Saga 1: The Fall of the Evening

Arc 1: The Maidens of Ashkera

The dawn was stillborn.

The morning was wicked.

“The afternoon has been colorful. I wonder what will be the evening and night.”

Allen was lying on the battlefield while staring at the orange sky. Ashes fell to his fair, white skin. Two ladies were kneeling beside him, crying. He didn’t know who were they, but somehow he felt familiar.

The lady on the left had silver hair that braided in twin-tail. The lady on the right had a silky brown hair that fell to her waist, truly majestic. It was a pity Allen couldn’t see their faces.

Allen couldn’t bear to hear their grief. He opened his mouth and tried to speak something, but instead, he coughed up blood. The two ladies gripped his hands tighter.

Warm, Allen thought as he held their soft hands and then he closed his eyes and let out his last breath.

 

……

 

As Allen opened his eyes, he was in the form of a ball. He was wandering in the void space. There was nothing except for him; even there wasn’t a single color. Eventually, he found a white space and flew there.

Allen met a teen boy. His hair was silver like one of the ladies from before, but he had tanned skin. He cried too when he saw Allen.

Allen didn’t even know who he was, but somehow he felt familiar with him. “You don’t have to cry. I will be okay somehow.”

The boy shook his head. “No, your soul will be annihilated. You won’t be reincarnated.”

“Don’t worry, my spirit will pass on.”

Suddenly, Allen’s form crumbled from piece to piece. In just a second, he vanished into nothing.

 

……

 

Allen woke up on a stone table. His body sweated and his breath was rough. “That dream again.”

Allen wiped his face and then he noticed something as he peeked through the gap of his fingers. A shining blue tablet floated before him. It contained words he hadn’t learned, but somehow he could read it.

As he read that, the words changed.

 

“Planet earth? Where is that?” Allen muttered.

Allen tried to touch one of the facilities and the words changed again. He experimented with the system and read a tutorial from the menu. He tried photography features too and switched to the front camera. It showed his face.

There were many scars on his face. He sighed. “With this face, there is no way beautiful ladies will get attracted to me.”

Allen swiped the tablet system and it disappeared. He looked around and realized he was in the midst of an unknown place. He was inside an abandoned room. The roofs were holed and wild grasses grew on the floor. In each corner, a pillar stood.

Allen remembered he was in the middle of herbs gathering. He had entered this room and found a hundred year mushroom with magical property. However, after he had picked it, he had suddenly fallen unconscious and dreamt about that event.

Allen touched his waist and found the pouch containing the herbs was there. He sighed in relief. If this pouch was lost, he wouldn’t get any bonus coin.

“That was the first time the dream made me unconscious like this. Maybe a ghost possessed me and made me unconscious.” Allen thought it for a while, but he afraid he would be late.

As he got out of the abandoned building, the sun on the horizon had almost sunk. There were carriages and lines of people not far from him. A bald man stood at the front. He approached them.

“Twenty-seven people!” The bald man shouted. “We lost three people from our squad! Do you have any idea where are they?”

“Maybe they are dead, sir,” A man said.

“Fuck you! Any single joke again and I shall cute your damn tongue! I don’t care if they are dead, but I don’t want to disappoint my magus master! We have paid all of you a high salary in advance for this mission and we even give you more bonuses if you find rare herbs. Damn, our quota isn’t enough. Remember this, if my magus master punishes me, I will pull all of you along,” cursed the bald man.

All of them became pale when the bald man mentioned the magus. Magus was a venerable being who could do supernatural things even the lord of the city respected them.

Allen and they were lucky when a magus suddenly came to his small city and offered them a request to gather magical herbs in the abandoned building. The salary was high and even there was a bonus too.

If they hadn’t come, he would be doing his usual beast hunting. The paid wasn’t stable and the risk is hard. After the magus came to his town, he had gathered enough money to realize his dream of becoming a magus. However, the magus said if they didn’t fill the quota he would punish them and canceled the payment. That would be trouble. Thinking about it, Allen broke through the line and approached the bald man.

“I am sorry for being late, Sir. This is what I have found inside the building.” Allen handed his pouch to the bald man before he could scold him.

When the bald man saw inside the pouch, his face beamed. “Excellent, Kid, you have found a hundred-year mushroom. With this, our quota is enough. You will get a high bonus for this.”

Allen could sense envy from the crowds. He ignored them and smiled at the bald man.

“Let’s go back. We will be heading to the city,” said the bald man.

“But what will happen with the rest of people, Sir?” asked one of a man in the line.

“Who cares? I have reached the required quota. Get your ass inside the carriage except you want to stay here with beasts and demons.”

All of them obeyed and they left for the forest. The sun had sunk and the moon rose. Most magical beasts and demons were active on the night. However, they would think twice if they wanted to approach them. Each of carriages was pulled by a rank two magical beast, Nether Horse. Their furs were black and on their back grew long spikes. When they walk, their hooves spouted green smoke. Their red eyes were penetrating the darkness.

With the protection of such powerful magical beasts, their travel was safe. Soon, Allen could see the wall surrounding the city. On the night, the blue jewels that decorated the wall and towers shone to scare away magical beasts from the forest.

The guard opened the gate immediately as they saw the magus’s magical beasts. The carriages headed to the town hall. The citizens gathered outside of the town hall. As they got out of carriages, the city mayor welcomed them in a hurry.

“Gentlemen, the lord magus has been waiting for you. Let’s go inside the town hall.”

Because the mayor’s steps were fast, they followed behind him at the same pace. Inside the town hall was spacious. Benches and tables were arranged neatly. The magus waited for them on the stage. He was bald too like his servant, but his head had weird shape; it shaped like an egg, pointed at the tip. His face was full of wrinkles. Combined with his pale skin and thin body, he almost looked like a ghost.

The bald man and the city mayor knelt before him. They followed too. The magus lifted his hand and smiled. They rose again.

“O, my magnificent lord, your humble servant has succeeded in gathering the herbs.” The bald man flattered his master while handing their harvest before the magus’s feet.

The magus’ eyes shone in purple. He didn’t even peek inside the pouches, but his face was beaming as if he had figured what was inside.

“Not bad, not bad. Some pouches are containing rare herbs and mushrooms. My effort to teach all of you a technique to gather magical herbs wasn’t in vain. All of you who had picked all these rare goods can step forward. I will give you high reward.”

Seven people stepped forward including Allen. He recognized one of them as city mayor’s son, Ren Shadowstep.

His short black hair, his height, and his white skin were kind of similar to Allen's. However, when they were thin, Allen’s built was more muscular. He had blue eyes and the latter had black eyes. The last thing that made a huge distinction about them was Allen had many scars covered his entire body. Allen was born with it.

The reward was given directly by the magus. Allen could sense coins inside the pouch in his palm. He couldn’t hold his smile. He would finally leave this small city and start a new life.

As Allen sunk in thought, the magus stopped at Ren Shadowstep, attracting his attention.

“So you are the mayor’s son?” said the magus. His eyes glowed. “Not bad, not bad. You have a talent to be a magus. Following my agreement with your dad, I shall receive you as my disciple.”

Ren looked confused; the magus explained, “The other reason I come to this city is the school of the magus, Myriad Essence School, is looking for talent. As one of the elders, I must find talented young people. I can take a few personal disciples too if they have the high talent to be a magus and your talent isn’t bad, Ren Shadowstep.”

The city mayor who stood at the back rushed forward with a beaming face and patted his son’s shoulder. “Congrats, son, you have a chance to retrieve our family’s name to its former glory. Our ancestors must be smiling at you from heaven right now.”

“The test will be held in a week. You have to prepare. We will go to the capital tomorrow.”

Allen’s eyes widened when he heard the magus. That was his chance. He wanted to ask the magus regarding the test and maybe curry favor, but suddenly the magus clapped his hand.

“I will handle the rest to my attendant. He will be testing six people aside from Ren that has found rare herbs. One of you with the best talent will become my disciple too.” The magus turned his back sat on the chair on the stage.

Allen became excited when he heard that. “Fantastic, it will save me money.”