The sun was past its peak when I finished my daily studies and decided to take another stroll through the village. There were many people moving along the stone paths of Nara, carrying material components that would be transmuted to new houses or used to mend the damage to existing ones.

My parents had told me that the people of this village were not as fortunate as our family when they had received their mana from The Divine. Some of them had almost no magic left in them, which meant they had to work manually for everything they needed done. I could tell by the roughness of their hands that this was the case.

Most people in the city of Elysia were gifted with large amounts of mana during their liturgy. The Divine mana we received during this ceremony, was different to the MP everyone in the Apocosmos had access to. It was unique to our religion and used for the spells of our faith only and not for mundane class skills.

Having vast amounts of Divine mana meant that people could spend their time pursuing nobler causes, such as research or crafting magical items, which in turn could be sold for a lot of money.

In smaller cities or villages like this one, however, people who had significantly less mana instead, had to spend their days performing labor for money to cover their daily needs and sometimes even to buy magical items that would help them to live a more comfortable life. I could not imagine ever trading something as valuable as my time in exchange for money.

I did not know if this was custom in this community, but I saw many people sitting on benches or on the ground, seemingly idle, talking to each other. They did not seem to mind the sun that was on their faces. Indeed, aside from squinting their eyes, they seemed to be welcoming it.

Perhaps the recent brigand attack had thrown them off balance, but it was clear that life here was rather different than how it was back in Elysia.

I continued walking until I noticed my mother talking to a couple. The woman was lean and tall with long brown hair, and was holding a sleeping boy not older than three years.

Name         : Nessa Light

Race         : Light Elf

Class        : Elementalist

Level        : 29

Another thing that would take some getting used to was the fact that people cared very little about their levels here. As long as they had enough mana to go on with their lives, they did not level up a lot. My sister was only eight levels lower than this lady and higher than most of the people in the whole village.

Name         : Ched Mountainheart

Race         : Human

Class        : Smith of the Major Arcanum

Level        : 41

 The man, on the other hand, was decently leveled and had most probably even changed his class on level forty. He was very muscular but with a face that was equally honest and kind to that of his wife. They were engaged in casual conversation with my mother.

I had not seen her since she raised the forest monument earlier today and wanted to ask her so many questions. At the very top of my list, of course, was getting the spell recipe for what she did had done.

"Ah, Adel, my son!” my mother called when she saw me approach. “Come. I want you to meet some old friends of mine. This is Ched and Nessa. We all studied for a brief time at the University of the Order. Many, many years ago.”

"You make it sound as if we are ancient, Cheandra!” said the muscular man.

"We might as well be, as far as our children are concerned,” my mother said with a smile. “We studied together until these lovebirds decided to leave the university to travel the world and craft wondrous magic items.”

"Hello, Uncle Ched. Hello, Aunt Nessa,” I said, timidly.

"Look what you’ve done now, Cheandra. The boy is already treating us like old news,” said the tall, smiling woman.

"I… no, I didn’t mean to—” I tried to explain myself.

"Oh, we’re just teasing you, young man,” said the woman, and caressed my cheek with the inside of her hand.

"Adel, this here is my son Kai,” said Ched, with a big proud smile on his face. “He will soon be three years old and I expect he will be receiving his mana the same time you do.”

"That is great to hear Unc… sir,” I corrected myself, rather awkwardly.

"No need for formalities, little man,” he said, and reached his hand out to shake mine. “Cheandra’s children are always welcome in our home. Make sure to visit, you hear?”

I raised my hand to his and nodded as he shook it, partly in agreement and partly because even his gentlest handshake was more than enough to move my whole body.

"Well then, I guess we shall see you later, Cheandra,” said the kindly faced woman with the child in her arms. “Nice to meet you, Adel.”

My mother kissed them both, as well as the still sleeping child, and we started walking back toward our house.

"Were you looking for me, darling?” she asked me.

"Not really,” I said. “After the ceremony, I stayed at the forest you created, then I met with father, talked with Seika, and I studied. Then I wanted to take a walk, and that’s when I saw you. You have to give me the recipe for the spell you cast today. It was so wonderful.”

"Recipe? Are you picking up your sister’s habits already?” She took my hand, as we started going downhill toward a path that would lead back up to our house. “There is no recipe for that spell, Adel. And even if I drafted a recipe, what would you do with a spell like that?”

"I don’t know,” I answered honestly, and shrugged my shoulders. “But it looked amazing.”

"Well, if you can think of a good use for the spell, I will consider writing down its… recipe.” She laughed and bent over to kiss my head as we were walking. “It’s so funny,” she continued. “When we were studying with Ched and Nessa, we used to talk about how great it would be if our kids were able to study together in the future, just as we did. And here we are. That little joke of ours is about to come true.”

"I don’t know how much I’d be able to hang out with that baby, mom,” I said, hoping that I would not be charged with babysitting in the same way that my sister had been when I was younger. “I am at least six years older than him. Don’t they have an older child I can play with? I mean… study with. Like you dreamed.”

My mother’s smile subsided a little bit. Surely it wasn’t that bad that I thought of playing rather than of studying at first?

"They don’t have any other children. Though they have just adopted a child your age,” she explained in a soft voice. “There was a couple who lived next to them with their daughter. Their magic was depleted when the mother was giving birth to their daughter.”

"What do you mean, depleted?” I asked.

"The birth was dangerous, and they spent all of their mana to grant their newborn safe passage. They had lived their life without mana for the past nine years, but sadly they were killed in the recent attacks. Ched and Nessa have decided to take the poor girl in. It must be awfully difficult for her.”

"I see.” I wondered. “Mom, does this girl have red hair?” I asked.

"Why yes, she does. Red hair and blue eyes. Have you met her already?”

"I saw her in the forest. What is her name?”

My mother considered the question for a while. We had just arrived home and my father and sister were still at work on the house.

"Myriam is her name, I believe.” She called my sister and father into our house for lunch and we all entered, tired from a day’s hard work.

"Myriam…” I said under my breath.