"A DISTANT, DISTANT FUTURE"

*****

"We made it just in time for the main event, huh," a tall figure within the sea of people expressed his relief, his voice drowned by the festive bustling of the crowd.

"Yeah, thankfully," a girl, much shorter than the previous speaker, said with a hint of annoyance. She continues, "We could've enjoyed the festival to its fullest if a certain Hero would just stop being so generous and think before randomly giving away our carriage."

The girl glared at the boy walking beside her. The boy only titters in response and scratches the back of his head. His reaction along with his lack of repentance is enough to tell that this kind of complaint is a regular occurrence.

The tallest of the three, and also the oldest, watched over the one-sided bickering of the two teenagers with a warm gaze. He gazes forward, noticing that they've arrived at their destination.

"Anna," he calls out to his female companion, "give the boy a break, he was just being kind. You didn't even complain when he was giving it away."

"T-that's…" the girl failed to give a rebuttal and blushed. "W-well, it was the only solution I could think of at the time. I'm just a little annoyed because we ended up wasting a lot of time walking. Let me vent a little…"

"Thank you for being understanding," the boy, or rather, the hero, said with a small smile directed at the girl. "I'll make it up to you later."

"Hmph, no need." The girl huffed before walking ahead and joining the larger crowd gathering at the stage before them. "Just… this trip better be worth it."

The two males joined their companion and stood behind her as they overlooked the elevated platform.

"It will be." The older man places a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "This year's Crossing tribute will show you that."

"The Crossing tribute?" The girl shook his hand off and looked at the stage with doubt. "Isn't it just a dance to pay respect to the people who passed away this year? I don't see how that's going to help me find a teacher."

"I don't really understand what the two of you are talking about, but I'm sure Devas knows what he's talking about," the hero reassured.

"Indeed." The older man, Devas, reaffirms. "I didn't expect you to know because you're young, but every twenty years, the Crossing tribute is danced by a special figure."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The previously loud crowd quiets down as the lamps hanging over the stage are dimmed with dark veils. The reduced luminance along with the stage's deliberate lack of decoration created an isolating yet serene atmosphere. As if to draw all attention to the lone figure that now occupied the middle of the stage.

Despite obviously being the performer, no spotlight was shone upon the tiny figure. Their face was hidden under a white veil that only showed their chin, wearing baggy clothing that made it difficult to discern their gender. 

With the audience's attention captured, the performance began. The figure raised their hands overhead and the soft tunes of a violin were heard. The figure danced with the music, graceful and precise.

And yet, the dance seemed to lack spirit, it felt lackluster, boring.

Anna felt like this person wasn't doing this because they wanted to, only because it was their job. A job that they took seriously, but not sincerely.

Just when she started to feel the urge to turn around and convince the others to leave, she felt a feeling she was all too familiar with. The flow of mana.

Pure white threads of light were formed from the glimmering fingertips of the dancer.

The music hastened and so did the dancer, the pace of the dance went from slow and tranquil to quick and brilliant.

The stage was filled with threads of light purely that were slowly coming together, intertwining and dancing with each other. With each stroke the dancer's hands made, the more deliberate and precise the flow of threads became.

Right in front of her eyes, magic was being weaved with such precision and grace that Anna found herself unable to look away. Every intricate curves, sharp turns, and lines came together and formed a beautiful scenery that took away not just Anna's breath, but everyone's.

From the ground all around the stage, tiny sparkles of light rose and floated toward the sphere in the middle of the stage, the dancer became nothing but a background that the audience had simply forgotten.

Anna's eyes shone with awe and admiration as the tiny sparkles of light joined the intricate flow that the threads had made, dancing within the sphere that had become astonishingly complex before anyone could realize it.

With a loud clap coming from the performer, the music stopped and Anna was pulled out of her trance just before the sphere uncoiled itself and sped up toward the sky, bringing along the sparkles of light, the fragments of souls.

And soundlessly exploded into a beautiful myriad of colors that covered the night sky, illuminating the previously dim space.

The sparkles of light slowly rose higher and higher before disappearing beyond the clouds and fading away. Anna found herself completely awestruck as she stared at the dissipating light.

Anna was once again pulled out of her trance but by a different cause this time. The hero lightly shook her shoulder. She glanced at him briefly before turning to the now vacant stage. She had been so focused on the magic sphere the performer had weaved that she failed to pay attention to them.

"The person you saw just now is known as the world's greatest mage, capable of weaving the most complex and powerful magic spheres," Devas said in a serious tone. "She's also the one whose approval you'll have to earn in order for her to teach you magic."

Anna had never felt so tense and nervous after hearing those words in her entire life.

*****