Long ago in a world where 14 gods ruled above the lands, no feelings of enmity existed.
But one day, 7 of the gods decided to create their own territories on earth. But the 7 other gods were against dividing the power of the planet.
No matter how hard the gods tried to convince the other gods, they couldn't change their minds. So the gods were forced to wage a war that lasted many centuries and completely destroyed half of the planet.
The gods that were against ruling the planet were banished to the completely destroyed side, where no sunlight came through the dark clouds.
The remaining gods created humans and let them evolve on their own, but the banished gods didn't forget the humiliation they suffered and created monsters to kill the humans.
Many people died at the hands of these monsters. That's why the 7 godes decided to bless the humans with magic.
With the help of this power they managed to develop spells and weapons to defend themselves from the frequent attacks of the monsters. Many years passed by and humans were able to establish kingdoms and cities to protect them.
As time passed humanity found many ways to use magic more efficiently and grew stronger.
But the monsters evolved as well.
This is the tale of light and darkness
Many years after the war of the gods in the land created by the fire god Ignirak, the 11th king of the land of fire was crowned. Because the 10th king of the land of fire was known to be a greedy, merciless king, many people were happy about that.
The capital, where every new king resides, was famous for its beauty. The new king as a young man with black hair and incredibly high magical power. His goals were to help the peasants and unite his land, so his crowning was highly expected.
But on the day when the new king was crowned, a very poor man was even happier than any other man on that day, because he was gifted with a son. Everyone was watching the crowning of the new king except for him and his wife, who was giving birth to a healthy young boy.
After his coronation, the new king of Ignirak went through the capital to thank all of the people who had come. But when he came to the house where the boy was born, he stopped because he heard the baby crying. He decided to get into the house.
„Open your doors!"
After a shorg while, an old man with few hairs left and cheap clothes could be seen. When he realized who was standing in front of his door, he got nervous.
„My king! What do you seek in a poor house like mine?"
„What's your name, my friend?", the king answered, ignoring the question.
„Makoto Akata, my king."
„May I come in?"
„O-of course."
The king entered Makotos run down house.
„Makoto? What is the king of our land doing in our humble home?", his wife asked.
„I was just surprised to hear a newborn while everyone in this town is watching my coronation."
Makoto got really panicked.
„I am so sorry! I know that we should have been there, but the boy wouldn't wait! Punish me, but please leave my wife and my son alone!"
„(My god, what has my brother done to this land?). Don't be afraid my friend. I'm not here to punish anyone, but to help this land to smile again. May I see him?"
„Of course!"
The newborn was given to the king.
„What is his name?"
„Akio. Akio Akata, my king."
„Akio, that's your name, isn't it?"
And for the first time in his life, Akio laughed.
„This boy and all the other children in this land. They are our future. We should not be greedy, but protect children instead. And you, my dear Akio, are one of them."
He looked at the boy, who was laughing while laying in the kings arms.
„May Ignirak protect you."
.....
The years passed by and under the leadership of the new king the land developed very well. The poor got jobs to get more money and trough that the economy of the land was booming.
A young boy with red hair was running through the streets of his town, heading to the market. When he got to the food shop, he stopped.
„Oh god morning Akio. Buying some things for your father?"
„I am. Two loafs of bread and some meat please."
„Here you are."
„But those are three loafs?"
„Do you see anyone near us?"
The boy smiled brightly.
„Thank you!" May Ignirak protect you!"
With these words, the boy left the market and headed back home. When he got there, he stopped for a moment to look at the stone standing in front of his house.
„Good Morning Mom!"
After that, he got into the house.
„I'm back! Guess what, the old man gave me three loafs instead of two!"
„How nice of him."
„What are we doing today?"
„How about we go for a walk after I'm back from work?"
„Yay! I'm looking forward to it!"
After a few hours, Makoto returned from work and the two of them headed out to go into the nature around the town. When they came to the great cliff near the sea, they stopped and laid down onto the grass.
„You know the tail of light and darkness, don't you?"
„I do! The great 7 gods who beat the bad gods and banish them."
„Yes, this story really shows us these 7 gods as the evil ones."
„Because they are."
„Yeah, but why are they evil? Do we know that?"
„I don't know. But they are sending these monsters, so they can't be good gods!"
„But you know, if I would take some of your food and when you complain about it, I would lock you into a dark place, what would you think?"
„I would break out and kick your ass, old man!"
„Hahaha, you would!"
„But I don't get the point of your story this time."
„This is a very important lesson for you. You need to always ask why. Nobody is evil because he's evil. And nobody is good because he's good. There are always motives. And just because you don't understand them, they don't disappear."
„I don't get it."
„I see. Maybe you will one day. Anyways, do you want to go home?"
"No let´s stay a bit longer".
.....
A few years later, both parents of Akio passed away and because nobody wanted to play with him, since he had no parents and had to live from stealing from the tourists that visited the town and eat garbage. He thought about getting a real job, but nobody wanted to employ him.
One day, while searching for food, he found a book on the streets. You might wonder, how a boy, who didn´t have a proper education could read a book. That´s because most of the books were being written with magic runes and since everybody had a small percentage of magic power inside them, everybody was able to read them.
So, Akio had no problem reading the book and he was shocked by the things written in this book. After his father's death, nobody had ever told him stories like that anymore and this was maybe even greater than any story his father had ever told him.
But he didn't know that the book he found wasn't a normal book, but a magical grimoire, filled with tons of spells and magical abilities. But for this young boy, to read and learn these spells was the most exciting thing on earth. After a few months, he knew nearly every single word written in it by heart.
The problem was that the book he found was one of the most powerful magical books that the royal library possessed, and it didn't take long, until its absence was noticed and so, by tracking its magical power, one of the main librarians found the book and next to it Akio, sitting in his poor house reading the book.
„Good Morning my boy. Do you like the book you're reading?"
Akio looked up to see a woman standing in his house, which was very unusual, since his mother had died.
„I do. But why would anyone come this far to ask me that?"
„I didn't come here for that. I came here to bring this book, which is being owned by the royal library of Ignirak back. So, could you please give me the book. You might not be able to read them, but the runes written in this book contain mighty magic."
„But I can read them and I was even able to cast a spell written in this book!", answered the boy and with one wave of his hand, he ignited the wood in the oven.
The woman just stared at him with a shocked expression all over her face: "How were you able to do that? There are only few people, who can read this book! And at such a young age!"
„What do you say now?"
Akio looked really pleased with himself as he extinguished the fire and the book turned to its normal appearance again.
„That´s very impressive! But it must be awful to stay at this rotten house every day! You could come with me to the royal library. If you do that, you can keep the book and read even more there. Furthermore, the librarians will teach you how to use magic properly."
Akio looked at the librarian sceptical.
„I'm fine with just this one. And why would you want me to go there? My father kept telling me to always ask about the motives of a person."
The woman smiled.
„To be honest, librarians like me are always curious. I want to know what you will be able to do if you receive proper magical education."
Akio stood up, the book in his hands.
"Ok, I will trust you, but only if I will be able to keep this book and read everything else there."
„You're a very confident boy, you know that?"
Akio smirked at the woman's commentary.
„My father kept saying that to me as well, but he died year ago."
Before they left Akio turned around.
„Goodbye, mom and dad. I will have a proper home now, so don´t worry!"
As they walked through the streets of the town, the boy remembered that he didn't even know the name of the woman.
„What's your name?"
„My name is Airi. But I don't have a last name."
„We're here."
Even though he had seen the library before, he was amazed by its hugeness and beauty. The library was built out of pure white stone with a golden roof. Inside there were uncountable books. The shelves or better to say the round foundations they were standing on were floating around the library and the building looked like it was made out of pure marble.
Akio was dazed by the greatness of the library.
„I'll introduce you to someone."
The boy followed Airi, while looking at every book he saw. When Airi stopped, he looked up to see a middle-aged man leaning at a wall. He had dark red hair and was wearing a red robe which was only given to high-ranking executives of the military of Ignirak. The man carried an expensive looking sword.
„Akio, this is Captain Takashi, the leader of one of the biggest divisions of Igniraks Knights. Captain Takashi, this is Aiko. He found this magical book we lost a few months ago and learned how to use some of the magical spells in it. I brought him here, so that he can learn magic from us."
The man got off the wall.
„So you were the boy that found this book, containing dangerous spells and decided to not ask who could have lost something so precious, but to learn magic all by yourself, without the consent of a higher ranking Magician?"
Takashi looked at the boy with a very serious facial expression. For a moment, Akio thought about running away, before he decided to stay strong.
„I didn't know it was forbidden. I am sorry."
The captain looked a bit confused for a second, before he began laughing.
„Hahaha! You are damn funny, you know that? I like you, you've got guts!"
Akio sighed in relief as the pressure he felt before was going away.
„I've got to go now. The boys are only doing nonsense when I'm not there."
Airi seemed to be really sad about that.
„I thought you'd at least drink a tea with us."
„Sorry, got a lot to do today. See you Akio!"
With these words, the Ignirak Knight disappeared as fast as he appeared.
Airi looked really down after Takashi left. Akio looked at her confused.
„Is he your boyfriend?"
The librarian looked nervously answered.
„W-what? No, h-he's not! Why would you say something like that?"
„But you want him to be, don't you?"
„No! Y-yes, a little b...No! What am I saying? We have better things to do!"
The boy looked at her curiously and full of anticipation.
„Are we learning how to shoot fire beams?"
„Not today young man!"
Akio followed the woman through the library.
„But one day, we will?"
Airi smirked.
„Maybe."
They arrived at the dorms of the library personnel.
„You're going to sleep in one of the free rooms. It's not that special, but I think...."
She couldn't finish her sentence, because Aiko was already inside and started shouting.
„Wow! What's this huge thing and why are there so many clothes in there? Who needs so many clothes? And this bed looks like it's made out of silk!"
The woman could just smile at the scene she was witnessing.
„Thank you very much!", shouted the young boy.
„You don't have to say that. It is only right to give a child with a massive amount of potential that much."
„Yeah! What do we learn today? Creating fire walls or shooting fire beams?"
„What do you have with your fire beams? No, today we'll talk about how this power actually works."
„Ok, that's not that bad."
„We'll see. Now sit down, we're starting the lesson!"
„So you know how to read the runes, but do you also know where they come from?"
„From the Seven gods who gave us the magical power?"
„Not directly. When the gods send their magic on earth, they were just spheres made out of pure mana, where everyone could take as much as they wanted out of it. Some of the people were smart enough to think logical and did not take too much power. But some of them were greedy and took so much mana that the spheres started running out of mana. And so the gods decided to spread the mana around the world instead of sending them to a fixed point. They even made magical artifacts and plants that contained magic, so that the mana will always be replenished. That is also the reason why there are hierarchies in this world. The people who took the most power these days are the most powerful even until today, because their children inherited the power and these persons...."
„.....Are the ancestors of the kings and royals of today, right?"
„You are right."
„Hehe, I'm a genius!"
„Then, one day, the first alchemist named Nastor figured out a way to imprint that magic into letters, which were made by him. With this technique, he could create the grimoires, which are catalysts used to chant magic, and distributed them fairly among the people of the seven lands. Although he wasn't able to give them to all people. That's why there are royals with extremely high magical power and poor people with nearly no magical power, like your family. But you have an unusual high amount of power for someone with that poor parents."
„Maybe it's not my magic, but my comprehension ability?"
„That would be a possibility or you've got a really strong grimoire there. Anyway, Nastor didn't only imprint the runes into books, but also into different swords or lances or any other thing you could harm monsters with, by writing the runes onto the weapons. Some of them got lost, like the sword of fulgorak in the land of lightnings or are kept by royal families for generations like the lance of glaciarak in the land of eternal ice. But grimoires have a big advantage. Once you write your name into it, using runes, nobody will be able to use it, except for you, until you decide to no longer keep it."
When Airi checked if Akio understood everything, she told him, she found him sleeping on his chair.
„You're right, today was a rough day. Let's stop here."
Akio slowly woke up from his little nap.
„Huh, what? No fire beams today?"
„Hahaha, no! Come on, you have to sleep now."
„Fine! Good night!"
„Good night!"
The woman sighed and went to bed. At the middle of the night, she woke up from a sound which sounded like someone reading a book. She got up her bed and opened her door, to see Akio sitting on one of the flying foundations while reading one of the books on it.
„Hey, what are you still doing here?"
The boy wasn't surprised to see a person.
„Hey!"
„I'm just beginning to learn a bit."
„But you need your sleep!"
„I know, I know, I'll go to bed soon!"
„That's what all of them say! I understand that you want to be a good magician, but...."
„Not a good magician. I'll be the best one ever. Although my father kept telling me that the king is a good man, I want to proof that someone with a low status like me can be the greatest!"
Airi looked at Akio amazed.
„I believe you. The day you become the greatest magician, I'll ask Takashi on a date!"
„Hey, my chances aren't that low!"
„They really aren.... wait what did you just say, you little brat?"
But the boy was already out of sight.
„Good night, Akio!"
The woman got back into her room and laid down. Out of nowhere, she began to laugh silently.
„The greatest magician ever? Looks like I finally brought something funny into this boring library! May Ignirak protect us from this kid!"
...
4 years later:
The main library of the city of Ignirak:
If someone would have walked by, they would have never thought that a boy like Akio Akata would live in there. And if someone would've seen him, they would have never recognised him, the greatest fire magic-user since Captain Takashi who has ever entered this library. Nobody knew that, except for the people living in there. 4 years passed since Airi brought him there and ever since that day, his wisdom and magical abilities had been growing with every day.
„Akio! Come down here, it's your 16th birthday! I've made a cake for you!"
„No time! Uncle Takashi is waiting for me! Today, I can finally enter the Ignirak Knights!"
„Even knights have to eat their birthday cake! Ask your "uncle" Takashi, he did so!"
A figure with bright red hair could be seen which took a piece of the cake before running to the front door.
„I have to go! See you!"
„Good Bye!"
The boy jumped out of the front door.
„Today is the day! I'll finally join the Ignirak Knights! Watch out world, here comes the greatest magician of all time!"
His grimoire floating behind him, Akio reached his fist into the air.
„I've always wanted to do that!
Fire Beam!"
A pillar of fire made it's way up to the sky. People watching the sky were able to see a red explosion over Ignirak, as if the world wanted to greet a new hero.