♫ (Landon Conrath - Acetone) play this while reading if you want to ♫
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*BEEP BEEP
Grian woke up to a loud beeping noise. His head was hurting, he felt like he was made of lead, and his body felt cold and naked. He slowly tried to move his fingers, then his hands, then his feet.
He tried to lift himself from the ground then he opened his eyes but all he saw was nothingness. 'What the-' was all he could think of, dazed and confused; he could not even recall the past events.
While still trying to make sense of what had happened, he touched his eyes and suddenly a huge bright light enveloped his vision.
"AAAHHH why does it hurt so much!" He screamed, then he fell to the ground while patting his face; trying to find where the pain is coming from. The pain felt cold yet somehow hot. It felt like his face is burning but it isn't. He couldn't find the source of the pain. He tossed and turned while holding his face. Banging his head on the floor, trying to numb the pain.
Unbeknownst to Grian, an old man was watching him since he woke up. He was stunned. He saw the kid's eyes, they were the bluest blue he had ever seen. He was mesmerized and could not stop staring at them. He felt like he was drowning in an endless deep blue sea.
The old man who was in a trance was alarmed when Grian screamed. He suddenly shook his head in disbelief as he saw Grian's eyes release blue flames, burning bright. When Grian touched his eyes, part of the blue flame was gathered in his hands. Then his tattoo lit up and more blue flames were gathered.
The old man is bewildered, too mystified by the events unfolding in front of his eyes to notice that the kid was still lying down hurting. After a few seconds of gathering his thoughts, the old man rushed to Grian's side and put both of his hands above him. "Ionsu!" The old man chanted. Slowly the blue flames engulfing Grian's eyes and hands were dissipating.
One minute there was a cold burning sensation that Grian felt in his face, the next second there was none. Grian was still lying down on the ground with his eyes closed. He did not know what happened to him but in that pain he felt, he remembered everything that happened. The attack on the Bocht, the death of his parents, the men who took his sight, everything.
The weirdest thing for Grian was he couldn't feel anything. He was numb. He should be crying and bawling his eyes out because he remembered the death of his parents, the pain he felt, anger for the people that hurt him. He's just a kid, he should be feeling something, anything, but there was none.
'What's going on?' He wondered. Gradually, Grian opened his eyes and he was alarmed. He saw darkness at first but slowly and steadily, white lines appeared. He first saw an outline of the ceiling, then he stood up and looked around. He saw outlines of objects in white lines, a chair, a quadrilateral platform, and a plant. He looked at his hands and he can see it in an outline of white lines along with his tattoo. He looked up and he saw an outline of an old man. He knew it was an old man because even the long beard was outlined. In the old man's chest, he could see something burning inside, a ball-shaped aura with white flames burning steadily.
Grian did not know what those flames are, what happened with his sight, and his feelings. He felt like he was a newborn baby that doesn't know anything. But there is one thing he was sure of, that he should thank this old man. He knew that the pain was gone because he heard the old man said some chant.
"Thank you, good sir." was all Grian could say as he slowly stood up from the ground and bowed.
The old man scratched his beard and said, "Okay, so how do I start to explain everything, rather where should I start?"
The old man let out a sigh, pulled the chair, and sat down. "Sit down kid, I'm going to tell you everything, you must be wondering what had happened."
Grian sat on the platform beside the chair and nodded his head. All he could think of was how weird everything that has happened in the last few hours.
'Wait, is it still my birthday? How long did I sleep? Why can I see? Why can't I feel? What is that burning thing in the old man's chest?-' After being dumbfounded since he woke up, the influx of thoughts was stopped when the old man spoke.
"My name is Kenstein , I guess you can call me your grandfather," Kenstein said and scratched his beard.
"You remember what happened right? There was an attack on the Bocht. The Meith wanted to do a culling because Gnaths are said to be overpopulating the Bocht- wait wait, should I be even saying this to you?" Kenstein looked at the dumbfounded kid in front of him, without waiting for an answer, continued to tell his tale.
"Anyhow, the Meiths ordered the Rogaire to attack the Bocht and kill everyone. I was supposed to attend the voting to stop the attack and spare the Gnaths but those damn Letters! They drugged me! I was too late, I was only able to fend off the Rogaires that attacked the other side of the Bocht." Kenstein was angry, if Grian could see, he'll see veins popping in the old man's temple.
Grian was just sitting and listening intently. He still couldn't understand a thing. 'What are Letters? What is going on?! I can't understand anything! ' Grian wanted to yell in frustration but he kept quiet and just screamed in his thought, waiting for the old man to finish his story.
"Me! The great Kenstein! Lost to a bunch of Letters! Me!" Kenstein was now yelling in anger. Grian can see the old man's ball of aura growing and the flames are shaking violently.
Grian, scared of the unknown flames, decided to speak. "Uh Sir Kenstein, I apologize for the interruption but what are the Letters? And what is the white f-", he stopped before he could finish his sentence.
'I know he saved me but I still don't know if I could trust him? Is this normal? Am I normal? What happened to me? Mother and father said that I should not talk to strangers, But he saved me?' Grian was then again bombarded by thoughts but then he saw the old man's aura going back to its fist-like size.
The old man coughed and scratched his head. While calming himself down, he said, "I'm sorry about that, Letters are Special Rogaires that can conjure 2 or more kinds of flame. You do know about them right?"
Grian shook his head saying no. Kenstein sighed and explained, "Arleiths are humans that can collect and control the EV around them and can have an affinity with the elements. I am an Arleith, the people that attacked you are Arleith, and so are you."
"There are 5 different elements an Arleith can use, these are Earth, Lightning, Wind, Water, and Flame. But, the flame is considered special. Why is that?" The old man asked.
"Because there are different kinds of flame?" Grian answered but he wasn't sure. He just heard it one time from the soldiers while collecting mud.
"That's right! I thought you were dumb. Turns out you know at least that. Good for you!" The old man snickered. "There are 5 kinds of flame, Red, Orange, Yellow, White, and Blue. The Red flame is the most common of them all, it is also the coldest flame."
"Orange flame is hotter than the Red, and if you can conjure an Orange flame, the Rogaire will invite you to join them in their ranks and register you in the academy. After you graduate you can join their ranks and serve the Meith."
"An Arleith that can conjure 3 kinds of flames, up until the Yellow flame is already uncommon. Much more so is the White flame not only it is unique, but only a handful of gifted Arleiths possess them." Kenstein was planning on bragging he was one of those gifted people but he remembered the Blue flame from earlier. 'This kid might be the one.' He thought.
'You possess a White flame.' Grian thought while still listening intently. Grian was slowly understanding everything that had unfolded. He thought that the aura he saw in Kenstein must be the flames he was talking about. Curious, he looked down on his chest to see if he has a flame too, but all he could see was the white outline on his body.
"The last one is the Blue flame, there is only one person that was known to possess the Blue flame and that was a thousand years ago." Kenstein took a glance at Grian then continued. "The Earth affinity can only be controlled by Elves and their Halflings and Lighting can only be used by Dwarves."
"Normally Rogaires can only conjure the Red flame but the Letters are a special unit that can conjure both the Red and Orange Flame, but there are two of them that can control the Yellow flame and their leader can conjure the White flame. Those damned kids!" Kenstein added while getting angry again. "As their name suggests they consist of 19 members, that damned halfling elf was the one who tricked and poisoned me!" Kenstein grumbled while getting out of topic again. He looked at Grian that was staring intently at his chest.
"Hey, kid! Are you listening?" He asked. Grian looked at him with his blue eyes and nodded. The old man suddenly remembered that when they escaped the Bocht, Grian's eyes were wounded, and now it looks like it was normal.
'I guess it was the Blue flame, I wonder what else it did? It seemed like the kid can see again.' He thought while touching his beard. Kenstein wanted to pry the kid for answers but he thought that what he went through in a short amount of time was too much for a kid. So he saved the questions for next time and decided to continue the story.
"After I was poisoned, I was weakened. I only managed to save the other side of the Bocht and then that elf brat came and I was severely wounded, and I needed a vessel to transfer my- I guess you can call it an ability, and you were there. I did not save you because I'm kind-hearted or anything of that sort. I saved you because I have no choice. You should be grateful, you're alive because of me." Kenstein said and Grian nodded.
"Kid why are you living at the Bocht? You're a noble. Your eyes are blue." Kenstein asked Grian.
"Mother and Father said that they found me on the gates of the Bocht when I was baby an-" Grian could not finish his sentence because the old man interrupted him as he stood up in shock and said, "Boy is your father named Leonard Ignis?!"
"Yes, but how did you know?" Grian asked politely while staring intently, watching the old man's movements, he couldn't see Kenstein's amazed expression, he could only see the white outlines stood up. Grian could also see a slight movement in the old man's flame. Grian guessed that the aura is affected by emotions.
Feeling light-headed from the information he got, Kenstein almost fell but managed to hold onto the wall for support and gradually sat down. 'Is this fate God Solaris, that you brought this boy to me?' He thought as he put his hand on his temple to massage it.
"I know your father, we were friends and he was my drinking buddy, but I'll tell you about that in time, but for now, just call me your grandfather," Kenstein said as he was deep in thought.
Grian felt awkward to call a man he just met, grandfather, but he thought that since he saved him, it's the least he could do, plus he was friends with his father.
'Grandfath- Sir Kenstein, ugh it's weird calling him my grandfather. I learned a few things from him, but I still don't know the whole picture. Why can I see white outlines? What's up with the aura? Why can I see them? What about my father? Does he know my real parents? Why can't I feel sadness or anger? What happened to me? I'm an Arleith? What ability?' Grian thought, instead of being enlightened by what Kenstein told him, he just had more questions, now more than ever.
Grian is a smart kid, he was just confused, his life before consisted of collecting mud and eating candies, the next minute his parents died and he was blinded; he almost died. When he woke up he can see auras and outlines in blackness. He was having a hard time transitioning from being a kid to grow up and mature quickly to adapt and understand what was happening to him.
'The only thing I'm sure of right now is that this old man can provide me answers I needed.' Grian thought.
"Anyway, we're going to spend a lot of time together since you're my responsibility now. I shared my ability with you so you should be able to access it now." Kenstein said as he stood up.
"Try saying 'System Activate' out loud." The old man added.
Grian, was weirded out and confused, but still followed the old man's instruction. He stood up and yelled awkwardly. "System Activate!"
*DING
In Grian's vision of white outlines of objects and people in endless blackness, a few white lines suddenly formed a rectangular shape in front of Grian, floating in mid-air. With the words written on it:
[Grian Ignis]
[Affinity: ??? Flame
[Level: ➊]
[Experience: 10/1000]
[Health Power: 10/10]
[Agility: 4/10]
[Stamina: 2/10]
[Strength: 0/10]
[Elan Vital: 10+/10]
[Skill(s)]
[Quest(s)]
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