Eru

I was born an Elf. My parents, instead of raising me themselves, ended up giving me…

To the king. To be raised. Because they apparently had work.

Now, I’m sure you can understand why I was slightly confused at this turn of events.

Firstly, what type of work would my parents be doing that they were able to give their kid to the King, and yet were still unable to take the time to raise me? Like, were they out killing demon lords at noon?

Secondly, what type of favors have piled up over the years to have royalty raise your kid without a complaint?

Either way, I ended up with a different family than the one that birthed me. The King, Theodore, The Queen, Johanne, and The Princess, Rose, who happened to be two years older than me.

Other than moving in with the royal family, a few key things happened to me that ended with me here, where I am.

Firstly, there’s the problem with my mana.

Since I was about one year old, I realized that there was a little orb that floated around me, like a comet circling a sun, tail included.

When I got to two years old, it’d turned into a girl. Now, one would ordinarily be happy with a girl floating around them, but this one was impermeable, invisible to some, barely visible to others, and could turn into basically anything. Now, with this sort of power, and her personality, which was a complete opposite of mine, we had lots of situations where I’d rather her leave.

I’d reach out to grab something, and I’d pass through it. I’d stop in the middle of a hallway because there’s a wall of mana blocking my way. I’d try and grab a piece of paper off my face, and grab nothing.

After each time I embarrassed myself, I would hear a faint giggle in my head, before the mana disappeared.

When I consulted my tutors, which happened to be teaching Rose as well, they simply laughed at me.

“Mana with a mind of its own? Mana is an extension of the mind… It can’t have a personality, much less one that’s different from yours. If anything, somebody else is toying with you.”

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I should have believed his words, but with the trickster of a girl floating about by my chest, I found it difficult.

Secondly, there was my impulse decision to become a game character.

Specifically, I became one of the assassins from Assassin’s Creed. With all of the trees around me, the endless branches to jump to and fro, and the other things that you can do in real life, but not in the game, it was fun.

My agility helped here, letting me steady myself on branches and other unsteady perches without much trouble.

Instead of going for melee based, as the Creed games mostly are, with the hidden blades and such, I decided to focus on archery, something that I could do easily because of my dexterity.

Well, I say easily, but it was just easier for me. I had little strength, being a child. It was difficult to draw the bow, much less shoot it properly.

Well, in the end, I ended up capable of shooting it. It took a bit to get used to, and it dragged me down more than once during my running through the branches, almost leading me to my death once, but I survived.

Thirdly, life with royalty is much easier than I assumed. I basically lived how I wanted. I had absolute freedom. If I wanted to eat, I’d just ask for it. If I wanted to walk out of the castle, I just did so. Of course, with my skills, I normally leaped out of a window or something, instead of taking the front door, but it was still technically considered walking out.

If I was being honest, I might even dare to suggest that Theodore and Johanne were scared of me. They actively avoided conversation, and I think I heard one of them praying that I wouldn’t come back one time when I left.

Kinda rude, don’t you think?

It must’ve been because of my parents. I don’t really know them all that well, having only seen them… what, three times up until now? Each of those times, they came back, feasted, said hello to me, before running off again.

I was tempted more than once to run off after them, just to see where they went.

But I realized the dangers behind that and ended up giving a strong enough counter argument to kill of my desire to go.

“So, what are you doing, sticking around me?” I asked the empty room.

I closed my eyes. I didn’t need to see what came next.

“I’m yours, aren’t I?” Her voice slithered through my mind, as if it wished to curl around it, but was trapped inside.

“I own nobody. So, what are you doing here?”

“I’m Yours.” Her voice had an edge to it, like the blade of a knife.

“...I see.”

I could only accept it.

“So, if you’re mine, then what am I to you? I’m no master, nor am I an owner.”

“I am you. But you are not me?”

What has this world come to, where mana questions its own existence? I’m the one over here who should be having an existential crisis!

“You are me, but I am not you. So, are you a part of me?”

“Yes.”

“Are you an extension of my mind?”

“Not quite…”

So I guess I’m an exception to that rule…

“Do you have a name?”

“Yes.”

Unexpected…

“Then, let’s hear it.”

“Bia.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I didn’t really have anything else to ask, so I just let it be and decided to try and live with it. See how it turns out.

All that being said, my life went by quickly, since it was full of mindless training to be able to play around without the consequence of death.

Simple, but effective.

If I had to slap a motto down for these past few years, it’d probably be something along the lines of;

Work hard to play freely.