It was the season of fall in the walled town of Brzenina.
Leon Krwicz, a young man, sat on a wooden bench. With an anxious and distraught expression, it was quite clear he wasn't enjoying the harvest festival unfolding around him.
He was cradling a cheap coffee within his nonexistent budget. When he took a shaky sip, he realized that it was already empty!
Sigh…
"Why do the things I enjoy the most disappear so quickly?"
He wasn't that attractive; in fact, he looked mediocre and forgettable, with black hair, dressed in an old, wrinkled white shirt and black pants; his financial situation was in shambles!
"I'm just a poor boy from a poor family, oh God! Spare me from this monstrosity!"
The seasonal harvest festival offers a wide range of experiences, featuring numerous vendors selling goods that reflect the spirit of the season.
However, staring at the palm of his hand were a few sets of coins, and in that moment, the boy dreaded his future.
"I'm turning 18 in a year, and I don't have enough for my enrollment at the annual Więźni exam!"
The Więźni exam was where all boys and girls unlocked what was known as an 'Affinity' for a hefty price of 50 Złot… the equivalent of half a zlotar.
At his hand was a mere 60 groszys of dull bronze, and to make 1 złoty silver coin, he needed about 100 groszy, and 50 złoty was 5,000 groszy!
He was nowhere near what he needed!
"When life is hard, you use the knife," he grinned.
"I might as well rob someone."
Leon walked alongside the town's cobblestone path that was littered with fallen leaves; the stone and wooden buildings held a palette of darker shades that let the colors of red, yellow, and gold flourish within the autumn backdrop!
He walked past stalls and people in celebration, the aroma of roasted nuts and apples, the sight of pumpkins and lanterns, in the middle of it all — Leon really contemplated whether he should really, REALLY rob someone.
"If I don't enroll in the Więźni exam, I don't know what I'll do with my life."
"I can't be a total bum forever!"
In truth, he had long aspired to become an animancer — a tamer who could forge contracts with creatures and turn them into familiars aligned with their awakened affinity.
These beings could fight and live alongside humanity!
"It is a profession that makes a lot of money… while not being boring!"
Having fantasies of possessing a dragon affinity and riding such a beast into the sky as he commanded it to breathe fire to those he hated!
Ahem—
Then he noticed a gathering on one of the sidelines of the town's streets, and most of the people who clumped together were women! And it only meant there must be some sort of famous and handsome person warranting all their attention.
But Leon was not tall enough to see what it was about!
"My inferiority be damned!" He moved deeper into the crowd, trying his best to not accidentally bump into someone, until his eyes widened in astonishment.
In front of him, the source of the commotion was a familiar that embodied the spirit of autumn; it spanned its great wings, similar to the dance of fallen leaves — intense yellow and red, a being only a few people could dream of taming.
A phoenix, one of the national creatures of the Kingdom of Ognia.
It was perched on the left arm of one particular animancer, Klaus Feuillâtre; he wore a fancier aristocrat uniform. His black and red hair was long enough to reach his shoulder, but his more prominent feature besides his refined mannerisms was the fashion of a monocle on his right eye.
"A special class animancer! I can't believe I'm witnessing him!" Leon muttered under his breath.
Everyone in the village of Brzenina knows of Klaus Feuillâtre; after all, he used to live here and was a celebrity, a role model to the younger generation.
"Please, everyone, calm down. I truly appreciate the warm welcome, but do stay a safe distance from Icarus, and don't even think about touching the feathers unless you feel like getting burned into a crisp!"
Klaus said teasingly as he got flocked with more women than he could count, and it was natural for a handsome man like him with a profession that guarantees financial security to be treated as such.
???!
Touch touch…
Touching harder…
"Wha… what are you doing?!" Klaus and the gathered crowd could hardly believe their eyes when a boy boldly touched Icarus's feathers, paying no heed to the earlier warning and probably about to regret it.
It was Leon who let his intrusive thoughts win.
"Mister Feuillâtre, I heard phoenixes are practically immortal. Does that mean if we take some of his meat, we can make unlimited chicken wings?"
Everyone gasped, and Icarus looked offended, evident by its visible open mouth while glaring at Leon.
"Mister Feuillâtre! This child has always been rude; make an example of this Obcy!" a girl suggested in the crowd.
It was Kasia Wiśniewska; she was a tall, wiry girl with sharp green eyes and dirty-blonde hair braided tightly while boasting a homespun brown dress and wearing leather boots to give her a rough look, and a cruel smirk never left her face.
She held a book and was waiting for the autograph of Mister Feuillâtre, but she was blocked by Leon, and it seemed like she was angered!
"The audacity on this one!"
"Who raised this menace?!"
"Is this one defective or what?!"
"Return this child to sender!"
The crowd spat their comments; however, Leon didn't seem to care about the opinion of strangers.
"They don't understand the monetary potential of such a being!" Leon said enthusiastically.
Klaus Feuillâtre's right eye twitched.
He quickly guided Leon's hand away before it could linger any longer on Icarus, lest the angered phoenix decide to burn him for his enthusiasm.
"First of all, child, Icarus is a female, and secondly, she isn't some creature to be treated in such a manner, and thirdly, you are quite a bold one, aren't you?"
"I apologize, Mister Feuillâtre; I just hold great interest in animancers such as yourself," Leon said while staring at his fingers.
Leon felt a burning sensation, like a heat building up; if his fingers stayed a little longer on those glowing feathers of red, he might've sustained burn marks!
Leon stared at the phoenix. "Forgive me, Lady Chicken."
The phoenix was spewing bird noises at Leon; it mingled with the complaints of the crowd, but in the middle of it all, Leon's eyes still remained fascinated by the phoenix despite the negative words regarding him in the air.
Klaus Feuillâtre should not tolerate such behavior, especially from an ill-mannered child; however, he never encountered a boy with such passion in his eyes, and the special-class animancer found it… respectable…
And it wasn't just that…
"What is this?" Klaus murmured to himself, as the monocle wasn't just for fashion; there was an interesting reading on the boy, an intriguing shade.
The color of the potential affinity Klaus was witnessing within Leon was crimson red — similar to his…
"Goodness gracious…"
Chapter End.