Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan

Deep within the heart of an ancient city ruled by a mighty empire, a young orphan named Baltor struggles daily to survive, having to drink from animal troughs and steal food. Pursuant to imperial law, the minimum penalty for thievery means the loss of a hand...the maximum is death!

Like what happens to most thieves, the day inevitably comes when Baltor gets caught stealing--this time a loaf of bread. Thankfully he is not captured by a guard, but by a beautiful and exotic woman named Lady Lydia, who not only graciously offers the boy some breakfast, yet surprisingly offers him a proposition to become "a master thief" like herself. Having no other choices in life, he agrees.

After breakfast, Lydia leads the boy to "a top secret" underground labyrinth located underneath the city, where expert thief-training grounds were built five centuries earlier. Instead of training him, however, she hands him off to a man she introduces as Drill Instructor Humonus before disappearing...

Right away, this cold-and-cruel man's hardcore training proves to be hellish and dangerous...will the poor boy even survive DAY 1? And what in the world do the pictured swords have to do with Baltor's past and future?
Read BOOK I OF III and find out these mysterious answers...and much, much more!