the sword. "Maybe it's about protecting the things that make you stand back up."
A small voice suddenly shouted from inside the house.
"BROTHER! MOM SAID STOP TALKING TO TREES AGAIN!"
Reji blinked.
Then immediately pointed the sword toward the window dramatically.
"THIS IS A WARRIOR'S MENTAL TRAINING!"
Kenji peeked out, unimpressed.
"You lost to a chicken yesterday."
"That chicken was different."
"It bit you."
"It fought with honor."
Kenji sighed deeply like an old man trapped in a child's body before shutting the window.
Reji stared at it for a second, then burst out laughing.
Above him, Astral Virel City awakened fully gears turning beneath sky rails, merchants opening crystal lantern shops, airships drifting between towers.
And beneath that endless sky, a boy with nothing but a wooden sword and impossible dreams took another swing at the tree, believing with all his heart that one day, the world itself would remember his name.