Slowly opening his eyes, Velmir woke up and observed everything around him carefully until he was sure that there was nothing wrong.
"Huh, my hair was always this long? I thought it was.....short?" He tried to memorize his face, but he couldn't remember anything.
Yet, there was another thing he couldn't remember-
"Lucas saved me, but... what is he... again? Ah, what is happening? Why can't I remember it all?"
Lucas... was a vampire.
Giving up on his actions, Velmir tied his long hair, took the time, recollected all the information he had gathered the night before, and thought in silence. "The tear, magic..... oh my blue veins!"
He suddenly lifted his hands and stared at the veins while questioning himself, "It gets darker? It doesn't matter, Lucas will give me the answer anyway."
Only then did he realize there was a mark on his palm. A glowing white mark that seems like a combination of circles and strange lines, forming a complicated symbol.
Although he had no idea about that mark, he felt like it was something truly belonging to him, and somehow, he sensed it.
The mark was missing a part.
"I'll keep this as a secret. Let's get my answer first." He muttered and went outside to find Lucas, who was then practicing spear technique.
Having just stepped outside the house, Velmir witnessed all of it, and in his heart, something has echoed.
The love of material art? The movement of a swordmaster? He didn't know, but in the back of his mind, he remembered everything he had seen.
"Wow, so you wake up this early?" Lucas quickly turned around, looked at the standing boy, and his bloody spear melted away.
"He can do that?" Thoughts popped up in his mind, but still, it didn't take him long to respond and ask about the former event. "Can you explain to me what happened last night?"
Lucas gently replied with a warm smile
"Your body is filled with Ignis, you've awakened element not long ago, and you can't control the given Ignis." - Velmir froze, "Ignis...? It sounds so familiar..." For a moment, the words repeated in his mind.
"I don't know why your Ignis is this pure, but you seem like an exception. I guess you have awakened all elements, or at least 2 evolved ones. Give me your hands, I'll help you stabilize Ignis, focus, and memorize this feeling."
Velmir was stunned from the start; he heard every word in a focused manner and was delighted.
In his student life, he was never a special person, an average academic life, and average points. He was the most ordinary student, except that he had the most beautiful girl in school as his childhood friend.
Everything about the past flashed through his mind, and now he could be a special person in this world. Until...
"Wait... what was my life...?" - He couldn't remember it that well, and for some reason, he just let it go...
With high expectations, Velmir reached out his arms to Lucas.
In seconds, his sense became sharper and sharper; everything felt like a flow in his body.
He concentrated, closed his eyes, and imagined the flowing Ignis in his body. "I could feel it!" He thought in his mind with joy.
The two stood still for minutes until the blue veins disappeared.
They both opened their eyes, but before Velmir could thank Lucas, he heard a whisper, "Strange....why there's only water?" The news shocked him, his eyes widened, revealing a hint of sorrow as the heat in his chest was replaced by a cold breeze.
"So I was not at all special then..." The despair in his eyes couldn't stop, but he knew even if he wasn't talented, he still had to go back home.
Step by step, he steadily calmed his mind and focused on the main point.
"Lucas, can you teach me mag-"
"No"
The refusal came quickly with a helpless tone, "I wouldn't even know where to begin, how could I teach him. Ahhh, I wish I had learn more about it."
Confusing, Velmir asked once more, "Then how did you learn?"
"Instinct," Lucas said with a smirk at the corner of his lips. "Hehe, I'm a genius, he must be thinking how cool I am!"
"That's not very helpful," Velmir responded with a mocking voice, and his eyes scanned Lucas more precisely.
High-quality leather boots, luxury rings, the smell of a gentleman, with all of that, he came to a conclusion: "A noble!"
With the skills of a natural-born street performer, he placed his hand on his forehead like a tragic person, he added:
"Ahh, I guess I have to find an academy then. Without any money or any help. You know, embark on an unknown journey, fighting enemies, sleeping on grass, trying to survive alone..."
A swift glance - "Unless there's a generous man who is willing to intervene."
He finished his dramatic speech with a sigh. He slowly looked at Lucas while he stood still and made a ridiculous face. Even though it was thought to have failed, after a few moments, he spoke.
"...I can write you a letter - to Niren Academy." Velmir's eyes lit up, and hope filled his mind. But then the man added some words with a heavier voice.
"It will take some time.... about a year, and you have to go to my mansion."
He didn't expect this to happen; he only thought that receiving his help was great enough. Even though he missed his family, he knew that his safety had to be secured.
"...I shouldn't belong to this world too much... but his help is necessary...Yeah... I need his help, not because he is a friend... I just need to use him." - He questioned himself, while couldn't even handle his own thoughts.
"Ahh, it's gonna be fine, I'll come home quickly, but I'll take my time." Not long after, he agreed to live in Lucas's mansion, and the two packed up. In the last moment before leaving, Velmir hesitated.
He looked back for a second at the wooden house without blinking, not even once. Still, this was his only choice. Velmir slowly turned his head away, as if he didn't want to go...
"...It's just a house... but why?"
Thoughts echoed, yet the desire to return home won.
Lucas, on the other hand, stood there in the sunlight. He looked at Velmir with care, waiting for him without complaining.
"Let's go, Velmir."
And-
The two set off on a journey.
On their way, they talked like brothers, hunting, bathing in rivers together, crossing the forest, learning to control Ignis bit by bit, and after five days, they almost arrived.
...
...
...
[By the fifth night]
Velmir and Lucas rested in a nearby lake. Throughout their short journey, they had witnessed the beauty of nature. The sounds of nature, the flow of water, life of creatures. All was a glorious experience.
The forest was massive, it wasn't an ordinary one, mountains were everywhere, thousands of feet, even the clouds would be lower than them.
And now, they settled last night at a mountain peak, watching the stars and speaking one by one with ease and comfort.
"So we're close to the town, right?" Velmir started first, the voice of joy said aloud, yet there was still a distance in it.
"Yeah, tomorrow will be the day." - Unlike Velmir, Lucas answered immediately, without even thinking.
"But why haven't I seen it?" The question continued.
"Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you, we're heading to the closest Aether Shard." - It was then that Lucas shut his eyes in a sorry manner, and a faint shame clung to his face.
"Aether Shard? What is it?" Still, Velmir wondered gratefully, and he thought for a brief moment before Lucas replied to him, "This world is too mysterious."
"You didn't know? It's a place that has teleportation built in."
Velmir was startled as the answer from Lucas drew his attention. - "Dang, how was it created? It's truly a miracle!"
"Ah, you're curious, right? It's an interesting story. 1634 years ago, a magician called The Almighty Mage had created it. Some say he vanished beyond the stars, but no one knows. One thing we do know is that he was the one who opened the way to this era, the Fallen Era, the era of the third."
Velmir heard it clearly. He sat up straight, admiring the story. "It sounds like a myth. I wonder if we could become like him." - Velmir wished out loud, smiling like he never was.
For a moment, even the distance in his voice faded.
Maybe he had accepted this friendship. He didn't know why, but deep in his thoughts, loneliness was always present, and he saw it in his friend, too.
However, not like him, Lucas... was willing.
And he... wasn't.
Bit by bit, Velmir swept his look to Lucas, who was falling asleep, his eyes glowed, and for the first time since he first woke up in this world, he felt like he was with his family.
Velmir stood up, the sound of flowing water was getting louder.
He went to the nearby waterfall... without any reason. But strangely, he decided.
"...I need to become stronger. I'm just a burden to him."
Since this journey began, Velmir hadn't been able to control his magic yet. Therefore, he worked.
"I have to imagine it...slowly." Things were like when the purified tear appeared.
The dews, twinkling water sparks, everything was the same, except that the tears weren't there, and he couldn't control it as always.
Velmir punched the tree helplessly. This was one of many tries, and he couldn't be more fragile.
In the middle of the night, he trained and trained, failed and failed. Velmir ignored everything, only concentrating on himself. Even when the mark pulsed, he didn't feel it.
As time passed by, animals and glowing green lights appeared in the forest. Looking at him, they saw him tired and failing over and over, just like this world was excluding him.
Despite his failures, he never stopped trying. He was in despair, yet he still used everything he had to survive.
He didn't ask for anything; he just wanted to return home. Exhausted and fatigued, he fell to his knees. Velmir questioned this world.
Why?
Why am I this useless?
Why is it always me?
What did I do to deserve this?
Why can't I just return...home?
His voice spread his pain throughout the forest. Hopeless and powerless, he laughed and struck his head against the cold ground, blood spilled out, blooming a crimson flower.
In his eyes, there were no sparks; the only thing that remained was despair.
Through his deepest pain, moonlight shone to him, a soft but familiar female's voice reverberated in the forest before his consciousness faded away.
"Don't cry again."