LUMI KAI'S POINT OF VIEW
I stretch on the bed, sitting up and giving a big yawn after hearing a few creaks, I look at my sheet that had fallen to the floor during the night. I watched the hand on the clock read nine o'clock, I know that seems early, but I should have woken up at six.
I got up running to open the window, and saw my father watering the cornfield with a big hose. As he didn't see me, I got down softly and put on the first outfit I saw on the floor, being a blue blouse and black shorts.
Because we live on a farm, we have to take care of the plantation, and of course we earn for that, even though it's a lot of work, it's a well-paid job. But I don't live far from the city, on the contrary, the city of Karin is surrounded by a big wall, I live right after this wall, next to other farms.
I opened the door to my room and ran downstairs, Emy - my sister - was eating cereal with milk and bananas. I chuckled lightly as I watched her chew with her mouth open as she was distracted by a blue and purple butterfly.
"Good morning, Emmy." I exclaimed, she just nodded slowly before turning back to the insect.
"Lumi Kai, waking up late again?" At this Ken - my mother - had given me a worried, and at the same time, disappointed look.
"Sorry mom. I lost track of time." I said, head down.
"Okay, go help your father." she says, playfully hitting me with a rag.
As I left the house, the strong sunlight hit me, making me bring my hand to my face to see. Stepping onto the hot earth from forgetting to put on my slippers, I caught up with my father, still watering the plants.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." He says in a playful tone.
"Good morning Dad". He shot me a jet of water after my greeting, and for today, it was pretty refreshing.
We spent a good part of the day in the plantation, harvesting, watering and planting. When we were finally done, I ran to the bathroom to shower, thinking about meeting my friends.
Grabbing any clothes from the closet, I ran down the stairs saying goodbye quickly to my family, after hearing from my father not to come back too late, I opened the door and walked out. When I had looked at the sky, I noticed the countless stars and smiled; for some reason, I've always appreciated them.
Returning to what I was doing, I saw my two friends standing at Karin's gate, there were two knights holding spears at the sides of the entrance, and from above the walls, three armored archers on either side.
Today, 05/04/498, I am fifteen years old. João Aguiar, dressed in a yellow blouse that matches his brown hair with a blonde tone, and wearing denim shorts, is sixteen. Bruno Lewis was already more reserved, wearing a light blue long sleeve blouse and dark thin fabric pants, he was 17. Bruno has black hair, and his eyes are two shades of blue, he is a very attractive guy among the others. .
"Hey guys". I said, greeting them with a handshake.
"Is ready?". John asks excitedly.
"Yea!". I replied.
I entered the beautiful city, with the pale gray cobblestone floor, similar to white, several magic lights and candles, adventurers wearing giant armor, and weapons that are bigger than me. The atmosphere here is quite hectic, maybe it's because there's a small guild in the center of town, maybe because of the commerce. Karin isn't very big compared to a kingdom, but she is satisfying in many ways.
"Have you seen the new category of recruits? They're hiring to help guard the city's defense, it seems they want to cheer up the young people." Bruno quoted, calm in his voice.
"I want to take the test later this month, if my mother allows it." John said, sighing then.
"And you, Lumi?". They both look at me, after Bruno asks.
"I don't know...I get really excited when I see adventurers and hear incredible stories, but I'm afraid." I spoke defeated.
"Other than that, so far I haven't manifested any magic." I continued, sighing.
At my age, people were already developing the kind of magic they discovered they had, whether elemental or pure mana. There were schools for this, and here in Karin City, King 10 founded a school for beginning mages. By chance there is also training center for knights where the most important is melee combat - about being a guard it is similar to this one - mana usage is still a minimum requirement but if I had any chance of getting in in one of these, it would be there.
"I think it's just a matter of time, her parents have magic, and Emy has already shown signs." Bruno tries to motivate me.
"I agree, Lumi. Let's hope." John continues.
I give them an excited smile as we arrive in front of the fountain that has just spewed water into the air. I stared, jaw dropping, feeling some drops fall on me, I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment.
When I opened my eyes, I felt the breeze of the air hit me, the full light only makes the scenery more beautiful, of children playing and the beautiful restaurants open here in the central fountain. Turning my gaze to the small sphere of water, which Bruno had just conjured in the palm of his hand, made my jaw drop again.
"This is amazing...". I said, my expression clearly confirming my words.
"During these days, I decided to see how to train...". Bruno answered me, still concentrating on his sphere.
"Bruno, you really have talent." John said, as surprised as I was.
Bruno is really talented, he comes from the royal family of kingdom 7, his mother is queen 7. For some reason, a few years ago he decided to come live in Karin, that's when I met him. The realms are divided into ten, the tenth being the weakest and the first the strongest, doubts arise when they try to explain the zero realm, which even today doesn't make any sense.
"Damn, it fell apart." Bruno scolded when his magic was gone.
"I can make little air bubbles on my fingertip." John commented casting his weak magic on us, it was refreshing.
"Great magic for heat." The three of us laughed at my comment.
We sat there chatting, because Karin is a quiet and busy city, there was no danger, there were always patrolling guards even at dawn. These two have been my childhood friends, they've always wanted to become adventurers, and they're about to take the first step, I'm really happy about that.
I, on the other hand, have always heard stories of my parents' and grandfather's adventures, this awakened the desire in me to help people, but the fear of getting hurt or dying outweighed that desire. My parents were always clear that they would support me in what I would choose to be, and because I don't have magic, maybe they consider it to be for the best too.
"What is he doing there?" Bruno snaps me out of my thoughts, pointing to an elf in green armor and long brown hair.
"It looks like some kind of fire magic." João says admiringly, fixing his eyes on the sphere of energy of various colors that the wizard conjured.
Everyone around them stopped to watch the adventurer, for some reason we always expect them to do something impressive when they get attention, high rank adventures are greatly admired by everyone. The missions are not always to clear dungeons and train, sometimes we receive news that some had to hunt dangerous monsters to protect us. Ignoring the shiver I just felt, I focus on the multicolored fireball.
"Looks like it's almost done." I comment, a little excited.
The mage channeled the sphere into a small white ball and threw it into the air, causing a noise of fire, several colors appeared, falling in sparks. That was enough for a round of applause, cheers and loud whistles.
The wizard made a gesture in reference before leaving, his group seems to have congratulated him on this feat, was it not as simple as it seems?
"That was great." I hear João and Bruno chatting about what we've just seen, as I watch the sparks disappear.
Soon, I saw a peculiar girl, close to where the wizard had been, I feel the world go silent. She has a serene look, almost expressionless, her expression gives off an unparalleled calm, her blond hair falling over her shoulders, light green eyes in two shades. Her black dress matches her rather white skin and her beautiful face, her curves are perfect, highlighting her slim waist.
I watched her approach the last red spark of the show, when out of nowhere I came across the sky, and felt my body sink into the water; now the world is making noise again.
Hearing Bruno and John's muffled screams under the water, seeing their distorted reflections, they pulled me back up. I breathed in as much air as I could after coughing up water, with them holding me, feeling all wet I noticed the people around me worried about me, a feeling of shame made me blush.
"All right, friend?" John asks.
"You fell out of nowhere." Bruno continues.
"Yes, sorry, I got distracted...". He said putting his foot out of the fountain, then I sat on the edge again.
I took a quick look at the beautiful girl and our gazes locked for a moment, my heart sped up and I quickly dropped my gaze to the floor; blushing even more. Every chance I didn't already have had just been totally squandered.
"Dude…can we eat at the restaurant like this? Maybe they'll let us hang out on the porch." John says, analyzing my wet state.
"On the balcony we can. Lumi, were you admiring that girl?" Bruno asks, making me blush again.
"Yeah...well...was. Do you know her?" I asked.
"I heard another noble family would come here, maybe it's new." Bruno says.
"How can you be so discreet?" I asked.
"The question would be: How can you not be?". We started laughing after John spoke.
Bruno was right, despite the joke, being discreet isn't even remotely my quality, for some reason, if there's a confusion, I tend to be in the middle.
"Fall in love with the new girl?" John says touching his elbow against my arm.
"I wouldn't have a chance, João. She is at least very skilled in everything, besides being noble." I say, sighing in defeat.
'Life is awesome, brother.' Bruno said with a calmness in his voice, which relieved me.
After talking a little more, we walked to a nearby restaurant where we were allowed to sit outside, with three chairs and a wooden table that was enough. We ate not much more than a few pizzas, my belly was already starting to grow, even though I work on the farm I need to calm down from time to time.
When we were done, they took me to the city gate, this is where we usually say goodbye. For the first time I saw a Voin - message bird - on top of an Ard'r - a mobile plant, like a baby - this is rare to see.
"Well, be careful on the way back." Bruno says before greeting me.
"If they managed to pass any test, go and let me know." I say looking at both.
"I didn't even have to say it." John said with a smile.
Coming out of the gates I heard Bruno speak.
"Don't fall for the girl again."
At Karin's exit there are three paths to follow, the front path that is the main entrance, and two near the walls, all surrounded by trees. I turned left on the trail that leads to my farm, the wind that sways the cornfields above the full moon made me stop to admire the view. The only sound that predominates is the moving plants and the wind, otherwise there would be nothing.
For some reason, I felt that someone was watching me from somewhere, I looked quickly around in fear, feeling my heart speed up along with my breath. It's not just a sensation, it's like there's actually someone emitting an aura with murderous intent.
I ran home just from the feeling of fear, my legs shook most of the way, I calmed down a bit as soon as I got to the door. Taking one more look at the cornfield, just to make sure it was just paranoia, I went inside trying not to make any noise.
It was around eleven o'clock, the allowed time was until ten, I hope I don't get any scolding tomorrow morning, well, that's if I wake up early... I went up silently to my room, walking on tiptoe, which took a lot of energy of my calves.
I threw myself on the bed, rethinking the ride I had and the beautiful girl I saw. What will her name be?
"Ah, Lumi... You wouldn't have a chance, forget about it." I tell myself, sighing in defeat, she must be an amazing girl.
I closed the bedroom window just in case, then closed the curtain and lay on the bed again. Tomorrow I'll try to join the recruit guard of the wall, it doesn't have a lot of requirements for newbies - like magic or a lot of strength.
If I can't make it, I'll make a delivery of some bakery products, to get some money for myself.
I shudder again at the thought that someone might have followed me, but I decide to close my eyes and go back to sleep.