Horace Zemof

"Kyrian, my dear. Wake up now." Milayah's sweet voice tingled his ears, pulling him from the depths of sleep. The delicious smell of breakfast wafted through the air, making his stomach rumble in response.

He slowly opened his eyes, the comforting sound of his mother's voice and the familiar aroma filling him with warmth.

For a moment, he forgot about the ominous hand, the dark sphere, and the weight of his solitude.

All that existed was the serene morning, the promise of a hearty meal, and the loving presence of his mother.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and looked around. The downpour of the waterfall drowned his sorrows away, and the memories of the previous night began to blur, replaced by the comforting reality of home.

"Morning, Mom," he mumbled, a small smile forming on his lips.

Milayah stood by the kitchen, her back turned as she skillfully prepared breakfast. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she replied with a chuckle. "Come, eat while it's hot."

Kyrian grabbed the plate made from makeshift leaves. On top of it was fish that was taken from the river and mushrooms foraged from the forest.

It wasn't the best tasting food he had, but it was the best meal he had had for as long as he remembered. 

"Remember when I told you that I was going to teach you about this world?" Milayah said. 

"Yes, mother." Kyrian had a faint déjà vu when she said this, but he ignored that feeling and focused on his mother. 

"The world we are living in is called Elyra; named after the Primordial Goddess Elyra who created this planet. In other places, they call the world by different names depending on who they worship. The demons call the world Amon, the first devil, while the beasts insist that it was created by Therion, the primordial beast. Different nations and different civilizations could not come up with the right answer on what the real name of the planet really is, but for simpler terms and neutrality, the contemporaries call it Gaia."

"Then what should I call the world? Is it really that important for it to have a name?"

"Names are powerful, Kyrian. Beginner mages shape mana using words and chants. Powerful mages formulate the spell in their minds with a word or key phrase. These words, or in this instance, names, become a gateway to a powerful way to manipulate mana. Suppose that [Elyra], [Amon], and [Therion] are beings beyond our plane of existence, then giving them the name of our world means that they can gain power to control the world through the influence of their names." Milayah paused for a second to let Kyrian take in the information. 

After observing Kyrian and seeing that he finished thinking, she continued, "We are here in the Eastern Continent named Iavrin, where a single emperor rules the whole continent. Strife and war spread across the land because of rebellions and most importantly, the invasion of the demons."

"On the other side of Elyra lies the Western Continent – Aicras. It is a lot bigger than the Eastern continent and various factions divide the lands of Aicras. These powers are the Beasts, Humans, and Dwarves. I won't say much about the other races for it is up to you to discover them yourself in your adventure." Milayah giggled as if she was the one who was going to discover them instead of her son. 

Milayah continued speaking but Kyrian couldn't hear the words she was saying, as if she was speaking underwater. The muffled voice continued and no matter how hard he tried to listen, the voice kept on getting blurrier as time passed by.

The surrounding forest disappeared, and everywhere he turned his head was blue and blurry. 

He felt a rock hitting his back then his breath was taken away. He realized that he was being trashed around by a raging river, leaving him out of oxygen. Panic ensued as he tried to get to the surface, but he never learned how to swim in deep waters.

He flailed and made random movements in hope that he would be able to escape drowning.

----

An old man with gray eyes and a white beard that reached his stomach was fishing the nearby river. His eyes were still, patiently waiting for the largest fish in the river to bite his bait.

He could easily catch any fish in the river - even the whole ocean if he wanted to, but this was his only hobby where a semblance of normalcy and mundane could be attained. 

He had been sitting in the same position for eight hours when he suddenly felt a lifeform full of turbulent mana coming downstream. 

The old man vanished from his position and scooped up Kyrian from the water and willed the mana to remove the water from the boy's lungs. 

Kyrian coughed up the residual water from his mouth and opened his eyes saying, "An egg!" 

"What are you talking about little boy?"

"A talking egg!" The boy exclaimed in surprise. 

The old man immediately smacked the boys head and said, "Just because my head is shiny, that doesn't mean that I'm an egg. Besides, you do not understand the charm of my baldness. The shining glory of my head swooned all the women back in my lands." 

"Ouch, old egg! Don't hit my head."

"I'll hit you as many times as I can if you call me an egg again." 

"Okay, okay. Do you have a name? I can't keep on calling you 'egg,' can't I?" 

"The name of this handsome old man you are speaking to is Horace Zemof." The old man put down Kyrian and put his hands on his waist, posing in a glorious gait that almost embodied a hero if it weren't for his bald head. 

"I'm Kyrian." 

"Well then Kyrian, do you mind telling me how you ended up in the river?" 

"I only remember the rock hitting against my back and…" Kyrian paused as holding his head, as if trying to recall the past. The boy lied as he breathed for self-preservation. He did not know whether the man could be trusted, but for now, he was going to pretend to have lost his memories. 

"Hm…" Horace dwelt for a second then said, "If you don't have any place to stay, then you can live with my household. I'm the patriarch of the Zemof family. I'm a bigshot don't you know that?" 

"I- uhh…" 

"You can live there until you regain your memories. You might even get along with my daughter. My little sweet Ace is your age, so having a playmate might be good for her." 

Kyrian decided to go along with Horace for the moment since he doesn't have many options in navigating the land.

He didn't know where he was; he didn't have money; he also could not protect himself if there were beasts around.

Kyrian took the risk, and convinced himself that Horace wouldn't have saved him if he wanted to harm him.