Aquamarine Aurelius Pov
'Make sure you do your best to blend in Aqua...it's imperative that you don't stand out,' echoed the words my father spoke to me before I departed for my first day of school 3 years ago.
To this day, I still didn't know why he always insisted I blend in so much. It frustrated me to constantly hide who I really was whenever I went out in public.
While my father insisted I wasn't anything special, I always knew there was something different about me, although I could never quite put my finger on it. I wasn't really any stronger than the kids around me...in fact, I was fairly middle of the pack if not slightly ahead in terms of power for my age.
Despite the fact that I awakened at a fairly young age, my magic never really seemed to develop all that fast. Other than my early awakening, the only thing that really stood out about me was the fact that I didn't need runes to cast magic. Of course, my father forced me to keep this a secret as well.
It should have filled me with happiness, being that something like this was entirely unheard of, but I was never allowed to showcase this in public, and my father demanded that I never use mana for anything other than ranged spells when I wasn't home.
But I'd definitely be the most popular kid in the entire school if I was able to reinforce my body like a shield, and use offensive spells like a striker, all the while being able to launch spells at the efficiency of a caster...
But it had been drilled into me ever since I awakened that I was only to use ranged magic in public, causing me to float around average when compared to my peers. Although, average in the most elite academy in all of the central dominion was still something worth bragging about.
Still, I couldn't help but be disappointed. Who'd ever heard of a runeless mage?
But in the end, I knew better than to question my father. He was extremely knowledgeable, the highlord of our blood, and a regalia holder. And on top of that, every day after school...back when I attended academy in Etril, he'd always train me and help me improve my 'mana core.'
Another one of his weird rules was that I was to never mention my mana core. According to him, that was the highest taboo there was...even more so than augmenting myself, or using offensive attack magic.
I always felt as if my mana core was a bit odd. It was always changing color, and with the color changes, I grew even stronger than I'd been previously. While he'd always kept silent about the true intricacies of my core, he'd explained the basics of how it operated.
It was essentially a rune, but I was only limited to one element...the lamest of them all: water.
He'd also taught me some sort of meditation technique that helped me 'progress' it, and every once and a while, it would glow brighter or change colors after cracking. Right now it had just become a dark orange color.
Although, he never did tell me what the colors really meant...or maybe he didn't actually know. I wasn't sure.
I'd spent countless days scouring through texts looking for information about it, but I never could find anything. Somehow, I was able to hide the fact that I had one, although I never knew exactly how I did it, it just seemed as natural as breathing.
The sound of the carriage I was riding in abruptly stopping snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned my head to gaze out the side window. There it was, Central academy in all of its glory.
One of the top schools in all of Alacrya, home to famous ascenders, current and retired, along with highbloods from each respective dominion.
Climbing out of the carriage, I gazed up at the massive set of steps that I'd have to ascend. My black and blue uniform ruffling in the fierce winds with every step up the steep stairway.
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A/N
I'm not sure how I feel about how the introduction chapter turned out.
It's also a lot shorter than the chapters are going to typically be as well.
I plan to upload weekly, but I'll post chapter 2 today since this one was so short.
YOU ARE READING
TBATE| The Walking Catastrophe
FanfictionWhat would happen if a halfling of the Leviathan race was born in Alacrya? Note, I don't own the rights to The Beginning After the End or any characters present.
