The next day, when Kudo opened his eyes, he was in a village called Widefield. He was found by a farmer couple on the road, while they were returning to their home. Widefield was a small village on lowland land with many farmlands. The houses were scattered and separated by farms. All the houses were medieval houses with well-designed interiors and exteriors.
The farmer couple was in their forties with brown hair and a thin figure. The male's name was Aston Fojer and the female was Elena Fojer. They adopted Kudo and named him Sol Fojer.
~ ~
Sol was now five years old. His yellow hair and red eyes made him stand out. He didn't act like his age. Most of the time Sol would help his parents however he could. And in free time, he would be on the field lying down or self-training.
As usual, Sol was lying on an open field. It was a good fine day. This time he brought a book with him. It was an old book that his father had when he was a teen.
People knew how to read and write. However, they only knew basic things and it was enough for them. They were taught either by parents, relatives, and friends or learned from somewhere else. Writing or printing books wasn't easy, one would need permission to do it and get it inspected before making it available to the public. Except for storybooks, people weren't interested in others. They believed that books were only important to adventurers; wealthy or famous people; nobles and royals. Books related to magic were only available in the academy, central library; with nobles and royals.
The book Sol had was a storybook, titled Vida, It was about the origin of the world Sol was currently living in. He had read it multiple times.
Sol opened the book and started reading.
A long time ago, before the world was created, a goddess called Vida from heaven came to a dark space where many stars were always shining. The goddess was beautiful, her skin and hair color was always changing. Sometimes she would be black, sometimes white, red, and green, and sometimes it would be something that was indescribable. She then started creating the world in space, starting with layers of the world. While she was doing it, a devil from hell came to her.
"You shouldn't be the only one to have fun, Goddess Vida" the devil smirked. The devil had red skin and a muscular body. He had black horns that grew from the middle of the forehead to either side and pointed upward. The horn covered the forehead and on top of it, there was a golden crown.
The goddess was furious but didn't do anything to the demon nor did the demon do. They were bound by the rule they made after a long war they had. Heaven and hell had a deal to not wage war for time being, especially in space, as their battle could destroy many stars and worlds. Another deal was that whenever heaven creates a world in space, hell could take part in it too. It was a test to see whether a life deserves to enter heaven or hell or reincarnate.
The goddess Vida gave life to the world, then the devil gave death to the world. The goddess created harmless beasts and monsters, then the devil created evil monsters and beasts. The goddess created humans, elves, dwarfs, and many other races and gave hope, love, and other pleasant feelings; then the devil gave despair, hatred, and many other unpleasant feelings. After creating many things, the goddess gave power in the form of magic to the world. She engraved a message and magic on stones and mountains. After finishing the creation of the world, both, vowed not to interfere and intervene with the world and let it continue on their own. Then they returned to their respective places.
Sol finished reading the book and was satisfied with it. He said, "No matter how many times I read, it always amazes me." And he lied down.
"This world is really amazing. Magic, adventurer, dragons, elves, it has everything just like in manga" Sol thought looking at the sky.
"But…how come I don't have mana when everyone does." Sol raised his hands towards the sky.
Mana was one of the important elements along with magic spells and chants. Magic spells were an ancient language that held power within it. When chanting magic spells, mana activates the spells and causes an effect depending on the spells used. If a person out of mana or without mana chanted a spell, nothing would happen. So, without mana magic spells were nothing but a long sentence. Directing mana, directly into written spells by touching also worked. This way one would not need to chant but it has its drawbacks.
"Without mana, I can't even light a light bulb," Sol sighed.
The world where Sol was living, was advanced in its own way. It didn't have a smartphone, tv, or the internet but it had tools that worked with magic. Vehicle, flying ships they all ran on magic. The light bulb was a small tool among many others. It was a small tool made up of stone or metal, glass, and magic stone that lights up. Magic spells were engraved inside. A person needs to just touch it, and a little amount of mana would be transferred to activate the spell and the magic stone would light up. They don't need to chant the spells. It was easy for everyone because transferring a little amount of mana was easy, one would need to just think and transfer it. However, transferring mana to other living beings was difficult and powerful spells were required for it.
"How can I become strong without relying on mana and magic? Is it even possible?" Sol thought.
These were the questions Sol always asked himself. He would meditate, exercise, eat everything hoping that he would have mana one day.
Sol was the only one in the whole world, who didn't have mana. It was a case that would occur once in a century. He didn't know what he would do if he didn't have mana in the future. He had heard many stories about mages, magic warriors, magical beasts, mythical creatures, beast tribes, and many others and their feats. It didn't matter if it were just stories or rumors, he knew what magic was capable of.
He hadn't forgotten about the incident that happened five years ago. He would think about the woman, his mother which he met just for a short time and was killed. And the killers, that killed his biological mother and also tried to kill him when he was just an infant.
He thought, "There are many things I don't know. - I could live quietly, living as nothing happened but ... there's no telling if someone will come again for me, and it's not like I can forget everything." He grinned, " Fighting for myself is okay but fighting for the woman who I met for a few seconds..." He remembered the warm eyes and smile the woman had and also remembered his past life parents. " Still... I do want to know what happened and why and also prepare for future uncertainties - who knows I may not be killed by those who want me dead but some by some wild beasts, bandits, or monsters."
Sol got up and headed home. On the way, he met people from the town.
"Oi, Sol where are you headed," A young man asked. Beside him was another young man called John.
"I'm going home, Brother Nick." Sol looked at them and asked, "Are you going on a work?"
"No, we were just hanging around," said John. "Aren't you going to play with others?"
"Come to think of it I haven't seen you playing with others. You are always either on your own or with parents or with adults." Nick asked. John nodded in agreement.
Sol smiled and said, "Is that so. It's just that I don't like playing. Besides, I get to hear stories for adults, you know."
"You must really like stories then", John said. "I also know some amazing story, want you to listen,"
Nick intervened, "You are going to tell him about your great-grandpa, aren't you. Please don't lie to a kid."
"It's not a lie", John shouted.
"Don't listen to him, Sol. He's going to say how his greaaaat grandpa saw a mountain that had a goddess message engraved on it." Nick sat down and put his hand around Sol's small shoulder.
"Whoa! For real, did your great-grandpa go to the mountain and saw the goddess's message?" Sol was amazed and didn't listen to Nick's advice.
"Yes, it's true." John smiled
They went to a nearby open field and John started saying his story.
"You see my great-grandpa was a slave, and one time he happened to get a chance to serve one of the noble houses on their journey. Their journey was the great mountains where the goddess's message was engraved as well as ancient language. He said it was one of the best moments of his life. He got to ride a flying ship and visited the place that many only heard about. Big mountains above the clouds, big letters that were engraved on it, he saw it all. That place was like heaven, he said." John told his story.
Nick was listening but was not interested in John's story. He just watched Sol, who was really excited listening to John's stories.
Sol was fascinated. Sol loved listening to others' stories instead of playing with children of his age. He was always fascinated with their stories.
Nick intervened again and asked, "So which noble house was it that took your great-grandpa", Nick gave a mocking smile since he knew the answer.
John was irritated but didn't pay attention to Nick. "That…you see...since, my grandparents forgot which noble house it was, even my parents and I don't know," John said with hesitation.
"Haha! See Sol, he doesn't even know. His story has a lot of questionable stuff, so don't listen to him." Nick laughed.
"You bastard, it is true. Then why don't I tell him one then." John shouted at Nick.
"It's okay, I don't think you were lying." Sol smiled.
Nick was surprised that he believed John's story and was also happy that he enjoyed the story. John was also happy that he got to tell his great grandpa's story and made Sol happy.
"Then, next time tell me more stories. Brother Nick and Brother John." Sol grinned.
Both of them agreed, waved to Sol, and went their way.
That night, on the bed, Sol was recalling the story he read and heard.
'World adventure Huh...I want to do that' Sol thought.
"But first,… I need power. And I think I know a way to get it." Sol grinned.