The next day, El woke up early, wanting to be ready for the big day when he would finally begin his life as an “adult” in this world. The first thing he did was gather all his belongings, of which there very little. He had two pairs of tunics and shirts and nothing else to his name.

After this, he practiced his skill until he guessed that his mana was nearly empty.

In this world there was no way to know for sure how much mana you had, since there was no numerical way to test it, as far as El knew.

Since mana was the accumulation of energy in a persons’ body, when you used mana, you would gradually become tired. He practiced just enough so as to not feel tired and waited for his time to leave. At six in the morning, a Sister came in the room and took El to see the Mother. El followed her to the main room, where like always, the Mother was sitting on her chair. He greeted her for what was likely the last time.

“Good morning, Mother” El said, clearly feeling some emotion, even though he had not expected to.

The Mother seeing this replied, “Good morning, El”. She seemed to be contemplating what to do.

She continued, “You are the first person since the inception of this branch of the Church to go to the academy”.

“Not because we did not have others capable of becoming magi, but because there was no way for people to make the three-month journey to the academy, not with the scarce few merchants that used to frequent this place. Now there are many more people traveling from Rine to Sadena, hence you have the chance to go”.

“The academy will cover all costs from today up to when you graduate, and you can decide how you will repay the academy.”

Saying this the mother stood up and went to the cupboard on the right corner of the room, where she opened the doors, and took something out. El was not able clearly see what she took out, but a few seconds after, she walked back to the chair.

There, she showed El the box that was with her. While opening the box, she spoke, “This is going to be a long journey for you, with the three months in the road only being the beginning.” Once the box was fully opened, El saw that it contained a dagger. El was not an expert on daggers in any way, but he could see that it was not special in any way, it was a plain dagger, with no decorations on it. The mother took the dagger and presented it to him,

“this will give you some form of protection while on the road. If you get the chance, use it, it will help you level”.

Along with the dagger, she also handed him a small pouch.

“This pouch has a few copper coins, so you can buy something for yourself” the Mother, while rarely emotional, seemed to express some emotion today.

“Always remember where you came from”, she added looking worn out.

“Go to the adventurers guild, and ask for the team called Iron Roses, you will accompany them to Rine”. Saying this she bid El farewell, not knowing if they would see each other again, and escorted him to the entrance of the Church.

El, taking one last look around the only home he had known in this world, felt a lump in his throat.

Even though he was not super close to anyone there, it was the only place in the world that had accepted him as an orphan and helped him up till today.

Although he wanted to say something, he was not eloquent enough to make it sound good, nor did he have the words to describe his emotions at the moment. Lamely, he thanked the Mother and the Sisters that were present and left the Church grounds for perhaps his final time. His new life as an adult had officially begun.

Taking a long breath, El sighed in relief, and yet he knew that he had to hurry, since adventurers had a reputation for being impatient, especially adventurers in Sadena, since only the strong would make it through the three-month journey through the harsh landscape to there. Anyone that was able to make the long journey here, however, would be more than rewarded for their travels, since any trades would bring huge profits.

El walked out to the main road, which was not paved as one might expect of an outpost town. There was work being done in order to transform it and attract more people, but it would be still a long way off.

The Guild was a thirty-minute walk from the church, but it seemed today was an especially busy day, as there seemed to be more wagons than usual. Walking next to some wagons, El took in the sights of the city, and was surprised.

He had expected that a world with magic would be more industrialized, and that it wouldn’t look like it was perpetually stuck in the middle ages, and yet it was at the stage that even a city as important as Sadena did not have paved roads.

There was no central sewage system from homes as one might have expected, which was understandable since no one knew how long the city would last when it was built, and he hoped that Rine would not be as disappointing. While thinking these thoughts, El arrived in front of the Guild.

You would expect something like the Guild, especially one that spanned multiple continents to have a majestic building, but this was not so. It was not a dilapidated building by any means, and there was an air about the building created by the multiple table and chairs outside the building with serious looking people eating and drinking. It looked like a bar that had been repurposed, and this was further confirmed when

El entered the building.

The first thing he noticed was the man sitting by the bar. El guessed that he was a minotaur, and given the horns and build he had, he was an intimidating figure. He stood at least seven foot tall. There was not a single part of his body that did not look like that of a professional body builder.

His horns were around a foot long, curving from the side of his head in a shape that looked like a bow, such that the tips of the horns were vertically up and parallel to each other.

He had two lower canines coming out of his lower jaw, sharp to the point that a bite would probably sever a human arm. His tail, which should not have looked vicious, was also very sinister looking. It looked like every strand of hair in his tail was braided with small kunai knives, and the end of the tail was a bundle of these knives.

Just looking at him was intimidating.

It seemed as though he would be able to take on anyone in the whole world. He was sitting there reading what seemed to be a book, which gave a glimpse as to how rich he was. Any individual with a book, let alone in a city like Sadena, was not to be trifled with. Other than him, there were multiple other tables around the room, but most were empty, as everyone was taking advantage of the beautiful day to sit outside. Still, there were a few figures in the room, and El, not wanting to stare too much, walked towards the bar where the minotaur was located. Once he reached the bar, the minotaur automatically put down his book and looked at El.

“What do you need?”, he said, with a grating voice so deep that it would shame even a modern subwoofer.

“I was told to look for the Iron Roses” El replied, nervous.

The minotaur without taking a second to think, said, “why?’, in a threatening voice.

Flinching a bit from the sudden aggression, El took a second to steady himself and replied with a shake voice, “they were to escort me to the Academy”.

Hearing this, the minotaur finally relaxed once again and looking at the sandglass, which was a precious commodity, said, “They will be here within two hours”.

After this, he went back to reading his book, uninterested in anything el had to say.