Part 1

Today is the day of Cynthia's departure from Rudra and our home forever..

Thinking about it makes me really sad, I don't wanna see her go.

We sit at the table eating breakfast together, she has gotten along well with my family and me ever since she arrived.

Ralph gets up and leaves the table to go check in with the town guard, it seems Cynthia's display yesterday scared off some of the weaker monsters in the area, most that stayed have retreated fully into the woods.

Eliana leaves the table to go change Lily who is whining in the corner of the room..

For a brief moment it's just me and Cynthia at the table… no one else…

Today is the last day.

Let's talk a bit more.

Or at least that's what I think, when I open my mouth all I can talk about is magic training or things about the town. Come to think of it, I don't even know where she's from..

I guess I could just ask couldn't I?

"Hey Cynthia"

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind, will you tell me about your home."

"Ahh? oh uh sure, I come from the Calor Dukedom, it's on the other side of Selestria Kingdom from here"

Selestria is the name of the large kingdom that borders Ravana to the east.

As for the Calor Dukedom, well i've never heard of it before..

"What's it like there?"

"It's nice, it's not as beautiful as it is here, there are less towns and it lacks any real cities, the people are mostly pretty nice but it's not really a great place compared to one of the big kingdoms"

She turns her head down just stares mindfully like she's in deep thought.

I guess she might not be too fond of her homeland huh?

…

"What about you Al, what do you think of your homeland?"

"Eh?… honestly I like it here, I love living in Rudra but I haven't really seen any of the Ravana Kingdom yet"

"It's a nice place, just be careful when you're older, there are thieves and swindlers in every town and city no matter where you are"

"Yes ma'am"

"Good"

She smiles and says just that..

Part 2

Finally the moment of Cynthia's departure arrives.

I feel anxious like I'm about to be left alone somewhere in public with no way home..

After all Cynthia was my first real connection to this world outside of my parents.

It's painful seeing her go.

My parents stand at the doorway and after saying their goodbyes to Cynthia they just wait as she and I have a word alone..

"Al.."

"Cynthia.."

…

"Well one of us has to break the silence, and as your senior it feels like my duty so I'll just say this: it was really great being your magic teacher Allen Corrant, you're an amazing young kid and I think you might just end up surpassing even me one day.."

She says that with a bitter smile then fixes her hair.

"Thank you master, i really enjoyed… no, *erm* ..without you I wouldn't know half of what I know now, and even if I did you were still there for me wether or not I failed or succeeded at learning a new spell or ingraining a new idea in my head, in some ways you helped me more than you know"

"I'm very glad to hear that Allen.."

…

"I feel like I should tell you… about my name"

"Your name?"

"Yes, a long time ago I was a small kid like you, I wanted so badly to learn magic so my parents hired me a tutor of my own, on the day that I reached the advanced rank I decided to test out a new spell, I ended up lighting my families entire garden on fire, my father was furious at me, he yelled at me for an hour about how I was always making trouble, or how I'd whine, or the fact that I wasn't as good as my sister at a lot of things, eventually he reached the conclusion that he wanted me to leave as soon as I was of age and to never take the family name again, he even told my mentor to pack his bags…

That night my mentor came to me and told me a story about how he'd been kicked out of his own home for a much different incident but similar reason.

And then he told me that he saw from his window the spell that I had created, and that it was beautiful, that even though my garden burned, it was a brilliant sight to see that kind of magic on display first hand…

He congratulated me on reaching the advanced rank and that I deserved some kind of reward yet he could not think of one, so my mentor gave me the name Flamegarden."

That's an incredibly deep story..

One that makes me feel very bad for her, now I get it, that's why she hung her head when I asked about her home..

I am such an idiot.

"Uhm, Cynthia, if you don't mind would you tell me your name from before?"

"Oh, it was Calor.. Cynthia Filoa Calor"

Calor… wait isn't that the name of the dukedom she is from?

"Uhhm Calor.. isn't that where you were born?"

"Oh yes, …my father was the duke, he still is I think"

Woah… so she's, ..royalty?

"Cynthia, I want you to know I will always respect you, and no matter how far I go or where I am, I will always think of you as my mentor…"

I gave her a deep bow after I said that, bowing in this world is a normal part of formality in most countries, it's serves as a sign of respect, subservience, and gratitude.

"Thank you Allen, and I will always remember you as my favored student, even though your growth scares me at times, it's a really incredible thing to have seen, i thank you as well for this experience"

Cynthia bows back to me with tears welling in her eyes, ..come to think of it I might cry too..

…

After that Cynthia departed.

My parents saw her off with a wave from the doorway and I did the same from the road in front of our house.

Looking back at me, I see that radiant smile on her face as she waves back.

It saddens me to think that I may never see that smile again…

Part 3

Three days later.

Three days after Cynthia left I met someone..

When wandering around the streets of Rudra like I tend to do in my free time, I found a small bookstore, inside they had all sorts of books on world history, geography, swordsmanship styles, a beginners guide to magic.. I probably don't need that one, and dungeons.

I thought that last one was interesting so I bought it and went to take it home with me, leaving the store these two kids saw me and started following me..

Now because of Ralph's training I can sense Aura a little but only when it's strong so I can't really pin point their location until I turn down an alleyway to take a shortcut..

"Hey you!"

Turning around I see two kids, around my age, maybe a little older..

The first one who called out my name is kind of chubby with messy dark hair, the other one is a bit skinnier with orange hair and freckles..

The first thought that comes to mind is "ohhh the jokes" but I quickly push it aside, there's time for that kind of humor later.

"Can i help you?"

I kind of already have an idea what they want.. my money.. but maybe I'm wrong and they just want to be my friends..

"Give us your money loser" the fat one said that.

Bollocks..

How do I go about this? I'm more than capable of handling some petty bullies, but fire magic is dangerous and I don't want to hurt anybody..

I could strengthen my body with mana but then I might get into trouble for beating these two up..

Hmm…

As I curl my arms and put my finger to my chin I try to think, the two bullies just look at me in confusion..

Before I got too deep into thought I hear a *crack* and an "ow" to go with it.

Looking back to where the bullies are standing their attention is completely gone from me, behind them stands a young boy closer to my age than them with short blond hair..

"Get away you bullies"

"Huh? Luke? You want some more?"

Saying that the fat kid makes a fist and smacks it into his other hand, what a cliché..

"P… p-pick on someone your own size!"

He said that bravely and all but isn't he smaller than me? He might be younger too..

"You got it"

"Wait.. we could just beat up both of them"

"Yeah let's do that"

This has gone too far, this Luke kid is brave and all but he's not very bright if he's picking a fight he's already lost..

Did I mention I'm not fond of bullies?

Sighing I lift up my hand and form a simple ball of fire in it, beginner rank spell [Fireball].

Stunned, all three idiots look at me with their eyes wide open.

"Chester we should get out of here"

"Yeah"

They're just gonna run away like that?

It was that easy?

For a brief moment I am lost for words…

Chester and well, let's call him Chester II, both run away after my little display of fire magic..

Part 4

Later I take Luke back to the house and introduce him to my parents, we say we meet at the market and we're friends, we obviously don't mention the bullies.

When Luke introduces himself my parents are a bit taken aback, apparently Luke is the mayor's son..

When I questioned why the mayor's so. Would be getting bullied he says it's because those kids are jealous of him, and that he doesn't want anything bad to happen so he doesn't tell his father about it.

We hang out in my room and I offer to show him how to do some basic magic, he seemed so fascinated after all..

He accepted my offer and we agree to meet up everyday to train a little, I'm advanced rank so technically even tho I'm only six I'm capable of teaching someone else, I didn't really think about it until now but it's kind of a cool thing to say.

Over the course of the next few weeks me and Luke meet up regularly to practice magic, a few days in he expressed interest in swordsmanship but when my father offered to teach him he was hesitant and said he'd have to ask.

After a few months Luke made little progress and decided Magic might not be he strong suit, he doesn't particularly have much mana either..

However a little while after that he eventually got the okay and started practicing swordsmanship mainly as my sparring partner with my dad as the judge.

And just like that, I had passed another year in this little town…