Laurellius

The sun shone on the grassy plains located in the outskirts of the Arcana Empire, once again giving warmth to the entire continent of Anderthall. The cool, gentle breeze made the grass sway in a light rhythmic manner, while the chirping of the songbirds made a perfect image of a good day.

And indeed it was a good day, however, for a young man standing within the plains, it was nothing close to being good.

He stood straight as a ruler as his hand moved as if tracing something, while his fingers wrote runes in the air. The wind swayed his black hair, and his crimson eyes—though very faint, glowed as it moved from place to place as if searching for something each time his finger stopped at a certain direction.

Whish!....

His sleeves ruffled from the air resistance as he suddenly flicked his arm as if trying to cut the wind in front of him.

And the next instant. . .

Whoosh. . . !

A mildly strong breeze blew from in front of him, as the runes he drew emitted a bright azure glow, and lines appeared to connect them.

The glow slowly became brighter, and the young man spoke, "Wind Strike!"

The air compressed in front of him as he prepared to shoot it, however. . .

Bang. . .!

The compressed wind suddenly exploded in front of him, blowing him back by a few meters.

" Ugh!."

Thud. . !

He landed on the ground with a thud, as he panted from a sudden sense of exhaustion and lightheadedness.

He looked at the place where his magic exploded and saw a small patch of ravaged grasses. It was his luck he was only blown back.

He made a dry laugh, " Ha-ha. . . as expected. Tier 2 magic is too much for me."

He then stood as he dusted his clothes from dirt and grass. " Looks like I'm not gonna make it through the entrance exams, huh? Man, this sucks. What am I supposed to tell mother and father now? I even promised I'd get inside the main classes. . ."

His expression was downcast as he spoke. He was already desperate and was already trying far beyond his best, but it wasn't enough.

He sighed. " Looks like I can only give up, huh?"

And so, he started walking back in the direction of the city.

• • •

 Arcanum Academy City.

One of the most prominent schools for mages and sorcerers, as well as other subjects related to magic. As such, it was a dreamland for those who wanted to pursue the path of magic and those who wanted to become magic warriors.

And the young man, Laurellius, was one of the countless aspiring mages who came to the city.

It had been 2 weeks since he first arrived and gaped at the vast size of the city. It was completely different from the tiny town he lived in, and the sheer amount of people passing by shocked him at that time.

That time, he was filled with hopes and anticipation about his future, but reality proved to be different from expectations.

" Talent, huh?" Laurellius muttered.

If there was something that decided how far a person would reach in terms of magic, then it was talent. Talent allowed one to perceive the magic nodes easier and faster, and more accurately in order to cast a magic spell. It was the foundation for mages. . .

. . . and it was something that Laurellius lacked.

Laurellius sighed. It was something he couldn't do anything to improve. No matter how much he improved his skills to see the nodes, no matter how much he practiced writing the runes, no matter how much he learned to control his mana, there was nothing he could do to fix his perception.

After all, even if he could perfectly execute the gestures and rune-writing, it was pointless if he couldn't find the place to write the runes in time. And thus, it was the reason why his magic failed earlier.

He failed to pinpoint a few nodes in time, and the magic spell collapsed entirely.

Laurellius sighed once again, as he continued to walk into the inn he was currently lodging.

• • •

"I'm back, Nell." Laurellius greeted the moment he entered his room.

"Welcome back, Rell!" a lively voice of a girl answered back.

A smile involuntarily crept into Laurellius' face as his expression softened. A young girl then appeared as she ran towards him, and hugged him. Laurellius hugged her back, and then ruffled her hair.

It was his little sister who came with him to the city, and someone who also aspired to become a fine mage, Nell. She was turning 11 this year, and would soon be eligible to start learning magic.

She giggled at the ticklish feeling from her brother's hand, as she asked. "Where've you been? You were gone longer than usual."

Laurellius smiled. "I went outside to practice a bit."

He then shrugged, " It was still a failure though."

Nell stared at her brother for a while and then reached out her hand to his head. She then gave him a head pat.

" What are you doing?" Laurellius asked.

She gave him a bright smile. " You look sad, so I just did what I think would make you happy. Did it work?"

Laurellius' eyes widened for an instant, then chuckled. " Ha-ha, it was quite effective, I guess."

He looked at her with gentle eyes, " Is there anything you'd like?"

Nell's eyes lit up at his words. " Then you'll take me around the city today?! Please, please, please. . ."

Laurellius gave her a troubled look for a while. His mother and father had told him to avoid letting her roam around the city too much as to avoid getting her too hooked to its pleasures, but it would be too cruel to just keep her in their lodging for an entire year.

He sighed. " I guess I'll make it an exception to today."Nell beamed at his words. " Really?! Yay!"

She jumped up and down as she raised her hand in the air. Laurellius made a dry laugh. It seems he was in for a bit of trouble.

• • •

The roads of the city were paved cobble and, the buildings were painted white. The sheer number of the people around and the streets counted too many, while the background conversations made the image of a lively city.

" Wooow. . ." Nell exclaimed in awe.

Laurellius was walking with Nell on the streets, as he held her hand to prevent her from getting separated from him. Contrary to Laurellius' expectations, she was much more silent than he thought. He had expected her to bombard him with questions, but it seems the power of awe was not to be underestimated.

He smiled at her. " How is it? The city."

Nell shifted her gaze to her brother. " It's amazing."

Hearing his sister's answer, Laurellius suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He compared his reactions to his when he first arrived here and was embarrassed at how he gaped and looked like a total bumpkin. Nell was asleep that time, so Laurellius was reminded it was her first time witnessing the city.

Laurellius gave a dry laugh, " Ha-ha, is that so? I'm glad you're happy."

However, it seems that Nell wasn't listening to him anymore, as she was sniffing around in the air, with a serious expression.

"Rell, what's that smell?" She asked.

"Smell?" he asked back as he looked in the direction she was looking, and his gaze landed on a nearby stall that sold meat barbeque. His brows went up in understanding.

"Oh, you mean that. That's barbeque. Want some?"

Nell's eyes lit up.  "Really?! I want one!"

Laurellius chuckled at her liveliness as they approached the stall together.

"Two barbeques please," Laurellius spoke as he waved in greeting.

However, the vendor gave him a troubled smile, as he rubbed the back of his bald head. He spoke.

"I'm sorry customers, but I'm afraid I only have one left."

Laurellius raised a brow as he looked at the raw materials that were visible by the storage beside him. And the vendor noticed his gaze, so he explained with a wry smile.

"I'm using a magic device for grilling the meat. But unfortunately, something seems wrong with it, and it wouldn't start at all. I'm currently waiting for someone to fix it."

'I see. So that's what it was.' Laurellius thought.

He looked at his little sister, and she seemed disappointed. Perhaps she wanted to eat the same food as him.

Laurellius smiled as he then turned to the vendor.

"Um. . . Can I see it for a second? I think I can help."

The vendor's eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

"Really?! Then that's a huge help, if you could. My daughter mentioned she'd be returning late today after all."

Laurellius' brow went up.

"Your daughter's the one who fixes your device?" He asked with interest.

"Yes, yes. And hear this; she's enrolling in this very academy soon! She got an invitation after she tested her aptitude last month. She's amazing right!?"

Laurellius smiled. "That's quite amazing indeed."

The vendor gave an embarrassed yet proud laugh as he rubbed his head. He was already thinking greatly of Laurellius.

He then waved at Laurellius. "Over here. It's this one."

Laurellius followed him and saw the magic device. It was cubic rectangle in shape, and it was far thinner than a furnace. It was a magic device called a grilling stove.

"Then if you don't mind," Laurellius spoke as he began to inspect the stove.

It wasn't his first time fixing a magic device, and it wasn't his first time fixing this exact kind of device either. As such he knew what to do.

'Hmm. . . Let's see. The magic circuit is fine, and there doesn't seem to have a problem with the activation runes either.

'But something doesn't seem right. . . the way the runes are connected seems a bit different from what I remember. The connector to the magic crystals is a bit weird. . .

'Oh? Now, this is interesting. It seems. . . modified? And it's not as amateurish as I thought.'

Laurellius inspected the device's inner workings, completely immersed in the act, to the point that he didn't notice two people arrive.

"Father, I'm back." One of them, a white-haired girl spoke as she hugged the vendor.

The vendor beamed as he approached her and hugged his daughter back.

"Welcome back, Yuria. You were earlier than I thought you'd be."

The white-haired girl, Yuria nodded. "Nn. . . I also thought I'd be late too. We finished our work quite quickly so I came back as soon as possible. And by the way, Fran's here too. She wanted some grilled meat, so I wanted to give her some."

The dark purple haired girl behind her, Fran made a wry smile. "Sorry about this, Uncle Deev. I wanted to pay but Yulia insisted that I don't have to."

The vendor, Deev laughed. "Haha! You don't have to. Just take it as thanks for always taking care of Yuria. Also, can you wait for a while, the magic device. . .stove, was it? It kinda had a problem so someone's looking at it now."

Hearing her father's words, Yuria frowned. "Someone's fixing it now?"

"Ah, yes. He's a nice young man who volunteered to fix it. He's inside."

Yuria frowned further. "He volunteered? I hope this isn't a scam again."

Deev made a troubled expression as he recalled some unpleasant memories. "Ahaha. . . I don't think he's that kind of person. He has a little sister with him after all."

Yuria shook her head. "I doubt having a sister has any connection with that though. . . In any case, let's see how he's doing. I hope he doesn't wreck it more than he fixes."

And so they entered the storage room and witnessed an unbelievable scene.