ERIC SANDERS
I’m Eric Sanders. I was a shy boy during my teenage years, and I still am a little shy. When I was a child, all the parents would call me “Such a perfectly cute baby!” Because of this, my parents, who always loved the attention of others, did their best to make me look perfect whenever I was in public. As I grew older, they taught me many techniques to keep up my looks, and my attitude, so that I would always be that perfect child in the eyes of all the neighbors. When I became a preteen, my parents wanted to make my looks more public, specifically in competitions, but I had always been a shy boy inside, and only went out by my parents' urging.
Over time, I built up a little courage and was able to do it without my parents urging, but at the prospect of putting me in front of the world broke that, and reduced me to an extreme introvert. Despite this, my parents had me continue to care for my appearance, and I still constantly wear a suit and tie. They said it was just to keep me from looking ugly, but I think they hoped that I would eventually overcome my complete and utter dislike of social conditions and be willing to come out in beauty contests. I wasn’t planning on it though, so I did it just to keep my parents happy with me. My dad had also been a little shy when he was younger, so he took pity on me, searching for tutors to teach me so I did not have to socially embarrass myself in high school, which, then, I was sure I would do, no matter how good I looked.
Since most of my childhood had been devoted to my looks, when that stopped, I was a little lost with what to spend my time doing. In part of keeping up my looks, they included a strict physical training system, so sports had no interest to me, as they would present no real challenge to me, so instead I devoted my time to my studies, taking an interest in computer programing as a whole, but I was especially interested in computer art. I didn’t like to think that I looked perfect, so I used computer art and design tools to learn to make perfect art.
I also dived deep into other studies, excelling beyond high school curriculum, and I had recently started taking an online college curriculum. Some might have said I was the perfect person. In excellent physical condition, good looks, a wild imagination, vast knowledge for my age, and I was also earning money from various websites and comics that I had made, but to me, I was nowhere near perfect. Despite how scared I was of social conditions, I hated my self imposed isolation. I wanted to have friends, I just was too nervous, and spent most of my time in my office, working on my studies, or the latest website and comic book chapter that I was working on. This kept me from many possible opportunities that I could have burst my little bubble.
I was actually rather well known in some communities under various pseudonyms and pen names, though the people who know I exist often think of me as a hermit, as most of them have only heard of me by passing. I have often wondered what people would think if the writer of a relatively popular comic book series and maker of an also popular social website where you can chat and meet with new people turned out to be a social hermit that hasn’t had a real friend since elementary school, and would probably faint if he was in front of a crowd of more than 50 people. I have gotten many story ideas from possible events that might have happened in my life if I wasn’t the hermit that I was. Nothing I considered came close to what actually happened when I decided to break my little bubble and help someone. Perhaps the reason was because, not only was this someone a girl, she was almost the exact opposite of me, and she came from a different dimension. The final turning point was probably that I thought it was a dream. I mean, what could happen in a dream that could actually do anything? A lot I guess. Especially when it's not actually a dream.
ELENARIL FENYDARK
I am Elenaril Fenydark, but due to how ridiculous I thought my name was, I went by Elen back then. I have no idea why my parents gave me such a name, but that is just one reason out of many that I hated my parents at the time, the main one being that they had abandoned me to my death.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I am an orphan. Most orphans can find their lineage by looking at their Descendants Tree, but mine is only a sapling, with me at the bottom. Because of this, the influence that can be provided by the achievements of my ancestors was not available to me, so I had no place in the world, and no inheritance inventories or family powers. It was as if I just came into existence, with nothing. I was found by the local magic user as he was assisting a hunting party that was passing through my area. I was found in a perfect circle of ash, with my hair on fire
When the village magic user, whose name was Marticel Vilnard, found me, he thought that I was an unwanted baby, and was put in a fire to be taken care of. He thought that that was why my hair was burning. He put out my hair, and snuck me home, hiding me in the skins of the animals they had hunted. One odd attribute of my profile then was the lack of, well, everything. I had no items, skills, or stats even. The only thing I had was my name and appearance.
As I grew older, I always had a high fever, even though I said I felt fine, and a noticeable lack of hair. With some spells from Marticel, I had an extreme hair growth rate, but it would stop when it reached a chosen length. This was very handy, as I found that I had no hair and a covering of ashes every morning, but it had grown back by the time I was out in public. When this spell was cast, I gained a new ability, one called regeneration.
This was not noticed until one day when I tripped and broke my arm. I had run home bawling, but when I got back, my arm was fully healed. This also brought up my health stats, but I only had 50 HP, half of the usual 100 HP. This greatly worried Marticel, until he realized that my regeneration skill would heal any wounds before they made a difference. This is also when he decided to hide me from the world. Both my odd ancestry, special abilities, and incredible hotheadedness. Literally
On my 8th discovery day celebration, Marticel was busy, and couldn’t celebrate with me, and that had made me mad. At the end of the one way shouting match we had, He told me to contain my anger, and in the attempt my anger came out in a different form. Magic. My hair literally turned into flame. It turns out that I have flame magic aptitude, one of the rarest out there. It’s rare because fire is considered holy, and only deities have it. Marticel freaked when he found out, and ended up staying with me for my discovery celebration, if only because he thought I was the mortal reincarnation of the deity of the universe, the only one with flaming hair.
Speaking of discovery day celebrations, you probably don’t know what that is. That's because since found me, and I had no information, he has no idea when I was born, so instead of celebrating my day of birth, we celebrate the day after I was discovered, since the day off the discovery is also the day of an annual hunt that Marticel is needed for all day.
Now I am part way through my 15nth year living in Marticel's house, and am preparing for the Gate Ceremony, a ceremony that everybody has to go through in order to advance any further in life. It opens an internal lock that was keeping us from progressing to our real form. I was hoping that for me it might reveal more about my mysterious background and abilities. Prepping for it requires you to be in top condition and to have certain magical prowess. I had not yet shown stats for magic, so we were unsure whether or not I would be able to pass through the gate unscarred, but I needed to try in order to progress, and if It will give me any hint of my past. Passing through the gate was a different experience for me than it was for anyone else, and it did give me some clues about my past, but in ways I never would have expected and in a place I never would have thought of. Earth.