The Six Orphans

-Somewhere in the countryside of Switzerland-

A small town could be seen emitting a subtle sense of serenity around it, with its townsfolk doing about their daily jobs living a carefree life. Striking mountains and sterile lakes occupy one corner of the town border showcasing its natural beauty.

In the middle of town, a conspicuous residential institution stands at two-storey tall. A sign is nailed to the front of the building labelled, "Rainbow Orphanage". Children between the age of 5-10 are seen playing around in the playground with their laughter ringing in the vicinity.

On the second floor of the orphanage, a boy about the age of 15 is seen walking towards his designated room. Standing right before the door, his ears perked up and he could hear some shuffling behind the door.

'These guys...are so stupid'

The boy sniggered in his thoughts as he slowly opened the door. He could see a rusty metal bucket placed on top of the door with a rope attached to it. Aware of the bucket on top of him, he pretended that he was unaware of it and walked right under it.

"HAHA! GOTCHAA!"

The boy saw someone pull the rope, toppling the bucket and as if he already rehearsed it, he quickly side-stepped and escaped getting drenched. He smirked looking at the three boys in the room fail with their prank.

"Aww man, not again. How do you always know, Asif?! " One of the three boys exclaimed in annoyance.

Asif or Asif Vizier, the third eldest of the six oldest orphans living in the orphanage. He is creative and smart, but can also be violent and a bit grumpy. He has a black bowl cut adorned on his head with his black eyes twinkling with a crafty look. Physically, he has a fine build for his age with beige skin and a cheeky tiny scar on his cheek.

"Algo, Ash. Are you two in on with his stupid antics?" Asif questioned the other two boys.

"You think I'd join in with his prank?" Algo responded while shoving a potato ball into his mouth. Algo or Algo Killian, the eldest of the six by 2 months, is remarkably friendly and extremely lazy and a bit impatient. He has short black hair, ebony eyes with walnut skin. His enormous love for food has gained him a chubby build. He and Asif share the same height which is pretty average for their age.

"My bad. I forget you're always busy with food."

Algo nodded with his mouth stuffed full. Asif then turned towards Ash with a raised eyebrow and awaited his response.

"Hehe..." Ash with his right hand behind his head, lightly giggled.

Ash or Ash Frudae, the second eldest of the six, is energetic and considerate when the time comes but is extremely shy to strangers apart from his best friends. He has long charcoal hair covering his forehead, bronze eyes with a tanned skin. He is slightly taller than both Algo and Asif by two inches, and he has a fine build with potential to be ripped.

*Sigh*

"From the stupid prank, I knew it was you two behind this." Asif sighed while shaking his head.

"Fuck you too, and did you really think I'd concoct the same shit again?" Ray smirked with an evil look on his face.

Ray or Ray Angelo, the youngest of the six, is awfully mischievous and cares about his best friends a lot. He is slightly shy to strangers and his trust is hard to earn. He has unkempt curly brown hair with loose strings of hair sliding down his forehead, his eyes embellished with a hazel tone and a fair skin. He is slightly shorter than Asif and Algo by one inch, he has a slender figure with an average build.

"Huh?" Asif was taken aback and saw Ray staring behind him.

Behind him were two boys standing side by side with a big bucket of water held between them. One of the two is very tall for his age and the other having the same height of Ray.

The shorter one is Nahra Horace, the fifth eldest of the six, is stoic and very adventurous. He has medium hair combed neatly, deep obsidian black eyes with a dark chestnut skin. He stands with a big frame and a hefty body.

The taller one is Bryan Pine, the fourth eldest of the six, is bold and playful. He has short messy brown hair with a light brow hue in his eyes and a cool sandy skin tone. He stands tall at 6 foot with a fine build exuding an impish quality.

Asif turned his head around and saw Bryan and Nahra standing with a big bucket of water. They are close to each other, closing off any kind of escape for Asif.

"Oh fuck me..."

"Drink this bitch!" Bryan exclaimed. Both Bryan and Nahra gave a low shout before thrusting the bucket of water at Asif.

*Splash*

""HAHAHAHAHA!""

The five laughed loudly and giggled at Asif who is currently drenched in water.

"Call me stupid but we got you good! HAHAHA...HA....HA...." Ray pointed at Asif but then he saw him slowly turn his face back and Ray he knew he was about to get beat up.

*Drip drip*

"H-Hey Asif, let's talk about this, it was just a harmless prank. Hehe.."

*Drip drip*

Asif slowly walked towards Ray ignoring the rest because he knew it was him who thought of the stupid prank.

"Guys, will ya help me here?" Ray sent a pleading look to the other four for help.

"You're on your own, Ray." Nahra responded helplessly.

"I'll pray for you, don't worry." Algo closed his palms and prayed.

"Why don't ya fight him back?" Ash advised him.

"Are you stupid?!" Ray shot him a stupid look. They all huddled up together and scooted away to a corner.

*Drip drip*

The sound of the water dripping got exceptionally close which sounded like a ticking bomb in Ray's ears. Asif was about to close in on Ray and give the worst beating of his life when he heard a gentle throaty cough, interrupting the attention of the six.

A middle aged man stood at the door with his hands behind his back. A kind gentle look plastered his face as he looked on at the six boys in the room.

"Sup, Old man Reid" Bryan greeted him along with the rest of the six.

The middle aged man is the manager of the Rainbow Orphanage, Waylon Reid, who took in the six boys into the orphanage when they were abandoned.

"Now now, Ray is the youngest, so take it easy on him, Asif." A deep amiable voice emanated from his mouth. Asif looked at the man he respected and then harrumphed at Ray before turning his head away.

"And Ray, you should stop with the pranks and help your brothers with the chores."

"Aye aye, old man." Ray playfully smiled with a mock salute.

'This kid..' Waylon shook his head.

"Alright kids, I've come here to notify you something. It's something very important related to your lives. Before I tell you, clean up, eat dinner and meet me at my office after. Don't be late!" Waylon instructed the six.

"Something important..?" Ash muttered and the rest had looks of confusion on their faces.

"And I expect everyone to come." Waylon said this mainly at Algo since this kid was lazy and disliked meetings.

"Yes yes, I'll come this time, old man." Algo responded rather lazily.

"Who knows, after you come for the meeting, maybe you'll stop being lazy." Waylon grinned mysteriously.

"Pffft! Yeah, right. What a joke!" Rey snorted.

"Hmph!" Algo resumed his eating. Soon, the "old man" left everyone to clean up and get ready for the meeting tonight.

"I wonder what he has to say." Nahra spoke.

"There's no point in thinking about this." Asif replied.

"Asif's right, we'll find out later tonight. Come on, let's get ready." Bryan said. They all nodded with confirmation. Ray thought he could quietly sneak out of the room but he was caught by Asif.

"You thought I'd forget about you?" Asif smirked evilly.

"A-Asif, mercy please?" Ray shuddered and pleaded.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

-A few hours later-

Waylon Reid is seen sitting in his office waiting for the six kids to come over. The office gives off a distinct otherworldly vibe permeating a sense of calm and serenity.

*Sigh*

"It's time, huh." Waylon could be seen holding exactly six documents. Waylon sighed and prayed in his heart for the kids. He could hear someone knock on the office door. He put away the documents and a look of determination flashed his eyes.

"Come in."

One by one, the six entered the office and stood behind the desk waiting for Old man Waylon to start.

"I know you kids are wondering what I'm about to say. But before I start, what do you kids know about magical powers?"

"Wtf are you on, old man?" Ray questioned seriously.

"Are you gonna tell us a story?" Algo asked.

*Cough cough*

"Alright alright, what if I tell you that magical powers are real?" Waylon coughed lightly.

"Then I'll say you gotta share some of that good stuff with us." Bryan said. The others snickered loudly.

"Shut up, punk. Agh, Instead of explaining it you kids, how about I show it you?" Waylon smiled.

Waylon stood up from his chair and walked in front of the kids. He raised his palm and flickers of ember poured out from his palm.

"Uhhhhh......." Ray was shocked speechless.

"What the fuck!" Ash exclaimed.

"W-W-Wha..." Bryan was flabbergasted

"When did I fall asleep?" Algo rubbed his eyes furiously.

Asif and Nahra were pinching each other to see if they were dreaming.

Atop his palm, a fireball gently floated completely lighting the room while exuding a mystical feeling. Waylon smirked looking at the reactions of the kids. He made the fireball disappear making the room dim again. Looking at the stunned kids, he snapped his fingers which quickly brought them out of their previous stunned state.

"Before you ask anything, Magic is very much real or should I say Elemental Magic. What I just did was conjure a fireball using the elemental energy present everywhere throughout the universe. Elemental energy is the source of magical powers and one can use it after they have awakened."

Giving some time for the kids to digest the information, he continued, "The process of awakening helps us gain knowledge of a person's Elemental Aptitude Grade and Elemental Affinity. Through these aspects, a person can cultivate the elemental energy around us and can effectively use Elemental Magic. I'll tell you more about it later but first, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

Processing the newfound knowledge of magic took a few minutes for them to digest and accept that magic does in fact exist.

Taking a deep breath to calm down his rapidly beating heart, Asif asked, "When did this Elemental Energy come into existence?"

"Good question and as for the answer to your question, we do not have a concrete answer. 10 years ago, a few people could sense that they could absorb some kind of energy into their body, discovering a whole new world in front of their eyes. Since then, researches have been conducted on the elemental energy and we have found that at the prime age of 15, the body is strong enough to be awakened otherwise if done before the age of 15, serious harm could be done to the body."

"Old man, What are the Elemental Aptitude Grades?" Nahra asked.

"Elemental Aptitude defines a person's potential on sensing the elemental energy and how fast they can cultivate the said energy. The aptitude only matters until you have reached a certain realm. The grades for the Elemental Aptitude are Green, Orange, Red, Blue, Purple, and finally Gold from lowest to the highest grade. Obviously having blue and above grades are considered to be very rare."

"And what about Elemental Affinity?" Bryan asked with his hand on his chin.

"The fireball I conjured a few minutes ago is linked to my Elemental Affinity with Fire. When a person awakens, their body shines with the color of the element they're compatible with because of the specific elemental energy they attract. Now what are the Elements? There are 10 elements which come under three categories being the Primary Elements, Unique Elements and lastly, the Legendary Elements."

"Woahh..The categories sound so cool." Ash commented.

"Indeed, sounds awesome." Ray said waiting for Waylon to continue.

Waylon chuckled and continued, "The Primary Elements are Water, Wind, Earth and Fire. The Unique Elements are Ice, Lightning, Light and Darkness. And the Legendary Elements consist of only two elements being Space and Time. It is very common for people to be compatible with only one element, but it is very rare to be compatible with the Unique elements and we haven't even seen a single Legendary element user to this date."

"Old man Reid, what if we were compatible with two or more elements?" Bryan asked.

"Heh, it's rarer than being compatible with Unique Elements. In the past 10 years, we've had only 3 people with two elemental affinities."