In a clearing in a forest lay a young girl, gently guiding the wind while listening to the ramblings of a young boy beside her. He had dark skin with youthful purple eyes, his hair an unkempt mess of purple. 'How old is he again? Like 12? Maybe I should ask him... nah, too lazy'
"How'd you do that!?" The young boy, Wendelin asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Find out!" Sesi mockingly replied, locking eyes with the agitated Wendelin.
“Fireball!” Wendelin half-heartedly shouted, throwing his palm towards Sesi. “Puhahahahaha! You really... you really thought that was going to work?” Sesi laughed while wiping away tears of joy.
“Just tell me how it works!” Wendelin shouted. “Fine, fine. Just ask the wind-ether, or fire ether for you, to help ya. I dunno, worked for me, man.” Sesi said, flopping back down on the soft green grass.
“...Ask the fire ether for help?” Wendelin repeated, his face blank. To this, Sesi had no reply, only gazing up at the cloudy sky. 'Well, she's no help...' Wendelin thought to himself, his rage from earlier returning in part.
'No use in not trying... Right?' Wendelin thought with a blank expression. 'Fire ether... please... help.' Wendelin thought, barely believing what he was saying.
To his expectations, nothing happened. No flame. No ether gathering. Nothing. 'Well, maybe wind ether and fire ether are different?' 'If Wind ether is like a gentle guiding friend... Is fire like a junkie pyromaniac?'
Thinking this, Wendelin decided to try something different. 'Become a flame and I'll let you burn something!' Sensing his will, the ether gathered at his fingertips. Wendelin watched on with a star-struck expression as the flame danced joyously on his fingertips before disappearing in a POOF of smoke.
'Did it disappear because it didn't burn anything? Or was it something like a time limit? Mayb-' Wendelin thought as a gust of wind lifted him off his feet as he yelped.
While the gale was seemingly holding him by the ankle, he swayed and turned around to see Sesi smugly looking at him. “What're you thinking about so hard?” Sesi said before getting hit in the face with a small, 'harmless' fireball.
'Wait, was that a mista-' Before he could finish his thoughts, the gale raised him higher... then higher... then released its grip. While he fell, he locked eyes with Sesi, her red eyes aglow with rage. “Aha, so it was a mistake!” He muttered as his head made contact with the ground, the world going black.
—————
Waking up with a start, Wendelin shot up. Glancing to his side, he saw Sesi sleeping peacefully in the grass, apparently reverting to her cutie side. 'She's even more dangerous with an ability now, huh? Noted.'
Wendelin thought after he stood up. Walking through the forest, Wendelin managed to find an arm full of sticks. Bringing them back to the clearing, he fashioned them to keep each other standing, he once again willed for the fire ether's aid.
'I have something for you to burn!' Wendelin yelled mentally, a flame sprouting from his palm. To his surprise, however, the flame only gave him a slight tinge. 'I'll think about this later...' Wendelin thought, throwing the fist-sized flame towards the sticks he propped up beforehand.
Gently dragging Sesi towards the flames, he flopped down on the ground to gaze up at the stars. Looking down at the campfire, it crackled and snapped, almost aglow with the memories of their past. 'We're gonna become world-renowned adventurers with these abilities! Fighting gemspawn, beating up bandits, we're gonna be famous!' Wendelin thought, his gaze full of stars.
With his mind's eye full of hopes and dreams for the future, he failed to notice the thing stalking him from behind. Hearing sounds of twigs snapping, Wendelin turned around, his eyes sweeping the tree line curiously. As he did this, the thing, a beast, a gemspawn, pounced on him.
His eyes wide, his mouth dry, he was stuck in his sitting position. The gemspawn had a body like a wolf, a head like a snake, and a great mane of feathers. Mere feet away, Wendelin barely had time to think as it rushed over. Its mouth agape, it nearly closed its jaw on his skull, right before a crossbow bolt pierced its own.
"What're you kids doin' out 'ere?" A gruff and unpleasant voice assaulted Wendelin's ears. Sesi raised her upper body lethargically, the commotion awakening her. "Wha?" Sesi's voice sounded.
"I said, what're you little kids doin' in the middle of a forest in dah night? Gemspawns are most active around this time, even kiddos from the slums should know that!" The voice once again came from the tree line.
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"What're you kids doin' out 'ere?" A gruff and unpleasant voice assaulted Wendelin's ears. Sesi raised her upper body lethargically, the commotion awakening her. "Wha?" Sesi's voice sounded.
"I said, what're you little kids doin' in the middle of a forest in dah night? Gemspawns are most active around this time, even kiddos from the slums should know that!" The voice once again came from the tree line.
Finally looking over, Wendelin saw the source of the voice. An old gruff man with a toothpick in his mouth stood there, a crossbow and a lantern in hand. He had a short and trimmed red beard with similarly colored long hair. He wore an intricate cloak, green with golden trimmings, too fancy for a hunter.
'An adventurer, maybe?' Wendelin thought, still barely grasping the situation. "W-we're here to t-test our new a-abilities!" Wendelin yelled out, stuttering. "Hoo, are yee now? Have fun, then, laddie." The man said after retrieving the corpse of the beast and turning around to leave.
Before Wendelin could process the absurdity of the situation, Sesi walked up to the man with tears in her eyes, "Please sir, we're just children. Won't you let us stay the night with you lest we die by the gemspawn?" After spending her life in the slums, Sesi learned how to use the cuteness of a young girl to swindle some people.
After some hesitation, the gruff voice rang in their ears yet again. "A'ight, missy, yee and yer friend can come to me cabin for the night. I want you gone ait dawn." As the man said this, he began walking towards the trees while motioning them forward.
Speechless, Wendelin just followed along. 'It'll probably be fine... right?' He thought to himself as his gaze swept the forest. 'I can only see what the moon provides, huh?' He bitterly thought to himself as they entered the abyss-like woods, their only respite being the lantern in the man's hand and the slight illumination the moons overhead brought.
'The moons are beautiful tonight...' Wendelin thought as he glanced behind his shoulder, his gaze falling on the two moons resting in the sky. 'Into the thick of it, I suppose.' Wendelin finally thought before running to join the others.
—————
They trudged on through the dark forest for what felt like hours, though Wendelin was sure it was at most 15 minutes. Finally, they arrived at their destination. 'Well, probably our destination.' Wendelin thought to himself.
What stood before them was a sleek wooden log cabin, with a nice neat flowerbed and perfectly symmetrical windows. It had a chimney at the top, releasing nothing but dust.
"Welcome to me humble abode!" Yelled the man while walking into the cabin. "Come in, come in! The name is Alric! Don't look so downcast, if I wanted you dead it'd be done already!" The man, Alric, laughed.
Walking in, the duo noted the interior of the house. 'One door, two windows, so three escape routes... not much to hide behind, only really under the bed.' Wendelin & Sesi thought, their gazes sweeping the one-room cabin.
"So, I told you my name, what's yours?" Alric questioned while laying down his gear on a table beside a window.
"I'm Wendelin." "My name is Sesi." The pair responded. "Mighty fine names, if I do say so myself!" Alric yelled out, a large grin on his face.
"Mister, are you an adventurer?" Wendelin asked with a sudden excitement in his eyes. Hearing this, Alric's face lit up, as he placed one foot on the table in a heroic pose. "Why of course I am! Not to toot my own horn here, heh, but I'm a certified grandmaster rank scout!" The man yelled, chuckling to himself.
"...Grandmaster?" Wendelin asked sheepishly. "Pardon? You don't know the adventurer guild ranks?" The man replied, taken slightly aback. "I only know adventurers... well... adventure?" Wendelin said as he looked to the side.
"Hohoho, you're in need of education, aren't ye?!" Alric said, the gruffness in his voice long gone. "I'll start by explaining them! :D" Alric said while smiling from ear to ear. 'I hope I didn't ask something I'll regret later...' Wendelin thought while cool sweat began to drop from his face.
"The ranks are Apprentice < Journeyman < Master < Grandmaster < Lord < Ovelord < Duke," Alric explained, his smile not faltering in the slightest. "You can travel through 20 cities without meeting 30 grandmasters! That makes me pretty important, huh!?" Alric laughed, slightly jabbing at Wendelin.
Laughing along, Wendelin absorbed this knowledge. 'Sesi and I will be Duke's one day, just you wait... Speaking about sesi-' Wendelin thought, slightly before a new voice entered the conversation.
"Mister, what are gemspawn? We only know so little..." Sesi asked, her cutie voice still present. "Why, they be creatures born from artus gems if left unchecked for too long, of course! School's failed ye if you didn't know that!" Alric replied, puzzled. "We've never actually been to school..." Wendelin cut in with a hint of shame present in his voice.
"Ohh, well you at least know how to read?" Alric half laughed with a tinge of worry in his voice. "Only things like food..." Sesi replied, her head hanging low. "A problem for a later time!" Alric yelled as he shrugged.
"Here, take these sleepin bags. Ain't the most comfortable, but it'll do." Alric said while handing the duo a pair of sleeping bags.
"Why did you take us in?" asked Wendelin, genuine curiosity plastered on his face. "I'm old, bored, and tired. Just finding somethin new to do, lad." Alric said in an uncharacteristically quiet tone.
Just then, the voice of Alric cut in. "Alright, I'll share some stories. Gather around and listen to the tale of the deaf bard and the mute worm! Or later, I can talk about the tales of the misty giant!"
Mana=Ether!!!
(I know what ether means to ya'll, but this is my novel so shut the fu- (~_~) )
I get that the plot progression is strange, but this was done over the course of like a week then another week of edits (I'm really damn lazy) and on so it's a little scuffed.
I kind of jumped the gun on publishing the first chapter, actually. I need a bit of time to cook up the world a little more, yknow? （ ´_ゝ`）