In the capital of the kingdom of Karastea, a leader of one of the noble houses was enchanted by his new red-haired servant. He tried to approach her cordially, but the servant had a fiancé and did not accept his advances. However, the noble threatened to kill her fiancé if she did not cooperate, and then he sexually assaulted her. The servant, despite her disgust for him, was forced to fulfill his increasingly bizarre and twisted sexual desires. After a year of being forced to comply with his deep desires, the servant became pregnant. Realizing that this could be a problem for his marriage, the noble had his men beat the servant and leave her to die. The servant was left unconscious and severely injured, thrown into a filthy and dirty gutter, where they thought she would die. By chance, the servant survived long enough to give birth to a baby, a little girl with few strands of hair on her head, but it was already apparent that they would be red like her mother's. As soon as the baby was born, the mother didn't survive long and soon died, leaving the baby to be taken care of by the local church, where she was named Aurora because of the color of her hair.
Five years later, the girl had learned some domestic chores, so she helped clean the church, prepare meals, and even assisted in caring for other orphans. In the winter of that year, the priest who took care of the church passed away from old age, and another priest was sent to that church. This man was malicious and cruel, and he abused the children both psychologically and physically. Aurora usually suffered the most abuse because she would stand in front to prevent the man from abusing the other, younger children, which is why she suffered more than any other child there. For another five years, Aurora endured various abuses; she was molested and beaten but still helped take care of all the children there. When Aurora turned 11, the priest, in an uncontrolled fit of rage, hit a child and killed it, causing Aurora to grow an even greater hatred for him. One night, while Aurora was being assaulted by the priest, she had kept a small dagger under her pillow, and using the dagger, Aurora cut the priest's throat and left him to die agonizingly in his bed.
She then fled the church and changed her name to Suzannah and went far from the kingdom of Karastea, arriving at the Empire of Nannu. There she managed to get a job as a companion lady to a noblewoman who had just ascended, and there she remained until she was 17. Suzannah, being a beautiful maiden, was courted by various men, but she was disgusted by men and what they were capable of. When the war that was happening at the time was about to end, the noble who was a general of the empire and was at war returned, bringing some men who served him; One of these men fell madly in love with Suzannah, and for three years he tried day after day to court and gain Suzannah's trust, until one day when she was picking herbs in the forest, she was attacked by a stray wolf, however, the man who courted her saved her before she could get hurt. From that day on, Suzannah allowed the man to approach her; day after day, Suzannah saw that this man was completely different from the image she had in her head, and she gradually fell in love with him as well. They were together for the first time when Suzannah turned 20 years old, and from then on, their love only grew.
However, the noble tried to do the same thing to Suzannah that her mother had suffered before. Fearing that she would be forced to go through what she experienced in the church, Suzannah called her love, and the two fled to a village further inland. There, Suzannah and the Man married and lived happily for three years. At the beginning of the third year, Suzannah discovered that she was pregnant with the man's child, and the two were overjoyed with the news. However, one night, while the two were sleeping, men invaded their humble home and tied them up; they were the men of the noble from whose house the two had fled, and they had orders to kill the two for treason. The men killed Suzannah's husband first, causing her to scream in despair so much that it forced her into labor; seeing that Suzannah had begun to give birth, the men forcibly took the baby from her and killed it in front of Suzannah. Then they assaulted her incessantly and left her to die; However, during the years she lived with her husband, Suzannah, who was always clever and talented, read about how to invoke beings that could help her.
Then, extremely injured, she dragged herself to a broken mirror on the floor and with the shards, she cut her own wrists and remembering the words in the dark tongue, long forgotten, she repeats:
"My blood I give to you, oh goddess, so that you may change my life!"
And then, the form of a feminine face but blurred and dark appeared in the shards of the mirror, and a voice echoed in Suzannah's mind:
"Have you summoned me?"
Suzannah, fading away, says:
"I want to give myself to the lady of lust and witchcraft"
Then, a macabre and bloodstained hand came out of one of the shards and touched Suzannah's cut wrists. And then the voice echoed once more:
"You are mine, and I am yours. Now you and I are one spirit."
Still in the early morning, the men who attacked Suzannah and her husband were going away with a sense of a duty fulfilled. Then, inside a dense forest, one of the horses suddenly lost its head and collapsed, throwing its rider off; the frightened men got off their horses and grouped together because they did not know from which side the attack was coming. Before they realized it, one of the men was violently pulled upwards and after a few seconds, a dismembered and torn-apart body fell to the ground causing absolute terror to the men who still remained grouped together. From among the trees, Suzannah appears, with red eyes and a face dirty with blood as if she had eaten the head of the horse and parts of the body of the other man. That scene terrified the men who, in an act of desperation, tried to attack Suzannah who, with only brutal strength, tore out the eyes of one of the men and ate them, she jumped and fell forcing the other man's head against his own spine, crushing the man's head and spine and leaving only one man remaining, she tells the man to go back to his lord but says:
"Tell your lord that I am coming for him!"
On the night of the next day, the mansion of the noble was filled with soldiers guarding the place. At midnight, the bells of the Cathedral of the Eternal Fountain rang, and as the bells tolled their 12 strikes, the lamps of the noble's mansion began to extinguish, and when they were all out, the noble hid with his wife and two children inside a guarded room. From inside there, the noble could only hear the screams of agony from the men as they were massacred; until the screams stopped, and a frightening silence took over the place. Then the door to the room began to slowly open, a woman with red hair that blended with the blood of the soldiers she had killed, and a demonic and frightening appearance entered the room, and with a terrifying voice Suzannah said:
"I will devour your children in front of your eyes, just as they did with mine!"
In desperation, the noble screamed, offering gold and all the things he owned, but nothing would take away Suzannah's vengeance that night. They say that the next day, soldiers of the Emperor only found mangled corpses and dead throughout the mansion, and inside that room, the bodies of the noble, his wife, and two children, torn apart as if a wild animal had killed them and devoured some parts; however, they all had expressions of extreme terror. From that day on, without hope, Suzannah merely walked directed by Salacia with whom she had made the pact. She studied, learned magic, and everything she could learn while the entity extended her life expectancy to the extreme.
The day after the events at Suzannah's refuge, Kal wakes up with a jolt from bed and rubs his arm, thinking:
"What a strange dream."
Later in class, Kal remains strange in relation to what he thought was a dream, and Relon, thinking that Kal was odd in class, asks:
"Is something wrong, Kal?"
Kal immediately composes himself, slaps his own face, and says:
"Everything is fine."
At that moment, a lady with gray hair tied up enters the room and asks the students to take their seats. She arrives at her desk in the center, places her folders, and says:
"Good morning students, I am Eleonora Whiteraven, and I will be your magic teacher."
Many students already knew the teacher; she was a person of good nature and kind heart, had been a teacher at the Imperial Academy for many years, and had always been the favorite of almost all the students who studied there. The students who already knew her were very happy because she had a reputation for being loving and always helped students to be good people. A student, knowing her reputation for being serene and peaceful, raises one of her hands:
"I haven't even started yet, but okay, what do you want to ask?" - said Eleonora, looking at the student who raised her hand.
"Why are this year's rules so strict, Professor Eleonora?" - asks the girl.
"I heard that when Mr. Tiberius was the headmaster, it wasn't that difficult" - the girl continues.
"The new headmistress changed the rules, I know it will be hard and sad for some, but we have to strive to be one of the 6 who will graduate in the end" - Eleonora responds with a calm look.
"What is your name?" - asks Eleonora.
"My name is Lua!" - the girl answers.
"You don't have a last name?" - Eleonora asks again.
"Sorry, professor, but in my land, we don't have last names like yours!" - Lua responds again.
"Where did you come from?" - the teacher asks.
"I am from Elaria, professor!" - Lua answers.
"Of course, I only now realized that you are an elf, forgive me" - the professor apologizes.
Lua was an elf from the lands of Elaria to the east of the empire, she had pale skin, long black hair, and blue eyes. After the dialogue, Eleonora, seeing that she had spent a lot of time talking, resumes her class:
"Students, as I have already said before, I will be your Magic teacher.
"Magic is one of the 4 great characteristics that living beings possess, however, only magic has distinct sub-characteristics.
"Elemental magic is the sub-characteristic that explores the elemental magics, and arcane magic is the sub-characteristic that explores the arcane magics.
"You all took admission tests to the Academy, and in the test, you certainly took tests to know your magical abilities and which type of magic you have more affinity with.
"To be here, you must have at least some Elemental or Arcane capability. The Imperial Academy does not accept students with any of the characteristics being null or nearly null.
"You have to keep improving the sub-characteristic you are most affiliated with."
Eleonora claps her hands twice and says:
"Arcane magic of 2nd circle: Minor Illusion."
Suddenly the lights go out, and in the ceiling and walls of the room, a sky is formed, with stars and colors. The students were amazed by what they were seeing; that illusion of the sky seemed so real and was within everyone's reach right there. Kal, on his part, was extremely impressed and even more motivated, while Relon seemed not to have been very moved by it. In front of all that, Eleonora simply says:
"This is an example of arcane magic"
"Arcane magic are all magics that have no connection to any element"
"Through arcane magic, we can create many incredible things. Just like this sky illusion"
Clapping her hands twice again, all that illusion is undone. And now Eleonora raises just one finger and says:
"1st circle elemental fire magic: Flame"
A small flame appears over Eleonora's finger, who looks at the students and says:
"And this is an example of elemental magic"
"In the world there are 4 elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air"
"Living beings for the most part are only born with one element, and you will only be able to use magics of that specific element"
"However, there are people who are born with more than one element, but it is very rare to see people like this"
"According to studies conducted by the Intelligence Center of the Empire, 93% of people are born with just one element"
"5% of people are born with 2 elements, 1.98% of people are born with 3 elements and only 0.02% of people are born with the 4 Elements"
"The vast majority of those with elemental affinity have only 1 element, but this does not mean it is bad"
"The greatest mages in the world have only 1 element. Tiberius, our former rector, is a mage who has only 1 element and yet this did not prevent him from becoming the most powerful mage in the entire empire"
"But despite not being able to use more than one element, mages like Tiberius can use arcane magics and some even divine magics in addition to the element they possess"
"This means that having more than one element in the end is not really a big deal"
Then Luna, who seemed the most enthusiastic about the class, raises her right hand and asks:
"And how many elements does the teacher have?"
Then, concentrating her mana, Eleonora, without even saying the name of the magic, summons a wind magic in her other hand, besides the Flame magic that was in her right hand.
"I am one of the 5% who have two native elements within my spirit"
The students were even more impressed and started talking to each other amazed by Eleonora's talent. Until she asks for silence to continue the class:
"My classes will be about Arcane and Elemental Magics"
After saying this, Eleonora lowers her table and removes a strange device, as if it were a stone, with 5 stones embedded in it, places it on a small table in front of the central aisle and asks the students to form lines to have each student's greatest affinity defined.
The 10 students lined up in front of the stone and listened while Eleonora explained:
"When you touch this stone, your main element will light up with the light that represents the element"
"If it lights up red, it means your element is fire"
"If it lights up blue, it means your element is water"
"If it lights up brown, it means your element is earth"
"And if it lights up green, it means your element is air"
"There is a fifth light here, purple, it means your greatest affinity is Arcane"
"Remembering that if you have affinity with more than one element and/or Arcane, more than one light will light up here"
"When you know what your element is, remember to focus on developing that element in yourself!"
The first students went by and the lights went up, everyone was within expectations, until Luna's turn came. When the young elf touches the stone, 3 lights shine strongly, water, air and Arcane; making the students impressed with Luna. Kal thinking that incredible and very motivated says:
"Wow, how amazing, I want to know what my element is right now!!"
Seeing Luna's result, Professor Eleonora turns to the whole class and says:
"Elves have a better chance of having more than one normal element, they are born with a great predisposition for magic, so being magically incredible is not difficult for elves, isn't it Luna?" - said Eleonora smiling at Luna
"It's true," replied Luna smiling back.
Gwen Redani was next to be tested and, in her turn, only the arcane light lit up, leaving her a little downcast and bowed. After her, it was Arphaxad's turn, who by putting his hand, only the earth element lit up, leaving him at ease, since using magic was not so important to him. Eleonora calls another name, it was Kal, he was the second to last before Relon who was coming after him; when the boy put his hand on the stone, no light was emitted from it for a while. Kal kept his hand on the stone for a few minutes and the room was silent, to know what was happening, and then someone whispered from behind:
"The pleb has no affinity" - they whispered as some students laughed
"That's why my father doesn't like the idea of having plebeians in the academy" - they continued mocking Kal
After some time and seeing that the students were mocking Kal, she goes to remove the boy's hand; but well before that, some small lights appeared on the stone. They were very small, making it difficult to know, but for Eleonora it seemed that all 5 lights were shining, even though very faintly, until realizing that Kal had something special, Eleonora looks at the boy and notices that his eyes were closed, so she asks:
"What are you doing, Mr. Launno?" - Eleonora asks curiously.
"I'm remembering something, I don't know what it is, but I'm remembering," says Kal with his eyes closed.
In an instant, Kal opens his eyes, and again the color of his eyes stood out, they were bright and suddenly the 5 lights lit up at the same time, but they had no other color than yellow, shining stronger than anyone before him. The students who had previously mocked him were now quiet, wondering what was happening; and Eleonora just smiles and removes Kal's hand from the stone. Realizing that the students were restless, she gets everyone's attention:
"Don't panic, sometimes the stone acts up like this. Another day we can redo Mr. Launno's test to find out his element."
"You may return to your place Mr. Launno, as we still have one student left to test."
Then Relon steps forward, he was the last to take the test that day; when Relon touches the stone, they were all expecting something extraordinary, after all, they were descendants of the ancient hero Morin Quid, and therefore they would have to have great affinity with water magic and perhaps others. However, the light that shone was weak and almost imperceptible, that scene made the students start talking again:
"The stone must be having problems..." commented a random student.
"Probably, it wouldn't be possible for someone from the Aquarion family to have just that affinity with the water element," replies another random student.
Looking at Relon, who had his head down and dejected, Professor Eleonora simply says:
"Very good students, now that we have all the results, let's focus on improving what we have."
As Eleonora was about to speak about the next topic, a childish voice echoed throughout the room saying:
"Kal Launno, come to the rector's office when classes are over!"
It was Suzannah, using voice projection magic to summon Kal to her office. After classes ended for the day, Kal immediately went to Suzannah's office; when Kal saw Suzannah, he looked at her carefully and said:
"Hey kid... are you the rector's daughter?"
Suzannah immediately said,
"I'm Suzannah, you idiot!"
Kal immediately starts laughing aloud and asks,
"What happened to the great Suzannah, the red queen?"
Even more irritated, the little one hits Kal on the head and says,
"Shut up brat, I'm older than you!!"
Kal with his hands on his head just says,
"Okay, okay. Why did you call me here?"
Then Suzannah begins:
"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" asks the witch.
"Yesterday? No, I had a nightmare where I lost my arm, that's all." replies Kal.
"Has this thing of waking up strangely after a night of nightmares happened before?" asks Suzannah.
"Ah, many times... since I was a little kid," says Kal accepting it as something normal.
"So that's how he gets after each time the entity switches places with him," thinks Suzannah.
"Do you feel something strange with your body after these nightmares?" insists Suzannah.
"Well, sometimes I remember things that I seem like I didn't live through, I remember battles I never had," says Kal.
"The other day I remembered a technique I had never trained before, and I almost managed to execute it, I don't know what it is, but it works for me," concludes Kal.
Suzannah becomes pensive for a while, making Kal a little uncomfortable, until he says:
"But why did you really call me here!"
The little witch wakes up from her thoughts and says:
"Ah yes..." "In three months, there will be a combat tournament in Nannu's arena, and the best students from the Academy will participate!" says Suzannah.
"But I'm one of the last in level 1 class for now, I don't know if I'll be able to participate," says Kal.
"You'll train with me after classes from now on!" says Suzannah.
"You're going to train me?" "Wow, being trained by the rector herself," says Kal very excited.
"However, I want you to pass my test first!" "Would you be willing to do that?" asks Suzannah hoping for a positive answer.
"Yes," replies Kal with a look of determination.
Suzannah asks Kal to meet her that night at the Academy arena and asks him not to be late.
At night Kal leaves the dormitory to meet Suzannah. Clara, who also lived in the dorm, saw Kal leaving and secretly followed him to see where he was going. Most of the academy students were nobles from the capital, and besides, in this new school year, Suzannah drastically reduced the number of students; so the Academy dorm was almost always empty or with few people living there. Besides Kal and Clara, only 3 more people lived there, Luna being one of them.
Kal enters the academy arena, with Clara following him at night. Suzannah, who was already there, thanks Kal for coming and asks him to sit with his legs crossed and his arms over his legs; Clara seeing everything from afar was very confused, because until now she still hadn't seen Suzannah's new appearance. Suddenly, the little Suzannah launches a direct spell at Kal's heart, opening a large hole in his chest and making Clara let out a deafening scream.
Suzannah just looks in Clara's direction and thinks:
"Damn it, I didn't realize that young Kal had been followed.. I'm still weak from my battle against Salacia's shadow."
Suzannah simply appears next to Clara, who startled, starts moving away and screaming even louder. Suzannah just says:
"Stop screaming you airheaded girl, it's me Rector Suzannah."
Looking closely at the little Clara, she realizes it was indeed Suzannah, but still very frightened, Clara asks:
"Why did you kill young Kal?" asks Clara frightened.
"I didn't kill him, I just sent him to a class," says Suzannah very calmly.
Kal suddenly wakes up on a mountain, the same mountain he had been to sometime before, and again a man with the same appearance as Kal was there, but this time he was sitting on a rock. Seeing him, Kal says:
"Domeh?" asks Kal.
"You remember me, how interesting!" replies Domeh.
"Am I dead again?" asks Kal.
"Have you ever died before?" responds Domeh.
"And it seems I haven't, maybe this is a dream!" says Kal.
"A dream seems more acceptable," says Domeh.
"And why did I come here this time, do you know?" asks Kal.
"Well, I asked your rector to send you to me," says Domeh.
"Why?" asks Kal.
"Well, you must have noticed that you and I look very similar, right?" asks Domeh.
"There are few people in the world with these white hairs without being gray, aren't there!!" responds Kal joking.
"Actually I'm going to tell you who you really are..." concludes Domeh.