Five Years

(Sorry I've been gone for a while guys. Had some assessments to catch up on. But I'm back now.😊)

(Also, I was advised to change the writing from first person to third person, so that's what I'll be using. I know it might be difficult to adjust to but please bear with me.)

Out in the void...

Far beyond the constraints of space-time,

"So he disobeyed direct orders and interfered, huh?"

"Yes, Your Eminence"

"Bring me a list of all the..."

"It has already been prepared, Your Eminence"

"Excellent! Your efficiency is, as always, supreme"

"Your Eminence praises this lowly one too highly. Compared to Your Eminence, this capability of mine is nothing to brag about"

"Now, let's see just what exactly this is all about...Hmm...I see"

"What now, Your Eminence?"

"I must say, this project is quite intriguing. Since everyone already has a vassal, they surely wouldn't mind if I also picked one, would they?"

"They wouldn't dare, Your Eminence!"

"Let's give them a surprise gift then"

Laughter rang out before the voices quietened. The silence returned, but a deep storm was already brewing for those on the small planet.

Unbeknownst to them, they were already being observed and they had already been pulled into a deep plot with a complex web...

~~~~~

Two more years slowly passed by on the planet and the remnant survivors were already 5 years and a couple months old.

In a few more months, they would be testing out their elements.

Nimue Continent, Falorian Kingdom,

Whitewater County, Birchwood Village

In an orphanage on the far west end of the village,

A 5 year old boy with black hair and crude black eyes was currently running around with a bunch of other kids.

"Liam, Joss, you all should come over"

A 7 year old brunette towered over the others and beckoned them over. Besides her stood a tall, 8 year old boy with his arms folded as he stared at the other kids.

"Brother Talen wants to show us his new knight skills"

"Wow, brother Talen is so strong, I want to become an amazing knight too."

The 8 year old smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. His foot dug into the sad as a deep red blush appeared on his cheeks. He looked down, not drawing to meet any of the kids' eyes.

"Although it is good, th..the..knights at the gates say it's nothing special, so it's not that amazing."

He bowed his head as he avoided the eyes of the kids below him. He scrunched up his face as though he expected to be made fun of.

"Yeah! But think about it this way, you're only 8, how many people can say they started using knight skills when they were 8?"

"Yeah! Brother Talen is so talented. You can already gain knight skills without training or entering the academy, you're born to be a knight"

"Thanks guys! But it would've been really cool if I could be a mage. That way, I could buy out the orphanage and you guys wouldn't have to worry about anything."

"Brother Talen doesn't have to worry about that. Just with your knight skills, the stronger you get, the happier we'll all be"

The children gathered around the boy showering him with praises. All except for one 5 year old boy who stood behind the crowd.

"Cern, come over and congratulate Brother Talen"

The 5 year old trudged over slowly.

Although they said that, everyone of them knew that the 5 year old couldn't speak.

Or rather, it wasn't that he couldn't, it was that he wouldn't.

But of course, no one else knew that.

'Judging from his eyes and the way he is stuttering, he must have been bullied. Although he covered it up, I can make out the bruises on his cheek and eye. They must be really jealous huh?!'

The eyes of the 5 year old scrutinized the 8 year old before him. Ever since he had come into this world, he had learnt a lot.

But the most important one, was that this wasn't Earth. The orphanage library had an assortment of books, although common books, but it was more than enough for basic knowledge about this planet.

Xendra, was the name and the most noticable thing about this world, was that it had magic. There were also other occupations, like swordsman, warriors and whatnot. These occupations existed for those who couldn't wield magic.

Although this world had a lot of magic, it seemed that it still wasn't available to everyone. However, being born into a world with magic, even if they didn't gain an ability to wield it, they still had stronger physiques and body standards compared to earth.

Of course, they had no idea about this and as such, they had no idea how blessed they were.

Knights were actually one of the more important occupations, right after mage. People in this occupation usually had low mana capacity and as such trained mainly in their bodies. Though, some of their skills still made use of mana.

As such, this occupation was deemed as some of the more important ones after mage.

Brother Talen was an example. He had fire attributes mana, but low mana capacity. His body strength was, however,. suitable for knight training. Therefore, he was being trained as a knight.

Although it sounded simple, not just anyone with low mana capacity and high body strength could be a knight. The conditions were quite stringent as well. But the conditions were not listed in the books in the orphanage and as such he had to go to the town library. However, he couldn't make use of it until he turned 7, so he had a lot of free time on his hands.

'With his talents, it's no wonder they'd be jealous of him. But to think they'd attack an 8 year old. Don't those old men have any shame? Just cause he's an orphan, huh?!'

He stretched his arms wide and hugged Talen. Talen, who was caught off guard suddenly pat his head. It was more of a silent acknowledgment between the silent kid and his older brother. They knew that this was how Talen expressed himself - through his actions.

'This is getting really weird. I might be 5 year old in appearance, but I'm at least 21 in mentality you know? I'm tired of hugging dudes. What about the ladies? I want to grow up and get a life already!'

"Alright! How about I show you my new skill?"

"Yeah! Alright"

"Show us Brother Talen"

"Yeah! I wanna see it too"

Sounds of acknowledgment rang out through the fences as the kids gathered to watch their big brother show off.

Talen gathered air into his lungs, picked up his wooden training sword, and got into a pose. His left foot was planted wide and his body leaned forward on his right foot. He held the sword in front of him before springing out with a slash.

"Brutal Assault!"

There was a white glow on the wooden sword as it sliced into the fence before it shattered in his hands.

"Oh no! I just got this. They said never to drive mana through it and I forgot. They'll never give me another one and they'll kick me out" He said as he stared at the splintered wooden training sword right in front of him. Although no one else heard it, it didn't escape the ears of the 7 year old girl and the 5 year Cern.

"It's alright Talen. I'm sure they'll understand. It's just a wooden sword. There's no way they'd be so unreasonable, right?"

The girl approached him as she said beneath her voice, not letting anyone else hear. Of course this did not include Cern.

'So they're even being unreasonable about a wooden sword?! Damn it!!! I can't do anything right now. Not until the evaluation next year, where I'm deemed as a mage. Only then would I have actual standing in this town. Seems like I'll have to find some other way.'

Cern stood at the back of the crowd, mentally exhausting every possible option to make money for a new sword.

'Right! There's that as well. I can find it and trade it for a few coins for a wooden sword.'

No one noticed the boy sneak out of the orphanage gates...