The Swords of the Sultan! I

Within an empirical city that borders both a desert and a sea, a young, orphaned, and destitute boy named Baltor struggles for survival. Daily, he is forced to drink from dirty horse troughs and steal food, which, by law, means the loss of his hand—or his life. One particular day, however, Baltor is caught stealing a link of sausage. Fortunately for him, he is caught not by a guard but a beautiful and exotic woman named Lydia, who soon after proposes to Baltor that he be trained into a master thief like herself. Without any other choices, Baltor agrees. The two then travel to secret underground tunnels and caverns located underneath the city itself where expert thief-training areas have been established. There, Baltor begins his difficult, deadly, and hellish training underneath the watchful eye of a strict teacher named Humonus. And this is where this fantasy/adventure only begins...