Part 1

Four years have almost passed. In ten days I’ll be turning twelve but very little has changed. Well, the city itself didn’t change even in the slightest, nor did my daily routines. Training in the morning, work at the shop until lunch, a couple of hours of theoretical magic studying, some more work in the shop, sword training with father and Lucas and dinner. The major change was my relationship with my brother.

“So? Are you gonna keep staring at my ass or are you gonna join in’”

Said Lucas while showcasing his bare ass, purposely making it stick out of the light blue waters of the sandy river. I was looking down into the water, mirroring myself while reminiscing on my past appearance. My height increased by a good amount, making me seem older than I actually was, also the features peculiar in my previously childish appearance had all disappeared. My jaw was more pronounced, it had yet to completely establish itself but it was well on the way. The edges of my eyes were now sharper making my scar stick out more than necessary. My hairs had also grown quite considerably to the point where I sometimes tied them in a messy bun whenever I was sweating. If not in a bun I liked to keep my hair straight, making them fall down at the edges of my face, for the exception of a couple of shorter locks that for some reason really liked to get in the way of my vision. The longest hairs only reached up to my nose so they couldn’t really be considered long hairs. One more change that occurred in my body was the fact that I had gained a quite considerable amount of muscles. I hadn’t become big but my shoulders surely became a little wider and with them both my arms and legs became more defined, followed by pecs, abs and back muscles. In short, I had grown quite well if I do say so myself.

“Well, at least your ass is better looking than your ugly face!”

“Wha-wha...is that the way to speak to your loving big brother? I’ll drown you as soon as you come into the water, punk!”

“Ha! If I remember correctly it was this oh-so-loving brother that threw sand into my eyes in today's training just to land a hit on me!”

“How dare you accuse me of cheating! It was….it was the wind! The wind that raised the sand!”

“Yeah sure, asshole!”

“Uhh?! Come in the water, I’ll fuck you up!”

I quickly discarded my remaining clothes and jumped into the cold water. A pleasant shivering sensation shook my whole body to its core, making me exhale one long deep breath. It started soon after that, a playful competition of pure strength whose goal was to make the opponent go fully underwater. I could have used boosting magic in order to strengthen myself but it would have ruined the fun. In the end the results were obvious, a mage can’t beat a swordsman without using magic. I was almost drowned by my brother, but I didn’t fall without giving a good fight. After that we both were already too tired to keep swimming nonetheless fighting. We simply crawled out of the river on the warm grass and waited for the sun to dry us up.

I wasn’t the only one who grew, Lucas also did so. Because of all the training that he had undergone with father he was able to, in the mere span of four year, reach the practitioner tier in the north style. For this world’s standards, being able to reach such a rank in that short time, he could be considered a shining talent. Because of his talent father made him train more. Due to this excessive amount of training his body grew accordingly making him grow in height and muscle mass. He was fairly big and defined for a fourteen years old kid.

During those four years I made full use of my cute kid’s charm to flirt my way into letting the librarian borrow the books I liked. Because of that, the sheer quantity of books that I read kept increasing. I even picked up the habit to bring the book I was currently reading around and whenever the time permitted it I would start reading. This happened most frequently in the shop, while pausing from training and on occasions such as this one where I would go out of the city with Lucas.

“What’s so interesting about those books you keep reading I wonder?”

“Just because you only know how to cherish your sword, doesn’t mean that others don’t have any hobbies!”

We were both laying down on the grass, this time only half naked since we had both dried up and put on our pants. While conversing he was playing with his sword, carving down a piece of wood he picked up near the river banks, while I was peacefully reading the book that recently got me hooked up.

“Oh shut up! By the way, what’s this one about?”

“Mhh? Interested?”

“I like the cover”

“Like a child haha! It’s about spirits. Legends about them, their hierarchy, their roles, ways of summoning and sacred places”

“Bahh, boring stuff! Why would you be even interested in them anyway?”

“Mhh don’t really know. It’s not like I have a purpose to read it but I feel like it could be useful someday!”

“Baah you and those books! You should probably drop those books and start training the sword a bit more with me. You haven’t made any progress lately and you’re still half way through the beginner tier!”

“Yeah well the same thing could be said to you though! You awakened your mana flow last year, yet you refuse to train your magic...why is that?”

“That’s ‘cause I tried magic but I have difficulties even doing the most basic spells...I’m not like you!”

“Of course you are dumbass! Do I have to remind you that I awakened when I was still four?! I’m a special case, you shouldn’t try to compare your magic abilities with mine, like I can’t compare my sword abilities with yours...we both play in our different leagues!”

“I guess...Oi let’s do it like this! If I promise to train myself in magic, do you promise to train more with the sword? It’s kinda sad to know that you have to use magic in order to keep up with me while sparring!”

“Shut up! I guess I could dedicate a couple more hours to swordplay…”

“Then it’s signed hahaha!”

“Mphm, whatever gets you off”

“Oh by the way brother, last month you told me something about you having problems with your magic training, how is it going?”

“As bad as it could possibly get!”

“Why is that?”

“‘Cause it seems like I’ve reached the peak of what I can learn by myself. I’ve been stuck here, not making any progress for the past few months. I can cast spells up to the advanced tier but further than that it only results in failures!”

“And how about what your master taught you?”

“I’ve already mastered it”

“Seems like you are stuck...what are you gonna do about it?”

“I don’t really know...I do have an idea but I’m not so sure about it. Should we go back home? Dinner will probably be ready in a couple of hours and I’m getting hungry!”

“Haha yeah let’s!....Have I hit you too hard during training today brother?”

As I was bending to pick up my remaining clothes, Lucas struck me with an out of the blue question.

“Mhh? What do you mean?”

“You have a strange black bump on your right side. Was I the one to cause that hematoma?”

“Oh this? No no it’s not what you think. I’ve had this mark for a couple of months now”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good! Have you checked it with mom? “

“Sure I did. Turns out it’s just an innocent mark, nothing to sweat about!”

We kept leisurely conversing while walking towards the north gates of the city. The river wasn’t that far from them so with our quick pace we reached home in about twenty minutes.

Part 2

A mouth watering smell was coming from the house. Even from the front porch we both could smell it. As hungry as we were it didn’t take much for us to crash inside the kitchen from the front door. Waiting for us there was mother, busy cutting various vegetables, and Julie standing on a footstool trying to help her.

“We’re back!”

Shouted Lucas as if they didn’t hear us crashing through the door. As an answer, mother turned her head from her work to greet us with one of her big bright smiles while Julie started running towards us, almost falling on the way.

“Welcome home big brothers!”

“Thanks Julie-” I replied while gently patting her head “- have you been helping out mother in the kitchen?”

She had grown quite well as well as me and Lucas during those four years. Other than her height, she developed the ability to speak very soon and so, she began to talk whenever possible. It was very funny the first months since she made a lot of errors and because of it me and Lucas made up a competition of who resisted the most while talking to her without laughing. She now liked to keep her hairs braided, strictly done by Lucas and Lucas only, surprisingly he was very good at it, and have them falling on one side of her chest. She doesn’t sleep anymore in the cradle but sleeps in our parents’ bedroom, since Lucas was occupying the guest room, but she didn’t seem to bother.

“Yes! The eggs, I did the eggs!”

“Ohh such a good girl! I can’t wait to try them” said Lucas.

“It’ll be a while before dinner is ready so why don't you guys go take a shower? Oh and before anything, could you please set the table boys? Thanks”

It didn’t take more than half an hour to set the table and take a quick shower. With the dead remaining time left on my hand before dinner I decided to finish the book on spirits, since I was asked to return it sometime next week.

We waited for father to come home from the shop before having dinner and it was a peaceful and quiet one as usual, talking about our days, the work and so on. But the smooth conversations suddenly came to an end when father started asking questions about the progress in our respective training. Lucas had no problem talking about it whatsoever but I, who had kept secret the fact that I couldn't seem to progress any further, didn't know what to tell him.

“So? Are you not going to reply Raph?”

[Shit I was too focused on my thoughts to follow the conversation!]

“I- Uhh, emh , it’s kinda-...”

“He’s not making any progress right now, or so he said!” Interrupted me Lucas.

“Really Raph?”

[Guess there’s no lie I can tell now...thanks Lucas, you asshole! I just wanted some more time to think about it but...ahhh fuck it!]

“Yeah, I’ve been trying my hardest for the past few months but it seems like I reached the peak of what I can learn by myself”

“Well my boy, you have done so much by yourself alone, there’s no need to feel down like that, it was obvious that at some point you would need some guidance. I’m surprised you made it this far only with books haha! Ohh but how about a teacher? If we could find you a teacher here or on Migur east you could still progress right?”

“Supposedly yes but-”

“Than it’s easy!-” Interrupted me father by slamming his hand on the solid wooden table, making the cup in front of him spill a little. “-now we just need to find a suitable teacher for the job! What tier should he be?”

“That’s what I was trying to say. It’s going to be hard finding me a teacher here...I don’t think there are any mages above the advanced tier here”

The grin in father’s face suddenly turned into an expression of pure shock and surprise. Minuscule white pearls of sweat started covering his forehead only to slowly travel down his nose and end on his well trimmed beard. Mother was not so different. She was covering her mouth with both hands but her eyes were widened to the extent where, if I focused, I could see the tiny red capillaries at their ends. This reaction was to be expected. I had actually never told them my tier. My replies when asked something about my progress were : “It’s going great!”, “Everything’s fine!” or “As good as always!”.

“S-so you are telling me that y-you are actually an advanced tier?” Asked hesitant father.

“Well, strictly magically speaking, yes. Since I know some advanced tier spells I am to be considered as an advanced tier mage. But of course nothing of this is official. I had no one testing me to assert my tier and I also don’t know every single spell of the advanced tier yet so I’m not really sure”

“But you’d still need someone higher than advanced to teach you right?”

Asked mother this time

“Precisely”

“Ara, it’s a shame. I’ve never heard of someone like that staying in this part of the country”

“Mhh your mother is right...it seems to be a difficult situation!”

[It’s now or never!]

“Yeah about that, I may have an idea”

“Ohh is that what you talked about at the river?”

“Yes Lucas”

“So? What’s this idea Raph?”

“It’s something that Elodor-san talked about. An academy!”

The tension in the air was palpable. Father's expression tightened while mother let out a sound gasp. Lucas seemed unaffected, probably he had figured it out at some point.

“Mommy what’s an academy?” Asked puzzled Julie.

“It’s like a school for whoever has the ability to use magic. They accept people from almost every age to train them to become powerful mages, even though not everyone that comes out of the school becomes a mage”

“You know that there is only one academy in the whole country and it’s not in this city, right?”

“Yes, I am well aware of that”

“And you are aware that the full cycle of the academy lasts five years, right?”

“Yes, I know that too”

“Then if you know this then why-” said father, almost screaming before I interrupted him.

“If I had any other ideas do you think I would have really proposed this?”

I said while slamming my clenched fist on the table. Unintentionally a tear, born from my left eye, started to slide across my cheek. Father must have caught notice of this since his previous tense expression became suddenly a little more relaxed.

“Do you really want to pursue magic to that extent?”

It was a question I kept asking myself. Did I really want to learn magic to its full extent or is this just a whim born from the curiosity of my heart? It took me a while to figure out that the answer comprehended both of them. I indeed started to like magic because of curiosity but I soon figured out that I liked magic. I liked the sense of accomplishment that came from being able to learn a new spell. I liked to spend hours burying myself in magic books and end up with some nasty neck pain. I liked seeing the result of my training day after day. In the end I really liked magic so the answer came out as simple as it could be, from deep within my head.

“Yes, I want to be a mage!”

Father kept silent for what seemed an eternity, looking at me dead in the eye, without even blinking a single time. A heavy sigh came out when he sinked in the chair with his head hanging backwards.

“I-I’ll...need to think about it”

He said while raising his head to look at me, face to face once again. The dinner ended in silence soon after that.

Part 3

It had been ten days since I talked about the academy to father and he still hadn’t given me a reply. Even worse, in all those ten days we never even talked about magic whatsoever. It felt like father was purposely ignoring the topic. I really wanted a reply, since it would influence the future progress of my magic, but at the same time I didn’t want to impose the decision too soon so I just let him be and wait for him to naturally reply.

It was a hot summer day that day of my twelfth birthday and, as every other day, me, Lucas and father had just finished our sword training.

“I’m super thirsty!-” Said Lucas while cleaning the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. “Could we hurry up home? If I stay one more minute out in the sun I think I’ll melt!”

“Ohh come on I didn’t raise you to be such a pussy!”

“What’s that coming from?! You are sweating buckets too!”

“Yeah but you don’t hear me complaining! Plus Liz is gonna be here in a couple of minutes with drinks. Oh talking about her, there she comes!”

The cold drinks she brought were really a gift from the heavens but it still took us more than twenty minutes under the shade to finally be able to breathe like a normal human being without choking on our own words. It was then that father towered us sitting with his hands on his hips and imposing all of his height.

“Listen kids, we’ve thought about what you said Raph but...well it wasn’t an easy choice as you can guess, that's why it took us so much to answer, sorry about it. We decided to let you go to the academy!”

“Really?!”

It wasn’t difficult to read my face. I was the clear definition of joy. Widened eyes, a stupid grin on my face and the restless movement of my hands. Mother caught wind of it and let out a light giggle while father simply grinned back.

“But! We have some conditions that you must accept, unless we won't be sending you!”

“Sure! What are those conditions?”

“First of all-” Said mother “-your brother will follow you. We’ve already talked to him and it seems like he made a promise with you about learning magic so he gladly accepted”

“Then-” continued father “- you’ll both have to attend a dojo!”

“Dojo?”

“Yes, there’s not much I can teach Lucas anymore so sending you to a dojo of the North style seems like the wisest idea. I know you want to focus on learning magic but you must also learn the sword”

“I don’t think I’ll really fit in a dojo but if you really want me to then I have no choice but to accept, but are you sure about it Lucas?”

“Yes brother, I've been thinking about it ever since that dinner. As much as you wanna learn magic I want to learn the sword. Also, how could I leave my little brother alone in another city?”

“That’s your true reason, tell the truth!”

His answer was a lazy shug of his shoulders while showcasing an awfully large grin.

“Any other conditions?” I asked.

“Yes one more.-” Continued father “- While many student live in rented houses in the city, we thought that they were too expensive so you’ll be living with other students in the dorms”

“I’m totally fine with it!”

[As if I haven’t done that during my school days in the past!]

“Uuff I thought you’d complain more, well better this way! Got any questions rascals?”

“Yeah I have one-” Suddenly spoke up Lucas “- where is this academy supposed to be?”

“Alamaria-” Replied mother “- it’s a week by horse from here so you should get ready for a looong travel in a carriage”

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get your asses back up and let’s go home! I need to send your info and the money to the school if you wanna start the years like the other kids”

“They are not asking for anything else? Like a test or a certificate or something?”

“Mhh? No no, in a magic academy they just accept anyone who is able to use magic”

The walk back home was filled with questions asked both by me and Lucas on various topics. How the school works, when we’ll leave,what’s the city like, what’s the dojo like and all related stuff. We were all in high spirits. The sole thought of being able to learn new magics and further improve my current use of the ones I already knew was giving me the thrills. I couldn’t wait to actually be there!

Part 4

“Oi, stop slacking off Lucas! You haven’t even started packing your stuff?!”

“Mhh shut up mhhh. It’s tomorrow...now let me sleep”

“It’s not tomorrow you airhead! We are leaving today!”

It had been a little less than a month since father started to exchange letters with the school, in particular the principal. As father said, we had been accepted on the spot without the need for tests or anything else. It only took this while since the school had to find and prepare us a room in the dorms and send us the list of necessary books. Apparently the school even has a uniform but it would take too much time for them to send it here so we’ll just grab it once we’ll arrive there. Father even contacted the dojo master. Apparently he was an old friend of his so we got a spot reserved there. The dojo master is a fairly famous saint rank swordsman specialized in the North sword style.

For the past week, me and Lucas have been going around town with mother to prepare everything. Books, pens, bottles of ink, stacks of paper and for some reason a whole new set of clothes. Mother said that it was to “not be looked down on by the other kids”, but since we’ll be using a uniform I honestly didn’t see the usefulness of a new wardrobe. At least she was having fun suggesting, and then buying even if we didn’t like it, new outfits for the both of us.

On the other hand Julie was definitely mad at us. For an entire week she didn’t even speak a word to me nor to Lucas. She just angrily pouted whenever our eyes met or we tried to speak to her. Only after a while did she decide to stop the silent treatment and finally spoke to us. She begged us not to go, promising to behave and to help out more in the house. Lucas cried like a little kid. It took us more than one week to convince her that we weren’t leaving because of something she did but because we had to study at the academy. After that she tried to negotiate for us to come back every month, which was practically impossible since it takes a week to go from Migur to Alamaria. Then she tried with once every three months and so on. Only with the help of mother were we able to make it once a year, if possible, and to send separate letters every month. She surely didn’t look satisfied with the outcome. For the remaining time before the departure she clinged to us like a magnet, spending every single second of the day with us, even alternatively sleeping in our rooms. It made me feel really bad to leave her behind, like some kind of evil brother.

Finally the day of our departure arrived. I had my bags ready from the night before and I was so excited that I couldn't even get a wink of sleep, constantly thinking about what kind of teacher I could find, what kind of students frequented that academy and all the new magics I could learn. On the other hand, Lucas seemed like he didn’t even care. He didn’t even prepare his bags, not until the morning of our departure itself.

That morning, waiting for us outside our house, was a merchant-like cart made completely out of wood. Where the merchant’s stocks were supposed to be now were a couple of long wooden boards where one could sit. Two brown horses were pulling the cart while a man dressed as an adventurer was acting as the coachman.

Everyone was waiting outside for me and Lucas to bring down our baggage. It wasn’t much, two duffle bags each plus swords and scabbards. Just like Lucas, I received a sword from father as a tenth birthday gift while mother gifted me an enchanted book that holds double the pages of a normal book while looking like a normal one. I used the book as some sort of diary where I kept tabs on my progress and the modification I apported to the various spells.

“What took you so long? We have been waiting here for ages!”

Asked a clearly upset father.

“Sorry sorry, I kinda forgot to do pack my things so Raph had to help me”

“Wha-wha.. How can you just forget it?!”

“Father, do I have to remind you that we are talking about Lucas?”

“Ohh Liz, I’m not so sure about this anymore...how can we send those two idiots out there, living alone?!”

“Come on dad, if we put our minds together something good is bound to happen, right?”

“Or something extremely bad” Said mother while laughing at the clearly troubled expression that father was making.

“Ahh come here, there’s something we need to give you!”

Said father as soon as we finished loading our luggage onto the cart. His expression now softened and a warm white smile was shining from inside the brown beard.

“Listen, this is a tradition of my family. Whenever a child is leaving home for the first time, the ones who remain home are asked to give a gift to those who leave. Don’t get your hopes up since the gift is only something that is used to remind you that someone is waiting for you at home. It’s nothing fancy but, please accept them!”

Father stretched his opened hands towards each of us. In the one directed towards me was a hair tape made out of the fur of the firefoot tiger we slew during the raid. The beautiful red and black colour and the softness of the fur made it look like something out of an expensive shop. It was really useful since I had been using one of mother’s ever since I started styling my hair in a bun. In the hand directed towards Lucas was a bracelet made out of thick brown leather.

“Thank you father”

“Thanks dad”

We said in unison while taking what was being offered and bowing just slightly.

“Now it’s my and Julie's turn, boys. Julie, do you want to do the honors?”

A gentle nod with the head was the only answer mother received from her. Julie shyly walked in front of us and, since we were both way taller than her, we kneeled down so that our faces would be on the same level. She then stretched her hand towards us, imitating father. In the hand facing towards me was a golden earring. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I had ever seen in my life. Not longer than five centimeters, made completely out of gold with an intricate dragon-like pendant holding a light blue sphere in it’s center. The dragon pendant was the most shocking part. It was so defined that one could clearly count the scales on the dragon's back and the teeth in it’s mouth. It was an eastern-style dragon, different from the commonly represented dragon in the books I read, so more than calling it a dragon one should call it a sea serpent. A similar earring made out of gold but with a snake-like pendant and a red gem in its middle was given to Lucas.

“Do you want to try them? I know how to make the hole and close it!”

Asked mother, probably looking forward to seeing how well they would fit on us. We both stood up and showed our left lobes to mother. With a brooch that she kept on the blouse, mother proceeded to make the holes in our lobes, slide the earring inside and close the holes with healing magic.

“It’s probably going to sting for a couple of hours but after that you won’t even know it’s there!”

“Thank you!”

We replied once again in chorus. Silence fell in our house’s garden. Mother and Julie were holding back the tears while father seemed to look proudly at us. Not too long after that mother and Julie jumped onto our necks and immersed themselves into a long, tight hug. After them was the turn of father. He probably wanted to keep a strong image so, instead of a hug, he patted our shoulders and said:

“Be sure not to cause too much ruckus, understood?”

“Yessir!” We jokingly replied.

Without waiting any further we jumped onto the cart, exchanged a couple of words with the adventurer at the front and gave one look back at our house.

“Be sure to write us plenty unless you want to see your sister cry!”

“Yes please*sniff* write me much!”

“The dojo master is a friend of mine...please don’t shame me hahaha!”

Everyone was waiting their hands at us, Julie especially stronger than mother or father. She was swinging her entire arm from left to right, looking like a pendulum.

“I’ll be sure to write you plenty, Julie!” I replied.

“You know I can’t promise that father haha!” Shouted Lucas.

A sound whip from the coachman and the two horses with a neigh started to march forward

with the rhythmic sound of hoofs against solid stone. I looked back at our house. The place where everything started in this world. Memorie started flowing as strong as a river. I remembered everything. The day I was born, the night near the window, the faces of my parents the first time I talked, the card matches with master Kyrven, the times when I got scolded. I recalled everything and a tear fell from my eye.

“This is where the adventure really starts!”

I said while thinking out loud.

“You can be sure about that brother!”

Replied Lucas grinning towards me. We both bursted in an unmannered laughter while hitting each other's shoulders and knees.

[It does indeed start now huh….I’m not gonna fail this time around!]

As the cart left the west city gates and left the city behind us our one week trip to Alamaria finally began.

End of Volume 1: First steps in a new world

Up next- Volume 2: Mage among mages