Magic. It's a wonderful concept, and its laws are the laws of this world in almost every major town, country, city and even kingdom and empire. If you were a magician, even if you were a weak G-rank, you could still make money in towns where commoners who hardly saw magic would pay good money to see.
My name is Nikolai and I'm a fifteen-year-old orphan who lives in one of the most run down places in this kingdom — the village named Sel.
I wake up on a fresh Monday morning with a wonderful feeling and search around the pile of cardboard, blanket and miscellaneous things I slept on and find what I was looking for: a piece of bread for my rare breakfast.
I feel the chunk and find that it’s almost stale, so I wolf it down before it gets any dryer. As soon as I’m done, I crawl over to the stream flowing gently beside my little under-the-bridge settlement and cup my hands to drink from it. My living pile is beneath the shadows as it keeps me cool, relaxed, and most importantly, out-of-sight, but also near enough to this stream so I can take baths in it.
When satisfied, I settle down warmly once more. I lift my palm until it’s nearly horizontal to my face and a glowing orb of purple lightning flickers to life on it, causing a smile to grow on my face.
Magic. Something I discovered I have. The first time I found out weeks ago, it was an accident. I waved it away as a fluke and never attempted it again, but this morning feels great — I even had breakfast — and I felt my fingertips itch to try it again. So, I let it out and the evidence of my newfound ability shines in front of me. This was 0-star magic but it was something, and I am able to control it well enough.
“It wasn’t a fluke,” I whisper.
I wonder briefly if I could attempt higher star magic but wave away the absurd thought after realizing I needed to learn it. Where is an orphan like me supposed to get the books and training materials for that?! I would not even be allowed in the academy because of my status, much less be able to afford the tuition. It was the street magician life for me with this ability, but at least I would be able to make something out of it. Hopefully.
I hear footsteps. Someone is coming, more like people. I turn sharply to see four boys with sadistic grins walking towards me. They don’t look familiar but I can tell they’re here for trouble.
“Er, you know,” I start nervously and stand, “I don’t want any trouble.”
“That’s quite alright,” One of the boys says, “We, on the other hand, want a ton of trouble. Know our name, the Fire Wolves, led by our leader, Sere.”
“Sere!” I exclaim, a little fearful. He and I used to be best friends when I lived on the streets. We were both homeless orphans until he found out I was good at a lot of things, unfortunately maybe better than him, and our friendship grew apart because of it. He became cold towards me with envy and eventually it all ended with a big fight that I won.
The group of boys split apart and there stood the small boy with rimmed glasses and a cold, hardened look.
“Hello there, my best friend,” He greets mockingly. “How have you been? Not great by the looks of it, I mean, trash stays where trash belongs.” His goons fell into laughter at his words and I frowned.
“I’m here for something. My dignity that you took from me three years ago. Between now and the last time I saw you, I discovered I have an affinity for Air magic and got the runesmith to teach me Fire magic in exchange for helping him while he took me in. He gave me a nice, warm bed to sleep in, and hot, delicious food three times a day.” Sere pauses to let his words sink in, and they do. I get envious, just like he wants.
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“Because of his training, I have managed to acquire what most people in this village couldn’t: power which I will use to achieve higher ambitions. But before that,” He murmurs, and in a flash, I am hit on the chest by a bright flash of light. My skin starts to burn.
“Agggh!” I yell in extreme pain and fall over, clutching my chest where Sere hit and begin writhing on the floor. I don’t even have the time to let out a pained groan when slaps, kicks and blows begin landing all over my body. I don’t know how long it goes on because at some point, my mind zones out from agony, blocks everything out, but when I am aware of everything again, they’ve all left.
I lay there, limp on my pile and unable to move an inch. I would pass out, but swollen limbs, a few broken joints and even burnt flesh keep me awake. I don’t know any healing magic and I let my eyes close for a few minutes, forcing sleep to come to me, anything to escape this pain, and it does. When I awake, I am in a brightly lit room.
I groan and crack my eyes open to slits to minimize the burning light that pierced through.
“Where am I?” I ask.
Someone answers, “In an infirmary. You were almost dead by the time we found you,”
Slowly, I turned my head and saw a girl in adventurer’s clothing. She was resting against the wall.
“Damn,” I sigh. “I got beaten nearly dead.”
“Not nearly dead. I exaggerated, it was just a few broken bones and swelling. And a lot of burns,” The girl says.
“Huh. Did someone heal me before you found me? Because it certainly felt like I was half-dead.”
“Whatever. Tell me your name and how you ended up like that.” She demands.
I sigh and respond, “My name is Nikolai and I’m a homeless orphan who does odd jobs for money. I’d rather not talk about how I ended up… you know,”
“Well, I’ve paid for your healing and treatment. You’re free to go.” She says, and I sit up on the bed and begin checking out multiple parts of my body. Truly, everything is alright. I get down from the bed and stand, then thank her.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Jane.” She answers. “Jane Destro,” And like some kind of too-cool hero, she walks out.
Before I got assaulted while relaxing in my shade, I had plans for the day. It was why I felt so happy when I woke up. Along with it being one of those days where I could have something for breakfast, the package I starved myself so much to afford and ordered weeks ago is to be collected today.
I walk into the village blacksmith’s shop.
“Oh, Nikolai. Morning,” He greets, bent over a piece of metal. He gestures to a long, tightly wrapped bundle. “It’s ready. If you want it enchanted, you can go over to the runesmith’s shop.” He says, and I thank him, pick up the bundle and leave.
“Ah, hello,” The runesmith greets me when I enter his shop. So this is who Sere trained and works under. “What can I do for you, young one?”
“I just want to know what you can do about these?” I reply and show him a pair of metal gauntlets, shiny and freshly made.
“Let’s see,” He turns them over, examining them for a few seconds. “I can increase the attack and defense points. Also push the durability up a number and maybe add Ricochet enchantment, so you can block magic attacks and deflect them.”
“How much?”
“85 silver coins.”
My eyes grow wide at the price. That’s most of the money I had left! I sigh but accept and pay, and he gathers up the gauntlets, finalizing the purchase. I walk out of the shop, next stop, the village baker where I buy low-quality bread for lunch and dinner. Now that I can spend my little remaining money freely without worrying because I’m not saving up for anything, eating at least twice a day is certain for me.
I get back to my settlement where I sit down to eat and practice my magic after. I make shapes and swirls ranging from small to large, all purple and crackling, and get used to my body’s mana. That was how I spent the rest of my day, practicing.
This was only the beginning.