Why? Why the hell did that voice sound familiar? I have never even heard of a sun spirit or something of the sort speaking to a person in my previous life before. What’s more I was a strict atheist in my previous life as there had never been any signs of a being akin to a god existing.
So how comes that they exist here? Is mana the reason for that or something entirely different? If the sun has a spirit or even a consciousness, then doesn’t that mean that everything can have one?
Could it be that the planet I am standing on has a mind of its own?
I looked at the ground, unsure of what to think.
Then, could it be that the planet itself would punish us if we were to cause excessive harm to it? Do the most powerful beings on this planet have to be careful to not accidentally provoking the planet?
No matter how powerful you are, you can’t beat the planet you are living on. I don’t dare imagine what would happen if someone tries to fight against the planet.
But the thought of the sun itself punishing us is even more terrifying. Just imagining it sends shivers down my spine.
Even hiding wouldn’t work as the sun and earth would probably work together, resulting in us having no place to hide in the whole solar system.
Right, the oath we had sworn. How is it possible to be sure that we will stay friends for our entire lives? Sometimes even best friends just drift apart, none of them noticing it due to the process being so slow.
That is life. So how are we supposed to prevent that? If everything goes well all of us will live for hundreds of years. How many things can happen in all these years? Who can say that we will still be friends by then?
How does one define ‘friends’ anyway? Maybe the spirit of the sun has a different concept of friendship than we do, thus resulting in us being punished without even knowing why.
Dammit, this matter has become complicated.
I looked at Teacher, wanting to see his reaction to this, but his expression alone astonished me.
Not a single drop of blood was present on his face, making his already pale skin a deathly white. His face was frozen, constantly expressing a shocked expression. When I looked closer I could faintly see a few beads of sweat running down his face.
Fuck! The situation seems to be as bad as I thought.
My friends however didn’t seem to affected that much by the oath. After a few seconds had passed they quickly recovered from the shock and adopted and began to smile brilliantly.
“Woooooooooow! Did you just see that? Even the sun has acknowledged the sincerity of our oath!” Frank briefly laughed. “That must mean that we are awesome!” He stood there, obviously proud of himself to have suggested this.
The others nodded in agreement, not understanding the potential consequences of our actions today.
Fortunately, they didn’t notice my silence and continued to chatter away in their childish innocence.
As the other people around us also came over their shock the sound of dozens of children excitedly chatting filled the air.
It is in moments like this that I wish that I really was a kid. At least then I could simply ignore the consequences of anything I do, thinking that the grown-ups would handle them.
But alas, even if I had the chance to do that, I wouldn’t. For the simple reason that the process of growing up is often awkward and embarrassing.
Thinking about my own period of puberty I have to shake my head at some of the stupid things I had done. But I think that it is good to make some mistakes in your youth. Firstly, you are easily forgiven as you are still a ‘kid’ and secondly these mistakes are often the best memories you will ever make.
I don’t really know how it is like in this world but as a warrior I don’t think that my adulthood will be rosy.
Well, that is one more reason why I should enjoy this time of peace.
As I wasn’t particularly in the mood of pretending to be one of them and the others were far more childish than they normally were I just watched them from the sidelines.
As the sky began to darken a high pitched laughter could be heard from every direction. Smiles were on their faces and some ran around, most likely playing some game. Others were just discussing the events that had just transpired. All in all, they were having a lot of fun, obviously enjoying this rare time of pure enjoyment.
Damn, I feel old. Sure, I was young when I died back then, but still far older than these kids are now. How comes that I only start to feel old now?
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After it had become completely dark a loud clap abruptly caused the chattering to cease.
“BRATS! TRAINING TIME IS FINISHED! GO BACK TO THE DORMITORY NOW! JOHN, FRANK, GRETA, OWEN, COME MEET ME BEFORE YOU GO BACK!” Teacher shouted.
As the huge mass of children began to move we forced our way through it, slowly advancing into the direction of Teacher.
A lot of pushing, cursing and lost patience later we finally stood in front of him. He carefully sized each of us up whilst giving off an intimidating aura.
“Do you know what you have just done?” He asked us calmly.
Confused at the sudden pressure the others shook their heads. As I was feeling guilty my gaze wandered to every place that was not his face.
“At least one of you seems to have realized it. You have just FUCKED UP! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?” Teacher became more and more agitated as he spoke.
Seeing that they were still confused he punched the shack he had erected in frustration. It blew apart with an extremely loud noise, the wooden planks shattering into little splinters.
Fortunately, they magically stopped after a few meters, floating in midair.
I made a mental note to ask Teacher about this phenomenon after he calms down, which, according to his current state, could take quite a lot of time.
His shoulders trembled for a few seconds before he finally heaved a sigh. With a snap of his fingers the various pieces of the shack came back together seamlessly. It was as if nothing had ever happened, making it quite a surreal sight.
He lightly coughed. “That oath of yours has caused you to become some of the most dangerous people in Frumentum!” He paused, waiting for the information to properly sink in.
“In ancient records it is stated that, should a powerful entity like the sun accept to become the witness to an oath, it should never, never ever be broken. Otherwise the only fate that awaits the culprits is death. Yours in particular is a very vague one, making it even more dangerous.” His expression turned solemn.
“The punishment of the sun is a concentrated light beam that destroys a gigantic area. The ancient records weren’t very concise as but if they state gigantic then I don’t dare imagine the consequences.” He turned his head, his gaze most likely looking at something beyond them.
He sighed again. “You should go back now. Your punishment will be announced tomorrow.” He quietly said, his eyes still looking at something in the distance.
A light breeze swept through our surroundings, causing his white robes to sway and us to shiver.
Without sparing us another glance he proceeded to briskly walk away, but it wasn’t in the direction of either the gate or the dormitory.
After a few steps however he simply vanished. One second he was right in front of us and in the next he was simply...not there anymore.
Normally I would have been bewildered and curious, but I wasn’t in the mood for that. The threat of a punishment was just too present in my mind. At that moment nothing else mattered.
I was sure that it wouldn’t be light. Not for something as dangerous as that. If we pose a danger to the safety of Frumentum itself, the lightest punishment I can think of is being exiled.
The worst one would be death.
The walk back was deathly silent, the previous enthusiasm and happiness nowhere to be seen. Everyone had their own thoughts about it and needed time for themselves.
When the time to part came I saw that Greta had tears running down her face. At some point her hand had found its way to the hem of Owens shirt, holding it as if it were a lifeline.
“Nothing serious will happen, right?” She asked hopefully, her blue eyes desperately searching for someone to reaffirm her.
For a short time, there was just silence.
“Of course! We are still children, so I’m sure that they will have mercy on us!” Owens voice lightly echoed through the empty hallways.
Looking at him I could see that he wasn’t sure himself. His posture and the tone in his voice were all I needed to realize that.
I wanted to add something, to reassure them that everything would be alright, but I couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come out of my mouth, no matter how much I tried.
The silence continued, but this time there was no one who interrupted it.
Greta reluctantly turned around and walked to her room. Frank, Owen and myself did the same and wordlessly went to sleep.