In the vast expanse of reality, darkness consumed all. There was no light, no life, and no signs of change. Under any normal circumstances, this pit of nothingness would've stayed the same for all of eternity. But suddenly an insurmountable amount of energy began surging throughout everything in existence. And with this energy, came life. I was always read a bedtime story about how life came to be. My mother and father weren't religious, so they truly believed this as if it were a history book. I, on the other hand, couldn't believe that such coincidences occurred in real life. My belief was that there had to be something to create another. Something can't be created from nothing, which is why I was convinced a godlike being did exist. Religion was an odd subject in my family's lineage. My mother and father were atheists, my mothers family were as well. But my fathers family were very devout to their god. I found their belief system to be closer to mine but I could never get along with the ideals of their so-called "7-Man God". This religion believed that the first seven people to ever come into existence faced a crisis in which they all died while creating today's world. In practice it was a noble thing, but I found no logic in it personally.
I always knew I was special, I could remember everything from the moment I was born. When I was conceived, my father was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he had been busy serving a noble family's adventure request. My mother had a maid beside her helping with the birth. She held me up and wrapped my body in a small blanket, "It's a girl m'lady. Congratulations," she said with a blank expression. My mother was still flustered from birth but managed to cradle me in her arms until I eventually lost myself in sleep. When I awoke, a man was standing over me with a grin stretching across his face. This man was my father, who'd rushed back home once he received word his wife was in labor. "What shall we name him dear," came a voice from my right. My mother had been laying next to me on a bed. "You knew the deal, if it was a girl, she would be Kalina, but since it's a boy, he shall be named, Kiliano."
As a baby, I would constantly get lost around my house. It wasn't big, but I was small enough to fit into every nook and cranny, which made it very nerve wracking for my parents. My parents seemed to be in their late teens when I was born. My mother had long light-brown hair which would shine when exposed to the sun. She was on the shorter side, and seemed to be in very good physical condition. My fathers features were very interesting however. His hair was also long, reaching down just below his ribcage with a black coloring along with a dark red sheen. He was tall and slender, no, not slender but rather toned. He wasn't bulky but his muscle were big, most likely through years of vigorous training. He fought as a professional adventurer for multiple noble families within the area. We ourselves weren't of nobility, but he made large sums of money each time he left the house for weeks on end. Although his absences were long, his time at home was always spent with either me, or my mother and I. Our time was always amusing, he would read me stories, show me his vast collection of swords, and demonstrate hand signals which were meant to represent magic incantations. My mother was a bit different. She was caring, but her time with me was always spent cleaning or freshening me up. Her relationship with me seems to consist of only chores, with the exception being whenever my father was around. Our maid was a tall blonde woman who constantly wore the same black and white outfit. She cleaned the house and tended to basic needs from dawn till dusk. Her attitude was always the same and she wore a blank expression constantly.
By the time I turned 1, I had already learned how to speak decently. My mother was Lenia Monfril, my father was Krill Monfril, and our maid was Ginelle Gyla. I was able to comprehend speech well enough but my actual speaking was still bad. However, while I was exploring the house one day, I caught sight of a strange black and red book in a closet which had been hidden behind a bed in my parents' room. At first glance, the cover was a textured black with a red gemstone embedded within the central front cover. I tried opening it but my father had swept me off the ground before I could. "Not so fast little guy, you can get to spellcasting once you grow up a little bit". He sat me right outside the room and closed the door. After that interaction my curiosity grew exponentially. I wanted very badly to see what that book held inside. The word spellcasting caught my attention too. Perhaps that book allowed its reader to learn some forms of magic. If so, I needed to get my hands on it asap. Unfortunately, when I came back there a few days later, the book was nowhere to be found.
As time went on, I turned two, and with that new age, my speaking began to improve. I could now piece together coherent sentences and even have short conversations. I always liked to talk to my father. He had charm to his character and a natural talent of charisma. Not only that, but his sword skills were revered and he would love to talk about his adventures. My interests lied with such topics so I would always humor him. "You know, when I was thirteen, my friends and I took on a dungeon! We spent nearly an entire week in that cave, but eventually I was able to vanquish the main boss alone." He loved bragging about his stories as a young adventurer. Although he still went on dungeon raids, his stories of his more childish days seemed to be filled with more enthusiasm. "Daddy, tell me more about you and mommy." Whenever I asked him something like that, he would always ramble on about the amazing magic my mother could conjure up without incantations. "I'm sorry daddy, but I don't understand. How does magic work?" I had finally asked him the question that layed in my mind for over a year now. "Well," he said. "Magic can be formed in two ways. You can either make certain hand signals which correlate to the magic you're producing, or you can chant an incantation which requires a magical item. However, both require you to channel mana throughout your body. Do you want to learn magic, my boy?" I absolutely did, and my face showed it, which is probably why he didn't wait for me to respond before stating, "Our lessons will start tomorrow morning then. We'll get up early so rest well." He said with a smile.
That next morning I was woken up by my fathers warm embrace. His face had a large smile stretching across his face, similar to the one he had when we met for the first time. We walked to the front yard. It was a large field with two trees accompanying the side of our house. A stone fence, roughly a meter and a half tall, stretched across the house, making up a large yard. My father threw me a small wooden sword about a meter long. "Alright, first let's start with the basics. If you're going to use magic you'll need to tone your body and mind first. Don't worry my boy, I'll teach you to become a world-class Magic Knight." He closed his eyes and made a warm smile, showing off his teeth. Something about his smile always made me feel safe. We started off with some basic sword strokes, swinging it ten times before a short five second break. Then we would repeat this over and over for a little bit over an hour. By the end of it, my arms felt weak and I could barely walk. "Don't worry son, it's always hard at the beginning, but I'm honestly surprised you held out this long. My first try at this only lasted half an hour before I threw up," he began laughing. My heart was still racing but his words gave me comfort. "Alright, take a few minute break and then I'll teach you how to use mana." "R-really?!" I said, turning to face him, wide-eyed. "We're only starting with the basics so don't get your hopes up. For now I'm only going to work on expanding your understanding and we'll maybe use a bit of actual magic." That was enough for me, I was happy enough that I got to learn anything at all. After about ten minutes, he came walking out holding a large grimoire. Its cover was brown with light blue ribbon covering its rims. "Alright, this here is a water mana grimoire. I'm going to demonstrate some basic magic, got it?" He opened up the book and set it to the first page. Holding the book with one arm, he stuck out his right with an opened palm. "With this chant I call forth the power bestowed to me by the power of all that is natural. Let mana seep through my body and into my hand. Flowing like a river," A moist, cold sensation grazed my body, "Water ball!" Water droplets formed around his hand and collected by the palm. It grew in size, eventually making up a water ball the size of his head. "Alright. This is a novice level water spell. As you can see, I used an incantation to form mana into water which has collected by my hand." His arm loosened up and he walked over to me, with the water ball hovering just over his hand. He swung his arm below his waist and the water ball dissipated. "Alright, try saying the same chant and you should feel a tingle run throughout your body. Convert all your attention to your palm and the mana should naturally form there." I stood up as he handed me the grimoire. Sticking an arm out, I began chanting, "With this chant I call forth the power of my flowing mana," I forgot the actual chant. "Seep like a river!" Although the chant was wrong, I still felt a tingle run throughout my body, as I began concentrating on my hand. A cold feeling spread through my fingertips and I could visualize the mana which had covered it. Water droplets formed around my hand but paused. I put more effort and focus into the spot right in front of my hand, and as doing so, the water began collecting in the very same spot. This feeling, the feeling of mana flowing out of my body. I felt a sense of strength flow into me. I began outputting more mana and the water droplet grew larger than my fathers head. After just a few seconds, it had grown nearly twice the size of my fathers previous example. "Alright son, take it easy I don't want you draining yourself dry now." His words broke my concentration slightly and I released the spell by relaxing. "Oh boy, that was pretty interes-" My vision blurred and I began falling. "Oops. Careful now" My father had caught me right before I passed out.
When I awoke, I was laying in my bed. "Uhh. Dad?" I stood up from my bed but suddenly had my vision blurred. My head began to shake and I immediately felt weak. "Wow there pal. Take it easy for a bit longer. You spent a bit too much mana creating that spell. You gotta remember not to overdo it. If you use too much mana it will leave you weak, like how you're feeling now. But I'm impressed. You managed to create a pretty large water ball on your first try. and to top it all off, you did it with a shortened incantation." My mother walked in, holding a cup of green liquid which she set by my bed. "So, you overdid it, did you? Don't worry I did the same thing when I was first learning. But drink this, it should subside your condition." She said with a smile. I picked up the drink and took a sip. It was cold and bitter but went down easily. I decided to chug it fast so its taste wouldn't bother me. I layed back down on the bed and took a few minutes before getting back up, and walking to the living room. My father was sitting on the couch, sharpening his sword while my mother and Ginelle were in the kitchen preparing food. "Sir Kiliano, we have prepared your supper. Please come sit."