Chapter 1

I sat under a willow tree admiring the gorgeous view of Celestia City. The place I call home. A wealthy city with a good defense. Knights, warlocks, and witches guard the city walls.

In the city, magic spells such as water, fire, ice, lightning, and Wind are considered arcane magic or light magic for beginners. Curses and the undead spells are considered dark magic. These spells are abolished in Celestia due to the powerful and horrifying things that happen. People who master this craft are known as dark mages, and are banished into the snowlands.

The snowlands are a mountainous region covered in snow. It is a deadly place with cold temperatures, predatory animals, and dark mages.

I, Koto Kizmen, a sixteen year old boy, spent my entire life living in Celestia. At the time, I was in my junior year of Celestia Mage Academy.

Celestia Mage Academy is a high school were normal, average kids like me go to learn and practice academic skills and magic. It holds 1200 students in total. It is ranked as the eighth best of the 200 magic schools in the country. Academic wise, it is ranked sixth best in the country.

One morning, I woke up to my mom banging on my door yelling at me to get up. I got dressed and looked in the mirror. I saw a dark haired, brown eyed, tall and skinny reflection of a teenage boy standing infront of me. I am not very strong, but I am bright. During my freshman year at Celestia Mage Academy, I was consistently getting in top one hundred students on quarter and semester exams.

After getting dressed, I slipped on my worn out, old shoes and headed out the door. Standing at the edge of my parents yard was Elaina Ayakoji. Elaina and I have been friends since childhood. She lives two blocks down the dirt road.

She is a bright girl with a cheerful aditude. Rarely will you ever see her in an upset mood. She is extremely disciplined when practicing magic. She's around 5"0. She has light blond hair that is usually tied in a ponytail, and she has gentle hazel eyes that gave me butterflies every time I looked at them.

"Hey Koto!" Elaina said with a tone of excitement.

"Hi Elaina," I responded.

"Ready for the first day of our junior year?" Elaina asked me with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I can tell you are very excited." I said. I was exited to get back to school after a long summer of practicing magic relentlessly. You can probably tell that I am very serious with my magic.

When we were little, Elaina and I would usually visited each others houses to study and practice magic. Now we go outside the city walls and practice in the field north of Celestia.

Once Elania and I arrived at school and had to part ways. I headed for Celestrian History 101 and that is when I found Noah sitting in his chair with a gloomy look.

"Hey Noah. You good?"

"Yeah, I'm just not exited for school." Noah answered.

Noah had brown hair and dark green eyes. He was tall and exceptionally athletic. He played a number of sports. Despite his amazing athleticism, he lacked knowledge. He was a below average student. Noah, the total opposite of me, was not interested in books. He didn't practice his magic therefore not improving his abilities.

The bell rung and school ended for the day. Every student either went to a club or went back home. On the other hand, Elaina, Noah, and I walked to the nearest library. Elaina and I go there often to read books. Noah likes to tag along. Sometimes, he actually begins to study, but sooner or later he gets bored.

"Okay, I'm getting a new book." I said has I got up from my seat.

"Okay, have fun." Elaina responded.

I maneuvered my way in between bookshelves for what seemed like hours looking for a good book that would interest me. Then I came across a book titled "Legends and Tales of Celestia". After reading the first page, the book had sparked an interest in me. So I rented the book and walked over to my friends who where studying at our table.

"What book did you get?" Elaina asked me with curiosity.

"A book about legends of Celestia," I answered.

"You guys can be so boring sometimes," Noah told us as if he had any right to talk.

I opened up the book and continued reading where I had previously left off. Then I came across a legend that sounded familiar. The Legend of Tomancy. I began reading about a boy the same age as me who lived in Celestia two thousand years ago. His name was Tomancy.

One day he left Celestia's city walls to venture far out into the snowlands to defeat the Tenebris Magicae Witch and the dark mages. He ventured out so far that he couldn't find a way back home. Days passed by and he never returned to the city of Celestia. Many people suspected he died.

"Is that legend even true?" Elaina asked me as if I knew.

"I don't know," I answered.

"Why would Koto know?" Noah asked after closing his textbook.

I walked home from the library and continued reading until midnight. The book got me thinking, I want to see if the legend is true. I fell asleep shortly after.

The next day after school, I packed my traveling bag with books of magic spells, my staff, and a map. I was planning what day should I leave and if I should tell anyone where I'll be. I came to the conclusion that I would ask Elaina and Noah to accompany me on the dangerous trip. Although it would be risky.

The next day at school, I saw Elania reading a book during our lunch break, so I walked over and sat down beside her.

"Oh, hi Koto." Elaina said when I tapped her shoulder.

"Took you a minute to notice that I am sitting next to you," I replied in a playful tone.

"Sorry, I was engrossed in reading the climax of this book."

"No problem. Anyways, I want to ask you something," I said. "Do you wanna take a trip to the snowlands?"

"What for?" Elaina asked with a little concern.

"I wanna see if the Legend of Tomancy is true," I answered expecting her to reply with a no, but to my surprise Elaina agreed to accompany me on my adventure.

A little later I asked Noah, and I already knew his answer. So Elaina, Noah, and I were going on an adventure to the snowlands.

A week had passed since we first planned our trip to the snowlands, and today was the day we would set out on our journey. Elaina, Noah, and I rendezvous at the entrance to Celestia City after school and began our journey to the snowlands. It was not going to be an easy travel as we had to walk fifty-two miles to get to the snowlands.

It was getting dark, and we weren't going to cover much ground in half a day. Are parents were probably worried of where we had gone.

We arrived in the small town of Elin and settled down in an inn. Feeling sleepy, the three of us pasted out on the three beds in our room.