Eiso is yet again reading from his most prized possession. After telling his father that he had been reading from it for some time now, he agreed to lend it to him for the time being, stating the he “Was never into much book learnin’ anyway.”
As he comes across terms such as ‘Hostile’s and Beasts’, unpleasant thoughts and images entered his mind as he recalled that horrible day. So many Beasts, So much blood, so much…pain. It was not until he heard other voices that he finally snapped back to reality.
“Hey, don’t be greedy. Just tell me already!”
“No way, I worked so hard to find out how! There’s no way I’m going to give this power to anybody!”
Eiso had been lounging around underneath a particularly shady tree in the middle of an empty field when he heard the voices of other children playing some distance away from him. Looking up he spots a red headed boy a few years older than him accompanied by a little girl with brown and bobbed hair.
“Come oonnn. Just tell me. It’s something bad I know it! Tell me what you are gonna’ do, or else I’m gonna’ tell your dad!”
“T-Threaten my all you want, there’s no chance I’ll tell a little kid!”
As much as Eiso was curious as to what they were talking about, he decided to ignore them for the time being as he had other business to do in town. Brushing of the dirt from his trousers, he packs away his book inside a knapsack, flings the single strap over his shoulder and begins walking back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is a rather beautiful day as Eiso was walking through the streets, observing other passersby. Everyone Eiso ran into was somber and generally quiet as they went about their business repairing houses or harvesting crops. In fact, the only people that lightened the mood to any extent were the other children, laughing and playing, blissfully unaware as to what happened just a few weeks ago.
The nights from that day on had been the most stress filled anyone of Greyfield had ever experienced. Anyone who lived on the outskirts of town, or close to it, had to be relocated further in, as everyone had been assigned a task to carry out. During the day, the townsfolk had been forced to laboriously create and maintain the temporary barricade surrounded the town. Thanks to the use of earth spells its construction they were well protected thought the maintenance was rather taxing. However, the true problems arose once the sun fell. During the night, the Beasts that those in the town named those ‘Wretched Hounds’, would come in packs, attacking the barricade until they succeeded in tearing it down, and every night they have done so without fail. Those Beasts slaughtered any and all that got into their path, until the guards have finally been able to down them through their combined efforts of magic and steel. Still, all they could manage was to hold on until reinforcements arrived from the Lord of their region. Three weeks have passed since the infamous “Mine Incident” and the people of Greyfield are still recovering from the initial shock. Even now, after the beasts have been quelled there is talk of abandoning the town for safety, something that Eiso’s father has seriously considered. The only thing bringing up the mood was the children themselves. Their happy demeanor was slowly infecting most of the adults, bringing smiles to their faces.
‘I suppose the best remedy would be to make our own light mood.’
Eiso thought to himself with a sunny disposition as he opened the doors to the apothecary’s work shop. The shop itself had shelves stacked upon shelves, filled with veils and jars of liquids that came in a variety colors. Flasks of viscous green and potions of a luminescent blue this shop had everything to cure most ailments. As interesting as it was to look at the shop’s fine products, Eiso had other business further back behind a set of curtains. Reeling back the cloth before him he found the person he was looking for. Inside was a soft linen bed and beside it was a single elderly woman wearing simple black robes and reading papers on a desk
“Good morning Ms. Marle.”
“…Hmm.”
Satisfied by her usually stern response Eiso sets aside his things into a corner before pulling out a single book labeled “Medicinal Synthesis: Beginner’s Edition” and began reading its contents. After an hour or so of nothing but silence and the occasional scratching of a pen, he was
interrupted by a knock on the counter up front.
“Hello! Can someone help me?”
Without skipping a beat, Eios jumps up and greets the potential customer. What he found was a guard assisting his friend who was battered, bruised, and bleeding. Attempting to keep his composure after looking at the man’s wounds, Eiso greeted them.
“G-Good Morning sir! How can I help?”
“Ah, it’s you, kid. I actually need some healing done.”
Ever since that Dungeon was found, Eiso had been rather busy. In the five days it took for armed forces to give the town relief he was tasked with the job of patching up the guards that were injured in fighting off the Wretched Hounds. Many were gruesomely injured, however many were thankful that the situation did not get much worse, as those injured were able to scrape by with their lives. As much help as he was, problems came with the fact that he was still very new to using magic. As such, he was only able to heal a few people before running out of mana and being overwhelmed with exhaustion; so many wounded, yet only a single child there to help them.
Still, a job was job and as such, he directed the two men into the infirmary as the guard began removing his friend’s armor. The man was definitely bruised badly but thankfully the seemingly large claw mark that made it past his armor left only a shallow wound. With this much it was not too difficult for Eiso, and so, he places his hands over the wounds.
“[Restra]”
On command, warm flowing white light emitted from his palms and into the man’s wounds, sealing up the claw mark and bringing color back to the bruising.
“…”
“..!”
A smile spreads crosses the wounded guard’s face.
“…ah, that’s much better! Thanks kid.”
Ms. Marle had finally looked up from her desk.
“That’ll be 570 Silver”
“My LORD! That MUCH!?” The guards were dumbfounded at the cost.
“Erm…Ms. Marle, I don’t think we’re supposed to charge for that.”
“Pahh, if that’s the way it is we’ll never make any money. As for you two, just tell the rest of the men not to be so damn confident just because you have someone here to patch you up.”
“Erm…It’s fine Ms. Marle.”
“No it’s NOT. That over confidence of having a healer is gotten people killed before, and neither you nor Diam will be there to prevent that.”
“Uh…excuse me? I came here on Sister Diam’s directions. You see… I need someone to help my son.”
Next, a red haired man walks in with an equally red headed boy that was a few inches taller than Eiso whom he recognized immediately as the same person from earlier that was arguing with a little girl. Based on the look of guilt on his face as well as the burn marks on his arms it is easy tell what happened.
“My idiot son tried to use a spell improperly.”
“HAH it wasn’t improper, it was perfect! I just, got a little carried away is all. Besides, I’m fine. See!”
“Like hell you are! Where in the hell did you learn how to use magic anyway! You damn near set the field ablaze! If Papri don’t tell me about what you were doing…”
“Tch. I didn’t think she’d actually do it.”
“You little…!” Before the father could say anymore, the elderly woman cut him off.
“Really? Another careless father! Fine just send him to the back. Eiso! Take care of him.”
Much to the father’s displeasure at the passing remark he gave a curt nod egged his son to take a seat.
Eiso nodded as he rolled up his sleeves before giving a command and beginning the treatment.
“Right then. Just sit still for a moment, please.”
Just like before, Eiso gather mana to his hands, muttered a single word, and allowed a white light to restore the boy, slowly erasing the burns on his arms until there is not a single mark left. Eiso looks up to see the boy only to be confused by his expression.
“Wow! You can use magic? Like…real magic, without it backfiring or anything?”
Unsure as to why the boy is acting as such, Eiso responds in an effort to
quell his excitement.
“Well… I suppose I can, I mean… it is a little tiring but not all that hard to use.” He said, hoping to calm him down a bit. However, his confirmation did not help in the slightest as the boy’s excitement only seemed to increase as he began to muttering to himself.
Before Eiso could ask if there was something wrong with him, a shouting match seemed to have started between the elderly woman and the red haired man.
“Not being able to discipline your own son. HA! An idiot father and an idiot son! Not too far from the tree as they say.”
“WHAT! Why, you old hag!”
Before they could throw their fists at each other, The soft and calming voice came of a young woman came from the front of the Apothecary. “Pardon me, but may I ask you two to please quite down. That is no way to act in front of children.”
Before anyone else can say anything, the elder woman responds first.
“Hmph. I suppose you being here means you finished your duties?”
“That is right. I finished the prayers for today.”
“ ‘Bout damn time! Having children do your work for you. What kind of church are people running these days?” muttered the ‘old hag’ underneath her breath.
Ignoring her not too subtle retort, the lady in white robes turns her gaze towards Eiso before giving a brilliant and beautiful smile that made the boy next to him fidget and blush.
“Thank you Eiso, you have helped me so much in the past, your work is done for the day so why don’t you leave early and enjoy yourself for today?”
“If you say so, Sister Diam.”
Just as Eiso flung his knapsack over his shoulder and began walking out the door, he felt a hand gently grab him by the shoulder.
“Oh, can you wait a minute? Here.” She shows him with a small leather bag.
Eiso grabs the pouch presented to him and peaks inside to find a handful of thin silver coins the size of thumb nails. “It is your payment for today. I am sure the church will not mind me doing this. Again, thank you for helping me today.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Timidly Eiso looks up and simply nods at the woman’s suggestion, before quietly walking out the door. As he was leaving, another man walked in, wielding both bow and quiver, as well as a bleeding hand.
“Hey can someone here help? I was out hunting and…. well...”
“Oh, for the love of…another one!? When will you people learn not to hurt yourselves!?”Smiling, the robed woman approached the hunter with both hand while muttering a single word under her breather, letting out a similar light to before.Seeing this, the old woman appraises the work, “That’ll be 415 Silver.”
“WHAT!?”
Leaving their conversation behind, Eiso stepped out into the brightly sun light day.
‘Well…there isn’t much left for me to do. I think I’ll just go home for now.’
However, as he was about to leave, he was suddenly called out by a somewhat demanding voice.
“Hey! Hold on a sec. They said your name is Eiso right? Where are you headin’ off to?”
Turning around, he looked up to find the same reckless headed child.
“Me? I’m going home. Why?”
Letting out a sigh of relief the boy answers, “I see, well, the names Tynan and you see…I was wondering. Um, do you think you could help us out? It’s alright if you say no, but you see…well.” Slowly, the boy picks his next few words carefully, “I was kinda hoping you would teach us some magic.”
….
“Um…sorry, but I can’t help you there.”
“WHA-! Why not?”
“I’m not all that good at using magic, besides, I’m sure you can ask someone else to help you.”
“But, I’ve asked almost everyone already, and no one else wants to! There all greedy if you ask me,” he replied haughtily.
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‘Maybe there is a reason for not teaching you. Besides, I just started learning it myself.’
……
‘Actually, if nobody tells him how to cast properly then he’s probably just going to try again any way, and by the looks of it he’ll…’
The boy stands waiting in bated breath for his answer until finally, Eiso comes to a conclusion.
‘Well, I did promise to help others if I can. I suppose this is another way of helping.’
Taking a deep breath, Eiso puts up his resolve answers.
“…Fine.”
“Perfect! Come on then! Let’s go find the every once else. Hey Dad. I’m taking off, and will be back before sundown!”
The boy’s father says nothing as he simply throws his arms into the air in frustration, as he watches his son dragging the dark haired boy by the shoulders, and towards the empty fields.
-------------------------------------------------------------
“Pfft…HA HA HA! What a moron! AHA HA HA HA HA!”
As both the boy and Eiso made their way back to the tree he just occupied this morning, they found two girls that were in standing under the shade.
The taller of the two had brown hair tied in a ponytail and was buckled over, holding her sides in laughter, while the shorter one, whom Eiso recognized from earlier, was beside herself with a look of concern.
“It’s not funny! He had fire in his hands for a little while, and then….it was scary! Very, very scary!”
“Hahahaha…W-Well…haha… that idiot should have known what would happen using something like that…hahaha!”
The boy in question was not all that pleased at what he was hearing.
“Oi! Quit it, will you! “he shouted.
“Ha ha ha, why should I? I’m free to do what I want, right? If I find something sad, I’ll cry. If find something happy I’ll sing, and if I find an idiot who doesn’t know common sense… AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
“Enough! That accident won’t happen again, now that we have some on here who can help us!”
“R-Really, someone can teach us magic!” piped up the smaller girl excitedly.
“You bet!”
Still gripping her stomach, the older girl points to Eiso.
“Ha ha…Who’ll teach us, him? He looks younger than we are…ha ha.”
“Of course he will! I saw him use it myself! So we’ve got it all taken care of.”
“Really?”
“I said we did, didn’t I. Anyway introduce yourselves, will ya!”
Slowly collecting herself, the older girl wipes away her tears, “He he he… oh, *Ah hem*. I’m Rikka, nine years, and this here is my little sister, Papri.”
Evidently she attempted to have the smaller girl introduce herself, however the little girl instead retreated behind her sister, choosing to only stare intensely at Eiso with her deep amber eyes.
‘W-What did I do?’
Completely oblivious to this, the red headed boy re-introduces himself.
“As I said before, I’m Tynan, nine years as well, and you?” he asks while the three of them stare at him expectantly.
“Oh…well…I’m Eiso, six years.”
“I knew it; he is younger than us,” piped Rikka.
“Like I said, he knows magic. He’ll defiantly be able to teach us.”
“By the way, where are you from?” Rikka asks as she quizzically looks at Eiso.
“I-I’m from here. Greyfield.”
Rikka raises and eyebrow at this, “Really? We’ve met pretty much everyone around here. How come we don’t see you around?”
Eiso looks down, feeling a little saddened. "I'm sorry... I just...never really..."
Seeing this, Rikka awkwardly changes the subject.
“W-Well, enough talk! How about a demonstration! I want to see what you can do first hand.”
“Hell yeah!”
“Uh, huh!”
Even Papri, who was very weary of Eiso just moments before, piped up in excitement.
With Tynan brushing off a bit of grass and Papri pulling down her skirt for comfort, the three of them took a seat on the grass underneath the tree and began to focus on him.
‘… So much pressure!’
Shaking off his anxiety Eiso thinks for a moment. Aside from Healing there is only one other spell he knows. With that in mind he begins to focus and build mana into his left hand, letting out his second spell.
“[Lumen]”
Multiple orbs of light ballooned from his hand, illuminating the shady tree with bright white light. Steadily the orbs rose until Eiso moved his arms as if conducting. The orbs floated here and there, flowing alongside the flowing wind, dancing to the tempo and rhythm of Eiso’s hands. The three spectators watched in awe at the beautiful light show before them; dipping, swaying, bouncing, the orbs just skip across the winds. After a minute or so, with the wave of his hand, he popped the orbs into a flurry of dazzling radiant lights.
*Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap*
While the small girl, Papri, simply continued to stare, the first to speak up was Rikka."So you really CAN use magic! Incredible!”
“So…what spell was that?”
Turning to Tynan, Eiso answered, “Erm…it was called ‘Lumen’. It’s a spell used to make light, although I use it mostly for night reading.”
“SEE! I told you he can properly use magic! Now! It’s time for you to tell us how you do it.”
Rikka lets out a sigh, “We tried casting spells before, but we still can’t get it to work. We can’t even make a single drop of water’”
“Let me think. Are you gathering enough mana to use? Does your form flow
properly? Are you using the right incantation?”
“W-What! Um. I-I think we are…sort of … you know…. doing it right… I think.”
Thinking as to what their problem might be, Eiso pull out his book and flips it open to a certain page.
'….an individual’s alignment is essentially a simple way of generalizing whether a person is efficient (or at the very least capable) of using a certain element. Usually split into five categories of element and four tiers of ranking (though some claim that there is actually five), the four rankings consist of [Low Rank], [Mid Rank], [High Rank], [Master Rank], and the debated [Legend Rank]. …. '
….
Snapping the book to a close, he begins to explain the problem. They simply were using the wrong spell for their alignment!
“Alright. So that means that all we need to do is to try them out one by one until we get it right!”
Papri, looking incredibly worried spoke up for the first time in a while.
“I-I don’t know… what if you lose control again.”
“I said it won’t happen again right? Besides, if anything goes wrong, Eiso here knows how to heal, he’ll patch us back up in no time!” He said confidently as he patted Eiso on the back.
“I-Is that true?”
Papri looks back at Eiso, though she still refuses to speak to him.
Rikka nodded in agreement.
“I think he's right. As long as we're careful we won't need to go and see the Apothecary. Well then teacher we will be in your care.”
The group stood up and began to listen inattentively, prepared to listen onto every word Eiso is going to say.
Slightly nervous under the building pressure, Eiso began to go over the basics of casting.
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Several hours of practicing and a few close calls later, Eiso began to feel quite proud of himself. After going through the basics of casting, which took a few hours in its right, he was able to get them cast the most basic of elemental spells.
Through trial and error, they were able to determine who was able to use what element at the lowest rank out of the three elements they tested today. Tynan could use Fire, Rikka could use Fire and Water, and Papri could use all three, Fire, Water, and Stone.
“Ha ha..This is pretty fun once you get the hang of it. [Kindle]!” Tynan then began to light the tip of his finger with a tiny open flame. He then tried it again, pointing at piece of dried twig a few steps away from him, immediately setting it on fire.
“So long as you don’t go overboard and try to burn down the town, [Megha],” teased Rikka as she began to douse the grass near her in a coat of mist.
“I SAID IT WOULDN’T HAPPEN AGAIN!”
As Papri began playing with the marble shaped rocks she made through [Terra], Eiso began to wonder about something. During the entire lesson, all three of them were completely focused on learning, and not once did Eiso have to repeat himself or his instructions. He himself was only able to learn out of pure desperation, so a single question came to his mind.
“Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…why are you all so interested in learning?”
Tynan looked in shock at Eiso’s question.
“Huh? Are you kidding? It’s magic! Why wouldn’t we want to know how to use it? The power to smite evil and save royalty! The power to be a Hero! It’s just like the Grand Fire Maestro! ”
“Who?”
This time it was Rikka who was in shock.
“WHAT! How do you not know the Grand Fire Maestro! My parents would tell me that story all the time! The stories of the man who could command the sea of flames! A man who could burn down the armies of evil with the snap of his fingers! A man who could set the sea ablaze on a whim! And who can forget his speech!”
In perfect unison all three of them clenched a hand over their hearts, and recited …
“I am the Torch, Evil will not harm me. I am the Flame, which will scorch the Vile. I am the Light, and I will bring end to the creeping Darkness!”
Eiso couldn’t help but smile. In many ways, they reminded him of himself; their wonder and amazement to the idea magic pretty much went much the same way he felt.
After they finished their day dream Tynan asked, “So… you really never heard of him?”
“Sorry, I haven’t heard of any legends like that before.”
Dejected, Tynan lets out a sigh.
“Ah geez. Just what have you been doing all this time? Man, what a dull life you must have had. “A twinge of guilt hit Eiso once more.
“By the way, who taught YOU to use magic?” asked Rikka
Eiso answered sheepishly, “Me? I was able to learn through this guide book.”
“So…you were able to learn all by yourself?”
“I suppose that’s right.”
Rikka looked at Eiso with even greater curiosity.
“Erm…what is it?”
“….oh…nothing.” She said unconvincingly.
“..?”
Confused, Eiso decides to ignore this for now. With the sun just starting to give off the orange hue of dusk he begins to pack his things away.
Rikka immediately stopped him.“Whoah, hey…where’re you going? It’s still day light right now.”
“There is not much else I can do. All you need to do is use those steps to any spell, and as long as you’re careful, it should be fine.”
“But…”
“ Say, why don’t you stay with us for a little while longer? I wouldn’t mind, we could use more friends, and there’s no way I am going to talk to those other idiots again after what they did. So, whaddaya say?” Tynan gave off a wide grin.
Rikka nodded vigorously in agreement, while Papri did in her usual silence.
A warm feeling sparked in him at the mention of the word ‘friends’. Panicked and a little confused he dismissed the notion.
“T-That would nice but, I have chores to do.”
‘After all. Someone has to prepare supper.’
“Oh, that’s fine I guess, but you have to come by and see us again tomorrow, yeah?”
“Of course he will...you will see us again, right Eiso?"
A burning sense of endearment filled Eiso’s chest. He couldn’t help but wonder why? He had only been with these three for a day, and yet it felt like he knew them much longer than that. Not to mention he never cared to get to know anyone else before, so why now?
‘…..Mrs. Burrough’
……
Eiso comes to his conclusion
‘This is what she wanted, right? She would definitely be happy…right?’
With a warm smile he gave his answer. “Sure. That sounds… very nice.”