Morning came in Lumin Village as the sun rose above the forest. A house on a hill lays calmly under the early orange sun. The front door slowly opened and a young boy stepped out. He was tall for a boy his age, about 1.3 meters (4'2"). His almost silver-blond hair shined in the crisp morning light. He wore simple clothing, different shades of brown which was enough to cover him. Spring had come a few weeks ago, so school began today for the children of Lumin village. For them, it was a simple education lasting only until they were about ten, consisting of: reading/writing, basic arithmetic, enough magic understanding for them to be able to utilize their elements, and basic combat training so they may join the military when they grow older.
Arne raised his head to the sun and shielded his eyes, the immense orange-red mana tendrils coming from the sun itself made it appear to be an imperious flaming lotus hanging in the distant sky. The hot orange mana stretched across the horizon heating the world with its immense energy. Blue and light green mana intertwined in high in the sky and twirled in harmony within the clouds, with tinges of yellow in distant dark clouds. In the earth beneath his feet brown energy lay dormant, tempted by stimulus.
"Beautiful day." said Arne, a soft smile laid upon his face, serenity is seen upon his young face. Like a rock calmly standing in a raging current.
"You say that every day honey," said Rena before planting a kiss right in the middle of his forehead, making his face a little red. "You remember the way to school right? Roger and Lily can't help you this time since they went to register with the adventurers two towns over. They left this morning and should be back in two weeks or less. You think you can get to school by yourself? If not you can find Mr. Phillip and he will show you the way. His son starts today as well."
"Thanks mom." He says, before departing left down the hill towards the village. As he steps onto the barren path he sees the familiar sight of Lumin Village. Distant fields of grain fill his vision, and in the center, at the foot of his hill. Is the market district of town. Here there are a few market stands filled with various goods, one man sells fruits as well as seeds for farmers who didn't plant in the first week of spring. Next is a kind and benevolent old woman, weaving blankets and clothes for the townspeople, this is where his mother bought him the blanket for his bed.
A cart passes on his right, led by an old donkey. Controlling the cart was an old lumber worker, his mother called him Woody, who passes by at the start of every month to sell the lumber he has collected from the forest.
"Mornin kid!" he says as he passes him by, tipping his hat. He happened to be one of the men who was outside Arne's house on the day of his birth.
"Good morning Woody!" Arne yells at his back, the old man waves his hand back at Arne and continues off to town. As Arne passes through town he greets just about everyone. In a small town like this one, almost everybody knows each other. From one of the side streets a jovial fat man drags a shy young boy behind him. The man's belly bounces as he nearly sprints down the road.
"Hello Phillip!" Arne called. The man turned, sweat running down his face, and almost green with worry. As soon as he saw Arne his face changed completely, almost glowing with happiness.
"Thank goodness Arne. You start school today don't you? This is my son Elias, he starts today as well, could you lead him to the school? You know where it is don't you? I have to get back to the bank, some farmers have finally warmed up to the idea of the bank and I really need to be there. Thank you! Bye!" chattered Phillip, before taking off back in the direction he came from. Arne looked at his back stunned.
Arne turned toward Elias and looked at him. He was a skinny boy, only a bit shorter than Arne himself. He had jet-black hair, the darkest he had ever seen, and wore more expensive clothing than himself, but nothing like a nobleman. Arne recalls the time that a Baron had rode through town on his mighty horse, he recalls how much less he shined compared to other people and wondered why people worshiped him.
The boy in front of him was different. He was timid, and shy, but he glowed brightly with a strange dark light that Arne had never seen before. As he stared at him studying him. A soft voice came from the boy's throat.
"W-why a-re you staring at m-me like that?" he said. Arne looked up at his light green eyes and apologized.
"Sorry! I'm Arne! Nice to meet you! You are Elias right?" Arne held out his hand almost comically. Elias stared at Arne's hand as if it were a venomous snake. Elias looked up at Arne's face and saw a wide, bright smile. He hesitated and took Arne's hand softly before shaking it.
"I-I'm Elias, you can call me Eli though, since it's shorter." said Eli.
'He seems nice' thought Arne.
"Alright Eli, let's head to school. I heard that they are able to test our elements in class!" claimed Arne, before setting off down the road again. They pass the smithy as they go, the sharp twanging of a hammer echoes through the street.
"The school is just ahead!" said Arne, turning to see Eli following behind distantly. "Lets hurry!" he said, "when my brother went here he said there are only a few seats, so let's go choose our seats!"
Eli nodded from a distance, and they rushed together to the school. In front of them rested a small building, which appeared to only be able to hold about fifty people, students and teachers. It was primarily made with stone, dark grey in color, with some light brown wood lining the edges of the building and providing it a frame. It only about one window per room, with the room in the furthest back having two. Surrounding the school were vibrant bushes, and vines grew upwards towards the slanted chestnut wooden roof. On left, the side away from the village, a large courtyard was cleared, where there was enough room for one class of about six people could practice magic at the same time, without bothering other classes. On the right, the side closer to the village, was a smaller courtyard for weapon practice. Lining the windowless wall was eight straw men, with red circles and a dot stitched into the outside of the dummy.
The front of the building had a few short steps leading to an arched wooden double door, the door hung open. A friendly-faced man stood holding the door for new students. He had sharp brown eyes and a long nose, upon which rested small glasses. His small mouth curled at the ends into a happy smile, which welcomed the new first-years.
"Come inside," the man said, "You two are the second to arrive, I teach the first years, so you two will be sharing my class with four others. It is the first room on the left."
The boys looked at each other before entering their new classroom, Arne grinning widely, and Eli cowering behind him, his eyes darting to every corner and shaking nervously. As Arne proudly walks into the room, he observes it carefully. On his left are six desks, the three at the back are empty, but the furthest one in the front, the one next to the window, is occupied. To his right, is a larger desk with papers cluttered on top, and behind the desk as a large black board. On the wooden frame of the board, several white rocks rest.
Arne looks at the person who occupies the window seat and observes her. She is also tall, a few centimeters taller than Eli, her long fiery red hair is her most striking feature. She stares out the window, her flaming eyebrows lay low above her eyes, with her head resting on her left arm, clearly not pleased to be in school. She wears a neat long-sleeved white shirt and brown pants. To Arne, she glowed bright red.
Arne took the seat in the front beside her, and Eli took the front seat next to Arne, choosing the evil he knew rather than the evil he didn't. Arne turned to the girl, "Good morning!" he said cheerfully, "I'm Arne, who are you?" he said.
"Hmph," she ignored him.
'How rude' thought Arne, 'I hope she doesn't stay this way all year.'
"Hey A-Arne, I'm pretty sure that she's Thea, the blacksmith's daughter. I don't know any other families which have such red hair." said Eli timidly.
"Thea?" said Arne to Eli, before turning towards the teacher who appeared in the entrance, followed by three children.
"Pick a seat," said the teacher, before standing behind his desk. "First I will explain the structure of classes as well as what we will be doing throughout your time here. We will have three main courses a day, and they consist of knowledge, magic, and combat. I will start with knowledge. This class will take place in the classroom with me, and you will be learning basic knowledge such as reading writing, and arithmetic. Next will be magic classes. For those I will lead you students to the large courtyard where I will teach you how to utilize your primary elements from everyday usage, to life threatening situations. Finally is the combat class, although I do not particularly appreciate this class, it is mandatory for our kingdom's curriculum. So without further ado, let us get started. Today will be mainly introductory, and we will not be doing any major work. But let us commence introductions. I am your teacher, Mr. Gregory, and will be teaching you six throughout your time here." as he says this, he picks up one of the white rocks and writes 'Mr. Gregory' on the blackboard behind him before continuing, "Would anyone like to come up and address the class first?"
A boy in the back stands up, and walks before the class. He wears dirty and torn clothes, as well as an old straw hat. He is the smallest, and looks to be the youngest of the six. "I'm Hetan," he says, "my father runs the mill outside the village. He only wanted me to come for the first day so I could get me element tested." he says, making the teacher sigh in disappointment.
"Thank you Hetan," said Mr. Gregory, before looking back at the class. Seeing nobody moving, he points at Eli. "You young man with the black hair, introduce yourself." he says.
Eli looks at the other students in the class with desperate eyes, before sighing and walking to the front of the class. Arne flashes him a quick thumbs-up and a grin. Eli takes a deep breath. "I-I'm Eli, the banker, Phillip's son." he said quickly before rushing back to his seat, sweat apparent on his forehead, as well as his red face.
After Eli has gone, the two behind Eli stand up, they are identical in appearance. Same hairstyle, identical clothes, same brown eyes, same face, it was almost creepy. They both went up to the front and the one on the left said "I'm Tom!" and the other one said "and I'm Tim, we are the sons of the rancher outside the village!" Tom then finished by saying, "We also just came to get our elements tested!" then they both ran back to their seats.
Mr. Gregory's face was red. A vein in his neck looked like it was about to burst, and the whole class could hear him gritting his teeth. His laser like gaze felt like it cut through everything as it honed in onto Thea. She calmly looked back before walking up to introduce herself. "I'm Thea," she said, "I'm the blacksmith's daughter, and I came to learn how to fight. Not just how much ability I have in my element."
Mr. Gregory's face looked like a man who found an ice mage in the desert. His white teeth could be seen from space. His previous demeaner evaporating, Mr. Gregory thanked Thea before looking at Arne.
Arne got up and stood before the class. "Hello! I am Arne," he said, "my mother is Rena, she lives on the outskirts of the village. I never knew my father." Whether or not it was possible for Mr. Gregory's smile to get wider, it did. He had taught Arne's siblings, so if Arne was anything like them, he would be an unparalleled prodigy.
"You are Roger and Lily's younger brother aren't you Arne," said Mr. Gregory, "I taught them my first year here, they have been my best students to date."
"Sure am Mr. Gregory!" Arne responded with a wide smile, proud of his older siblings' achievements, a small flame of passion burned within Arne's eyes when he thought about surpassing them. A wish he once swore to make come true.
Thea's eyes widen and her pupils quiver, before settling, but this slip was enough to show that something said held great meaning to her.
"Now that that is over, let's go test our elements shall we?"
The class was lead to the center of the large courtyard, and was told to wait in single-file while their names were called. Mr. Gregory held an orb within his hands, that when mana is transferred into it, it will show the affinities their mana.
"Hetan," the first name was called. Mr. Gregory spoke clearly for the whole class to hear. "This orb will pull your mana, for whoever touches it, it will feel like someone is pulling you towards the orb. Do not resist the pull, follow it and it will bring your mana into the orb."
Hetan shut his eyes tightly before placing his small hand onto the orb, he followed the pull, like Mr. Gregory told him, before he suddenly heard "Earth element, untrainable. If you do not plan to stay past today Hetan, you may leave now." said Mr. Gregory. A dim brown light came from the orb.
Similar scenes appeared with Tim, and Tom, but they both possessed the wind element, they both left after Hetan. Next went Thea, but she had the first 'trainable' element. Fire. The orb glowed with a bright red light.
Arne was up next, and he placed his hand onto the orb. He felt it. The invisible grip on his mana. He followed the grip, and it led him closer to the orb. The orb began to glow, bright blue, though within that blue was a lighter blue core, small but still present. 'Huh,' he thought. "Water element, trainable. Ice element, untrainable. Though with your talent in water, it may not be impossible." Mr. Gregory's voice pierced his ears. Ice element? Weren't there only four elements?
"Mr. Gregory, I thought that there were only four elements, how come I have 'ice element'?" asked Arne, his head tilting in confusion.
Mr. Gregory laughed heartily. "That's not true at all kid, in fact, there are more than ten elements, though you've probably only seen the basic four in a small town like this. For example, very talented water mages can become ice mages with enough practice, but there are some who are born to be ice mages, and you may be one of them Arne."
Arne looked to the ground, pondering over something before letting Eli test his element, cheering him on from the side.
Eli set his hand on the orb, and as he pushed his mana inside, a wonderous scene appeared.
The orb glowed bright black, like the orb sucked up all light leaving only shadow in its place.
"D-Dark element" said Mr. Gregory, stunned, his jaw loose and his eyes shaking as he stared at the orb, ignoring all stimulus.
"Is t-that bad?" said Eli. Mr. Gregory did not respond. "Mr. Gregory?" probed Eli.
Mr. Gregory stomped his foot on the ground. Chains of metal from the ground rose and held the kids in place. He grabbed Eli's shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. He spoke, his voice shaking.
"Eli promise me that you will NEVER tell anyone of your element. You two as well." he looked towards Arne and Thea. They all nodded furiously, terrified of Mr. Gregory's outburst.
"Tell no one of his element. The dark element is very rare. If the Blackguard hear of your appearance, they will come and steal you from your family. You will be forced to be their soldier. Do you understand?" the children nodded. "Your element is earth Eli. Tell me what your element is?"
"E-Earth?" responded Eli timidly. Mr. Gregory's grip tightened. His eyes were watery and bloodshot.
"Tell me your element Eli!" he roared.
"It's Earth! Earth!"
He released Eli's shoulders, and the chains that bound Thea and Arne. "Thank you Eli. I'm sorry, but I hope you understand why I did that." he said. "You can go home now, class is over, we can explore your training weapons tomorrow."