Chapter 1 (part 1)

Ugh. I'm so hungry. 

I look from left to right and ahead but all I see is an endless, dark forest. The summer midday sun is also sucking the life out of me. I've been trekking the road for a week now, surviving only on what the forest can offer but really, can you blame me if I get sick and tired of eating rabbits and birds just to survive?  

I want to eat some bread! 

My stomach growled at the thought of munching a soft, warm, tasty and probably fancy flavored loaf of bread. I sighed. It can't be helped then. I'll just go look for a rabbit...again. A wave of nausea hit me as I thought of eating the usual menu: Charred Rabbit. I gathered the forest’s rion and created a light orb which served as a marker on the road so I don't get lost and proceeded to search the forest for game.

What is a rion? Rion is the magical energy present in everything and especially most abundant in living things. You see, the First Dragon made the continent magically stable by infusing everything with magical energy or what magician scholars call Rion. So now everything contains some rion.

There are two types of magicians – a rion user and a rion manipulator. The first type uses the rion inside the person, manipulating it and creating a physical manifestation for the rion. For example, I can create a light orb using my own rion which is already present in me since birth. The latter type uses the rion already present in the environment and manipulating it using the rion inside the person. For example, instead of purely using my own rion to create the light orb, I can gather the light already present in the environment and make them converge into a single point using my rion as a guide.

There are pros and cons to each type. Rion using is very easy since you use the rion already present in you since birth but it can be very strenuous to use it continuously for a period of time since you use your own energy. The easiness could be compared to how writing is easier with your dominant hand. A rion manipulator uses less rions than a rion user hence energy conserving but the art itself is harder to master. It can be compared to writing with your non-dominant hand.

I am very adept with both types but I prefer being a rion manipulator. I treat rions the same as I treat money. Why should I spend my own rion when there are free rions everywhere?

Now I used light magic to track a rabbit. As long as the rabbit is somewhere within the light, I can sense its presence. When I spotted one, I gathered a small amount of light at the tip of my finger and condensed it to a small point. I took aim and fired my light round straight through my rabbit’s heart. Hunting rabbits may help with my aim but seeing a rabbit again, I can't help but cover my mouth in disgust.  

Don't worry, Chryisle. It's only for the road. When you get to the next village, you'll have all the bread you can eat. 

Suddenly I heard distinct noises. They were voices of people. My only thought was where there were people, there are villages, where there are villages, there is food! 

Wait for me, civilization! 

I rushed towards the voices with renewed vigor. Upon seeing the scene however, I immediately hid behind a tree. This doesn't look good. A bunch of no good trashes of society, about 10 of them, were ganging up on an innocent, hooded traveler. Normally, I would help the poor guy immediately but I'm running empty and in need of energy. So I'm going to let this traveler take care of his share and what he can't handle (hopefully none), I will handle. Yeah, I'm going with that plan.

"Come on! We're just poor beggars," one thug mocked. "Please spare us some gold."

"I'm sorry. If I had money to spare I'd give you all of them. But as of yet, I don't have any gold with me," the traveler replied with an honest tone.

This is the first time I've heard of this technique. 'Be polite to your muggers and maybe they'll go away'? I don't think that would work, pal. If I were you, I'd use the  'Just shove a fist on their faces and maybe they'll go away' technique. Much more effective.

"This one's a tough nut. I think we've had enough mocking. Let's do the real thing boss!" one of them small fry looked at the biggest, brawniest guy holding this big broad sword across his shoulders, clearly showing it off. What a pathetic looking leader. He's clearly compensating for something.  


"Do you have anything of value there, traveler?" the leader asked with a disgusting smile. Okay, that sounds... not threatening at all.

"I don't know what you humans consider as valuable, but as far as I'm concerned, I left all my valuables at home," came an honest reply from the hooded traveler. "You can search me if you want."

"Search him he said," another goon said. "Why don't we comply?" They all laughed in a perverted manner.

I hit my forehead with my palm. I don't know if the guy was doing this on purpose or not but it was definitely not working. When the ugly underlings were about to grab his cloak and he really just stood there doing nothing, I couldn't take it anymore.

Jumping from my hiding place, I threw a punch on the guy holding his cloak first. Ugh, to be doing this on an empty stomach.... Then I proceeded to giving every one of the small fry a thorough beating. It was very quick and I don't think any one in this group except for me, caught the movement of my fist. In any case, after this, these thugs' faces would be just a big bruise with an unrecognizable face-like thing on it. I laughed at the thought.

I paid special attention to the boss. Even though he used his sword, his swordsmanship was more pathetic than a monkey holding a stick. Special attention meant special beating. After I was done, all that was left was a dog pile of wasted thugs.

I was surprised at myself. It was either I'm really awesome that I can beat 10 thugs on an empty stomach or these goons were just that pathetic. I choose the former.

"Thanks...I think," the traveler from behind said to me. I totally forgot about the traveler!  I was so consumed by my blood thirst that I actually forgot about my motive. I turned to look at him and I thought I caught the corner of his eye looking at the pile of thugs with...pity? Is he serious? He's really pitying those goons after an almost successful attempt to mug him? I looked at the pathetic bunch. But then again, maybe I did go overboard.

"The service isn't free you know," I said severely. And as if on cue, my stomach growled loudly. The traveler chuckled quietly and I glared at him in response.

"Alright. I'll treat you to food," he said.

Yay! Food. Now that's what I'm talking about. I gave him my brightest, warmest smile and felt like thanking him from the bottom of my heart.

"Is there a village or town near here?" I asked enthusiastically.

I couldn't see his face but I felt him look at me strangely. "The nearest town is a day's walk from here."

Now it was my turn to give him a strange look. "Then how are you going to treat me food?"

"I'll cook the rabbit you brought," he said pointing the rabbit I dropped on the ground during the fray.

When I said I felt like thanking him, I take it all back. I now felt like placing him on top of the dog pile, like the missing finishing touch it needed. But I was too weak to protest so I just slowly, miserably nodded my head. I looked up in the sky maybe half-hoping or seriously praying that a loaf of bread will fall from it but instead I felt the glare of the sun. This made me dizzy and everything faded into black.