"Ven! Get up quickly, you're going to be late! Your father is already waiting for you."

As I laid on my bed with my eyes wide open, I could hear my mother calling for me. It's been nine years since I have been here. And thinking about it, I did make a bit of progress. 

sigh

slam 

I was interrupted in my thoughts by the sound of my door being violently open. I knew what was coming and decided that it was better not to flee.

A little girl, which looked like she was not older than seven years old came in my room at high speed. She had short black hair, bright green eyes filled with mischievousness, and that smile on her face meant that she was planning to make me go through a world of pain. And it was indeed the case.

She went straight to my bed, and when she was close enough, she jumped and dived right into me. However, since I was already used to it, I already had my ways on how to take her on since I couldn't dodge. The sheet covering my bed wasn't thick enough so that it could absorb the impact, so she would definitely get hurt if I were to dodge.

gasp

"Helene can't have some pity for me? You'll crush me to death one day if you keep doing this!", while maintaining a pained expression, I said those words to her. 

"Humpf! Mother told me to do this since big brother isn't waking up." 

She quickly got off my bed and ran away while giggling. She knew that if she stayed any longer I would retaliate. 

After going out of my room, my mother scolded me for lazing around in the morning on such an important day. However, I didn't feel any excitement over someone analyzing my talent for me. 

I quickly washed my face before my mother urged me to join my father who was waiting for me outside with everyone else. I took the piece of bread left on the table for me before going out.

As I left our house, the same cold northern breeze welcomed me by caressing my face. 

The village in which I grew wasn't anything uncommon. They were a bit more than hundred people living here. Our livelihood couldn't be considered terrible, but it couldn't come close to those living in the city. First of all, water was something we had in a sufficient amount. We couldn't afford to waste it. This wasn't the case for cities. Clean water was something they had in abundance. And since our village wasn't too far from the largest city around, Late Frost City, we could supply ourselves with clean water by selling some commodities to them. Thus, we were better off than some other villages at the border who had a hard supplying themselves with clean water. 

Next was food. Every household here had some land to work with. It is the parent's job to maintain their land fertile and to regulate their crops, so they could produce enough to feed their family while having some leftovers for taxes. Those who managed to have a very successful harvest could even think about selling a bit of it to save up some money. My parents worked very hard on the field for this. they both came from a village in the border and lived in harsher living conditions than me and my siblings. That's why they are giving it their best, so they can save enough money to send us to school in a city.

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And for last, is education. As I said earlier, my parents are saving up money to send me and my siblings to school. Because there isn't any in this village. Although there is the old monkey who taught us how to read and write so that we wouldn't be considered as illiterate if we were to go in a school, he could not teach us anything besides telling us stories about heroes and monsters. So, each time parents sent their children to him so he could teach them, they would only listen carefully when he was telling stories and cause a ruckus when he tried to teach them about the language we use.

In the Northern Empire,  we speak Nasynth. From what old monkey told us, this language is a very simplified version of the Old Nasynth which was used few hundreds of years ago. I asked him if he knew how to speak the old language but he told us that he couldn't. It was prohibited to speak the old language by the Emperor as some of the words they used held powers. No one understood what he meant and we all asked him to show us. But he scolded us and sent us back home.

Despite this, he still loved the fact that we were interested in what he said besides his stories about heroes. And he particularly liked me since I was the first child to learn how to read and write properly in less than a month. He said that my level was acceptable for school. Since then, my parents wished even more for me to go school so that I could have a better future than them.

And today, was the first step for them and for me.

There are few prerequisites if one wished to enlist at Late Frost City's School. First, the child must not be older than 10 years old. Second, he needs to be at least a Bronze-level talent. Third, the family needed to pay one gold coin per year per child enlisted, and there will be additional expenses for each class he takes. They will need to pay 10 silver coins per class. However, one gold coin was already a lot of money for his family, so in order to help those with abilities coming from poor families, the governor of Late Frost City told the school to make an entrance exam. And if the participant managed to be among the top ten, his parents didn't need to pay the one gold coin fee.

Although it was very unlikely I could be among the best, I could only try my best. During those nine years, I could experience things I could not even imagine before. And... I owe them this very life of mine, so the least I could do was to not let my parents down as long as it is within my capabilities.

While thinking all of this, my father and I were waiting with other villagers for everyone to be ready. And while I was daydreaming, someone sneaked up behind me thinking I was oblivious to what was happening around me. 

"Gotcha Ven!"

Someone tried to tackle me from behind but I sidestepped and a child nearly fell on the ground.

"How can you keep avoiding like this?" said the child feeling down.

He was a bit taller than me and had light brown hair, a chubby face, and clear blue eyes. Although he sounded a bit unhappy a second ago, he was already full of smiles like nothing happened. His name was Djar. You could call him my best friend. We were born in the same year but I was born earlier than him. While I was born in spring, he was born in autumn. 

Since we were always together since our early age, people liked to compare us. With my short black hair, red eyes, bronze skin, and slim body, I looked and was more mature compared to children of my age with my face which rarely expressed any emotion. Meanwhile, Djar was a bit fat, and was smiling most of the time as if he was in constant happiness. Some said that he was happy for the both of us. I actually laughed the first time I heard this.

"Simple. I knew you would come sooner or later and that you would try to surprise me again. So I made myself look defenseless to bait you." 

"Show off. I'm sure you noticed me when I was at the entrance of the village and acted like you didn't see me." 

"Maybe... But you still failed right? So it's punishment time."

The smile which was on his face a second ago faded. He quickly turned away and tried to run but my hand was already on his shoulder.

"And since we're going to Late Frost City together, I know the perfect punishment for you..."

"Ven! We're friends since we stopped drinking milk from our mother, you can't do this to me! At least wait until we come back, my father will ki-"

"No. You had your fun trying to make me fall, now it's my turn."

"... Please send help..."

As his voice faded in the wind, Djar was cursing at him from the past who had the stupid idea of trying to surprise Ven despite knowing the consequences.