1 Where It Started

I stretched my arms and got off my poorly-tailored bed.

Then I proceeded to put on some bland clothes, which had a few holes in them but it's better than nothing. I'm glad that my foster parents, who disliked me, still treated me as a person.

Downstairs, I put on my sandals, patted down my shirt and pants, and rubbed my shaggy hair to the side. I believe this makes me look the best I possible can as I am not too basic nor handsome. Even my siblings, not blood-related, compliments me on how good I look.

Out the door, I go.

*Creek*

I followed a grassless path leading away from my foster parent's enormous wooden lodging.

The thick forest trees lined each side of the path, covering the bare dirt with a never-ending shadow.

Today's my big day now that I've finally turned twelve! I'm going to enter the Magic Academy that my foster parents had signed me up for. It's not far from where I live.

The village I currently live in is called Tutut. It's built close to the central city Zal.

Zal was built a few decades ago when the human empire was finally gaining some power after a devasting portal outbreak. Many villages were destroyed then and left hundreds orphans to starve. Two of those orphans grew up to be my parents and they moved into the next village. That too was destroyed...

I don't even remember the faces of my real parents nor can I recall having any siblings.

Ah... I'm almost there already, the Magic Academy. It's a great place to learn magical spells and arts.

Anyone can enter the Magic Academy for free as long as they were born a citizen of the kingdom. Immigrants have to pay a one-time fee to enter, so our school is massively diverse. It's filled with plenty of different races such as elves, dwarves, humans, and demi-humans. I'm sure there are various undiscovered races since this world is so large and unexplored.

At the gate, I came across a young girl the same age as me. She's a human too so no worries. I'm not one of those weirdos who can see ghosts. They're pretty rare anyways.

She looks pretty bland compared to the other girls, a bit funny lookin' even.

She has a clean bowl-cut with pitch-black hair and a white frilly dress. Her dress isn't very stylish as it contained no other designs besides the frills, but it's still quite cute. Her shoes though... they're the same as mine: wooden sandals. Her toes were as pale as her face.

Anyways, I've decided to be her first friend!

I walk up to her, a bit nervous...

"H-hey are you new too?" I frisked my short shaggy hair, aiming to not lose confidence.

"Hmm...? Yes, I am new here." She turned towards me and gave me a gentle smile.

She kept her hands clutched together: emitting a profound energy you can only find in mature individuals.

"Do you... want to be friends?" I tried to smile.

"Sure." She blatantly grasped my hand and shook it.

W-Woah..!

She's a lot more straightforward than I thought.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"My name's Scylica Lafreye. How about your's?"

"I'm Jin Arcanthus."

And so, we became friends.

Walking through the gate, we entered a large field covered with clean-cut grasses. Further ahead were multiple wooden shacks that offered a peace of mind to those who may be weary of the heat. However, it's early in the spring this year so the temperature was just perfect.

The group of teachers were made up of mercenaries, knights, mages, and accountants. Most of them were females as the population of men were thinned out a hundred years ago during the Great Invasion. Humanity still hasn't fully recovered from the war and still has to fight extential crises of random portal outbreaks.

I have chosen to learn the mercenaries, knights, and mages' way of life and excluded the accountants, because I value strength more than money. Being wealthy didn't stop my real parents from losing their lives... I didn't even get to see their faces.

Scylica followed along to learn the lessons with me. The mercenaries taught us how to survive, the knights taught us how to protect, and the mages taught us the theories of magic.

This continued onwards for a year as we learned how to channel elemental magic: fire, earth, wind, and water. Our swordsmanship and hunting skills did not fall behind either as we needed to meet a quota to avoid being expelled.

I've made three male friends along the way, and I eventually spent less time with Scylica. I figured she didn't mind being alone since she had never complained to me about our friendship.

However, one day when I was asked out on a date by a petite girl, Scylica berated me with a raging storm of anger. I've never seen her so furious before...

I forgave her hissy fit though. She will always be an angel to me. Everytime I had begun to fail my classes, she would always be there to help me pass. Whenever I starved, she would force feed me and starve herself instead. I can never hate her.

But one thing I do find weird about her, is her loneliness. She isn't sad, but she has no friends. I figured a person with a lot of knowledge and skills like her would have more friends, but I seem to be the only one she ever hangs out with; she always waits for me by the gate no matter what.