Prologue
The little boy was definitely not his uncle's pride and joy.
Far from it. Very far, indeed!
"Go to class and pay attention to everything! Take notes! Study!" his uncle had said before leaving the house, but in Sven's seven-year-old mind, all he had heard was: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…
He was restless by nature. He couldn't stay still for more than a few minutes, focused on just one thing. That bored, sleepy, or hungry look always appeared on his face, and anything else would make him want to leave.
On this particular occasion, he was inside the classroom of the small, humble, yet dedicated School of Knowledge in Ahamura. A city far north of the continent where he lived, known as the "Western Heart."
"What are you doing?" whispered Gray, his best friend, in the seat next to him.
"I'm testing something new!" replied little Sven, as he touched his thumb to his middle finger under the desk in front of him, trying to hide his actions from the teacher, making tiny blue sparks of electricity appear like two wires coming close together.
Gray was apprehensive. His gaze alternated between the teacher and his friend, as if he were giving cover, but in truth, he just wished Sven would stay quiet for an entire lesson.
"Save it for outside… she'll see…" the boy whispered again, almost pleading.
Sven was focused.
With each touch of his fingers, the more he failed to invoke the electricity, the more challenged he felt. He tried dozens of times without hearing a word of what was being said in class, while Gray skillfully watched over his friend, paid attention to the lesson, and even took notes, despite almost having a nervous breakdown.
A lesson which, if Sven had been paying attention, he might have already accomplished the feat of invoking electricity. It was, after all, a lesson about the ether. The driving energy that commanded everything in the world of Leruth. The mysterious force that gave ordinary people an affinity with water, earth, fire, air, or lightning.
Sven was definitely an airhead.
"Can I know what you two boys are whispering about so much?" asked Sigrid, a friend who was sitting behind him, leaning forward a bit, trying to peek at what Sven had in his hands.
That's when the scare happened.
Like a cat too focused on its prey, disturbed by a bad joke, Sven let out a SCREAM when he heard Sigrid's voice, drawing the attention of all the students. Startled, bluish lightning bolts shot not only from his hands but from his entire body, wild and uncontrolled, hitting the ceiling and the floor, destroying the already not-so-new walls.
The teacher made a movement with her hands, and a large earthen hand formed from the ground, enveloping Sven and containing his body, grounding the uncontrolled electricity emanating from the boy.
Sven had an extremely pleased smile on his face. Satisfied. Proud of his act.
The teacher wore a horrified expression.
After all, it wasn't every day that a seven-year-old child awakened the ether on their own in such a manner.
It would have been better if that poor teacher had taken the rest of the day off.
That way, she wouldn't have had a second scare when Gray froze the classroom and all the other students before the class ended.
These boys were very different from any Ahamura had ever known. As if that weren't enough, they moved in a group of five. All the same age: Sven, Gray, Sigrid, Toph, and Scarlet. The latter three were adopted sisters.
Those were times of peace, and they were just children.
Children who laughed at silly things, helped their families with local businesses, caused trouble every week by destroying something in town… but above all, they always stuck together.
By affinity or not, they couldn't stay apart for long.
As if an intuition told them they needed to be together for the days to come.
They were just seven-year-old children and would still have at least 11 more years of peaceful life before they began to discover why they were so different.