New in the utopian city of Luin, Sam Fischer, boy of 16, feels shunned by the citizens. Not because he is ugly, a bully, or a loner but because his family supports the Vanguard, one of two organizations that control the land. The other, Martel, is worshipped by the majority of the population in Luin. Sam himself isn’t from the city, but from the neighboring town that does support the Vanguard. In Luin, he is hated amongst all; whether it is his peers or elders. The only reason why he has moved to Luin is because his family was murdered by the Knight of Martel, a secret spy of the Martel whose name is anonymous. This led to Sam moving in with his aunt and uncle in Luin. His aunt, uncle, and the rest of the people do not like him one bit as he is a resistor of the Martel so he is thought of as filth.
As Sam was walking in the plaza of Luin, due to being kicked out of the house because of his aunt and uncle, he saw the statue of the Knight of Martel in the middle and numerous people praying to it. The knight was a hero and a savior to Luin so daily worships were a must. Of course, Sam did not worship the knight as he was supposed to so he walked past it with disgust and hatred building up inside of him. As he turned the corner to leave the plaza, a pair of twins, about the same age as Sam, happened to cross Sam’s path. Sam did not know what to do so he quietly looked away and kept walking until one of the twins stopped him in his tracks. “Where do you think you’re going? You haven’t prayed to the knight, haven’t you?” said the bigger twin. Sam fell silent and did not know what to say. Then, the giant fellow grabbed Sam and pushed him back to the front of the statue. “Pray!” the twin fired to Sam. Sam just stood there staring at the eyes of the statue, hatred and a lust for revenge just crawling up his spine. Just as he turned around to say no, the twin just launched a punch at Sam. He recoiled backwards and fell to the floor, bleeding from the nose. As the second punch was about to come, a figure appeared behind Sam and warned the twins to leave with a very deep voice. Without hesitation, they ran like sprinters in a race. Sam turned around to be greeted by a man with red, long hair and a purple outfit with a sword mounted on his belt that meant that he could have been a warrior. As Sam got up, he said “You know, you should stand up for yourself.” with a weird face gesture. Sam said “How could I, I was caught off guard”. He then replied “I see…be careful next time” and left. Sam stood there alone in the plaza, pondering over what just happened.
Leaving the plaza, after exploring the place and getting made fun of by people, Sam encountered the red haired man again. The man came up to him and asked him if he has seen a girl with a jewel on her forehead. Sam said no by shaking his head and the man said “Very well, on your way then.” And left without another word to be said. Sam kept walking on until he reached the town bridge and saw his uncle running towards the city on the bridge. “What are you doing here?!” said Uncle Alba. “Don’t we get enough trouble without you around here!?” Sam stood there and apologizing when Alba said “You’re hopeless, boy. Why can’t you be more like your brave brother?” criticized Alba. “At least he had the decency to worship the right organization.” As Alba left to the mayor’s office, Sam heard this eerie howl coming from the dried up lake bed near the town. He swore he would never leave town as it was dangerous but he had to take the risk because the howl seemed very familiar.
As Sam approached the lakebed, he was brutally greeted by some sort of bear like creature at the entrance. Weaponless and frightened, Sam fell to the ground and hoped for a miracle against this beast. All of a sudden, a figure came out of the nearby trees and slashed the creature with a spinning blade weapon. The slain creature stood there shocked before falling to the ground. The girl turned around to look at Sam when he noticed a ruby jewel on her forehead. He then got a flashback of when the man asked him if he had seen a girl with a jewel on her forehead. The girl then interrupted his mind by saying “Come on, you could have fought that like a man!” furiously as Sam did not understand what she was saying. Sam then thanked her for saving him when she said “Whenever I’m in danger, can you save me?” and Sam replied “Um…sure.” The girl then ran off. Sam quickly sneaked back to the village with the risk of getting caught but it never happened.
Next day, Sam was sent off to an errand to the mayor’s office when he saw the red haired stranger speaking to the mayor about the girl with the jewel. He approached the stranger with caution and explained to him what happened at the lakebed yesterday. All of a sudden, the man grabbed Sam, excited and exhilarated, and questioned Sam with “Where is she now?” or “How do you know?” The mayor then said “Settle down Leo, he will lead you to her I’m sure!” said the mayor optimistically. Sam agreed and led him to the lakebed where he last saw the girl. When they arrived, they already saw Sam’s uncle there with a couple of soldiers inspecting the place. They spotted Sam and suddenly became furious at him for being out here. Leon then pushed them out of the way and told Sam to come in which he ran without looking at either the soldiers or his own uncle. They reached a cave and heard screams of the girl with the jewel. As they walked down, the screams kept getting louder and louder. At the bottom, Sam was told to wait and Leon went on ahead. Sitting down on the cold floor, Sam felt useless. He felt so useless, he decided to get up and go after Leon to see what the commotion is all about. He saw the girl at the edge of Leon’s blade helplessly beaten. Right at that moment, Sam remembered the promise he made to the girl telling her that he will protect her if in danger. Sam ran and kept Leon from continuing his deed until the girl had a chance to escape. Sam quickly followed her and lost Leon after minutes of running.
The girl explained that her name was Alice and the jewel on her forehead was needed so she can stop the Knight of Martel from his reign of terror. The jewel was to be used to trade to Martel so they can call of the Knight as they had complete control over what he did. Sam agreed to help her and they went on to find an exit to the cave. As they wandered aimlessly around, they saw someone that made their heart jump. The Knight of Martel was standing there, blade in hand and ready to slay anyone in his path. Taking many steps back, Sam and Alice were paralyzed with fear. As he approached them ready to strike, Leon popped out of a corner and attacked the knight. It looked like he was on their side, not on Martel’s side. He scram “Go! Make the trade!” and fought with the knight while Sam and Alice left the cave.
The headquarters of Martel were glad to have the jewel back as it was stolen by the knight years before, but they did not reveal that information as they thought they could control the knight and bribe the people into bringing the jewel back until they can call him off. Having this information leaked to the people, everyone felt that they accused Sam of doing nothing wrong, so from then on Sam got his revenge and the people treated him as part of the utopia and not an outsider. The Martel later was brought down for lying, so the Vanguard ended up being the dominant power which pleased Sam even more.