Hello there, my name is Mark Blackwood. I am 18 years old and live with a caring mother and father. I have one older sister and one younger brother, though he could be mistaken as my older brother because of how tall and big he is. My life isn't so bad to be honest. I made it past high school and am actually about to get my graduation diploma.
Ah, right I probably shouldn't be talking to you. My parents told me that I have something called schizophrenia and the "voices" in my head aren't real. But I don't really understand what they mean by "voices" not being real. I don't hear voices, but I do feel stares. And I do see you watching me from behind, but it doesn't matter right now.
For right now is a happy day of my life! I am finally done with Highschool and can graduate. What to do after High School though? I know there is a nearby fast food place hiring, maybe I could apply to work there before I go find a college to apply to.
I walked onto the stage, daydreaming about what to do after this day. I didn't notice what was going on around me. Could you blame me? This day was a special day that marked the end of a long struggle to the top. Now I could just relax and go at my own pace.
Sadly, I didn't notice something fall next to me. It should be pointed out that we were doing the celebration inside because there was a heavy storm going outside. We were doing this inside the school's giant auditorium used for plays and such. Problem is that no one has used this place for a year or two. Meaning no one ever checked the stability of this place. Meaning no one noticed the small holes on the roof that allowed years worth of water to slowly drip down on the cross walk roof lights or whatever they are called. Meaning no one noticed that they were slowly rusting.
Now what fell past me was a single rusted bolt. Not a big deal right? Heh, well.
"Watch out!"
That was the last thing I heard before everything went dark. It happened in an instant, which was anticlimactic and relieving. Sure, I didn't truly know what had crushed me, probably a roof light or those metal rails, but it was such a relief that it happened instantly. I mean I didn't want to suffer an agonizing end just to understand how I died. I mean who would?
Now I guess I shall reintroduce myself. I am Vallen, an orphaned kid who roams the street to find and scrap or lose change. I am currently 18 years old and have no living relatives or friends. It's such a sad story and a long story to tell, so allow me to skip some parts to catch you up.
During my infancy, 1 to 5 years old, I lived in an orphanage with a religious man named Gregory Heinzwood. He was a 50 something year old nice man, who fed us kids some warm bread with some warm soup and nice cold water. He taught us the basics of this world and our empire's heritage. He taught us what to do and what not to do. And he taught us things that I can only compare to Professors from my world. Heck, he was the very man who gave me my new name in this new life of mine. He was so nice to us for several years, sadly when I was 9 years old some people wearing white robes came and told him he was being drafted into a war of some kind.
Supposedly I lived in an empire called The Bastion Empire and they were going to war against another empire called The Holy Flame Empire. I don't know the details myself, but supposedly Gregory was well known for healing magic.
Right, I should quickly explain that. In this new world I discovered there is such a thing as magic and almost every species born in this world is born with a sort of gem in their body, though it is dependent on species. The color represents what type of element they are able to use. For instance red means they are able to use fire elements, brown means earth element, green means air element, and blue means water element.
These gems are called Grimoire in this world and are born on different body parts. From what I learned, people born in the Bastion Empire are called Bastiones and have their grimoires on the back of their left hand. While those born in the Holy Flame Empire are born with their grimoires on the back of their right hand. Crazy right?
Also from what I learned from Gregory, a person's color of Grimoire doesn't necessarily define a person's type of magic since each Grimoire holds spells unique to their person, but follows the elements it is associated with.
For example, let's say two people are born with red Grimoires. Now both are able to use the same element, fire, but not the same spells. For instance person a's Grimoire spells is mainly focused on conjuring tools, so they are able to conjure swords of flames or arrows of pure fire. All the while person b's Grimoire spell allows them to melt the floor underneath them to create magma and the ability to shape this magma into bullets, fists, or even beasts made of pure magma.
So just because two people are born with the same color of Grimoire, doesn't mean they have the same spells. It just means they can use the same element. Of course there is an outlier in this rule and that is grimoires who can use an element called Abnormal.
It is an element that does not rely on the four elements and instead relies on things outside the four. I'm not going into detail on this, since Gregory himself never truly explained it well. But from what he said, people who can use this element are able to summon swarms of insects, control gravity, create powerful abominations made of melted flesh, etc. Also these Grimoires are gray.
Back to Gregory. He was a skilled healer in the past and because of his past glory, he was forced out of retirement and dragged into another war. We didn't see him for 2 years and only when I turned 13 did I learn that he had died on the field of battle. Before he left he made sure that we were all sent to a good home with a loving family. For everyone else, they did reach a good family. But not me and it's all because of my Grimoire.
Remember how I said there were five elements and one of them was one called Abnormal? Well guess which one I have?
If you guessed abnormal then you would be correct. I awakened my Grimoire at the age of 6 and was told it was abnormal by Gregory. At first it was good news for me, since it meant I had a sort of bright future. But sadly, this did not shine for long since the magic my Grimoire produced was one Gregory named Virus Magic. Supposedly the first spell my magic made was a spell that produced a small black dust from my hair that would make someone who inhaled it sick. They wouldn't be too sick, but stay around enough then it would become dangerous. Of course it turned my brown hair black after a couple months.
Which was sad since I liked having brown hair.
Now it wasn't an issue when Gregory was around since he could cast a spell that would, in a sense, nullify the illness by simply casting it on my hair. Allowing me to have regular hair for several days. But sadly after he left, the spell disappeared and no one dared to get close to me. Not my friends nor the adults. So I was sort of left behind in the orphanage, while everyone else went to their dream family.
Alone. By myself. For months. With no one to talk to. I was so lonely.
Of course I didn't give up! I persevered and began rummaging through the trash cans and sewers of the city in hopes to find either food or money. I lived like this until I reached 18, which is the current me.
Has my situation changed? Absolutely not. I am still living in the abandoned orphanage with dirty rags and smell like a dead dog, while eating moldy bread and stale water. But am I living a good life? I sure am! Sure I may be eating food that would make anyone sick, but because of this my Grimoire was able to create two new spells. So in total I have three spells.
The first spell I have is one I call [Pest Control] and it allows me to generate small black dust from my hair that allows any living creature near me to get sick over short periods of time with frequent exposure. How do I know its effect? Well Grimoires are basically online books that only its bearer can read, so I understood its effects when I awakened my first spell.
Now why was it called Pest Control? Simple really. Even though I smell like a dead dog, things such as flies, cockroaches, or even ticks don't bug me because they die before they can even reach me because of this spell. Ha, trying landing on my stale moldy bread mister fly. But it came with the downside of not discriminating on the term "pest."
Then there is my second spell called [Pest Ball]. It is a black ball made out of the black dust from [Pest Control] that I can hold and toss to anyone or anything. The thing hit with this ball will be infected with the virus and if in contact with it can be transmitted to another person if they make short contact with the item or person already infected with the virus.
I think I only used it twice and it was when I was running away from a group of stray dogs. I remember I was running away because I was rummaging through a trash can and didn't realize that a dog was laying behind me. So when I was done and hopped out of the trash can, I sort of landed on its tale. The rest you can probably figure it out yourself.
I used [Pest Ball] and threw it at the leader dog, or what I assumed was the leader dog since it was bigger than the rest. It yelped in surprise and looked at where it had gotten hit. There was like a sickly lump of black ooze just swimming on its fur surface before going deeper inside it. The leader dog ran away and of course the rest of the dogs followed behind. The last time I saw the gang was maybe two months ago after the confrontation and the leader dog did not look so good. It was frothing from the mouth and had boogers coming from its eyes. Its gang wasn't looking too good either.
It was the main reason why I don't use that spell as often, since not many people can afford going to their versions of doctors and getting treated.
Then my third spell was called [Good and Bad Stomach Virus]. It created a virus that would linger inside my stomach that would help break down any food or liquid that enters my stomach, doing so easily that I don't have to fear getting sick. Meaning I can eat as much moldy bread as I want without fearing of vomiting it all out or having diarrhea. Of course it has its cons as well, since I have to burp monthly to let out the extra virus that built up inside my stomach. Of course it dies pretty quickly once it's outside of my body, so I don't have to fear getting people infected with it. But if someone does get infected with it, then they better pray to have good health insurance, or this world's version of insurance, because their good stomach bacteria are going to be killed and replaced by the virus. It takes a very long time for it to take full effect, five months, but if not treated, then it will basically rot you from the inside out.
Now you see why I say my life is good. With these spells, I have basically gotten into easy mode for the homeless life. Since, no one wants to bug the stinky homeless kid, pests are not a problem, and I can eat whatever I want without consequences. Heck, I have it so good that in one of the trash cans I rummaged through I found an old book that taught basic understandings of magic. And boy did I learn something valuable.
Did you know most people require things such as staffs and wands to cast their spells, as well as chanting out a long series of words to go along with it. While those very rare few born don't need to do such things and only require basic movements of one's body to cast their spells. These people are called Wandless users and are so rare, that many cities search their streets just to find evidence of one living in their streets. Guess I won the lottery on perfect body since I don't need to use a wand to cast a single one of my spells and only require movement for [Pest Ball].
I mean imagine having to chant your spell and holding a broken stick to cast a basic spell. Couldn't be me at all.
Now with this knowledge, my dream of living a comfortable life can finally commence. You see, I have been gathering enough money to participate in a school that I have been dreaming of getting into since before Gregory was sent to war. It is an academy that basically turns those who enter it to the top of the top magicians, sorcerers, and scholars across the lands. Of course the fee is way too high for a little old me to afford. But this year they are doing something special, supposedly they are allowing anyone to enter their academy as long as they have three basic spells and can pass their three tests. I don't know what these tests are, but I already have three spells so it's basically guaranteed.
Of course it's only three months away, but I plan to leave two months in advance just so I can practice and get a bit stronger than my competition. So tomorrow morning, I'm going to pack the things I need to carry with me and leave for The United Academy.
Which is such a weird name for an academy by the way. But then again, I do live in an empire called The Bastion Empire. So I can't really judge its name. Also it sounds like a college or university school from my old world. I guess I will be able to take college then.