I didn't look back. I was sure that if i would, those guys would have caught me. 'I really shouldn't have done that.' I was thinking while I was running away from three guys. They were persistent.
Despite their size, they were still able to keep up with me. No, they were catching up.I could have gotten away if only i could rest for a couple of seconds and gather enough mana to make a powerful sprint.
That wasn't a first. I often got chased by all sorts of people for annoying them, usually with my questions. That is why I made those three guys follow me through a small alley, which was always empty. I knew up ahead there were a bunch of dumpsters that I could easily avoid, since I was pretty skinny and agile.
I was sure it would work, since that was my method to get away from any trouble of that sort. And it did. Those guys couldn't get past the dumpster as quickly as me, and this gave me enough time to hide in another dumpster that was right around the corner.
I sighed in relief when I saw the pursuers run past my hiding spot. After a couple of minutes i decided to get out. 'This adventure is enough for today.' I thought as I started my walk home.
The reason I was chased was that I asked those guys like ten times what do they think magic actually is. I was a curious guy, and there were a few things i wanted to know about this magic.
As i was walking, thinking about what might have happened to my pursuers, something caught my eye.
I was looking at the store in front of me. Outside was starting to get dark.
Above the entrence on a big piece of wood it was scribbled 'History of magic'.
Through the window i could see a library that seemed way bigger than the building. The shelfs were arranged as if it was a complex labyrinth. Each shelf had books sorted by color and size.
I still had a bit of time left before dinner so i decided to take a look inside. I completely ignored the sign on which was written '1 hour = 100 eretes'.
This was the curency in our zone. From what my grandpa told me, we were living in the 'eastern zone' and the 'e' from eretes comes from 'east'.
My grandpa was the only member of our family to ever leave the eastern zone since he was sent on a mission in the 'outer world' as he called it. He always refused to tell any of us about that mission, but i knew for a fact that he kept a diary somewhere.
As he has told me, back then, only a 10th of people had magical powers. At that point, almost everyone had at least a bit. That was the reason i wanted to check this store out. I was really curious as of why this inflation of mages happened.
I was sure my grandpa knew the reason, but i already knew i wouldn't get a word out of him.
To be honest, i had no idea how this would help, but it could give me some clues. As i entered the store, i saw the seller's desk right at the entrence. Luckily for me whoever was working there wasn't there at that moment so i was able to sneak in pretty easily.
I walked around every shelf to see if i could find something, but most of the books were about different researchers who had something to do with the advancement of people's understanding of magic. Even though that was a store with books about history of magic i still found a lot of books about Kraner.
Kraner was the leader of the east zone and he was known for being extremely crude and unfair to weaker mages such as most of my family. It was also said that he was executing anyone who was trying to escape the zone.
Ocasionally, i would find books about artifacts. I didn't know much about them except that they could enhance the possesor's magical powers or sometimes physical or mental.
After looking for some time i noticed a metal door that was closed and on it was written 'restricted acces'. 'The book i'm looking for must be there'. I thought with a grin on my face. I made my way to the door. I tried to open it but the door would only open by a little bit everytime i would use my full power to push.
I was starting to sweat, when i finally opened the door, except this time instead of opening a little bit it opened fully. Since i was using a lot of power, i couldn't stop myself and fell down. The door made a stupidly loud noise and i could hear from the other side of the store a female voice shouting "who is there?!". Then it went silent. I looked around.
This was just some kind of storage. It was was a room filled only with different kinds of boxes, and not a single book. Dissapointed, i turned to leave. I peeked around the corner and saw a woman at the sellers desk. She seemed scared and didn't look older than 25.
She relaxed as two men came in. 'she must've called the cops'. I thought. The men wore a kind of short cloak which indicated the fact that they were cops. I knew that if i would be caught, given my status, all my family would be in trouble.
As any smart guy would do, i simply ran past them to the exit. They were so surprised so they didn't chase me until i was already outside.
As i was running from them i was actually having fun not having a care what would happen if i'd be caught. Just as i was about to show them my middle finger, they stopped. I also stopped and stared at them confused.
As they turned around and left i realised they probably understood that i didn't steal anything and despite me being 15 i was pretty short and definetly didn't look like 15 so they mistook me for a small kid or something.
Outside was already dark. As i was getting closer to my house, obviously being late for dinner, i decided that i would insist that my grandpa would tell me about the mage inflation.
On my way i realised why i had so much free time. My mom sent me to do something, but i mostly wandered around our town the whole day and i completely forgot what i had to do.
I stopped smiling knowing that i probably would be grounded for a week or so. As i got home i looked at it. My house was built in a open and usually crowded area. The lights on the second floor were off which was odd. We were sharing a house with another family and my family was living on the second floor.
By the way, my name is Akira Kurogane.
As i stepped inside the first thing i saw was my mom sitting at the table in the kitchen. I gulped, getting ready. "Uhmm... Hi." But something unexpected happened. My mom raised her head, her eyes red.
"Your grandpa died."