It was true indeed. What took up most of the paper was the image of the great King Enguerrand at Karin's gates. The city was safe at an immeasurable level compared to before, it took away my insecurity during these last few days; which I needed to focus on in training against the wooden dummies. It was also written that the tenth king intended to remain in the city and would strike some sort of deal with the guild to motivate "gifted magic users". I wondered what her huge kingdom would look like without him, but thinking about it made me self-conscious. I had never set foot there, but it is a kingdom; it could certainly defend itself against any threat.

“Wow, it's really true. That's good, son, maybe you'll get a chance to meet a king." Kanro said. “If he saw your skills with the wooden puppets…"

"I've been training for six days, Dad."

“You're much better than before, that's for sure. Winning Gerould's wooden dolls isn't for everyone." said Ataz, then took a bite of his bread stuffed with butter and ham.

“That's the point, my dear long-haired guard, I just got beat up."

"Still, a good improvement. I believe you are scraping at Shadow level."

"What's the order of this anyway?" I asked, Gerould stood up and extended his staff, creating small orbs of magic in various colors.

"You need to know that, little Kai, if you want to elevate your knowledge" I don't like that nickname, but I knew from his tone that he was mocking. “Shadow, Penumbra, Bright, Diluculum, Aurora, Real, and Chaos. Realms have adopted this measure since the days of reverie, Shadow being the weakest and Chaos being the strongest. Each of these levels has its meaning and its way of conquering."

Important information, maybe I should write it down… I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and asked him to repeat it. I took a sip of my tea as I watched Emy eating her fruit salad. My father helped my mother cook and the two guards debated the manipulation spell. Honestly, I'm fed up with these damn dolls.

“Wait, if I'm bordering Shadow, how am I ranked? Null enters this measure?"

"Well, I believe you're the only person in the world in that category…" My expression must have been one of stress, because I felt my brow twitch as they stifled a laugh.

“Dad, you mentioned Grandpa's sword. Can you show me?"

He nodded in agreement and headed for the basement door. I got ready to follow him, but Emy asked me to make a sandwich. After making one for her and one for me, I went to him. The basement door squeaked open, and I took a step back at the dim and dubious view. I'm still scared because of everything that happened. But boy… ten measly bronze coins, I was still shocked by it. The basement was pretty empty, there was a gun or two lying around and three pieces of furniture covered in a thick gray cloth – plus red spiders that gave me a shiver. Like the rest of the house, everything here was polished wood from Pandora's Trees, and small, mana-fuelled candles lit the room poorly. The pain surged through my chest as I descended the stairs, and the feeling of time slowing down returned for an instant, but Kanro's voice brought it back.

“Your grandfather said he found it in an abnormal dungeon and that, surprisingly, this sword interacts with magic." My father approached the only uncovered piece of furniture, which had a black box with golden symbols of a dragon and… a bird?

"Why is there a dragon and a bird in the box?"

“It's the legendary phoenix, Lumi. I'm not sure why, even after traveling and researching so much, it's as if the sword was created by the dungeon itself without human interruption. Divinity? An ancient spell from a being that inhabited the earth? It would be difficult to try to answer. The appraiser gave this little thing a pretty piquant price, given its abnormal interaction with magic."

He opened the box and I could see: A katana with a dark pommel, Its blade had a light layer of white aura, the dagger area had a kind of dragon and its sheath constantly released energy charges. That was amazing, how could a gun do that? I walked over to see her, but that was my mistake. The pain that shot through my chest was worse, it felt like it was squeezing my heart until it stopped beating. Stifling a groan of pain, I bit my lower lip until I tasted blood. Knowing that if I stayed there I would fall to my knees crying, I walked away with a quick, pained step and hid as my father admired her.

Crap. My entire body was shaking, this feeling of agony was just like my near death with that damn guy in the hood. I looked at that beautiful weapon, afraid to get close. For me it could be fatal. Being ten feet away made me want to cry, break down, so if I held her… Let the answer stay far from my knowledge. It took me a while to realize that I had punctured my hand with my fingernails and quickly wiped the blood off the edge of my shirt.

“How did you get so strong?

"Well, at the beginning of it all, I joined a small group. I remember that the objective was to explore a dungeon that had become an alrofy, for some reason, my team wanted, longed, to understand the reason for this phenomenon." He turned to me, a smile plastered across his face. "You want to know about your old man's adventures, do you?"

“You know I do want to." I said, allowing happiness to reach my voice. The damn pain returned to throb and agonize my body, focusing now on the scar the psychopath made, but I did my best to pretend its non-existence.

"I was a teenager at the time, I wanted adventure like anyone else. My magic was starting to manifest and I was having a hard time understanding it, but I did. I admit that the beginning scared me a lot, my power… the spell appeared by itself and consumed my entire mana. If you mixed that with those skeletons and the sounds of bizarre voices, it became a terror. Just imagine, you, unable to defend yourself, in the midst of so much danger?"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I arched an eyebrow at the last comment. My father apologized and fluffed my hair. With a more serious look, he continued.

"I realized during fights that my mana slowed everything down, so I started using speed as my strong point. But at the same time I was afraid, she demanded a lot from my body. The bangs, the blood, the roars, I could hear them all slowly. It's funny trying to explain it. "I opened my mouth to ask a question, but the wretched pain took it to a new level. "You know… The beginning was difficult, but I had an incredible teacher. He just talked a lot about a half-being-"

"Love! You forgot to take the clothes off the rope!"

"Oh no. I am going!" My father gave me a startled look and hurried up the stairs.

Alone. I tried to approach the sword. My head began to throb, my chest brought me to my knees, a buzzing filled my ears. Every step closer felt like my body felt twice as heavy, I could have sworn the surroundings darkened if my vision was at one hundred percent. The agonizing sensation made me clearly hear a rare sound, which I had only heard once before… The sound of magic. I landed on my butt and when I caught myself I was far from the sword. I lay there while I tried to understand the reason for this reaction. I came to the conclusion that I was a strange guy, since I decided to train, only misfortune happened.

I hated running, and it was worse when I had a wooden dummy faster than a horse humiliating me in a race. I was already dragging my feet on the floor, my shirt was soaked with sweat and my lungs ached. So how the hell did my inorganic adversary get the dirt floor cracked? We were on the main cornfield trail, the race was a complete loop, from the beginning of the house to the end of the vast fields. He was already up front next to Gerould and Ataz, I wondered who they really taught. I took the rest of the way at a leisurely pace, and a more efficient way to run dawned on my magic-deprived thoughts; although taking those weights off... What a present, João.

"I'm glad you're here!" I think it was clear that the doll won." said Gerould, as I glared at my dancing opponent.

“I will guide part two of today's training." Ataz said. "It'll be simple, I'll put an object on top of that tree over there."

"No." I refused, as I shivered at the thought of climbing where his finger aimed.

“Come on, you know you've got to try."

A blue energy covered his legs and with a single jump he reached the top. He clung there like a monkey and waited for the tree to finish shaking. Waving at me and smiling, he placed a white strip of cloth on the last branch. Gerould said it would be a competition. So I picked up the dagger I'd left on the floor and gestured that I was going to use it. Ataz jumped up and landed on his feet, causing a crash on the ground. What strength in the legs.

“Come on, young man. They go!"

I broke into a run and jumped. I attached my weapon to the trunk and started to climb, but the inorganic being covered its legs with a white aura and jumped to the branch above mine. Angry, I snarled and lunged upward until I grabbed his leg, and another hand grabbed mine.

"Two, Gerould!?" I turned my gaze to complain, but saw that my dad was watching with his arms crossed with a look that was curious and attentive at the same time.

I pondered for a moment. Maybe it was time for me to finally make up my mind, to stop complaining. If I didn't give it my all right now, in this training, how could I hunt a goblin? I was tired of just being beaten, I got carried away with the excuse of being unable to access something that everyone has. Was such a pathetic limitation really limiting me? Ellie, Bruno, João, Aria… Everyone strived to be the best of the best, gave everything to overcome their own limitations with magic. I needed to act, to move forward. Anything. I would never reach this goal if I used the fact as an excuse every time...

"Of not having that shit!" I yelled, and yanked the wooden leg in my hand angrily.

My leg was also pulled. The three of us fell onto the lower log, hanging there as we fought against sliding. The two quickly climbed up and ran towards the main trunk. I felt my body heat up, a laugh overtake my lips. I got to my feet. The two stopped, faced each other and turned to me. My guard up, I let out a chuckle.

“You know… I really wanted to hit you."

We approached at the same time. I threw two punches at puppet 1, George, while defending a kick from puppet 2, Alf, lifting my leg. I kept my gaze sharp as they circled me in a circular motion, but I remained defensive. Every punch, kick, elbow and knee was blocked by me. I crouched down and, opening my legs to the maximum and resting both hands on the floor, I swung them both. I got to my feet and slammed my knee into what should have been George's chin. Alf got punched in the neck.

George landed a magic-infused punch in the pit of my stomach, and Alf kicked the back of my knee with his instep. I was at a disadvantage. Several blows penetrated my defense. I lost count of how many straights I took to the jaw and how many kicks I took to the ribs. I managed to block one or the other of the two at the same time, but I had to admit that the position put me at a disadvantage.

Until he came. The hooded guy took the shape and place of the wooden puppet. That evil smile and red eyes made me shiver and let my defenses slacken. It could only be a joke. I took a blow to the ear and the world fell silent, leaving only a buzzing sound. I came across my body towards the ground, my vision started to darken. But a voice made me wake up again.

"Lumi!" A long, guttural cry from a child.

I grabbed the thick trunk of the tree and spun back onto the fighting platform. I entered the same game as before, they were very fast and it was impossible to find a gap to attack. Tactics, think. For every four George punches and Alf five kicks, the two moved the least to the left, maintaining the circle. This would be my chance. I took all the air I could and saw George's arm pass by my nose, but he hit his own friend, and I ran away.

I jumped from branch to branch to the top, the adrenaline was twice as high at that moment. The sound of the branches swaying made me tense, if they reached me it was gone. I climbed, and the sweat got in my way more and more. That's when I saw the white band that waved because of the strong winds. I ignored the swaying of the main trunk and jumped to the branch closest to the apex. I refused to look down, but a tear slipped out of my eye as I touched the flag and a popping sound came from below. Feeling my hands tingle, my branch snapped. I fell and screamed.

A kind of cloud flew quickly to the point where I was going to crash. Landing on it was like falling into a super soft bed, worse than seeing it stained a dark red. I got comfortable — or in shock — and ignored the throbbing and burning. However, when my soul returned to my body, I got up.

"I'll never climb that shit again, Gerould and Ataz! You pay me! I thought I was going to die!" After a few minutes of complaining to them, and my father laughing, my mother came running to see me and my sister. Apparently everyone was watching me.

I devoured the soup quickly, I was starving. We were sitting at the dinner table. Gerould, Ataz, Emy, me, my father and mother. While I bathed, they prepared a meal rich in vegetables and assorted meats. We put some candles to light the table and two light orbs for the room. We all talked that night. During dinner, I found myself lost in my world several times, remembering every second of today's training and every point that Ellie made me realize. How is she doing?

"…sister emerged, you managed to avoid the fall and still fought with all your might. That was impressive, son." said Kanro, with a beautiful smile on his face.

Emmy screamed? I swore it was that voice.

"I helped the brother. Hehehe."

"The young man still has a lot to practice, but today's results are to be celebrated." said the old guard.

"Accordingly." Ataz said as he picked up an empty glass from the table.

"Let's toast!" My father raised his full glass of wine, and everyone else did the same.

"Lumi… There's a letter for you." Amice said, calmly sipping her glass of orange juice.

"Whose is it?"

“She came open, so… You have a group quest in three days."

Reading Luir's book on my bed, my eyes felt heavy. Good to know I would go out with them again so I could show them the results of my training. I was still shy about the hooded guy, it would be wrong to deny that I was terrified of him. Training, Ellie, the mission, the voice… I just wanted to rest. The thud of the book against the floor woke me up. I got up, dragged my feet on the floor, took the book and put it away. Yes, I would go to sleep. I threw myself against the bed and glimpsed the world of dreams. But life had something against me.

"Careful..." I heard the voice say, and for some reason I had the impression that she was saying goodbye.