Fragarach

Elder Rigor de Vancsu

After going to the academy Raven went straight home. His mother is already preparing the food when he entered the doorstep with a frown on his face.

“Mom, I’m home.” He greeted. “Oh you’re here, perfect. I just finish cooking the food. So how was your stroll in the city?” his mother ask without looking at him.

His mother is busy preparing the food but when he took so long to answer she glance at him and saw the frown in his face. “What’s with the long face? Did something bad happen?”

Raven takes a deep breath and decided not to get his mother involve with the things outside her field of expertise and just add more burden to her.

“Hooooo! It’s nothing Mom. I just had a huge shock today.” He explained. “Are you sure?” his mother does not seem convinced.

Raven flash a smile to his mother and she sigh in relief knowing he told her the truth.

“Alright I believe you, now wash your hands and get the plates for me, let’s eat the food while it is still warm.” She requested.

Raven nods as he stood from his seat and went straight to the sink. He sees the box that is supposed to be storing the excess meat that he hunted today but to his surprise, he did not see an ounce of meat inside the box, all was left is the ice he made with his mana manipulation. His mother saw him staring at the storage box and told him to hurry because there is something that she wants to tell him.

“O-okay” he replied.

As he set the plate on the table his mother smile brightly at him.

“Did something good happen?” he questioned.

His mother nodded as an answer to his question, he felt that she had a wonderful day and it made him happy.

“So what happened?” he ask as he sat on the chair. His mother smiled as he ask what happened.

“I saw you staring at the storage box and so I thought I need to tell you. You see, before I even carried everything to the market, I was stopped by a royalty near the market and asked where I got the meat that I am going to sell so I told them that you hunter near the ruins. His eyes widened after hearing these and told me to buy everything also the bones. I did not want to sell the bones too but he insisted. He told me that even the bones are so good because the animals near the ruins are so naturally healthy since no humans dare to hunt there so often.” She explained.

His mother had a smiling face when she told him what happened earlier that they almost forgot the food getting cold.

“Oh goodness gracious we forgot about the food. Let’s eat as we talk shall we?” she reminded.

“We made fifty gold coins for all that meat and bones.” She reported. “Fifty? That’s a lot”

“I know, he shove it in my hand immediately after taking all the money and thanking me because he no longer had to go to the nearby farms outside the city just to buy all the meat they need.” His mother had a lot to say then she suddenly ask about his visit to the academy.

“So how did it go?” she ask.

[ONE HOUR EARLIER]

When Raven entered the academy he was stopped by huge guards armed with spears. And ask him what the purpose of his visit is so he told them that he wants to attend the academy.

“So you want to attend the academy huh? You can’t enter the academy without a visitor insignia.” The guard said as he took out a box and handed him a visitor insignia. “Here take this and pin it on your chest, remember to bring it back here before you leave.” He added.

Raven took the insignia and pin it in his clothe and thank the guards.

“If you want to register in the academy, you might want to go to the elder’s office first. We don’t really know the process since we are here guarding the entrance but I hope that could help.” The other guard said.

“Thank you very much gentlemen.” He said as he walk pass them.

He did as what the guard instructed and ask around where the elder’s office is and he is lead to a small building far from the large ones. The building is small but the designs are so well thought that made it look grand. Raven can see through the glass panel of the window and saw an elder sitting on the chair and looks like he is reading something in a piece of paper. The elder notice that someone is outside in the building’s doorstep so he went and opened the door. Raven greeted the elder and the he did the same as well.

“Come inside and have a seat.” The elder invited. “Excuse me for the intrusion.”

The elder went back to his chair as Raven sat on the chair next to the elder’s desk.

“I am Rigor de Vancsu, one of the elders in the academy. What is your business here young lad?” the elder introduce himself as he ask what is Raven’s business for coming to their office.

“I am Raven Oston, I have come here, to your office so ask if I can still attend the academy’s classes.” He ask. Rigor had a bothered look in his face as he listen to the young man in front of him. “Attending classes even if you are behind is not a problem, in some cases like these we do some procedures to ensure that you have the ability to catch up to your class.” He explained.

Rigor took a piece of paper and wrote Raven’s name in a chart. “Do you have any experience in combat? Mana manipulation or hand to hand combat?” Rigor asked.

Raven was hesitant to tell him that he already beaten up a student from the academy in hand to hand combat but he decided to keep it to himself and told Rigor that he had a little experience. (He meant the grueling training that he experience from Aranx.)

“Any mana manipulation experience?” “Yes, I have had experience in mana manipulation.” He answered.

Rigor wrote everything that Raven had answer and after that he took an instrument that looks like a ball filled with liquid that is luminescent. That liquid is the instrument that they made in order to measure the amount of mana inside a mortal’s body, the tear of the gods. Raven sensed a faint familiar mana that the instrument releases. But he forgot what it is and burrow it at the back of his head.

“In order for this device to work, you need to hold it like his.” Rigor demonstrate how to use the instrument properly. “See the changes in color? The tear of the gods is transparent so if you hold it tightly the color will change and it will show how dense the mana you have in your body.” He explained.

The container of the tear of the gods represent the body of the mortal that is being tested. The liquid inside that changes its color represents the density of mana that the subject has.

The darker the color the dense the mana is and the lighter the color the less dense it is.

When Rigor measure Raven’s mana the instrument did not react at all, just some faint flashes of bright and dark color of yellow in a just a few seconds and after that nothing happened.

“Is something like this normal?” Raven is worried that he might have destroyed the instrument. “That’s strange, this never happened before. Something like this did not happen in the past so we did not create any duplicate.” Rigor told Raven that it’s okay.

“Strange, let me write that down. With this happening, I can put you temporarily in the academy but we have to measure your mana again for verification.”

*Scribble*

*Scribble*

Rigor handed Raven a letter to advise an instructor to take Raven into the class while they prepare to make another tear of the gods.

“Show this to the head instructor in the second office besides the entrance, they will tell you what to do.” He instructed.

“I am very sorry for the inconvenience.” Raven apologized to the elder for the trouble that he had caused.

“It’s nothing, maybe the instrument is very old that it decided to take a permanent break.” The elder smiled as he shake his head.

Raven thank the elder for his time and consideration. But as he left, Rigor took the instrument and examined it. He sense a faint presence of unknown mana on the instrument. He stare at Raven as the young boy walk towards where he instructed him to go.

[Back to present time]

“So that’s what happened, but I knew that you might get admitted to the academy so I have bought you a present.” She said as she took a big box and put it on the table.

“A present? Isn’t that too old for my age now?” he reminded. “Who said that only kids can get presents? Even grown-ups get presents too!” his mother retorted. “Open it.” she resumed.

Raven took the box then opened it, his mother is smiling looking at her son opening a present in a long time. He untie the ribbon then pull the lid and saw the thing that he forgot when going to the academy, his uniform.

“Even if you grew a lot taller than you are the last time I saw you, your mother knows your measurements when I see you.” She said with teary eyes.

Raven is touched by his mother’s dedication to support and make his dream come true, he left his seat and went to his mother to hug her. “Thanks Mom”

[Elder Rigor’s manor]

Elder Rigor is a little worried about what happened earlier and could not seem to calm down.

[How did that happen? Is it possible that the kid broke the instrument? But that’s impossible! That instrument should last at least before the demon lord arrives.] he thought as he massage his chin while sitting on his chair and puffing a cigar.

[When Raven left his office.]

Rigor felt really uncomfortable with the faint mana on the broken instrument and called someone to his office. “Keep an eye on the kid that just left here a moment ago and go investigate his family background, status, everything. Got it” he orders while whispering to the man’s ears. The man left to follow the elder Rigor’s order. With all the resources in their hands, he immediately receive a report from the man after a few hours at his manor.

“Here are the information that I manage to collect elder, I shall take my leave.” The man left in a hurry as the elder quickly walk to his room.

His keen eyes moved quickly from sentence to sentence, reading every word carefully without missing a single word. His eyes suddenly stop at the end of the report.

“Went missing for three years and return only recently” he read aloud and a memory flash in his mind.