A boy lay in the grass looking at the sky. No matter at what point of the day, he could always see two moons. Large circles that held many of his questions. Though that wasn’t what intrigued the boy at that moment. Behind the sky, itself seemed to be a world of its own. Birds flew under white clouds. The white clouds covered the blue, green, and brown sky above. He somehow knew that the world wanted him to explore.

The boy raised his arm and stared at his brown skin, darker than normal due to sun exposure. His tied-back black hair came undone and flowed down past his back as he stood. Scowling, he pulled some blades of strong grass and used them to tie up his hair. His emerald green eyes were made visible but had no luster.

“I wish to see the world outside this place. Learn new things. Meet new people. Do something that isn’t farming somewhere that isn’t in this village.” He muttered to himself.

Kyrion Mosely, eight years old, farmer’s son. He is technically a noble, but blood doesn’t mean much here, and his family didn’t flaunt their wealth and status. Apparently, his grandfather had been an entrepreneur in his youth. After becoming wealthy enough, he settled down with his family. So had things turned out differently, he’d be entitled to some prestige. Not that he cared for such matters.

Due to politics, however, apparently, his mother made some mistakes. This resulted in the loss of her title and her claim and status. With her brother dead and his child born out of wedlock, the Falknir line seemed to end with no successor.

The thought of growing up being pampered and praised for using a chamber pot crossed his mind before he lagged to himself. “Master Kyrion can wipe his own bum! Good job, you truly are of noble blood.” Kyrion said mockingly. Before he spit out the words.

A squirrel ran up to the black-haired child and pointed to a group of adults gathering in the distance.

Kyrion pulled out some peeled pecans and handed them to his messenger. “Good girl.”

The squirelle took off with its gifts. Cheeks fully stuffed, it was clearly happy to be paid for its service.

Kyrion made his way up a hill near the gathering point and climbed a tree. His hearing and sight had been good from as far back as he could remember, a gift and a curse. He could hear the people down the hill talking from near a nearby tree. Laying on his stomach, he listened.

“A Spirit-Master has arrived! Spread the word!” Said the village crier.

“From the academy?” Asked the village gossip.

“Yes! Remember to make your children presentable. Some are relatively picky from my experience.” Said an older woman.

“That woman’s kids are going to snatch up both spots again aren’t they.” Said the gossip.

“Take them both. One less demon to keep an eye out for.” Said the older woman.

“Don’t say that too loudly or you’ll get cursed again!”

“It’s the truth. The one with black hair is an ill omen I say.” Said the older woman.

There were some nods of agreement from the group who also heard the rumors.

Kyrion considered being a nuisance to the rude lady, but she was right. Illanda, his youngest sister, had raven black hair. And did seem a bit clumsy from time to time. But Illanda wasn’t old enough to be awakened yet. They certainly weren’t talking about him. After all, he was right there, not hidden, just up in a tree.

“Oh.” Kyrion realized they didn’t see him. He decided to go the long way to the town hall.

The village soon erupted with activity as people displayed their best work, from metal pots and pans to high-quality crops. Most of the children were dressed in their best clothing and freshly groomed hair.

Kyrion entered the town hall in a haze, his eyes puffy from cry… allergies. His clothes were caked in dirt from a day’s labor paired with an afternoon nap in the sun and a trek around town. Various nuts, plants, and seeds were trapped in a mess known as his hair. He smelled like the earth and not in a good way. But, Kyrion did not care as he found a place in the town hall to lay on his back.

One of Kyrion’s younger sisters, Asela, was also clean as a whistle and glowering at said elder brother.

“Why didn’t you go home and get changed, like you were supposed to?” The 6-year-old asked, looking back and forth between their mother, who was at that moment, staring daggers at him, and Kyrion, who either seemed not to notice or didn’t care to respond.

“No time.” Kyrion lied.

“No time?” His sister replied with a raised eyebrow.

“None whatsoever. I was busy doing stuff.” Kyrion looked up at the ceiling and reached out to it with an open hand as though he was trying to grasp something.

His sister sighed and proceeded to go to where her friends were while they waited for the Spirit Master to arrive.

After a few more minutes of waiting, an older man in clean golden robes, and a bald head, arrived at the town hall where villagers were waiting. Everyone was silent, with anticipation.

“You must be the young ones, between five and eight. Is that correct? If not, any children older and younger must leave the queue. Anyone older will need to go to the capital, and anyone younger will need to wait until the next scheduled appointment.” The old Spirit Master pulled out a stone tablet with odd symbols etched onto it.

“One by one, each of you will come by and place your hand on the tablet. Upon doing so, your spirit will manifest and take shape. For some, it may leave a mark on your body, but that is unlikely as spirit marks are rare and require a huge amount of mana for even the faintest of marks. Ok, now you.” He pointed to some kid in the front, and the testing began.

After around 10 minutes of testing, paired with the sub-par results from the other village kids, Kyrion started to lose hope.

“You, girl, come to the stage.” The old spirit master said

“On it!” Asela replied, approaching the stone tablet.

“Now, place your hand here.” He held the tablet up for her to place her hand.

As she put her hand on the tablet, her body began to glow as an orange circle appeared on her forehead.

“Mana Marked…” The old man was astonished. “You have a prodigy among you! I must make preparations as soon as possible.”

The old man dropped the tablet as he went to his horse outside. Returning with a pen and parchment. The curious villagers follow while parading young Asela. Nobody noticed as Kyrion walked over to the tablet and replaced it on the pedestal before quietly passing out.

The spirit master returned quickly with a written invitation.” Who are the parents of this child?” The spirit master asked.

Bill was a six-foot-tall man with a dark brown skin tone tanned further from labor, with a bald head, dark brown eyes, and a strong jaw, giving off the presence of a man who does not shy away from work. In his left hand was his hoe, his trusty spirit tool perfect for gardening.

Cordelia was a five-foot-tall, red-haired woman with pale skin and green eyes capable of pacifying a dragon. Dressed in a purple dress that seemed out of place in a small village like this, it seemed to match Asela’s clothes. In her arms was another set of matching clothes, probably meant for a son that decided to go on a walk.

The two of them made their way to the center of the town hall. The Spirit-Master spoke first. “Let’s get down to business, your daughter has the potential to be a great Spirit-Master, which means a lot of things, a longer lifespan, a life full of adventure, power beyond your wildest dreams, and riches that could make kings jealous.”

Asela’s little green eyes widened in a mixture of pride and excitement as she looked back at both of her parents.

“We’ll have to think about it. She’s rather young, and I wouldn’t want to risk sending our little girl off alone. If possible can you write two invitations? Our other son may not be a talent, but at least he can look out for her.” Bill looked around for Kyrion, who was nowhere in the crowd.

“Kyrion!” He called. After a minute of silence, the crowd joined in the hunt to look for him. It took more than five minutes to find him sleeping near the pedestal, curled up like a ball.

A talent most thieves would have coveted and honed like a fine edge. Used to nap in places that shouldn’t be napped in.

“He’s just napping again! I’ll wake him!” Yelled one of the kids, who began to shake him awake.

After a generous amount of shaking, Kyrion opened solid black eyes that seemed to clear themselves in seconds. The kid shaking him shrunk back in surprise before questioning what he saw.

“What happened?” Kyrion asked as he stood up. Holding his back with his right hand.

“Your sister will be joining the school in the capital. You’re going with her, got it?” Bill said as though it was already set in stone.

Kyrion nodded in understanding.

“Ok. Can I go back to sleep now? I feel sore .” Kyrion asked his father.

“Wait, your son has not yet gone through his awakening let’s get that sorted out first.” Said the Spirit Master.

He went back to the pedestal with a smile on his face. “Ok, boy, put your hand on the tablet.”

Kyrion did so, and he was rewarded, with no response from the tablet.

“Odd, can you try it again?” He said.

Kyrion touched his hand on it again and felt absolutely nothing.

The old Spirit-Master looked at Kyrion. “Do you feel anything different?”

Kyrion stretched and popped his back. “Other than the fact that my back is sore. I am as fit as a spring chicken.”

This earned the boy an odd look from the old Spirit-Master.

“I see…” The old spirit master then looked at Bill.

“Can you still take him?” Bill asked, rubbing his hands together. Oddly enough, neither parent seemed surprised by the result.

The old man shrugged. “Sure, why not. They have three months to arrive in the capital with my invitation. I can have him enter with my recommendation. However, he will have to manifest some ability if he is to do well in any of the tests.”

The rest of the kids went through the awakening relatively quickly, as there were no other talents this year.

The Mosely family returned home, and Kyrion hosed himself off in the back before dinner and followed by turning in for sleep. He stayed up for a little while, thinking to himself before tears welled up, and he quietly cried to sleep.

As Kyrion closed his eyes, he faded into a vivid dream. Alone on a plain of dead grass, Kyrion stands. For as far as he could see, there was a vacancy. Kyrion walked for minutes, hours, and what felt like days. Only finding dead grass along the way. Exhausted from traveling, he falls to his back and looks up at the cloud-filled sky. Within the clouds, Kyrion began to make out three shapes, one resembled a fox, followed by some seed that he was unfamiliar with, and the last seemed to be an egg. It then begins to rain, and the ground becomes a muddy mess as Kyrion starts to sink into the ground. Finally, the clouds faded, and Kyrion lay in the damp mud staring up at the sun.

“What was that about?” He began to ask himself when a roaster call began echoing repeatedly.

Kyrion awoke in the room he shared with his elder brother, who also seemed to have just woken up. Another oddity in their house, there were enough rooms for everyone to have their own room. Yet Illanda had to share a room with Samantha while Kyrion had to share a room with Jr.

Whenever Kyrion broached the topic, their mother would just eye Samantha, then Illanda, and finally Jr. before answering, “Illanda needs someone to be with her when she wakes up or she cries. While you won’t wake up without a bucket of water sometimes. What do you even dream about?”

That question distracted the boy as he tried to recall the last dream he had. It was usually a fruitless endeavor, but he knew it was time to move on when she changed the subject.

“Good morning, Kyr! Let’s go down for breakfast before it’s gone.” Jr covered his bright red hair with a straw hat that he always liked to wear. At his side was his trusty spirit tool, currently in the shape of a shovel.

Breakfast was always an ordeal in this house. Seven people can eat a lot in the morning. But, especially his sisters, Kyrion never understood why other kids thought he was lucky for having so many sisters. He was sure at least one of them was demented while the other kept saying in law this, and in law, that. Kyrion scrunched his face a bit.

“Kyr can you pass the jam, and get that look off your face?” His eldest sister Curella asked.

It was at that moment that Kyrion froze up in fear. “Mind reader?”

Curella grinned before their mother looked at both of them and sighed.

“Kyrion, you should try eating more today. You’ll need the energy.” Cordelia said.

After a hearty meal of half an egg, a strip of bacon, one whole tangerine, peel and all, and the insides of a biscuit, Kyrion was ready to get to his morning chores. It wasn’t that he didn’t get enough food. It was more that he never had much of an appetite, which was possibly why he was short for his age of eight. He was only two inches taller than Asela, who was also short for her age.

Before Kyrion left the house to start his chores, his father showed up. Placed a hand on the young boy’s shoulder.

“Little Kyr, today I’ll take you and your sister on a monster hunt. It will be a weak monster mind you, but you need to learn how to use your spirit if you’re going to succeed at any school.

Therefore, we will be going on a few monster hunts.” Bill said bluntly.

“In the forest! Can I climb the trees?” Kyrion asked.

“No, you’ll need to stay on the ground for safety. Cordelia would probably kill me if a monster knocked you off a tree and you hurt your head.” Bill looked away from his son when he said that.