Black and Blue

"Babies, it was babies," Gandalf gasped, puzzled.

Jaguara stood there roaring silently at the babies.

Gandalf decided to take a closer look; the two babies were hidden inside the bush in a wooden box.

Gandalf took those two kids in both arms, and the ring Gandalf was wearing suddenly flashed brightly.

Because mages always have a ring in their hand that signals them if a magical source is nearby and greatly aids them in combat, Gandalf's ring has earned the nickname "sleeping protection."

However, up until this point, Gandalf's ring has never given any such warning, even when a powerful enemy using magic was in front of him.

Gandalf was taken aback for two reasons: first, the protection ring only warns us when the enemy's potential is too high in comparison to the ring-wearer, and second, the more they glow, the greater the disparity between the user and the enemy.

Jaguara knows a lot about magic and magic artifacts, so he too, had a puzzled expression on his face; he knows better than anybody that Gandalf is not weak. When Jaguara saw the pendant the two kids were clutching in their hands, his beast instinct sent a shiver down his spine.

Gandalf also realized that the warning about the protection ring isn't about the babies, but rather the pendant these two are holding.

Gandalf suddenly screamed, and Jaguara burst out laughing. One of the babies in Gandalf's arms yanked his hair and laughed at him, and Gandalf replied with a smile, "Do you want to play with grandpa, ho ho ho?"

Jaguara had an annoyed expression on his face after hearing Gandalf's signature laugh; he knew the old man was about to make an insane decision.

The babies in Gandalf's arms were dirty due to mud and tree leaves sticking to their bodies, and the wooden box must have floated for at least a day in this river before becoming lodged in this bush.

The first idea is to give the babies a nice bath, but the river is almost completely frozen due to Jaguara's excessive use of frost magic.

Gandalf and Jaguara must now collect some river water and warm it so that they can bathe the babies.

Though they were both excited to play with the babies, Gandalf and Jaguara couldn't help but wonder,

Where did they come from?

What is that pendant they're holding?

They decided that thinking about it was pointless for the time being and began bathing the babies.

Gandalf and Jaguara were speechless after bathing the babies; those babies are gorgeous beyond words.

One baby has an eye like a blue diamond, and just as a blue diamond is the rarest gem on the planet "Eclipsia," the individual with blue eyes is the rarest of all. The blue diamond is an amazing natural fluke; it results from the boron trace element's accidental existence in the carbon structure of the stone during its development in the deep core of Eclipsia.

Similarly, someone with blue eyes is born with overwhelming beauty and unrivaled talents.

The baby also has mesmerizing silver hair and white skin that seems slightly reddish due to the baby's reddish undertone color.

Another baby is not an ordinary baby too; he has a black eye like a fresh diamond we used to collect from the depths of aimer caves, and he was much quieter than the baby who grabbed Gandalf's beard. He had a white complexion, yet it appeared brownish due to the brownish undertone tint on his skin.

With his calm expression and black hair, along with the small ears which looked like cats he reminded Gandalf of a legendary demi human mage who existed several thousand years ago.

If any of the children is born into any of the royal families of Eclipsia, the entire kingdom will begin to celebrate, and they may even hold a month-long banquet.

But Gandalf was unhappy, or more accurately, disturbed.

The reason for this uneasiness is that both of these babies will confront difficulties that ordinary children cannot even conceive.

The individual with blue eyes is highly valued not just for their astounding beauty but also for their potential to master any skill. Blue eyes are thought to be the rarest.

The kingdom in which they were born will be regarded as lucky, and its military might will expand dramatically as a result of just one person. As a result, opposing nations always tried to eliminate them when they were young before, they became an insurmountable threat.

In the case of the other demi-human child with black eyes and black hair, they are referred to in the ancient book as "two-edged swords." They are either born with potential comparable to the person with blue eyes, or they are born with no potential. Just as black diamonds (normal diamonds) are made by strong pressure on the element carbon beneath the surface of the Eclipsia, a repeated geometric pattern in the crystal lattice is produced. These people born with black eyes are constantly under external pressure; some believe this pressure will unlock their potential, while others believe it is a curse.

I don't blame people for thinking it's a curse because the black eye demi human legend is only known to a few chosen people and high-ranking royal families. People in this society are admired depending on their magical abilities; if an individual has less magical strength, he will not be recognized by this society.

Gandalf looked at those babies again with a sad expression on his face, but this time the blue-eyed baby pulled his beard and giggled, and Gandalf's worries vanished in an instant.

Jaguara became attached to the quiet black eye baby, and Gandalf became attached to the blue eye baby. Gandalf and Jaguara began playing with the babies; Jaguara was overjoyed; it was as though he had two new brothers.

Jaguara let out a little roar while holding the black eye baby in his hands, and the baby shook his cat-like ears, which was so lovely to witness that Jaguara did it again and again, and the baby did the same.

Gandalf suddenly remembered the pendant he took from the babies that he kept inside the tree house.

Gandalf instantly ordered Jaguara to care for the babies before entering the tree house to examine the pendants.

The light reflection from classy pendants kept at the top of the half-broken table was enough to light the entire room. So, he opted to store them in a tiny box, tucked away from direct sunshine.

Gandalf resumed his attention to the pendant; he knew practically every artifact in existence, yet he had never seen or heard of anything like it. He understands those aren't ordinary pendants with a pricey gem in the middle; the fact that they trigger Gandalf's ring is proof.

Gandalf decided to take a pendant held by the blue-eye baby, a pendant with a hexagonal-shaped black diamond in its center, and the ring Gandalf was wearing once again flashed brightly.

Jaguara, upon observing this, chose to enter the tree house while holding the black eye baby in his hand and the blue eye kid with his tail wrapped over the baby's stomach.

Jaguara entered the house and noticed Gandalf holding the pendant. Jaguara's eyes were drawn to something unusual in the pendant. He noticed some interesting scratches on the back of the pendant and ran his nails over them.

Gandalf stared at the scratches and yelled at Jaguara, "This is why you should pay attention while studying."

Wait, why is Gandalf berating Jaguara, and what does a scratch have to do with him not studying?

The reason is simple: they are words carved in small size rather than scratched. Gandalf cast small ice magic to create a little ball that resembled clear ice; he utilized the ice as a convex lens to magnify the writing.

He then spelled "Aries" and stared at Jaguara.

Jaguara grabbed another pendant they took from the black eye baby, this one with a perfect circular blue diamond in the center.

Jaguara began searching for similar scratches. He found similar scratches after a few seconds and pointed them out to Gandalf.

Gandalf peered at the writings through the magical ice he created and spelled the word "Prose."

Gandalf and Jaguara had no idea what it was, but it sounded like a name, so they assumed it was theirs.

Gandalf was perplexed by the pendant because, normally, the blue gem pendant is given to the blue eye baby and the black gem pendant to the black eye baby, but in this case, it's the exact opposite.

While all of this was taking place, an eye as acute as an eagle's eye observed everything from a great distance. He concealed his presence with wind magic, and not just any wind magic, but one of the most powerful concealing techniques ever devised.