Alice's Prelude

Sun over the horizon, the clear blue sky, and the rustling sounds of leaves. On this very day. I, alice shall find my purpose.

My name is alice ruden, a member of the ruden household. Our family has been here since the early days of the kingdom. We hold a decently high position within the city due to our ability to utilise mana better than most.

Today is an important day, a day which the successor of the family will be chosen. As I was preparing to go to the meeting, the door bursted open as I heard a familiar voice.

" Alice! We're gonna be late! "

This is my overly energetic brother, kruger ruden

" What did I tell you about knocking first? "

" Sorry, but I don't think there's time for that, the meeting is about to begin! "

It is? I really thought it was much later into the day. Walking out into the hallway, the clock hour hand is nearing 10. kruger then asked me a seemingly important question

"Who do you think is gonna be the successer to the ruden household?"

"Are you really worried about something like that? When it's this obvious who it will be"

"...Guess you're right, but atleast pretend like you're interested! "

although me and kruger aren't lacking in any area in terms of becoming the successor. There has always been 1 other person who has always been better than both of us. And that person is not other than the eldest brother, reiga.

"What? The meeting's at 4?"

"This is why you should check it carefully, brother"

Just as i thought, the meeting was much later.

"You didn't say anything, too!

"I was merely being dragged around by you"

Some time has passed since then, I went to the training room in order to well, train ofcorse.

"Alright..."

I closed my eye, standing still in order to focus

In this world magic is categorized into 2 types internal magic, and external magic. Internal magics are used to enhance a specifc feature of the human body, such as strenght, flexibility, durability, and senses.

I took a deep breath.

As the air starts filling my lungs, I can feel the small particles that is mana in my body. The world feels more colorful and lively.

In order to use magic, the user must inhale the magic in the air, and manipulate it out of your lungs. If you exhale too early, you may not be able to absorb all the mana in the air. 

"fuu..."

Although I can't take as big of a breath as most people my age, my ability to make use of the mana I breathed in is much faster than most.

I opened my eyes and picked up a wooden sword

Using the technique passed down through the generations, i could balance the use of mana and mana breathing

"Ha.... Ha...."

although internal magic enhances the body, it does not completely stops the effect of exhaustion. Not only that, it also messes up the breathing rythm, which is why physical fitness is also important.

"...Now onto external magic"

I took a deep breaty, resting my body, while also breathing in mana.

I was prepared to cast magic... until I was interupted by the sound of the door slamming open.

"AH! This is where you've been!"

It is once again, my uselessly energetic brother.

"Do you know what time it it!?"

It seems that I had been so focused on the training that i have forgotten the time.

"Right, the meeting"

I got up and left the room and made my way through the "house"

We walked for for a full minute until we reached the meeting room passing through many corridors and stairs on the way.

"You're late"

"Sorry, father"

Hans ruden my father, and the current head of the family. Although the head is usually called "sir ruden" or "miss ruden"

"It's fine, take a seat"

I glanced around the room in order to find a place to sit at, and my eye are met with the eldest's

Did he noticed? I sat down on the chair opposite of him

"Since everyone is here, let's not waste anymore time and get to the point"

"The successor of the ruden household will be... reiga"

strangely enough, even though I already knew the outcome, for a moment I really wished the name that came out of his mouth would be mine

"Now, since the succesor have been decided, can we go?"

Kruger... I wonder what is going on inside his head...

"...Both of you may go" 

As i walked out of the room, i caught a glimpse of the eldest's facial expression... Why does he seem so disinterested? Though I didn't really had time to think about it because I had to finish today's training

"Another day..."

In the training, I focused on my breathing as i start gathering mana for a "spell" 

spells are apart of external magic.

Internal magic and external magic has some similarities, such as needing to constantly supply them with mana.

although one diffrence would be how you maintain it.

internal magic, activates the moment you starts applying mana to diffrent parts of your body, and stops once the mana flow is cut off

external magic, however, require an extra step, which is to maintain the "form" of mana of the spell you're casting

"fuu..."

Gather the mana from your lungs and move it outward into a single point outside the body, usually infront of the user since it's easier to control that way.

As the mana starts gathering I started to visualize the movement of mana, as calm as the ocean. 

A small ball of water starts to form infront of me as I prepare to launch it at a target dummy

"ha!" <- the scream wasn't neccessary

I launched the small ball of water foward, moving at such speed that the moment it comes into contant with the dummy, it immediatly crushed through the "body" of it. As it hits the wall behind and dissipates, leaving behind a puddle.

"External magic really are the best..."

I launched a few more magic toward the dummies

"That's enough for today..."

although external magic doesn't require as much physical fitness or stamina. The main problem with external magic is that it requires you to focus for a very long time, and if you lose focus your spell will fail.

I entered my room lying down on my bed, as my fatique seems to magically dissapear.

"haa..."

My bed truly is the best place in the world <- her second favourite thing after magic is sleeping.

A few days has passed since the day reiga became the family head, nothing has really changed depsite that.

"Alice, I need you to do something for me"

Reiga randomly called me in for something today, it isn't like him to reach out to us first unless it's something important

"What is it that needs doing, reiga?"

his expression seems to change into an unpleasant one, althought It may just be my imagination.

"The mercenary guild seems to be in a bit of chaos lately"

"I need you to go solve whatever is going on there"

No wonder he asked me specifically to do this.

The mercanary guild is a place where both normal mercenaries and mages go in order to find a job or a long-term employment.

And if there's problem with the mercenary guild, it could spell disaster for the economy of this city.

"I'll get it done as soon as possible"

As i arrived infront of the mercenary guild i could here the whispering of the folks around me

"Is that girl from the ruden family?"

"That emblem... she has to be from the rudens..."

I am obligated to carry around the emblem of the ruden household, it is easily regonizable for most people, since it's featured in history books

As i walked into the guild, i could here the rambling of people there such as the tale of their adventure and the joyous laugh of those who has returned safely from the missions.

"I AM A MAGE!!!"

A sound of a girl echoed through the place, though nobody seemed to care about what the girl had just said

"Like i said, you need a confirmation form from either a trustworthy source like the academy or someone who's qualified to judge a mage's ability"

"aughhhh.... i CAN use magic!!!"

"I'm not the guy in charge of deciding who's a mage and who's not, so you either go get someone to confirm that you're a mage, or just get out!"

"HEY!! Come on!!"

the argument went on and on, I was tired of it so i intervened

"Hey there, you need some help?"

dressed in a casual attire with the only thing notable about her being her mage hat <-Highly likely it's fake

"Wha-?"

The girl, suddenly looking at me questioningly, until she saw my emblem

"Ah! you must be from the rudens!"

"The family of ruden, to be exact"

The emblem of a member of the rudens and a direct family member are only slightly diffrent, with the diffrence being the decorations on the "cross"

"I can help identify if she's a mage or not"

"Well, since it's someone from the ruden household, sure!"

"Show me your magic"

"ah-"

the girl, seemingly flustered quickly regained her composure as she started to focus on her breathing. And suddenly a gust of wind blows through the room.

"There!"

"...It's magic alright" <- dissapointed

"HE- HEY!!"

Either way, it was enough to confirm her identity as a mage, and the problem was solve.

We walked out after finishing her business

"My own identity card..."

since she's now qualified as a mage, she is now in possesion of her identity card that shows which mercenary guild she belongs to, and also a confirmation that she's a mage

"Thanks!"

"No problem"

There was an unbearable amount of silence.

"Uh, what's your name?"

"It's alice, alice ruden"

"Alice huh, well... I'm cyan!"

Haa... cyan? Really? Using color as a name? Who named her that...

"Haa... cyan? Really?"

"wha- did you just sigh?"

"ah."

It appears that I have accidentally spoken my thoughts

"...hehehe"

eh?

"it's really a strange name huh?"

"ah... not really"

"you see, i didn't have any parents growing up, back before i could even remember anything, i was left infront of the church, in which i was raised in"

It's the typical back story of the heroine!!!

"The only thing i had from my parents was a mage hat i'm currently wearing, which is why they decided to name me cyan, after the color of the small jewel on the hat"

"Ah... sorry for that then"

"no no! It's fine, i know that it's a bit of a strange name too"

I narrowly avoided a landmine there... wait, a landmine? Whats that?

"so why did you go to the mercenary guild?"

"oh... I had something to do there, but i've completely forgotten it after helping you out"

"ah... sorry"

We turned around and walked back to the guild, it was really quiet after that.

"..."

"...hey alice"

"yes?"

"after you're done with your work there what are you gonna do?"

"I'm going home of course"

"what so you do at home?"

"I read, and i train my magic"

"that sounds really boring."

"but I guess that's what it takes to be a member of the rudens"

"ah... right"

"hm?"

"...we had just picked the successor of the household recently"

"eh!? really!?"

"the eldest son was chosen as the succesor"

"ah... so what are you gonna do now"

"like i said, I'm going home"

This girl really talks a lot, she reminds me of my brother in some way

"thats not what I meant! I meant what you wanted to do after all of those!"

"what I want to do...?"

Right. Since the successor had already been chosen, I can't just be sitting around training and reading all day anymore

"I'll probably go take up jobs as a mage"

"...sounds about right"

"..."

"...is that all you want to do?"

"hm?"

"isn't there suppose to be more to life other than working? such as hobbies like cooking or maybe getting married!"

"magic IS my hobby"

...but she does have a point, after all the training, studying, and all of those type of things. What do I do after all of that?

"I... I don't really know what i want to do aside from being a mage"

"...then how about we go find out then?"

"?"

"if there's nothing you know you want, then you can just go look for it!"

"...alright then, I shall find my own purpose"

"purpose isn't really what i had in mind but that's a start!"

And so begins my supposedly "journey" to find my purpose

"where do i start then?"

"...I didn't think that far"

"..."

"..."