White hair. Pointed ears. Freckled shoulders. Tanned skin. Those features were placed upon the young boy standing in front of me. His back turned, increasing the distance between us, walking towards a womanly figure. I looked around myself. Behind me was a beautiful sunset laying itself in a vast wasteland. No plant life, no animals, no water. I turned back around to the boy and the figure. Behind the woman was a red moon which gave an ominous glow, making me feel uneasy. There were trees as well, but not regular trees. The branches were dark and gnarled, resembling a dried up human hand. All in all, not only was I confused, but I was scared. For myself, and the boy.
"Hey..." I called out to the boy, silently. I don't know why I did, I could only chalk it up to be instinct. The boy was walking as if he were in a trance, and the woman could only let out a huge grin. I couldn't see all of her face, just her mouth and below from there. Her skin was a pale green color reminiscent of a rare green egg of a duck. Her lips were crimson, and her figure was definitely womanly, but she couldn't compare to my wives...wait, I'm getting off track here.
"Hey! Stop!" This time, I yelled. That lady, the trees, the difference between my side and her side, it bugged me too much. However, the boy only kept walking, getting closer to the woman. His dark red shorts and white tank top only got darker as he approached her, sinking into the shadows. It was clear he wasn't going to listen to me, so I began running at top speed. I had a rough start, as I slipped while lifting off my left foot. Even after I slipped, I felt...slower. I could easily run faster than this. I couldn't even catch up to a walking child. By the time I entered the dark domain of the woman, the boy was about to take her hand in his. Everything in me was telling me to stop that boy. No matter what.
"Please!! Stooop!!" I reached my hand out to the tanned boy and yelled as loud as I could. Unfortunately, my voice, for some reason, was extremely hoarse, so it was more of an off-putting shriek than a yell. However, that was finally able to grab the boy's attention. His long, pointed ears twitched as he began to turn his head to me. Before I was able to see his face, my left eye was hit with a striking shock, making me fall to the ground in pain. That's when it hit me.
This was a dream.
I awoke. I put my left hand on my left eye. Yep, still gone. I had lost it years ago, back when I travelled the world with companions. Those days were gone though, just like my eye. I sat up in my bed, slowly, since I didn't want to wake my wives up. The light from the large window that gave me a view to the Kingdom of Karangan blinded me for a second. I looked away and glanced down at my first wife. Gwendolyn. Ah...she looked absolutely amazing. Her long, blonde hair, smooth pale skin, and thin lips were so captivating. Her long and pointed ears twitched randomly as she slept, a weird but adorable quirk of hers that threw me off when we first began sharing a bed, as their twitching often woke me up from my slumber since they would brush up against my nose. She is a member of the Oraphim race, after all. The Oraphim are from the Continent of the Sun, also known as the North Continent. Their features are their long, pointed ears which give them heightened hearing, enough to hear your own heartbeat. Basically, she always knows when I'm being untruthful...
I gave Gwendolyn a soft kiss on her cheek. I got a glimpse of her face. Her most noticeable feature was her rather...large nose. She was always insecure of it when we were younger, but I've always been attracted to big noses, so it's a win in my book. I turned over to my left, but my second wife was missing. Altris is her name, and she was basically the opposite of Gwendolyn. A Witch from the Continent of Deserts, also known as the West Continent. Her skin is brown like delicious almonds and her hair is as black as a midnight sky. Gwendolyn has a personality similar to that of a prideful lion. She works hard and has a lot of ego, which, to be fair, is reasonable, because she can back it up. Altris, on the other hand, is very humble. She works hard, just as much as Gwendolyn, maybe even more, but she never really liked showing off her skills or techniques. Especially when she learned the secret art of Magic.
I looked around our bedroom. Altris' jirab was off the coat rack where she usually hung it. A jirab is what people usually call "witch hats." However, Witches find that offensive and prefer jirab because the term is important to their culture, even more important than their reason of wearing them. It's not a fashion choice, but it hides what goes on at the top of their head. Only family members and close friends can see what's under the jirab, so not a lot of non-Witches have seen what's under.
I come to the conclusion that Altris was probably downstairs. She has no reason to go to the academy today, it's a Saturday. In fact, it is February 3rd, 303 AHR, tomorrow is the birthday of my first daughter and Gwendolyn's first child, Adeline Twendlen. Tomorrow, she will turn eight. Hmm...Altris must be out getting a present for her. Altris and I also have a daughter, Eudora Twendlen. Her birthday is March 29th, and she'll turn six when that time comes.
"Gou...can you get me something to eat, please?"
I heard a soft voice come from my right side. There, Gwendolyn lay, looking up at me with her golden eyes. Well, eye, to be exact. Her left arm was resting on her face, blocking her left eye and leaving her right visible to me.
"Good morning, Gwendolyn." My voice was deeper than usual, as it always is in the morning. Gwendolyn gave me a soft smile and tried to sit up from the bed, but I quickly stopped her.
"No, no. Here, you lay here while I make breakfast, okay dear?"
"I didn't say you had to make me breakfast, Gou...a simple apple would be find for me."
"Nonsense. You need a meal, not a light snack." I said as I rubbed Gwendolyn's enlarged stomach. Yes, at this very point, Gwendolyn was pregnant with my third child and her second.
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The aroma of cooking meat filled my home as I made my wife and daughters breakfast. I wasn't the best at cooking, but from the Magic Altris taught me, I became a little skilled at conjuring fire to heat and cook my food. Everything else was simple enough. I knew how to make scrambled eggs from what my mother taught me, and I knew how to make my own orange juice. Altris was able to keep it from spoiling via Magic. In fact, ever since she somehow learned to use that forbidden sorcery, she's been unstoppable, stronger than me for sure.
Magic is not a creation of the mortals, at least that's what the myths from the story of the Hero of Ruin say. The Hero of Ruin is an important figure in the history of the world, we even named our calendar years after him, AHR, which stands for After Hero of Ruin. It's been 303 years since he passed away, therefore, it is year 303 AHR. Besides that, Magic never belonged to us, but some have been able to use it. The mortals are supposed to harness the power of their soul, tying us down to the earth. I've heard that those who practice the techniques of the Gods, Magic, are to be hated by them, but all of that is a part of a silly tale from 300 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt.
Just then, I heard a door open and light footsteps come from upstairs. The footsteps were making their way to the stairs, but then abruptly stop near the top of the stairs. Then, I hear a poor attempt at a whisper, but it was very adorable.
"Look, Eudora! Papa's making breakfast!" One voice made an astute observation.
"No way! Since when could Papa cook?" Another asked a harsh question that might've hurt me if not for her cute voice.
"I can hear the both of you, you rascals." I called out to the voices upstairs, startling them. After their gasps, the two giggled and ran down stairs and greeted me with hugs and "good morning's." My two daughters, Adeline and Eudora.
Adeline resembled her mother more than she did me. Her hair is black like mine, but her eyes golden like her mothers. As an Oraphim-human hybrid, her ears are long and pointed, but due to her only being seven, her ears weren't as developed as Gwen's. She had a round face and pale skin. Like, lighter than both me and Gwendolyn. I guess it could be from my parents, since they were also quite pale.
Then there's Eudora. She resembled me more than Altris in my opinion. She was a bit lighter than Altris due to our genes mixing, but Eudora is still darker than me. Her hair is also curly like Altris', but she has black hair like me and similar bangs to mine as well. Two long pieces of hair that come down from the middle of our foreheads and cover the sides of our faces. She does have her mother's eyes though, large, chocolate colored eyes. Despite being a half Witch, she didn't have her own jirab yet. The funkiness that goes on under a Witch's jirab only starts to occur during puberty and onward, so Altris will take Eudora to the Continent of Deserts once she needs to get her jirab to have it made by real Witches, rather than buying one from some shady merchant here in the Continent of Waves, AKA the South Continent.
"Papa! Papa! It's my birthday tomorrow!" Adeline happily states, jumping up and down.
"Yes, yes! I know, Addy! I can't believe it!" I picked up my sweet daughter and held her close. "I remember the day you were born! I was only twenty...and now I'm twenty-eight! You're getting too old, Addy! Too old!" I was just joking with her, spinning her around and making her laugh. She has no idea that she was an accident...don't think I'll ever tell her. She is a happy little accident, though.
"Papa! Me next! Spin me next!" Eudora threw her arms, hoping I'd pick her up too.
"Why, of course, Eudora! Come here!" I was now holding both of my daughters in my arms and spinning them around and laughing with them both. What a great way to start a Saturday morning. Actually, what a great way to start the rest of my life. Back when I first began travelling, I never would have thought I'd get this lucky. Man, oh man. I wouldn't trade this life for the-
"Wait, Papa! Smoke!" Adeline called out.
"Eh? Smoke...?" I stopped spinning and looked at the food I was making. "Fire?!" Turns out the fire I conjured with that little bit of Magic needed to be stabilized with my energy every couple of seconds to make sure it stayed the same size...I put Eudora and Adeline down, ready to show off my power and techniques to put out the wildfire and extinguish the smoke.
"Okay, okay! Kids! Don't panic! Papa's got this! Are you panicking?!"
"You're the one panicking, Papa." Eudora said, calmly.
"Nonsense, my dear daughter! Waaaaaaaatch thiiiiiis!!" I yelled loudly as I thrusted my hand forward. Nothing happened. It was silent. Well, almost silent, the crackling flame was quite loud.
"What was that?" Adeline asked, looking befuddled.
"I meant to use Magic and extinguish the fire with water, but Papa's not that good at Magic, unfortunately..." I said with disappointment in my voice.
"What can you do, Papa?" Eudora asked as I tried to fan the fire.
"Ah. My actual techniques wouldn't be useful in this situation, but don't worry, I'll make sure to teach you all about your Inner Seals someday."
"Inner Seals...?" Adeline still seemed confused. I can't blame her, the concept was difficult for me to understand as well until I underwent training in my home country in the Continent of the Crescent Moon, or the East Continent since it's less of a mouthful. Anyway, keeping it short, I'd take Inner Seals over Magic any day.
Just then, the fire erupted, letting out a harsh roar that scared my children and caused them to hide behind me. The flames began to spread to the wood in our home, and some of our furniture too. I felt my children squeezing my pants tightly, terrified of the immense flames radiating from the stove. Now was not the time to act like a scared child, two were already in the room depending on their father. I had to maintain my cool. If I hesitated even more, my children and my wife could be in danger. The fire only continued to spread more and more, engulfing the stove entirely and quickly spreading to the stairs. Magic is an unnatural practice, so the things created by it don't behave in the exact same way as their natural counterparts, Altris had taught me that. A way to counter Magic is using a concept that the element of Magic has and applying more of it, cancelling out the spell. Fire can create light. Perfect.
"Don't worry. Papa's got this." I heard Eudora begin to cry as she only became more and more scared. I guess my reassurance didn't make her feel all the way better. I chuckled a bit and told my children one more thing. "There's a reason I'm called the One-Eyed Light King. Watch." I placed my right arm in front of me and concentrated for a mere second.
"Inner Seal: Red Rank: Open." When I said that, a white gate with the language of the gods inscribed all over it appeared in front of my children. Once I told it to open, it dispersed into white light and then turned red. This was a basic use of a Seal Skill, since red was the weakest rank of techniques. "『Light Ray.』"
The red light then turned into a gold orb with a bright glow in front of my hand. Adeline and Eudora looked in awe, probably because of the pretty lights. Hopefully it was because of how cool they thought their father was...I can only hope.
"Now...Fire-" Just then, I was cut off from firing the Light Ray because a loud voice stopped me.
"『Air Shock!』" The voice called, as a powerful gust of wind blew the front door open, making my long, black hair blow in my face and immediately extinguished all the flames. The smell of smoke rushed into my nostrils, causing me to cough harshly. Adeline, Eudora, and I look at the blown open door to see who was the one who performed the Air Shock, a sword technique. To me, it was painfully obvious. The one who performed it couldn't even fit in the door frame, far too tall. Not to mention, he only had one arm, his right.
My best friend, Luca, the One-Armed Blade Emperor.
"Uncle Luca!" My daughters called out to him. Luca and I aren't related, and he isn't related to any of my wives. However, he and Altris grew up in an orphanage together, so they treat each other like brother and sister.
"Hey, kiddos! What's going on here?" Luca said as he bent down so he could walk through my door and then stood back up upon entering my home. I could now finally see his face. I can't lie, Luca is a very handsome man. He has long, auburn hair that he ties into a ponytail which usually lays over his left shoulder. He always wears a smile which matches his cheerful personality. His eyes are black, and his eyebrows are also black, which doesn't match his hair. He has a mole on the left side of his chin, which I always found funny, since I have a mole on the right side of my chin (and also under my right eye). Then, the elephants in the room. First, Luca has a fang that protrudes out of his mouth even when closed, and he's about nine feet in height. That's because his grandfather was an Ogre, and his grandmother was human. Then, his mother was human while his father was an Ogre-human hybrid. Oh, and his missing left arm. He lost it protecting Altris from a Fiend attack, monstrous behemoths who feast on the flesh of humans. A shame too, he was left handed.
In his right hand, he was holding his signature great sword, Lomaingrandr. A large golden blade that was taller than me that was specifically made for him to wield. Being 1/4 Ogre, it's only natural for him to have incredible strength. He was wearing basic street clothes, just a brown cloak large enough to cover his torso and dark baggy pants.
"Papa almost burned the house down!" Eudora yelled to Luca. Absolute betrayal from my baby...hurts...hurts...
"Wow, Gou! You sure hopeless! Hahahaha!!" Luca let out a laugh that seemed to summon my other wife...
"You did what?!" My wife, Altris yelled, walking into our home with a bag, seemingly with Adeline's birthday present for tomorrow. There she was, beautiful brown skin and all. I was so captivated by her beauty that I forgot that she was upset with me. Her face was reminiscent of a mad dog...in the sense that she looked scary when angry...y'know? "How did this even happen?! Gou?! What did you do?!"
"Hey, hey, Altris dear. No need to yell, Gwendolyn is asleep-" I said as I got cut off once again.
"Gou?! What have you done!? Why is there so much smoke?!" Gwen yelled at me from the top of the stairs as well. She went right back to sleep after I told her I was making breakfast, and now all of a sudden she's awake!? Are you serious?!
"Gwen! Altris! I can explain-!"
"So hurry up!!" My two wives yelled at me with a burning rage in their faces and voices. Despite the fact that I'm taller AND stronger than the both of them, they still strike fear into my very core when they're upset with me.
"So...uh...IwasmakingbreakfastwithMagicfireandthenthekidscamedownandwewereplayingsoIforgotaboutthelawofMagicandthefiregotoutofcontrolsoItriedtostopitbutLucaputitoutandnowwe'rehere..."
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.....
.....
"You're an idiot, Gou." Altris said reluctantly. "I'll restore everything back to normal with Magic and make breakfast the correct way." She stared daggers at me, basically telling me that I was gonna get a severe verbal beating later...Gwendolyn sighed and Luca laughed it off, which made my daughters laugh too.
"Hey, Gnome, I got some news I received earlier this morning." Luca informed me. Gnome was the nickname he gave me not only because I'm three feet shorter than him, but because it rhymes with Gou.
"The LuGou Trading Company?" Years ago, when Adeline was about three, Luca and I established a company together in hopes of bettering trade between countries, islands, and even continents. So far, we've been able to extend our company to the eastern and western provinces of the South Continent, making trade between the West and East Continents with the South Continent easier.
"Nah, but come outside. It's really important!" Luca says as he backs up, bumping his back on the door frame. He then bent down, walking out of my home and then standing back upright and walking off the porch. I followed, closing the door behind me.
Upon walking off the porch, I looked at the scenery. The Kingdom of Karangan is in the middle of a desert, so not a lot of grass grows here. However, Altris' Magic was able to grow grass and crops in our front and backyard. In my front yard and in front of the porch steps is a stone road that leads to the wooden gate in front of my home. Luca stood there, putting his weight on Lomaingrandr.
"What happened? Did the headquarters get attacked?"
"No, but we've been called to Zelch Kingdom by King Wesley as body guards for him."
"What?! Zelch Kingdom!? It'll take us a month to get there and a month to get back! What about Gwendolyn?!" Zelch Kingdom is located in the West Continent. It's not that far from Karangan, but if I went, there's a chance I'd probably miss the birth of Gwendolyn's child.
"Yeah, I know. But...it's the king's orders. Who are we to resist?"
"Why us of all people? We're only White-Ranks."
"That's second strongest, so there's that. But also because our epithets are pretty well known in that region."
"I know, I know. It all makes sense, I just hate that I, the guy with a pregnant wife, has to leave to protect this middle aged dude with dozens upon dozens of knights."
"Yeah! It is a little stupid when you really think about it! Hahaha!" Luca laughed. That tall idiot barely takes anything seriously. His laugh does lighten up drab situations, but sometimes, it didn't help.
"When are we expected to leave?"
"He said as soon as possible. At max before February 6th."
"Seriously?! That old pig..." He's already making me miss Eudora's birthday and potentially the birth of my third kid, but he also wants me to leave in the same timeframe as Adeline's birthday?! This really is not my day...
"Well, we can talk about it later. I'm starving! What were you trying to make anyway?" Luca says as he started walking to the front door. I follow behind hanging my head low.
"Uh...bacon."
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Yesterday was a long day. Altris trained Eudora in the use of Magic and used me as a "bad example." Rude. Luca trained Adeline in swordsmanship a bit that day as well. She's only Red-Rank, but she is seven as well, so that's to be expected. Aside from that, nothing much happened but the prep for Adeline's birthday. We planned to surprise her in the morning when she came downstairs for breakfast. Safe to say it worked.
"Happy birthday, Addy!" Me, my wives, and Luca yelled as she came down the stairs. She was ecstatic, her gold eyes gleaming with excitement. For her birthday, Gwendolyn made her favorite meal, roasted Karangan bird with corn. Altris had gotten her a short sword so she could practice her swordplay more effectively, while Luca gave her earrings. I got my daughter a book on the Hero of Ruin, she always loved hearing about those silly fictitious tales, so now that she could read, I'm sure she'd enjoy them even more now that she didn't need to rely on us to read them to her.
That night, I was packing my things, getting ready for the journey to the Zelch Kingdom. I already told my kids and wives about the journey and that I might not be back for a while. I'd be gone for 2 months, and Gwendolyn is seven months pregnant. Either way, as a White-Rank mage and having Luca who's a White-Rank swordsman, we should be okay and make it back in one piece. We'd be leaving that morning, February 5th.
"Please, be careful, Gou." Gwendolyn told me. "If the king of a whole other nation is requesting you, you must be in serious danger. I'm worried about you."
"Don't worry about me, Gwen. I promise, I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've been to the West Continent. I basically know it like the back of my hand." That was a lie. I've been there once. Literally once. And it wasn't even near Zelch Kingdom, which is in the south. I was in the north part of the West Continent, for three days. When I was seventeen.
"I have no doubt you'll be fine, Gou," Altris said. "But, some weird things have been going on lately. Like, recently, the moon has been turning bright red recently."
"What...?" A red moon?
That night, I had the same dream about the boy and the woman.