Hello again everyone. The story really begins now, look forward to what will happen next time.

English is not my native language so I hope that people will correct the mistakes that I make.

(Hoping that I did not make a lot of them)

If you have any tips for me to improve my way of writing, please, feel free to give them.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 1: The Gears of Fate

A torrential rain was pouring down on the whole city. A young boy was running under the rainfall; he was racing through the street alongside a little girl. The boy was holding the girl's hand very tightly, almost as if he was afraid of losing her—no, he was holding her hand because he was really scared of losing her.

They were sprinting for almost five minutes already; the boy seemed to be alright but the younger girl was running out of breath. Even so, she didn't stop, she continued to run alongside the boy. The girl was tired, her legs began to hurt; she wanted to scream her pain out but she stayed silent, gritting her teeth to suppress the sound that could come out of her mouth. But after a moment, she couldn't bear the pain anymore.

*huff huff*

...*thud*

The sound of someone falling could be heard but the young boy didn't react to it. This sound was, in fact, louder on a wet floor, but for the boy, there wasn't really a difference since the noise from the falling rain was all he could hear.

Nevertheless, he turned back. Not because he heard the girl falling, but because the hand he was holding didn't moved along with him anymore and stopped him. Looking behind him, he saw the girl on the wet floor. She was breathing heavily and seemed to be suffering a lot.

"Chelsea!", he yelled.

He was calling out his sister's name, but no answer came from her. Whereas it was because she couldn't hear him as a result of the downpour or because she was feeling unwell after running as fast as she could for several minutes—that, he didn't know.

They were dashing for more than a dozen of minutes. It was already way above the girl's normal performance. Running at her maximum speed for more than ten minutes was definitively a prowess. The boy fell on his knees and tried to help his younger sister. He called for her name several times while grabbing her whole body to support her.

"I...*huff huff* ...okay.", answered the girl.

Chelsea was still conscious but could hardly speak. Still, she gathered all her strength to reassure her brother. The boy was yelling her name with an anxious voice but after hearing her, he began to calm down; he was relieved to know that she was just exhausted. After making sure that she was "alright", he raised his head and looked around.

The scenery around him was desolate. The siblings were in the middle of a street—a small passage inside the slums of the city. While looking around, the boy caught a few gaze from the people living in this part of the slums. When he saw them, he wanted to ask for help but he didn't. He knew the circumstances of living in this hell; it was survival of the fittest; it was truly 'everyone for themselves'; no one was going to help two children that were running—no escaping something or someone as fast as they could.

*kof kof*

The girl started to cough. Not only she was exhausted and her legs were hurting, but she was also becoming ill because of the unrelenting rain. Her clothes—or what could be considered as her clothes—were completely soaked. She was trembling but to not worry her brother, she stayed strong; she didn't show any sign of weakness when her brother looked at her. With her right hand, she was clenching a small colorless stone that was serving as a pendant. Chelsea closed her eyes, and then began to remember what caused this situation. She was regretting her earlier promise...

____*A few hours earlier*____

Today was a good day for Chelsea; she was humming and skipping. The reason of her good mood was the promise she made with her older brother. He was her last relative after their parent died, and represented the world for her. He promised his sister few days ago to bring her watch the parade in the main street that took place today, day of the 24th of Ether representing the summer Equinox, and they currently were in the middle of fulfilling this promise.

The parade was a march of scholars showing the power of Mana. This parade acted like a graduation ceremony for the concerned scholars, but it was also to show off the kingdom's strength in front of the citizen. Indeed, being able to use the "Mana" was nowadays rare because of the lack of Mana-ite and its use was mostly military.

Furthermore, showing the miracle created by manipulating such magic in front of everyone was more of a political reason than other reasons. Even so, the day of the parade was for everyone a festive day; a day of celebration.

For Chelsea, it would be the first year she would be able to watch the parade. Even when her parents were living, she couldn't witness the parade. Essentially because her mother always said that it was too dangerous. Her father, though, tried to convince his wife to let the children see the parade but without result. In any case, this year, she could finally attend it like she always wanted to. Her brother spoiled her a lot since the death of their parents, and she knew that he would not refuse her ply.

Truth is, when she asked her brother, this was the first time she saw him reluctant with her demand, and it was quite understandable. The boy was afraid for his sister; he remembered his mother's warning, that it was dangerous. Nonetheless, he didn't want to refuse and he did not.

After their parent's death, they became orphans. Their family wasn't wealthy; they were just commoners. They didn't have any relatives, so after they saw their home burning, they were left with nothing. Some people tried to send the siblings in a orphanage but, after knowing that they would be separated, the girl, not wanting to part away from her brother, escaped. In the end, the two children flee inside the slums of the city.

The city where they were currently living was called 'Helen', it was the the main town of the small kingdom of Licade, where the ruler lived. The name 'Helen' was directly taken from the the religion the kingdom was serving: 'Hélenna'. The city was the biggest one of the kingdom and one of the biggest of the whole continent. However, at least a third of the city was constituted of slums.

At the beginning, the life of the two siblings in the slums was really hard. They didn't really have a place for them and, above all, they were only children. Soon enough, the boy, Ashul, began to do odd jobs to earn money or food; he also started to steal when he couldn't earn enough money. He was quite reluctant at first to do these jobs since he had to leave his younger sister alone, somewhere in the slums, to work, but he did not really a choice. If they wanted to survive, he had to find a way to earn money and bring food back for both of them.

His sister, after witnessing all these events, changed and hardened herself. She wasn't the little girl that loved to be spoiled anymore—at least, it was what she was trying to show. In fact, she didn't want to burden her brother. She knew and understand the importance of her brother working to bring back some food or money. She, herself, also wanted to work but her brother didn't let her do so.

The young girl turned seven only a few days ago and her birthday wasn't like she dreamt of last night. She was even crying for several hours after that dream—no, maybe it was more of a nightmare for her. Her brother tried to console her but he couldn't do much. They were living in the slums for a little more than 3 months of the Hélenna calendar, that means almost half a year; and his sister was still quite affected by the turn of events.

One day, she heard about the parade. She was quite excited for the first time since long ago. She asked her big brother to bring her see the parade. Ashul was reluctant but he didn't refuse and it was mostly because it was one of the unique time that her sister asked for something since the death of their parent. His ever-smiling and joyous sister was nowhere to be seen after the incident and seeing her smile like she once was influenced his decision; he accepted to bring her see the parade of the summer Equinox.

____*Ashul's Point of view*____

Today was the day I was bringing my little sister watch the parade. I was not really fond of it and as mother said, it could quickly turned into a dangerous place. Yet, here I was, taking this girl along to watch the event. Frankly speaking, I didn't want to bring her but when her once lost smile came anew, I couldn't refuse her. In any case, now that we were here, I needed to do everything I could to protect her since I couldn't do anything for her parents... I won't let any more tragedy fell upon this small girl.

While thinking about today's event and waiting Chelsea, I found myself in front of a broken mirror dumped into the slums. I stopped my movement and looked in the mirror. What I saw was a young man with dark hair and darkish red eyes. His build was quite sturdy; his ears was not round like most of the people but was rather pointy; his eyebrows were arched and were of black color like his hair. What I saw was a normal young boy—at least, from the appearance. What I couldn't see was the injuries under his ragged clothes. The scars that represented his struggles from when he was born.

"Brother? What are you doing? Your eyes...", a voice came from behind me and spoke these words.

"Oh...Ah, sorry nothing. Anyway, let's get going."

I turned back and answered my sister that gave me an anxious look. Seemed like I was looking at myself with these 'eyes' again. Of course, when seeing myself, I could only have a look full of hatred and disgust. I was staring at this boy who let his benefactors die. I though that he didn't deserved to live anymore... And yet he was living. He was still living because of that girl, she was the last remnant, the last piece his will to live was still tied to.

The young girl began to resemble her parents. She had pure azure eyes like her mother's and deep black short hair like her father's. She seemed to have inherit both her mother's and father's quality, physically and, hopefully, mentally. Chelsea was wearing shabby clothes but it was better than the clothes that I was wearing. Unfortunately, with the low quantity of money I earned, I couldn't buy better clothes that could suit her. She was also wearing a necklace with a colorless stone that she got from mother. It was, for her, a memento of her parents.

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Even though she was only seven, she was already trying to become independent and she also tried to not show her emotions like she used to. The innocent young girl was now becoming more and more like I used to be—no, I'm still like this... I was saved by her parents, it's now my turn to save her from this miserable life.

On our way to the main street, we realized that many people living in there were also going to watch the parade. It looked like even with an indecent life condition, these people still had hope; indeed, they were going to see the hope representing the future of their kingdom and perhaps, have more faith in a possible good future for them.

I was walking alongside Chelsea. We were holding hands; she was on my left so her right hand was holding my left one. We walked some minutes without really saying anything and then, Chelsea began to say:

"Hey Brother Ashul, what's the parade like?"

"Hm... I never went once myself so I can't really describe it but...", I paused and I started to think. After some moment, I continued: "I heard that they were all kind of miracle created by mana during the parade. Last year, I think, there was a battle of huge wolves of flames in the air."

"Wolves of flames? Eeeh, is that so..."

It seemed that she was quite dubious from the look on her eyes and her tone when she said those words. It was quite understandable, for someone who never saw magic, it was rather hard to believe.

After another few minutes, we finally arrived in the main street. We saw quite a lot of people. Children and many adults came to see the parade. Because of the height of the adults, Chelsea couldn't see the scholars—the magicians. I reassured her saying that the 'show' was mainly in the sky like I told earlier with the wolves of flames in the air but she seemed to still doubting my words.

However, after the appearance of people jumping high in the air—and I don't why they're doing so—and the creation of a dragon—or more like a flying snake?—of fire from nothingness, the small girl was no longer hesitant and became excited. I, too, was quite surprised by the size of this dragon-like thing of fire. It seems like quite a lot of scholars were using magic together to create it; but its purpose was only to show something incredible since it wasn't quite viable in battle because of the huge amount of mana it needed.

The parade was continuing for about two more hours until the first drop of rain fell. People first thought that the rain was due to the scholars ability, but it seemed that it was not the case. The few guards that were regulating the joyous event began to scatter. Confusion appeared on the face of the citizen. They were discussing among each other, wondering what was happening. The magicians, that were exhibiting their power, created a temporary barrier to protect people under the rain waiting for the guard to find the cause of this unnatural rain—indeed, it was neither a natural rain or some mana manipulation created by the scholars.

The rain was quite heavy. Like everybody, I ran toward the barrier to not be completely soaked. Chelsea was also running to protect herself from the rain and, in the midst of the confusion, we were separated. I started to panic. After looking at my surrounding trying to spot her, I shouted several times her name:

"Chelsea! Chelsea! Where are you?"

"I'm here!"

The sound coming from my sister's reply indicated me that she was not too far from me. It seemed like she began to run toward my direction when she heard my voice. Still looking around me, I finally noticed where she was. Before she could reach my position, she bumped into someone and because she had a frail body, she fell on her bottom. The person she collided with was also in his way to go under the barrier. Even though this man was soaked, he didn't hesitate to bump several people to go under the barrier. Ignoring what just happened, Chelsea got up like nothing happened and continued to make her way through me. Since I located her, I was also coming toward her way after I saw her falling.

But, after seeing my sister's clothes, the people that she was touching or bumping into, because she was running in the middle of the sea of people, began to push her. Then, an unsightly man nudged my sister. She then fell once again on the humid floor.

"People from the slums should stay in the slums!"

The voice of the man that hurt my sister was echoing loudly. Even under the heavy rain, the people near him could hear what he just said. Folks near the man were now glaring at Chelsea.

Indeed, although there was still a third of the population that lived in the slums, they were a clear discrimination between those who lived in the common area and those who lived in the slums. This distinction was even more clear with the nobles. In fact, because the nobles were considering the commoner as low-lives, the commoner had to find a scapegoat, people in which they could direct their anger since they couldn't show it the the nobles; and the victims were the people of the slums. The strange thing is, most of the people living the slums were old commoners of the same city but they were not remorseful at all.

After hearing this, Chelsea didn't try to get up... She was looking down. She didn't want to raise her head; she was afraid. I dashed to her as fast as can to help her. I kneeled and try to see if she was okay. When I raised my head, I saw the disgusting look of the people living in the commoner's area gazing at us.

"Yuha! Wait!"

Seeing what just occurred, a young female scholar ran to where we were. At first, I didn't realized that she was coming toward us but the voice calling out her name—at least I think it was her name—made me turn my head into her direction.

"What are you doing?"

The woman yelled seeing our conditions after she arrived near my sister and I. Not waiting for a reply from the commoners that were now afraid of her—or more afraid of her rank in the hierarchy—, the woman tried to help Chelsea to get up.

When the young scholar was trying to help my sister, a bluish light began to emanate from Chelsea—no, not from her but from the pendant she was wearing and currently clenching. The stone she was wearing was, normally, a colorless stone but right now, a blue light was flashing and was blinding everyone near us. The light was so bright that it could be seen from everybody on the main street.

For a moment, I was surprised but when I regained my calm, I realized the significance of the light. I remembered mother giving the pendant to Chelsea; it was an old Mana-ite that lost all its power. The stone in question was kept by mother because it represented something special for her and father. Knowing that the ore should have lost all its power and seeing the Mana-ite emitting bluish light once again could only mean one thing.

"What...? It's..."

The voice of the female scholar could be heard after the potency of the blue light diminished. Now, only faint blue light around the stone itself could be seen. The woman also seemed to understand what this sudden flash of light meant.

'We need to run away from here as fast as we can...!'

I grabbed Chelsea hands started to shout at her:

"Run Chelsea! We need to run! Quick!"

Without understanding what just happened nor why I shouted this, Chelsea didn't ask anything and followed my orders. She got up and we both began to run under the rain. The direction we were taking was where we were coming from, the slums. Luckily enough, the people around us were stunned about what just happened and didn't followed us—at least, they didn't followed immediately. So did the female scholars; she seemed to not have moved from where she was. But after what just happened, it was only a question a time before someone will be send to pursue us.

___

We were now in the middle of the slums. People living in there that did not come see the parade were looking at us as I was trying to help Chelsea who was exhausted. I saw my younger sister holding tightly the stone of her necklace. When I was looking at her, she seemed to be okay, but after what happened, she couldn't be alright. Even though she was catching her breath, we ran and stayed under the heavy rain for too long. She had a fragile constitution, so she definitely caught a fever.

As I was trying to help her, I began to hear voices. Like I thought, some pursuers were sent after us and they were catching up. Realizing our current situation, I put both of my arm under my sister and stood up while holding her. After making sure that I was gripping her tightly to not let her fall, I started to race.

Because I was holding her, my speed was diminished and I couldn't run as fast as I wanted. The voices behind me were drawing closer and soon enough, I also became exhausted. But I couldn't stop here.

Then—

*BANG*

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Book of Mana (part 2):

During the last decades, rumors saying that people that could manipulate mana without any tools has been spread. After several years of research, these rumors have been proven to be true. It seems that people with the power to manipulate and emitting mana from their body itself were real. Today, these people are called: "Deviant". The Deviant were rare and almost nonexistent but it is said that their strength could change the state of the world.

The recent research tried to explain the phenomenon of magic. Magic consisted in modeling the mana particle into whatever the person holding the Mana-ite tool wanted. With different affinity, mana particle could be transformed into fire, water, wind or earth. Basic manipulation showed that people could transform the mana into two different elements. A more precise knowledge in mana manipulation led to a possible transformation of it into three elements. As for manipulating all of them, only people called "Deviant" could handle the four of them at the same time.

Ulzreg's journal (part 1):

It's been already 26 years since I entered the tower. My body seemed to not have aged a lot. It seems like 10 years inside represented 1 year of aging. My body started to change; I can now manipulate the mana without the help of the tool I brought with me. As I climbed higher in the tower, I discovered many treasures. Books about old alchemy could be found. I tried to learn this lost art and now, I succeeded in creating a small sword from metals that could be found in the tower.

After reaching a certain floor of the tower, I could sense a different aura surrounding the area. Was it because of the floor or because my body began to change again?—That, I didn't know.

Thank you for reading.