Monte Arta

In a world far, far away, lies the continent of Ishgar, A great kingdom lies within Ishgar, the kingdom of Fiore... a small peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic! Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace, for most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life.

For some, however, magic is an art, and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These are the Wizards. Banded together into magical guilds they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune.

However, we are not here to talk about guilds or Wizards, we are here to talk about a certain village, to the extreme east of Fiore. A village named Monte Arta. My Village.

The Village of Monte Arta lied on the border between Seven and Fiore, In summers it was warm, and during winters, terribly cold.

To its east was a vast plain and to its west a great mountain range with a raging volcano visible on the horizon. To its north and south were forests filled with wild animals and oftentimes, strange plants.

This village had no road to cities and its villagers numbered less than 500, and they made all they needed for life together. As such, it was a very remote place, and rarely people passed by, to the point that the village was not on most maps.

Many adventuring wizards were pleasantly surprised when they found it amidst their long and tiring journies. A brief shelter from the villagers was a warm welcome to them.

The place I came to accept as my new home, was a cottage located in the woods north of the village.

There I lived, a young and bright 11-year-old boy with short spiky black hair and very dark brown eyes. A very normal boy you could say, normal as normal could get. Perhaps the only strange thing was a scar on my back, located on the hip-line which made me confused since I had no memory of getting it. In any case...

It was the 3rd of May X775, I was chilling under the shade of a tree as I ate apples.

Nature was truly great, I had never explored its beauty in my past life but in this life, I had a lot of free time, and having nothing to do for long hours helped me relax in nature and enjoy the sunlight and the breeze in peace.

The wind was cool and sunlight warm, under the shade, I could smell the scent of grass and flowers. The sweet taste of the red apples and the sound of chirping birds and leaves rustling left me calm and relaxed.

"This is life..." I muttered as I took another bite of the apple I was holding. And indeed it was. As I savored the taste, I thought back on the past and couldn't help but sigh.

After many years, the memories of my past life were foggy at best. Most things I had forgotten, only memories that had made a big impact on my life were still very clear. And things that I thought about every day to entertain my oftentimes bored mind; Things such as stories and movies and etc. Living a carefree life as a kid spoiled by two very kind parents in a world without much technology was as such, boring.

I didn't know where I was since no one in the village cared about the outside world, for decades it was peaceful. There was nothing unusual or supernatural either and no other human lived anywhere close which made gathering information harder since no one knew much in the village.

The only thing I knew about what was outside was a name that sounded familiar, 'Ishgar...' That's what they called the continent. Apparently, the village was part of no kingdom or something since they didn't acknowledge any authority but the chief. And the chief was one bitter old man who spoke nothing but foul words to any who dared talk to him.

I didn't care anyway, in my eyes, it was just a normal world or perhaps earth in the past that I was reborn in. As for the earliest memories of this life, I had forgotten them since I was half-sleep during everything that was happening. Deep down I knew I was not from this family since they were all blondes and I was not but they treated me as their own so I didn't care.

I was content to have a normal and peaceful life as a villager... A life of peace and maybe... Love, one day.

'This tastes really good!' I thought and expelled the thoughts out of my head, hoping to relax again only to hear a voice coming from the distance.

"AGE, AGE, come play with me!" A little girl barely 10 years old shouted as she ran under the intense rays of the morning sun. Her blonde hair seemed to glow as she approached me and pouted. Her face had slight freckles but it only made her cuter.

I was annoyed, I took out another apple from the basket and began eating it, seemingly not having heard the little girl. She was not amused.

Out of nowhere, I felt something crash into my stomach. I coughed out whatever was in my mouth, it took a moment for me to get my bearings and look at the little girl who had jumped on my stomach and run away a safe distance soon after.

"Lea, I don't want to play princess tea party... If you agree on something else, I will play with you." I said, calming my slight anger. Did I forget to mention it? For some reason, I have anger issues in this life. I get angry very soon very fast, it becomes quite uncontrollable after a certain point...

Thankfully, I have it under control.

Lea stuck out her tongue and shook her head, "No, you play tea party with me or I won't let you rest."

I was a little speechless, I couldn't help but think, 'Time to use that card...'

"I will tickle you and I won't stop..." I said and instantly, she lost her composure.

She quickly hid behind the tree we were under and a few seconds passed, then she came out again with a new strategy. Her eyes were looking at me sadly and she acted innocent and cute.

"But I have no one else to play with... You are my brother, you are the only one I have... Aren't you supposed to protect and play with your little sister?"

I felt a little bad despite knowing it was an act because it was true, 'I am the only sibling she has...'

There weren't lots of people our age in the village, most were older and the few that were our age were beaten by me because they tried to bully Lea.

"Okay, but only 1 time," I replied and she beamed happily.

We began walking back, I didn't forget to take the apples since they were very important after all. Lea began talking about rainbows...

"What do you think lies at the end of a big rainbow? Like the ones that cover the sky..." She asked me in curiosity as we passed a small waterfall, it was near the village and a faint small rainbow was visible near it. Sunlight was directly hitting it after all.

I contemplated a little, 'Let's tell her something exciting instead of boring nothing...'

I answered mysteriously, "There is a saying that at the end of a rainbow, the ones that split the sky, lies a big pot of gold."

She exclaimed in awe, I continued, "However beware, any who search for it to satisfy their greed shall meet the guardian of the gold and their fate will darkly unfold."

Her eyes widened in fear, she asked cautiously, "Who is this guardian? Will it eat me if I go there?"

I was amused as I answered grimly, "Who knows? The guardian is a Fairy with sharp teeth and red eyes, it only lets the one without greed pass by and get the gold."

Lea got a little closer and firmly took my hand, cautiously checking the surroundings, She whispered in my ear, "What if the one that gets there, wants it for someone else? Is that greed?"

"Why are you whispering in my ear?" I asked in interest.

She said as if it was obvious, "Because I don't want that Fairy to know!"

I chuckled as I pat her head, she pouted.

I answered, "No, that's not greed. Why do you want the gold anyway?" I asked curiously.

Lea shyly answered, "I want to buy you lots of apples... since you like them and all." she quickly walked forward, leaving me behind. She was too embarrassed to stay.

'Aww... Her ears are red... Cuteness Overload...' I thought and quickly ran up to her and patted her head, she seemed to enjoy it.

'I like having a younger sister...' I thought and smiled as we reached the cottage that I called home. Lea quickly walked ahead, "I have prepared a meal, come."

Lea always tried to cook for me, however, her cooking sucked. Despite that, I always ate it since it was made with pure sibling love.

It was empty but I knew that lily, the woman who raised me and I called mother and Rob, the man that provided for the family, and I called father, were both out working. Lily was a tailor in the village and Rob a hunter.

We entered the cottage and played for a while after a meal, it might have been boring for me but seeing Lea happy made me happy too.

We were interrupted by Lily and Rob returning for launch. Rob had hunted a rabbit.

"Hello!" I said followed by Lea who jumped to Lily's embrace, talking with excitement about the stuff I made up about rainbows. She seemed intent on treasure hunting.

Ron's eyes took a glint the moment the word 'Gold' was spoken. "You said... Gold? Tell me the story from the beginning with details, my beautiful daughter."

Lily sighed and muttered, "Here we go again..."

I waited with great expectation, wanting to see what crazy thing Rob would do with this made-up stuff. He was known in the village as Greedy Rob. Maybe he would actually hunt a rainbow?!