Monster Academy: Rise of the Card Master

In a dark room, a young girl slowly tiptoed her way over toward the window next to the bed. The room did not have much in the way of furnishing. The ceiling alone was made of straw. The walls, made of thick mud and rock, looked as if they would give away at any time.

On the bed made of tied together thin logs and dried straw used as a mattress lay a young man around fifteen years old who was still sound asleep. He had one leg dangling off the bed, and the thin blanket that was too small to cover his entire body had already long fallen onto the floor.

He wore a pair of linen shorts and nothing else, but this was only because the summer heat had made the night way too hot to wear much more.

The young girl gazed at the young man and smiled as she slowly crawled up on the bed and pulled open the wooden shutters that blocked the morning light. The young girl turned and looked at the young man, still sleeping soundly, and sighed softly. She looked to be around thirteen years of age. Her shoulder-length pink hair, the color of cherry blossoms, swayed softly as she stood up all the way on the bed. "Brother, it's time to get up."

"Mmm… I will become the strongest…" The young man mumbled, shifting ever so slightly, but he did not seem to want to wake up at all.

"Brother… I said… WAKE UP!" The young girl raised her foot and kicked the young man off the bed, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Really, Alice!?" The young man cried out as he rubbed his nose that had smashed off the floor and looked up at his younger sister. "Can't you wake me up more gently?"

"If I could, I wouldn't need to kick you. Big Brother, did you not forget what day it is?" Alice jumped off the bed and stood in front of the young man. Unlike she, who had taken after her mother with her pink hair, the young man had strikingly silver hair, the color of moonlight, which he had gotten from his father.

"Have you ever tried!?" The young man crawled up from the floor before checking to make sure his nose was not broken. "I do not need to be at the village center until noon. It's still morning."

"But you still need to finish a few things before you go. Mother asked you yesterday to help chop more wood. If you pass you will be heading to the Academy. Then it will just be Mother and me." Alice's mood turned gloomy. The idea of her brother leaving for Monster Academy to train to become a Card Master made her feel lonely, but she knew this was her brother's only chance, and it was a dream he had since he was young.

"Hey…" The young man gently placed his hand on top of his sister's head. "I will still be coming back for holidays and I will be selling my dungeon loot to send back money so you and Mother can live a better life."

"I know…" Alice was still sad, but she forced a smile anyway. She did not want her brother to feel guilty for leaving the two of them if he did pass the test. She pushed his hand away and took a few steps back before turning to toward the door. But instead of leaving the room, she stopped and turned to look at him once more. "I will be counting on you to make me live the life of a princess!"

"Yes. Yes. I will do my best to make sure my little sister has the ability to live a princess lifestyle." The young man chuckled as he followed his sister out of the room. He walked outside to see his mother stoking the fire of the stone oven he had built with his father. 

"Leo, you're awake. Come eat a bun." The woman in her early thirties with long pink hair turned with a basket of freshly cooked buns in her hands. "Your Uncle gave us some meat. I shredded it and stuffed them into the buns. You will need your energy today. Today is your big day, after all." 

Leo looked at the pink-haired woman in front of him and smiled. He felt warmth in his heart. Ever since his father died when he was seven, his mother had worked hard to take care of both him and his sister. With the help of the villagers and his uncle, they lived a halfway-decent life. They may be poor and had nothing worth mentioning, but they did at least have a roof over their head and never starved.

"Thanks. When I pass the test and enter the Academy I will be sure to work hard to send as much money as I can back. I will also save up money as well to buy a place in the capital, so you and Alice can move there."

"Leo, just live your life the way you want to. Your sister and I will be fine." Leo's mother only wanted him to fulfill his dreams. She did not want him to worry about what was going on at home.

"This is what I want to do. I want you and Alice to both have a good life as well. If I am successful and become a Card Master, you will never need to lift a finger again. Alice can even marry into a good family as well. She may even be able to pass the test in the future too if she decides to become a Card Master. I will not live a good life while my mother and sister are stuck living in these conditions." Leo took a bite of his bun, which was soft and warm, and felt energized as the meat juices filled his mouth.

"Then I will wait and see." Leo's mother did not know what the future held, but if her son had this plan, she knew he would work hard to try to accomplish it. Since he was young, he had always worked hard to help her around the house, never once complaining, even if he had to eat mushrooms for days on end. 

She, too, had dreams of living a better life, but for now, she was content. She felt lucky not to be starving and had a roof over her head and for her children. As long as her children could grow up and live happy lives, that was enough for her.