Game Plan

For many years I have gained knowledge from reading books and exploring the world. With this experience I have managed to learn very important aspects of humans. One of these aspects involves what humans do and why they are doing it. It may be religion, family status, money, or something else. These forms of motivation are what makes us who we are. It is not the gods who turn our cogs, but instead it is the engine we built inside of ourselves. That engine is built upon years and years' worth of driving forces in our lives. It is the very embodiment of who we are. But I ask you, what happens when a single stake is driven straight through that engine? What kind of person do we become when the forces that motivate us are forcibly stripped out of the palm of our hand?

-Anonymous Scholar of the Yomar Kingdom.

…

Upon exiting the forest, we could see our house. Let me rephrase. What 'was' our house. Half the building is destroyed. The wooden walls are scattered about and the ground is completely torn apart. The large metal doors for the cellar were ripped completely off and thrown dozens of yards away.

"Our home…"

Ann's eyes were wide as a few tears rolled down her face. She had never left the comfort of this home. She was always here from day one. The 18 years of memories that she had were all based around this home. Now, the home was a complete mess along with the memories that had accompanied it.

I suppose I understand why she would be so emotional about it. Thinking back to Earth, I lived in my own house until the day I graduated from college. There were a lot of memories there. I too hated seeing that home destroyed in the war. But this is the second time for me to have my childhood house completely destroyed. It is still quite hard to see it in such a state, but the past experience makes it seem not so bad. After all, a building is not what made those memories.

Mom gently wraps an arm around Ann. "A house is just a house. The memories we had there are all in here." She taps Ann lightly on the forehead.

"Yes, and a house can be rebuilt. We cannot. Let's get moving." Although it was quite sensible, it was a bit harsh. Leave it to Dad to be upfront and completely direct with you. I could practically see daggers coming out of Mom's eyes. Ignoring the death stares, Dad walks over to the house first, making sure everything is safe. When he is done checking, he waves us over.

"Grab what you can. We might need to relocate for a while. At least until this monster has been dealt with. I will grab us some bags to use." Mom says as she heads down into the cellar. Dad follows with her, presumably to help get some food to eat…I hope at least. My stomach has been yelling at me for some time now. After they disappear below, Ann and I are left standing in front of the debris.

"Feeling a bit better?" I ask Ann.

"Ya. What about you? You don't seem too broken up about the house."

I try and think of some excuse other than, "I already lived through this kind of thing".

"Blame it on Dad. I guess I have the same mentality as him when it comes to things like this. Maybe it's a guy thing."

Ann's saddened eyes seem to fade away and an evil smile creeps up on her face. "Ya, sure. Whatever you say. But just know that it wasn't but a year ago that I remember you balling your eyes out about that stupid stuffed animal Mom got you when we were kids. It was your fault for leaving it by the fire place."

"Just....Shut Up! UGH…" With a reddened face of defeat, I stomp my way through the shards of wooden walls and ceiling pieces. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for cute things. A man shouldn't be made fun of for that. It's human nature to 'awe' at the cute things of the world.

…

After about 30 minutes of struggling through the debris that covers what was my room, I find a small metal box. I kept all the things I deemed important in it. Brushing off the dust shows a faintly glowing small and intricate circle with multiple symbols and lines weaved throughout it. The symbol of magic in this world. It is known as a magic circle. On this world magic circles do not actually do anything. They are more of a branding to remind everyone of the College of Magic here in Yomar. The theory behind magic is to 'will' the magic in the surrounding area. I am not well versed in magic yet. I was unable to comprehend the basics. Maybe things will be different now with my knowledge from Earth?

Inside the box is a book, "Introduction to Beginner Level Magic" as well as a small monster core I found in the woods a few years back. They say the you can infuse monster cores with your own magic to make them your pet. Not only are they rarely intact after the monster dies, unless you know of a method to prevent its decay, but it also takes high level magic to pull it off, so I have never seen a pet monster before. The core is the reason I asked my parents to get me the book.

Magic in this world is power. Humans on this planet, which they call Coelum by the way, are relatively stronger than they were on Earth. A human from Coelum could easily fight a polar bear bare handed back on Earth. Even with this strength, it is nothing compared to magic. There are great people who are able to break through the boundary between mage and non-mage, but it is only a handful of people. Luckily, in this world, anyone can be a mage as long as you understand the forces that create magic and train yourself to use it.

After gathering all of my things I head over to my family. It looks like everyone has gathered everything already and were waiting on me. As I arrive Mom hands me a small 'bag', which is more of a cheap sack, and I put the book and core in it and tie it to my belt.

"Are we all ready to go?" Dad asks while messing around with his bag.

"Ya. I'm good to go."

"Same here."

Mom just nods in agreement. She keeps looking back at the house. She also seems to be somewhat depressed of the state of our home.

"Alright. Pay attention kids. Me and your Mom discussed what we wanted to do from here. First, we will stop by the village and make sure everyone is okay. Hopefully the monster didn't even head in that direction, and we are worrying for nothing. If the village is alright, we will then inform the lord and get a few horses, so we can head towards Stelenger. It should be easier to get there than going to the capital. Once we are there, me and your Mom will inform the Adventures Guild of what's going on. You two kids got that?"

"Yes, sir." Me and Ann both respond.

With that, we head towards the village of Wheatfield. It is about 4 miles south of our home. While we are walking I can't help but think, "Hopefully the villagers will be alright".