Mysticals: The Crimson Chaos

1: Arbulet

On broad daylight on the Fire Island in the Continent of New Magistry, an 8-year-old boy named Arbulet attends a local school specializing in infernal magic. He is light-skinned and has dark brown hair. Just like his hair, his eyes are also dark brown and have a black pupils. He likes to ditch classes and go hunting in nearby woods. He often gets scolded by the instructor for not paying attention in class. One time, he accidentally broke a school-provided magical wand by using it as a sword. Arbulet got suspended for weeks because of that matter.

Arbulet is currently in his home and alone with his father. Arbulet's father works as a fisherman to provide necessary needs for Arbulet. Despite his father knowing that Arbulet never liked using magic, he has no choice but to enroll Arbulet in the local school on the island, which provides free education. Arbulet's father cannot afford melee training by a private tutor because they don't have enough money.

Arbulet pretends to stroll and slack around, but he secretly goes to the woods to hunt for valuables and sell them to the local market so that Arbulet can save money for a private tutor. The local market is located near the harbor, so people from other islands could easily exchange trades with the people of Fire Island. 

A big ship carrying scholars from the Dark Island's local school arrived at the Fire Island's harbor when Arbulet was on his way home. Arbulet was intrigued and went to the harbor to investigate the situation.

It comes out that a field trip to the other islands of New Magistry is being organized by Dark Island's local school for selected students. The majority of the youngsters on the field trip are between the ages of 6 and 10. The students followed their tutor to explore the island except for one student who secretly snuck out of the group and went a different way. Arbulet notices this student and follows her discreetly.

The student he finds is a light-skinned young female with long dark blonde hair. Her hair is tied like a ponytail and has hair bangs on the right side of her head. She uses a scarlet-colored ribbon to tie her hair. She has cyan-colored eyes with a black pupils.

The student walked to a nearby location where there were no crowds of people. Using two sticks she found on the ground, and the student begins practicing dual blades. Arbulet is astounded to discover a kid his age who enjoys melee training. When the student realized she was being watched, she hurled one of her sticks into Arbulet, hiding beneath the tree, forcing Arbulet to scream in pain and show himself.

...

???: Who are you? Why are you watching me the whole time?

Arbulet: I'm... My name is Arbulet. I noticed that you snuck out of your group, so I followed you.

???: What's your intention?

//The student raises her stick to Arbulet, giving her a superior look//

Arbulet: Woah, Woah, easy... I'm not a bad guy! I just watched you doing those melee training; it was awesome!

???: Hmm...

Arbulet: How about you? What's your name?

Vesper: My name is Vesper. All of my other classmates are here for their research and investigation, but I want to come here to improve my dual blade skills.

Arbulet: Wow... Can you also teach me some melee tricks? The local school on this island sucks; they only teach magic.

Vesper: That's awful. Okay, since you look trustworthy enough... I'll teach you some moves. Go and find your own stick.

//Vesper retrieves the stick she threw to Arbulet, and Arbulet picks up a long stick he found//

Arbulet: Will this stick do?

Vesper: That's a long stick. But I guess that'll do. Let's pretend you are using katana while I use dual blades.

Arbulet: A katana... That's nice.

...

Vesper and Arbulet trained on a cloudy day. Vesper taught Arbulet several of her own tricks that she had devised. Arbulet was inspired to improve his melee fighting skills. Arbulet is preparing to ask Vesper whether he might join her and study on the Dark Island. The ship of the Dark Island's school, on the other hand, blew a horn, signaling that the ship was about to depart. The scholars were also running back to their ship, which they spotted. When Vesper saw her fellow scholars doing the same thing, she dashed back to the ship.

Arbulet was disappointed because Arbulet and Vesper did not say a proper farewell to one other. Arbulet returned home with a gloomy expression on his face. Arbulet tries to convince his father to let him study at the Dark Island's local school. Arbulet's father wishes he could, but they lack the financial means to travel to the other islands. Arbulet has been let down yet again.

Arbulet retires to his bed for the night. He feels something in his pocket just before going to sleep. He takes it out to see what it is and discovers that it is only a small nut that fell from the tree and landed in his pocket earlier while training with Vesper. Arbulet decides to take it out and throw it outside, but the nut is noticeably heavier than a regular nut.

Arbulet goes to his father's workbench to open the nut using tools. After hours of cracking the nut open, Arbulet's assumptions are correct: it is a crystal nut that rarely grows in trees. Crystal nuts mature a thousand times quicker than regular nuts, and as a result, the nut inside gets exceedingly old and hard as a crystal. Arbulet feels ecstatic at the prospect of selling this valuable crystal nut for a large sum of gold or money.

Arbulet travels to the local market the following day and sells the crystal nut for a fair amount. Because the gold he earned was insufficient to purchase a trip to the Dark Island, he applied for a scholarship from a private tutor. Arbulet never returned to the local school, preferring to take private courses.

Arbulet's skills and aptitude in melee combat astound the tutor. Because the tutor is overwhelmed by Arbulet's ability to become an assassin, he continues to train him for years without charging him an annual tuition fee.

Arbulet's father died after suffering a heart attack one night. Because Arbulet was left alone at home, the private tutor chose to adopt him and continue to teach him. Arbulet is grateful to his tutor, who readily assists him with his everyday needs.

After ten years as a private tutor, the tutor wanted to retire. Arbulet's private tutor bought him a ticket to Dark Island so he could continue his training and achieve his dream of being the best melee fighter in the world. Arbulet expressed gratitude to his tutor for purchasing a ticket for him. Arbulet is looking forward to reuniting with his childhood friend Vesper.