Of Knights and Scholars [First Draft]

Alba ran his hand over the cat's fur, feeling the vibration of her purr under his hands. Red yawned lazily, obviously very content with the chair-with-wheels.

He was wearing the soft-soled inside shoes from before, dark brown pants and a tan tunic made from warm wool. Eudie had wrapped his legs in a colorful knitted blanket and a thin leather cloak had been placed over his shoulders.

Being taken outside for the first time, Alba was actually really excited. More than going outside, the news that he would be learning magic was enough to make him want to sprint outside himself. Despite making good progress, the endless corridors were still too much for him. It also felt like Eudie was deliberately stalling.

They exited by a smaller door to the backyard. Or rather, what Alba had expected to be a backyard. What he saw looked more like a military training camp. Young men were running laps around a small hill, some were shooting arrows at a range, others were sparring with swords. At least wars here wouldn't be as devastating as back before, with their lack of advanced technology.

Eudie pushed the chair up the hill, where a group of men were standing. Their legs spread wide, hands on their backs. The majority had a landbeast by their right leg, while a little less than half had a waterbeast on their right shoulder. A small minority had a firebeast by their left leg. All of them were dressed identical, black leather armor and silver buckles. It reminded Alba of Rory the door-guy.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, one of the knights stepped forward, standing beside Alba in his chair. His dark brown hair was swept back and his amber eyes were shining. Rory always looked utterly bored, while on guard duty. Now he looked much more alive, even a little happy.

"Greeting Albidan, third child of Blockberget Master-of-House." Rory announced and the knights all saluted, left hand still at their back and their right hand move to their chest.

Alba made a similar motion, just like they had practiced. "Greeting the High Troop of Blockberget House," he said, still uncomfortable with the sound of his own voice. "You may all call me Alba."

This world's naming culture was a little confusing, but wasn't all too complex. A person would usually have three names. Four, if you counted the soul. A first name, or baby name, was a three-letter name. It was easy for children to learn and remember. Anyone who knew him as a baby or small child, would therefore always refer to him as Abi. This was usually family members and childhood friends.

After the encounter with his mother, she had given him his 'true name'. Albidan Blockberget was only a name used for formal situations and introductions. Names had power and speaking a true name unnecessarily, was dangerous.

Abla was a 'casual name', this was what most people would be calling him, as long as they had his permission. Total strangers would call him Lord Berg, since the two-word lastname was an indicator of his nobility, even the last name would be shortended for casual use. The longer a name was, the higher rank they had. Two-words for nobles, one-word for commoners. Peasants had no lastname, while royals had three.

Rory directed the troops through their morning exercises, but Alba quickly grew bored. He turned in his chair and noticed a group of younger boys at the archery range. Watching them for a while, he suddenly noticed one that looked a lot younger, standing by himself at the very edge. Alba saw him nock two arrows, then turn the bow sideways. Quicker than his eyes could catch, both arrows hit within the bull's eye.

Alba's eyes widened. He knew he wouldn't start knight training until he turned 10, but this kid didn't look much older than 7 or 8. Even if he was far away, Alba could tell he was taller than him. His body was also wider than his more skinny peers. If he was a bit taller, he'd easily be labeled as a bully.

From Rory's High Troop, it was easy to see the goal wasn't just strength, but speed. All the top knights had slim, muscular bodies. Built for deadly efficiency, to quickly and quietly eliminate the enemy in close combat. Compared to them, the archery kid really stood out.

He watched until all the kids left, then he glanced over at Eudie. She seemed almost enthralled in the knights, so he quietly stood up from his chair-with-wheels and walked down the hill. If anyone noticed that he snuck off, they didn't try to stop him.

Abla took a quick break by the archery range, before finding a barrel that still had a bow and some arrows in them. Looking around to make sure no one was close by, he picked them up and tried shooting at the target. However, no matter how much he tried, the arrow wouldn't even go half-way across.

He was ready to give up, maybe throw down tje bow in frustration, when he heard a voice behind him. "You should keep your feet way further apart. Elbows up and eyes forward, not at the arrow." Red stood by his feet and kept an eye on the stranger, but since she didn't sense any danger, he just frowned and looked down. His legs did indeed look wrong, from what he had observed earlier. Focusing on spreading his legs a bit and elbows up, he was shocked to see the arrow to way further! At least two thirds of the way. He almost wanted to brag, when; "You're too weak."

Furious, Alba spun around on his heel. He tried to pretend his arms and legs weren't already aching from exhaustion. The chubby bully was standing behind him, arms crossed over his chest. His close cropped hair looked to be dark auburn and his eyes were a mix of green and blue. Dark green closest to the pupils, then it faded into a light blue at the edges. Alba had never seen eyes like that, not even from before.

The boy looked down. Red had jumped forward and was puffing up her tiny back, hissing and spitting at the boy. The boy's landbeast, a ball of fur from what Alba could tell, simply placed a giant paw on Red's back and she immediately collapsed. Still hissing.

"Abi!" Before he could even open his mouth to command this bully to let his soulbeast go, Eudie yelled down at him. He could tell she wasn't thrilled.

He stepped forward and swatted the furball away from Red, ignoring the low whine that came out of it, when he touched it. Alba ignored it, along with the strange feeling that tingled up his arm, and just picked up Red by the scruff of her neck and carried her off like a fluffy, still hissing, handbag. He didn't say anything to the boy and the boy didn't say anything, either.

~

Eudie's scolding was relatively mild, but the punishment was far from it. Though, Alba doubted he would be able to partake in the magic lesson anyway, having used all his stamina on failing with the bow and walking back up the hill.

He was sitting silently in the chair-with-wheels, petting the cat, while only half-listening to Eudie. Usually, it was a mother's duty to teach her children magic. However, since his birthday, Mistress Roze had been in a catatonic state and although she was better now, she was still weak and very busy catching up on her duties as the Mistress-of-House. Alba didn't really understand the title, neither did he care, nor exactly what kinda duties it implied. Mother was busy with work, that was all that really mattered.

Roza was from a 'high purity bloodline', closely related to the royals, so it was only natural for her to have a high concentration of land particles. It was really too bad that her soulbeast had so little potential. This meant she was unable to marry directly into the royal family, but still secured her a spot in an important household. Blockberget House provided a majority of the knights and guards to the royal castle, border patrols, peacekeepers and the like. Their knights also always had good potential, in either the elements or fighting, which meant they would always have a high rank.

A person's elemental potential was linked to the natural size of one's soulbeast. The bigger a beast was, the more elemental particles could be stored and utilized. There were seven size milestones, which were based on the individual person's height. Ankle, knee, hip, navel, shoulder, head and beyond. Most soulbeast would reach the height of between knee and hip, which was considered average size. Both Eudie and Roze had soulbeast at ankle height, which was below average. It was possible to go above a soulbeast's potential, but this was a difficult thing to do.

Rory the Door Guy's osprey was knee-size. This was a minimum requirement to become a knight, but a lot of people were still upset by his low potential. His goal was apparently to go beyond, but it was a slow process.

Max, the giant dog-like landbeast of Alba's older sister, was a navel-sized beast. It was rare to actually accomplish, even if there was a potential for it. Especially considering the fact that Celi had just recently reached adulthood.

~

"Alright, do you remember the rules?"

"Stay inside until I get picked up. Do not talk to anyone I haven't been introduced to. Only read materials from the first floor. Keep my blanket on."

Rory was frowning slightly, but he didn't have any further comments. "Eudie will be back for dinner, do- not- leave."

He spun around on his heel and left in a hurry, leaving Alba with the head librarian. The old, creaky man looked like he might collapse at any moment, his back was bent so badly, his long white beard almost touched the floor. A shabby brown rat was sitting on his shoulder, looking more dead than alive.

Despite not remembering the old man's name, he followed him inside the library. It was dimly lit and he was hit in the face with the smell of dust and wet paper. None of which was even remotely close to any library that Alba had been to before.

The old man led Alba to what looked like some sort of front desk, where a boy was leaning back on a chair. His long legs were resting on the desk and a huge, white raven was placed on his shin. "This is Aster. He's young and healthy, let him show you around. Aster, please show the young lord Berg around today."

"Greetings," the boy only glanced up from his book, sending a shiver down Alba's spine. From his old perspective, Aster looked perfectly normal. Copper skin, dark brown eyes, light brown eyes. However, in this world, he was a living paradox.

As a human, Alba had blond hair and brown eyes. The elves had black hair and blue eyes, while dwarves had red hair and green eyes. A mixed-blood would have a variation, but their stronger genetics would still show. Alba's mother had lighter hair and darker eyes, since her human bloodline was more pure. A mix of the races would have some variation of brown hair and hazel eyes, like Rory the Door-Guy. More human-leaning mixes had lighter hair and darker eyes, like Alba himself, while more elven blood meant darker hair and lighter eyes. Elves seemed especially rare in this area, since he couldn't remember seeing anyone like that. Although the kid from the archery range had a weird eyecolor, the Dwarven red in his buzz cut was unmistakable. Therefore, having both dark hair and dark eyes was a genetic anomaly.

The boy's eyes turned back to the book in his hands and while the old man started scolding the younger, Alba's wandering feet carried him over to the shelves. He knew how libraries worked, it was unnecessary to guide him.

Alba was almost immediately lost. For being located inside their house, the library was apparently endless. There were also no signs in any directions, no markers on the shelves. Not that Alba's reading capabilities were much to brag about. He had gained an understanding of how the writing system worked, but it was still so unusual that he had a hard time wrapping his mind around it.

The books also didn't have any names or numbers on their spines, so he had to pull them out to see their title. And so, Alba wandered down the hall, pulling out random books and pushing them back in again. Just looking for anything to pique his interest.

The interest arrived in the form of a smaller bookshelf that looked like it might collapse under its own weight. It was tilting slightly to the right and a few books were even strewn across the floor. Alba stopped to pick it up and was surprised by what he saw. Instead of the star-like symbols, this book had a single, actual four-pointed star.

It wasn't just the star itself, nor the fact that this wasn't made like the letter-stars. What caught Alba off guard completely was that this exact four-pointed star was the same as the flag of Central.

In the Old World, where Alba was known as Ricky, there were five continents. Ricky was born and raised in Central, which was essentially, the center of his old world. His father had come from Western, which was so far west, that it actually connected by a small landbridge to the Eastern continent. Despite this, every map that was ever made, had Central in the center. Which they emphasised by that star; the four pointing in the directions of the other continents and Central as the shining beacon in the middle.

He was about to open the book, when he heard frantic shouting behind him. Alba quickly tucked the book under his coat and grabbed a more normal looking book from the floor. He turned around just in time to see the old man rushing over, huffing and puffing like an old man, who had just ran around, frantically looking for a lost child in a seemingly endless library.

Alba was practically dragged back to the front desk, firmly placed in a reading crook and then had a thick, black book dumped in his lap. With strict instructions that unruly children needed to learn their history and listen to their elders and- Alba stopped listening, opened the book and pretended like he could actually read.

Once the old man was gone, he pulled up the books he had borrowed from the crooked shelf. It was very tempting to open the star-book, but somehow he felt like it was hidden here in plain sight for a reason. For someone growing up in this New World, it didn't look anything special. But for someone like Alba, who remember the Old World, this book was practically screaming at him.

The other book also looked interesting. Its pages were smaller and thicker than the other books and the letters at the front was easier to follow. It almost seemed like a simplified version of the text. So, he decided to save the star-book for later and open what appeared to be a real children's book.

To his surprise, the thicker pages were to support the paintings. This book had pictures! It was telling a story, but it was difficult for Alba to follow. The illustrations didn't help much, as it simply showed white little stars falling from the sky, then they seemed to just... meander around from location to location.

Feeling exhausted, he smacked the book shut and then noticed the desk clerk from earlier was sitting in a little nook under some stairs. He had pillows and blankets, reading under the lights of candles, it looked rather cozy. Realizing he was a small child and allowed to not know things, Alba picked up his storybook and walked over.

Aster was sitting in his favorite spot, reading some of his least favorite books, minding his own business, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Annoyed, he looked up to see the little brat grom before. Noble children were always the worst, only learning to demand things and never ask. They always looked down on his, since he used simple titles and his completion didn't exactly scream privilege.

The brat had light blond hair, which was neatly tied back in a high ponytail and only two simple braids started at his temples and was pulled back. His big, dark brown eyes were almost covered by his bangs, which did not at all hide his expecting gaze.

He opened a small children's book and pointed to one of the symbols. "Could you please tell me what this one says?"

Aster was too stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected this at all. "Uhm... That one says 'child'." He sputtered out, before quickly turning back to his scholar book, eager to get back to ignoring this brat.

"Oh, thank you. Er, if you don't mind. Could you explain the context of this image for me?"

Aster glanced back down. "The page explains what happened, can't you read?"

Alba had a moment of uncertainty. He was unsure what age children typically learned to read, but luckily he had a very valid excuse. "I can read some, but I don't know words I haven't seen before. I slept for a long time, so I can't remember clearly."

"What?" Aster looked confused, bordering on angry. He could handle being mocked by innocent children mimicking their parents, but how could this little asshole stand there, with this book in particular, and claim his memories were unclear. This certainly was something new to Asta. "Listen, kid. I don't know what kinda shit you're trying to pull, but it's not funny. I'm not gonna be impressed, just because you're a little creative."

Since his face was still so sickly pale, the red in his cheeks were clearly visible. It moved all the way up to his ears, which made the little child look about ready to explode. The fact that he seemed to be fighting back tears, didn't exactly make him look more fierce.

"I was poisoned from the moment I was born and have been sleep up until very recently. I'll have you know, I only recently received the memories and it's still very new and fuzzy. I don't know what kinda issues you have, but it's not my fault you think a basically-new-born could bully a big butt like you with a picture book!"

Alba was ready to turn on his heels, but something in the mean boy's eyes made him hesitant. He looked almost... regretful.

"You really can't remember?" Asta asked, clearly still uncertain. The determined look on Alba's face must have been enough, because he snapped the book out of his hands and opened to the first page. "Alright, tell me which words you do know."

Alba started to list them off, but Aster was clearly not satisfied. After a bit more coaxing, Alba got the young librarian to read for him, to which he responded by climbing into the nook and onto Asta's lap. He wanted to push the little brat away, but he insisted that he needed to see the words being read aloud to learn them. Which Asta then, regrettably, did.