The Link

Friedrich is burning. The white flame brings him no warmth and scald but coldness — coldness like the one he had experienced years ago.

He can't move, nor can he say anything.

He can't even seize the only thing he can control — the only thing which he has left.

The flame is devouring Friedrich.

It wants to keep doing so until he is no longer capable of defending.

It wants to do so until he gives in.

It will swallow the young man eventually…

"Fritz, let's go home…" Friedrich heard a voice.

*********

About 800 years ago, A disaster arrived at the old continent. With it came hunger, illness, extreme weather, death, uncontrolled beasts, and the most devastated of all, the "Executors". The disaster was later named to be Judgement.

Humans tried to resist. In fact, a very big percentage of the population knew how to utilize the power of nature – fire, ice, water, wind, earth, lightning, life… It has been said in the "Holy Book" that the power came from the "Utopia" which the "Lord" created. People could utilize the power through the connection of faith. That's why the power was also called – "the Link".

Twelve people stood out as the best among the Crusaders. They were called the Twelve Paladins. The Paladins could live for centuries so they were seen to be chosen by the god.

The resistance was futile. Five out of the twelve Paladins were killed and one was lost.

The first judgment killed 50 million people, which was about half of the total human population. The first Judgement ended abruptly three years after its arrival. The Judgment and the disaster with it disappeared within one night as it had never come before.

However, people realized that the place was no longer suitable for living. They would not and could not risk experiencing another deadly catastrophe like this.

Led by the rest of the Paladins, the several human kingdoms were united as the "Human Alliance", aiming to find a better piece of land through migration. The first year of the migration was set as the first year of the New Calendar, which was represented as NC 1.

During the process of the migration, the second and third Judgement arrived. Leaving millions of deaths behind each time.

The migration lasted for more than two hundred years, left with only 10 million people remaining. The desperate humans found a new continent on the other side of the Isthmus. They named it the "New World".

As humans settled in the new world, the fourth Judgement arrived. It was recorded as the strongest judgment of all time. Mankind was forced to the place of extinction because of the lack of preparation in the New World. The only Paladin who was still alive at the time sacrificed himself and built an invisible wall, which separated the New World from the old one, ending the fourth Judgement. The Last Paladins was revered as the greatest human of all time. But his name remains a mystery.

In less than half a century after the fourth Judgement, the human population rose to 30 million, freeing itself from the edge of extinction.

However, without the threat of the Judgement and the decline of authority of the government, the "Human Alliance" was disintegrated – A civil war broke out. The Civil War lasted for 30 years, also called the Thirty Years' War.

The war ended in NC456 with only four great powers remaining in the new World -- The "Borealis Republic" at the Northwest corner, The "Divinus Kingdom" North of the great Bay by the East, the "Occultus Realm" in at Southwest corner, and the "Eous State" by the Eastern Bay.

*********

It was January, the coldest month, and the beginning of the year 767.

Sun rose from the horizon line that stretched beyond the North Sea.

The sunlight streamed out from the distance, bringing brightness to the freezing world. Although the shine in the middle of winter morning was too weak to be sensed, people could still feel its warmth.

On the bank, there stood two young students, one tall and one short, all wearing navy blue school uniforms.

Watching the sun rise over Hiemalis City, which is the capital of the Borealis Republic in the North, during winter was an event someone must experience at least once in life.

At least, that was what Emilia thought.

"Emilia Von Licht, it's 5:50 in the morning. I can tell that you are excited to be in the Borealis Republic, but you don't want to fall asleep during Mr. Weinberg's class in the afternoon," Flatly but not coldly, the teenager said to the young girl standing beside him.

The teenager was a very good-looking person with light-colored skin, short brown hair, and dark red pupils like a burning fire.

The young face told people nothing with a firmness that did not match his age. He looked nothing like a fifteen-year-old.

"Fritz, I know. I know. And please don't call me by my full name! It's awkward!"

sighed Emilia, while giving the boy a grimace. "Of course, You will never understand the romance of a sunrise, my dumb brother."

The girl was wearing a dark blue school uniform with a long skirt, along with a red bow tie on her neck. She wore neither make-up nor any other extra decorations besides her sword (if that even counts as an accessory).

Unlike her brother, Emilia's shining red eyes were full of naivety and hope. They remained as the original beauty like rubies that had not been carved. She was only thirteen, two years younger than her brother.

Emilia's long chocolate brown hair was blown by the wind, with some strands smacking Friedrich's face. He then, surprisingly to Emilia, helped her to tie her hair. He had never done that before.

The siblings looked alike, but they were too different to be siblings in others' views. It was reasonable since their last name, "Von Licht", was pretty popular in their home country, the Divinus Kingdom.

"Can I interpret that as an insult from you, my little sister?" said Friedrich with a stone face.

Emilia knew that he was not angry. Friedrich was just "lacking emotions". He had always been like this since he came to the Borealis Republic three years ago.

"As you will," laughed Emilia. "You are as funny as usual. Three years of studying here haven't yet made you like those Borealians."

Emilia's time in the Borealis Republic had taught her that the Borealians were not friendly to foreigners like her. This was due to the war fought between the Divinus Kingdom, where Emilia lived, and the Borealis Republic(It was an empire at the time) nine years ago. The war was called the Great War, leading to the rise of nationalism within both countries.

Friedrich then stared at Emilia and joked, "And I remember you crying on my chest on the day I left three years ago."

"Fritz!" Emilia blushed. "You promised me to never bring that up!"

The bell rang as they were talking. The massive needle on the bell tower pointed at the number six.

"Nope, I will make fun of you for the rest of your life," Friedrich said, awkwardly since he was teasing his sister without even changing his tone.

"Fritz!" Emilia pouted, trying to convey the message to Friedrich that she was angry.

It worked pretty well, except Friedrich received the message thinking that Emilia was trying to be cute. He couldn't help but say yes to that.

"Fine. I will make it a challenge: if you pass the final testing and graduate from the academy successfully, you win, and I will try to forget that."

The instant she heard the promise, Emilia jumped up with a smiley face.

"Ha! If I win, you have to not only forget about that but also promise me to do one thing." Emilia said energetically.

"Of course. But only if you get the grade."

"I always win, you know that." Emilia said, and reinforced it again, "Always!"

"But you know that our uncle will be there, right?" Said Friedrich. "The final test has always been a worldwide event."

As soon as Emilia heard the word "uncle", her face changed. She did not like the uncle figure.

"Our uncle? You mean that asshole?" Emilia turned and looked at the sea. "The reason I left the Kingdom is to escape from him!"

The sun was fully out of the water now. The reflection on the sea surface distorted and changed rhythmically with the flow of the waves.

"I know you don't want to see him again but at least he is our uncle, our only close relative left alive…"

Emilia snorted and said, "It's not that I don't want to see him. I just don't want to think about him!"

"Calm down, Emilia."

"Calm down? He caused the death of our father. Friedrich! Why do you have to forgive someone like him? Forget about it, he had already been corrupted by power."

"He loved us and our country more than anyone," Friedrich replied calmly, pretending not to care.

"You mean the uncle who banished his nephew?" Said Emilia as she looked directly into Friedrich's eyes.

"I was not exiled from the Kingdom. I chose to leave…" As Friedrich said, his face changed for the first time in this conversation.

Emilia sensed Friedrich's remorse. She regretted and held his hand with apology.

She was only ten when that tragedy happened three years ago, so Emilia didn't know the details of what happened that day. All she remembered was fire burning higher than mountains and the voices of people screaming around her.

[I know nothing about my brother.] She signed.

Silence followed…

Not entire silence…The bush behind the siblings was shuffling. Someone was hiding inside.

"Who's there?!"

Emilia found out immediately and dragged out her sword.

Activating her Link power, the wind flowed quickly around Emilia. Looking closely, numerous wind blades flew through the air stream, cutting anything that approached Emilia.

"Ple…ple…please don't hurt me!"

Trembling while falling out of the bush, a young girl begged. "I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to overhear your conversation!"

The girl seemed to be a bit introverted since she blushed when she fell out of the bush with her hand on the ground.

She was wearing the exact uniform dress Emilia was wearing but a bit bigger. The girl was about the same age as Friedrich. A wreath decorated her golden hair which was now full of leaves from the bush. Dark Circles were formed around her greenish-blue eyes. She probably didn't get a good sleep last night (and it's only 6 a.m. right now too).

"Please don't hurt her," said Friedrich as he turned to the girl. "Florence? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the dorm?"

"You know each other?" Asked Emilia in surprise.

"Yes," Answered Florence, the young girl, cleaning the leaves off her clothes. "We were frie…"

"We were classmates." Friedrich interrupted as Florence was talking. "Her name is Florence Foster. I trust her. I don't think she meant to hear those things we were talking about. Please forgive her."

As Friedrich explained, Florence nodded and looked solemnly at Emilia. "You must be Emilia. Your brother has told me about you and your story multiple times…"

Emilia shook hands with Florence.

She then thought to herself: [Florence doesn't seem to be a bad person. And what we were talking about wasn't really of any secret. Plus, even if she did, she wouldn't actually know what happened. But why do they know each other? I didn't know any aristocrats with the surname "Foster", so she must be a commoner. How could my brother know a civilian? They also call each other by their first name!]

"Friedrich…Hmm, that's suspicious…" said Emilia with her arm crossed like a detective, "Any other unknown and inappropriate relationships?"

"NO!" The two teenagers shouted in unison immediately.

*********

Friedrich and Emilia walked into the classroom together.

It was a big classroom compared to the ones Emilia had back in the Divinus Kingdom. She had heard from Friedrich that St. Francis Academy was one of the best schools in the world. The walls outside of the classroom were full of excellent graduates who became celebrities in the "Legion".

A big blackboard was embedded at the front wall of the classroom, with some chalk in the small box next to it. A wooden podium was placed in front of the board on the stage. There were several rows of long tables and chairs for students to sit at the back.

Other than Friedrich and Emilia, twenty other students were sitting in the classroom, chatting with each other as they walked in. There was a big range of age among the students – most of them were teenagers but there were also people with grey hair.

"You have met Florence Foster this morning. You can sit next to her if you want. She is very trustworthy." said Friedrich, repeating his comment about the girl.

Florence waved at them as the siblings walked closer.

Next to Florence, there sat a teenage boy with light brown hair who was oddly closing both of his eyes while writing something on a piece of paper. He turned and smiled at them without even looking. "Good morning, Fritz."

"He's William, William Ainsworth, a good friend of mine." Introduced Friedrich. "He's blind, but he's no weaker than any normal person."

Behind William were two twin sisters who looked exactly alike. They all had blue hair and blue eyes.

"Wow, a new member of the class!" yelled one of the twins with excitement. "She's so cute! Is she your sister?"

Emilia was shocked by her enthusiasm when she jumped and hugged her.

"Emmmm…Hi? I am Emilia. Nice to meet…you…?"

Friedrich signed, "They are the Zabelle sisters She is the loud one, Azure. And the quiet one sitting over there is Frostine."

"Enough, Azure. Not everyone is as childish as you," said Frostine, who just stuck her head out of the book piles. She had been sleeping apparently.

Azure released Emilia who nearly got stifled when they hugged, "Fine…"

As soon as Emilia broke free from Azure, she hid behind Friedrich's back as fast as she could, as if it was the only safe place left in the world.

They then heard noises of people shouting.

"Igor! How dare you talk to me like this…" A teenager with blond hair sneered at another one next to him.

"пошел на хуй(Swearing), you toff…" the second one with a scar on his left eye cursed back.

Two young men were sitting behind the twins with weird body postures — They were looking at each other face to face with nearly zero distance.

According to Emilia's experiences, they were either going to kiss each other or a fight was going to break out. The answer would be the latter.

The one with the scar slapped the other in the face, and the other punched back at his belly.

They were about to start another round of boxing if Azure had not interjected by shooting water balls straight to their head. It was her link power.

"Shut up you boys. Don't you see there is a guest today?"

"A guest? Another idiot who got in because they're so-called noble in blood?" shouted hostilely by the one with the scar.

"He's Igor, a Paranoid," Friedrich explained to Emilia. "Just don't mess with him."

"What did you call me? My rival?" Igor roared.

"Nothing…"

"There's an arena outside. Let's duel and see who's better!" yelled Igor, looking thrilled.

"Forget it, Igor."

"No!"

At the same time, the blond-haired one was "observing" Emilia. "What's your name, Cute girl?"

"Don't talk to him, Emilia. He's a coxcomb." Azure said as she pulled Emilia by her side.

...

The chaotic situation persisted until a man walked in and stood at the front of the classroom…

"Good morning, welcome to Saint Francis Academy. My name is Lysander Weinberg, your teacher for the next three years." Said Mr. Weinberg as he looked around the classroom.

The man certainly looked no older than forty years old.

However, according to the old librarian at the school, Lysander Weinberg had been in this school for at least seventy years. He had never aged since the day the librarian saw him.

Emilia was amazed when she heard that.

That also explained his white hair and gray pupils. At least, Emilia didn't think anyone at the age of forty would have those kinds of facial traits.

Mr. Weinberg was also tall. He seemed to be a serious man wearing a gray shirt, but unlike Friedrich, he was not completely (or acting to be) emotionless.

"St. Francis Academy is a school for 'talented' young people like you all." Mr. Weinberg said. "When I refer to 'talented people', as you all know, I am talking about future Crusaders."

Many students nodded.

"You are all young Executors who will be using your power to stop the 'Judgment'," Mr. Weinberg continued explaining. "That is the reason St. Francis Academy was built."

"So, you are taking me to this superhero school?" Emilia mumbled and looked at Friedrich, who was sitting next to her. "I already know how to utilize my Link. I don't need such a thing."

"A very good comprehension but it's not a superhero school, Ms. Von Licht if I'm correct?" Replied Mr. Weinberg who certainly heard Emilia's whisper. "I am here to teach you how to survive."

"Survive?" a few people in the classroom asked simultaneously.

"Although the war created by the Last Paladin has kept us safe for 300 years, this doesn't mean that we can let down our guards. Humans can never face the Judgment directly." Mr. Weinberg signed. "The first Judgment happened about 800 years ago. Humans tried to resist, and we failed miserably. Even though the twelve Palatines were still alive at the time."

"You mean the Twelve Palatines who were considered to be sent from God to save us?" Asked Azure.

"Correct. They led the human being against the First Judgement…"

"Can you expand more about it?" William requested.

"Yes, but not today." Said Mr. Weinberg, "History will be a very important class you will have to study. Of course, you must also learn about math, languages, and living skills here. As I said, St. Francis Academy isn't a school that teaches you how to kill each other. You're here to learn how to use your link wisely. You're not an official member of the Crusaders yet, but you will be one after graduating from St. Francis Academy. You will join the 'Legion' afterward. I hope you are all aware of it – Be prepared to become a soldier and die for the people."

Silence followed.

*********

"What is 'Link' for you, Lysander?" Asked a young girl with short white hair.

"For me? It's an honorable responsibility but also an unbreakable chain." Lysander answered, looking at the sky.

"If you can give up your power, would you do so?" The girl then asked.

"Yes, of course." Said Lysander without hesitation, "Losing the Link means a lot, but it most certainly means freedom -- Freedom of everything."

"Then, what is freedom for you?"

"Freedom…" Lysander paused for a while and asked back, "Tell me your answer first."

"Well… I think freedom is like birds flying freely in the sky." Said the girl with a smile.

"Did birds choose to fly?"

"Didn't they?" doubted the girl.

"No. They must fly to live, just like us."

"Fine. What is your answer to freedom?"

"I will say wind. Nothing can stop the journey of the wind. It can pass through or go around anything in front of it. Freedom means that you have the choice to become a soft breeze or a deadly hurricane."

"Yeah, you win. The girl agreed. "Wind is probably the best answer."

"It might be the best, but the best does not come alone, it comes with the company of all," Lysander then signed. "No matter how strong the wind is, it can never last too long."