In the small village of Gerinzel in the Kingdom of Ilios, there lived a boy. His name was Clus Linzaal. Born the second son of a poor farming family, he had nothing to inherit, nothing to call his own—and that emptiness weighed heavily on him. As he spent his days tormented by a vague sense of inadequacy, a lone man suddenly wandered into the quiet village. His name unknown, his face hidden behind a mask, a figure shrouded in mystery stood before the boy. At his waist hung a special blade—one wielded only by knights...