1985: Dawn of a New World (A Summoner Fanfic)

Chapter 2 - An Unexpected Friend

Mark woke up with the sound of water continuously splashing down on what seemed to be hard cement. He got up in a sitting position then reached for his glasses which were placed just beside his bed on its right side. His bed was made from trimmed carpet put on top of a paperboard, salvaged from a used box. He let off a large yawn then climbed down the ladder. Outside, it was still dark but the noise of busy people around the neighborhood signified that it was almost dawn.

"Good morning mom!" He greeted her mother upon seeing her at their tiny kitchen, so-called due to something that resembled a kitchen sink made out of unpolished cement. "Morning honey!" Her mom responded with a smile while busily cleaning some fresh fish, notable due to their pinkish gills.

Realizing that his mother brought in some fish from early working fishermen, he guiltily ran towards her "Oh I'm sorry mom, I woke up late today! Let me help you with those!" He tried to get some fish to clean beside her mother but was refused. "It's ok honey. I got this one. Have your breakfast instead. I've brought some salt bread on the way, they're on the table"

Still, with a feeling of guilt, he walked towards the dining table just a few feet from the sink and grabbed some salt bread. "Uhmmm...mom, I need to go to the library later. I promise to accompany you in the market this morning till after lunchtime!" He asked with a pleading voice "Alright honey! Just be careful!" "Yes, mom! I will!"

He happily ate the salt bread then helped her mother bring their goods to the market. The sky gradually grew brighter than before but still a bit dark, as the two of them carried two baskets each filled with fish and vegetables. The fishes were from fishermen to whom his mother bought from early in the morning and the vegetables were from their backyard, under the care of her mother

Mark's father was once a fisherman himself but died while Mark was still two years of age due to drowning. He stubbornly went on fishing with a couple of other fishermen in stormy weather in spite of warnings. Mark never had a younger brother and his looks caused him to be bullied by other children in the neighborhood and at the school making him a loner. His spirit was otherwise lifted by the encouragement of his kind mother who always told him that one day, someone will come and become his friend in spite of who he was.

The market was bustling, heavily populated both by vendors and early buyers alike. The sun finally peaked from the eastern horizon as they opened their stall at the outer court of the market. The beautiful sunrise, however, was impossible to be seen from their view due to the tall buildings of the city that covered the eastern horizon from the market.

He stayed beside his mother, smiling at people who passed by as his mother tried her best to convince people to buy their goods. He waited patiently till noon arrived. His mom gave him some rice wrapped in banana leaves and a fried fish to eat for lunch. After consuming his meal, he bade his mother goodbye and ran back home. He climbed up his room, got his notebook, and copied the inscriptions on the leather piece he got from his favorite book. He checked several times, making sure that he copied the symbols exactly as they appeared on the leather. Taking the notebook with him, he ran to the public library.

"Good Afternoon Ms. Rotcher!" He smiled and quickly made his way to the "History and Culture" section of the library unaware of the librarian's puzzled look. He used to go to the library either to borrow the current book he had or return it. This time, he seemed to be on to something else.

The "History and Culture" section, similar to the others, contained 4 large bookshelves, 2 on each side adjacent to each other. Each bookshelf held around 400 books each, giving this section around 1600 books to read.

Mark stood in the middle of the section overwhelmed by how many books he needed to read through. 'Woah! It would take me forever to read all of these!' He looked at his fingers, seemingly counting something. "Nah! I only need to scan them anyway."