THE MYSTERIOUS MEDALLION

 

It was a cold, foggy morning. Many people were heading to work or school, as usual. Just an ordinary autumn Monday. However, this day was to completely change the entire, gray life of a certain student.

This student's name was Konrad. He lived in the most beautiful and cleanest district of Gdynia, Dąbrowa. He had average grades at the local high school. He was a cheerful, intelligent teenager, welcome everywhere. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, clean, well-groomed, honest, and clever. He had only one problem: he was a great dreamer. A vivid imagination may be a virtue, but in Konrad's case, it was dangerous. And why? Because our hero had trouble distinguishing fiction from reality. This led to many problems, but also pleasures. I won't describe the problems, as no one likes to be reminded of their mistakes. Pleasures, however. Why not? He won the most honors in Polish competitions because he was able to put his thoughts on paper, and when he showed his Polish teacher his diary, he almost fell off his chair. But Konrad didn't see anything unusual about it. That day, the alarm clock woke him up.

"Back to school again," he said between yawns. "Math and that awful geography again." But he got up, got dressed, and went to school. The path from his house to school led through a forest full of ponds overgrown with duckweed. He had to leave forty minutes before class started to get to middle school on time. This time, he left a little earlier, so he wasn't in a hurry. He walked slowly, admiring the natural beauty of this beautiful Tricity Landscape Park. He remembered how many pairs of pants he'd ruined climbing those trees. Konrad liked walking there. It was always quiet and peaceful. So, when this time he heard the sounds of a shovel and a puff of air, he veered off the path to see what was going on. He saw a tent full of state-of-the-art archaeological equipment and next to it a pit about 4 meters deep. Inside, Konrad guessed, a scientist was working.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Looking for something?"

The professor jumped. He looked at the boy and replied,

"What? Are you interested in archaeology?

" "Yes. Very much so.

" "Come on. I'll show you something."

With that, he headed towards the tent. Konrad now noticed that in the very center of the tent stood a small display case. Inside, on a cushion, lay something resembling a coin, only slightly larger and thicker. There was an inscription on it, perhaps Latin.

"What is it, Professor?

" "I don't know.

" "Did you only find this medal?"

"No. Besides it, I found steel plaques with inscriptions and sketches carved on them."

The boy began examining the tablets, then a strange thought came over him. He picked up the pendant and felt a surge of energy. A great glow enveloped the entire area, and the medallion disappeared. The tablets the professor had dug up began to glow strangely.

"What did you do with my medallion?" the professor yelled.

But Konrad wasn't listening. He felt he could move pyramids, answer any question, and explain any concept. He knew his life had changed. Still, he wanted to find out.

"Professor! Ask me a question about... geography.

" "Why geography?

" "Because I hate it and I've never studied it. I sleep most of the time in the back row.

" "Okay. Name the capitals of Belgium, Latvia, and Bulgaria.

" "Brussels, Riga, and Sofia," Konrad recited hurriedly

. "Very good. But what does that have to do with anything?

" "As I said before, I never studied it, and now I simply know.

" "But you can't use that gift all the time." Try to gather all your power in one hand. Maybe then the medallion will return to your hand. The boy strained with all his strength, and suddenly his hand began to glow like the plaques in the tent. When the light disappeared, the medallion lay in the hero's hand. The professor was right. However, instead of the inscription, a strange, golden rust appeared.

"With this knowledge, I'll be a top student," the boy rejoiced. "But not until tomorrow," he added, looking at his watch. And thinking of his mother, he went with the professor to the tent to drink tea. However, he hid something from the professor. Namely, after the medallion was back in his hand, he didn't lose all his strength. He retained a small part of his strength.

After returning home, his mother didn't ask any questions. She hugged her son and said,

"Your excuse is on your desk. Your friends are waiting for you in your room. They brought your homework. " He looked at his mother, and his eyes seemed to say, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." He kissed his mother and went into the room. At the very threshold, he heard, "You're lucky.

"

There was a quiz on Gegera.

At that moment, he felt like announcing to the whole world, and especially to his classmates, that he had become a superhero. But he held back and began to wonder:

"If I announce it to everyone, my dreams will come true. I'll be famous, but will I be happy? What will fame bring me? No! Only the professor and I will know about the medallion. After all, I can save the world with a mask."

He did as he decided. Soon, the whole world was talking about the mysterious hero who called himself Serwer. Konrad was bursting with pride. The whole world was talking only about him. But he didn't always manage to put on his mask. However, before I explain how Konrad, not Serwer, became famous, I'll mention the move. Koni's family, as his friends called him, moved closer to the school. The boy now lived in an apartment building. He didn't particularly like it, but he had no choice. One winter day, while returning from school, he heard a short, yet loud, scream. He ran in that direction and saw two thugs robbing his neighbor. Without hesitation, he jumped in to help her. He ran his fists down the spine of the first one, kicking him in the stomach (to make sure he couldn't get up) and in the butt. The second one jumped to help his friend, but he was punched several times in the face and also fell to the ground. Not that the boy liked fighting, but he had to help the girl. Dominika, the name of Konrad's friend, fainted during a fight. When our hero took her in his arms, his eyes widened. He realized he wouldn't find such beauty even with a candle. He carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her home. Her parents were terrified, but also grateful. Konrad told the whole story and returned home. Two days later, the local newspaper, "Dąbrowa i Dąbrówka," published the headline "Girl Lives. Brave Teenager Saved Her." He became someone. Without the medallion's help, he gained fame and gratitude, perhaps even the love of a beautiful girl. Well, maybe not entirely without the artifact's help, because, as you know, it didn't lose all its power after the medallion was returned to his hand. However, he made a strange discovery. Namely, after saving the girl, one-sixteenth of the side of the medal that was covered in rust became gold. Just because he became a hero didn't make him a "saint." He and his friends often teased the conservator. At school, he was an ordinary boy. As for his superhuman abilities, he had the strange luck to save a certain person. Dominika, of course. After the robbery, a series of strange coincidences occurred, for example, during the bank robbery on Paprykowa Street, Dominika and her parents were settling the payments, or when terrorists attacked the musical theater in Gdynia, she was on a school trip. You could call it a coincidence. I, however, think otherwise. The more often Koni saved the girl, the faster his heart beat, and something strange happened with the medallion. He ignored the medallion. He thought it must be that way. But his heart worried him. Why was it beating so fast? He decided to go to the doctor. At the clinic in Dąbrowa, it turned out that nothing was wrong with him. So why was his heart beating so frantically? He couldn't understand it. Or maybe he didn't want to? It's unknown. All I know is that his teachers were impressed with his knowledge. It was an eventful week. When he went to bed on Friday evening, his thoughts were far away in the past. He remembered that Monday that changed his life.The next day, he went to the professor. This time, he no longer went to the excavations, but to the laboratory, where the scientist was developing new technologies for the Server. When he entered, he saw a wonderful, freshly painted, shiny, and, of course, armed to the teeth motorcycle. Next to it, in a bulletproof glass case, lay a new bulletproof suit with a scarf, the kind ninja warriors wore to cover their faces. Everything was black, like the motorcycle. He also had several types of paralyzing weapons and a glider loaded with exceptionally light gas bombs. In addition to firearms, he was also equipped with bladed weapons. A samurai sword, daggers, and shuriken—a throwing weapon in the shape of a star—were his favorites. Quiet and fast. The laboratory had a special training hall. Moving targets, traps—all to hone his extraordinary skills. As he overcame these obstacles, he wondered only one thing: how on earth each course was different. He didn't ask many questions, however. He also began practicing the art of ninjutsu with the professor's assistant, who had come from China. He was relatively happy. He spent his free time with his friends, especially Dominika. And his power continued to grow.

Our hero was unaware of everything. The moment he took the medallion's power, the power of the Guardians, an elite team created to destroy the pendant before the descendant of the priestess of power unleashed the full power hidden within this piece of gold, was activated. Four enraged elements: fire, water, stone, and wind. Ready to sacrifice everything to destroy the medallion or kill the heir to power. These beasts had already won once, but would they succeed this time?

Unaware of the danger, Koni trained, saved the world, and played with his friends. And perhaps he wouldn't have known it until his death (if he hadn't known, he wouldn't have lived long), if the professor hadn't managed to decipher the tablets. He then learned the full story and decided to slay the monsters. The fight was long, but he prevailed. The Guardians escaped and prepared a plan to kill the priestess. They knew who she was. Poor Serwer was so close to her, but he didn't listen to his heart. He didn't know whom to protect. He couldn't sleep peacefully. He had strange visions of a priestess being sacrificed during the full moon. However, he couldn't see her face. And only a week remained until the full moon.

He hadn't slept all week. He thought about these visions. So he decided to tell his friend who he was. To share his secret with her. But from a distance, he saw the police standing outside her house. He immediately ran to the scene. He saw only the girl's distraught parents, and looking over the policeman's shoulder, he read the report:

"On April 18, 2004, around midnight, unknown perpetrators broke into an apartment on Miętowa Street and kidnapped a fifteen-year-old girl (...)." After reading this sentence, he looked at the building. The door was burned, puddles were everywhere, a tree had fallen by the wind, and huge holes in the ground. He already knew the perpetrator, but what was the purpose? What were the Guardians up to? Suddenly, a bolt of reality struck him. Was it possible that Dominika was a priestess? He had felt something when he saved her, but he was deaf and blind. Now that he was certain of what it felt like, the medallion in his pocket glowed. Konrad ran to the old, abandoned building. He looked into his pocket and understood. On the rust-covered side, a heart was etched. It was love that gave him greater power. Now that he understood this, he changed his clothes and headed for the forest where the professor had found the medallion. In the hole created during the excavation, he saw a swirling light. Without hesitation, he leaped into the circle of light and found himself in front of a massive temple. Guardians stood atop it, ready to complete the ritual of killing the priestess. Konrad immediately began firing. The startled warriors returned fire, but Serwer was already gone. They began searching the area for him, and he climbed onto the altar and freed Dominika. He hid her behind a monument and engaged the guards. He eliminated them one by one, by surprise. Just as he was about to take on the last one, the stone one, he heard a scream. He ran and saw that the altar, controlled by the last Guardian warrior, was holding the girl, about to crush her. He attacked the elite soldier, but the latter, defending himself, ripped off his mask. Dominika saw his true face and fainted. The fight continued. Finally, Konrad decided to destroy the altar. He gathered all the power of the medallion and struck. The structure caught fire and slowly began to explode. The boy grabbed Dominika and ran into the portal. Once they were in the real world, all they saw was the portal exploding. They were safe.

A week later, after leaving the hospital, they sat by the sea at sunset, holding hands, knowing that no matter what happened, they would be able to count on each other.

I don't like to preach morals, but this one comes to mind. The power of a loving heart is greater than anything in the world. Not even a magic medallion.