­­­­­There exists a world that is both similar but at the same time different from Earth.

It is both close and at the same time distant. There are mountains and seas. There are plants and trees. There are animals and living creatures. And of course, this world has its own people with their own towns and cities. Yes, this world has everything similar to the world of Earth but in one sense they are unique.

So what sets this world apart from Earth one may ask?

This world has one thing Earth doesn’t have: Magic.

This is world of Mundo Magica: a world filled with Magic.

Creatures that exists only fairy tales and legends thrive in this world. Things that would normally defy reality on Earth are a part of the daily life in Mundo Magica. Whereas Earth has its electricity and technology, this world has Magic and magical tools to keep daily life running. In this world, Magic is an integral part of the people’s daily lives. The people of this world rely on Magic to sustain everything. Some trade and sell it in a variety of forms. From using Magic to fuel transportation to cleaning homes, Magic is used in a variety of ways.

But far and wide, Magic is used as a major source of livelihood and a way of life for a certain group of people. And just like how there are many forms of Magic, there are many groups of people who specialize in a certain use of Magic.

But there’s one word to describe them. They are the Adventurers.

Adventurers are a special group of people who have an affinity for Magic and are able to utilize it in ways one can only dream of. As a means of livelihood, Adventurers take on job requests and are paid for their services.

And it just so happens, a certain young Adventurer happens to be on the job right now.

But before that, let us turn our attention to a certain man who was running down the alleyways of Tin Town.

***

His breath was short. His heartbeat was racing in quick rhythm. He was breaking in panicked sweat. He kept looking behind him to make sure he wasn’t followed. Just a moment, ago he was planning with his comrades for another heist…and the next thing he knew an Adventurer just burst in on them. Despite being alone (and worse, a kid!), that little Adventurer defeated their boss in one hit and took down the rest of them with as much as breaking a sweat! They tried to escape the hideout and headed straight into town, hoping to lose the kid. But that didn’t stop his pursuer from hunting them down. The ones who tried to escape with him tried to fight back. But unfortunately for them, just like their boss the Adventurer defeated them. He was the only one left on the run.

The man stopped for a moment, gasping for breath, “I think I’ve lost him…”

KABOOM!!!

The wall beside him blew apart, which sent the man flying, slamming straight to the opposite wall. In his confusion he looked at where the explosion occurred. From the dust and debris, a lone figure emerged.

The sword on his hand was glowing bright red. The hood of his coat draped over his head, casting a shadow over the majority of his face. The overall effect made this young man look albeit sinister.

Despite that, the guy cowering was the bad guy.

“Where the blitz, do you think you’re going, huh? You and your pals have been giving me a hard time tracking you all down!”

The bandit quickly got up to his feet and took out a sword from his sheath, “D-don’t come any closer, kid! If you know what’s good for you!”

Even from the shadow, the bandit could see a grin was spread in the boy’s mouth, “A sword user? Let’s see if you have the skills to try!”

The man tried to swing his sword but the boy simply dodged the attack. He tried slashing the sword again and again, but the boy kept leaping and dodging his attacks. Getting desperate, the man rushed forward and slashed again.

This time the boy didn’t dodge. Instead, he waited for the right moment and when he saw it he sidestepped to the right. The man’s attack caused him to go off balance. The young Adventurer took the opportunity to swing the hilt of his sword straight to the man’s stomach! The Adventurer’s attack caused the man to be blasted through a wall. And several more brick walls after that! By the time he reached the last wall, the bandit lay crumpled amongst the debris, completely defeated.

“That’s the end of that!” the boy strode over the debris and approached the bandit.

The man was still albeit conscious, as he was still able to glance up at him.

“W-who are you?” groaned the bandit.

“Who am I?”

He removed the hood off his head, revealing a young man with flaming auburn hair. He pulled back his goggles over his hair, revealing sharp red eyes that were fierce and brave.

“I-I know you!” the bandit gasped, “You’re Tenryu Fyreroar!”

“So you do know me? Well, that makes things easier!” Tenryu grinned, cracking his knuckles a terrifying glint appeared in his eye. “Now are you going to come quietly, or not? Cause I can do this all day!”

The bandit bowed his head. “I surrender…”

“I thought so.” said Tenryu, with satisfied smirk, “Now it’s time for me to get my reward!”

***

A while later, in the Office of the Mayor…

Tenryu sat in the chair fronting the mayor’s desk. The mayor was sitting opposite to him, yelling at him in outrage.

“All in all, just what do you think you were doing?!” the mayor snapped at Tenryu, who didn’t as much flinch.

“I just did what you requested of me! I captured the bandits that were bothering this town!”

The mayor slammed his fist on the table, “Yes, but did I ask you to destroy half of my town in the process?!”

“Those bandits managed to escape into town. I had to do something! And what do you mean by half a town? I only went through a few buildings!”

“And that something involved burning ten private homes, smashing through five commercial buildings and destroying the local market! Who does that just to capture a bunch of thieves?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault those punks went into those buildings! If anyone’s to blame, it’s them!”

The mayor looked like he wanted throttle him, but seemed to think better of it.

“Well, you can go and blame them for getting nothing as your pay!”

Tenryu looked at him in disbelief, “W-what?”

“Do I have to repeat? You…Get…NOTHING!”

“What the blitz?” yelled Tenryu, incensed with outrage, “That’s not fair!”

“Oh? Did you actually think you can get any amount of reward for all the damages you’ve caused?”

“But I capture the bad guys!”

“And for that, I won’t be throwing you into jail for reckless impudence resulting into destruction of property! Now get out!”

The mayor pointed towards the door.

With a fiery grumble, Tenryu got to his feet and walked out the door, slamming it with unnecessary force. Unbeknownst to him, it caused the expensive paintings hanging in the office to fall down and crash to the floor. The mayor screamed and ripped his hair off in consternation.

Tenryu left the mayor’s office and headed down the street.

“Blistering Blitzes...It’s the fourth time this month I didn’t get any reward!”

The boy ranted as he strolled down the street. He passed across the badly burnt houses, and ruins of several buildings. Streams of smoke were still rising into the air.

All of which were of his own doing.

It would a have been considered a feat considering that this was just done by one person. But neither the owners nor his client, the mayor, had appreciated this one bit. Tenryu soon noticed he was attracting stares from the locals.

And those stares weren’t the friendly kind...

Clearly getting the idea that he wasn’t wanted, Tenryu quickly made his way to the train station and boarded a train out of Tin Town.

Here in Magica, the trains may look like 1920 steam locomotives but they are actually as fast as Japanese bullet trains! This is just one quick way to travel in this world.

Tenryu sat alone in his compartment still grumbling to himself about his recent failure.

As soon as the train started moving Tenryu feel drowsy. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Blast it…I haven’t been getting enough sleep. “

Aunt Magma had been on his case with his recurring dreams that had been preventing him from having a decent sleep.

“Is it about those weird dreams again? Maybe we should see the Parish about that. Those dreams have been troubling you lately.”

Is what she always said and he would always reply.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t need to see the Parish about some bad dream.”

That strictly wasn’t a lie. Though they bothered him they weren’t that typical bad dreams where a monster chases you.

His dreams were about weird things like large moving vehicles that were powered by something other than magic, buildings that looked as if it were made entirely of glass, words written in a different language, people dressed in weird clothes. But as strange as it may seem to him, all of it looked albeit familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger into it as to why?

But what bothered him the most was that there was always a certain kid there. Every dream had him in it. Tenryu couldn’t make out the features because his image was slightly blurry, as if it were through a glass. But it looked like the boy was wearing glasses, had blackish hair with a slight tint of blue and was about the same height as he was.

He couldn’t understand that he felt as though he knows this person but at the same time not having a clue as to who this person is. What is even more frustrating is that just when he could reach out to the person or even ask who he is, the dreams ends with Tenryu. With no answer and feeling so sleep-deprived that he has become very easily irritable lately.

“It’s still a long way from here to Tin Town. Maybe I should take a nap. You don’t usually get dreams from naps.”

At least, that’s what Tenryu hoped. Either way, he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and soon he drifted off to sleep as the train zoomed along the tracks.