The sun was high in the sky, the weather was getting hotter and hotter each day, It won't be long before spring came knocking at the doors . In the orphanage , everyone was high-spirited ,the hardest season finally ended sparing them from another day of suffering , Winter, for humble farmers and poor people, is like a battlefield where one must be patient and brave to overcome their common enemies ,the cold , hunger and illnesses , as for the orphanage , they usually depend on their small field and few cattle to fill their stomach and selling handwork stuffs like straw hat ,to earn some money , of course , they got a wage from the city lord yearly , but it's still insufficient to give a proper living to the kids, even if they beg for more their plea would only fell in a deaf ear , thus, they could only depend on themselves and their hard work . Thankfully , this winter went smoothly , the wood lasted until the end, only three children got sick half less than last year, there were no casualties in the animals side and after reducing the food to only two small meals a day , they managed to hold on until spring .
Early in the morning , Everyone smiled, joked , laughed welcoming the new season and a new day of work ,the young children played in the garden while the old ones helped the adults to plow the field and clean the house . At the front gate, a small little girl stood there obediently waiting for Jane to come out , her smooth snow-white skin and dark black eyes , highlight her beautiful red raspberry hair , making her look like a pretty little doll . It has been now a year since she came in this world , a whole new life has just begin , the orphanage was her home , its residents were her family ,Granny as her careful and gentle mother, Jane , her funny big sister , Sol and Dan , the playful big brother and uncle, always present and ready to help , Tess and Axel , her five and six years old elder sister and brother , at the same time her best friends , she spent most of her time with those two, talking ,playing, strolling and learning to read and write . Beside the great achievement in her social life, she also made a tremendous improvement in Magic , she already learned the three Magic circle completing perfectly the puppeteer profession 's first stage, Manipulation, the first magic circle , is for controlling the target's movements , the second , for monitoring the internal organs ,like stopping a bleeding and closing a wound or accelerating one's heartbeat , it may not be a highly regarded magic , however , as a doctor , Ellaria believe that it's a very incredible power which may become an earth-shaking magic if used the right way , the third and most unbelievable one , allow the puppeteer to control a certain area , it can make all the molecules and particles in it to stop moving , it gives the illusion of a stop in the time , a fallen glass full of water standing midair with the water's drops frozen in time , this magic circle may went even far , thus , it is still open for more researches and development , for the moment Ellaria could control a two meters diameter zone . Great progress was also achieved in her mana control ,the magic circle durability increased to 300 seconds, the Control range became 5 meters ; the time needed to cast a magic circle decreased becoming only 2 seconds and 5 seconds at the long range.
Beside her progress in magic , after the continuous round of filling and delaying , her Mana pool become larger , almost twice the side when she was born , but , it was not enough , Fluffy is still unsatisfied ,its size is slightly bigger than one of an ordinary person ,however , comparing it to those geniuses' mana pool, it still not enough , she has to work hard and be patient until they found a faster way to resolve the problem . On the other hand , her cultivation become faster she could now absorb close to eight hundred particles per minutes , leaving her with only to hours of constant cultivation to replenish her mana pool .
"Ella! I'm here ! "Jane walked out from the orphanage with a big bag on her back "Let go ! Hmm, let's put this on your head first "she took out a small red cap from her pocket and gently place it on the little girl head covering all her hair , ears and even her forehead leaving half of her eyes visible . Ellaria lifted the cap with her hand confusingly , and looked at Jane who gave her an apologetic smile .
"Sorry , that is the smallest cap I found in the orphanage, you must bear with it , no one should see your hair or else big trouble will follow , got it ?"
The little girl smiled and with an innocent lowered voice she said " Red Beautiful , like it"
"Ooh~! You're so cute" As she about to hug Ellaria ,the sound of galloping horses approached the front gate , a wooden carriage stopped before them and Sol get down from the coachman's seat .
"Sol , Why did you come here?" asked Jane confusedly . Granny charged her of taking Ellaria in a visit to the city and buy some necessities there , she was supposed to do it alone .
"I came to lend you a hand, I will be in charge of escorting you safely to the city " he smiled brightly to Jane with a confident expression as if saying leave it to me , I will definitely protect you .
It's no longer a secret, almost everyone in the orphanage who can understand it knew that Sol have a crush on Jane , perhaps even the principal concerned was aware of it, and she just didn't show it . The poor little kid , every time he approached Jane , something would turn wrong making the situation more awkward and embarrassing, one day somehow he managed to pour a full bucket of water on Jane , making the latter even more eager to stay away from him , Sol must have been cursed or something . From that day onward, everyone looked at him with pity and helplessness , Ellaria was the same, but she also admired him , after all those falls , he didn't give up , he was even more persistent , he deserves to be encouraged .
"No need , I can do it myself, thank you for preparing the carriage" as she said that , she had already put her bag inside the carriage preparing to leave , but when she was about to take the little girl with her , Ellaria dodged her grip and ran toward the young man with an enchanting smile on her face.
"Sol , Sol" she gripped slightly his pant wanting to catch his attention .
"Ella !" Sol gently lifted the small little girl to took her in his arms " Are you excited to go out for the first time ? The city is huge, you'll discovery a lot of new things and meet many interesting peoples , but what you should really take a good look at is the merchant" Sol started numerating the different shops and articles you may find in the city , and from time to time he would throw a quick pleading glance at Jane . Seeing his endless speech and Ellaria that seemed to not let go of Sol no matter what , Jane Sighed .
"Ok , You can come with us " With this last sentence , she quickly got on the carriage. Sol overjoyed , he smiled and patted Ella lovingly on her head with a thankful expression on his face . Ellaria didn't have much of reaction she just smiled back at him .
Sol put the little girl in the carriage with Jane, before getting on the coachman's seat and departing toward the city . On the other hand , Jane looked at Ellaria with narrowed eyes , the little girl was confused and just looked at her with an innocent expression .
[I just felt like it, he is quite admirable, isn't he? ] Ellaria could communicate with Fluffy mentally making more efficient for them to discuss , or else one would think that the little girl talk to her imaginary friend ….at some points , it is not that far from the truth .
Beside Jane's strange glances and Ellaria acting like if she didn't notice anything, the journey went smoothly , no incident occurred , Sol is skillful as a coachman , no , working at the field , taking care of the children , cleaning , …in fact he is good in all his tasks, it's just when it comes to love he became clumsy , very clumsy , I think he even surpassed the meaning of this word ,…. Sigh, So pitiful!
In less than half an hour , they arrived at their destination , the orphanage wasn't that far from the city , it's located with the farmers in the outer area surrounding the western Dial city .
Various shops , large and crowded marbled streets , busied sellers everywhere displaying different product , strange fruit , colorful stones , odd tools, there were even potions and weapons stores . As the carriage slowly crossed the crowded street , Elaria , curiously looked at the surroundings , the citizen were ordinary people enjoying their peaceful daily life, the nobles rarely came in the Western region , they prefer the northern or center Dial where there are fewer commoners and more luxurious buildings and expensive articles .
Among the crowd , Ellaria spotted some individuals caring weapons, it was strange , usually only the knight and the students of Magic Academies were allowed to carry their weapons around in the city . The little girl directly asked Fluffy who patiently explained every thing to her.
In this world , there are what we call Dungeons, independents on its own , like small little worlds , each of them has a different environment with various dangerous beast residing in it , usually a dungeon has many floors from three to ten depending on its level , at each floor there is a Boss guarding valuable items like weapons , gems or even gold , at the last floor we found the master of the dungeon the strongest ,who rule all over the other bosses , in a high level dungeon the master has full control of the dungeon , he is capable of changing its shape ,even adding some floors or more traps .
Those in charge of exploring the dungeon ,we call them the adventurers , anyone can become an adventurer, if they are courageous enough or are in need of money , they only have to join the guild , the headquarters of all the adventurers , this job is very important and highly respected ,not only because it's really dangerous and one can lose his life at any moment , but also because a dungeon could get out of control letting the monsters inside escape from its restrictions, it happened when the master grew stronger at a rate that the dungeon walls would not be able to suppress him anymore , this terrible outcome had occurred years ago , thousands millions or so wolves like beast escaped from an underground dungeon and ravaged the nearby villagers and cities even with the cooperation of all the adventurers , they weren't able to hold back the invasion , it was only with the help of the knights that they finally killed the master and the other underlings , however, more than one third of the commoners have died that day .
That why , the guild is constantly monitoring the dungeons , observing each of its changes , and when they spot some fluctuations , they would send a party to clear the dungeon and kill the master destroying by the same time the dungeon . Adventurer receives other missions , like escorting merchant, noble, hunting undesirable beast , exploring wild area, collecting ingredients , and most important capturing the magical beast to sell in auctions .
In conclusion ,the third party who is allowed to carry weapons inside the cities are the adventurers , they also got some privileges for examples , the adventurer's card will allow you to get a decrease for your purchases in the stores , also adventurers don't need to pay any entry fee for any city , thus , many commoners joined the guild and the number of adventurers increased once more , even some nobles joined the flow not for the money , they view this job like a training and it make it much easier to get access to a dungeon and some dangerous area .
Ellaria observed with curiosity the different shops at the side of the road and its different articles , what truly attracted her attention was the herbs that was displayed in one of the shops , some of them weren't unknown to her, somehow, they were like the ones she used in her previous life .
[Do you know the effect of those herbs ?] Ellaria acted like if she was still looking at the store while asking Fluffy who was beside her .
Fluffy throw a glance at the store and quickly replied
[No , I want those, however, without money it would be difficult ]
[Then , I will be counting on you ,thank you Fluffy ]
"Good morning , how may I hel….ooh my ! Isn't that my dear Jane ? Welcome! Welcome ! It has been a while "the middle-aged woman displayed a bright smile her eyes were full of gentleness when she looked at Jane "And this beautiful little girl , isn't she the one old granny always talk about ?"
"Yes , her name is Ellaria , she is our little genius " In fact Ellaria, didn't do anything special , she just started talking and walking earlier than most babies , thus, she is regarded as a genius in the orphanage" At this early age ,she could already understand most what we are saying , and she can read all the orphanage books " Jane was prideful of Ellaria, she would take any giving opportunity to prize her .
"Really?! That's amazing…. Hi, I'm Tania, old Granny 's friend and the owner of this shop , nice to meet you , little doll "Ellaria smiled and replied with a slight bow " I'm Ellaria ,Nice to meet you too"
"oh my ! So cute !" both Jane and Tania exclaimed at the same time . As Tania was about to say something, a hoarse voice came from the back store .
"What are you so excited about ? Do you mind sharing it with this old man."
A short middle-aged man walking out the kitchen , when Jane saw him her expression immediately lit up .
"Uncle Roy , how have you been ? Is your leg alright ? Doesn't it hurt anymore ?" Jane threw several questions in one breath, worried about the health of the middle-aged man who got injured in the leg after a fall in the stairs .
"I'm alright , it doesn't hurt anymore , it doesn't seem like it but this old body won't be broken just like that "He smiled and approached Jane to pat her shoulder slightly to reinsure her .
"In fact , it was thanks to a healer that Roy's injury quickly recovered , his name is Iron ,one day the young man entered our bakery , he inadvertently heard me talk with a friend about Roy's fall and kindly suggest healing him for free, we were really lucky to encounter such a gentle person , we proposed to pay him, but he directly refused , people like him are really rare this day , you know that healers and mages request tremendous prize just for a small casting ,however , Iron was different" Tania talked with stars in her eyes like if she described her favored idol " Oh ! Where are my manners ? Sorry Ellaria , this is my husband ,Roy , the most renowned baker in the city ,all the sweet pastries in the store are his creations "
Ellaria nodded and politely bowed to greet the middle-aged man who smiled back at her , some minutes later , Sol entered the store , he probably went to do something in the city ,thereby he came last , he quickly greeted the couple , and started to charge the carriage with bags of flour and other necessities which got prepared beforehand by Uncle Roy .
While the two men joined hand in the task , Jane was talking to Tania at the front of the store , meanwhile Ellaria was standing beside them, eating a delicious biscuit offer generously by auntie Tania , at the same time , the little girl observed the passerby , busing themselves with the daily tasks and the shopping, it was quite noisy , and even more when the sound of galloping horses resounded down the street , the people hurriedly stood at the side making way for the upcoming carriage to pass, they seemed to not be the first time that a crazy noble come to their city , those higher up disregard the commoners , even if they "accidentally" hit one with their carriage , the coachman had the order to ignore the injured and continue the journey , even if the victim want to complain at the very best scenario, he would receive money to make him shut up out of pity from the noble , at the worst he would be killed , he and his family , and the authority would act like nothing had happened , they are the first to be bribed after all , this is what we call a pure suppression .
The sound got closer and closer , it seems that it would pass by the bakery soon , thankfully the orphanage carriage wasn't in the way or else troubles would follow, as the passerby retreated at the side , they gathered around the stores , obscuring Ellaria's view , however, with the empty space between their feet , she was able to get a glimpse of a wooden toy laying in the middle of the road, the little girl ignored it , it will be crashed under the heavy carriage anyway , she was curious about the identity of the arrogant noble instead , but even if she jumped she won't be able to see any things beside the carriage wheels , thus she gave up , just as she turned her head toward the toy , her emotionless expression twitched .
Some minutes ago , in the store just in front of the bakery , a woman was buying vegetables to prepare the family's dinner ,she had brought her son with her but the latter was totally disinterest in his mother's purchases , he just stayed outside in a corner playing with his wooden horse , a new creation of his father , from time to time he would take a look at his surrounding , there were a little girl much younger than him with a red cap in front of him , when their eyes met the girl would smile at him but the boy didn't care about it, he was totally absorbed by his toy . Moment later , his mother exited the shop and took her son's hand to leave but as she was crossing the road , she heard the loud sound of galloping horses , alarmed ,with her son she hurriedly went back to stood in front of the shop without noticing the wooden horse that fell in the middle of the road , the boy was agitated , while his mother was looking curiously in the direction of the carriage , the little boy rushed toward his toy to pick it up , however when , he was about to stand up and return beside his mother , it was already too late, the big brown horses were just before the boy , he was completely frightened , his body was frozen , it refused to move an inch .
The mother wanted to rush and save her son, but she was blocked by the gathered people , even with her cries and plea , no one went to save the boy , it was already too late , if someone moved , there would be a second victim instead of one , it was useless .
On the other side , Jane took Ellaria in her arms and used her hand to cover the little girl's eyes preventing her from seeing the bloody scene that will follow , like if the boy's death was already graved in stones .