So, here I am, walking down the street once again scavenging stuff, the sun is sky up now and today is a good weather! No crappy rains and because things are dry, I could not smell the dead rodents, (Yay!)
Dry weather had to be my favorite weather in a day, although it is hot, it's not depressing as rainy days can be. Heck, I would rather want to suffer in dehydration than spending my time on rainy days.
I looked up at the store, and I found out that the season right now is summer and yep, I could feel that.
So, as I walk on the side of streets finding a place to idle around since I am practically doing nothing right now, I finally found a thing to do. I am here right now at the bridge and leaning my body on the railings of the bridge; I looked down and saw the beautiful water below.
"Damn, I want to dive into that… Okay, you know what, let's do it." I nodded as I convinced myself. I took my clothes away except my dirty pants, I placed my five years old letter that my father had given to me as his present along with my ring on my necklace.
"Alright!" With a smile on my face, I stood up on the railings and with a single leap, I jumped and dive toward the river. With a splash, I feel awesome and comfortable. I missed swimming in the river at summer or at sunny day because when it is raining, the water tends to get murky and awfully smells a lot, no one would want to swim into that right?
An hour had passed; I finally went out after scrubbing my skin with soft stone on the riverbanks removing dried dirt on my skin, revealing my beautiful tanned skin. I am not a demi-human, but partially. Still, the sun affects me like what most humans do.
I dried myself down and took my clothes back. However… I couldn't find my letter.
"Well, crap… I lost my important thing." I looked around finding some evidence if my letter had been stolen or... Yep, surely, it got stolen. I looked at the place where I had put the letter and it seems that the rock I put that was heavy enough to handle the letter and clothes to be dragged by the wind, the rock has been moved.
Wearing my shirt back, I looked around once again finding someone that acts weirdly on the surrounding, since no one would steal something to me since I'm just a poor beggar. "Hmm?" Yep, I finally someone who is weird.
Far away from the bridge, there is a man in a cool leather robe he looked like a mercenary but he has grey hair. He has this long hair about his shoulder length and his face is really expressionless, it was as if he was born that way. Being cold.
So the weird thing about this dude is that he is looking and staring at me with that unimpressive look on his face, and not only that, he is showing me a piece of parchment, and heck yeah, that is my letter alright.
However, the way he is doing is like 'Come and get it.' Obviously, this dude is luring me towards him.
"Are you serious… I better go get my pipe, before going him; I can't afford to lose my father's letter." I grumbled to myself and went back under the bridge; there are many metal and wooden scraps here. A good place to find a weapon to beat bad people. This is an armory for us beggars.
So, I took a good pipe and went up again before walking towards that weird dude, of course, with my damn pipe.
When I was only a few feet away from him, he didn't seem to mind my pipe as he turned around and walked slowly, meaning he wanted me to follow him. It made me nervous just following this dude he seems powerful but weird.
This man or dude turned on his side, he entered the alleyway, and me, being naïve again, I followed him inside the alleyway, and when we are deep enough on the alleyway, he turned around and faced me with his unimpressive look once again.
"So… Are you going to kill me? A poor beggar?" I asked and I feel awesome by not getting scared by this man, despite him being scary.
"Hmph, I would be glad to kill you if you are a beggar, but you are not." The man said finally, his voice was not deep but wasn't high either, he had this haughty accent but still, it made me think that this man has a social standing or something.
He took the letter and passed it to me back, I took it and looked to him weirdly.
The hell? This is it? No threats? No killing and chop-chop?
"Uh… Thanks?"
"You might be wondering why I brought you here, I am not here to kill you or mug you. I am here to recruit you, you dweeb."
"Okay, calling me a dweeb won't help to recruit me."
This dude is weird, recruit me? For what?
He sighed and looked at me once again, he grabbed something in the air and soon enough, with a single blink of an eye, a stick appeared on his hands.
Well, not really a stick from a tree branch, it looked similar on the chopstick that most people from Chu Dynasty use to eat. However, this one is slightly bigger and thicker; it was black with silver engraving on it.
"You are like this."
"I am a what?"
"This." He shook his stick.
"Huh? I am a stick?"
"No dumbass, you're a wizard, a mage." He said with a frown on his face, it made him looked even more unsightly.
Well, sorry for being dumbass, but what the heck is a wizard and mage? Is that something to eat?
"What's a wizard? I know Swordmage, but I don't know a single word called mage." I asked, things got weirder and weirder, I want to run but there is something tugging inside my heart that I should stay and listen to this weird dude.
"Swordmage is a completely different concept; they use anima to create 'spells' but they called it 'arts', and anima they use had their own elemental affinity while using their sword, obviously." He explained and I got that, but I heard something familiar, 'Spells'? before I could ask, he continued.
"Then a mage or mages use the power of mana and words called spell to create mystical and magic called witchcraft and wizardry, we had the power to use any kind of element and elements that are unheard off in this world. Mages have distinctive names for genders Witches are female mage while Wizards are male mages. And you Magnus Firewood is a wizard."
I'm a wizard!? But I'm just Magnus… You know what, let's stop and listen to this dude.
"God, I hate to tell someone when they are called wizard, if I recall, my friend recruited a wizard like you who knows nothing and kept pestering that his name isn't a wizard." Oi, This dude just sighed just now! He broke his unsightly expression!
"Anyway, you will come along with me and if I don't convince you, I will take you, by force." His eyes flared with mysteriousness but it sends a terrifying pressure at me just now.
Oh dear, things could get messy if I don't follow him now.
"Okay, so I am a wizard… All right, but why I am a wizard when I am just a half demi-human and normal human? I don't have this thing called 'mana' and my stepmom said that I had a shallow anima running on my second veins," It may sound that I am complaining, but I could not help asking about it.
However, when this man had heard what I said, he puts his right hand on his head as if he was overwhelmed by something. "Why the hell should everyone had the same species name, Demi-human, human on this world and human on earth and not only that, there are two types of human in that place. Gladly, we type of human are called half-blood mages." He sighed.
Okay, I was overwhelmed too by that, heck; I don't even know that there are many types of humans exist.
"So, you're saying that I am a demi-human and half-blood mage… Let me guess, there's still pure-blood mages?" I asked as I raised my brows.
"Yeah, they are equivalent to a god, kinda extinct but still exist somehow…"
Kinda? Somehow? He really wasn't sure about that.
But I see now, there must be a special connection to my biological mother being a mage, she must be a witch and surely, joining with them would help me find her. I guess it's time asking about that spell that father had said that knocked him meters away.
"Hey, uhm… Dude?"
"Julius, Julius Ainsworth."
"So, Mr. Julius, do you know a spell called… 'Fus'?" I asked.
When Julius heard the word, he suddenly stance himself like battling with someone as he held his stick pointing at me that immediately scared and shock me!
"Woah! Calm down."
Hearing this, he suddenly noticed that I was merely asking not attacking… It seems words are terrifying too… For mages.
"I-I see… Where did you learn that? That is an old language called force, it was powerful spell enough to knock a mountain away but it takes a large amount of mana, like fifty times of mana I could muster to move a mountain tiny bit, but still, you could lower your mana output by controlling your mana flow." He explained as he wiped his sweat.
Geez, a single word could already knock a mountain away? I'm glad that my father didn't die at that kind spell, but still, mages seems cool, I'm pleased about it.
"However, there's still a basic spell called 'pus' simply mean push. You could knock an object and the largest thing you could knock with it is a ten feet boulder… See that trash can? Watch." He flicked his wand and pointed it at the trashcan, the tip of his wand created a dim light and when he uttered the word, "Pus" the trash can went flying away.
Smashing on the other street alleyway.
However, seeing it made my mouth gaped open, I just could not believe it! Not only that, I am getting impatient to try that spell and try it to things like pies on the windows, someone's bell, and on people too!
No, that's bad. But I want to try it!
It seems my excited look had seen by Julius, he had this smile on his face as if he had successfully convinced me and no more things to say. Well… Darn right, I am very convinced to join now!
"Sooo, where do I sign up?"
…
Julius had brought me at his apartment building and onto his room, but before he could do something magical, he warned me about going to the place we're going to. It seems creepy coming to his room with a creepy smile on his face as if he was ready to make a move against me, but hey, I can't be rude right?
"The reason we are recruiting mages across the continent is that our existence is not accepted in this world, we are called cursed humans, and when they caught us, they would burn us to a stakes calling us demonic witches… Like how we are treated in the ancient lands by those churches." When he said that last sentence, his brows knit together and right here, right now. I could feel his deep hatred on this word called 'churches.'
"Then, how they can track us? I mean, five years living in the outside world, eating garbages and swimming on dirty rivers nothing seems to hunt me down." I said.
"Kid, you're still young and you're not even aware how strong is your mana radiating right now, you're special. But anyway, half-blood doesn't know or aware by these things, but demi-humans on King Rank above can sense you perfectly if you are within their realm… But dangerous existence like Emperor rank to Tyrant rank could find us easily if your mana has reached the point where it can reach those three top ranks of mortal could reach in a martial way. Gladly, there are only three people in this continent who had reached those rank and all of them are busy on their own business."
Hearing this had caught me, it is like something important, but I know, I would learn all about his in the future, but soon enough, Julius had warned about the two people who do all the deeds to kill us mages.
"The two of them are the bane to us, only the grandmaster has the capability to fend those two degraded demons away." Julius had spoken with deep hatred.
"Degraded? And who are those?" I asked out of my safety.
"The two of them had long reached divinity long ago, but somehow, they suddenly got weakened at emperor rank but they really didn't get weakened at all! They got even stronger and impossible to kill… I always hate them but I also feel helpless when I fought those two… You have to remember this Magnus when you heard the name Shane and James, you should run as fast as you could, they are called divine slaughters… And their existence is no joke as their title may seem outrageous." Mr. Julius seriously said as he warned me.
Weirdly enough, I had remembered their two names and their title. It was a name that I couldn't forget.