There was not much to see outside of the city, only meager pasturelands with the occasional small flock of sheep or goats. Her father had taken her on walks before, but never this early and never this far. He told her that where they were going was a secret and refused to tell her anything more the few times she had asked. After his fifth or sixth refusal to answer her, she gave up on asking.

The morning was already well underway by the time they reached an old convent ringed by a weather-beaten adobe wall. She knew this place. Twice a year they would come here to visit her brother. He had been sent here to train to become a Protector like their father.

She could hear shouting in the courtyard beyond the wall. The morning training had probably been going on for as long as Korin and her father had been walking. She did not know much about what it meant to train to become a Protector, but she did know that it was hard, pretty much every day with no breaks. Her brother had to be strong to put up with it, she was sure.

Standing in front of the narrow side gate, Korin's father looked to her and said, "Consider this a late birthday present, kid. Welcome to your new home."

A new home? What was wrong with the home she had?

Korin had been taught about the Child of Promise, the Prophecy and all that. She knew the Child was important but did not really understand more than that. Protecting him should be the job of someone like her father. What did her father expect her to do?

It was too much for Korin to take in. She knew that one day she would train to be a Protector, but she did not expect it to be now. The thought of being separated from her family and friends, of losing the life she knew, it was more than she could bear. The tears began welling up in her eyes. Her father often scolded her not to cry, but she could not help it. Try as she might, she could not hold back the tears.

Her father was often a harsh man, but he was not heartless. His expression softened as he got down on one knee and placed his large, callused hand on Korin's head.

It seemed so easy. All she had to do was give up, fail, and everything would go back to the way it was, but as she thought on it, there was this bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was like she was about to lose something important. She did not even know what it was, only that she was more afraid to lose it than anything else. It was enough to push away all the fear, sadness and loneliness that she was feeling.

Korin wiped away her tears and put on as brave a face as she could in a wordless answer to her father. Her father smiled and rubbed her head affectionately, saying, "That's my girl."

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a little key on a chain.

Korin knew that her father was talking about a different kind of love than the love she had for her parents, her sisters and their cat Muwammar. It was the kind of happily ever after love that she would hear about in fairytales or maybe like those books her mother had in the box in her closet that Sugi would sneak out with. It did not mean much to her now, but it might someday, and when it did, she would have that key to prove it.

If the training could break you, then you would not survive out in the field. It was not necessarily the strongest, the fastest or the smartest but the one who was the most tenacious, who held on like jackal with its prey in spite of everything that managed to keep on going when others would fall away. Korin proved to be one such Candidate. She struggled in her first couple years, and was constantly compared unfavorably to her brother, who was a rare prodigy and considered one of the finest Candidates in the history of the program, but she did not give up. The more she persevered, the easier things came to her, the more she learned. Some skills seemed to be beyond her, so she cut those out and focused on refining the skills she could master, and before she knew it, she found herself actually managing to stand toe-to-toe with fellow Candidates who were older, bigger, stronger, more experienced than her. She started to make a name for herself. She did not have top marks in any area, but her overall average was higher across more fields than anyone else, earning her the nickname 'All-Rounder'.

Currently she was in the middle of Advanced Melee Weapons training, set against two of her upperclassmen, Belisario Natal and Svetlana Minski. Both were five years her senior in the program and pretty well guaranteed to be inducted into the Protectors within the next year or two. They were in the Bamboo Arena, a field of precarious three-meter bamboo poles that tested your balance and agility to their extremity even before you began sparring. Unlike the quintessential generalist Korin, Bel and Minx were specialists, with Bel being by far the best marksman in the program and Minx having a talent for the Arcana rivalling Tía Carmen. Bel had almost every advantage over Korin in a straight-up fight, but he did have one weakness she could exploit. It was not especially sporting, but if she went after Minx, who barely qualified for Advanced Melee Weapons, Bel would be focused more on protecting her than attacking Korin. It worked every time.

She broke from Bel, moving in to go after Minx, but while Bel was predictable, he was not stupid.

'Rio' was Korin's other nickname among her fellow Candidates, the ones who actually regarded her favorably, that is. She had her share of less than friendly rivals, people who thought she did not deserve her place in the program, people who thought she was only there because of nepotism, etc. She was bullied quite a lot during those difficult first years, but then she slowly started to get strong enough to fight back. Of course, there were also some upperclassmen like Bel who would stick up for her. It was enough to make her feel just the slightest bit guilty over always using dirty tricks to get an advantage over him when they sparred.

Bel moved to intercept Korin before she could get to Minx, but drawing him out was part of Korin's plan. He gave her a good crack to the ribs, but taking the hit was also part of her plan. Because Korin did not waste energy or movement on defense, she could focus on attack. Likewise, because Bel's energy and movement was directed into his attack, he could not focus on defense, and so Korin struck low, going for his ankle to upset his balance. On level ground, falling was something you wanted to avoid but was easy enough to recover from, but here it could be deadly. She would not be doing what she was doing to anyone less skilled than Bel. He managed to catch himself with his free hand, but the shift of so much of his weight caused the bamboo pole to dig into the meat of his palm.

Bel was rather tall and his legs arguably had more reach than his staff as he kicked to sweep Korin's feet out from under her. Jumping from pole to pole was tricky, but Korin was small and thin enough that she could slip in between them and catch one before she fell to the ground. It was against the spirit of this kind of training to not fight on top of the poles, but the instructors were always telling them to train like they fight and Korin knew that in a real fight, expecting your opponent to play by the rules would only get you killed.

She made her staff retract and tucked it in the sash at her waist so that both hands would be free for her to swing between the poles. Once again she made her way to Minx. Minx could barely stay on top without anyone making it more difficult for her, so it would be easy to drop her. Naturally, Bel was not going to make it that easy if he could do anything about it. Korin narrowly dodged a thrust from his staff as her shouted, "Rio! Come up here and fight me like a man!"

Korin was, of course, not a man and saw no reason to fight like one. She made it to one of the poles Minx was standing on and threw all her weight into it. Minx gave a frightened squeak as she nearly lost her footing then and there. As Korin continued to press her advantage, it was taking everything Minx had to retreat without losing her balance.

Was there any way to make a two-on-one fight between teenagers and an eleven-year-old? Some people liked to taunt their opponents as a psychological warfare tactic, but Korin did not have the leisure for that sort of thing. The fact that she never said anything during a fight led to 'the Silent Killer' being added to her list of nicknames.

As she was driven to the edge, Minx got desperate and acted on instinct, drawing a shape in the air with her free hand. There was an orange glow that was the only warning before a small fireball struck with the speed and force of a bullet. Korin was only grazed, but while she dodged the fireball, she wasn't able to dodge the followup attack from Bel's staff. He got her in the chest, the pain shooting up her arm and causing her to lose her grip, but she recovered quickly, clutching at the poles to to stop her fall before she hit the ground.

Ignoring the pain, she began to pull herself back up when a harsh voice shouted, "STOP!"

Korin froze. When Master Abu Bakar spoke, you listened and you obeyed or else he would beat you within a sench of your life.

The three of them promptly slid down the poles and lined up, They all knew they were in for it and all they could do was take what was coming to them. Minx was first.

Master Abu Baka got right up in her face and bellowed, "MINSKI! WHAT COURSE IS THIS!?"

Korin did not know why Master Abu Bakar said this to the females who did not have the pair in question, but the one time she survived the beating she got for talking back, he told her something about having 'the stones in your heart', which sounded like nonsense but calling it out was not worth another beating.

Minx raised her voice to the just barely acceptable by Master Abu Bakar's standards level as she answered again.

Bel then spoke up, saying, "Sir, Candidate Minski only broke the conditions of the match because I failed to provide sufficient support. Requesting to take on her share of corporal punishment."

Master Abu Bakar left active duty as a Protector because he was crippled in his left arm, so he literally fought with one hand tied behind his back and was still a match for fully-fledged Protectors, to say nothing of Candidates. That did not deter Bel from taking him on.

The less said about Bel's match with Master Abu Bakar, the better for the sake of his dignity. He was left with a dislocated shoulder and temporarily paralyzed from the waist down so he could not intervene with Minx's punishment.

Before that could begin, Korin had to get her chewing, too.

Korin recited the rote answer, "To test equilibrium and agility on uncertain footing while overcoming the fear of heights and falling, sir."

She answered robotically, but Master Abu Bakar did not upbraid her for not sounding off to his satisfaction as he did with Minx. Instead, he continued on the current track of building up to his reprimand.

Korin knew the right big word for this occasion.

She went over to wall, where Minx had already assumed the position for her beating. She stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, placed her hands on the wall and braced herself.

Master Abu Bakar took up his rattan cane and slowly approached them, making a point of letting his footsteps be heard. When beatings were being doled out to more than one candidate at a time, sometimes he would do the full allotment for each to build suspense for whoever was further down the line, or else he would go down the line doing one lick each at a time. Today he chose to do the latter. Minx was first.

Then Korin.

Before the second stroke, he began shouting at Korin.

Ironhide was a technique that, as the name implied, would toughen your flesh to the point that most blows would inflict no damage. Properly focused, it could stop a bullet, but the wider the area you tried to protect, the less effective it was. It was certainly enough to shrug off a stick, but someone like Master Abu Bakar who was so well-practiced at hitting other people could tell the difference easily. Korin figured she could not get one past him but she had to try, for what little good such an act of defiance would do for her.

At times she wondered how Master Abu Bakar would be able to speak without the use of the word 'damn'. It helped having something to take your mind off the beating.

Master Abu Bakar stopped, prompting Korin to sneak a peek to find out why. With only one usable limb, Bel had managed to drag himself all the way over to them and was clutching at Master Abu Bakar's ankle.

Master Abu Bakar pivoted and was about to deliver a kick to Bel's head to put him out, but in the split-second before it could connect, a woman's voice said, "That's enough, Abu Bakar."

Master Abu Bakar's control was so precise that his foot stopped mere millimeters from its mark. The owner of the voice was Tía Carmen. She did not look particularly happy, but she never did when interacting with Master Abu Bakar.

Master Abu Bakar squared off against Tía Carmen and glared at her. Fast as he was, the human body pushed to its theoretical limits was not faster than the mind—the soul, or whatever it was—equally honed, and Master Abu Bakar knew it.

He spat on the ground contemptuously and said, "You make it clear enough, Sayyida. Minski, reset Natal's shoulder and then the lot of you go get washed up. And, Ney—"

Korin went over to Tía Carmen and stood at ease.

Korin said nothing.

Tía Carmen then walked her to the front gate of the Grounds, where Korin's mother was waiting. She was dressed in black in the custom of widows and looked no better than she did during the funeral. As with Tía Carmen, Korin stood at ease, treating her mother in the same stiff, formal manner as her instructors. This did not go unnoticed by either Tía Carmen or her mother. However, that was not the main thing her mother took notice of. Korin had not be thrashed about as much as some times, but it always looked worse to an outsider, especially a mother.

This did not convince Korin's mother, who took hold of her by the shoulders and said, "Korin, there's no reason for you to keep doing this. I don't want to lose you like Shinro and your father. No one will think less of you. Kirik's a Protector Candidate now. He can take your place."

Kirik was a boy about Korin's age who joined the program a couple years after she did. He was pretty good, but he was no match for Korin. That was not overconfidence on her part but a simple evaluation of the facts. Unless he improved dramatically in the coming years, he could not be counted on to serve as the Child's last line of defense. She often doubted her own worthiness for the task, but right now she was the most fit choice, and her sense of mission had only gotten stronger since her father and brother were killed in action.

Her mother frowned, clutching at her skirts as she would do when she was frustrated about being on the losing end of an argument.

Korin was silent. Her mother did not understand and would never understand. There was no point in talking with her.

Although Tía Carmen did not regard Korin's mother as coldly as she did, the headmistress in her was on display in her firm response.

Seeing that Tía Carmen was not going to actively support her side, she made one last attempt to sway her daughter.

Staring past her mother as if she did not even exist, Korin replied, "My name is Rio."

Although Rio was dressed in the same drab brown pinafore as the other lycéennes, she was no ordinary student. Of course, that should have gone without saying. She was a Protector, the Protector Ace, in fact, though she often felt she was not worthy of the title. By rights, it should have been her brother who was the current Protector Ace, but he was gone and it was important for people to think that the Child's personal bodyguard was the very best of the best.

About a year after her father and brother were killed in a presumed attempt to abduct the Child, Rio was inducted into the Protectors and assigned to be at the Child's side 24/7. This of course included school.

While it would have been safer to keep the Child in a secure location until the day he was to set out on the Warrior's Road, the purpose of the Child of Promise was to bind the hearts of all people in the world as one, and he would be ill-equipped for such a task if he had spent his life knowing nothing of the world around him and the trials and travails of the common man, and so he was to have as normal an upbringing as possible.

He received some of the basics of Protector training for self-defense and to prepare him for the Warrior's Road, but it was carefully toned down so as to minimize the risk of any serious injury. It was one thing to lose a Candidate who was pledged body and soul to the cause, but if anything were to happen to the Child, the whole world would be doomed to another four thousand years in the Age of Penance until the stars aligned once more in accordance with the Prophecy of Solemein.

And so Rio was coming up on seven years watching over the Child, just as she was now, standing at the back of the classroom watching him nodding off to Mr. Benrachid's lecture. For just such an occasion, she had cut up an eraser into little pieces that she would wear down into a more aerodynamic shape. Taking one of these rubbery bullets out of her pocket, she flicked it with a precision that would match Bel's own marksmanship, deftly avoiding the students sitting between her and the Child. When the eraser bullet bounced off the back of the Child's head, he straightened up with a start. He had gotten better about not crying out when she did this to him and embarrassing himself in front of the class. A couple of the students who had the eraser bullet whiz by them looked back, but only for a moment. In the past, one fairly brawny boy had taken offense and thought to confront Rio over it. A verbal warning proved insufficient and so he was given a lesson on how leverage can turn a person's size and weight against him. If anyone since then took offense at her actions, they kept it to themselves.

Although days like this could prove terribly dull, Rio thought that she may one day wax nostalgic for them, as they would soon be coming to an end. The Warrior's Road was upon them and she could only pray that the Child, her fellow Protectors and most of all she herself would not be found wanting. All the hopes of three hundred years hung in the balance. There was no place for daydreams anymore. She had to set her past behind her and cut open the path for the Child to lead humanity into the future.