6)Thresh Old's Threshold?

"Dio!"

It was Drake. Drake Wolfriver. Dio's father, and one of Bloom's strongest swordsmen. He was unique, mainly because he had never attended any school or academy for training. A single book was passed down the Wolfriver family, and it was the father's duty to teach his son the contents of the book. Dio was the first one to break this tradition, most of the men in the Wolfriver family were never just mages, for this reason, they train to become magic swordsmen.

Theo, Drake's father, and Dio's grandfather was the one who taught Drake how to wield the sword. From cutting to blocking and parrying, every single thing was carefully looked after by Theo. Hours and hours of work every single day. Perhaps that was the reason why, even to this day, Drake was in perfect shape. He had a thick beard that suited his jawline perfectly, his sharp eyes and rough hands were enough to convince someone that he was worthy of being a knight. He wasn't as bulky as most people would assume swordsmen to be. He was a hard worker, but most of it only showed in his arms and legs, his chest muscles were adequately developed, but his traps showed the work he put in.

When Dio first noticed how good-looking both his parents were, he thought it was fitting and only natural. After all, they were lucky enough to look after him, he couldn't give such an opportunity to some random average-looking couple.

"Father!"

"Haahh you guys sure took your time," Drake chuckled as his hands ruffled Dio's hair. He opened his other arm for his wife, Luna, who accepted the gesture but not without elbowing him in the ribs. "Ow, hey!"

"What? a small nudge from a mage is painful? Want me to cast a spell on it?" Luna pouted teasingly before kissing him on the cheek.

"Urgh loser," Drake groaned as he pushed Luna's face away. "Let's go, buddy, big day,'

"Yes, father! They get to meet me is that it?" Dio asked without a hint of hesitation. He was serious, there was absolutely no part of him that was joking about that.

"Uhh yes?!?" Drake replied in an ambiguous tone, he wasn't as witty as Luna, and more than that, he knew that starting with Dio would only lead to a bigger headache.

Hexora was a must for everyone in the Kingdom. At least every mage who wished to achieve the best of education and sought to see the top of the top. Simply put, the strongest mages of the kingdom have all been to both, the Hexora school and the Lost Supreme academy, while there were a few rogue mages, it is unknown as to who they were taught by or where they had studied.

Dio's aim so far was simply to live life as he saw fit, of course, such a goal was from a person living behind the lenses of narcissism, in other words, Dio viewed himself to be the best, naturally, he would want to live as such. However, what he could never admit to anyone, was that there was a reason he sought power. He simply wanted everyone to think it had something to do with him being the best.

"It's your first time here right? That's exciting! Don't worry, I'll show you around," Drake grabbed Dio and put him on his shoulders, normally children Dio's age would be embarrassed, but Dio found pleasure in spending time with his creators, in his own way, it was blessing them for worshiping him. "Look around kid, take it all in, you get to see this place for the first time only once, so make sure it soaks in properly,"

Thresh Old was beautiful, not by the normal standards, it was beautiful by an international standard. It was obvious that a lot of time and effort was put into the planning and construction of the city- from the floating rocks to the random blue runes engraved onto buildings, everything in this region had a purpose. Maybe not the bard screeching his life away in the center of the street, although in all fairness, he genuinely tried his best, which wasn't exactly comforting but it was good to know.

Currently, The Wolfriver family marched around the architectural wonder that Thresh Old was, they had no care in the world, naturally, since all three of them were more than capable of taking care of themselves, it was a perfect moment, Dio's childish self was revealed only to his father, giggles and jokes were passed around as they finally decided to walk towards Hexora.

The lanes were neat, the stalls were organized and the vendors were professional, but not to the extent where they weren't cheap. However, it was without a doubt that the majority of their services were genuine, it would be quite expensive of a crime if they were caught.

Carts with product and different food and items were stacked at the side of the road, in a way where it wouldn't bother those that were there to explore. From the street fashion to the color of the buildings, everything looked to be planned.

"This figurine here is said to be a lucky charm," Dio overheard one of the vendors trying to sell a mini statue, it was a man with blue hair and purple eyes, a unique combination which he found rather weird, perhaps if such a being actually existed then there was a chance his looks could rival Dio's.

They spent the next few hours exploring the city, enough so Dio could know where what was, quality time just before the family bid farewell to their child. Finally, after looking through a good part of the city, they arrived at the street outside Hexora.

"..." He looked carefully at the uniforms of the students walking around, the unique combination and the variety of different colors were what caught his eyes. Hexora, a magic academy that accepted only 2000 students and not a single one more. It wasn't as if it couldn't hold more, it was simply just that strict. There was no doubt that Dio would get in, however, it was just a matter of how hard it would be for him to do so, it was a matter of pride, something he, unfortunately, had an abundance of.

"Dio….train well and don't overestimate yourself alright?" Drake said as he placed Dio down, he crouched to reach to the boy's height. It wasn't exactly the last time they'd be seeing him, but for the sake of his growth, both Luna and Drake decided the only time they would see him was after his three years in Hexora.

"You do realize you guys can watch right?" He cocked his head as he heard the tone of his father, it sounded like they were going to leave right then.

"Yes, but I think we have better things to do than watch you play around. You're going to get in, there's no doubt. But it's only going to get worse from that point onwards, so use your gifts properly, and I don't mean your looks," Luna spoke as she kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his hair.

"We'll miss you so much," Drake bear-hugged his son one last time, "surprise me," he smiled before getting up. Dio watched as both his parents slowly turned around and walked away. He was now right outside where he belonged, things were going to get extremely interesting, and at the same time, difficult. However, he felt this small pain in his chest as he watched the two most important figures in his life walk away. Something in him wanted to stop them, it was as if he was scared to lose them again, which was weird.