On a starry night, with a horse neighing in the background...
Hurk fell asleep in someone's warm embrace.
That was Hurk's first memory.
After that...He only had memories of being alone.
The battlefield created countless orphans, but amongst them, Hurk stood out for the coloring of his hair and skin.
He was bullied and harassed, because he looked different from the others.
But he fought his way up.
He followed the mercenaries, running errands and eating scraps of food thrown at him.
He grew quickly, and soon surpassed his peers in height.
Hurk became so strong, he could knock over the kids who had bullied him with a single punch.
He grew tired of the company of those his age, and started spending more time with adults.
The town blacksmith saw potential in the boy.
He offered to let Hurk become his apprentice.
Hurk was thrilled. He dreamt of becoming the official town blacksmith someday.
One day, the blacksmith had a run in with a mercenary who was looking to start trouble.
Hurk couldn't help himself. He attacked the mercenary.
It wasn't until the mercenary was a bloodied heap on the floor that Hurk's senses returned.
That was the turning point.
The next day, the mercenary returned with his friends to ransack the forge. Hurk wasn't there to stop them.
Then the blacksmith fell ill and passed away.
At his funeral...
Hurk picked up a sword from the forge as if possessed. The weapon was taller than he was.
He went to the mercenary outpost and began swinging.
Each swing felled at least three mercenaries.
The rest yelled and rushed Hurk.
He killed them, too.
More, and more, and more.
Until there was no one left.
He staggered out of the mercenary outpost. No one in town could stop him.
"Goblin." "Monster." The whispers of so many years stabbed at him painfully, but he couldn't hear any of it.
This is what he should've done from the start.
He had wanted a peaceful life, but that had been futile. It was not in his nature.
Hurk held up his giant sword and moved slowly.
He felt good. He felt... comfortable.
As tales of what had happened spread, more and more rumors were added to it, making Hurk famous.
Which made it easy for Hurk to find work as a mercenary.
Within five years or so...
Everyone had heard of "Hurk, Wielder of the Great Sword."
One day, while drinking alone in a bar on the edg eof the prairie.
A man dressed in ragged clothes spoke to him.
I saw a man once, who carried a baby that looked like you.
That piqued Hurk's interest.
What happened to the man?
He lost his child on the battlefield, then left, saying he was returning to where he'd come from.
I don't know if he ever got there.
After that, Hurk headed to the sea.
He was a little overwhelmed, seeing the ocean for the first time in his life.
Hurk went to the dock and asked the sailors to take him to the land where people looked like him.
They sold him a ticket and told him that it would take months.
Hurk gazed upon the endless sea, leaning against the rail.
His future had suddenly become as vast and endless as the sea.
His heart began to pound.
