《Burning Winter》 Prologue - Fucking Norway I¡¯ve had a crappy life since the day I was born to the day I died. Who would¡¯ve thought that this luck would continue after my death. I was born in Norway in a small village called Hell. No I¡¯m not joking I was born in Hell. Now while that might not have been so bad by itself, I was named by my Chinese parents San. Again, ordinarily this would not have been a problem, however my surname was Tan. For those of you who do not see why this was a series of unfortunate coincidences, you¡¯re the first. Sadly the name seemed to ring true, I was closely tied with.. the departed ever since I was born, my mother died giving birth to me, and my dad slowly passed away due to an unhealthy mix of alcohol and soul crushing grief. All the animals stayed far away from me and my first few friends died in horrible accidents. I never made another. Now it is pointless to bore you with such details of my past life, sufficient to say, I was struck by a car in the middle of the winter, (Hell is actually quite a cold place, never failing to freeze over in the winter) As I laid dying for several hours, my blood had long been frozen, sealing the wound but also dooming me to a slow death. I thought that this would be the end as I looked once more at the spiraling snowflakes, slowly closing my eyes while drifting off into eternal sleep... Well that was what was supposed to happen. Instead I opened my eyes and saw a gigantic yet elegantly carved stained glass window. With mesmerizing colors it took time before I managed to look at anything else. After I gather my wits, I found myself in a church surrounded by other¡­ prisons? There was a large but beautiful woman lying beside me, when I tried to call out I found I was unable to, and instead starting bawling at the top of my lungs. As she woke, I was startled to find her eyes the most strikingly green color I have ever seen, giving her a mysterious but calming presence. She momentarily looked surprised, I realized that instead of her being large I was simply small as she lifted me up and called what I assumed to be my name. I was in shock as I was hammered by three increasingly undeniable facts. One I¡¯m a baby. Second I¡¯m a girl. Third my full name is Lucy Fir. Luck just isn''t on my side. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Fucking Norway. Author Note: For all you people who didn''t read the description... I don''t blame you I probably wouldn''t have either XD. The parts in there unrelated to the story basically summarizes into this. You will decide if this story will continue or just end, just comment below and I''ll look when I have time, suggestions for story and/or improvement are welcome! In the chance that this does become a series the releases will be irregular to say the least, however I''ll make sure at least one chapter per week is done unless something comes up. Sorry for taking your time and for everyone that actually read all of this, Thank you very much! Chapter 1 - ???????蔚??? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????? A month has passed by. I was taken out of the nursery by the woman err¡­my mother, as soon as I stopped crying. From the multiple rainbow tainted babies that were staring back at me I had to accept it. I had become a baby. Obviously I have no clue why I still had my past memories, thankfully although my life was harsh the benefits in remembering everything far outweighed the¡­ less pleasant memories. Retaining memories upon reincarnation, I don¡¯t know how often I wanted to start over and have a new life. Not one like this however. It seems that the majority of the language here is different from where I came from. From my mother¡¯s exotic looks and the cold weather maybe it¡¯s a part of Northern Europe or Russia? However the names seem relatively similar. My mother and I lived in a large cabin that was isolated in the woods. It was relatively peaceful around. At first I was conflicted with the fact that I was probably (mentally) older then my ¡°mom¡± but that notion was quickly washed away. I felt at peace for the first time in both my lives, it was comforting to have finally have a mother. That being said I haven¡¯t seen my father yet, where is he? About half a year has passed by. I have managed to grasp some parts of this language just a tiny wisp at a time, however I have yet to hear my mother¡¯s name so far also my father has yet to show himself. Maybe it was a result of my young age but I could quickly learn and accomplish things. It wasn¡¯t long before I became able to crawl. While I haven¡¯t learned how to read or write in this language it can understand some basic repetitive terms such as Hello, Are you Hungry?, and Good Night. Today my mother lifted my out of my cradle after witnessing my movement. I wandered around the house, never have I ever felt such happiness in being able to move. The house is huge, maybe it¡¯s just my lack of size but there¡¯s so the design seem so intricate. As I squirmed my way around the cabin I stumbled¡­crawled, into a room full of books. The lettering on the spine of the books seems so different. I noticed a book on the ground, as I tried to move towards it, I found it too troublesome and slow to crawl. So I rolled my way towards the book. ¡°???????¦Å??? ?? ?????? ??????? ???????" I was thinking to myself, ¡°Well that look like a mess, I can¡¯t make head or tails out of that.¡± Hoping for some pictures I flipped open the book. It was a lot harder then I first expected, partially due to my lack of muscle tissue and the other, well how do I say this. The book is huge, it¡¯s almost as big as I am right now. It has an old worn-out brown cover and yellow pages, showing the marks of time. As I managed to get past the first few pages of nonsensical blabber I found pictures! The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They depicted strange green creatures, almost identical to the common conception of a goblin. If they added on several fangs, white eyes, bony face with baggy skin and a face full of markings. Around its neck are several small fangs, and It has small brown cloth over its¡­ nether regions, while holding a misshaped giant stick, something that couldn''t be called a stick, but definitely not a club. Overall it would make an alligator look cute, in fact take an alligator, combine it with a tiny midget and take away the long nose, that¡¯s what this monster looked like. There were many different types of monsters in the book, there seems to be a family of sorts. Mainly they¡¯re a variation of common wildlife on earth with a few tweaks here and there, with some stereotypical game monster in there like slimes, skeletons, pig-man-bear thing and of course goblins. Many of these had variants, creatures that bared resemblance yet different in areas such as size, color, weapons, horns, scales, claws, and sometimes even alternate facial structures yet still similar. Like this picture of an ¡°orc¡± and how it¡¯s extremely close to the ¡°goblin¡±. I engrossed in the book and fascinated by the pictures and weird symbols. Suddenly I was picked up from behind and lifted up. Shocked I began to cry and my mother panicked. After my¡­ meal¡­ I realized the entire day had passed by without my noticing. I hardly flipped even a tenth of the massive book. As my mother tucked me in for the night I noticed the candles. Well this was the first time I actually registered the fact that we don¡¯t seem to have electricity. Also why was the fire green¡­ just looking at it made me feel woozy, as I drifted into sleep I made a vow to myself to learn the language and alphabet as soon as possible so I could read the book, and the other ones on the shelf! Author Note: So yeah I just wanted to start writing. So I made the first chapter. That''s about it. Why did I start writing this note again? Oh yeah, if possible suggest ways to improve and point out an errors I may have made. I kind of just sat down and starting typing. Also if you want this to continue please tell me with a comment! Edit: The next chapter will be much longer I promise XD I just had an urge to write. Chapter 2 - Riviera Another year and half has passed by uneventfully. I am now 2 years old and getting use to this new body. It feels a bit weird to be in a girl¡¯s body but it¡¯s not like it was that different from a boys until much later on. Plus I haven¡¯t really interacted with girls, or many guys either when I was still alive so being born in a girl¡¯s body, while slightly uncomfortable was workable. Going to the bathroom has yet to be a problem, since babies lack the strength to stall. They kind of just go when they please. Anyhow excluding the fact that my body was different I had also found out my brain was unique as well. Maybe not in a good way. I see these colorful lights all around me of varying shades, some stronger and deeper than others. Especially near that green candle. I swear I''ve never seen it go out yet and for some reason there are also a lot of red dots around it. It gives the light a somewhat creepy tinge but nonetheless it still relaxes me. What contradictory statements. The balls of light are¡­ the best way to describe is like the breed of tiny fairies in Zelda. Too bad I haven¡¯t been able to find any video games in this cabin. I guess that¡¯s a result of living in the woods. My mother seemed to come and go like the wind, it actually took a much longer time then it should have to notice this. I kind of just plopped myself down in the room and read books all day. Sometimes I felt as if someone was watching me¡­ but it must have just been my imagination. Most of the books comprised of legends and myths, it was a little bit hard to read some of the books but I could understand a bit. Oh yeah, my legs and waist were starting to become strong enough for me to walk on my feet! As I tried for the first time to run, I somehow tripped over nothing and started to cry. My mother seemed to appear out of thin air and she rushed to stop me from crying. ¡°Happy Birthday!¡± my mother exclaimed. Immediately curiosity washed over the slight pain in my knee. I wondered what it was. (Quick note: Character thoughts will now be like this because my sentence structure is bad.) I wonder what present a two year old gets. I remember that last time she gave me this weird necklace, I don¡¯t know why but it¡¯s relaxing, also I seemed to be able to read faster and remember more with it around. My mother quickly took out thirteen small colored books. The largest one of which was grey. I quickly understood that this was similar to an alphabet book. The seven extremely vibrant shaded books were a peaceful green, bottomless blue, pure black, bright white, scarlet red, untainted gold, and spatial silver. The different colored lights seemed attracted towards these books. I wonder what these books are about¡­ It¡¯s been another 6 months. My mother seems a little bit stressed out these days although when I look at her, she puts on a painfully fake smile. I wonder what¡¯s wrong. One particular night I walked up to her as she seemed unhappy and lost in thought. ¡°What¡¯s wrong mommy?¡± I asked in my surprisingly smooth voice, it sounded strange but soothing even to myself. Well that was unexpected. My mom looked at me in shock. Then all of a sudden she made the happiest face I¡¯ve seen on her. It was the first time I noticed how beautiful my mother looked. Her slender legs combined with her elegant figure and lightly tinged red hair made her look drop dead gorgeous. The moonlight combined with the floating spheres of light made a stunning background to accompany her. It was as if the world itself had stopped just for her. http://www.deviantart.com/art/anime-2-282499993 ¡°You¡­¡± as tear dropped down her face ¡°You finally talked! I¡¯m so happy!" As I stood there being embraced I realized that I hadn''t talked or made much noise for the past 2 and a half years. No wonder she was worried. (Average age for babies to start babbling and forming concert words like mama and papa are 9 months of age.) After that we talked for a bit. She was extremely happy that I wasn''t mute or brain damaged. As I asked her what those spheres around her are, she looked momentary surprised. Then a gentle knowing smile appeared on her unblemished face as she said ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon little one, ah! That¡¯s right do you have any other questions for me little one?¡± Naturally I had a lot so the questions started overflowing from my brain. After awhile I was too tired to continue and I started dozing off. My mother tucked me into bed but before she left I grabbed her with my tiny hand. She came back and asked ¡°What is it little one?¡± ¡°Can I¡­ can I ask you about more things tomorrow mommy?¡± ¡°Of course little one¡± she leaned in and kissed my forehead ¡°sweet dreams my little angel.¡± As the peaceful years passed by my mother explained many things about this world to me. So it turns out that large book was called ¡°Encyclopedia of Common Dungeon Monsters.¡± Oh and they were all real. I had my jaw dropped to the floor when I found out about this. My mother took me outside and showed me some of the peaceful variant creatures like horned rabbits and such. (Think Re:Monster) She also made me small coat out of rabbit fur and some blue material. It was so soft yet it kept the warmth in great. She allowed to go outside as long as I was in her sight. It was fun to explore the woods and meet the animals that lived around. It was happy and peaceful time, although the food was a bit tasteless it was nice having someone else cook a meal just for me and eating with family, something that I had never experienced before. Soon I became proficient in the language and also learn four very important facts about this world. 1. This is a different world then the one I lived in. While this does seem to be sometime in the medieval century, they have magic, monsters, and dungeons. These dungeons are a natural global phenomena that is spread across this world called Riviera. There is a core were the dungeon spawns monsters and seemly creates life. However the core itself is quite easy to find even though it can move freely throughout the dungeon as well as change size and shape. It usually exists within a select monster called the ¡°boss¡± usually the strongest and biggest of them. These monsters are generally without intelligence and follow the instructions of the dungeon core, however in some large core areas there have been magical beasts, non-humanoid creatures with similar if not greater intelligence then humans. However my mother doesn''t know much about them. There are high grade cores that have shown intelligence and are sometimes painstakingly crafted into weapons and have been shown companions to some adventurers although very rare. The problem with crafting cores is that the core needs to accept being altered. While very hard to break cores, any middle grade mystic class weapons can split it with some effort. These dungeons are chock full with elemental essence, which turns out to be the weird colorful orbs. Well not so much full as extremely high quality. ¡°Mana¡± is essentially the ability to absorb, control, and manipulate the elemental essence to do your bidding. In other words usable elemental essence. Everyone possess Mana to some degree, while the geniuses are those able to store a bit of mana. Which brings me to uses of mana in combat. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. 2. There are many different ways of fighting but the main fractions are ¡°warriors¡± and ¡°mages¡±. ¡°Warriors¡± are a wide range of fighters or basically martial art practitioners. ¡°Warriors¡± are basically anybody who fights and isn''t a mage. Rouges, Guardians, and various other ¡°classes¡± exist. While they are strong physically they lack the ability to store mana. However they can use it to enhance their body and perform some skills, generally warriors have one mana manipulation skill that is much stronger then the mages, which is the ability to perform other tasks while accessing mana. ¡°Mages¡± on the other hand are the few who can store a certain amount of mana. Due to this ability they can access their storage and perform large elemental spells without an excessively long time to process the mana. It is important to note that those who can contain mana have at least an average 100x processing speed for converting elemental essence into mana ,and some more so, then the average warriors. There are always exceptions of course. Most people have the ability to access one type of elemental essence much more strongly than others. I could understand a bit more about ¡°warriors¡± then mages since in my past life I had gathered an impudence of martial art experience. Too bad my body is still too weak. 3. Now onto the way this world¡¯s ¡°grading¡± system works. For money 100 units of the previous unit can be exchanged for one tier higher. Going from stones->coppers->silvers->gold->diamond. Stones are similar to pennies while copper dollars and so on. Diamonds are actually just coins similar in material, cost, and color to the diamond on my old world. However they are not hard and are relatively soft compared too many other metals. Now onto weapon grades. There seems to be a special weapon that is crafted as part of your soul called soul weapons. These weapons grow and become a part of you, becoming stronger as you merging with your soul, however these are extremely rare. Next are Spatial weapons, Deity, Immortal, Legacy, Legendry, Artifact, Mystic, Planteria, Ultra Rare, Rare, Uncommon, Common. Each weapon is separated into three categories, high, medium and low grade. Same for armors and, in most cases, items as well. By the way, the monster spawned in the dungeon randomly generate an item however its tier cannot be higher than the strength of the monster. Monster are separated into different tiers of strength but the majority in most dungeons consist of common, uncommon, and a few rares. Although there are many different grades of monsters my mom doesn''t know all of them as she hasn''t really bothered studying about monsters. Warriors and Mages are grouped into 1st circle and up all the way to 13 circles where they reach the pinnacle of regular power. (As in not extreme prodigies.) Ordinary people can only reach the 7th circle not matter how hard they try, talented people can reach 9th and geniuses can usually reach higher than 10th circle of power. Once they pass the 13th circle of power they reach Divinity level. While there are no doubt varying differences in these powers they are generally separated into Saints, Demi-Gods, and Deities. The former being the weakest and latter being the strongest. 4. Last but not least the world Riveria is known as the forgotten promised lands. There seems to be higher planes of existence such as gods and beings even they cannot hold a candle to and this world is filled with magic and wonders, but seemly forgotten. By the way the green candle seemed to be a normal one, however my mother casted an eternal fire spell on it so it absorbs the elemental essence around it. (No this is not normal but hey Lucy doesn¡¯t know this.) It seems like its green because of my mother¡¯s nature. Magic is influenced by one¡¯s nature and personality, some flames are blue, green, black, white, and of course red. Riveria is a world of magical beings and many marvels. There are various humanoid creatures that have intelligence such as the most famous being elves and dwarfs. While each race has its own unique traits it is possible to use magic to changes one appearance so that means next to nothing other than their potential in certain fields. This world is divided into four major lands. The Empire, the largest but least specialized nation. It¡¯s like a melting pot of varieties of people. The War Dominion which specializes in warriors and is the second largest of the four empires. The Mystic Realm consisting mainly of non-humans and is the third largest of the four empires. And then the least well known power of the Frozen Wonderland. It is the most mysterious of the four major world powers and the majority are magic users. They live in the far northen lands and while being the smallest territory due to their high number or mages their war power is not less than that of The Empire. On a side note I found out my mom¡¯s name is Felicia Fir. However I have yet to find out where or even who my father is. I am now around 6 years of age. Author Note: So I''ve tried to add spaces in between the large block texts. This was basically an introduction chapater of the world and how it works. You might recognize some of the terminology and where it comes from. Naturally there will be many things that are added to it. Sadly Lucy hasn''t had much time to express emotions so yes I know she''s a deadpan character, bear with it for a bit longer. Well this 2000+ word chapter took alot out of me so please rate comment and tell me where I can fix grammar or spelling mistakes! Riveria the Forgotten Promised Land. ****STILL IN DEVELOPMENT***** Author Note: Ok so this is not really a chapter per say, it¡¯s more of an update and expansion on how the world works. If you would rather not find out about this and experience it as our character does just skip this. However if you would like more in depth detail about this world feel free to keep reading! (So yeah Lucy knows some but not all about the world. Lucy¡¯s only source of information is from books and her mother.) Now this is the last chance to stop reading! The text will be several spaces down the line. Also I just noticed that I didn''t explain what was in the 13 books and what they even are just a description. Now it¡¯s been 4 years so he has obviously read these the explanation of what that are will occur near the bottom of the chapter/update so if you want to know what those are scroll down. The contents of this will be dungeons, monsters, variants, weapons, magic, the world, the 4 factions, bloodlines, classes, soul weapons, and many other things that pop in my head. NOW OK SHOUTOUT TO Flammable for telling me how confusing and generic the four major lands were. I will explain more about them here. So thanks bro! (P.S. this does influence the story a bit, but nothing will come up relating to 3 of the 4 fractions for quite some time.) Let¡¯s start by clarifying some facts. No the entire world is not split into these fractions. Riveria is spilt into several different continents, some in the sky, some underground, in the sea and some both deeper and higher then said places. This continent that Lucy is living on has split into four major powers. (There are smaller ones) The largest one is that of The Empire, located in the south it is the largest and most diverse faction. While it¡¯s military is counted among the largest even among all of Riveria, the fact is there are few ¡°elites¡±. It¡¯s basically a country for refugees and is a big blending mix of people. (Think Canada/U.S.A. but China population size)Traders like this place the most and it has one of the largest trading stations in the entire world! All the intelligent races are welcome here however it is also one of the largest capitals for the trading of slaves. But I digress that¡¯s something that¡¯s not relevant at this point in the story. The Empire is the oldest and largest of all the four powers on this continent which I will name sooner or later :3 It hold several noble families but the ancient nobles hold great power both in court and on the battlefield. It is ruled by the Emperor a man of considerable leadership, honor, and strength however he is old and the price is cocky, rude and brash. It is a green, hot, and lively place with many places to farm and a few deserts here and there. It¡¯s population is not specialized in any military source. It is also the vaguest powerhouse as due to its sheer size many things are still unknown to be fact or fiction. Like how it has an underground dungeon nearing the pits of hell or contains secrets on how to ascend to the other planes. But it is known that it hoists the Scholarship, the world¡¯s best place to well.. Learn about history, world, and magic and well just about anything you can think of. While not being the best in any specific area it has one of largest databases and collections of books anywhere in the entire world and has the most variety of paths to go down on. Now for the The War Dominion located on the west side of Riveria. It is mainly covered in vast amounts of sand, however there are¡­ sphere pyramids? I can¡¯t find a way to describe what I¡¯m thinking that well but it¡¯s essentially a dome made out of rock and sand. Due the harsh climate and the various beasts that live there the people have been born with a stronger body than most. There are many small and exotic tribes that live in this dominion including the beast-man, the millennium, dwarves and desert elves. Many of the monster and dungeons here have also adapted forming poisonous scorpions, sand goblins, (light brown goblins with a mask over their mouth to help breathe and conceal themselves into the sand) Burrowers, and a few other surprises hidden deep in the sand. Also there is an area called the Sarlacc pit, (While named after the place from starwars no it is not a giant hole in the ground) which contains the majority of the monsters that exist in the desert including sand-sharks and various other hidden creatures. There are two beliefs about the Sarlacc pit, one is that there are several high level dungeon cores around the area and this is what has created the dangerous chaotic zone known as the Sarlacc. Or there is exactly one extremely large core whose power is unrivaled within the War Dominion. While it is a desert area it has a high supply of water but since the monsters also need water to survive often times these areas are fought over and claimed by small or large clans. Every year a competition is held at Killing Prairie. Here every tribe sends there strongest three compotators to compete for the title of king and queen of the War Dominon. Outsiders are allowed to participate however a special magic is cast upon you before the fight so that anything related to magic is temporarily shut down and a giant fist fight ensures. Only with weapons and no cover. As such even though many of the other fractions enter they are unable to adapt to the heat and killing intent. (It helps that most times outsiders are immediately ganged up on and beaten to death) Non-Natives must find a native clan to sponsor them or defeat and collect at least five tags given to the strongest 100 members of The War Dominion not including its king or queen. Also one cannot be under the age of 30 before receiving this tag. The dungeons located here are mainly underground and the average solider is a 4th circle warrior with the elites being comprised of 7th circle practitioners or higher. As previously stated the powerhouse in this continent is comprised mainly of warriors with a sky high ratio of warriors to mages. As such it holds the Warfare Faculty the continents best place to learn the art of war. How to most effectively break bones, physically torture and break the human spirit as well as many advanced courses in the art of weapon and bare handed combat. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Next is the The Mystic Realm located in the east. It is surrounded by mountains and forests of varying age and sizes. The smallest mountain would be the size of mt.kilimanjaro which stands at around 5800 ft above sea level. Now of course not that many people live near the top but there are many caves within these mountain ranges and the beings that live there have much high stamina and better eyesight then the rest of the continent. Mainly dwarves live here although there are small pockets of other creatures lurking in the mountains. There have been rumors of how the twenty largest mountains house an ancient dragon within. It should be noted that while dragons are rare, ancient dragons have many more advantages. Slaying one would grant the slayer the dragons knowledge, vast wealth, power, and life-force. However the location of these dragons are scare and they may lurk elsewhere. Within the forest of the Mystic Realm many fractions exist and are isolated from one another by means of a magical barrier. The largest city and acting spokesman errr spokepeoples of the Mystic Realm is the Elf Queen and the Dwarf King, and no they are not married. Not much will be told about this as this realm has very few humans, and the ones that do go in never come out. As such not much information will be given about this fraction. However it is known that those who have extremely good marksman skills may be invited to join the Hawkeye Institute which boasts the continents best place to learn how to fire, and operate ranged weapons. The Frozen Wonderland while on paper has the smallest territory of all four major powers, no one actually knows the full extent of their reach north. It is known that the undead inhabit the far north and many ancient colossal creatures have been found frozen inside the Frozen Wonderland. All that is known is that all who live and are born here have the ability to store mana as it is one of the basic requirements for survival in such a harsh climates. All the newborns without this ability soon die off. It is truly a dog eat dog world up there and not much will be revealed about this. However this fraction has the least strict rules and no known ruler, however the spokesperson for this is the head of the Glacial Academy, the world¡¯s best mage institute. As said not this is the mysterious of the four fractions however due to the academies famous graduates it is known to be the best place if you are pursuing a career in magic. PHEWWWWWWWW ok that was hard. I¡¯m going to add more on it later but I felt like posting today as I may not have time to type more tomorrow. Homework OP. Hope this clears up some misconfusion and don''t use Brain Bleach kids it''s bad! Chapter 3 - Burning Winter. After these past four years I¡¯ve also read the majority of the books and have started wandering the house. I was intrigued at the intricate designs and found various trap doors and hidden rooms. The books that she gave me explained the basics of each magic and the various branches that they extended into. For instance a different more advance branch of water magic is ice magic, and another example is how lighting is a more advanced application of air magic. I was eager to start learning at two years of age. Unfortunately my mother said that I needed be older before she could teach me magic. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°I pouted, eager to learn something that seemed so limitless, new, and exciting. She explained to me that although someone¡¯s set of mana and the amount they can use and store is pre-determined by birth, it takes many years of training to tap into that ability and requires your body to mature to a certain rate. Due to the fact that your body is directly co-aligned to how much of your natural ability one can draw out, I started training at a very early age and have started to improve dramatically since the crawling days. Obviously it was a bit weird to be doing training meant for a male¡¯s body but it was much easier to improve then I had first anticipated, in fact it was much quicker as well. It took until my fifth birthday that my mother reckoned I was ready to learn how to manipulate elemental essence. By then I had trained my body for three years with a mix of push-ups, pull ups, climbing, and running to build up my body strength and a blend of Maui Thai, tai chi, and judo on a wooden practice dummy that my mother made. I was elated to finally learn about magic. While there were many different wondrous things about this world, the stories and tales about magic in my former world were so¡­ magical. ¡°Tell me little one, which colors orbs do you see around the air?¡± ¡°I see¡­ blue and red orbs the most.¡± I squinted, ¡±some gray and transparent ones too, but they are very faint.¡± My mother seemed very surprised and slightly excited over the fact. ¡°Can you show me some magic mom?¡± I pleaded¡­. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felicia POV (Mom) My daughter was born prematurely. Thankfully my little angel was delivered safe and sound. I needed somewhere to hide her until she woke up so against my better judgment I decided to sneak into the church and drop her off. I was exhausted from child birth and unfortunately fell asleep in the church. I awoke to the sound of something crying. I looked around still a bit dazed and saw my little angel. I felt joy washing over my exhaustion and swiftly lifted her up and instinctively named her Lucy. Lucy Fir, my daughter. I quickly gathered myself and fled the church with Lucy. We arrived at the cabin after I had allowed access to all of my kin. She was a quiet one, only crying when she was hungry or hurt. I always thought that it would be a lot harder to take care of a child. When she finally learned to crawl I was overjoyed. After she found her way into my study I was surprised to find that my daughter was flipping over a book. Seemly looking for pictures I smiled as I watched her through a small crack in the doorway. Soon it became her usual zone. I could almost always find her sitting there small hands struggling to lift the heavy book, feeling the urge to help but never doing so in the end. Many years passed by as I went outsides to lure my pursuers after me, hoping to keep this place a secret even if a bit longer. I traveled to nearby cities showing glimpses of myself before rushing back home to my baby, hoping that one day she would talk. It read somewhere that babies are usual talkative before a year. It¡¯s been two and half years since I¡¯ve heard sound coming from Lucy, she just sits there and flips through books. At the start she would still cry when she was hungry but soon that stopped too, she just came and tugged on skirt making the most adorable eyes towards me. This was the only signal she was hungry, besides her growling stomach. I sat there thinking long and hard about why she seemed mute, as I was deep in thought Lucy came up to me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong mommy?¡± An angelic voice came out of nowhere, shocked I lost my train of thought and looked for the source of the sound. As I realized that it came from Lucy tears started gathering and words started to overflow, ¡°You¡­¡± as tears dropped down my face ¡°You finally talked! I¡¯m so happy!" It seemed as if a dam broke loose, Lucy kept on asking so many questions. I answered them to the best of my knowledge and ability. Soon I took to calling her little one; she showed a strange face whenever I called her Lucy. As I tucked her in and was about to leave, her tiny hand grabbed mine. I promised her to answer all her questions and smiled as she fell asleep with a peaceful smile. I made an oath to myself to spend more time at home with my daughter, and to protect her from anything that might harm her. Over the course of several years I taught Lucy about this world. How dungeons contained monsters to the classifying system of money. I also told her about the four neutral empires and the best public schools in them. I did not tell her about all the secret powers or organizations that existed and merely explained about the four safer empires, the ones that I will most likely escape to with her. As I spun tales of magic and adventure one day she asked me to teach her magic. This surprised me as it took me until my teenage years to develop an interest in magic. I explained patiently to her that you needed to wait until your body was ready to hold and develop mana. As her sixth birthday drew by she got increasingly more and more excited about the prospect of learning magic. It was so cute to watch her. I found myself shocked at the fact that my daughter possessed affinity towards not two, but three elements. Even more so she had the rare natural gift of being able to use two opposing elements, water and fire. ¡°Can you show me some magic mom?¡± she pleaded. Unable to refuse her adoring eyes I decided to show off a bit. My strongest attribute was fire, I created multi colored balls of fire forming a rainbow pattern, after some effort I also manipulated to the elemental essence to create a mini firework show. Her eyes were glowing and filled with astonishment and wonder at my skills and I felt pride rush into me. I taught her everything I knew about fire magic and the basics of wind, unfortunately I had no experience in the field of water magic but I gave her details on some of the basic ice spells. Before I knew it, my daughter somehow managed to skip the basics of water magic and go straight into the more advanced branch of ice magic. I felt so proud of her and wished these peaceful happy days would last forever. Alas that was not to be. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucy POV Mom¡¯s display of magic was incredible; it was a wonderful awe inspiring display of fire magic. I knew now how impressive it was to be able to manipulate magic to such an extent being able to change the colors of fire and explode it into tiny pieces required a very high level of elemental manipulation. Thanks to that I had a strong urge to learn to become as strong as my mom one day and managed to grasp the way to manipulate the elements rather fast. I suppose reading all the books on the basics of elemental magic was useful After I had mastered the basic my mother taught me more advanced fire magic and soon I became proficient in the art. I kept training my body and reading in the morning and spent time with my mother learning magic in the afternoon. Four years passed by slowly like this. As I reached my tenth birthday I looked back on my time in my past life and the one I now live in Riveria. I enjoyed the feeling of having a family and found myself enjoying the company of animals. It was something that I never got to do as a child or adult in my former life. During my eighth birthday as I wandered around the woods I found a pattered egg within the bushes. After taking it back to my mom I was shocked to find that it was a magical beast¡¯s egg. My mom suggested to take care of it as it was close to hatching. When the strange patterns are all over the egg, the baby is about to be born she explained. It was also most likely going to be a winged beast. On my ninth birthday I found out more things about my mom. How she was scared of calling me Lucy because of the strange faces I made when hearing the name. As I assured her that it was the not the case and I loved my*grimace* name. We became closer on that day and I also learned something very important. My mom can¡¯t cook. After tasting the fresh fruit she bought, sadly it tasted better then anything she has ever cooked for me, although it was filled with love, it was still bland and tasteless. Not bad by any standards just lack of taste. It was on this day that I started learning how to cook. Or more accurately the day I started taking an interest in this world¡¯s ingredients and applying my pervious knowledge. Today was also the day that the egg finally hatched. I watched transfixed as the black markings started swirling and covering every inch of the white egg, they rotated and spun furiously showing different shades of black and the patterns within. (Not sure how that¡¯s possible but ok.) This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Eventually the spinning inscriptions stopped and a small crack appeared in the now pitch black egg. A tiny white talon appeared and broke its way out. As it shattered the surrounding egg shell I saw a small white¡­ dragon? Yes it was a dragon, a pure white tiny baby dragon. As it opened it¡¯s eyes slowly I was greeted with clear electric blue eyes. ¡°Apa!¡± The small creature left out a small sound and trembled. Did it¡­ have hiccups!? No it was just breathing fire.... Oh crap. As I panicked my mom quickly took control of the situation and doused the flame. She once again looked surprised. ¡°What¡¯s wrong mother?¡± ¡°Nothing Lucy just that¡­ Well¡­ ...dragons are extremely powerful magical creatures and intelligent. Even the weakest white dragon will be comparable to a 3 circle mage and warrior. However¡­ they tend to imprint on the first thing they see, thinking it¡¯s their mother. As such dragon eggs are closely guarded by their parents¡­ In other words Lucy, you¡¯re now her mother.¡± WTF! OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK so I just got socked in the face with the fact I became a mother¡­ just as I turned nine¡­. Well at least the dragon is cute. I sighed, thinking about how to take care of the dragon it surely wasn¡¯t going to be easy. But then again we couldn¡¯t abandon the adorable little bugger so my mom and I took he/her home with us. After researching slightly about dragons once we got back, I found that the white dragon was the weakest dragon at birth, and only slightly above average potential for dragons. Also that HE was a male. Despite the lack of genitals, he had the small markings on his forehead of a male. However the marking were different as were the color of his scales. They were a tad bit different from normal white dragons. The baby dragon scooched up to me and looked up with his clear blue eyes. On impulse I started stroking his head, finding it much more smooth and pleasant than expected. He closed his eyes and I swear, I could almost hear purrs coming from him. ¡°What should I call you? How about Alpha?¡± "Al?" ¡°Alpha¡± ¡°Al-ha¡± ¡°Al-pha¡± ¡°Al-fa¡± Close enough I guess. I spent a year with Alpha and he was really attached to me. I enjoyed the company but his presence seemed to scare away all the other forest animals. I learned that he can glide for a short period of time and he eats a lot, and I mean a lot, of meat. This caused my mother to go out and¡­ acquire (kill, bought? I dunno.) large portions of meat. This helped me increase my cooking skill and soon I took over the kitchen. My mom was worried at first but accepted it as my skills increased. Also a lack of cutting myself with a knife probably helped. While continuing my training I soon became much stronger than anyone else my age. At least I hoped so or everyone in this world is going to be able to kick my ass. I experimented with many herbs and spices and found a batch of berries looked blue, but tasted like strawberries. After some tests I managed to create a batch of strawberry flavored shaved ice. On the morning of my tenth birthday I woke mom up and served her my masterpiece. Strawberry shaved ice... She started crying. Panicked I had no idea what I did wrong. I could piece together¡­. Something about¡­ my father? Alpha seemed to sense my emotions as he too began move in an irregular and quite funny way. I stifled a laugh along with my mom. The atmosphere became a bit better after that as she got up and explained. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lucy it just tastes so similar to what your father used to make.¡± ¡°What happened to my father mom?¡± Showing a pained expression on her face my mother began ¡°Well you see your father is¡­¡­¡± BOOM My mom¡¯s head instantly snapped up. She wiped her tears and closed her eyes. I could see the red orbs going into her at a furious rate. All of a sudden she got up. She grabbed me and told me to get everything I valued quickly. I felt her shaking hand on my shoulders and instantly ran off into my room to get everything I needed. I took all of the birthday gifts my mother got me as well as a few books. I stuffed it all into a bag and ran back to my mother. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felicia POV (Mom) My daughter woke me up today. The past four years have been so peaceful and relaxing, although it got slightly more chaotic when that little baby dragon appeared. I watched them jump around and play in the woods and naturally smiled at the expressions on their faces. I felt worried at first about how the dragon would treat Lucy but they soon became close, like friends and family. As I rubbed my eyes, I awoke to a cold feeling on my cheeks. Lucy handed to me a bowl of¡­ shaved ice? Trembling I took the bowl and tried a bite of the cold refreshing ice. It was slightly sweet, an old nostalgic flavor¡­ As I remembered him tears naturally came back to my eyes. My daughter seemed panicked, trying to gather myself I laughed at how Alpha was moving. That helped ease the tension and relieve me of some stress. I was going to explain to Lucy about our heritage today, about the special blood that runs in our veins. As I was about to talk to her about her father a large explosion was heard as I felt my barrier being broken. I quickly gathered my mana and tried to reinforce and fix the barrier but it was too late, I could only slow it¡¯s destruction. ¡°Get everything pervious and dear to you Lucy. HURRY!¡± Without waiting for her response I ran into my study and grabbed the two birthday gifts for Lucy. There was a small leather book and a container filled with black liquid. I quickly snatched the presents off of my desk and unlocked a secret switch. The wall shifted and for the first time in a decade I once again donned my battle equipment. Lucy swiftly gathered everything and arrived next to me with a small brown bag in hand. I told her to take Alpha and keep on heading towards the tunnel. I also told her that I needed to stop someone and would meet up with her later. ¡°Head to -------------- school¡± My voice was overpowered by a large blast. ¡°RUN LUCY RUN! DON''T LOOK BACK JUST KEEP GOING!" After pushing her into the trapdoor I didn''t even have enough time to say goodbye as I locked the door shut preparing for battle. ¡°HAHAHAHA WE FINALLY MEET CRIMSON WITCH¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucy POV I was pushed into the trap door by my mom. After pounding at the door and getting no response I had to follow what my mother said and take the trap door¡­ It was a long tunnel and lead to a nearby hill. I knew as I had long found and explored it. It contained a magnificent view of our little cabin and the nearby woods. The entrance or exit was nearly hidden by large boulders. Crying and confused I ran as fast as I could outside. I tripped over a small rock and landed on my face. After the face plant it was a bit harder to get up, I think I fractured my leg. Thankfully Alpha was there and hovered under my arm and supported my way out. The speed I was going at decreased dramatically as I slowly wobbled my way outside. When I finally got out, the sight that greeted me was devastating. ¡°No¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­¡± I collapsed to the ground as my conscious flew away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sight clearly conflicted with nature. In the dead of winter within the snow covered woods, the cabin was burning with a deep blood red. It had gone up in smoke and quickly spread to the trees like wildfire. Except this one was a magical everlasting flame. The animals fled from their homes and a loud maniacal laughter could be heard over the crackling inferno¡­. Author note: Sorry about how long this took. Some things came up. There might not be any updates for quite some time as spring break is coming up! Anyhow I hope you enjoy this 3000+ chapter, things are starting to ¡°heat¡± up. Hope you enjoy and don¡¯t forget to comment on what I did wrong! Hope you enjoy the new format! Now tell me, (Since I have no clue how to make a poll) Where of the four introduced empires would you like Lucy to end up in first? Comment below and I''ll quickly count all the people who cared and that''s where she''ll head first. Chapter 4 - The Letter. Ugh¡­ What happened? Feeling groggy I slowly got up. Looking around I saw Alpha lying there sleeping peacefully. As I slowly started to recall what happened I nearly fell down from shock. ..Why must something like this happen again? Attempting to shrug off the lingering emotions of dread and fear I scanned my surroundings. Everything seemed back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. I could almost believe it was all just a horrible nightmare¡­ ¡­.If not for black ashes of my home. My mind overcame the initial shock, as well as denial as countless thoughts and questions came pouring in. What happened? What happened to mom? Who would do this, why would they do this? Was there something I could have done? Is mom still alive? Does the world just hate my very existence? The never ending stream of question came to a stop suddenly. Wait.. Where did¡­ where did mom say to go again? I couldn¡¯t remember where my mom told me to go. Thinking logically on it I suppose my mom would¡¯ve told me to go head up north. After all she was a skilled mage, it seemed like the obvious choice¡­ But what if¡­ My train of thinking came to sudden halt as I heard a noise. ¡°Rawr?¡± Having just woke up, a dazed Alpha looked at me with narrowly opened eyes. He then tilted his head to the side as if asking, what¡¯s up? And then a bird overhead dropped a load on him. I felt an urge to laugh rise up. I tried to keep it from coming out. I couldn¡¯t. Bursting into laughter at how silly he looked as well as the uncanny resemblance to a cat as well as how ridiculous he looked, I let go of all my worries and just let loose a loud happy laugh. After my fit of laughter subsided I still couldn¡¯t help but giggle thinking back of the situation. Alpha had received a shock from the unexpected noise and jumped nearly 3 feet into the air. However he still wasn¡¯t fully awake as he face planted onto the grass. As he slowly realized about the stain on him his facial expression went from sleepy to angry. My laughter just grew louder as Alpha tried to scare the birds away. After I had finally calmed down and managed to stop any giggles from escaping me I found that my mind had been cleared from the fog of confusion and worry that previously engulfed my thoughts. Forming a solid resolve I decided to head north and find my mom. She always told me how safe the four academies were, following that idea I assumed that I was to stay there until either I was strong enough or she came along to pick me up. I grabbed my bag and looked to see if I had enough to make the journey north. Inside the bag I found a change of clothes, my pervious birthday present, some books and spare change. I also found two things that I didn¡¯t remember being there. A small vial of black liquid and a leather bound book. As I opened the leather book an envelope fell out. I picked the envelope up and quickly opened it. Finding inside a letter from my mother. Dear Lucy, my little angel. I don¡¯t know when you¡¯ll be reading this, or if I¡¯ll be by your side. Never the less there are some things I hope to tell you within this letter, about me, your father, and about you. Firstly, about your, no, our heritage. We came from one of the ancient bloodlines known as the witches. This gives us an advantage in both the world of magic and weapons. Our physical and magical potential as well as strength are far beyond that of regular people. Even the weakest witch would be considered a top class genius by many. However this unique bloodline is only inherited by the female descendants of our clan. This talent will be awakened a day or two after your 15th birthday. You will gain the power to sense the elements more clearly than ever before, an increased mana pool, increased physical skills and be able to talk and communicate with magical creatures. Before this happens you will undergo an awakening. You will be visited by the elements themselves as you choose a path to go down. Be careful of your choice Lucy. You bear the strongest affinity towards the water element. However you also bare similar gifts towards that of the fire and wind elements. White hair and clear eyes represent a witch that has not yet been awakened. After you have selected a path to go down on, your hair and eyes will have colors that reflect that. Before this do not enter any of the academies. It¡¯ll be hard to explain why your hair and eye color changed. Do not reveal any information of this to anyone except the headmaster of the academy. Your father is the greatest ice mage in the history of magic. (Section afterwards is crossed over so many times that it is unreadable.) I have decided to tell you about me and your father in person. No matter how many years it may take for us to see each other again. Your father and I are extremely powerful and we have made many enemies, because of this we may be separated for quite some times. The book and vial that are to be given with this letter each contain their own purpose. The book teaches you very high level spells that I and your father have personally developed for both fire and ice. We have written it in a special ink that restricts those with a lack of power and heritage to be able to read the book, it will just appear as meaningless gibberish to others, and if you lack the ability to execute the spells. The black liquid is a special substance. Only drink it if your life is in danger. Lucy¡­. In my eyes there is no one like you in the world. I can¡¯t wait to see what you¡¯ll become, and I hope I¡¯ll be by your side throughout everything. My pride and joy, I love you my daughter. Once again, I broke down crying. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took a while but (Author Note: YES IT DID) I decided to go and head towards the northern academy, Winter Wonderland. Their library has intensive knowledge that eclipses what was in my¡­ former home. Holding back a tear, I gathered myself and my thoughts went back on track. Perhaps I can learn more about my lineage, and through that about my mother. With that thought in mind I grabbed Alpha and started walking north¡­. When passing through a large jungle I heard a scream as birds started fleeing. I quickly ran over to the source while Alpha trailed behind. I saw a large black beast who had managed to corner a tiny figure. I quickly casted a small crowd control spell to root it in place. I then made a small ice dagger and jumped towards the animal. The beast noticed my presence and growled however it found itself struggling to move with its paws lightly stuck to the ground with ice. It broke the ice vines apart easily but that moment was all that I needed. I went straight for the eyes and clawed one out. The beast howled in pain and fury and threw me off with a shake of its head. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Shit, I underestimated it The beast prepared to pounce at me when Alpha came out of nowhere. Growling he flew straight into the stomach of the beast and opened his mouth. I looked on, horrified at what might happen to the only family member I had left. However I was underestimating the power of magical beasts in general. Alpha had cleanly ripped open the stomach with his powerful jaws. In the distance I could hear frantic cries of ¡°Young Miss! Where are you?!¡± Curious, I had my first clear look at who I saved, a small girl petite and as beautiful as a doll was lying frightened with her back against a tree. ¡°Ah¡­ Hello there.¡± An awkward silence hang in the air as I thought on what else to say. ¡°Th.. Thank you¡­.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡­¡± This uncomfortable silence continued unbothered until we heard rustling noise near us. A middle-aged knight suddenly appeared with a pale face and ragged breathing. That pale face quickly turned red. ¡°MISS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO NOT LEAVE OUR SIDE!!!! YOU COULD¡¯VE BEEN EATEN BY A WILD BEAST!? WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING!?!?¡± As the little girl got scolded I just stood awkwardly to the side as I watched on. The sun had nearly set when the knight had finally calmed down. Around twelve more had appeared, but like me, had no idea where to interrupt. Finally the badgering had stopped. Ugh¡­ my ears hurt¡­ I managed to gleam some facts throughout the lecture. The girl¡¯s name was Cynthia, and she was the daughter of the high ranking noble. She pranked her guards daily but this time it had gone out of control. While they were traveling on the way back home from visiting her grandmother she had slipped out of the carriage unnoticed and waited to see how long it would take until they realized she was gone. She had gotten chased by the beast sometime during this and had ran away until I met her. Her guards had noticed a few minutes after she disappeared but by that time she was already running for her life. Afterwards the leader of the groups thanked me for saving their young miss and invited me back to their residence saying that their lord and his wife would be extremely grateful to me for saving their daughter. Since I had no idea where I was, I gratefully accepted the offer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cynthia¡¯s Dad (POV) It had been some months since I and my wife had seen our daughter and we were eagerly awaiting her arrival. It was getting late and there were still no signs of the carriage. When they finally arrived my wife and I had started hearing worry knock on the door. I quickly rushed out to greet my little angel, but at first glance I could tell something happened. Her guards were all muddy and showed signs of weariness. ¡°What happened here?¡± Marcus, the captain of the guards updated me on the situation. I rushed towards the carriage to see if my daughter was alright. She was. I let out a breath that I didn¡¯t know I was holding in. I also saw another child next to her with crystal clear eyes and pure white hair holding a small white dragon. Throughout the months after our daughter came back safely we became well acquainted with her savior, he was a smart one and spent most of his time in the library. He said his name was Luke and never mentioned his family name, of course I did not pry into his own personal matter, nor why he was alone. I was just simply happy that our daughter had come back safely. Cynthia became attached to Luke and wouldn¡¯t let him go so we invited him to stay awhile with us, after all our house was more than big enough. That little dragon of his¡­ I wonder¡­ Well, after a few months Luke suddenly vanished. Lucy (POV) A.K.A. Luke. I, along with Alpha after a few comfortable months with the Aerial family. Alpha ate more than ten times his own mass, where does he put it all¡­ Well I learned a lot about the magic school and studied on other things within the lord¡¯s study. I decided to resume my journey after a while, I bought some provisions and left. (Wow¡­. Uhhh cold much.) We stumbled upon a small village after a few weeks of walking. By this point our provisions had already run very low with a glutton like Alpha. I starred at Alpha as he tilted his head and looked at me with wide eyes. I swear¡­ you know exactly what you¡¯ve done. After silently fuming about Alpha and his bottomless stomach I walked towards the village as I heard a scream echo out. That¡­ Was a girl¡¯s scream! I beckoned Alpha to follow me as I quickly sprinted towards the source of the noise. However sadly I was too late. What I saw overwhelmed all the happy memories that I¡¯ve managed to make so far. It just reminded me of the cruelty of humans and the horrifying depths that they reach. (THIS WILL BE A SOMEWHAT GROTSQUE DESCRIPTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) I saw a small young child who had not yet hit puberty. Her face was mangled to the point where you couldn¡¯t tell if it was a boy or a girl. There was long deep gash across both her eyelids rendering her blind, her throat had been crushed inwards while her toes had been cut to the bone, but not yet severed holding together just by a tinge of flesh. All of the once beautiful hair had been pulled out by their roots leaving nothing left to cover the horrible scene on her scalp. Her limbs were all bent at strange angles with bumps showing from the skin. WHAT KIND OF MONSTER COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!? I turned away and nearly threw up when I a heard a soft rasped sound. ¡°Ple¡­ please¡­ som¡­. Someone¡­ ki¡­ kill me¡­¡± I looked back with tears falling from my eyes. While I had learned the basics of healing magic I could not begin to treat such a horrible wound. I doubt anyone could have. After sealing away my emotions and locking my heart I granted her final wish. Author Note: Yeah it¡¯s been a long overdue chapter. Sorry some stuff came up IRL these issues are still ongoing but I finished most of this before a certain accident happened in my life. Trying to reorganize everything and my schedules been a bit messed up to say the least. Sorry about this, I managed to finish up this chapter. Hope you enjoy and leave a comment! It¡¯s what¡¯s encouraged me to not just give up on it! P.S. Uhh the scene with Cynthia was a bit rushed to say the least, I stopped there and lost my train of thought over the past few months. Sorry about that guys.