《A Reincarnates Story》 Prologue 1: Death A Reincarnates Story Prologue 1: Death Almost there, only had to get through about ten thousand crazy zealots and their totally insane cult leader to get here. Now the damn mana bomb is going off. Great. Literally burning my soul energy to contain a ten megaton mana explosion, I¡¯d be proud of myself but¡­ This really hurts, I hope it¡¯s worth it. Huh¡­ I must be dead. Everything is all white¡­ yep nothing here, don¡¯t even have a body. This sucks ass. An eternity later¡­ FUCK! I¡¯m losing my damn mind!!! ¡°Hey! Can I get the hell out of purgatory now? I know I wasn''t the best person out there but seriously I¡¯m thinking one of the planes of hell would be better than this¡­ Another eternity later¡­ ¡°FUCK YOU!!! I KNOW THERE WAS NO GOD!!! FUCK Y-¡± ¡°Hey what am I then?¡± A voice! That''s not mine! I turn around searching the endless nothing. More nothing¡­ ¡°what the fuck¡± ¡°Right here¡± Suddenly there¡¯s an ordinary man sitting with his legs crossed in front of my non existent self. He looks normal¡­ Brown hair, brown eyes, light brown skin, average face one that would be easily lost in a crowd, wearing a dark green robe. Nothing special about him. ¡°So, you¡¯re god then?¡± I ask. Never believed in him but FUCK I¡¯m excited not to be alone anymore! ¡°Yes I¡¯m a God¡± the man answers I ponder this for a moment continuing to take in his very average appearance for a bit longer. ¡°So, there¡¯s more of you then?¡¯ I¡¯m not enthusiastic about this anymore. Can¡¯t i just not exist and be done with it all. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Yes there¡¯s more than one God, Takes a few of us to maintain the balance between so many sentient beings. And no you can''t just cease to be anymore, souls are immortal. Let¡¯s get on with this though, you¡¯ve got a few choices for what''s next¡± ¡®God¡¯ explains for me. I''m still a bit shocked at his obvious existence then he says there''s more of them! ¡°Uhh okay what are my choices then?¡± I¡¯ll just go with it and not think of anything offensive since he¡¯s reading my mind¡­ He smiles knowingly (creepy) ¡°Well Virtius, you were never much of a good man after you¡¯re little experiment for immortality worked. Honestly surprised that actually did work, so damn simple really. Anyways, though you weren''t the best guy around you weren¡¯t the worst either. You didn¡¯t break any of the Universal morality codes which are simple, No murdering a sentient for personal or another''s pleasure, No enslavement of a sentient being (including mind control), No destruction of an inhabited planet of sentient beings. There¡¯s some give or take there depending on circumstance but that''s the basics.¡± He takes a moment to breath. Good thing those Universal morality codes are pretty much right in line with my limited morals. ¡°So given that you¡¯ve lived for almost Ten thousand years and achieved a relatively good record and to top it off you willingly sacrificed yourself to save others, didn¡¯t expect that honestly. Figured you would pack up your lab and teleport on over to the other side of the planet, dig a nice bunker and wait out the apocalypse. You my friend get the reward of actually choosing the style of reincarnation you get, with some stipulations of course. First it has to be this planet or the other one that I supervise. Second you will be able to retain your memories if you wish. Third you can choose a few perks as to the condition of your new life or even something like additional power or whatever comes to mind I¡¯ll let you know if it''s permissible.¡± He¡¯s done yapping finally. ¡°I heard that¡± Shit. ¡°Sorry, well if that¡¯s all true and you can obviously tell what i''m thinking I have to be honest I don¡¯t think it was completely selfless, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pack up my lab in time. Plus my descendants are all over that area I¡¯d have to make a damn underground city to house all of them.¡± The god just laughs ¡°I know, but still that counts, not trying to inflate your ego here but you were as close to a god as could be without being one of us in this world, literally if your body had been able to sustain another ten thousandth of a second you would have absorbed all that mana and ascended. You probably don''t remember now because I''ve had to spend almost three hundred years piecing your soul back together in my spare time but right before the end there you were only thinking about your family, regrets all that stuff. You''ve been watching over practically an entire countries worth of people just because they are descended from you. That¡¯s something most actual gods wouldn''t do and we can end up with some pretty shit jobs if we let something like that happen to even random inhabitants of a world we supervise without doing something to stop it.¡± ¡°Uhh thanks I guess. I wasn¡¯t the best father and I outlived all my kids obviously so I figured the least I could do was watch out for theirs and theirs and so on. It did get to be a bit of a pain in the ass¡­¡± ¡°hahaha seriously though Virtius what''s your choice here, don''t really have a time limit were in a time dilation and this is only about one one thousandth of myself here.¡± I hold up my hand to imply I need a moment, and realize I¡¯ve got my body again but move past that to contemplate my future¡­ ¡°Okay. I¡¯d like to go to the other world if it¡¯s got magic. I¡¯d like to have a decent family to start off with, rather not be a slave so please don''t let that happen I¡¯ll even do what I can to put a stop to any I come across to help make sure I don''t get that if it makes a difference. I¡¯d also like to have the same magical potential I had in my old life maybe a bit better if possible, and¡­ could I get my memories incrementally in a sensible way, well except in an emergency I guess. That way I can have a decent childhood this time around.¡± The god starts to cradle his chin between his index and thumb stroking it while flicking his other hand in the air in weird patterns. Then he grins at me (creepy) ¡°Yep all within acceptable parameters, anything else?¡± ¡°Nope don¡¯t think so¡± ¡°Alrighty then, The names Terran by the way. I¡¯ve got some temples in Eldloss so when you start remembering things stop by if you need some spiritual guidance. You¡¯ll be randomly born to a family that fits your basic requirements have fun.¡± (creepy grin) ¡°Thanks Terran. I might j-¡± He snaps his fingers and the white goes black and my mind goes out. Prologue 2: Rebirth Endless darkness, warmth, confusion. ¡®who am I? where am I?¡¯ Light. A fuzzy fog encompasses my world and cold. Why is it so cold? ¡°awwhaa awwhaa¡± What in the world was that? was that me? ¡°awwhaa awwhaa¡± Yep definitely me, everything is still so fuzzy, there seems to be people around me I guess and they''re much bigger than I am. They¡¯re passing me around and all I can make out is the vague fuzzy shadow of their shape and some strange sound they seem to be making. This is boring I''m going to sleep. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The world is still fuzzy but I can make out colors now, there¡¯s white, pink, and red beyond that I can tell I¡¯m in some sort of cage the rest is to fuzzy. Hmm I¡¯m hungry. ¡°awwhaa awwhaa awwhaa¡± this is awesome just have to cry a bit and food is delivered. ¡°Momma is here Valara shh now¡± mmm satisfaction. I think my name might be Valara, sounds weird but it¡¯s the only word that comes up over and over when the one with the pretty voice interacts with me. Gotta learn this language. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can see! I can crawl! ¡°ha ha ha ha¡± I try laughing and it comes out as some sort of giggle or squeal it''s annoying but I can''t help it. ¡°Aww my baby girl is crawling! she¡¯s so happy¡± I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s my mother gushing over me still can¡¯t really understand more than my name and ¡®hungry¡¯ but the rest is just gibberish so far. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FUCK! I¡¯m a girl! why does that seem so wrong. I don¡¯t understand! I just started figuring out how to walk and understanding the language when my mother says something to me and it clicks. ¡° That¡¯s my girl! Six months old and already starting to walk on her own!¡± ¡°FUCK!¡± ¡°Valara did your father teach you that word?! Oh gods your first word and it¡¯s a curse this is a bad omen.¡± -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally I understand them, they can understand me too. Sort of, I¡¯ve got a handle on saying a few things but it¡¯s hard to form the words if only I could use telepathy. Why do I even know what that is. Whatever I¡¯m starting to figure out how to read too, I thought mother would be the one to read these books to me but father seems to really enjoy it. Usually he¡¯s so grumpy looking but when he¡¯s reading to me and a funny part comes up and I laugh he smiles and his eyes sparkle and I just laugh harder I can see that he doesn''t smile often enough. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Second birthday, there''s other little kids everywhere and I¡¯m stuck with them. This sucks. The first one was the same but I got out of it easy, just went into a corner and slept all day. The whole last year was mostly like that except today that is, now I get to meet my cousins and my parents friends children, oh yay. ¡°aww the birthday girl looks like she¡¯s gonna cry, I guess she doesn¡¯t need her new toy then¡± My cousin Sherna she¡¯s already six and a total bully so she tries to take away my new stuffed animal, it¡¯s a little dragon. Already it¡¯s my favorite toy, I don¡¯t even like toys but something about this one¡­ ¡°Back off bitch¡± It¡¯s harsh but they have to know who''s boss around here. ¡°heh. Did Valara just curse at me¡± Sherna looks shocked as she asks her twin sister Ahna who¡¯s a lot nicer just easy to push around. ¡°nmnm¡± Ahna mumbles ¡°That¡¯s mine now you little twerp¡± Sherna grabs the plush dragon faster than I can react ¡°haha little baby gonna cry¡± Something strange seems to happen as I get angry, a pressure inside my body builds up and I suddenly know what it is. Mana, the fuel for magic. The little dragon toy jerks out of Shernas¡¯ grasp and floats over to me, then just because I still need to assert who¡¯s boss around here I hit here with a small force spell. ¡°ahhhh¡± Sherna flies into the wall with a solid thud, the plaster even dents a bit. Nice. Then she starts screaming like crazy holding her arm, which isn''t supposed to face that direction. Oops. That''s what happens when you mess with the boss bitch. Adults come streaming in somehow starting with Shrnas¡¯ father my uncle Gendren my father''s little brother and his wife who¡¯s name escapes me. ¡°Sherna sweetheart what happened!¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. all the adults crown around her trying to calm her down, my mother casts a healing spell to alleviate the pain so she stops crying. Finally. ¡°I-I-I was j-just trying to p-play with Valara and then she used magic to throw me into the wall after she called me a bad word¡± Huh, though it was in her mind playing and mine bullying that is technically what happened oh well the truth sets you free right. ¡°Valara is this true?¡± My father kneels down to get as close to eye level with me as he can and I¡¯ve never heard him use that tone with me before, if I actually felt guilty about this at all I might have just wet myself with fear. ¡°No father, not completely. Sherna was being quite rude trying to take away my new toy and after repeated attempts in being polite I did in fact call her a ¡®bitch¡¯ telling her to back off. After she with her brutish strength being four years older than me and all grabbed my toy from me by force I lost my temper and resorted to my own use of force. As my body is yet to be developed enough to resort to physical means and I saw no reason to involve adults in a petty childish dispute, I returned my dragon to my possesion and used a simple force spell to move Sherna further from my person when she attempted to reengage with violence. I overestimated the ati-magic enchantment on her necklace and it shattered instantly and she received roughly 65% of the full force of my spell. I am sorry father I will be more careful in the future.¡± I politely bow to my father then walk up to my cousin, the slack jawed adults nearly stumble over themselves to get out of the way ¡°I am sorry Sherna, I did not mean to hurt you so badly¡± Again I politely bow, but look into Sherna''s eyes and will the message to get across ¡®Do not ever take my stuff, do not ever try to touch me, do not ever again bully your own sister¡¯ Her eyes go wide and she nods her head while starting to cry profusely again. I turn around to find all the adults staring at me still. ¡°What?¡± I ask with childlike innocence. I think I must have overdone it. All the adults except for my parents all gathered their own offspring and leave without a word. I must have done something really bad. Oops. ¡°Whats wrong? did I do something bad?¡± I¡¯m truly confused now, I¡¯ve never seen my parents look like that. Confusion, or is that fear, I¡¯m worried now. ¡°Valara how long have you been able to use magic?¡± My father sternly questions me. ¡°Umm just now¡± My parents share a look. ¡°Honey do you know how dangerous that was you could have killed your cousin.¡± My mother admonishes me. ¡°Well yes the spell I used was able to put five pounds of force per square inch so I spread it across her torso to lessen it down to one yet the necklace she was wearing was enchanted on poor metals and instead of negating a large amount of the force, absorbed it and caused a small feedback loop increasing the effects of the spell by about 15% thus launching her into the wall.¡± That was a bit of a lie I suppose, I knew it was going to backfire once I looked at it. How in the world do I know this stuff? This could be a bad sign. My parents share another look and my mother picks me up. ¡°Where are we going?¡±I question after we leave the house and head for down the street. ¡°You¡¯ll see when we get there¡± my father replies. Not to long after leaving the house we come to a massive stone castle like building. The guards all salute to my father and mother and we go right on through the big entrance doors that open for us seemingly of their own accord. We continue on through a long hall decorated with very expensive looking paintings and statues. Finally we enter another set of doors that open themselves, and into what looks like a throne room like in the books my father had read me. We come to a stop at a large green ball that looks like it''s made of glass sitting atop a pedestal positioned between two thrones one larger than the other. My father turns to me and my mother. ¡°Valara place your hand on this please¡± I do as he asked still a bit shocked by the situation, I mean really this looks like a place for royalty and my parents just waltz right in no introductions or anything¡­ words start to flash across the surface of the ball and on the wall behind the thrones they start to come up. Name: Valara Zixrua Age: 2 Titles: Princess of Eldloss Kingdom Physical Rank: Infantile Mental Rank: Immortal Spiritual Rank: Immortal Magical Rank: Goddess ¡°Holy shit we¡¯re royalty? and what''s this about ranks?¡± I look to my parents and they¡¯re just staring at the projection on the wall obviously shocked, hey I just found out I¡¯m a damn princess shouldn''t I be the slack jawed fool right now? ¡°I-I¡¯ve never seen ranks like this what the hell could this mean is the Gods sphere not working right?¡± My father stammers. Then he moves my hand off the glass ball and places his own hand there, and the light show starts again. Name: Valdus Zixrua Age: 89 Titles: King of Eldloss Kingdom, Unrelenting Shield, Slayer of the Mountain Horde. Father of the Goddess Valara Physical Rank: Grandmaster Mental Rank: King Spiritual Rank: Master Magical Rank: Arch Mage ¡°Normal except for...¡± He gestures for my mother to do the same after he removes his hand. Name: Mirila Zixrua (Emzira) Age: 78 Titles: Queen of Eldloss Kingdom, Fury of Eldloss, Immolator of The Mad One. Mother of the Goddess Valara Physical Rank: Master Mental Rank: Queen Spiritual Rank: Arch Priestess Magical Rank: Arch Mage ¡°We¡¯re the parents of the first god to have ever been born with their power¡­¡­.¡± Holy shit I¡¯m not just a princess I¡¯m a god? what the hell are they looking like that for this is awesome! ¡°Awesome so I¡¯m a princess and a Goddess! I wonder what I¡¯m the goddess of? Fire! no that''s too simple, Water, no no earth meh not air either, hmmm.¡± I¡¯d thrown out each of the elements as I was imagining what it would be like to be a god, now the floors all dirty. Oops. My parents are still in some sort of shock I guess, they still haven''t yelled at me for it, so I just make a small sub-dimensional pocket and scoot all the mess into it and clean the floor with some water before throwing that in aswell then I close it up and turn to my parents looking as innocent as possible. They¡¯re still just staring at me it¡¯s making me feel weird. ¡°Are you okay? Mom? Dad?¡± They just nod and my mother picks me up and hugs me and we head home again. I don¡¯t ask anymore questions, it feels like there''s more to all this but I think I can wait until tomorrow to get some answers. So since the whole day is gone my parents put me to bed. ¡°Good Night Valara, We love you very much okay.¡± ¡°Okay, I love you too¡± Why does Mother look so sad? and Father looks, normal, well angry I guess but he seems almost sad to, what the hell is going on? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just barely fell asleep when I¡¯m woken up by a hand on my head, there¡¯s loud sounds coming from outside too, what the fuck?. ¡°Valara, Valara wake up honey you need to go with my friend here okay? Bad things are happening and your father and I need to stay to protect everyone. Please always remember your father and I love you more than anything in the world.¡± It¡¯s my mother, and she¡¯s not making any sense, I¡¯m about to protest and say I can help when my sight goes dark and I¡¯m right back to sleep. Gramps My head hurts, what the hell? I open my eyes and look around, I¡¯m in a small tent I guess. I look around but there''s nothing to tell me where I am so I venture outside. There¡¯s a small fire going and it looks to be real early in the morning, and across the fire sitting on a log is an old man. ¡°Uhh hey where are we? and who are you? wait who am I?¡± what the hell I don¡¯t remember a damn thing whats going on here? I look down at myself, I¡¯ve got some kind of nightgown on and my body is all tiny so I must be a small child then. ¡°Hmmm¡± the old man mumbles something. ¡°Just call me gramps, and you''re just gonna go by kidd for now¡± His voice is all deep and sounds like rocks grinding together. ¡°Umm okay, then where are we then?¡±Is this old man really my grandfather, and who the hell names their child Kidd? that''s a term for baby goats isn¡¯t it? And what¡¯s with the old mountain man get up here, old dirty leathers gnarly gray-white hair and grizzled beard to match. ¡°We¡¯re in the woods. Camping. Foods gonna get cold, eat up.¡± he hands me a metal bowl with some kind of grey soup in it. FUCK it tastes horrible but I¡¯m hungry and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get anything else if I don¡¯t eat it so I force it down. We sit in silence for a while, though I¡¯m practically exploding with questions ¡®Gramps¡¯ Doesn¡¯t really seem like much for conversation so I keep them to myself. He quickly strikes camp and soon it all looks like some random clearing in the woods. ¡°We¡¯re headin¡¯ out.¡± And with that he starts walking into the trees. So I get to following as quick as I can ¡°Hey I can¡¯t walk as fast as you can! And I¡¯ve got these stubby little legs and no shoes!¡± I yell out to him. He pauses for a moment to look at me, he glances at my bare feet. ¡°hmhm. You¡¯ll learn.¡± And so we walk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And walk we did, for days. We¡¯d start early in the morning just after sunrise, and we¡¯d walk till the sunset that evening. Well Gramps would walk I¡¯d toddle over the uneven ground stumbling after him with my short pudgy legs and he¡¯d stop long enough for me to almost catch up and then continue again. Once we stopped for the evening gramps would put some kind of healing salve on my aching bleeding feet, I gave up asking for shoes after a few hours each day. I often was asleep as he made dinner, only to be woken up to eat more of the horrible grey soup and then I would pass out again. That was the routine for at least four or five days I had lost count, when at around midday or so gramps stopped long enough for me to catch up to him, he was kneeling by some kind of plant waiting for me. ¡°Gilver Leaf. Good for burns when dry, mix with water and ash to make paste.¡± he points to the plant and carefully gathers some of the leaves. ¡°leave enough for it to live¡± He places the leaves in a pouch at his belt and moves on. This became a new routine, walking, gathering plants, or as he called them ¡®herbs¡¯ and camping as the sunset. Another few days of this and then a change again, this time while we were already camped, I had been able to keep up for the most part for the last few days and was awake even after eating when gramps abruptly stated. ¡°I¡¯m goin'' to hunt.¡± With that he walked off in the pitch black, to hunt what?I had no idea, I was asleep before he returned and he was there in the morning when I awoke making breakfast. A glorious one at that, for the first time we had actual meat. I have no idea what it was, there wasn¡¯t a corpse and I had long ago stopped asking questions that wouldn¡¯t be answered so I just enjoyed the meal. A stew, nice and thick with some of the herbs we¡¯d gathered to season it and the mystery meat. After some time in quiet listening to the forest even once the meal was done gramps broke the silence. ¡°Go gather herbs, ones I showed you. I¡¯m gonna Hunt.¡± Once more he was off into the woods to hunt something, I didn¡¯t question it. NO WALKING TODAY! It was nearly sunset when he got back and he was doing something new, smoking some kind of stick. No sign of whatever he had been hunting though. ¡°Isn¡¯t that unhealthy?¡± I asked him and pointed to the stick. ¡°ghmm. This won¡¯t be what kills me kidd.¡± He grumbled as response. He sits down by the firepit and throws in some of the wood I¡¯d gathered earlier after collecting herbs, points a finger at the pile and a small flame shoots out and starts the fire up. He then rummages around in his pack and pulls out his cooking materials, getting prepared to make dinner. ¡°Herbs?¡± He mumbles the question around his smoke stick. I just point to a pile of leaves and roots and a few flowers all piled up on a regular tree leaf sitting not too far from him. ¡°hmmh¡± This guy needs to socialize more or something. We headed out the following morning gathering more herbs on our walk. Again I was bursting with questions but not knowing was better than getting answers from gramps, learned more from watching him than listening after my questions actually elicit a response. This became our new routine for a few more days, walk, gather, camp, hunt. Occasionally we would stay at camp for a whole day while gramps hunted but I never saw him bring back any game, and yet he always had fresh meat for dinner and breakfast. After he had briefly explained what certain herbs did and how potent they were I started to eat bits of them here and there, even ones that he said were poisonous, I felt for some reason that it was a good idea to try and build a resistance to them for some reason. One morning after we¡¯d been walking for a few hours the trees broke way for an open field and in the distance was what I could only say must be a small town or village, I wasted no time with questions and just kept going. Grumbles don¡¯t translate well I have affirmed. We went into town and came to a solid stone building, the only one around. Brownish stone, just one story tall, nothing special about the outside save for a symbol on the door; a tree with a mountain behind it. We went in to find an older lady wearing plain brown robes sitting by a table with some books on top reading. She looks up at gramps and smiles. ¡°Ahh you old goat I was wondering if we¡¯d see you around here with the recent activity in the mountains.¡± She walked up to him and gave him a hug. ¡°hmhm. Taken care of.¡± He points at me after their brief greeting. ¡°Needs tutoring¡± He then hands the lady something and leaves me with her. ¡°Well then what¡¯s your name young lady?¡± The older lady asks me. ¡°Umm not sure really, gramps just calls me Kidd¡± The ladies eyes go wide for a moment, and then she look me up and down and nods. ¡°Well then Kiddo let''s get you some proper clothes and then we¡¯ll get to teaching you something, you do seem to be a real smart young lady.¡± ¡°Okay¡± After getting me cleaned up, a bath with soap even. I got new clothes and a little bag of my own with a few extra sets matching what I have on, some soft leather pants and a plain cotton shirt. Even got a little leather cloak and SHOES! to go with the outfit.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Hey why did you call gramps ¡®old goat¡¯?¡± I ask the old lady as gathers up materials to start the tutoring. She pauses and thinks for a moment. ¡°Well he¡¯s just always been the old goat, ever since I was a little girl like yourself. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed he¡¯s not much for words but isn¡¯t as grumpy as he sounds. He hasn¡¯t changed in oh it¡¯s been well over a hundred years now¡± ¡°Huh. Yeah he just grumbles a lot. Wow really? he must be really old then.¡± She laughs and sits down at the table patting the seat beside her, so I jump up and sit as well. ¡°Yes, He brought me to this very temple when I was little like yourself after my home was destroyed by a tribe of Orcs, He came through and took all the children they had captured. Is that what happened to you Kiddo?¡± ¡°Nope, don¡¯t think so. I woke up in a tent and we¡¯ve been walking through the mountains since. So when he says he¡¯s hunting he is going and killing monsters and stuff then?¡± She looks a little shocked at my question but quickly responds. ¡°You sure are a smart one. Well I¡¯m not sure if the old goat wants me to be spreading stories about him but, yes, he is what we just call a Hunter, they are more than regular woodsmen that go out and gather food for their family or town. They go and track down dangerous beasts that could be a threat to large groups of people like we have here. There''s not too many warriors here and no mages at all so we have to rely on the Hunters to take care of what the average person can¡¯t. So do you know how old you are? do you have any idea if you know your letters and numbers yet?¡± I take a moment to think on that. ¡°I think I¡¯m Two I¡¯m really not sure though. And I have no idea if I know how to read or do math.¡± ¡°hmmm. You do look to be that age but you''re far too well spoken for a normal child.¡± She begins writing on a sheet of parchment and when she finishes she slides it over to me. ¡°Now you see here is our alphabet each of these letters makes a certain sound and you can put them together to make words do you know what these are and can you write them down as well?¡± I look over the page and the letters are familiar so name them off as I copy them down on a blank sheet of parchment. ¡°Incredible, your penmanship is even better than mine. Let''s try some basic words and I¡¯ll put a few more advanced ones as well don¡¯t worry if you can¡¯t pronounce them.¡± She again starts writing on the parchment and when done slides it over to me. I read it out loud and give the meaning behind each word and then write the word and it¡¯s meaning down on my own sheet. ¡°You really are a smart little girl, I wonder where the old goat found you? well lets see I have a few chores to do and how would you like some lunch? while I¡¯m busy you can browse the small library we have and then when I¡¯m done we can see about your ability with numbers, I have a feeling we¡¯ll see similar results.¡± She takes me by the hand and leads me to another room, the library, wall to wall with books. I think I love books. This place makes me feel so happy. ¡°You must be used to having little kids dropped off here a lot, even ones with bad memories to be so normal about me being here like this.¡± My questions are coming back. ¡°haha. Yes the old goat and a few other Hunters do have a habit of bringing strays by here that have lost their homes and parents, and the lost memories isn¡¯t that strange, magic can do odd things to young minds either they themselves don¡¯t want to remember something or someone else doesn¡¯t¡± ¡°That makes sense, I wonder if my memories will come back, and why I don¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Well sometimes only time will tell with these kinds of things. So what kind of book do you think you would like to read?¡± ¡°Something on herbs I think.¡± She looks a bit surprised by this but leads me to a section on far wall. ¡°All these here are on herbs and alchemy, if you need it there''s a small ladder in the corner to get to the higher ones, I¡¯ll be back in an hour or so with something to eat and then we¡¯ll look at what you can do with numbers.¡± ¡°Okay¡± I smile at her as she leaves the room. Really nice lady. Now where to start. It barely felt like a few minutes went by when as I was skimming the last few pages of the book I was on I hear the lady from behind me. ¡°Oh my¡­ did you read all of these?¡± I glance around the table, there''s still a bunch of books I didn''t put away after I got distracted reading through the whole herbs and alchemy section. ¡°Ah, yeah sorry I was so into the books I forgot to put them away¡± I gave her a sheepish smile. ¡°Th-that''s fine, but did you really read these? There¡¯s at least twenty books here.¡± ¡°Yep. I noticed I can just skim through the pages and it¡¯s easy to remember them all, I got through the herbs and alchemy books and moved on to history and culture of Venden.¡± She sets the plate of food down on the table with wide eyes looking over the books. ¡°Incredible¡­ I¡¯m really curious who you are Kiddo¡± You aren¡¯t the only one ¡°Well like you said sometimes only time will tell right? Oh and I don¡¯t think I got your name, I¡¯d hate to just keep thinking of you as ¡®Lady¡¯ hehe¡± ¡°Right. Oh of course my name is Gura I¡¯m the Arch Priestess here. And eat up there¡¯s bread, meat, and cheese.¡± I start gathering getting ready to stuff my face I hadn¡¯t realised I was so hungry. ¡°Oh Okay, well it¡¯s nice to meet you Gura, and thank you for the food¡± Face stuffing¡­ She¡¯s looking at me weird. It didn¡¯t take me long to have my fill and when I was done I thanked Gura again. ¡°it¡¯s no trouble sweety, now would you like to play with some of the other children?¡± ¡°Umm no thank you I¡¯d rather just read here if that¡¯s okay? I think I can get through the History and Culture section before gramps comes back to get me, do you know when he¡¯ll be here?¡±Gura has a sad smile on her face and kneels in front of me. ¡°Honey I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t think he will be back to get you, he never seemed to get as close to any of the children as to you but then he never spent that much time with them either. You¡¯ll stay here as long as you need to, your bag that I gave you that¡¯s all yours now so you can keep anything you want in there, and the clothes too. We might just find you a nice family to live with someday okay?¡± I don¡¯t know why but I can feel my eyes get all watery and an empty feeling settles in my stomach, It felt like I was gonna go on adventures with gramps especially when I found out about him fighting monsters and helping people. Gura gives me a hug and pats my back consoling me. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, you can read here all you want, would you like to see how good you are with numbers before you get back to the books?¡± I just nod my head, feeling numb. All I can remember is gramps I don¡¯t feel he would just leave me here but he didn¡¯t say much before he left this morning. Gura goes through and writes down a bunch of problems on the sheets of parchment, harder and harder ones but I don¡¯t even have to focus on them, it only takes me as long to write out the answer to finish each new set. ¡°Well Kiddo you really are an amazing little girl, I don¡¯t actually know anything more advanced than this to quiz you with, your my youngest, most successful student and we have only been at it for a few hours haha.¡± I give her a weak smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to go and check on the other children do you want to go and meet them now? you can stay here and read if you want though that¡¯s okay, I¡¯m always telling the children they should be reading more.¡± I shake my head and start putting the books away ¡°I¡¯ll just stay here for now I think¡± ¡°Alright sweetie, I''ll just be right out back, it¡¯s through the door there, then on your right through the door at the end of the hall okay?¡± I nod and she leaves me in the library alone. The next thing I know I¡¯m in bed in a room full of other kids all on their own little beds with the moon lighting up the room. I must have slept right through dinner time, and gramps never came back. I start crying again and after some time must have fallen back to sleep. The sun woke me up early in the morning, before any of the other kids. Must be from all those early starts with gramps. I hurry and leave the room as quietly as I can and head to the library just down the hall. It¡¯s still to dark to see in here so I head out back and sit to watch the sun rise over the roof of the house next door. After a while I can hear the other kids start to get up and Gura comes out and finds me sitting by the door. ¡°Goodmorning Kiddo, are you hungry? you were so worn out you didn¡¯t wake for dinner last night so I''m sure you''re starved.¡± I nod and get up to follow her inside. We head to a room I hadn¡¯t seen yet with a long table down the middle currently filled with kids of all ages from my own to maybe middle teenage years. And they were loud. ¡°QUIET! Now children this here is Kidd, the old goat brought her by yesterday morning, It looks like she will be staying here for some time so say hi and be nice.¡± A long series of hellos rang around the table until I could give my own greeting. ¡°hi, nice to meet you all¡± I quickly took the seat offered to me. ¡°Now children who would like to start our prayer this morning?¡± no one said anything at first then a quiet voice came from the far end of the table ¡°Holy Teran, thank you for the blessings of life and bounty of earth may we continue to walk the path of your will. We thank you for the food before us, the bounty of earth, we thank you for the day you grant us this blessing of life.¡± ¡°¡±Amen¡±¡± Echoed around the table ¡°Thank you Aren now you may all eat.¡± So we did, I wasn¡¯t that hungry now that there were so many people around, but I ate what I could. As they finished the others asked if they were excused so I did as well. Once I left the dining area I decided to just go back to the library, none of the other children went there all day yesterday so I figured it would be safe from intrusion. I went through all the rest of the history books available and moved on to the rest of them, there weren¡¯t really that many available, since I just wasn¡¯t interested in religious history after the first one. So I just sat and pondered what to do with the rest of the day. A few minutes went by and Gura came into the library ¡°Hey there Kidd you know, it¡¯s great to like learning but you really should go and play with the other children, it¡¯ll be good for you alright?¡± I just sigh in defeat. ¡°I might as well I already finished everything here, except the ones about gods those didn¡¯t seem worth reading.¡± Gura flinches at that and makes a weird sign with her hand ¡°It¡¯s not proper to insult the gods Kidd, I know you¡¯re sad that the old goat didn¡¯t explain why he was leaving you with us but this can be your new home if you let it.¡± I just grunt as I head to the back door with Gura behind me no doubt making sure I go play with the others. As I step into the main room the front door opens and gramps walk inside. ¡°Kidd s¡¯go.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it I squeal in delight and dash off to grab my new bag and storm back past Gura ¡°Thanks Gura! I hope to see you again!¡± Wide eyed in blatant surprise she waves at me as I rush out the front door behind gramps. Training Well I guess I¡¯m about five now, not really sure but gramps just says it¡¯s been a few years since we started traveling together. There has been three winters since we started and it was autumn then and it is once again so I¡¯m figuring three years on top of the two I started with makes me five but really what do I know I¡¯m only five. Today is the third week of ¡®training¡¯ gramps makes this little wooden doll about my size with magic and then it starts doing different positions with its arms and legs and I have to copy them, while gramps is repositioning me to more properly match the doll''s movements. After an hour of this gramps says. ¡°Good. Now, spar.¡± ¡°huh?¡± and the wooden doll tried to punch me in the face, instinct from the forms kicks in and I deflect it and grapple the doll''s arm twisting it behind it¡¯s back and force it to the ground. ¡°Good. Again.¡± Back and forth it went like that for a few more hours. I started to get beat up after a while once we had gone over all the forms and gramps picked up the pace. ¡°Ugh, that was rough. How often are we going to do that?¡± I throw the question at gramps guessing at the answer already. ¡°Everyday.¡± Yep right on point. ¡®sigh¡¯ ¡°I was figuring that would be the case. When do you think I¡¯ll be able to use magic?¡± ¡°hgrnm. Don¡¯t know.¡± I had read that magic starts to manifest, or awaken as it¡¯s called around here at pubescent age but it can come earlier for some. I already know all the spells from all the temples we have visited, at least I know the words and what they do I can¡¯t think of how yet without knowing what it¡¯s like to actually use magic. But I¡¯ve grown patient traveling around with gramps, we keep pretty much the same schedule. Eat breakfast, walk, gather, hunt, camp, hunt, train, dinner, sleep. With slight differences here and there it¡¯s mostly the same day in and day out. We stop by towns now and then and gramps leaves me at the local temple and I scour their library, temples and schools (for nobles) are the only places that have books it seems. There¡¯s even a couple different temples, the country east of Venden, Medertai worship the Goddess Aquina. She¡¯s a goddess of water, all kinds, like lakes, rivers, most of all the ocean. The people of Medertai are called Beastfolk and they look it, like they are part animal and part human. There¡¯s a few temples to the Goddess Embra, she¡¯s all about fire and passion. Her temples seem to be in every country we¡¯ve been to, mostly Vordenhost to the north. That place was full of huge people taller than gramps by at least a foot or two. They call themselves Vikings and everyone of them is always carrying a weapon around. And it¡¯s always winter there, we headed up there in the summer but as we went through the mountains there was snow coming down and then they opened up to the tundra plains as far as I could see it was all white. The last few years we¡¯ve walked all over the continent except for Eldloss to the west. Hunters aren''t allowed to go there, their King Gendren outlawed them from working there after he killed the old king and queen. And gramps says Eldloss isn''t a good place for us to go, everyone there wants to fight all the time, ¡°Only the strong survive¡± was what he said is their motto. We don¡¯t go the the South either, Ahke''mtal the home of the Orcs is down there. The Orcs used to be just like everyone else until a few hundred years ago they burned all their own cities and killed everyone that wasn¡¯t an orc and they have been roaming around in tribes trying to set up in Venden since then. After eating we went to sleep and another day started. We kept up this same pace for another year traveling through the winter in Medertai as it¡¯s warmer during that season and they have more monster activity for gramps to hunt, I keep up my training and by the time spring comes around again I¡¯m able to take on ten of gramps¡¯ little dolls at the same time, and he taught me another set of forms that are pure offensive techniques. One evening as we were at the foothills going back into Venden we set up camp looking out at the valley with its rivers, it was a really nice view. Gramps went out hunting as he always did and I gathered herbs like always, I¡¯m still qurious how his little pouch is fitting years worth of herbs but whatever I¡¯ll find out soon enough I guess. When gramps got back I was ready to do some training so I¡¯d done some stretching to get prepared but he just shook his head ¡°Nope. Rest today¡± He motions for me to sit by the fire pit. Starts the fire up and getts all the food ready. But when he hands me mine it¡¯s not a bowl of stew with some meat, it¡¯s a solid slab of it with some sweet sauce on it and I scarf it all down. Delicious. I think gramps actually smiled when he looked over at me. ¡°Happy Birthday Kidd¡± He actually did smile this time, it wasn¡¯t just the firelight twinkling in his eye. ¡°Thanks gramps, is it really my birthday?¡± we¡¯d never celebrated my birthday before so wasn¡¯t sure he even knew it. I didn¡¯t ¡°Mhm. Been four years today we travlin¡¯,¡± He started coughing after his (for him) lengthy speech ¡°Are you okay gramps?¡± all my questions about how we started our journey were forgotten. ¡°Aye I¡¯ll be fine. Just old. Gotta few more years in me¡± he smiles and winks at me. Now I¡¯m actually really worried, in the last few minutes he¡¯s expressed more emotions than in the last few years, but I just grin back at him. ¡°Alright old goat, well if we¡¯re not doing any training I think I¡¯ll just watch the sunset and do some practicing on the forms to burn off some more energy before I go to bed.¡± Gramps went to sleep right away, After the sun set I spent a few hours on more forms and then I also went to sleep. The following morning I woke up before gramps as the sun was coming up, I decided I¡¯d do something to help him, all I knew how to do that could was alchemy and of that I actually knew a lot. So I went and gathered what herbs I could, some sap from a Thither tree, and a few flowers that all had restorative properties. I added a few other herbs that would help with respritory troubles and carefully mixed them making sure the right amounts went in with just the right amount of water, the mixture poured into a small vial with no problems and I put away the alchemy kit. It must have taken me a while to mix up everything because when I was done Gramps was up and prepping breakfast, so I walked over and held it out for him. ¡°This should help your cough a little bit, might make you feel better¡± I smiled a bit when I saw him grin. ¡°hmm. what¡¯s in it?¡± He asked as he took the vial from me. I listed off the ingredients and what they did and how they would react when combined together. He nodded along as he started cooking. ¡°Good.Good. Whats¡¯ missing though?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant since the potion I made didn¡¯t have an official recipee so I just shrugged. ¡°Magic hehe¡± and then he downed the potion in one go and then lit up one of his smoke sticks. ¡°I don¡¯t have magic though. I¡¯m sorry gramps I was hoping it would help.¡± ¡°S¡¯okay Kiddo. Don¡¯t need to use the magic. Just have t¡¯have the potential. You¡¯ve got plenty of that.¡± He grinned as he handed me my breakfast and I grinned back. We ate in silence and packed up the camp and headed out. Instead of going along the foothills skirting the mountains like normal, we went out into the valley right toward a huge lake in the distance. I didnt bother asking where we were heading, though gramps was talking more lately I had a good idea we were going to a settlement of some sort so we kept going in silence. We camped that evening near a large river that flowed down from the mountains and gramps set to finding some wood and made his little dolls. 15 of them this time. ¡°G¡¯head, last for and hour. We¡¯ll call it good for the night.¡± So I got to it. Had to restart the timer twice but eventually I lasted and hour without going down. I went over to the cookfire and plopped down and gramps handed me my food. We ate in silence until when I was almost done, he handed me a small leather pouch. The one he has kept his herbs in. ¡°For you Kidd. You¡¯ll make better use of it than me. If you could make some more of that brew? Been breathin¡¯ mighty well all day.¡± He gave me a big smile that krinkled his whole face ¡°Yeah! the herbs I need are in here?¡± I smiled back and asked ¡°Mhm, even the sap from the Thither tree. That pouch is special, made from magic that¡¯s been lost for ages now. Spacial magic that is. Never been able to fill up that little thing, had it for almost my whole life too.¡± I looked over the small bag not much more than both my little hands put together. ¡°Hows it work?¡± ¡°Just have to think of what you want to be done for somethin¡¯ when you put it in. Then just think of what you want when you put your hand in. It¡¯ll hold just bout anything that¡¯ll fit in the opening there not just herbs.¡± ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll get right on it.¡± So I did, and by the time the sun fully set I was done with the potion and handed it to gramps, who downed it right away and again lit one of his smoke sticks. ¡°Thanks Kidd, I think if you can manage to get me one of these every few days from now on might just give me a few extra years hehe¡± I grinned broadly at that. ¡°Gramps why do you smoke those things? I¡¯ve seen people in towns that do and they never really look to healthy.¡± ¡°Mhm, most of em aren¡¯t. These things are called cigarrettes and normal ones are deadly. Makes the lungs go bad. Mine are made from special herbs mixed in though. The herbs come from Everloss, where the elves live see. Their Islands off to the south are covered in whats called rainforests. Their Forests are special in that they have more natural mana everywhere and the plants just drink it up. Makes the special plants that grow there even more so. The herbs that go into my smokes are meant to do just what your potion here does but I¡¯ve been smoking these things for a long time so my body just got used to em and they don¡¯t work as well anymore. See Kidd I¡¯m old, really old, even them elves would think I¡¯m old, most do actually. Means, I¡¯m dying slow but sure, got a f-¡± I interupted his long speech, the most I¡¯ve ever heard him talk I think in all these year with a hug. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die gramps, I¡¯d be all alone. I don¡¯t want you to die!¡± I sobbed into his shoulder. He returned the hug a bit awkwardly. ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry Kiddo I¡¯ll make sure your big and strong before I leave this world, I made a promise to someone I would, and I¡¯m fond of being round you too kay?¡± I stepped back trying to keep the tears in check. ¡°O-okay gramps I¡¯ll-I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± ¡°Alright Kiddo get to sleep now we¡¯ll be head¡¯n out early in the mornin.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Kay.¡± With that we went to bed. Like gramps had said we got up early, before even the sun came up. Ate a quick breakfast and were on our way further west. A few hours later we crested a small hill and were looking down on a fairly large town sitting by a very large lake. Another half hour or so and we came upon the town and instead of heading to the local temple like we usually did we went straight to a small castle like building. When they spotted gramps the guards stood more attentive and waved us through without word or question. At the door a small man in a fancy servant outfit greeted us. ¡°Master Hunter.¡± He turned to me ¡°Young miss. Follow me please the Lady of the house has been expecting you.¡± We followed him on through the castle which was decorated very sparsely but with class, an elegant painting or potted plant or a suit of armor or weapons on the walls here and there. Soon we came to a set of double doors, and the man opened them for us. ¡°The Lady of the House awaits.¡± he walked in behind us, and the room was some sort of sitting area and library in one, three of the walls were covered in bookshelves and the fourth was solid glass window, overlooking the whole yard. At the center of the room was a long table with plush looking chairs around it and in one facing the window was sitting an older lady who turned to us as we came in. ¡°Lady Iteran may I present the Master Hunter and his companion the young miss.¡± upon my introduction I gave my best curtsy I could given that I had no skirt and only learned how to do it a couple years ago from one of the Arch Priestesses that insisted I know how to greet a noble properly. ¡°Eledora you are looking well, It has been some time. I am sorry about your husband, he was a good friend.¡± gramps greets the woman with the most articulate speech I¡¯ve heard from him yet, full of surprises lately. ¡°Why thank you Ed-¡± She glances at me ¡°You old goat, It has been a while. Metelai went as he wanted to, with a blade in hand and a curse on his lips. Now is this the young lady I¡¯ve heard so much about?¡± She turns to me and I introduce myself as best I can. ¡°Greetings Lady Iteran, my name is simply Kidd.¡± ¡°Well that was quite good Kidd, I know you don¡¯t often greet nobility. But here were friends so no needs for formality.¡± She smiles and gestures for us to take a seat. ¡°Those the children there?¡± Gramps asks looking out the window to the yard, where three kids around 10 or so I¡¯d guess were sparing with wooden swords and shields, one had a staff. ¡°Yes, they are quite lively. Since Metelai¡¯s passing they have not had anyone willing to train them, they are far beyond their years, already better than the captain of the House guard. They are already ranked between Master and Arch all across the board. That¡¯s why I called on you Hunter there¡¯s no one else Metelai would have trusted with this.¡± Gramps didn¡¯t even take a moment to think it over he just glanced at me. ¡°Very well, have they been informed that I will be coming?¡± ¡°Yes I told them that the Master Hunter would be training them now that Metelai is gone.¡± ¡°Good, Now Kidd¡± he turns to me ¡°I want you to go out there and introduce yourself to the children and let them know that you are my disciple. Okay?¡± Sounds simple. Rather not have to be around other kids but this does seem important. ¡°Okay gramps.¡± Eledora grabs my arm before I can leave out the door to the back yard and looks to gramps. ¡°Are you sure that''s a good idea? They know who you are they will want to test her, she¡¯s just a small child.¡± gramps just smiles and nods saying. ¡°It will be fine, Kidd take it easy on them for today. You can have tea with Eledora and I when your done¡± ¡°Kay!¡± and I run out the door, not before taking in the shocked expression from Eledora. I quickly come to the small training circle of packed dirt, obviously just for this purpose, and greet the other children. ¡°HI! I¡¯m Kidd, gramps told me to introduce myself to you guys as his disciple.¡± They all stopped what they were doing to look at me and the one Boy out of the group walked closer to me. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Oh right, Lady Iteran called him Master Hunter.¡± ¡°hahaha. You''re the Master Hunters disciple? you¡¯re just a little girl.¡± Hmm this guy is irritating me. I¡¯ve met a few people like him at the temples we¡¯ve been to. Never been able to do anything about it, though gramps is here to train them, and he said to go easy on them hehe. ¡°Well yes that¡¯s obvious, I am younger than you and smaller, and I¡¯m a girl. Though you didn¡¯t elaborate I take it you were trying to insult me, but I¡¯m not going around waving a little stick like I¡¯m some fancy soldier now am I?¡± the two girls snicker behind the boy whose face went a few shades of red. ¡°I¡¯m not waving around anything, I¡¯m training, already I¡¯m Grandmaster physical rank don¡¯t taunt me little girl!¡± ¡°Oh so high and mighty doesn¡¯t even introduce himself before throwing around his rank, is that supposed to impress me?¡± seriously, I¡¯ve heard of the ranks before but I have no idea what they mean. the boy just starts sputtering and the girls keep snickering in the background. So I figure it¡¯s best to get this over with then, never had tea before but if it¡¯s served in a noble''s house I bet it¡¯s good. ¡°Alright you want to show off physical boy, how bout all three of you show me what you can do kay?¡± they all look at each-other and then at me and shrug and the boy says. ¡°Well you look like some low-born commoner so I doubt we can get into trouble if we beat you bloody. Don¡¯t worry though we won¡¯t hurt you to bad.¡± And with that they came at me. First the boy with a high angled slash, the girl with the sword right behind with a horizontal slash across the torso and the one with the staff going for the legs, good well co-ordinated. But I¡¯ve been going against even more enemies all acting on one person''s will. I slide in close to the boy, right past his guard and while his momentum is strong I grab his wrist and twist around sliding behind him, putting him between me and sword girl, then give him a swift shove right on his ass and send him head first into her shield, they both go down. Staff girl tries to change her angle of approach but I step in and grab the end of the staff she meant to strike me with and simply bop her in the face with it while she¡¯s still holding it. I give them a moment to collect themselves. ¡°Again? or are you done fooling around and want to really learn?¡± They gave some animal like growls as response. Again it is. A bit less than an hour later they three children are unconscious on the training yard and I¡¯m skipping back into the sitting room. Gramps is drinking what I assume is tea grinning like crazy. ¡°Good thing I told you to go easy on them, They need to do that again tomorrow haha¡± I laugh with him and return to my seat, Eledora Places a cup in front of me and pours some me some tea. ¡°That was amazing Kidd, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen someone so young move like that, you must already be very high ranked.¡± ¡°Hmm don¡¯t know really. Actually I don''t know what ranks really are.¡± She shares a look with gramps while I take my first sip of tea. ¡°Right, that¡¯s okay, ranks aren¡¯t that important right now. Hunter was telling me that you are quite the reader, and I have invited you both to say for as long as you would like so you can go ahead and read anything you find that meets your fancy.¡± she smiles at me. ¡°Oh yes I¡¯ll have to take you up on that offer if gramps already said we¡¯ll be staying.¡± I quickly jumped up and started scanning the book titles on the shelves. Not even a half hour later and I looked over every book title and found two I had yet to read, they were newer than the ones I¡¯d found in the temples these had just come out in the last few years. I found something in the second one that actually made me pause and re-read not just once but twice as it made me feel like I was forgetting something really important. The Reign of King Valdus Zixrua and his wife Queen Mirila Zixrua was one wrought with strife from beginning to end. They had attained the throne shortly after their marriage at a very young age. They challenged the King of that time, Gurilious Heltus and his Wife Hitilisis to a duel during court. As Gurilious was never one to back down, he accepted and subsequently lost Valdus and Mirilia were the two strongest people known at the time in Eldloss save for perhaps Mirilias Great Grandfather, also the oldest known man in Eldloss, Ederon Emzira, the Bastion of Southhold. Less than a year after their coronation the orcs of Ahke¡¯mtal began the largest campaign began by there time. Nearly half a million rampaging orc stormed from the mountains led by one that became known as simple the Mad One as he wielded powerful blood magic and would cut himself to fuel his spells as other orc shaman healed him. The war lasted for just over a year and concluded after in a final attempt at pushing through the human defenses King Valdus summoned a massive barrier to hold back the remaining two hundred odd thousand orc berserkers as his wife did battle with The Mad One. As she slayed him The King''s shield began to falter and all those that had assisted in the spell collapsed leaving him holding it on his own with only a few hundred regular soldiers to protect him if so. The Queen Cast the largest fire spell ever to have been witnessed in recorded history, it scoured the orc forces exciting terror in even the mindless berserkers, they simply spread it to their comrades and all the remaining orc warriors died on the field that day. Ten years later, with small skermishes from both the orcs and Vorden a constant. The King and Queens first Child Crowned Princess Alita Zixrua was traveling home after visiting her mothers family at Southold when her party was ambushed by orcs. 250 of the Eldloss¡¯s best including Ederon Emzira The Queens great grandfather and the young princess died. There were no survivors. Continued pressure from the north and south led to more small scale battles and even a few siege attempts on the northern and southern fortresses, did not hold the royal couple from trying to continue their line. Twenty years after the death of their first daughter, Crowned prince Edern Zixrua was born. He was on his was to Eldloss academy only one hundred miles north of Alderwood when an entire army that was escorting him, including his parents, were attacked. The attackers went straight for the young prince and in a suicidal explosion the mage, a mercenary from the free tribes of Vordenhost burned his own soul to create a blast that very nearly took the lives of the king and queen, but did succeed in killing their son. Thirty years after the death of their son they tried once again and Valara Zixrua was born, her life was the shortest and in every way the most brutal end. A Band of mercenaries from unknown origins begane to slaughter those loyal to the King and Queen while the King''s younger brother Gendren Zixrua and his men assaulted the Emzira Capital home where the royal couple were raising their daughter. The home was burned to the ground after a massive explosion, Valara was inside sleeping,The young princess died on her birthday, she was only two. The King and Queen were captured and had inhibiting collars placed on them. They were both tortured to death over the course of days in a public display. The things that Gendren did the Queen will earn him a place in the darkest most vile pit of whatever hells might exist out there. The constant skirmishes that had been a norm for nearly seven decades of Valdus and Mirilas¡¯ rule, ended as soon as Gendren slaughtered his own family. It may be my own opinion, and I am fortunate that I am protected my home country but it becomes obvious after looking at all the facts that Gendren Zixrua assassinated his nieces and nephew and then his own brother and sister in law, and doing the most inhuman things to them. They were my friends and I miss them dearly, I pray to Terran, Aquina, and Embra everyday that someone will inflict the same pain on the traitor King Gendren Zixrua. By Eledora Iteran By the time I was done barely an hour had gone by from when I had started looking through all the books. Now my head hurt and I was confused and angry and felt so strongly that I was forgetting something important. I put the books away and walked outside, the other kids were heading in and steered clear of me still battered and bruised not looking for more punishment. Gramps followed me out and made twenty of his little dolls and got them ready for the training session. ¡°Ready¡± he asked me. No. I just nodded. At first I was fine dodging and deflecting without issue but I couldn''t stop thinking about what I had read when a punch landed on my face, then a kick to the ribs, once it started it wouldn''t stop and I couldn''t stop thinking. I just wanted it to stop, all of it, my insides felt like they were on fire, like they were going to explode so I just let it. I screamed and everything went away all the dolls turned to dust, the ground cracked and shook, the trees shattered and blew away. Then I saw standing in front of the large window was gramps and Eledora with their hands out and projecting a shimmering barrier covering the castle. Then darkness took me. Enchanting ¡°-ot be possible for a child¡± ¡°-Special, more power than I¡¯ve-¡± I could hear some people talking but I could barely make out their voices and strained to listen. ¡°She almost destroying the whole castle. I¡¯ve never seen an awakening like that.¡± ¡°Yeah most are just a small burst of power and then passing out like she did. Her mother told me she was ranked as goddess, even modified her memories and placed seals on her power with a blessing from Terran to try and prevent this sort of thing from happening.¡± ¡°Oh my. are you su-¡± I wasn¡¯t sure I heard correctly, my head is killing me. Must be dreaming. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fuck my head hurts! I open my eyes and nearly puke. The world is awash is different colors than couldn¡¯t possibly be natural, It takes a moment before I remember what it is. Magic. This must be aetheric sight, the ability to see the flow of natural mana and the magic of spells and living beings. I look around the room I¡¯m in and notice that there¡¯s enchantments on almost everything, from the lamps to the walls, even the carpet and the bed I¡¯m lying on. After a few minutes of looking around the room I turn my sight inward and look at my insides and see why it is that my body seems so much stronger than it should be, my nervous system is practically glowing like the sun from the mana flowing through it. My bones, muscles, even my skin has been heavily infused with mana, every cell is filled with densely packed mana. I must have done it through instinct even before I could consciously use my magic. For a few minutes I then look at the condition of myself and see that, though I¡¯ve been eating well my body needs more nutrients to grow properly so I get to work. I think about the books I¡¯ve read and find it funny that they all say that it¡¯s not possible to enchant living things, but all I have to do is enchant my DNA for what I want to do, Infusing the body with magic is just a natural instinct by those that have enough of it. Like enchanting but without any special abilities aside from enhanced natural functions. Why do I know all this? That seems to be something I ask myself a lot. And now that I think about it I shouldn¡¯t be able to see things this small with my aetheric sight at all. Whatever. As I finish my modifications, I notice that there¡¯s another person in the room. Gramps is sitting in a chair next to the bed reading a book. ¡°Hey gramps, I¡¯m hungry you don¡¯t happen to have any food do you?¡± He looks startled for a moment before he responds. ¡°Haha Kiddo you gave me a scare. I¡¯ll have someone bring you up something. Not surprised you¡¯re hungry you¡¯ve been out for almost a week already.¡± ¡°Oh wow, I guess that makes sense though. That much mana flooding my body so fast overloaded a lot of things.¡± ¡°Do you remember anything?¡± He asks with a worried expression. I take a moment to look at him with my aetheric sight before replying. ¡°Yep. Magic.¡± I carefully get out of bed -I feel great for having been out for a week- and walk up to gramps and put my hand on his chest and close my eyes to concentrate. I can see why he is so sick, not only is his mana is working incredibly hard to repair massive damages to his lungs and heart, his whole ribcage looks like it had been crushed at one point there¡¯s also some kind of foreign mana that¡¯s definitely not his, it reminds me of death for some reason. I infuse his system with my own mana carefully doing what I can, trying to isolate the foreign mana but I can tell that it¡¯s just been too long since the injury to properly heal it, like he said he really is dying just really slowly. After a few minutes I open my eyes and find everything is blurry, I must have started crying, gramps has his own eyes closed and is breathing slow heavy breaths with a peaceful expression on his face. He opens his eyes and looks at me and smiles, I just give him a hug returning it he says quietly. ¡°Thanks Kiddo you really are something special¡± After a few moments in silence gramps clears his throat ¡°Uhm well let''s¡¯ go see about getting you some food then¡± ¡°Kay¡± We exit the room and head down the hall, it seems to be about midday judging from the sun. Down a flight of stairs and around a corner we go through a familiar set of doors and are in the sitting room once more, and Eledora is in the same chair she was when we first arrived. ¡°Ah so the little princess has returned from her slumber haha¡± she laughs at her own joke, I do too. I had read a few books about princesses falling into a deep sleep only being able to be awoken by their ¡®prince charming¡¯. ¡°I don¡¯t think gramps is my prince charming haha and there¡¯s no way I could be a princess, I¡¯m just some commoner little girl.¡± Gramps and Eledora give a bit of a forced laugh and share a look before gramps asks about getting some food for me. ¡°Absolutely. Herven could you get the young miss something to eat from the kitchen please¡± ¡°Of course my Lady¡± Eledora pours me some tea as she inquires on my condition. ¡°I¡¯m actually feeling really good, better than I think I ever have before actually.¡± ¡°You sure gave us a scare with your awakening¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sorry about that, I felt weird after reading that book, I probably shouldn¡¯t have done the training session but I had no idea that I would react like that.¡± I glance outside and see that there¡¯s a small crater where the training yard was and there¡¯s no trees left at all and all the grass is gone as well. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about all the mess to, after you invited us to stay and everything, I¡¯ll do whatever I can to make it up to you Lady Eledora.¡± She just waves her hand dismissively. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it little one, It¡¯s just some trees and some grass no harm done. And as to making up for anything, how about after you eat something you go and rescue the other children from their training.¡± She points to the far side of the yard where they are all getting beat up by their own version of gramps¡¯ dolls. I giggle, I remember having troubles fighting one on one with them. ¡°Kay sounds like a plan then.¡± We sit and chat for a little while and then Herven arrives with the food. I eat it all and ask for seconds, and if I could have at least three times as much as he brought if that''s okay. He looks shocked and turns to Eledora. ¡°Are you sure you should eat so much kiddo? you were in bed for almost a whole week.¡± I nod.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, my body needs a lot more nutrients because of all the mana that I can use now. Plus I made some alterations to my ability to process foods and drinks, I¡¯ll be able to absorb almost 100% of everything I consume.¡± Everyone just stares at me like I have a second head or something. ¡°I know, enchanting living beings or even using magic beyond sending mana through the body to enhance it or heal shouldn¡¯t be possible but it was one of the many things that I remembered about magic when I woke up. I¡¯m sure it has something to do with why I can¡¯t remember anything before I started journeying with gramps but I¡¯m not worried about it. I¡¯m patient things will work out in the end I¡¯m sure.¡± There must be a good reason for the memory block so like how I had grown accustomed to not asking questions of gramps I¡¯ll just let it go and hope I get my memories back one day. ¡°W-well if you''re positive, Herven you can go ahead and fulfill her request.¡± ¡°As you wish my Lady¡± He bows and heads to the kitchen. ¡°So Kiddo, what kind of magic do you remember?¡± Gramps asks me. ¡°Hmm well, that¡¯s a bit tough to answer see, All the spells I read about when I went through the temple libraries, They were all wrong, wasteful and just poorly done spell formations. I remember things like that. Oo.¡± I pull out the little herb pouch gramps gave me. ¡°I remember how to do this.¡± I make a quick but complicated spell, binding it to an enchantment on my person. A small black circle opens up underneath the pouch barely above my hand. The pouch disappears and then the circle does too. Both gramps and Eledora just gasp and gramps starts stuttering ¡°Th-Th-That¡¯s Beyond Incredible Kiddo Oh gods spacial magic has been lost for nearly a millenia!¡± ¡°I know, I read about it. Why hasn¡¯t anyone copied the enchantments on items like the herb pouch.¡± I ask as I reach back into the sub-dimensional storage to grab the pouch again. Handing it to gramps so he can look at it closely. ¡°You can see the enchantment on this Kiddo?¡± ¡°Yeah I can see the enchantments on everything actually, the window there has reinforcement and anti-magic, as well as thermal protection and a few different types of light filters. There¡¯s enchantments on a lot of things in the house, lamps, doors, the walls, carpets, even the bed I woke up on earlier.¡± Gramps hands the back the pouch, I just throw it over my shoulder and it disappears again. ¡°Kiddo don¡¯t go showing of that spell there to the world a lot of people would try and kidnap you to learn your secret, and since I think you''re likely the only person that can use your aetheric sight like that they would try and use you to make things for them.¡± I giggled when he said ¡®kidnapped¡¯ since he gave me the name Kidd. He just got extra serious though not seeing the pun like I did. ¡°Of course gramps. Hmm is my aetheric sight really that unique? For some reason it just feels natural to me.¡± ¡°Yes dear it is indeed.¡± Eledora chimes in ¡°See, enchanters have to make tools so that they can make smaller runic formations on items and even then they have troubles because they are not able to go below a certain size.¡± She pulls out a small dagger and sets in on the table in front of me. ¡°That dagger has the smallest enchantments that can be done, this was made by the best elven craftsmen known in Everloss and they are the best enchanters known in the whole world.¡± I pick up the dagger and look at the runic structures, they are huge really. I can¡¯t believe this is the best out there. There¡¯s only four enchantment on the whole thing and it takes up all the available space on the blade and some on the hilt. Reinforcement, self sharpening, magic piercing and freezing. All mediocre quality in my opinion as well. I take a look at the sheath for it and see that it just has Reinforcement and opposing effects to counter the blades effects so it isn¡¯t destroyed when being used to house the dagger. ¡°Lady Eledora do you mind if I fix the enchantments on this?¡± Her eyes go wide. ¡°F-fix? Whatever could be wrong with them?¡± ¡°Well no offense to the craftsmen who made these but they''re just really poorly done, sloppy, inefficient, far larger than necessary and only mediocre in strength. Seriously I feel like this was made by a six year old.¡± I list off the things that I see wrong with it. Gramps bursts out laughing. ¡°HAHAHAHA if Eindar heard you say that his old heart would give out on him HAHAHAHA!¡± ¡°You old goat that''s not funny. Kiddo, honey I know your aetheric sight is really good, and you can use spacial magic but the man that made that dagger, Eindar is almost 2500 years old and has been enchanting for nearly his entire life, I mean you no offense but I do not believe you can make it any better than it is.¡± If I didn¡¯t think back on what I had said as gramps was laughing I might have been offended. ¡°It¡¯s no trouble I realise it was very rude of me to say that I¡¯m sorry.¡± I say somewhat abashed ¡°Here Kiddo try this one then.¡± Gramps pulls out an ordinary steel knife. ¡°Go ahead and enchant that with the best you can. Eledora are Metelai¡¯s enchanting tools in his study?¡± ¡°They should be yes Herv-¡± ¡°It¡¯s Okay.¡± I interrupt her. ¡°Remember I said I enchanted myself? that¡¯s the other problem, why should you need any tools to do the actual enchanting?¡± I start to work on the ordinary knife, it¡¯s only about four inches long, first reinforcement, making it far stronger than ordinary steel, then self sharpening. Magic absorbing and piercing, freezing and heating that will quickly alternate on contact with the blade. To finish it up I carve in addition runic lines to make it so it gathers ambient mana and then a limiter so it won''t overcharge itself through the passive function or absorption abilities. Topping it all off with a full charge of mana. If I had some silver or gold, even some gemstones, preferably something crystaline I could fill the runic lines with it to make it even more efficient and effective. ¡°Done.¡± I hand it back to gramps. ¡°Huh, I can tell that there¡¯s magic to the blade but I can¡¯t see a single trace of any runes, and I have pretty good aetheric sight. Let¡¯s test this out.¡± He pulls out an identical knife and presses the blades together, the one I enchanted starts to cut through the other one like it¡¯s butter before the non enchanted blade just shatters. ¡°HOLY SHIT!¡± Gramps yells clearly shocked. ¡°Watch your language you old goat there¡¯s a child present. That was very amazing though.¡± ¡°Kiddo do you realise that you just made this knife -cost me ten coppers- worth at least two maybe three thousand gold?¡± Wow I might just have to become an enchanter then. Nope I don¡¯t want to give anyone super weapons. ¡°Really that¡¯s pretty awesome. But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll end up selling anything I enchant, too many people would likely use the items for things I don¡¯t want them to be used for. Power corrupts and all that.¡± ¡°Wisely spoken Kidd, but use this to your advantage, once you''re older and we get you outfitted with armor and a weapon you can make ¡®em as strong as you want. Also one of these days I¡¯ll show you the hazards of too much mana being used in one area at the same time. Enchanted items tend to let off less wasted mana.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, Oo more food!¡± Herven comes back with a few plates stacked with all kinds of different delectable dishes. I start shoveling it down as soon as he sets it on the table barely managing to say ¡°Thanks¡± between bites. Gramps and Eledora chat about the knife I enchanted as I eat, while stuffing my face I gather the shards of the broken knife and put it in my storage since everyone else forgot about it in their excitement. I¡¯m about to start on my last plate of food when the three other kids stumble inside and sit at the table. They look beat, literally. I glance outside and see the three dolls they were training on in pieces off in the corner of the yard. I¡¯m not really hungry anymore so I slide my last plate over in front of them. They start eating right away then the boy looks up and notices me, promptly getting up from his seat followed quickly by the girls. They bow their heads and the boy says. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being so rude to you before Lady Kidd, I understand that you are far stronger than me and regardless if you''re of noble or common birth it matters little when you are clearly deserving of a noble title.¡± The two girls chime in with ¡°Sorry Lady Kidd¡± when he¡¯s done. I¡¯m slightly shocked by the apology but recover quickly and accept it. ¡°It¡¯s no problem, we¡¯ll have to get to training you guys a bit more seriously though¡± They nod and retake their seats and continue eating. Obviously exhausted. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for today, when you kids are done eating why don¡¯t the four of you just go out and play like the children you are?¡± says Eledora. ¡°Okay gramma we¡¯ll show Kidd our fort in the woods¡± Says the boy ¡°That is a good idea Stavin, no weapons though, I do not want you children to hurt yourselves playing at being soldiers.¡± ¡°Yes gramma¡± They quickly finished up their food and Stavin invites me along. ¡°Come on Kidd I think you¡¯ll like this.¡± I get up to follow them but gramps stops me. ¡°Here Kiddo since you made it you can have this, I don¡¯t have much use for it anyhow.¡± He hands me the knife I enchanted. ¡°Thanks gramps.¡± I drop it into my storage and wave at the adults and catch up to Stavin and the girls.