The Ball (1)

Jogo Pov:

I'm bored.

 There is nothing to do in this stupid room rather than read those stupid hero stories. Who even believes Argonaut existed anyways? Or that Albert Waldstein?

The one eyed black dragon... I wonder how scary that thing is for even the gods to be cautious of it. Never mind the dungeon that created such a beast. 

The party is today, celebrating the battle the Amaterasu familia recently won. 

I'll have to get ready for that.

Exiting my room I go and look for Hanami, she's sort of been a second mother due to my own mother being busy most of the time.

"Where is Hanami, miss." I ask a maid who's name escapes me. 

"Ah, young master Jogo. I do not know where Miss Hanami is at the moment, the last I seen her she was with you. My apologies" She says with an over exaggerated bow. 

Useless.

"It's alright, I will go and look for her myself."

Walking to my mother's working quarters, where I seen her last, I think about my newly awakened magic. Is it magic? What is it? I require no chant to manipulate my flames. What is that strange energy I use too? 

Being lost in my thoughts and my body being on autopilot, I arrive at my destination. I hear murmuring inside but cannot hear what the topic of conversation is. 

I knock on the door then enter, seeing Hanami, my father and mother clearly chatting about something private due to the fact they stopped talking as soon as I entered.

"Jogo! What have I said to you about walking in without permission!" my mother spoke, in a strict tone. 

"Yeah, yeah, sorry mother. What can I wear to the ball? I don't think I have any clothes that suit such a high class party."

"Well... Jogo we have all been discussing and we don't believe you should come to the ball this time around. You have awakened an unknown magic son, and you clearly cannot control it based on you burning your sword earlier on". My father said. This is... is... nonsense!

"What do you mean I can't go to the ball? You clearly have been wanting me to go now for days even if you haven't said it! You've been making me study magic much more as of late too! You clearly want me to impress people with how smart I am! I can control the flames just fine. You'll see." I say, my rage bubbling, along with that energy of mine which is now red in colour. 

"Son, why don't you calm down." My father says sternly. Strange, I've never seen father this unusually calm before. I wonder wh-

My thoughts were interrupted by me taking a look around... and the area I am standing on is currently black with orange embers floating around. Along with a portion of the room on fire. Damn! So much for control. I can't believe even my mere energy is enough to set things on fire. I thought I had to willingly summon my fire. Is it closely linked to my emotions?

"Jogo! Snap out of it. Go to your room. Hanami will come by soon and tell you of our final decision." My father says with no tone of argument.

I quickly calm myself down, taking deep breaths. Then I walk out of the room without a word slamming the door on my way out. Not even bothering to listen to my family's scolding's I can hear in the other room. 

Walking back to my room I start thinking about my 'magic'. Is it even magic? I'm almost certain my flames do not require 'mind' whatsoever like ordinary magic. I'm also sure ordinary six year old children do not have the amount of energy I do. I feel like I could blow an entire city to smithereens just by unleashing my flames. 

Going in to my room, walking to the window, I look outside. The son is setting, causing an almost divine coloured orange mixed with red. 

I open the window then jump out. Channelling my energy throughout my body, to hopefully make it stronger. Father said that when jumping you must bend your knees as you land otherwise you may injure yourself. I land without injury, slightly ruining the patch of grass I landed on. 

I then walk to the training grounds, making sure nobody is around, then start moulding my flames. I mould them into a simple ball then fire it into the air. It travelled quite the distance away before poofing out of existence.

What if I channel more energy into it, packing it full of energy then doing the same. I mould my flames once more channelling them with as much 'energy' as possible then fire it into the air. It travels much further and faster before finally exploding, painting an image of white smoke and an orange glow which caused me to cover my eyes.

Judging by the experience I had in my mothers studies', my 'energy' is closely linked to my emotions. The angrier I am, at least from what I learned, the more my energy 'leaks' so it is wasted into the environment. If I am feeling calm most of it stays within my body. I don't know what happens when I am feeling positive emotions but I have a feeling it won't be that easy. 

Judging by how my energy works off of my negative emotions I will have to think of a better name. That's for another time. Experimenting with my fire once more, I try to create a weapon out of it. More specifically a sword. I keep trying to but the best I can get is a stick. Figures. It was foolish to try and create a sword out of fire anyways, it wouldn't even cut anything. 

Focusing more on my energy I try to channel it towards my arms once more. Closing my eyes and meditating, which father forces me to practice to 'Have a stable mind and clear thoughts', I try to feel how my energy is flowing. I cannot feel much but it feels as though it is travelling from my navel region to my arms. That's it! With this new information I feel as though I'll be able to improve the ability to manipulate my flames!

"Jogo! Jogo, where are you!" A woman voice, sounding from my room said. 

"I'm down here Hanami!" I say with enthusiasm, excited about my discoveries.

"Jogo! What are you doing down there! Come here!" Hanami insists.

I quickly channel my 'energy' into my legs then jump all the way to my room.

"Ah! Jogo. How did you... just do that." Hanami says clearly startled. 

"Hahaha. It doesn't matter Hanami. What has mother and father decided?" I say with curiosity. 

"Ah... Well Jogo, you see... your mother and father still haven't changed their minds. But, before you get angry... between you and me I know a place we can get some clothes from. The same place your father goes when I have accompanied both him and your mother when going out." Hanami says mischievously. 

"Really! Let's go now!"

I grab Hanami's hand and start running towards the estate's exit. 

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3rd Pov:

In the streets of the Far East, there is a young boy looking around excitedly at everything and an exasperated older woman. The older woman has clearly grey hair, an aged face with wrinkles, but looks pretty enough to clearly see she has not had a stressful life. She is wearing a black dress with a white cloth hanging down over it. The dress covers almost all of her body, showing no skin. The clothes are clean and clearly well taken care of due to the fabric not having any wrinkles or imperfections at all. 

The older woman, being dragged around by the boy, follows without a word, clearly leading him towards a high-profile clothing store. 

The civilians around made the astute observation that the boy was of noble birth, and this was clearly a change of pace for him. 

Jogo POV:

Wow! Is this what being outside is like without being guarded by our family's guards! There's nobody preventing me from going to the snack stalls! Or looking in the windows of other stores!

"Hanami, what is this! Oh, oh, what is this too Hanami!"

"Young master, that is an blacksmiths store, they sell weapons, armour, furniture, locks, nails and many more things. In a place like Orario for example blacksmiths usually only focus on one or two aspects so they can be the best they can possibly be. But for a common blacksmith like that one, they usually do everything so they can profit as much as possible. Regarding the other thing young master, that is a saddle used on a horse." Hanami explained. 

"Huh? Aren't horses used to drag around carriages?"

"They are young master but for those that cannot afford a carriage a saddle is much more fitting for them."

"Ohhhhh I see. I want to learn how to ride a horse using a saddle." 

"We can sort that when we get home. Let's go to the store now, young master"

Walking while holding Hanami's hand I look around the streets. There are many people trying to lure people in to buy their products. Some of the food looks nice! I'll have to try some when we get back home.

Arriving at the store I take a look at the building. It looks less traditional than the other buildings around but that makes it stand out even more. The store is tall, around as tall as 5 other buildings. I wonder if the tower of Babel is this tall. The building has many windows, displaying the high quality fabric and what is currently 'trending' amongst the nobility. 

There are no pre made outfits as clothes are made to order, perfectly fitting those that purchase the product. Some adventurers even come here to get clothes, that, whilst they look fashionable, they also may come with special effects, such as being more resistant to cuts or slashes, and being tougher compared to other clothes. 

Whilst not as good as the product from Orario, they are still high quality and more than enough for any adventurer to wear as a precaution, without access to their armour. 

Walking into the store, I take a look around. There are employees who are currently busy with other customers. They are wearing specialised outfits of very high quality, fitting for the establishment. They are a bright yellow, covering their full bodies, matching the lighting of the building. 

The male employees are wearing a suit with only one button in the middle which are buttoned up. Their blazer jacket is a yellow, that looks golden with the reflection from the light. Their tie is a very dark shade of black with a clip on it with the name of the establishment on it. Their trousers are a dark shade of royal blue, oddly suiting the contradicting yellow colour. Their tie is also the same colour as their trousers. 

The women are wearing a dress of the same colour as the men with accents of that same blue colour. The dress looks pleasing to the eyes, covering their skin but with clear cleavage showing... likely to attract the perverts amongst the high class.

Lost in my thoughts, I never noticed there was an employee introducing themselves to Hanami. The employee was wearing the same outfit as the others. 

"Hello, welcome to Clonora, my name is Riku and I will be assisting you today."

"Hello Riku, I am the head maid of the Gojouno estate, me and young master here are looking to buy clothing for the ball later tonight. What would you recommend?"

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Chapter end!

A bit abrupt but I thought of it a good place to end it. 

I was researching a bit more and apparently the Gojou family were in charge of the 'dark jobs' for the far east. It doesn't specify what type of dark jobs so I will be cooking the ideas up myself. 

I lied about the mass release. I don't use any AI for my work and i've been brainstorming. One day I WILL mass release but this is not that time. I need to think a bit more about the plot direction before then. 

See you next time!