"Finally." Said Aidan while brushing his shoulder. "I should be fully recovered by now." He continued as he slowly got up from the stone he sat upon and looked at his surroundings.
"Altough, I was truly fortunate to have food and water nearby. Otherwise, I doubt I'd have survived." Muttered the young boy obviously too mature for his age.
Stretching, the seven-year-old boy made his way to the cave's entrance. The sun shone through the gaps of the forest. "A good day." He muttered to himself, used to talking to his lonesome. Habitually going to the small river next to the shelter, the boy took off his worn-out clothes and jumped into the river for his daily bathing.
He had woken up five days prior, in the cave. His body riddled with injuries and bruises as if he had gotten through a huge battle before being abandoned in the dark cave. Unfortunately, perhaps due to his head injury, he unfortunately didn't have any memories of his past. The little information he had was on the necessary basic skills to live.
Those skills were limited to reading, writing, calculating, cooking and some basic daily life skills. As for the rest? It was limited to four simply pieces of information.
Firstly, the location of the city Orario. From what he udnerstood this city was situated in the very center of the world or something.
The second was more like an order, altough one he wished to fulfil at all cost. The need to grow stronger and stronger until the very limit.
The third information was an introduction to something called the Falna. From what he understood, the falna was separated in 10 separate letters. However, there was an additional hidden rank called EX which could only be reached if all the stats reached 999.
Finally, the last piece of information was about the way to use and control his innate magic, card magic. And from what he had seen, this type of magic was incredible with full of potential. He already had plenty of ideas on how to develop it.
Rushign out of the cold river, the young scarred boy walked back to the cave, naked, drying in the process. He didn't have to be shy. After all, he hadn't seen nor heard of anyone in these woods for the last few days. Besides, he wanted to wear his second set of clothes, the only clean clothes he had before leaving the forest and heading to the adventurer's city, Orario.
While he hadn't been able to make his way to the city due to his injuries, the blood had stopped and some of his bruises were already showing sign of dissapearing. As such, it was now time to head to the city where his future awaited.
Opening his bag, he pulled out the only set of clean clothes he had and wore them immediately. The cave was colder than the outside without any sun to heat it up.
With a simple black t-shirt and black pants, Aidan threw the bag across his shoulder and finally left the cave he had called home for these last few days. With the sun caressing his skin, warming him up, he smiled as he continued to prepare for his trip.
Despite having all of his properties in his bag, preparing some water through a small pouch he had made and some berries to sate him during his journey was necessary.
Storing everything in their right place in the bag, he pulled out his identification papers, which would be necessary to enter the city. Those papers reported the name Aidan which he believed to be his name, since a picture of him was next to it. It was also the way he managed to find his name since he had lost his memories. Along the documents was a pass to enter the city, ten thousand Valis and finally a deck of plain cards. Finally, along with the clothes he currently wore, his only remaining item was a weapon.
The weapon, a black and orange longsword, with a slightly curved crossguard would certainly accompany him for a while. With a wavy orange pattern on its length, the blade was not only sharp but also quite to his taste.
Despite his love for the sword, the blade itself was taller than he was and the hilt only increased its size. He was doubtfull that such a blade was crafted for a child. Instead, he was almost certain that the crafter had crafted this sword for an adult. How did he get it, however, he had no idea.
Despite not knowing where it came from, simply from it's looks and its sharpness, the quality of the weapon was exceptional. A few days back, after he managed to get up for the first time, he had taken out the sword with curiosity from its scabbard as he had been curious to see how it looked. However, when he slashed down, trying the surprisingly light sword, it had cut straight through the cave floor made of stone and only remained visible thanks to the sword's guard.
At that time, shocked, he had pulled it back and immediately inserted it back into its sheath in fear of losing it for good. However, his curiosity had been sated with the sword's body completely black except for the edge of the blade. The edge with wave patterns was orange, quite to his taste. The sheath, on the other hand, was blue. A certainly weird mix of colors but it was his sword and he was happy with it. Thankfully, after wielding it for the first time, he had understood that it was a magical blade. At the moment, he could only confirm the reduced weight but he was ready to bet that there was a lot more where that came from. Otherwise, for such a blade to only have this single magical effect wouldn't do it justice.
Ready, Aidan began his walk towards Orario. From the few pieces of information in his head, he guessed that he would be able to reach the city by the day's end.
Looking at the sun high up in the sky, he nodded his head. "I'll make it." He muttered, stepping above a root and beginning his slow trek to what he hoped to be greatness.
Leaving behind the small cave which housed him for almost a week, the young boy made his way towards the city. Walking in the forest, he met a monster from time to time. Yet, with the goal of growing stronger seemingly ingrained in his body, he didn't shy away from the fights. Instead the silver-haired boy took out his sword and fought the goblins met on the way.
While the small green monster were weak, they still had claws that could tear through his skin and they were certainly stronger than he currently was. His only advantage? His sword. Thanks to it's sharpness, he cut through both the pieces of wood they used as weapons and their skin, straight into their throat, killing them.
Walking slowly but decisively despite the tiredness that continued to encroach upon his body, his previous and more recent injuries slowing him down, the boy finally saw the city in the distance as the sun slowly went down in the distance. Walking towards the gate while taking in the sight of this world, the boy waited at the end of the line to enter.
With about twenty people in front of him, it wouldn't take too much time before it was his turn as he took int eh various races of people in front of him. With people having longer ears and slimmer figures, small people even smaller than he was and stocky dwarves, he grinned. Although he wasn't sure this city was the answer to his needs, the different races and the weapons they wielded showed that strength was something they could gain in this city.
Nearly half of the people in front were merchants, their carriages filled with goods betraying their profession. The other half wore weapons openly, their gaze fierce and their attention always on their surroundings, showing that they were acquainted with danger. Amongst them, the most common weapon was the sword, while some people had axes, daggers or staffs in their possession.
Noticing this trait in the line, Aidan found nothing more interesting as he turned to look at the city of Orario through the open gates. From the details he could see, the city of Orario seemed prosperous with countless people walking on the road shopping and merrily laughing with their partners or friends.
As he took in the city, the line gradually dissipated until it was Aidan's turn to pass the inspection.
"Paper, please." Said the guards as he didn't bother to look at Aidan.
Handing them over as he had prepared them in advance, the guard looked through it before lifting his head. "Where are your parents, kid?" He asked as he eyed him. It wasn't uncommon to see small people walking through the gate, he saw them everyday. However, to see a child, less than ten years old walking in the city was another matter entirely.
"I don't know, sir." Answered Aidan as he didn't even know who his parents were.
Frowning slightly at the situation, the guard nonetheless continued as per his job required. "You see, to enter and live in the city, you need to pay a certain amount or have a pass; otherwise, I can't let you enter."
"Oh? Are you talking about that, sir?" Aidan asked as he showed the pass he had found with his identification papers.
"Eum? Yeah, that's it. Next time you can go to that line." The guard said while pointing at the second line, which had almost no one as everyone passed rapidly. "With the pass, you can enter the city without having to pay or be searched. As such, that line is faster." Explained the guard gently as he was relieved he didn't have to turn the kid around. It had happened a couple of times, rarely, but still each time he felt bad about it. If there was one part of his job he didn't like, it was this one.
"I see. Thank you, sir." Replied Aidan with a smile as he entered the city through the gates.
The first thing he had to do was find a place where he would stay for the night. Afterwards, from what the little information told him, he would have to go to the guild and find a familia. Now the critical point was: What is The Guild and a Familia?
Frowning at the lack of information he had, he decided to first find a good inn for the night, and he would move from there. The information in his mind seemed to be in pieces as a few terms existed which he didn't understand yet it didn't explain it either.
While thinking about his current weird situation, the young silver-haired boy walked past various shops and the more he saw, the more he understood what kind of city Orario was. It was a city filled with adventurers, gods, civilians, thugs and everyone lived one way or another in harmony, creating a samblant of peace amidst the chaos of the city.
Continuing on his way, he unconsciously walked to the city's tallest building, the weird tower in the center of Orario. As he walked and took in everything around him, he side-stepped as he almost crashed into a woman wearing armour talking to her friend while staring at the huge tower tat broke through the clouds in the sky.
'This should be the tower of babel.' He thought, having heard of its name from a few civilians as he walked around.
Continuing on his way, ignoring the two women he had almost crashed into, he finally heard one of the words he had been confusing him. "Have you heard? The Loki familia is going to do a recruitment tomorrow. They are going to recruit a few members to be part of their battle group, but they are mostly going to recruit members as supporters for their older members." Said, one woman with excitement in her voice.
"Yes, I heard about it. However, I don't plan on going to their recruitment. I have no interest in becoming a supporter and I know myself well enough that I wouldn't pass their battle team selection." She explained before continuing.
"Even if it's for a familia such as the Loki familia, becoming a supporter is dangerous and you can't get as much money as if you were part of the battle team. It's better to join a weaker familia. At least this way you will be able to fight for yourself and make money. Through their recruitment, they hope to be able to find some talented young people and at the same time replenish their supporters. I heard that they lost some of them during their last expedition in the dungeon." Answered her friend who shook her head at the excitement of the armor-wearing women. She knew herself well enough and while she didn't want to dampen her excitement, joining the Loki familia meant becoming a supporter. Of course, you could always grow stronger as a supporter but it was more dangerous, heading deeper in the dungeon with the combat member they were working with.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sighed her fried. "While as a supporter, you can always grow stronger, the floors they're heading to are most of the time beyond our current level and so we will always have to depend on them." The woman said while shaking her head in disappointment, reality crushing her hopes.
On the side, where none of the two women noticed, the young boy had been listening in on their conversation. 'I guess I'll try my luck at the Loki familia. If I go by the little information I have, going in the dungeon is the best way to become stronger.' He thought while frowning.
'Alright, I'll find an inn, find the location of their recruitment and join the Loki familia.' He decided, his resolve undiminished despite the various drawbacks of becoming a supporter.