Greg was flooded with darkness again.
The boy tried at all costs to open his eyes, but without success. He yelled to himself "Open your eyes! Open your eyes! "But still, he remained immersed in his dark mind.
He tried to move, tried to see himself, but he couldn't do anything. He was standing still, floating in memories from another life. He could hear the voices of his old friends. He could hear her voice... So sweet and calm, she was always the most confident and sweet person on the team. Coralee has always taken care of her allies. She always put herself in front of other people, wanting to protect them. Then why? Why did she betray them? Why did she kill them?
Greg wanted to scream but couldn't. He wanted to cry, but in the situation he found himself in it was impossible. In addition to the voices of his memories, whispers invaded his ears. This whole situation was similar to when he reincarnated. Had he died once more? The thought has not disappeared.
Gregorios finally had a family. The boy finally met someone besides his own parents, a possible friend. And was this how it would all end? It wasn't so bad actually, he thought to himself. He would die having protected his parents. That was enough for Greg, that if it was possible to smile at that moment, having already accepted his final destiny, he would.
But fate had other plans for little Greg. The whispers grew louder, filling his head completely. They mingled with his memories, the boy no longer knew what was real and what wasn't. The voices gradually began to rise. He could hear the voice of a very old man, who must be in his seventies due to his hoarse voice.
His eyes involuntarily started to open. His vision was blurry as the day he was born. There were three people in front of him from the faces he saw. His vision was slowly returning to normal.
"Looks like he's waking up." Said the hoarse-voiced old man. He was still ahead of the boy. Greg could clearly see his gray hair. He moved his head a little to the side, seeing something incredibly red move. It looked like someone's hair.
"You'll be fine Greg!" An enthusiastic voice came out. He recognized that voice. The only female voice besides his mother he'd ever heard in his entire life. Leona. Her fire-colored hair was really beautiful.
"Did I die?" Greg spoke with difficulty. He forced his pale body up, trying to get up, but all he managed was to sit down on an incredibly comfortable adult bed. It was completely different from his bed or his parents' bed. There were glittering gold ornaments, which were identical to gold. Wait, that was gold! Where was he anyway?
"Dead? No, you're in my room, in my house, on the border between the capital of Vigiland. Nothing more suitable for the one who saved my sweet granddaughter." The man laughed.
"Grandpa!" Leona blushed. The girl's face turned completely red and she placed both hands in front of her face, covering it.
Greg looked around. This was no ordinary room. It was too spacious for just one person. It was all decorated from floor to wall, ornate with jewels, with golden chandeliers and other visible ostentations. Had Greg heard Leona say grandpa? Her family was definitely rich.
He looked at a woman with black hair and blue eyes behind the old man, she was light-skinned and dressed in a completely different outfit from the two, no frills. It was a long black dress and a white apron down the front. Greg looked around the room again, looking for his parents. They weren't there. The boy tried to get up, looking everywhere, trying in every way to find his parents there, waiting for him. Did they...
"If you're worried about your parents, relax. They are well. By the way, my name is Thamir Dernov. Let me thank you again for saving my granddaughter. And to think those men would attack the carriage that took my Leona to her parents. Brutes, all of them. Thank God she ran into that forest. "
"Gregorios Hovir." He held out a hand to Thamir's surprise. The man greeted him. He felt a slight tug on his forearm. "And where are they now?" The boy's thin voice was unmistakable. He didn't speak as a child, but as an adult, as an equal. Thamir couldn't contain his laughter and practically fell to the ground laughing. Greg frowned, not understanding anything.
"They are at your house. I left some of our guards and a doctor to look after them. In case more of these idiots show up." He let go of Greg's hand and went to his granddaughter's side.
"She said you found her in the dark forest. Is it true?"
"Yeah."
Their eyes met.
"She said you killed them. Every one of the twelve thugs who tried to kidnap her. Is this also true? "
"Yeah."
"How?" The old man's eyes were fixed on the boy. He analyzed every possible corner of that boy, he was completely wounded, he certainly had a fierce fight. Felicia, the maid who was right behind her master, attended to his wounds when he arrived at the Dernov residence. Greg didn't want to raise too many suspicions, he answered simple things.
"I think it was luck. I used some spells to slow them down and a sword that belongs to my father. It wasn't those bad guys' day. "
"Certainly they chose the wrong family to attack." Thamir coughed before adding something. "The wrong families." He smiled. "Spells you say? Can you use them at this age? More than one of them? Surely your teacher must be incomparable! I would like to meet him one day."
The white sheets were covered in blood.
"I learned everything I know from my father's books."
"By yourself?"
"By myself." The voice barely left the boy's mouth as he coughed up blood. The old man looked at him with a look full of doubts. Was a new genius right in front of him? It was a great find. He could not remember any nobleman who had learned elementary magic just by studying books alone, much less a commoner who lived isolated from every village in the region.
"How many spells can you use?" But Greg didn't respond. Instead, the old man turned his head to Leona and asked his granddaughter the same question. She replied that the boy could use three spells, Ignis, Ventus and Aqua. Not even Thamir could use more than two elemental spells, that was his best. Felicia's eyes widened at the boy's revelation.
"So you are a genius! Incredible! And to think that I would have the chance to meet someone so talented in the last twenty-six years of my life!"
Greg tried to get up but couldn't, he was just moaning in pain. Leona went to his side, trying to calm him down. It was nice to have a friend. Wait, were they friends? They've known each other for a day at most, but he still enjoyed the girl's company. Different people, finally.
"How many days have I been here?"
"I think about five days. I don't remember exactly, ha ha!" Said the old man wiping his ears with his little finger. Greg practically jumped out of bed, falling on the floor incredibly clean and well decorated with a rug made of some wild animal fur, he moaned and lay down on the floor.
"Five days? Impossible! I have to see my parents!"
"Boy, look at you. You can't even stand up. And it's been five days already. You gotta rest, you brat." Thamir gently picked him up and put him back on the bed. "When you get better, I'll show you my house. I think you'll like it, I have a library full of books about magic. "
"Do you have some about magical creatures?"
"Of course!"
"Good…" Greg fell asleep.
A week later, Greg was already fine. Not entirely well, but he could walk and jump without pain. The medicinal herbs Felicia gave him really heal everything.
When he wasn't playing wooden swords with his new friend, Greg visited the home library. It was huge. Multiple shelves, crammed with different books from every corner of the continent, seemed endless. It was so beautiful that the boy practically cried just watching the scene. Like the rest of the house, the library was ornamented with jewels and surrounded by paintings by famous artists of the time, some even rare relics. Thamir demanded that Greg take a full tour with him. He would like to reward him in some way. Leona's parents, Elluani and Yorvin, didn't know how to thank the boy since they arrived from the family's business trip. Her brothers, Edux, Kalil and Wassygot, were in the same situation. All three served in the kingdom's army.
Greg found the Dernov family's strong temper amusing. Everyone had fire-colored hair, except Yorvin, his hair was silver. Greg had never seen anyone with that hair color before. All but the father of the family were light skinned. Yorvin was like Greg's father, brown skinned from high exposure to the sun every day. The troubled siblings, as their grandfather called them, were tall like their mother. Greg noticed that Elluani had vampire sharp teeth. Leona had pulled her mother into everything, she was an exact copy of the woman of at least forty years old in front of him.
Greg's parents arrived to finally take him home. The boy, on the other hand, had other plans. He had already talked to the old man about his new plans.
"How then are you going to stay?" His mother's look of despair was evident. She didn't understand and neither could. After all, it was her son.
"I decided to stay here to dedicate myself even more to the study of magic. The old man has a huge personal library, full of books about magical creatures, mana controls, local mythology and many others. Mom, I'm going to become a mage." He said seriously.
"But…"
"I trust our son, Elle. He knows what he's doing." Arthur spoke with a sideways wink to little Greg, who chuckled.
"He's only six years old, Arthur!"
"Six years and still saved us. He defended us from those men. As much as I didn't want our son to get blood on his hands, as much as I wanted to protect him forever, as much as I wanted him at home with me for the rest of my life, I know this won't be possible. Greg… He's different from the two of us. He's going to be a great mage, I know that. I feel it." A silence filled the room. Arthur looked at his son nodding, Greg nodded too.
"If you're worried about never seeing your son again, Ms. Hovir, there's nothing to worry about. The house is open to both of you." The old man said with a hand on Greg's shoulder, smiling at his parents. "I heard from the brat here that you are not part of the village alliance, correct? No need to answer, it was a rhetorical question, ha ha! No need to worry about that either, next week you can live there. I'll be going personally to that village and getting them to take you all back. "
"Not necessary, sir...?" Arthur stopped for a moment.
"Dernov. Thamir Dernov." There was even more silence than before. Renoelle and Arthur looked at each other and with unprecedented synchronicity shouted the family's last name with their mouths open, practically falling to the ground. Dernov, the family of swords, the aces of war against demons, born warriors, born wizards, forged in battle and intense training. Greg only found out which family he was dealing with after reading a book about the noble families of Vigiland in the old man's library. The Dernovs were at the top of the top, close to the king's family. This was a chance in a billion, a commoner being trained by the heroes of the continent, and his parents understood. They agreed to leave their beloved son in the hands of one of the most powerful families of all. The time little Greg was in that mansion made up of three more houses all together, it was enough to gain their trust, not to mention saving someone in their family.
"See you later son. I promise to see you tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow too. Every week, all year." His mother said as she hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face. She kissed his forehead.
"I want to see you powerful son. We'll see who wins in a spell duel later." His father said as he hugged him too.
"You know I would win, don't you?" Greg said, his voice muffled by his father's thick neck.
"I know."
Greg stood in the entrance hall as he watched his parents walk towards the refined wooden doors, about to leave. Of course, they wouldn't abandon him, but the longing was already speaking louder. He wanted to run and go with them. Live the rest of his life with them forever. But he couldn't do that. If he wanted to figure out a way to get revenge on Coralee, he should study magic. He would become a beast of war and this was the perfect place.
In the evening, after his parents left, young Greg headed for the library once more. With a candle in hand, he lit the shelves and selected a book with a shabby cover. It was at the very bottom, gathering dust and with moths and cobwebs all around. It was blue and had a mysterious countenance. A story about an ancient wizard who lived in the last millennium. "A Deeper Look at Magic - A Story of Pitavius Blake" was the name.
Little did Greg know that this book would change his life.