The Birth

The cool winter sun rises slowly above a small village in the southern part of the Sword Kingdom, just a few kilometers away from the border between them and the Wand Kingdom, a glorious kingdom filled with scholars of magic and famed for its academies. Looking back towards the village we see a small gathering of people around a thatch-roofed house built atop a small hill. They seem to be worried about something inside.

"ARGH!!!" a woman screams.

In a wooden, small, slightly dusty room, an old woman holds a pregnant mother's hand. The light from the window softly illuminates the room, enough for the birth to go well, but not enough to hurt the mother or the soon-to-be born baby's eyes. Both hands begin to glow softly. "Push Rena!" says the old woman, "My healing magic's not what it used to be, so I can only suppress the pain a bit."

"Thanks," the younger woman, Rena, struggles to say.

"Momma?" a girl peeks through the door to look for her mother, "The villagers are outside and they are wanting to know how you are doing." she says, shifting her eyes to the older woman. "Is she doing well Granny?"

"Don't call me Granny!" said Granny glancing towards the child and unleashing her "dangerous" aura, which was just enough to make her sweat. "She is doing fine," the old woman says, "Even better than when she had you in fact. Now leave us so I can focus on making this go as smoothly as possible."

"Okey dokey Gra- Auntie," the little girl corrects herself quickly, and not a second to late, before turning around to go inform the villagers of Rena's health. As the girl leaves, Granny looks back towards Rena, smiling softly despite the strain on her mana and says:

"I hope this next one will be as good as her and that other boy of yours."

"Urgh, me too Granny." says Rena smiling smugly. Granny begins to burst out laughing before looking at the little girl outside, standing on a box speaking to the ten or so locals worried about Rena's health.

"You too huh?" she says. "Alright one last push Rena!"

"ARGH!!" Rena yells again, this time louder than the last. The crying of a baby can be heard coming from the room.

"It's a boy Rena." says the old woman, cleaning of the baby before bundling him in a grey cloth, and handing him to Rena.

"Not another one," Rena says, feigning disappointment. Her wide grin betray her real thoughts. "Arne." she says, "His name will be Arne." Holding him softly she looks into the baby boy's eyes. They are a crystal clear blue. "What pretty eyes," she says, now looking at Granny.

"Yes," Granny exclaims, "I have never seen such green eyes before."

"But they are-" Rena says as she looks into the boy's eyes yet again, only to notice them being a very dark green. "I could have sworn they were blue just a second ago."

Granny gazes towards the boy's eyes again, and notices something strange. They shift slowly from dark green, then to light green, then to yellow.

"Holy hell Rena! Who is this kid's father?!! James died after being pulled into the military, it couldn't have been him. Tell me the truth Rena." exclaims Granny.

Rena diverts her eyes towards her baby boy, before saying: "An elf."

Granny's pupils shrink. Her voice comes out of her mouth in a half whisper half yell, "Where did you meet an elf in this god-forsaken kingdom?? If the Blackguard finds out they will kill you and the kid!"

"The forest," Rena said "I met him there, the Sword Kingdom lied about the elves, they aren't devils or savages. He was the most kind man I've ever met." she begins to reminisce about the meeting between them. He stood by the river while she watched curiously from behind a tree. Then he turned to see her. Her face went red thinking about how embarrassed, and scared she was. Granny snaps her out of her daydream.

"You think we don't know that?" Granny says, "We lived alongside the elves before the king began to fear their magic. He has ordered the Blackguard to eliminate them wherever they are found. Rena, you must find a way to hide his eyes, Mana Sight is one of the unique elven abilities, and the one they look for first. I won't tell anyone about this, but everyone must believe he is James' child."

"Thank you" said Rena, "I know a little light magic. We can use it to make his eyes look grey."

"Alright that should work for now, at least until he can control his own mana. I will perform the status card ritual myself, so a local mage doesn't find out. They'd sell this poor kid to the Blackguard for meager resources."

Granny then took out a small sewing needle, she channeled her mana into it slowly, just enough to make the tip glow. "Hand me one of Arne's hands." she says. Rena unwraps Arne and moves his soft little hand towards Granny. "Tickle him a little bit." says Granny.

"What?" exclaimed Rena, confusedly.

"Just do it please." As soon as Arne begins to giggle, Granny quickly pricks his finger and pulls out a blank silvery-blue card. She then uses her mana to make the two drops of blood float, allowing Arne to stare in wonder. The drops circle the card before both moving towards the top right corner and forming a small magical circle. The circle glows for about a minute, and when it fades there is writing signifying Arne's ability.

[Name:] Arne

[Race:] Half Elf

[Titles:] N/A

[Rank:] 0, 0/100 (0%)

[HP:] 10/10

[MP:] 30/30

[SP:] 15/15

[Affinities:] Water

[Attributes:]

[STR:] 1

[DEX:] 1

[AGI:] 1

[INT:] 2

[WIS:] 2

[PER:] 1

[LUC:] 2

[CHA:] 2

[VIT:] 1

[Cards:] N/A

[Unique Skills:] Prismatic Eyes: As the owner of elven blood, the user is granted the rare ability to see the flow of magic, as well as the type of mana in the air.

"Rena, he's an elf alright. At this point that isn't what concerns me, what concerns me is that he doesn't have just 'Mana Sight' he has 'Prismatic Eyes' which is even rarer." she sighs, "This is going to bring Lumin Village more trouble than it can handle."

Rena looks towards her son, deep in thought. "Is there anywhere we can take him?" she asks.

"Not to my knowledge, unless you plan to find the elven sanctuary in the Wand Kingdom, but with the war, I doubt they'd let you cross the border." said Granny, "I'll help you as best I can, but if I have to choose between you and the boy, and the entire village, I can't just turn my back on them."

"I understand" says Rena. "The war shouldn't last until he is a teenager, so we will raise him here. I'll try to earn enough money so that we can escape to the Wand Kingdom then. If any problems arise and I need to leave Lilliana and Roger behind, take care of them for me will you?"

"I'll make sure it won't come to that Rena."

"Thanks." says Rena, and she begins to construct a bright yellow/white magic circle by channeling mana into her fingertips and drawing several symbols that fly into a ring, then shrinking small enough to be placed right in front of Arne's eyes. He stares at the process mesmerized. As the magic circle floats slowly closer, it rests around Arne's irises, blocking the color from his eyes and turning them into a dull grey.

"How handsome," says Granny before chuckling and leaving Arne and Rena alone. Arne watches her leave curiously.