Dawn. Through an open window, the first light of day pervaded the darkness and brushed against a small foot peeking from a disheveled blanket, a slight tickle. Ariene rubbed her toes together before slipping her foot back under the blanket snugly, hiding from the sun’s line of sight.
Embraced by a soft bed; warmed by a cotton blanket; her cheek resting against fabric instead of brick pavement; such luxuries were almost enough to lull her back into a deep sleep… almost. Ariene’s eyes flew wide open as she suddenly woke up with a startle.
‘It’s not the usual alley…’ she thought. She tried to raise herself when strands of captivatingly dark hair, unwilling to separate, intertwined with her flame tinted locks, pulling her head back. She reached with her fingers and slowly unraveled the twine, her mind still muddled.
Quietly. Gently. Ariene wasn’t used to this. The feel of a bed, nor… the presence of a companion. What could have led to such an odd awakening? Well… it sure weren’t the culprits people would usually think of.
What had transpired right as she left the tavern?
Every twist through an alleyway or turn after a path kept bringing her back to the Gold Eye! Bellona District was in such a mess that there existed no straight way back to the upper district, unless of course one was familiar with the path. She could only accept her fate; she didn’t know the way back and had gotten lost.
Ariene returned to the tavern with slumped shoulders, defeated.
“Uhk. How embarrassing…” Her head quickly warmed as she returned, and her face grew bright red. Thankfully, the tavener, Morrow offered a room to stay the night, with the catch that she had to share it with others—the others being the second potato sack that Roa brought to the tavern, Yuria Illyas, and Roa himself.
It was either she took the offer, or endured another cold night in an even more unfamiliar alley, pondering life while staring up at the starry sky. It was after she weighed Roa against the rats scurrying about the alleys that she immediately accepted.
When she finished untangling her hair, Yuria was still in peaceful slumber, with no hint of concern on her face for sharing a bed. Ariene was amazed.
She glanced over at where Roa had slept: a wooden chair and desk by the door, with a burnt out candle he used to read late into the night. He had stayed by the door to ease any and all misgivings about them sleeping here; the gesture was enough to deem him worthy of some form of trust.
‘Hm? Where’s he gone?’ Ariene mused. A look out the yard from the window—fleeting mists of air visible underneath a tree—there Roa was, laden with sweat, in the middle of vigorous exercise. It seemed he had woken up an hour ago, if not earlier.
‘He shouldn’t have gotten a wink of sleep,’ Ariene thought. The boy’s behavior was abnormal.
In the middle of the night, at times Ariene would wake to a sudden shout, but feign slumber while keeping an open ear to Roa restlessly fidgeting in his chair. It seemed he was having nightmares, what about, horrifying or traumatic, she couldn’t imagine. Whenever he awoke, he would simply lull himself back to sleep with a gentle tune.
It was intriguing how the boy that approached her with a dumb smile—that had bested her in a match of both steel and mana, and possessed bloated ambitions—would have such an unexpected vulnerability.
Ariene perched her chin on her hand. She took in a breath of morning air as she observed Roa’s training session from the window.
‘Hm… We just met, why does this person want me in his party?’
What drove him, she wondered? Could there be a deeper motive behind his actions? Maybe Ariene would take up the offer to form a party just to sate her curiosity, just within the academy. But what about afterwards?
‘I’ll consider it then.’ She wanted to further observe this boy called Roa Fariche before making her decision.
***
The toll of a large bell swept across the skies of Lyria, the academy’s call for the final assessment. In acknowledgement, the gray ties congregated towards the nearest Kuujn Station to charter a ride up to Luveris Academy.
Kuujn—large, fish-like creatures, but with warm blood and horizontal flukes, and small wings instead of fins; these marvelous creatures had the ability to fly through the air gracefully as aquatic creatures would when swimming in water, albeit in a slow and gentle fashion.
This ability led to them being outfitted with a massive saddle, domesticated as convenient and comfortable modes of air travel. The use of kuujns was also the most accessible way up to Luveris Academy.
All those who managed to get decent results from the academy’s initial tests already received their notices to return, and among them, three gray ties who had come from the direction of the Bellona District scrambled into the landing port of Lyria’s Kuujn Station.
“Wait! Wait! Let us on!” In their haste, they didn’t bother to check if the kuujn that they boarded was flying commercial, but they did notice that it was smaller than the usual kuujn, only about the size of three pairs of wooden carriages.
“Who are you people?” A young noble, wearing a lavish coat and sitting at a table oddly strapped down on the kuujn’s saddle, faced them sternly with a question. “This is the Philitte family’s kuujn! It isn’t just for anyone to board, immediately step off and wait for the next one to arrive!”
One of the three newcomers had just taken a seat to catch his breath when the young noble came at them aggressively. They’d seen the previous kuujn depart just now, and waiting for another one would doom them their schedule for the final assessment.
A man sitting with the young noble at the table spoke apathetically while his curly mustache dipped into the cup of tea he held, “Let them on, Novis. They’re going to the academy the same. Perhaps you could hit it off with them and make some friends.”
“Who? With them? Father, did you not see them coming from the Bellona District? What would others think of us if we associate ourselves with common riff raff?”
“Novis,” the man called, sighing at his son’s narrow mindset. “Since they’ve boarded our kuujn without ill intent, let’s provide them with some hospitality. Besides, these three…”
The curly mustached man, wearing a robe no less luxurious than his son’s coat, glanced at the newcomers with intrigue. Out of the three, he recognized one at first glance.
‘Ariene Diadora, the problem child of Forest Riviera. And…’ The boy next to the woodlands’ princess was hard to place a name on, but when he sported a dumb smile, the man immediately recalled, ‘Roa Fariche? Why are these two together? Hm?’
A faint pulse of mana. It came from nearby. The man sensed a hint of a familiar mana signature coming from the smiling boy.
‘How odd,’ he thought. But before he could move to investigate, the boy interrupted him with an unrefined greeting, almost causing him to spit out his tea.
“Good day, sir! Could you allow us to hitch a ride up to the floating rock? We’re running a bit late. You see, my companions both lost track of time picking flowers—Ahk!”
A quick fist went straight to Roa’s cheek, and although he tilted his head in anticipation, he was still planted flat on the ground. Ariene’s jab was stronger than what her slender arm let on.
The young noble wearing a lavish coat curled back in fear, while his father replied only after a moment of silence, “I-It’s fine, take a seat wherever you like. I’ll have to apologize to the two ladies as we have no chairs available.”
“Much appreciated!” Roa Fariche replied with a nod and a chuckle, while Ariene and Yuria bowed respectfully.
When the kuujn’s bellow reverberated from below, they felt their feet pushing against the floor; the kuujn had begun to fly. It was only until they left the hangar that they’d regained balance.
Roa rubbed his swollen cheek, relieved. ‘I managed to take Novreau’s mind off of the storage pouch.’
Due to the limitations of his meager red tier spirit, he had yet to finish wiping away the owner’s mana signature on the storage pouch. When it neared its original owner, it automatically let out a signal of recognition.
Thankfully, Roa had weakened it to an extent it seemed, enough to avoid immediate suspicion. Otherwise, his efforts in leading Ariene and Yuria in circles this morning to end up late and hitch a ride on Novreau Philitte’s personal kuujn would have been a waste.
Well, sadly, it had already become somewhat of a waste.
Roa couldn’t go within five meters of Novreau because of the alarm of the storage pouch. Instead, he hoped the man would keep his distance and stay at his table comfortably sipping tea.
‘How unfortunate. Who would have known that this kid was his son?’ Roa sighed dejectedly. His plan to somehow gain support or a recommendation from the only respectable noble in Luveris Academy fell through. Who told him to steal from the guy’s only son?
Roa took out his stained burlap pouch from a pocket underneath his shirt, and fished out an odd-looking coin. According to Morrow, the coin was a token of admission for the academy. If ever there was a problem with the final assessment, then the odd coin would be the only thing he had to rely on.
Without issue, it at least allowed Roa to take the first and second assessment. However, lacking Forest Riviera’s recommendation, the stigma of being a poor kid from Bellona District still left him with some trepidation.
To ease his nerves, Roa tossed the coin into the air, recalling how he made his decision. ‘—Heads was to use the token and try my luck at the academy. Tails was to accept Morrow’s offer to sell the token.’
The big dream as a kid was to learn about magic and rise above his status. Watching the odd coin flip in the air, he caught it, stopping it before it landed on a side.
Now, and in the past, there was no difference. For him, the coin would always inevitably land on heads.
Meanwhile, over at the table, Novreau caught a glance of the token in Roa’s hand. Intrigued, he stood from the table to approach him. “Young man—” he called, before being abruptly stopped by an open palm.
“Stay back!” Roa said in cold sweat. The situation was precarious. The storage pouch hidden away in his chest was trembling.
Novreau’s son abruptly stood up from his seat, angered by Roa’s shout. “You dare!? My father was generous enough to let you stay on!” He was of a mind to throw the pauper off the kuujn.
Roa quickly thought of a way to keep Novreau at a distance without offending him. He placed his hand on his stomach and smiled wryly, “Sir, I apologize! Last night’s dinner has been incessant! Please speak from where you are!”
Everyone immediately covered their noses; Ariene and Yuria quickly stepped away from Roa’s vicinity with a grimace and a hint of disgust. Although a particular scent had yet to spread around, they had taken Roa’s warning seriously.
“Ah? Nevermind. Head to the infirmary after we land.” Novreau Philitte said, finding himself speechless once again. He wanted to inspect Roa’s token, but soon found no need. He had already sensed a sliver of the founder’s mana from where he was.
‘So it was authentic…’ he thought. The academy board wished to ask for the token to clarify the boy’s qualifications. With this, there was no need for debate. Novreau would gladly speak up for him.
In contrast to Novreau’s good impressions, his son, Novis, grew irritated.
Roa suddenly made him recall the previous evening’s insult. ‘Why would father allow this person to ride with us? –Friends? With such a crass guy? Seeing as he came from Bellona District, he might even be the one that stole the storage pouch my father lent me!’ He said to himself as he bit his thumb, not knowing his presumptions were spot on.
Roa continued to toss his token, unaware of everyone’s thoughts as he was lost in his own. ‘Not much I can do at this point, I should prepare my state of mind for the final assessment. I wonder how they go about it?’
It was said that the academy could see into one’s future—what suitable path to be taken, magic or aura, or both. Roa surmised that it had something to do with the final assessment, which everyone deemed futile for him to even attempt back when his left arm was crippled.
Anticipation slowly built in his chest. What would it be like—the path that Luveris Academy would show him?
The kuujn’s saddle trembled as the beast let out another loud bellow, while the wind that blew strongly, diminished as it slowed its ascent. They were finally nearing the floating island.
Roa stood from his seat, unaware that on his left arm, hidden within the sleeves of his shirt, a brand emanating a dim cyan glow surfaced. It began to pulse over and over, as if it was trying to catch his attention.
Regrettably, like everyone else, Roa was too busy gazing upon the majesty of the floating island to notice it.
—End of Chapter 6
