Preparations

'Woosh'

'Swish'

As the morning light came through the cottage window landing perfectly on the eyes of an older looking man, sounds could be heard coming from just outside the cottage.

Deciding to take a look the man walks towards the front door. Walking past a mirror he takes a quick look at himself.

He looks to be late middle-aged with long unkempt hair and beard. His clothes look plain and simple with nothing special about them at first glance but upon further inspection, one could notice that the material is an expensive one and the clothes themselves are of top tier quality.

After opening the door and getting slightly blinded by the sun once again a young boy comes into view.

He can be seen swinging a wooden practice sword vigorously, beads of sweat could be seen going down his head and his neck. With every swing, sweat could be seen flying off his body showing his clear efforts and hard work.

The boy looked to be around 8 or 9 years old with big well-toned muscles for his age. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing black training trousers and nothing else.

The old man has a grim look on his face for a brief split of a second and mutters under his breath "It's almost time..."

Having spotted the old man standing within the door the young boy shouts.

"Gramps!"

"Hah, I told you to call me by my name. Gramps makes me feel old. Call me Alin or don't call me at all."

Crossing his arms Alin looks away pushing his nose smugly up in the air with his eyes closed only to open one of the eyes to take a quick peek at the young boy who is currently sporting an indifferent expression as if this was a daily occurrence.

"..."

'Sigh'

Sighing dejectedly Alin states "Fine you little brat. Call me whatever you want. Looks like you've been training diligently today as well?"

"Yes gramps, I've been up since before dawn as promised."

"Good... Good... Looks like my little Uriel is growing up nicely. Speaking of which, your birthday is coming up, remind me… h-how old are you again?" Alin asked with a slight hint of embarrassment in his voice while gently scratching his cheek with his left index finger.

'Sigh'

Uriel sighed before replying "Are you sure you're okay gramps? You ask me this every year… I'll turn 7 this year."

"Hmm… That's right. Time is indeed running short" mumbled Alin under his nose.

"Well, anyway I've been running my mouth but time is running short. Do you remember my promise to you?"

"Ehm…" Uriel had to think for a second about the promise as it has been a while since his grandfather has promised something.

"Oh. I know! Are you going to finally be taking me down the mountain?"

"HA, HA, HA, that's right. So you do remember that's good. I was worried you would have forgotten. HA, HA, HA."

"Pfff..." trying to hold his laughter Uriel lets out a sound causing the expression on Alin's face to turn annoyed.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Shouted Alin

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that you're the one always forgetting things."

'Sigh' "Alright whatever, doesn't matter. Now go run wash up. We will be leaving once you're back… So take your time. I'm going back to sleep" Alin then turned around and just as he was about to close the door he interjected "oh, and I shouldn't have to say this but be careful out there and don't stray too far" he then promptly shut the door and went to lie down without waiting for a response.

Looking like he expected this Uriel smirked and sat down on a nearby log to put on his shoes and grabbed a small bag filled with clothing and other necessities to wash up and started running towards the small lake nearby.

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Sometime later Uriel had washed up at the nearby lake and came back home without any incident.

Having noticed Uriel getting closer Alin got up from the log he was sitting on. He was now wearing a black tattered cloak and proceeded to take out a similar-looking cloak and give it to Uriel.

"Here, wear this. Make sure to always keep it on you even if it is just a thread. You'll regret it otherwise…" With that vague statement, Alin started to walk without any other words to Uriel.

It took Uriel who was stunned by the vague statement, a second to shake it off. Once he managed to process what was just said he started running after his gramps.

While running towards his gramps it suddenly hit Uriel.

"What about our stuff?" Uriel quietly thought to himself before asking his grandfather with a worried look.

"Gramps, what about all our things? I just realized I didn't pack anything. What are we going to do?"

"HA HA HA" Alin just laughed. His laugh was low, deep and loud causing a nearby doe to quickly run past the pair.

Stopping in his tracks Alin blocks Uriel's path with his arm before stating "I must be getting old seeing how I forgot to give it to you"

"Before I do that here look at this."

Confused by the sudden development of event's Uriel couldn't help but just nod to what his grandfather was saying.

Reaching out forward with his right hand while keeping it straight with the palm of his hand facing the sky.

Uriel then noticed a ring on his grandfather's finger. He has never seen him wear anything expensive let alone jewellery.

It looked like a serpent with razor-sharp scales wrapped around the finger before swallowing a big red ruby.

The ruby suddenly started lighting up and emitting a slight glow before another small ring appeared out of nowhere in the palm of his hand.

"..."

Uriel was speechless. While the world he lived in was filled with a plethora of magical creatures and abilities he has never seen anyone using magic or a magic tool.

"W-wow...t-t-that's amazing… How did you do it, gramps? Where did that ring come from? And where did the other one appear from too?"

After getting bombarded by questions and seeing his grandson's eyes filled with curiosity and awe, Alin can't help but smirk smugly before responding.

"Boy, what you just saw was a magic ring..."

Before Alin could finish his sentence Uriel rapidly interrupted "Magic ring? What's that?"

Still smiling a vein could be seen growing on the hood covered forehead of Alin.

"BRAT! Haven't I told you to not interrupt me?!" Alin roared causing Uriel to jump back slightly.

'Sigh'

Alin sighed before continuing "... as I've just said. What you've just seen was a Magic Ring. There are many types of Magic Rings. They can range from simple rings that will help you start a fire to complex rings that could save your life"

Alin stopped for a second to let everything sink in for Uriel before continuing "the ring you've just seen was a storage ring. Storage rings are special in the sense that using magic they create a void-like storage space. This space depending on the ring can range from 1 cubic meter to hundreds." Alin took a quick break to catch his breath before continuing

"This ring however is a little bit more special than other rings of this nature. It's an old family heirloom and unlike most storage rings this one cannot be opened by anyone but the authorized owner and unless the owner wishes for it, it will stay invisible and undetectable. Another thing you should know is that this ring can only switch owners when the previous owner dies, you can designate a successor so once the owner dies the ring and everything within it will appear on the successor's finger"

"Put out your hand."

Having heard that Uriel quickly put out his hand reaching towards his grandfather. His mind racing filled with curiosity and excitement.

Bringing his hand down and clutching hard the ring he had summoned Alin looks intensely at Uriel before saying "The ring I'm about to give you is of the life-saving variety. Make sure to always keep it on."

Alin then dropped the ring right into Uriel's hand.

Uriel instantly went to inspect the ring closely. It looked to be silver with a green hue. It looked simple as if a bunch of vines were coiled together to create a ring.

He looked all over it but couldn't feel anything special or magical about it in the slightest. Unlike his grandfather's ring which gave off a glow when activated and could be activated at will, his ring was a life-saving treasure. Unless his life was in danger nothing magical would happen.

Uriel had been curious about magic ever since he found out about it. At the time he and his grandfather had gotten stuck out in the rain. They managed to take shelter in a nearby cave. Due to them both being drenched, Alin created an un-believable phenomenon and created a hot blazing inferno within the palm of his hand.

Then suddenly a warm and cosy breeze enveloped Uriel and he proceed to promptly fall asleep.

After waking up he did ask his grandfather what that was and if he could teach him to do that, but unfortunately to his surprise, Alin refused even going as far as making Uriel swear an oath stating that he will not try to learn any practical magic or gather mana before he turns into an adult at the age of 18.

Uriel asked on multiple occasions why this was the case but his grandfather always just simply said "Trust me, it's for your own good."

Uriel proceeded to put on the ring onto his finger with a smile before thanking his grandfather for the gift.

"Thank you gramps it looks awesome! What does it do exactly?"

Looking as if he was trying to change the subject Alin responds.

"Brat, what did I say? Call me by my name… gramps makes me feel too old…"

"Soooo... you don't know either. Do you?"

"I do… I...I just don't feel like telling you. I want it to be a surprise" Alin smirked before turning away from Uriel and saying "anyway let's go otherwise we will be late"

"What are we going to be late for?"

"The bus"

"Bus? What's that?"

"Hmm, how should I put it? It's a big rectangular box that can move using wheels and magical crystals of several varieties to power it and make it run"

"There are bus stops where the busses need to stop to pick up and drop people off, all over the place and the closest one is at the village just at the foot of the mountain."

"Where are we taking the bus to gramps?"

"We are going to be taking it to Ran City"

"What are we going to be doing there?"

"...You will find out in due time."

Hearing this Uriel frowned and in a huff replied "You are always keeping things from me… I wish you'd trust me a bit more"

"I have my reason for things. Trust me it's for your own good."

Uriel couldn't help but sigh and nod helplessly, realizing this might be the last time he will be here for a while Uriel decided to not continue his line of questioning and instead he chose to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the mountain while he still could.

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After a couple of hours of walking, the grandfather-grandson duo could see a village slowly come into view. It was a small village with a large and long road going through the centre of it.

Walking into the village Uriel couldn't help but take a look around. Stalls could be seen going up and down both sides of the road. They sold a variety of things ranging from tasty smelling food to little trinkets and even some dangerous-looking weapons.

Kids could be seen playing in the streets and the general atmosphere looked quite calm and pleasant as if nothing bad has ever happened here.

When they reached the centre of the village a statue could be seen. It was a statue of a dragon coiling around a mountain peak and roaring towards the sky.

Uriel has heard stories of dragons from his grandfather. Supposedly they are ferocious, dangerous and super intelligent. They have superior strength, intelligence, control over their mana and larger mana reserves. They can live thousands of years and their scales are nearly un-penetrable. They can breathe fire and use a variety of different magical abilities. They are absolute monsters that could destroy a small kingdom on a whim.

Upon a closer look, food and trinkets could be seen at the base of the statue. Curious about this Uriel asks his grandfather "Gramps, why is there a statue of a dragon here? And why are people putting food and other things by it?"

"They're offerings to the statue. The statue is that of a legendary dragon that according to myths and legends founded the empire we are in and resides within that mountain deep in slumber awaiting the moment when the empire is in danger."

Alin paused for a second with a longing look in his eyes before going on to say

"Another part of the legend says that the dragon was born within this village and became their guardian deity. The villagers believe as long as they give offerings to the statue the dragon will protect the village from any danger while also blessing the land causing superior harvest among other things."

"Do you think the legend is real?" Asked Uriel

"HA HA HA, I think we would have seen a big lizard living and snoring up on the mountain."

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After walking a bit more through the village they reached a metal pole with a metallic circle attached to the top of it, that had the words 'Bus Stop' written on it.

In front of it stood a large metallic rectangle. Uriel instantly guessed correctly that the rectangle was the bus his grandfather described to him earlier.

"Heh, it's amazing what they can do these days."

"Believe it or not when I was your age at best we'd have to use a carriage pulled by horses. Now they will just slap some elemental mana crystals into anything and poof you have a metal rectangle that can move faster than horses without stopping to rest."

Uriel was fascinated by the bus and wanted to ask questions like for example how it works but he decided against it as he knew his grandfather wouldn't tell him.

They walked towards the entrance of the bus before Alin reached into a small pouch that was hanging from his belt and took out 10 silver coins and gave them to a man wearing a navy blue uniform that included a smart-looking blazer, tie and cap.

He proceed to turn around to face Uriel and told him "Get on, it's a long journey to Ren City so I'm going to take a nap. Don't wake me up unless it's an emergency"

They both proceeded to get onto the back of the bus. Uriel decided to take a seat by the window but before Uriel's behind even managed to touch the seat of the bus Alin had already managed to fall asleep.

Slightly laughing inwardly at his grandpa Uriel looked out of the window with a big smile on his face as the bus started to move. He could feel in his heart he would get to see, learn and experience many new things in the future and the idea of this excited him immensely.