Chương 3: The Legend Begins (2)

"Korsivir is not just wood and stone. Korsivir is the promise we make to the weary—and the price we demand from the vicious." – Rawatoraa Hagnaar, the First Vazaag of Korsivir ~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 4 years after the events of the prologue, Year 88 of the Third Era ~ ~ Southern District Orphanage, Korsivir City, Kingdom of Varrenia ~"Come on, 'ric!" his older sister Perilia encouraged him.

"Blow the candles!" Aloric looked at the four burning candles on top of a small piece of something called a cake, which his nine-year-old sister had smuggled for him in the small orphanage where they lived. Her own birthday had been only a month earlier, but nobody really celebrated birthdays here. They couldn't afford to. Getting regular meals was already more than they could expect as orphans. But for the first time in his memory, she had somehow found a piece of cake and a few candles to celebrate his birthday.

"Hurry up..." Perilia insisted with a grin, gesturing to the candles again. Aloric looked around in the empty room, which was nearly dark with the light bulbs turned off. The other children had gone out to the yard to play, so this was the only opportunity for them to celebrate his birthday without the other kids trying to steal the cake from him, or the matrons scolding them for lighting a fire indoors. He gave a gap-toothed smile at his sister and nodded. She always did so much for him.

He looked at this cake thing, and licked his lips. It looked tasty. The candles also looked edible to him, but 'rilia had already told him not to eat them. Twice. Hmm... Maybe he'd just take a small bite when she wasn't looking...

"Come on, you slowpoke!"

"Slou... pooke? Whazzat?" Aloric asked in confusion. Perilia shook her head." Focus!" She pointed at the small piece of cake.

"You don't wanna eat that?" Aloric remembered that the tasty-looking cake was waiting for him and turned back to it. Taking a deep breath, he blew at the candles with all his strength, managing to blow out all the candles on the first try." Happy birthday,'ric!" His sister cheered loudly, before she took a small piece of the cake and smeared it on his face. Aloric was surprised at first, before he put his tiny fingers on his cheek to remove the sticky stuff.

He stared at it in confusion for a moment, before licking his fingers clean. It was sweet! Perilia started laughing at that, making him look up at her in confusion.

"Why ya laughin,'rilia?"

"It's nothing, kiddo," she reassured him while ruffling his hair again.

"Come on, let's finish this cake before the others come back!"

~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 5 years after the events of the prologue, Year 89 of the Third Era ~ ~ Eastern District, Korsivir City, Kingdom of Varrenia ~"Don't go away, 'rilia..." His older sister, who was finally entering the Mana Academy of Korsivir at the age of ten, smiled at him from the doorway of their new wooden house.

"You'll be fine, 'ric! I'll be back in the afternoon."

"Waaaah..." Aloric wailed, running to her and clutching her waist.

"Don't leave me, 'rilia!" Perilia—or'rilia, as he had started calling her when he was too young to say her full name but had never stopped—just pinched his chubby cheeks.

"You brat! Who said I'm leaving you?"

"Oww..." Pushing away her hand from his face, Aloric rubbed his arm over his eyes to wipe off his tears.

"You're not? You'll really be back? You promise?"

"Of course I'll be back!" Perilia grinned while ruffling his cropped blue hair. She pointed at a bony old woman standing nearby—their neighbor from the large house across the street, who had been kind to them ever since they moved here.

"She'll take care of you until I return. I've also kept some porridge in the kitchen for your lunch. If you finish it and get hungry again, just ask her for more, 'kay?" Aloric nodded uncertainly while blinking again and again to see clearly.

"Don't be late, 'rilia..." His sister beamed at him.

"I'll be back before you know it! Take care, kiddo." Perilia waved one last time, then turned and walked away. Aloric continued waving back at her until she went out of sight as the yellowish-red autumn leaves fell from the large trees on the street. Once he couldn't see her anymore, he turned around, looking at the modest wooden house they had been allotted at the city's expense, as a reward for his super talented sister entering the Mana Academy of Korsivir.

They both had been living in the orphanage until recently, but getting accepted into the prestigious Mana Academy had its perks. She would have to pay the rent eventually, once she started to earn after graduating from the academy in four years, but until then it was even rent-free! He wished he could join the Mana Academy too, although it would take another year before he became old enough for even the children's civilian academy.

~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 6 years after the events of the prologue, Year 90 of the Third Era ~"You have your tiffin, right?" Perilia asked once again while tying up her long blue hair in a knot.

"Yes. You already asked that earlier!" Aloric huffed.

"What about your pencils?" she asked with a frown.

"And your notebooks?"

"I have everything! I checked it twice..." he groaned.

"Come on! I'm not a kid anymore... I'm six now!"

"Of course you're still a kid," Perilia grinned while ruffling his hair.

"Stooop it..." Aloric whined, pushing her hands away from his hair. It had taken so long to get his messy hair to behave... Once she left his hair alone, he waited for her to get her own bag ready as he used a comb again. At the ancient age of eleven, Perilia was entering the second year of the Mana Academy, while he was only now starting the civilian academy at the age of six.

It would be four long years before he finished the civilian academy and joined the Mana Academy at the age of ten—assuming he even passed their entrance test. Only then would any real study of manaweaving start, continuing for another four years until he finally graduated at fourteen. It was going to be a long journey...

"Come on! Let's gooo..." he whined while waiting for Perilia to finish tying a wooden sword at her waist.

"I don't want to be late for my first dayyy!"

~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 7 years after the events of the prologue, Year 91 of the Third Era ~"Hit her!"

"Once more!" Aloric was walking back home in the early afternoon after his classes had ended, when he heard those voices from somewhere. Today was the start of his second year at the civilian academy, and he was feeling quite happy. It was late summer and he was so thirsty that all he wanted was a long swig of ice cold water from the fridge, which Perilia had recently bought second-hand from her savings. But... he was getting worried about the person who was being hit.

Deciding to take a look at what was happening, he started to run and quickly reached the alley where the sound was coming from. There was a green-haired girl of a similar age as him cowering in a corner, while two boys and a girl—all of them also around his own age—were throwing small sticks and garbage at her. The scared girl had put her arms around her head, and seemed to be crying, while the bullies had taken that as proof of their superiority.

"Ya still think your clan's a big deal, do ya?" the girl with short blonde hair taunted, as she threw another stick at the green-haired girl.

"A Qanza is nothing in front of a Hagnaar. Remember that!" the other kid with red hair laughed.

"There are only two great clans in Korsivir City—Hagnaar and Rudox. Not yours!" He crossed his arms.

"I still say we Hagnaars are better than those pompous Rudoxes!" The blond-haired boy scoffed at the crying girl.

"Hah! Even a Rumiosi like me is better than you!"

"Yeah, what he said!" the blonde girl added before she glared at the bullied girl.

"Ya should never have said you're better than us!" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Aloric was still thinking whether he should intervene, when the blonde girl stepped ahead and pulled on the bullied girl's long green hair, making her shriek in pain.

"Hey!" Aloric yelled before he knew what he was doing.

"Stop it!" Seeing that he had gotten their attention and the bullied girl had been left alone, he started running towards them at full speed. When he reached them, he tackled the blonde boy to the ground, surprising the boy as they both fell into a tangle of limbs. The other two kids were startled for a moment, before they decided that they had a new target, and jumped at him. Aloric tried to get up and punched the red-haired kid on the nose, before they shoved him to the ground and began kicking.

His fists swung wildly, trying to hit all of them at once, but he knew by now that he was well outnumbered and wasn't going to win today. He grinned. Mission successful! He glanced at the green-haired girl from the corners of his eyes, while trying to protect his head from the punches and kicks he was getting, and saw that the girl was still nearby, looking at him with worry.

"Go now!" Aloric called out while deflecting a punch with his arm.

"Run to your home!"

"But..." the girl hesitated.

"Just go!" Aloric shouted again.

"I'll be fine!" The girl still looked unsure about leaving him, but finally gave a nod.

"I'll call the City Police for help!" she yelled as she started running.

"Don't die before then!" Aloric grinned, trying to wave at her, when he was punched right in his face." Oww..."

Later in the evening, Aloric was sitting on a chair in his home, while his older sister Perilia—who had just begun her third year at the Mana Academy after she got the top rank in her previous year's exams—was putting bandages on his hands, shoulders and face.

"You really shouldn't have tried to take on that many kids at once," she scolded worriedly.

"But that girl was alone and looked scared..." he protested.

"And she was pretty..." he muttered under his breath, before looking at her.

"I couldn't just leave her to be bullied! Isn't that what you taught me? To help those in need?" Perilia gazed at him for a moment before she smiled.

"I did say that, didn't I..." She grinned as she ruffled his hair.

"I'm proud of you, 'ric!"" Stop it..." Aloric protested as he tried in vain to move her hands away from his head. His hair was already so messy, but 'rilia always made it worse.

~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 9 years after the events of the prologue, Year 93 of the Third Era ~ It was evening, and Aloric was impatiently waiting for his sister to arrive at their home in the eastern district of Korsivir. There had been a power cut again for the past few hours, and only a small amount of light came from the street lamps outside, with the sun having already dipped below the western city wall. While his classes at the civilian academy ended early at noon, Perilia's classes always ran until late afternoon.

Far more importantly, today was the day she had her final graduation exams at the Mana Academy, which was why she still hadn't come home. If she passed, she would become a registered manaweaver of Korsivir at the age of fourteen. The outer door opened, and he saw his sister slinking inside, while gazing downwards, her expression hidden in the dark. Oh... It seemed she didn't pass the exams... But how...? He frowned as he thought about it. He knew that Perilia had always been ranked first in her class until now.

So how could she have failed? As she walked towards him while facing the ground, her shoulders seemed to be shaking a little. Was she crying? Aloric's heart clenched seeing her like that. He stood up from the couch they had recently managed to snag from the flea market. It was his fault...

Even though Perilia was five years older than him, he realized that taking care of him, tutoring him, and running the household, while managing her studies at the same time must have been too difficult for her, which meant it was his fault that she didn't pass. He had always been jealous of her perfect grades when he only managed to get average scores at best. The splitting headaches he got whenever he tried to study or even focus on a single thing meant he could never get good marks in any tests.

So he just kept going out to play with the neighborhood kids in the evenings—like a spoiled child—instead of even thinking of helping her out. Then he glanced at the stack of dirty dishes kept in the kitchen sink for a moment, and winced. He had never even thought of doing something as simple as washing the dishes, even though his classes ended earlier than her. He clenched his fists, feeling angry at himself.

He realized he had always behaved like a bratty kid without ever trying to help her, and left every responsibility on her, which meant it was his fault that she was always overburdened with work. That had to be why she couldn't study well enough to pass the exams. It broke his heart to see her crying, especially because he was the one to blame here. He took a deep breath and decided that it wouldn't do anymore. He couldn't keep behaving like a child when it was affecting Perilia's life this much.

He wasn't sure what happened to those who didn't pass from the Mana Academy, but either way, he resolved to do his best to help her take care of the house from today. That had to be something even a completely average nine-year-old kid like him could do, right? He would even do his best to learn cooking for both of them so she would have some more free time to study and rest. But that was for later. He slowly walked towards her, thinking of how to cheer her up.

"It's okay, 'rilia. Everyone fails sometimes... Isn't that what you told me? Maybe... Maybe you can try again next year?" Perilia's shoulders started shaking even more, while she was still looking downwards so he couldn't see her face. Shit! He had said something wrong... Perhaps he shouldn't even have mentioned that she failed? Yeah, that had to be the right way. He walked closer to her to hug her, even though being five years younger than her, she was still way taller than him.

However, just as he reached closer, she suddenly looked at him and burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha... ahahahaha..." she laughed loudly while clutching her stomach, and for a moment, he was stumped. Had the pressure of raising him by herself and then failing the exams today made her go crazy? The electricity came back right then and he looked at her face, immediately realizing that she had fooled him completely.

"Ahahahaha... I got you, kiddo!" she pointed at him while still laughing loudly.

"You really thought I'd failed, didn't you?" Aloric huffed, and crossed his arms while turning around, not wanting her to see just how thoroughly she had fooled him.

"You're an idiot!"

"Hahaha..." she continued to laugh. It took a while before Perilia could control her laughter enough to talk normally.

"I've been ranked first in my class for all four years at the Mana Academy—and that's in Classroom One, which consists of the best students of the academy. And that first rank is the overall rank, not just in a specific field like written tests or sparring! How could you possibly think that I could fail...?" Aloric quickly turned around, thinking she was mad at him, but he noticed that she was still grinning.

"Forget it!" he grumbled. He remembered that he hadn't even congratulated her, but right now he was way too mad at her to say that. Maybe he'd do it later. Then he decided to put up a confident facade.

"Actually, I already knew all that... That's why I was also pretending that you had failed!"

"Sure you were..." Perilia snorted as she put her backpack on the table. Then Aloric remembered something even more important and glanced at her left wrist.

"Where is your rank-marker? Show me!" Perilia looked at her bare wrist and gave him a look.

"They don't draw the rune on the same day, genius. The academy has to send the registration list first. My batch will probably be called in a few days."

"So will it glow blue?" he asked.

"That will match your hair." His eyes brightened.

"Mine too!"

"The rune will only glow when I feed mana into it," she told him, already sounding amused.

"And no, I am not going to keep lighting it up just because you want to stare at it." Changing the topic, he asked excitedly, "So will you get to go on cool missions from tomorrow? To rescue princesses and save kingdoms?" Perilia stared at him for a long moment.

"Just what do you think manaweavers do on their missions...?" She shook her head.

"Anyway, no. I've decided to join the City Police here."

"What...? But why...? That means you'll hardly get to leave Korsivir for the rest of your life!" he protested.

"Don't you want to go outside the city walls and see what's out there? I certainly want to!"

"Nah... Going outside the city doesn't really interest me." She shrugged as she walked to the fridge.

"Nothing for me out there anyway. Now that my monthly allowance as a Mana Academy student is going to stop, we need the regular paychecks which come with the City Police job, or I wouldn't even be able to pay for your tuition at the civilian academy. The city only provides tuition-free studies for the Mana Academy, not the civilian one for children. And taking random missions as a squad doesn't guarantee a stable income, you know?"

"But still..." Aloric muttered, realizing that he was the reason she couldn't join a regular manaweaver squad and go on such cool missions. Since she had graduated from the Mana Academy now, this house wasn't going to be rent-free anymore, and they would be thrown out onto the streets if she couldn't pay it. He was only in the civilian academy right now, and the city didn't provide rent-free housing for that. Once again, he was only holding her back. Damn it! He cursed his inability to help. This won't do.

This really won't do! He may still be a student, but he vowed to himself that one day, he would also become a top-level manaweaver and join the very best squad to earn lots and lots of money, so his sister could finally have a life beyond work. He glanced at her and gave a weak smile.

"Congratulations on graduating from the academy, 'rilia..."

~ Aloric Sigast ~ ~ 10 years after the events of the prologue, Year 94 of the Third Era ~"Do you have your tiffin with you?" Perilia asked with a frown.

"Yes... I have it..." Aloric groaned as he walked towards the door of their small house.

"What about your wooden sword?" his sister asked as she effortlessly created a glowing bluish-white ball of mana light in front of the mirror to check that her City Police uniform was as immaculate as ever. No electricity today, again.

"And your sparring gear?" Aloric sighed while patting his backpack.

"I've kept all of it, and before you ask me to check it again, I already did!" Perilia glanced at him while tying up her long blue hair into a bun.

"What about your textbooks? And the scrolls?" Knowing that she wouldn't stop nagging before confirming it herself, he opened his bag, and showed her all the books and scrolls stacked there—which gave him a small headache just looking at them. Why did studying have to make his head hurt so much? Still, everything was there. This might be the very first day he would be going to the Mana Academy, but he had already spent four years in the civilian academy before today. Hah! He was ten years old now!

He wasn't some little kid anymore who would forget his lunch or his books! Still, he had been thoroughly surprised when a letter bearing the seal of the city's leader— the Vazaag of Korsivir— had arrived at their home, saying that he had been selected to join the Mana Academy.

Obviously, he had always wanted to become a manaweaver, but despite trying his best he could never focus on studying or reading books—or basically anything that required focusing on a single thing for long durations without getting a horrible headache. It had gotten better than it used to be, but even now, looking at any book for more than a few minutes could still make his head start throbbing.

He had done quite well in all the physical tests of the civilian academy's graduation exam, but his overall scores had still been completely average, which was why he had been so surprised to get the selection letter. Well, he was good at running and rarely got tired. So maybe that had something to do with it? Well, it didn't matter anymore. He had gotten his wish to study in the Mana Academy, no matter how it came to be!

Finally, his sister grinned once she confirmed everything for herself, and before he could stop her, she messed up his blue hair again." Stop it!" he protested, as he pushed her hands away.

"It took sooo long to comb it..." He groaned after taking a quick look in the mirror, realizing that he would need to comb it again.

"If you keep doing that, I might as well shave my head clean..." he muttered.

"At least it would prevent you from messing it up every day." His sister tilted her head while squinting at him.

"Actually, I think it might look good on you... I've already thought up a nickname for—""Shut up!" he glared at her.

"I'm not shaving my head!"

"Too bad," Perilia shrugged with a chuckle.

"Well you should go now or you'll really be late. I still have to finish some work before I leave." Taking a deep breath, Aloric nodded. She might have to go late for her City Police duties today, but he couldn't afford to be late for his very first day at the Mana Academy. Waving at her once, he exited the house. Across the street, the bony old woman was sweeping in front of her house as usual. She lifted a hand in greeting, and Aloric waved back without thinking much of it.

Perilia said the old woman was just lonely, but Aloric sometimes wondered about that. She always seemed to be near their house whenever someone unfamiliar came too close, watching with those sharp old eyes until the stranger moved on. As he started down the street, his thoughts returned to Perilia. She had already been working in the City Police for a year now and had even gotten a promotion recently—along with a raise—although her working hours had become quite irregular now.

Well, he always knew she was super talented—unlike him, who was just average in studies—so getting a quick promotion was only to be expected. Although he did wonder how someone even got a promotion in the City Police. By catching more thieves? Or by writing a lot of reports? He had no idea about that, and truthfully, he didn't even want to know. It seemed way too boring. He just wanted to go on grand adventures outside the city once he graduated in four years.

Pulling his attention back to the present, he grinned and broke into a run toward the academy. Finally! It was time to start training to become a manaweaver!