Dragon 15, year 8690 of the Grand Wulin Era,Alexander Grandstar

It was a pretty average day for me, I’d spent a little time reading books about alchemy and enchanting, which hurt my head a bit, but i’d been told I needed to read them if I wanted to learn those things. I’d helped heal some injured sect disciples who’d gone out to gather food and herbs. I’d watched Papa prepare food,I finished my daily chores and cultivation, including some basic exercise, and i’d been so engrossed in everything that I’d forgotten that it was the day I turned 9.

When I was younger, and i’d asked about when i’d be allowed to train physical fighting techniques or train with a weapon, I was told i’d have to wait till then to begin, and I’d spent a lot of time waiting for the day. I wanted to be strong for a lot of reasons, especially for my family, but there was one reason that was above all others in my mind. It was my dream almost since birth to be both a powerful Warrior and a Mage,so when I remembered what day it was, I was pretty excited to finally be able to truly walk both paths as if they were one.

I’d done a lot of thinking over those years, reading myths, legends, and even true accounts of many of the great Warriors of history, watching members of our sect train and spar, seeing a few real fights, and I felt the qiang spear, with its long reach, double-edged blade that could slice and stab pretty decently, and flexible, yet firm shaft was the one that would suit a Warmage like I intended to be the most. Not only was it a deadly and versatile weapon in itself, I could use it to keep opponents at a distance while I casted my spells! This kind of spear came from the Azure Dragon Continent, far to the South,but it had spread over the whole planet due to the fact that it was the most versatile and reliable of spears and looked pretty awesome.

I hoped to train in the spear, and maybe some other types of fighting, in case I was disarmed or otherwise had to fight in close quarters without a weapon. Maybe I should wear armor,too? Light or heavy, though? With the tough hides, feathers, fur and scales of beasts and with magical plants, cloth and leather armors could be actually worth wearing, but metallic armor, especially full plate, would always be superior in terms of defense, and shouldn’t really restrict my movement once I got used to the weight. Well, that was what i’d read anyways. I figured I should stick to training gear for now though, as making a full set of actual battle-ready armor for a kid would probably be pretty wasteful.

I went to check the modest house in the center of sect headquarters that my parents lived in, and as I knocked on the door I heard whispering. I couldn’t quite make out what was being said. I knocked again, and heard nothing. I shrugged,and opened the door.

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“SURPRISE!” rang in my ears as several familiar faces sprung out from under the table, behind the cabinets, or in one case, in the pantry. In about a second, I recognized them all.All three of my parents, Mingzhou and Avarius, Mingzhou’s father Hou Gaofei, and Avarius’s parents Terraxia Goldscale and Theodore Goldscale.

Uncle Gao was in his beast form, which looked like a standard Gorilla with a tail.He looked pretty uncomfortable in the robes he was wearing, which seemed to be trying pretty hard to restrain his muscles, and slowly losing. Aunt Terra and Uncle Theo were in their human forms. Theo  looked relatively standard for humans of the Earth Dragon Continent, and Terra resembled those of the Azure Dragon Continent, but they were both unusually tall and willowy from a child's perspective, with some patches of brightly colored scales on their limbs and horns on their heads. I looked around at all the smiling faces (and Avarius’s unfortunate attempt at smiling with a snout and face muscles not exactly made for smiling), and I felt pretty good. I saw good food on the table, a few presents wrapped in the corner, and a banner hung from the ceiling that said something about my birthday.

“Wow, how long did y’all spend on this stuff? I’m really touched that you guys did this for me, especially when I got so caught up in stuff that I almost forgot!”

“Eh, there was some planning involved, and it took some doing, but honestly, getting your presents was a bit easier than scheduling for us to all be here.” Uncle Gao said, grinning goofily.

“Oh, really? Well, I’m glad you guys are here.”

Everyone sat down at the table, and we had a good time eating. Uncle Gao ended up juggling some large berries with tough skins that looked like oversized grapes, and would occasionally toss one into his mouth( or at someone else’s) without missing a beat. Avarius almost choked on one that nearly fell into his throat, and proceeded to use mana to levitate it and shoot it back at Uncle Gao, as if it’d been shot from a slingshot. It splattered on his face, and he roared with laughter, as did the rest of the table except Uncle Theo, who made some weird noise and cupped his mouth with his hands, apparently trying very hard to not laugh.

My presents turned out to be some guides on alchemy and enchanting from Ma, Dad, and Papa, some basic alchemy equipment and enchanting materials from Uncle Gao( and a cool looking cloak that was tough enough for weapons to have a hard time cutting through it), and from Aunt Terra and Uncle Theo, a magic artifact that I could use to enter what was essentially magic-aided virtual reality and do things like shop, or spar with people around my own strength, or plenty of other features. I was pretty happy with everything, especially since the gifts were catered towards my interests and pretty practical.Soon ,i’d go to pick out a weapon, but I decided to enjoy this moment while I could.