Kapitel 5: Revelation
>Revelation<
"Are you telling me I don't have to work today?"
"Yes, kiddo…"
He slipped his hand through his pocket and handed him silver coins.
"What's this gramps?"
Abiel's eyes narrowed. They were scanning the yuls waiting for him to be seized. Twenty silver yuls. Nearly enough for a commoner to live for a month. People of higher status are, of course, a different case - as their cost of living was higher.
"Take it."
"Why are you giving this now?"
"This is the only thing I could give before you go."
Abiel snorts. "Damn. I thought, I still have three days before they come and pick me up?"
"Go…"
"That's nice to have a day off."
"You deserved that… at least."
'Sure, I do…" Abiel grinned. "How about tomorrow? The other day?"
"You don't have to help me in the restaurant anymore." The old man huffed. "Go now!"
"Wouldn't complain about that."
It was a sense of nostalgia. It reminded him of his past back on Earth. When he resigned his first job in a big corporation. During the rendering period, his boss gave him fewer errands and treated him as a display during meetings. It gave him relief. Those moments gave him hope - that he wouldn't have to worry about anything. The same also applies in the situation, now, this moment - would be reduced to mere memories. To mere nostalgic feelings.
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Abiel brought a note with him. It's a part of his character to take note, whether the information would be vital or just amusing in a sense. He's out again in the Kiten. Other than the pen and notepad, he had also brought twelve yuls in his pocket. The mission today was to get a haircut, hopefully, a proper one.
His eyes sharpened. Everything in this world has mana. However, not everyone has the equal amount of mana. Not everyone has the same capacity, the quality, the same control. Equality, Abiel grunted. Or Equal rights would be considered a foolish dream in a world like this. He needed to ask the old man, to at least impart to him the method on how to appraise the mana a person has. This would be a good starting point.
Scouter. This will give him an advantage in approaching situations. Dealing a fatal blow to a sluggish enemy whose mana had been depleted will surely increase his survival rate and chances of winning.
Abiel's quest to look for a barber shop ended. In front of him stood a two-story second floor. Books are arranged behind the glass. From his angle - he was given a vision to know that this was a library. Connection is power, Abiel grinned. And so is knowledge. Now that he had the freedom to explore things other than his own mana, and hopefully - now is the time to expand his horizon.
He slid his fingers into his pockets. Abiel strode forward to his mark, whilst pondering how many yuls a single book would cost him. No. It might not be available for sale. Borrowing works well for him too. Books were foreign to the original Abiel. He hasn't seen any books before instead for the old man's grimoire, whenever he calls out more flame to cook fried chickens.
He reached out to the door, but suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist. He swiveled to know the owner. A tall and wide man with dirty blonde hair bores his eyes into him. His amber eyes burned him.
"Who are you?"
Huh? Abiel tried to retrieve his hand but the other party iron grip had other opinions on it.
"Sir - um, my name is Abiel."
"Abiel who? I never heard of your name."
"It's my first time here so -"
"Are you a commoner?"
"Me? I - uh, yes sir -"
The man scowled in disgust. He pulled him with force. Pulled him with so much force - that he found him being tossed in the air. He fell into the cobblestone. It hurts him so badly. His elbow graze in the floor. There's a scratch. It oozes a bit of blood. The teen grumbled in pain.
What the –
"Lowly commoners like you are not welcome in such a place." He dusted himself, not even looking at him. "Call yourself lucky you're in the presence of my grace, you trash."
He followed the gaze of the man. There, a girl no older than him stood with the same pink eyes as him, albeit lighter in shade. Her elegant silver hair was tied into twin tails. She looked at him with a frigid indifferent expression. Abiel stomach churned as if he drank spoiled milk.
"There - Princess Noelle." He smiled, unbecoming of him. "The pest has already been taken care of. You may now proceed to enter…"
Abiel lay frozen in the chilly pavements. People started circling them. Murmuring words, he couldn't properly hear. Words he couldn't bother himself to listen to. The princess. He knew that kind of look. A look wasn't filled with rage or anger. Not filled with apathy or irrelevance. It's a look where Abiel felt he was being devoured. A look a wolf would give to cattle, a prey.
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"So how was your day?"
"It went well, Ms. Fragil."
Fragil crossed her legs under the table and put her palm on her chin. It's been a day, she thinks, when she offered this man a deal. A unique one. She couldn't track time yesterday when she was so busy participating in bunches of unfruitful tea parties, business meetings, and feeding her birds.
"What's Abiel's opinion about this? Oh, I mean - my Abiel."
She corrected herself. The man broke the eye contact. The color of it has been losing its luster. The blue-eyed girl could notice.
"He's not aware of our deal…"
"I've already expected this development."
She sighed. There were pros in this route that she couldn't deny. A broken good was a loss. She couldn't bear a loss. Fragil doesn't want to be a therapist for a newly abandoned teen. His uncle Julius always leaned upon investing in people. In forming a mutually beneficial bond. He believed in collaboration, something those retrograde royals couldn't adapt to their rule. Emotionally stable goods would be able to work better compared to a depressed one.
"Ms. Fragil…"
She sipped the tea. Black tea was not bad. As much as she would like to admit it; those trendy noblewomen in her age were talking about boys and teas the whole day. She's not interested in that but Tea talks could be an exemption.
"Excited to receive the payment already? Here –"
"No – no, I want to ask for a… a favor."
"What favor?"
She frowned. Favors were not freebies in business deals, they were tools. Tools to build positive relationships. To maintain formed connections. Favors were meant to be reaped once the situation found it the best. Fragil did not have any speck of idea - why him, an old man with nothing to offer? Nothing so interesting to provide. Will make Fragil Tormenta yield.
He dismounts from his chair. His legs went loose. Fragil's eyes widened. The old man's wrinkly forehead touches the ground. Undoubtedly a groveling position. Something she had always seen the commoners do. In their manor, a maid accidentally destroys a vase. Her acquaintances pet commoners, when they begged their lords to stop whipping their backs.
"Please Ms. Fragil! Please - let him apply for the Magic Knights Examination."
"Why is that?"
"He can be accepted. His mana is like of nobles!"
Fragil raised an eyebrow.
"How could you be so sure of? Have you ever seen the power of your masters?" She spat.
The room had changed. It turned colder. The space seemed to crumple. The old man shiver in his position. Fragil emits a tremendous amount of mana in the surroundings. The ground was shaking. A grimoire with a bluish glow floated in front of her.
"I would never dare to measure! But - but if it's for my son."
The pressure vanished alongside the mini earthquake that occurred.
She groaned. "Alright. I can, perhaps, assist him in becoming a Magic Knight."
"R-really?"
"Yes. But of course, you have to give me something in return."
"… I don't have anything left in my possession."
"I'm not talking about material things, Mr. Soranon. I just want some clarification. Tell me where Abiel came from. You know what I mean."
She had overheard it from her uncle. There was a civil war in the Spade Kingdom, resulting in an overwhelming victory of the coup d'état, as they had completely succeeded in overthrowing the official powers. A prince, with black hair and a gentle face managed to escape. That was more than a decade ago. She's going to make sure this information will be put to good use.
She clenched her teeth. Things were getting hot in the upper echelons. That bitch, Nebra Silva, broke her knees during a ball- just because their dress color scheme was the same. The royals seemed to be immune to the fact that she was the niece of the Wizard King. Those fools. It doesn't matter, Fragil controlled her breathing. They would soon meet their places –
"As long as you could promise to me that he'll become a Magic Knight."
She switches her gazes to the window. Pretending to be thinking. To be considering.
"Very well. Go on."
"That child, as you've known…" He began. "Abiel's father is someone I knew. He's one of my closest friends. He's a commoner merchant. I don't know much about the mother but I heard that she's… she's a witch from the forest."
Her blue eyes sparked. It went differently than she hoped for. She remained intrigued.
"That place? I thought that place was not real?"
"I also felt the same at first, Ms. Fragil. But during the birth of Abiel - I was there. I saw it in my own eyes."
The old man was quivering. His iris went smaller.
"What of it?"
"The mother died. Abiel void element compressed and - and crushes her into tiny pieces…"
"That's… ridiculous."
"I swear it's all honesty. I didn't lie. That kid's mana was changing. It's growing."
Fragil tilted her head. Same case. It had a similarity to Noelle's incident. That royalty's mother died during childbirth. Her siblings believed that she had killed her mother. However, her uncle had a different assumption. Noelle Silva, the royalty had arguably a higher amount of mana compared to Abiel - despite both of them being the same age.
Yet something was bizarre. She sent one of his people to this place - this restaurant to scout the boy. They reported that this small dark-haired boy was nothing special. He wasn't loved by the mana. Fragil people proved them wrong when she met him in person.
Did his mana grow? Fragil deduced. But mana was fixed. It's inherited from parents. Abiel Void Element seems to be unique like of my uncle's irregular Time magic. It's a piece of common knowledge to know that the growth of a mage in latent firepower was a myth. Her uncle once said that a mage will tap into their potential as they overcome adversaries. It meant tapping into something they originally had, not improving it in any manner.
Her blue eyes locked on the older man.
"Tell me more and I will make sure that Abiel will become a Magic Knight, or perhaps - a Wizard King…"
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AN:
The next chapter will be an epic battle. Void vs Water. Jokes. Peace.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein