Markus arrived home a few minutes after the ceremony had finished. When he opened the door, his mother, father, and younger sister were all eagerly awaiting his return. His little sister, Jessie, excited to see her older brother after hearing the good news about his light arcana from the other villagers, pounced on him, shouting, "Markus, Markus! Mr. Simon told us about the ceremony! Did you really get the light arcana?"
Markus replied, "Yes, Jessie, you heard right," as he caught his sister and held her securely; he was used to holding her, and his body was also strong from years of working in the fields with his father. So catching her mid jump was an easy task for him.
Markus, who had recently been filled with disappointment over his peers' reactions, suddenly felt joy upon seeing his family. His earlier worries about the nobles and the jealousy of others faded into a distant memory as his mother welcomed him in to celebrate his achievements with a hearty dinner. Markus's father stood by the dinner table, ready to congratulate him. He embraced Markus, shedding a tear as he expressed how proud he was to call him his son.
The family enjoyed their dinner as Markus recounted the story of what had happened, carefully skipping over the details about the head priest and the blue moon dragon. Jessie listened with amazement, her face filled with awe as her brother shared the tale. Markus's father was shocked to hear that so many teens had gained concepts based on advanced elemental arcana. Normally, the highest number ever recorded was two per ceremony, but this year that number had doubled.
Markus's mother was curious about the mark on the back of his hand; she recognized it as the symbol of the Knight's Academy. She asked Markus, "Isn't that the Regalia of the Knight's Academy? Does that mean you were recommended to the school by the temple?"
With a proud smile on his face, Markus replied, "Yeah, I'll be leaving next week." The family was glad to hear that Markus's lifelong dream had come true. Little did they know that his desire to join the academy was partly motivated by the hope of helping them achieve a better life.
Markus's mother began to ask him what he would need for the academy: clothes, armor, books whatever he needed, she would find a way to provide it. He assured her that all he really needed was some additional clothing the temple would cover the rest of his expenses. His mother sighed in relief, thankful that they wouldn't have to dig into their savings.
Markus's father told him and his sister to go to bed early. He planned to teach Markus whatever he could about fire arcana during the week, starting tomorrow. Jessie frowned when she heard she had to go to bed; she wanted to stay up and hear more about her brother's story. Markus promised her that she could come with him to train the next day. This made her happy, and they both went to their rooms without much argument.
Not too long after, the parents went to bed, both joyful about their son's achievements, completely oblivious to the truth about his abilities.
Hours after falling asleep, Markus began to dream. He found himself in a breathtaking landscape with a crystal clear lake that perfectly reflected the sapphire blue sky. The scene mesmerized him, dominated by a magnificent dragon covered in dazzling white feathers that shimmered with a radiant rainbow glow. The dragon lowered its head, locking its gaze directly at Markus, its sky blue, jewel like eyes larger than Markus's entire body.
This sight sent a chill down Markus's spine. The sight of such a majestic yet terrifying beast made him take a step back in fear. The dragon spoke with a bold, thundering voice, "They're coming, kill them, kill them all, CHILD WAKE UP!!"
Markus jolted out of bed, his face covered in sweat and his mind racing as he tried to figure out what had just happened. "What kind of dream was that? And was that dragon who I think it was?" he wondered. He got out of bed and headed down the stairs to get something to drink, hoping it would help clear his mind.
*tap tap tap*
The faint sound of slow, cautious footsteps crept into Markus's ear, someone was attempting to slip by unnoticed. But today luck was not on their side. With hearing that could rival predators, Markus discerned every detail: the soft rustle of chainmail, the subtle crunch of leather boots against the ground, and the slight clinking of concealed knives. Each sound painted a vivid image of the intruders beyond his view.
Markus grabbed his father's farming sickle, a piece of flint, and a bottle of white rum before heading to the area above the back door. He listened intently for the intruder's footsteps approaching. He uncapped the bottle and poured the rum on the intruders, dousing them in alcohol. Then, he jumped out the window, landing behind them as he struck the flint with the sickle. Lighting the intruders a flame.
Before they could scream, Markus began slashing their throats, preventing them from making any sound. He quickly grabbed the bodies moving them to the forest where animals would handle the rest. Markus was lucky that the intruders underestimated his combat abilities, but who wouldn't? The only reason he knew how to fight was because his father taught him how to defend himself and how to hunt wild animals, most of which were elemental beasts like Thunder wolves, Cinder lions, and geo bears. This allowed him to gain combat IQ that allowed him to make most fights unfair and in his favor.
Before he could return to the house, a faint rustle in the bushes caught Markus's ear. He dashed backward, dodging a dagger that was thrown at him. His eyes darted in the direction from which the dagger had come from. He spotted a dark elf woman with white hair hiding in the bushes and realized that she, along with the intruders, were most likely mercenaries sent by the nobles. He thought to himself, "There's no way they could despise him to this level."
Markus dashed toward the dark elf, dodging her knives as he moved closer, aiming to incapacitate her with nonlethal force for interrogation later. The dark elf maintained her distance, preferring to attack from range with her daggers. She aimed for Markus's legs and arms to reduce his mobility so she could move in for a killing blow.
Markus was determined not to make things easy for her. He moved through the forest, using the trees for cover and hiding in the shadows and bushes. Once he was close enough, he threw a fistful of dirt into her eyes, causing her to flinch as she struggled to wipe the dirt away.
She dashed back, wiping her eyes, and slammed into a tree as she tried to get away. Markus seized this opportunity to slash the muscles in her left thigh, making it harder for her to move.
The dark elf grunted in pain before unleashing a burst of dark energy, sending Markus crashing into a tree. The impact knocked the wind out of Markus. As he opened his eyes, he saw a massive black skeleton hand emerging from the dark elf's back, radiating a flame like aura of black and purple. It exuded an overwhelming sense of despair and dread.
"Where did the nobles even find this girl? I've never seen or heard of an arcana like this," Markus muttered to himself as he dashed backward, trying to gauge the range of the dark hand. But before he could get far, the hand extended with a speed rivaling lightning. Quickly, Markus used his sickle to parry the hand, pushing it back ever so slightly.
The hand stopped moving when Markus was about 80 meters away from the dark elf. So, that's your range, huh? He shouted to her, "Look, I can keep you here until a pack of wild animals comes around. I doubt you can outrun or fight a pack of thunder wolves with your leg being in that condition."
The elf then began speaking. The words, coming from her mouth were unrecognizable. It did not sound like a language Markus had ever heard, in fact, it didn't even sound human.
As soon as he heard her words, the voice of the dragon from his dream began speaking to Markus: "Kill her. She isn't from this world; she is no longer of mankind." The elf's body started to radiate the same dark energy once again as it extended its arm further, grabbing Markus before he could move away.
"HAAAA!" he screamed as the hand squeezed him, pulling him closer to the dark elf, cracking one of his ribs and causing a small amount of blood to run down the side of his mouth.
The dark elf began to mutter and mumble, her words increasingly resembling a beast's cry. Her head shook wildly, and two extra eyes formed on her cheekbones. Black rose tattoos appeared at the corners of her face, and her teeth became as sharp as the daggers she threw. As her crooked smile emerged, it cast a feeling of uneasiness over Markus.
"You really are a monster, well at least I won't feel bad now," Markus said as the dark elf screamed at him, producing a hollow howl. The elf heard a whistling sound as the farming sickle flew into the top of her skull. It turned out Markus had thrown it upward when she caught him with her skeletal hand.
The sickle was embedded into her skull, but this didn't make her budge. She continued to squeeze Markus until another one of his ribs broke, making him cough up blood.
The dark elf tried to finish off Markus's, but before she could do any more damage, a blade of wind sliced her head clean off her body.
The skeletal arm dissipated, and her body fell to the ground. A small, black, squid like creature crawled out of her mouth and scurried away, dodging the wind blades that were fired at it. "Dang it, it got away!" a tall, dark skinned Amazonian woman exclaimed as she jumped down from a nearby tree. She turned to Markus and asked, "Hey, are you okay, kid? Sorry, I took so long to get here."
Markus gasped for air as he was finally freed from the giant hand that had been squeezing the life out of him. "Wheeze, wheeze! Thank you, thank you so much! Cough... wait, who are you?"
The woman grabbed a healing elixir from her bag and threw it to Markus. "I'm the attendant you were supposed to meet when you arrived at the knight's academy. The head priest sent me to help you as soon as the mark on your hand started to show that you were in danger," she explained as she showed the same mark on the back of her hand.
Upon seeing the mark on her hand, Markus began drinking the elixir, healing all the damage caused by the dark elf. "You should get back to your house before someone finds out," the Amazonian woman replied.
Markus stood up and dusted off his clothes. He asked the woman, "Wait, before I go, do you know what that thing was?"
She shook her head and replied, "Honestly, kid, I have no idea. But maybe the head priest or one of the monster specialists from the temple could tell you."
"Okay, I guess I'll check in with him tomorrow," Markus said as he made his way back home, entering through the window.
He sat down at his bedside, and now that he had time to think, he pondered to himself, "Something feels off". The dream had had the way he was so ready to kill and the voices in his head.
He thought to himself that this might be a side effect of the dragon arcana. Whatever it was, he knew he would have to deal with it tomorrow. He planned to talk to the head priest using the seal so that no one would be suspicious of them.