Birds chirping outside my window, fire burning downstairs, and the breeze coming through my window. Those are all the things I am feeling as I wake up. I wonder if people find it weird that in enjoy talking to myself. Do others do that as well? Who knows and doesn't matter because no one would care for me. Why? Because im Flame Lunin. Yes son of Harvy Lunin, the biggest criminal in all of Utaina. The most hated man in all the region. He went on a tyrant of evil deeds and destroyed three cities and only was caught when he attempted his fourth. His holy ability was the power gravity manipulation. With just a whiff of his hand he could crush houses and people. Not only that put he could reverse his gravity to jump so high where he could escape with ease. My black haired father with vilanouse red eyes. He also had the longest black beard with wrinkles all over his face. For some reason he had his right ear pierced with two iron circles but his left pierced with a snake. That snake piercing was a symbol of shame. Anyone wearing it shows to everyone that they are from a cult on madmans. They kill for fun. Why would they wear it if it exposes their identity you ask? Its just proof of how insane they are. They go to the wildest lengths to prove to the world how insane they are. And that is why i am hated. Because i am the son of his which my mother wasn't even in love with him. She was kept as a slave for him until he was caught. So she beared me and my sister unwillingly. Thats why she is so harsh with us because we remind her of that man. But harvey was sent to heavens hell. The worlds most guarded prison in alkania the center of our earth. Never been their its a place full of weird stuff and pretty hard to know where your going. Its all see and fog with a few islands here and there. Also the main source of water. Of course I already knew that so I have no idea why im repeating it to my self. I guess it entertains me.
Enough groaning in bed. I decide to get out of my bed mostly because I have to if I don't want to be late for class. I hope out of my night clothes and put on my day clothes which contains of a nice short sleeve black shirt and long blue pants. Then I slowly arrive at my mirror to brush my red hair into my usually side part. I still thank god every day for blessing me with these beautiful green eyes. I splash water on my ivory skin and touch my recently shaved mustache. Then run my finger across the x shaped scar above my left eyebrow. After being prepared i head downstairs. Of course everyone except my grandma is gone. Its to be expected because she is deaf and blind. I see the half eaten plate of my cousin, Lorce, meanwhile my sisters seat, Tina, is all tidy. My mom isnt here because she has work to do. Speaking about work the clock shows i have about ten minutes before im late. So i grab a loaf of bread and leave the house. I made sure to close the door don't worry. Half way their i finished my loaf of bread and bring out my portable toothbrush because remember kids, its important to brush your teeth. There is one academy in the village i live in which is the norm by the way. Its in the straight center of it as well. My house is a good bit away from it while also being around some other houses. But to the right of my house a few giants steps is our villages only farm. Biggest farm in Utaina by the way.
After a while I arrive at the begging of the academy and i spot my friend Fia. Want to know what she is doing there? Well she is standing nervously looking around for something. That something is me. Im basically her only friend in the whole academy. Why? Because she is completely socially awkward. Of course since we go to a high academy lots of girls tried to become friends with her. Because we know that just because a person doesn't talk louder than other doesn't mean they are less interesting. They could just be shy or scared of not being liked. So the girls in our academy talked with her but after a while a lot of people wouldn't talk to her. I've only heard rumors of what the girls say but apparently they say she tried to take of the clothes of one girl. Another says that she stole her lunch. The real reason is that she got to buddy buddy so quick. She does that with everyone that tries to be friends with her. Its like she has a split personality. Shy and awkward with people she doesn't know but weird and freaky with people she knows. How do I know that? Its because thats how she treats me. Yeah I became friends with her and i will admit she can be pretty annoying. But since i already have not many friends I should take what i can get.
“Flame! Where were you I look like a lost girl without you.”
She finally found me and walked up to me. We usually walk to school together since we are neighbors but because I overslept she went with out me.
“Did you get lost or something. You just have to walk straight how did it take you that long.”
“I over slept alright.”
I look towards Fias white face, her brown eyes look extra open today. She has her long brown hair correctly combed for once and has a ring with a small blue crystal on. Her red stripes next to her eyes are brighter than normal. Although she is still wearing the same brown jacket over her with blue pants as well. This all makes me very confused. She is actually tidy for once.
“Wow didn't expect you to comb your hair for once.”
“Of course I did.” She says mockingly. “Today is selection day my parents forced me to get all tidy.”
Oh shit. Selection day. I completely forgot today was that day. I remember that its always on the second week of a new academy year but I forgot. That means if i do really bad i might be stuck with her for all my classes. As selection day is what determines what classes you will be taking for the rest of the year.
We both enter the academy and storm through the classes so that we arrive to main hall in time. You can tell as there is a bunch of people there and we are at the very end of the mob. I look over to see Fias worried face already having sweat crawl through her check. I look to my right and just see a bunch of other students. I cant seem to find my friend Raul anywhere. It doesn't matter the selection is going to start soon. They start by talking about all the boring stuff about the school. Almost puts me to sleep again. Eventually they get to the selection part.
“All students will go into a room with professor Snail and see how well developed they are with their holy ability. This way we can see which class you will go into. There are three different ones as you all know. Beginner which are people who don't know how to use their holy ability yet. Intermediate which are people who cant control it yet. And advanced for the people who are ready to start learning the best ways to use their ability.” Says the minister Astolf.
The minister is the main head of the academy and mostly deals with all the important things. He has no hair but a strange tall yellow hat with a white beard on. He seems old but has the voice of a 30 year old. He also wears robes that makes him looks like a priest. Anyways its important to know how useful our ability is in combat to help protect our region. Because before we established our armies human kind was only 1/20th of monsters but now we are only 1/3rd and hope to get it lower. Monsters cause many problems on us and animals because majority monsters are not edible and they kill all the animals for food which leaves food problems with us. Thats why the selection day is important so we can get people with good holy abilities prepared as quick as possible.
“Hurry over to the homeroom hall and gather a line. You will all wait for your chance to be escorted to take the tests.”
Fia tugs on my shirt.
“Hey do you mind if we go at the very end of the line so we can practice together.”
“Its mostly action stuff rather than knowledge, but sure we can do that if you want.”
“Alright.”
Me and her gather at the back of the line for our year's selection. Our year has the least amount of kids as this is our final year at the academy. There are about 30 kids here but mostly because our village isn't that populated to begin with. I look around to see if I can encounter Raul but I don't see him anywhere.
“Come on and help me,” Fia says.
“I already told you, how do I help you when I don't even know how your holy ability works.”
“Well I can warp whatever I want to a place I can see as long as I have touched it.”
“Yeah I already know that much.”
She has the warping holy ability but I personally think teleportation would have been better because with warping she can't warp herself. But then again she never had the ability to choose so i don't know why i'm complaining, My ability is that i can use shadows how I like. I can turn myself into a shadow, control others' shadows, make shadows, hide in shadows and more, or so i've been told. Just like her i cant control my ability that well. We talk for a while and the line gets shorter until there is just one person ahead of us two. But then I hear someone panting loudly walking through the hall. I can hear his shoes squeaking against the floor and his bag moving up and down his body. Once he gets in my view I see orange red eyes with thick brown eyebrows on top with a line cut on the edge of both of them as decoration. His spiky brown oranges hair is jumping on his head as he is running to us. His left ear is a bit chewed up and his face is as slim as it gets. Yup thats my buddy Raul.
“Hey man your late.”
“I know that i overslept because I was playing with my sword all night.”
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“Really thats why you are so late?” I say with a confused but mockingly tone.
“Yeah man but at least im not as late as you were on the first day of academy.” He says laughing.
“Ha ha so funny. It wasn't my fault it was Fia who made me do a whole ass quest to find her missing hair clip.” I say annoyed
“I know, what a stupid reason to be late.” He laughs more. “Hey I didn't know you still hanged with her.” He whispers at my ear while pointing at Fia.
“She is right there and i say she has improved from when we first met.”
Fia looks away a bit sad. She is probably thinking about something depressing because Raul made a mean comment about her. She wouldn't care if i said it but because she doesn't know Raul she is deeply offended but more in a depressed way. We talk for a while and eventually its time for one of us to go. Raul cuts ahead and goes in first which leaves me a little pissed.
“Hey Flame do you think im weird?”
“Yeah totally.” I say with no hesitation.
“Oh.” She says depressed and looks down.
“But not in a weird way way that i wouldn't be friends with you. I think you can be pretty funny sometimes. Your just the kind of weird i wouldn't want my mom seeing me hang out with.”
“Hey you know your mom loves me, she sometimes even acts as if she likes me more than you.” She say angrily.
Me telling her that made her feel less depressed as i can tell from her comment. She isn't mad at me our sad. She is just being herself. So thats a win for me.
Later Fia enters and i'm the last one waiting. I hope i get in the same class as those two. I mean I probably will be with Fia because we are on the same level but I don't know about Raul. I guess we just have to wait and see. I look around and see how thin this hallway truly is. The academy is split into three floors. The bottom one which is below me. The middle floor which is where I am and where the lunch room and rooms where important stuff happens. Don't really know the name but I think it's where the professors and the minister talk about the school. Finally the third floor is where the majority of the classes are. Some classes are at the bottom floor but it's mostly just storage down there. Eventually the door opens signaling that it is my turn.
As i enter the room its all really dark. Then the lights turn on and I see professor Snail there. He is pretty tall and seems kinda old. His face is a little wrinkly but looks around in his 40s. He has long black curly hair that goes down to his very upper chest. You can see some of it resting on his shoulders. His eyes are gray but give a sort of sharp look. He looks more tired than menacingly though even with those eyes. His lips look dry and he has a small scar on the bottom right side of his chin. He was wearing dark clothes that resembled a robe. It looked like it was a little worn out though.
“Well its time for your selection, Flame. I hope that you have improved since last year.”
“Yes i've been practicing sir.”
It was the same thing as last year. Demonstrate my powers to see how well i could control them. Back then i was able to summon only one shadow hand but now i've been able to control multiple at once.
“Good but you've still only been able to make shadow hands. Im pretty sure with more time you will be able to do greater things.” He said calmly.
Next he made me experiment with my powers. The first task was being able to break down papers, bottles, and small wooden boxes. I think i did them pretty well. Next task was reaction. He would simply throw a paper ball at me and i would have to block it with my shadow hand. Took two attempts to get it done. The final task was using the shadow hand as a regular hand. He basically jus told me to write with it. I was able to do so but the handwriting was really sloppy.
“Practice writing with your shadow hand and eventually you will be able to do other tasks with them.”
He told me to leave the room and that it was finished. After i left i met up with everyone and continued academy as normal. The days were shorter because we were missing some classes which we will be assigned soon based on the selection. So my day went with history, language, monsters and animals, laboratory, and the class of basics in that order. But now i have a new class for Holy ability training. Now that the academy knows how skilled we are with our abilities they have put us in classes to teach us on how to use them better. Since i had all of my classes with Fia me and her both walked together to our new class. Before that I got to know that me and Fia are both ranked c class. A tier higher than last year. Although i dont know what class Raul is. I hope he is in the same one as me.
We now entered our class and it was all pretty empty. The only one here already was professor Ruffs. Seems like he will be our teacher for this class. I like professor Ruffs. I mean everyone does. He is a pretty big guy being a whole head taller than me. He has lots of orange hair that almost reach to shoulder length and has two strings of notted hair on both sides. Its like a small rope made out of his hair. He also has a bushy orange mustache but for some reason his eyebrows are brown. He has a scar on the right side of his chin which makes him look more intimidating. But you guessed it he really is just a real nice guy. Hes also pretty funny as well. He likes to make jokes by intimidating other students with his looks then laughing it off. But the main reason everyone likes him is that he is really chill. Never yells and barley makes us do a lot of work. Although im kinda confused on why he is teaching this class. His holy ability has the power to neglect all damage. Thats it though. So he cant really do much for offensive. Thats why he teaches monsters and animals as he can interact with dangerous animals and yet not get hurt at all.
“Hey there Flame, and Fia. Was just about to leave to my next class. Behave and don't fall a sleep in class Fia.” He says chuckling to himself.
Professor Ruffs just left the class which means he wont be the one teaching. Guess I was wrong.
“Alright guess we have the class for ourselves than.” said Fia.
But just as she said i could feel someones hand touching my shoulder. I turned around and saw professor Snail. This was who I was expecting to be the teacher.
Later on everyone had come to this class. To my surprise Raul is in our class so Fia me and Raul all decided to sit together. In the end there are ten people in our class. The first three are me and my friends. The next three were a well known group of people known to this school. Because the most popular one in their group is Rea. Rea is well known here for being self centered and bossy. She has been to this academy ever since it started and she gained popularity for her holy ability. Fire. Yup, the reason why everyone thought she was so cool is because of fire. I mean fire is really cool and all so i get why. But because of that it got in her head and now she thinks she is the most important person. Her front hair is dyed red and the back part of it is red. She has like a strip of hair in the front which is what she dyed. The other bit is black hair and she also has a ponytail. She has a white crop top but she changes the colors every day and usually wears black shorts. The other two girls with her are her friends. Silia and Poppy. Sillia has long black hair and has the whatever girl voice type. Poppy is more energetic and is always supporting Rea. She has short red hair.
The next 4 are 3 other girls that i don't know much about. Ill ask about them later. The last person is non other then the cousin of the prince of Utainia. He has blue hair and a pale face. His hair is a little messy with a spring of hair bouncing out in the front. He doesn't care much for styling his hair. From what i know of him he is very energetic and funny when he is interested. Although in some classes that i have with him when he is really bored he acts real cool. Its mostly because of his looks. I mean when your the prince of the region of course you look like the best person in the world. He sat with us probably because he doesn't know the other people. We've talked with our other classes but we don't know much about each other. But the main reason i like him is that he doesn't care about who my father is. He doesn't really seem interested in talking with us.
“Alright now that everyone is here class will begin. I will start off class by explaining what you will be learning this year. As all the years prior we will be working on trying to get all of you to fully be able to use your holy abilities. We will have mock duel, outside training sessions, and monster practice. I hope you all look forwards to those events.”
The rest of the class was pretty chill. We introduced all of our selves although non of us seemed very enthusiastic. I mean its the last class before the day ends so i guess its fine.
“Now i want our very own prince chester to come up and demonstrate how target practice works.”
The class is almost over but Professor Snail wants us to real quick show how accurate our accuracy is. Chester went on up and had a glass of water with him. A bullseye is right in front of him and he looks at it. He raises his hand and the water from the cup comes up in a spiralling way. He flicks his finger to the target and with a whoosh it lands on the bullseye. Everyone else went to do it in after in order. We all did it with ease as our technique with our holy abilities is pretty intermediate. The only reason i struggle sometimes is because the amount of different things i focus on. Because some peoples holy abilities may not be that diverse they will only need to spend time practicing some techniques. But with my shadow manipulation there is tons of stuff i could pull off. I've been more varied in practice so i can do a lot of things but not in the best way. ring ring. With that we could tell our class is over.
“Yall girls want to hit up at the cafe” Said Rea
“Whatever is fine for all i care im just dying to get out of here.” Said Sillia.
Everyone left the class and me, Fia and Raul walked together and exited the class.
Raul waved goodbye to me and ran home but Fia wants to walk home with me because we are neighbors. As we exit the academy which looked like a castle from the outside i was able to see the beautiful gardens to the both sides of me. In front of the gardens there were some beautifully crafted trees and water spraying around them. The entrance to my academy was probably the nicest thing here. As we walked the path I saw a couple houses a long the way but we decided to stop at the usual shop. Grandla, this place selled a bunch of baked goodies. My favorite was the sweet strawberry filled cones.
“One bunnit please.” Fia said
I personally don't like bunnits as they are filled with this weird tangy cream inside. And they look like bunnies which is just cruel. After we picked up our stuff we started walking home while eating it. We then parted ways as we arrived at our houses. I walk into my small home and see my sister taking care of our grandma.
“Welcome home Flame!” Tina exclaims.
She walks over to me and tries to kiss my forehead by i stop her with my palm. Dont want no sister germs on my head.
“One day i will get you by surprise.” She says heading for the kitchen.
“Whatever you say.” I say rolling my eyes.
I hug my grandma and go upstairs and rest my bag in my room. I jump onto my bed and stay there for a while. I look over and see my table and summon a shadow hand. I try to bring it to pick up the cup by the handle bar. Its hard trying to grip it right. Its as if trying to button your shirt but you can only find the hole to it by using your hand to feel it. I know its a weird description. Eventually i grab it and carry it over to me. Once it reaches onto the bed I try to let go but I struggle with that. So i just disperse the hand and it drops down onto my bed.
“I wonder if i could use these hands to do my chores.” I say with curiosity.
