When the bright daylight poured through my window, the warm sunlight bounced around the small room illuminating every corner of the room brightly. I sighed and laid my head down on the pillow next to me and took a few deep breaths before glancing over to Ariel.
"Hey, sleepyhead... how's your back holding up, have you recovered from everything that happened yesterday?" I was greeted by her sweet smile as I woke up, there was nothing I wouldn't do to protect this child from harm.
"You killed Gaius." Her smile widened and her face grew bright. The sudden realization dawned on me, which immediately followed a series of flashbacks in my mind... the memory of how the fight took place, the events, the battle...
"You've accomplished something incredible, son. It was extremely painful. I don't know how it is you managed to recover so quickly. You and your mother are remarkable." My father smiled and patted me gently on the back and shook his hand. This made me smile uncontrollably, "Thanks."
"Son. That was some pretty reckless behavior." Dad smiled as we began talking, "Sorry, I had to kill Gaius," I answered sheepishly, trying to hide my smile, but he wasn't having any of it.
"Nonsense. The world is a better place now that it doesn't have him," his smile faltered a little bit as he thought about that fact, before continuing. "I think it's time you get some proper training under your belt, the doctor notified me that it wasn't actually you that killed Gaius but it the soul of yourself that pertained after your death that ended up killing Gaius. This proves that the potential that you hold is immense and we should not wait any longer for your training before we send you off to school."
I could barely contain my happiness. The amount of affection shown by the two people who have given me more affection than I have ever received in my past two lives is overwhelming. Things are finally starting to look up for me!
This feeling is indescribable and the blissfulness I feel in these moments is unimaginable! My thoughts then drift toward Ariel and a few of the others who were closest to me, even though they don't quite know who I was prior to this current existence of mine and that's alright.
With that in mind, I smile and walk away, heading towards my room, which had been expanded to fit two beds instead of one after we proved our bond of a brother-sister pseudo-relationship, it was a long process but after the incident it finally happened. Ariel was able to live with us for multiple days at a time, and if I want to keep her safe I need her to stay close to me. That is the duty that I have posed on myself in this world.
She quickly jumps on to her bed and nestled herself, I chuckle softly and turn off the lights. With that, I walked back down the hallway and headed for my parents room where they would no doubt be waiting for me to discuss the details of my training.
"Are you okay? How do you feel?" My mom ran straight to me as soon as I entered through the doorway. Her eyes darted all over my body, examining my skin for bruises, cuts and lacerations. She paused once she reached my forehead. Then, the sensation of her fingertips pressed firmly against it as she pressed harder.
"There's no reason to be anxious mother, I just want to know who will be training me starting tomorrow." She stared at me, studying my face, as if she was scanning every feature and trying to read my expression. Her hand slid along my chin, brushing across my cheek softly, and up into my hair.
I hadn't noticed, until that exact moment, but the entire time my mom had been touching my face; my lips had never stopped curving upwards, a constant smile plastered firmly on it.
"Okay," her voice was strained and wispy, I could tell by the way that her hands were trembling, she had been extremely worried about the health of her son and husband, but there was really nothing that either one of us could do. "You father has contacted the headmaster of the most powerful school in the Verdant Expanse, Azriel the Wise."
"Wait what school?" I tilted my head.
"All you need to know is once you graduate from your magic school, that is where you'll be attending. Azriel is one of your father's closest acquaintances, and he said he is fully willing to train you in order to become a elite-level magic user."
The world of magic was vast and so large that it was nearly incomprehensible. From what I'd heard of from this world's history; the development of magical technology began with humans who had harnessed a certain level of power. At that time, they weren't capable of anything beyond basic elemental spells. In time, however, this progressed to allow them to wield far greater abilities than merely that. There came the day when the world was hit with tragedy.
Some powerful humans had created a spell to manipulate the environment and allow the dead to come back from the afterlife, yet this only brought upon untold destruction and turmoil as the souls of the dead became lost. They roamed free with no recollection or awareness of anything. Those who had died became mere puppets with no control.
Once they were killed or injured, they would reanimate within moments and strike their foes with relentless force, which, for many years, was the major cause behind the demise of all civilization. Most of the countries that exist today were wiped out from these invasions. Those who survived had gone underground and dug their holes, seeking refuge from this inevitable fate. Ever since that shift in the balance of the world, the Time of Turmoil, as people called it—we have transitioned into a new era of enlightenment where we have the capability to do good and maintain the balance that remains.
As the new dawn rose, it was time to begin the training that I have long awaited. Excitedly, I ran out of the room and out the doors with Ariel and my parents following close behind, laughing and giggling at my silly antics. We exited the city, taking one last look behind before descending the stairs, our footsteps pounding loudly with each step taken.
I quickly realized we were heading towards the gate that led towards the exit of the city, I could barely contain my joy!
Then, right before me stood the entrance to the outside world, tall iron bars lined the path which connected it to the forest below. The iron gates themselves were quite large, making me have to raise my head slightly in order to see its full height. Beside me, there were several guards and mages, keeping watch over everything, especially me.
They saluted us as we passed, my eyes drawn upwards as they waved in a signal to keep an eye on everyone inside. With their acknowledgement, our group headed towards the trees lining the opposite side of the dirt pathway. As soon as we passed those trees, everything changed drastically;
Our surroundings completely transformed, becoming vastly more intricate and intricate; every object gained a unique, beautiful tint as we continued further along. Suddenly, there were birds, butterflies and many other creatures surrounding us, some were familiar, others foreign, flying between the thick boughs of the ancient forest, hopping from tree trunk to tree trunk.
It didn't take very long before my attention was drawn to one particular sight: A stunning array of colors blossoming from vines wrapped around tree trunks, climbing upwards and twisting towards the sun's light above. In front of me there were also rows upon rows of thickets, bushes and plants. To say it was awe-inspiring was an understatement, my mouth went slack-jawed as we marched further down the trail. I soon saw the source of the incredible display; a waterfall of vines cascading over a boulder at the base, flowing upwards into a gentle stream of cascading petals, peach, rose and lavender shades all overlapping as they flowed to the ground.
Before my very eyes was an army of women and men all gathered around in a clearing, speaking amongst one another, each of them were incredibly well armored and extremely beautiful. "Headmaster Azriel, I have the boy." My father spoke up, while turning his attention to the man dressed in a black robe with golden runes lining the seams. This Headmaster was tall, maybe about the same height as my father. His face was rough with many scars lining his skin, he sported an unkept beard that was long enough to reach his neck and his dark brown hair was a tad bit curly as well.
The headmaster's gaze locked upon me. His eyes shone with a spark that hinted at understanding what my mother had told him prior, he gave me an inquisitive glance. "Young Cyrus, hmmm." He took a step forward, reaching out and grabbing hold of both my arms, lifting me up, inspecting me. "Rafael, you never told me that your son was going to be this young, he doesn't even seem fit to be able to endure the training that I have in store for him."
He glanced back over to my father. "Although he does seem fairly capable, perhaps he could be made fit in time..." his sentence trailed off into silence, "Then, you will take him with you?" my father's tone had turned inquisitive as well, he had no doubts in his son's ability, but he needed assurance.
"If you would like me too, but of course, I won't take the young boy away from his parents, it's just my specialty is in magic. I can see that this young boy has inherited many things from the both of you." The headmaster then let go of me and looked directly at my mother.
My father glanced at my mother and nodded, then spoke up. "Cyrus will never be more ready to receive your training than now, I would be truly honored if you would take my son under your wing and shape him into a fine young mage."
"Well then young Cyrus, follow me please, we need to start your training right away. I've never had to train someone so young before so this will be interesting and I'm very interested in how far your potential lies."
My mother then placed a hand on the headmaster's shoulder. "If that's so, why the hell hasn't Ariel enrolled? I refuse to let him leave until she's able to as well. If she's strong enough to defend her self then you better accept her because she's too damn stubborn to change her mind."
The headmaster sighed. He turned around and stared down at the young child. "Are you sure?" He inquired. "Why don't you check up on him yourselves first and then decide." Rafael pointed toward my chest, just over where his heart is and asked for permission, but Ariel beat him to the punch. Ariel has the potential as well, I can see it in her eyes.
I stood still in place, smiling ear-to-ear and raised both hands, showing the headmaster what lies within them, a pair of pebble-size glowing crystal balls, swirling with multiple colors dancing around the surface, no words escaped my mouth as I waited to see his reaction.
It was obvious that he couldn't deny the potential that we both showed, that is the real reason we are being trained right now. "I'd say it's time for both of you to follow me. Time is of the essence." With a smug smirk on his face, Azriel spun around and began walking deeper into the forest.