"Neoma! Neoma! Neoma!"
The crowd cheered someone's name as a runner sprinted towards the blue finish line with white text written on it. Many names were cheered, however, the runner could only hear his.
Wearing gold and white coloured shorts and tank top with the number 13 written on it, the runner began to speed up. By the finish line stood volunteers holding water bottles and runners wearing different coloured clothes with towels draped over their shoulders.
The youths wearing gold and white coloured clothes were cheering the runner's name. Their voices were the only thing the runner heard. He didn't hear anything else as his feet kept moving
forward. He didn't hear his own breathing or his own heartbeat.
His white hair fell on his turquoise coloured eyes, obscuring his vision, but he continued to run. He seemed to have a one and only goal in his mind – to cross the finish line.
"NEOMA! NEOMA! NEOMA!"
The cheers of his teammates got louder as the runner was nearing the finish line. A runner wearing purple and black coloured clothes ran right next to the runner, only a few inches behind the runner whose name was Neoma.
'I will finish first… I will win. For them. For my team. For my friends.'
The runner thought as he increased his speed once more, giving it the last bit of his energy to cross the finish line. His heart was pounding fast in his chest and his breathing became unsteady. He didn't even notice how much pain in his entire body was.
A bead of sweat rolled down the runner's forehead, but he didn't even bother to wipe it away. His eyes were fixed on the blue finish line which was only a mere few metres away from him.
A second later, the cheers died down.
The runner couldn't hear anything anymore as he collapsed to the ground after he felt the finish line rip when it came into contact with his body. The runner was panting heavily in an attempt to catch his breath. He could feel one of the volunteer's draping a towel over his shoulders and a few other people helping him up.
"Neoma! You did it! We all did it"
"We won!"
…..
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Birds of all colours chirped as a few rays of sunshine fought their way through the dark and dense leaves. A few rays of sunshine hit the youth's face as he laid on the grass in the middle of a forest. The trees had oval shaped indigo coloured leaves and were as tall as 2 story buildings. Some even had fruits shaped like mangoes which glowed a bright blue colour, dimly lighting up the lavender coloured trunks. The forest was dark despite the few rays of sunshine breaking their way through the leaves.
"Mmhn…"
The white haired youth grumbled as he felt the rays of sunshine hitting his face, shining right on his eyes. He refused to open his eyes and turned to his side, curling up, ready to go back to sleep. However, once he felt his face landing on the grass, he quickly sat up, his eyes now open wide.
The youth looked around the forest, his eyes scanning over everything. His heart began to beat faster as his fear grew stronger. He could feel his anxiety slowly taking over his mind as he panicked. His breathing became unsteady and his whole body was shaking.
'Where am I… How did I get here?... I can't remember anything… What– What is my name?'
These kinds of thoughts began to fill the youth's mind as he continued on looking around the unfamiliar area which he was in. After a minute or so of panic, he slowly began to calm himself down. After his breathing returned to normal and he could feel his heart slowing down to its normal rhythm, he focused on trying to regain his memories back.
"Neoma…"
He quietly mumbled the name as he stared at the indigo coloured grass. Neoma was his name. However, despite remembering his own name, he could not recall anything else which happened recently. He could remember his teammates, his friends, the college he went to, the piles of books and novels in his dorm room, and when he crossed the finish line which resulted in his team winning the marathon. After collapsing onto the ground due to exhaustion, he could not remember anything else after it.
'This is not Earth. Where am I? What is this place? What happened to me?'
There were more questions than answers in Neoma's head. However, there was only one thing which he was 100% sure of despite knowing that this place wasn't on Earth.
"I died…"
The youth mumbled under his breath again. He couldn't remember how he died, however, he could feel it. He just knew that he had died as if it was a fact, something that was unquestionably true.
'So why am I alive?'
Neoma thought and glanced down at his hands in an attempt to check that he really was alive and was not a ghost. He raised his left hand up and just as he was about to slap himself, a blue screen appeared right before his eyes. The youth flinched, not used to this. After quickly collecting himself, he began to read the words on the screen.
╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮
Welcome to Airi! I will be your personal assistant on your adventure!
You have transmigrated after your death into a novel called "The Elven Hero"!
Please select a name you will refer to me by!
╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯
Neoma just stared blankly at the screen after reading those words. Many thoughts were running in his mind and a sense of familiarity had suddenly hit him. After reading the words "Airi" and "The Elven Hero", a few memories had resurfaced.
'The Elven Hero. I remember reading that novel. It's the most recent one I read. As much as I can remember… Airi is the name of this planet. The main character is Kyros – the king of the elven kingdom Aekodora. Aahh, I really don't wish to run into him… Did I transmigrate into this story when I died?'
The youth couldn't help but let out a small sigh as he remembered the main character's personality. Immature, stubborn, lazy, irresponsible, party-loving playboy who showed no preference as long as the person was beautiful according to his standards. He was an exact copy of his father, the previous king of Aekodora.
Of course, a few traits of his personality changed after one important event in the novel. He became more responsible and hard-working, which is befitting for a king of one of the biggest kingdoms of the eastern continent – Voruan. If it wasn't for the excelled administrators of the royal palace, the elven kingdom would have crumbled when the reign of Kyros' father began.
After a minute or so of Neoma's thoughts running wild, the youth lifted his head up to see that the blue screen had not disappeared, as if it was waiting for him to give it a name. After a few more seconds of pondering, the youth gave the system his answer.
"How about Alvis? Do you like it?"
Neoma asked carefully. He was afraid of potentially offending the system. After all, in a world which was full of magic, anything could happen.
╭────── • ◆ • ──────╮
Yes! As of right now, I shall be called Alvis!
To have a better understanding of your powers and strength,
Alvis has created a status window just for you!
Please feel free to read it through!
╰────── • ◆ • ──────╯
In the world of "The Elven Hero", magic was neither a secret nor a rare thing. Every single living being had at least a little bit of magic in them – from a single blade of grass, to dragons and gods. Of course, only those with intelligence could only wield magic. For example, trees could only have magic flowing through their leaves and branches, while some animals and more intelligent creatures could control it.
There were six main categories of magic: light, darkness, fire, water, wind, and earth. They are more commonly called the elements. There were also subcategories of magic such as lightning and ice, which originated from the elements.
The subcategories had originated from the elemental magic mixing together and evolving, and thus received a new name – subelemental magic. Someone being able to wield any type of magic from subelements was rare and not common. For someone to wield subelemental magic, their foundation, the soul of the body which has magic, has to be "broken".
Those who wield subelements have two different halves of their foundations. Each half for a different element. If someone has the water and earth foundation halves, they are able to wield plants and their subelement is called 'flowering'. Since both halves are incomplete forms of two foundations, they will never be able to use either of the element – water or earth.
Most creatures are born with a sturdy and complete foundation. Those who are born with an incomplete foundation often die before they learn how to speak unless they have two incomplete foundations which complement one another.
'I hope I get fire or lightning! Hmm… Light would also be nice.'
Once Neoma opened his status window, his eyes opened wide as he read the one word written by the type of magic he could wield.
"Anti-magic?!"