Korr and Kala huddled by the entrance of the classroom. Every other kid’s eyes were on them, full of curiosity to know who they were. Helena was waiting for them to say something, but as time passed and the murmuring started, she decided to take the lead.

“Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” she asked, gesturing with her hand for them to go-ahead.

“A-ah, Um—um…” was all Korr could say.

“My name is Kala… and this is Korr…” she said as pointed at her brother, “we come from—from…” she turned all over the place, seemingly looking for a direction and her finger pointing everywhere. “I don’t know.”

The other kids laughed and both sibling’s faces turned red, with Korr trying to hide behind Kala.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” one older kid questioned in between chuckles, “Haven’t your parents told you that?”

“Ah, well, they’re—”

“Come now,” Helena interrupted Kala by clapping her hands a couple of times, “There’s no need to pressure them. If they want to tell us, they’ll tell us in good time. Now, let's pick it back up from where we were.”

The children all finally turned to pay attention to Helena. She, on the other hand, inspected the group with her eyes, slowly scanning each child. Most of them were just waiting for her to say something, while a couple still had a smile from the laugh they had before. Eventually, her eyes settled on the same girl from the previous day that had missfired her spell.

The girl was trying her best not to look at Helena, with her gaze firmly fixated on some random detail on the ground.

“Ellie,” Helena called out to her, and the girl slightly jolted to look up at her with an unwilling expression. “How about we practice that spell once more?”

“W-what spell, Miss Helena?” the girl asked, her eyes going from one place to another.

Helena chuckled. “The Minor Earth spell from yesterday’s afternoon.”

“The one that blew up in your face and nearly hit the teacher,” a taller kid standing a few steps away interjected with a mocking smile. “Maybe you were so scared that you already—”

“Arnie,” Helena admonished the kid, giving him a chilling gaze that caused the kid to quickly quiet down.

“Sorry, Miss Helena.”

Helena stared at the kid for a moment, and then looked back to Ellie, who had a crestfallen expression on her face as she looked down and gripped the hem of her skirt. Seeing that the child had lost any motivation to do the spell, Helena turned her attention to the pair of disguised goblin children that were looking with curiosity from the entrance.

“How about you try to show us something, since you’re new here,” she said to them, and they widened their eyes. “I know that you’re capable; especially you, Kala.”

“Me?” she asked back, pointing at herself.

“Yes. Why don’t you try showing us something,” Helena nodded, and gestured with her hand for Kala to get closer, right to the front of the classroom.

The girl stood in place, fidgeting for a couple of seconds, but eventually walking closer to where Helena was. Once she was standing next to her, she looked up at the older woman, waiting for her to say something else.

“Go ahead. Try to do a rock spell; something small that you can use to hit that wall,” she instructed, pointing at a rock wall full of tiny holes. “And don’t worry about me. I can handle anything.”

“I-is that really okay? Aren’t the humans—I mean—the people watching going to get scared…?” Kala asked, glancing at the children.

Helena chuckled and shook her head. “There’s nothing to worry about. Like I said, I can handle anything.”

There was a moment of hesitation as Kala tightened her lips a couple of times before slightly nodding. “Okay… Please look after me.”

Kala turned to look at the wall, took a deep breath, and then pointed both hands at the wall. Right after, a small yellow orb formed in the air. At the same time, Helena’s eyes glowed with a blue hint, and a yellow magic circle formed between Kala's glowing yellow orb, and the girl’s hands.

“Ah!” Kala gasped, and retrieved her hands, causing the yellow orb to dissipate, followed by the magic circle crumbling in the air. With her hands close to her chest, she turned in a panic to look at Helena.

“You were doing just fine. Try to put away the nervousness of being new here,” Helena said, doing then a wink that only Kala could see, “I’ll handle anything.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Ah… okay. I understand,” Kala replied, nodding as she did and turning once more to look at the wall.

She repeated the same action, forming once more the yellow orb in the air. Helena’s eyes glowed with a nearly imperceptible blue hue once more, and the yellow magic circle formed in the air again. Kala tried her best to ignore it and continued forming her spell, and after a couple of seconds, a dark gray rock the size of a child’s fist was floating in the air, which was then launched at great speed to the wall, where it shattered into a small fog of dirt.

The magic circle disappeared at the same time, and the children clapped in response. Kala turned to look at them with slightly hunched over back, but there was a small smile on her face.

“Good job,” Helena praised, nodding as she addressed the crowd, “Now, anyone else wants to try it?”

The same girl that had failed her spell the previous day raised her hand. “I-I want to try too.”

“Go on,” Helena gestured, “Kala, you can go back to your brother now.”

“Right!” the girl replied, and with a quick jog, she rushed over to Korr, who was also smiling as she got to him.

The girl that raised her hand, Ellie, stood on the same spot as Kala did before, and like Kala, she looked at Helena with certain nervousness. “I’ll do my best.”

“Of course,” Helena said with a smile. “I’ll handle anything, so don’t worry.”

“Okay!” the girl vigorously nodded, and then turned to look at the wall.

Ellie did the same as Kala: she took a deep breath and pointed her hands at the wall. However, in this case, a yellow magic circle formed in the air first, and then the yellow orb. Helena’s eyes remained without a glow.

The girl’s forehead started to turn sweaty, but after a grunt, a small, fist sized, dark gray rock finally formed, which was then launched at the wall, where it exploded just like Kala’s did.

The other kids clapped at the successful magic spell, and the girl turned to look at Helena with a wide smile. “I did it!”

“That you did. Good job.” Helena said with a nod, slightly leaning forward to pet the girl’s head. “See? There was nothing to worry about. Now,” Helena stood once more, gesturing to the girl with her hand to go back to the group. The girl did, and Helena continued, “Let's review once more what we learned about magic circles and mana manipulations before practicing other spells.”

* * *

By the afternoon, there were once more the older women waiting by the entrance. Once Helena saw them, she told the children to go ahead and leave; and like every time, almost all of them rushed out of the building to go to one of the older grandmas waiting outside, to their homes, or to play for a while longer.

Kala walked up to Helena before she left the room, and looked up at her with a confused frown. “Excuse me, Elder.”

“‘Elder’…?”

“Ah, sorry. That was the title our leaders carried back in…” Kala tried to explain, but knowing there were people watching from the door, she stopped herself.

“Don’t worry. I understand,” Helena said, picking up her usual basket but waiting for Kala to speak. “What is it that you wanted to say?”

“It’s about that magic…” Kala replied, taking a step closer to Helena and lowering her voice volume. “Why did you draw that thing in the air?”

Helena chuckled. “A magic circle. Humans understand mana through symbolism. It’s how they shape it to give it both form and power. Goblins like yourself have a more instinctual understanding of the forces of nature, so magic comes out natural with your will. If the children—or anyone in the town—sees you use it without a magic circle, they might start asking questions, so I helped you disguise it, just like I did with your appearance.”

Hearing the explanation, Kala’s face paled and her mouth opened in a gasp. “Then I shouldn’t do magic at all!”

“Not while you’re in town,” Helena said with a nod. “The only reason I called you to do it was to ensure that other children saw you like you’re part of them. I’ll try not to do it again, but if it does happen, I’ll handle it; like I said before.”

“Hngg…” Kala let out a whine, unsure of what Helena said, but after a while, she nodded. “I’ll trust you.”

“Good,” Helena said with a smile. “How about we go home? We wouldn’t want to be there by night.”

“Okay,” Kala agreed and looked for Korr, who was watching from the entrance. “We’re going now!”

Korr nodded and finally got closer to them. Helena said nothing else, and like everyday, she had a short conversation with the older women outside. A similar explanation to the one that was given at the weapon’s shop was given, and after a few tugs from the children, the older women left—just like every time—and right behind them, Helena and the goblin children left for their homes.

* * *

“Is this it?” a man asked with a rather unimpressed look. “I guess there was little to expect from… such a place.”

He was riding on a large brown horse. A golden armor was glinting from his shoulders, torso, and gauntlets, while on his back, a bright red cape was slightly swaying under the movement of the horse.

The man’s eyes were dark brown, with crow’s feet deeply formed on the corners of them. His hair was the same kind of dark brown, styled neatly backwards. The man had a slightly large nose, with a small bend downwards at the tip; and his mouth was covered by a bushy mustache that had been carefully groomed to have thick bends upwards, leaving his chin and jaw neatly shaved.

“The Republic is not in a great state…” another man answered from a horse next to the armored man.

This one was wearing a white tunic with symbols embroidered in gold threads on his chest. It looked like a couple of wings, where the one on the right had four feathers, while the one on the left had three, all within a horizontal oval.

As for the man, he looked rather young, with pale skin and bright golden hair. His light brown eyes were focused on the man with the golden armor, with a forced smile on his mouth. “We’re in need of a hero, and we might just find it in the places where we least expect it.”

“Hmph,” the man in the golden armor scoffed, raising his chin up slightly. “If this is what the Republic has been reduced to, then there is no hope for a revolution against the Empire.”

“Have faith, Your Lordship,” the man in the white tunic said, trying his best to keep a smile. “The Goddess won’t forsake us. She is with us—even in such a small, faraway town.”

The man in the golden armor refused to answer and simply spurred the horse to move ahead. Behind him, the man in the white tunic followed, and after them, a handful of no more than ten warriors with spears, swords and axes on their bodies marched; all going into town, the one Helena just left.