Three years passed without a hitch. I trained with Pardalis and Laurence every day. A year ago, Pardalis fully awakened. We recently discovered she could use Wind Magic. It was explained to me that, while most people only have one type of magic they can use, beastmen usually use two types. This means that she will probably get a second magic sooner rather than later. I began reading and learned that some humans also can use two magics.
I also recently learned the language of the beastmen. This made it so Laurence didn't have to sign everything for me. Pardalis usually just talks to me, but when she wants to say something behind our teacher's back, she signs it to me. I, unfortunately, have to sign. My voice has only gotten worse, with no signs of it getting better.
I was already awake when I heard the door to my hut open, and someone try to sneak in without me noticing. "Good, you're awake," I heard Pardalis giggle. She crept to the side of my bed intending to scare me. Unfortunately for her, I summoned a cloud right behind her that said boo.
I had the cloud tap her on the shoulder, and she turned to see the message. She screamed and jumped onto my bed. I laughed at her misery, and she sat there pouting on my bed. "That was rude!" She yelled. 'But it was so funny!' I was barely able to sign. 'Plus, you were going to try and scare me.' Her face flushed red, realizing I had known her intentions.
"Did you wake him up yet?" Laurence asked, peeking his head through the door. She jumped up again, her ears and tail standing straight up. 'I scared her after she tried to scare me.' Our mentor nodded. "Hurry up. I have news for the two of you."
I was about to stand up when I realized I slept in the nude last night. 'Go on without me, I need to change my clothes.' She nodded and left, shutting the door.
I sighed and opened the closet. I got dressed and looked out the window. I saw the two already in the field, talking. Five and a half years have already passed, huh? I've spent most of my life with the beastmen than with my actual family. I hope they are doing well. Probably not, because they believe I'm dead. I sighed and exited the hut.
I reinforced mana into my legs and jumped down to where they were talking. "Now that you both are here, let me get into my news." We both sat down in front of him. "We, that means the three of us, will need to take strip into the city." I raised my hand. 'Which one? Wothya? Salyar?' I spelled out the town names. "Wothya. I'm surprised you knew them."
'I came from Salyar, and we were going to Wothya when we were attacked.' Perdalis also raised her hand. "Why are we going there?" He snapped, and a message written in his cloud appeared saying, 'BECAUSE I SAID SO.'
"That's fair. Are we leaving now?" He nodded. "We'll only be there for a few hours, which is why I wanted both of you awake early." Laurence hopped up to the village, leaving us in the dust. We hopped after him with a sigh.
We walked through the forest until we came across a river. "Oh, this is where I found you!" She exclaimed. 'That means we must be close to the road.' We walked a few more minutes until we came across a cliff. Ah, my old nemesis.
After hopping over it, we saw two beastmen. "You are the people going to Wothya?" The one on the left asked. "That is correct. Is the cart ready?" They nodded before a cart came in front of us. Nice timing. We climbed into it, and Laurence cleared his throat. "Both of you need to not say anything." I felt a smile creep onto my face, and Laurence immediately knew my thought. "Yes, yes. I know you can't. Just stay quiet and don't draw any attention to yourselves."
The cart began driving and I looked out of the window, which shattered immediately. "Ah yes, I forgot about your problem with glass." I shook my head. 'It is not like I am doing it on purpose.'
I stared out of the hole in the cart, watching the trees come and go. I remember on road trips, we joked to our eldest sister about trees being hitchhikers, as she thought a tree was a hitchhiker once. Oh, right, my family...
Before I could think anymore about them, I felt Pardalis' head fall onto my shoulder. I smiled and kept looking out of the window, forgetting my previous thought.
About an hour later, we reached the city. We got out of the cart and began walking on the side of the road. After three years, I finally made it to my family's destination. Laurence stayed behind us and told us when to turn.
"Have you ever been here before?" Pardalis asked me. 'No,' I answered quickly. I was too busy looking at the large town to explain the attack to her again. I should come back here again sometime after I leave the village.
Eventually, Laurence told us to stop. I looked at the shop that we stopped at. Our mentor entered first and we followed close behind him.
"Hi, how can I help you?" The clerk asked in Latin. "I believe we have a package waiting for us here. Under the name Laurence?" He responded. He can speak Latin? Why did he never talk to me, then? The clerk went into a back room, and I saw Pardalis looking around the shop. There were plenty of people looking at us strangely, but not saying anything. 'You shouldn't stare at people,' I signed to the girl. "I'm still older than you, butthead."
The clerk came back with a box. "Thank you for your patronage!" He gave the box to Pardalis, who wasn't too excited to carry it. "So we came here just to get a box?" She asked. "We're delivering the package to someone, and then we will be training in the city." She groaned, which I snickered at. The most enthusiastic ten-year-old I've ever met.
While we were walking, I heard the clanking of armor approach us. I grabbed both of their sleeves and pulled them to the side of the street. The soldiers' chatter stopped as they passed by us. I guess it would be a little weird seeing a beastman with a human child.
One soldier broke out of formation, making the rest stop. They came up to us and crouched down in front of me. "Are you with these people?" I nodded. "Did they kidnap you?" I stifled a laugh and shook my head. "Why aren't you speaking?" Laurence spoke up, "His throat was injured, and now he can no longer talk." The soldier stood up. "I wasn't asking you. Is that true?" I nodded my head. "How do you communicate?"
I began spelling out 'Fuck You' to the man. "Oh, Ancala. I see. I'm sorry for your living situation, then." He got back into formation, and the soldiers began walking. Prick. "What did you spell out to him?" Pardalis asked me. "A bad word." We started moving again.
We stopped in front of a building that had a large plus on the front. A hospital..? We walked in and Laurence put the package on the table. "We have a box here for Doctor Maginius." She nodded. "Please wait here, and he will be here to take the package." We sat down on nearby chairs.
Do they have books to read? Kind of stupid, but alright. I picked one up and opened the front page. I heard the two beastmen I came with talking to each other as I read.
"...and then I healed the guy." My head shot up and I saw a familiar dark-skinned, bald man. Oh, what was his name... Kasan? He was talking to two other doctors as I stared at him. Does he work here?
The two doctors began talking as he turned in my direction. I turned away, looking at the ground. I heard footsteps come toward me, then I looked up to see the man crouched down in front of me. "Hello there. I saw you staring and wanted to say hi. My name is Doctor Kasan. Your's is?" Laurence answered for me, "He can't speak. His throat has been injured since birth."
Instead of telling him to shut up like the guard, Kasan nodded. "Are you his guardian, Laurence?" Apparently, the two already knew each other. "Technically. I've been training him for three years. He's a real prodigy." Kasan turned toward me and squinted. "You look familiar. How did you find him?"
"He was by the river, injured, and I got Laurence to come to help him," Pardalis answered. "That's..." He looks at me again. I summoned a cloud to say, 'You know my parents.' It wasn't a question. I knew he did. "...What's your name?"
The black cloud changed to say, 'Balere.' His eyes widened and he chuckled to himself. "No shit. We thought you died, little dude!" He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Doctor Maginius, is there a problem?" The receptionist asked. "Not one. Where are you guys going next?" Laurence sighed. "We are going to a retired mage to try and awaken him."
"Hey, I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go with them. If you could put the package in the office, that'd be great!" Before we could argue, he was already out of the door. "God dammit, Kasan..!"
We followed him outside, and Laurence led us down the streets. "Do you know ancala?" The burly man asked. 'I do,' I answered. "Good. How did you survive the crash?" He asked. I shrugged. 'I remember Mother being pushed out of the cart, falling off the cliff, and then I woke up by the river.'
He bit his lip and looked back up. He and my parents must have fought afterward. I sighed and walked with them.
Soon, we stopped in front of what would be considered a mansion in my past life. Laurence knocked on the door, and a butler answered. "Ah, Mr. Laurence! You scheduled an appointment for today with Master Nona, correct?" Nona means ninth... Ninth what? "Yes, I did."
We entered and sat down on a couch. "He will be with you shortly." Pardalis began humming as we waited. 'How are Mother and Father?' I signed carefully. "I am not sure. They cut contact with me shortly after the incident." I looked back down. I've been in a village enjoying life while Mother and Father have been suffering... If that doesn't make you feel guilty, I'm not sure what will.
Soon, a man in a yellow robe entered the room. He had violet eyes and crazy black, turning gray, hair. "Laurence, my old friend, what seems to be the problem?" He looked over the cast of characters on the couch. "Am I going to reawaken Mr. Kasan here?" He joked.
"No, I need you to awaken my disciple here," He said, putting his hand on my head. He crouched down at me and held onto my hand. "Odd mana color... He's ready for this. Come with me."
We stood up and followed him to a large, white room with marble floors. "Everyone besides the disciple, please go into that side room behind the glass." Laurence raised a finger. "Just don't let him look at us. Every time glass is in front of him, it shatters." The man huffed and made sit facing the wall.
"Do not use any mana. What I'm going to do is very hard, and I will need full concentration." He sat down behind me and placed his hands on my back. I felt warmth spread across my body, counteracting the cold. I looked up and saw my spirit again.
Crack!
I looked down and saw the marble floor cracking. Ruh Roh raggy. I followed the cracks up the ceiling until they formed a circle on it. It wasn't falling on top of us, it was just there building anticipation. The circle started changing, and it turned into a triangle, then a square, and then a strange shape. It looked like the star of David with a square around it, and then a circle in the very middle.
The man let go and began breathing heavily. "The awakening will happen in a second. Stay in here for a second." He stumbled out and left me there. I felt the warmth inside me. I closed my eyes and examined the mana inside me.
My mana and the mana from Nona were fighting. I saw one of mine, and one of his conjoin. Suddenly, all of them began to conjoin. My limbs all tightened, and I struggled to stand straight up. Gotta... stay up..!
One by one, my mana absorbed his. As mine began absorbing his, my body became looser and began cooling off again. Once they all absorbed the alien mana, I felt something happen.
I quickly opened my eyes and everything was pushed back. So much so that there was an explosion in the room. Woah... Inside the explosion, I saw multiple others last for less than a second.
Once it ended, the door to the room opened, and they all entered. "Congrats. You finally awakened!" I sat there, breathing heavily. "It's getting dark in here..." I collapsed.
Kasan Maginius
I was in the cart with Laurence in his two disciples. "Nona said he'd be out for a little more than a day, right?" Pardalis asked. "Yes, he did. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine." I looked over to Laurence who was deep in thought. "Mister, how do you know Balere?" I smiled at her. "I was with him and his parents when he was attacked. I'm honestly surprised he remembered me, seeing as he was two and a half."
The cart came to a stop. Laurence picked up Balere like he was a bride. "I'll see you eventually, Kasan," The beastman said. "Bye, mister!" I saw them jump into the trees, and the cart began moving again. We searched all over the forest for two days. The river was one of the first places! How did we not see him...
Soon, the road became smooth. I got out and looked around the town. "Wow, this place never changes." Back in Salwar... I groaned as I walked the streets. I did tell Malvina that I would be gone for a little bit, so I can just get a room at an inn.
I stopped in front of the house and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and knocked on the door. I heard footsteps, and then the door opened. "Kasan? What're you doing here?" I looked up and saw Adeline. "I have news. I'm sure you don't want me here, but I thought I'd come and tell it to you..." She smiled softly. "Please, come in."
She brought me in, and I sat down at the table. "Did you guys ever change anything in the house?" I asked, looking around. "Mm, not much. Though, we did have to change cribs."
"Change cribs? What for?" She turned to me. "I guess you didn't know. We had twins a little bit ago." My eyes widened. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" She smiled and set down a cup of tea for me.
"Now that I got my news out of the way, what's yours?" She asked while sitting down. "OK... I was working in the hospital, as I have been. Every year, I have a package delivered to the hospital from a shop. For the past few years, they've been sending the same guy, Laurence.
"He's usually alone, but this time, he brought two kids with him. I wasn't in there when they entered, but when I got to the lobby, I saw one of them staring at me."
"OK..? Where are you going with this?" She asked raising her glass. I heard the door open as I spoke, "The kid was Balere. We found him."
"You found him?" I turned and saw Rufus. "Technically, I wasn't the one to find him. The other child did." The man fell to his knees, and Adilene went next to him. "Can we go get him?"
"I don't think it is a good idea. They brought him here to awaken him, and it seemed like something wrong happened. Whenever he fully awakened, there was a massive explosion, and he passed out. He's currently Laurence's disciple, so I think you should wait until 'the time is right.' Is that OK?" Adilene looked up at me and nodded. "Yes, that's fine. That's very fine. Thank you so much."