The sea breeze, carrying a salty taste, lifted Ossirena's soft, flaxen short hair. She took a deep breath, dropped what she was doing, and began to prepare her lunch. The adults in the village had gone to the village chief's house for a meeting. Hearing that this year's part-time student spot at Kotter College had gone to their village, Ossirena was very eager to get a spot.
Osirena has lived in this small fishing village by the sea for 18 years. She fears to be born and die here like her grandmother. She doesn't want to turn this small fishing village, which has less than 20 households, into her entire world.
"Amy!" Osirena called out her sister's name loudly, "Emilia!"
"Amy said she was going to eavesdrop on the result. I'm afraid she won't be able to find her." The red-haired boy laughed and said, "There are only four people in the village who meet the admission requirements. I heard there are two spots this time." The young man had a voice as moist as raindrops and a face more delicate than Osirena's.
"Four?" Osirena wondered, "Me, Amy, Bull, Moya, and you, aren't they five?"
"I don't want it..." The young man smiled gently, and the wind swept across his forehead, clearly showing the maple leaf-shaped scar on his forehead.
Ossirena said no more. The young man was picked up by her and Amy from the sea three years ago. When he was rescued, everyone thought he wouldn't live. After all, the injury was so serious that even the blood was almost drained. But under Amy's almost persistent and meticulous care, he was getting better day by day. The wound healed completely, not even leaving a scar. Only the maple leaf-shaped scar on the forehead never went away.
The boy seemed to remember only his name, "LAN," and nothing else. The taciturn boy would help them with what he could every day, such as fetching water, chopping firewood, and cooking. The things that the two girls had been busy with all day could be done in the boy's hands in a short time. The girls said he was a gift from heaven to them.
"LAN." Osirena put on sister air, "You're one of us. How can you say no? ! "Even if you have a little bit of skill, you can learn a lot if you go to Kotter Academy!"
"I..." The young man was interrupted by another sharp voice before he could make any hasty excuses.
"Rena! Rena! Here's some good news for you!" The shrill, thin voice was Amelia, "We can all go to Kotter College!"
"Huh? Aren't there only two spots available?" Osirena asked in a hurry.
"Well, the two spots are for you and me to go. The village head said that Bur and Moya's abilities should be able to handle the civilian examination of the Science and Technology Academy. Plus, last year's harvest was good and the village has some money. As long as one of LAN, Bur and Moya can pass the civilian examination, the village can also support the other two to complete their studies!" "
"That would be great!" "Osirena said happily.
"I'm not going!" Unexpectedly, the boy didn't appreciate it, but his expression was so resolute that even Osirena didn't know what tone to use to address him.
One thing is certain, though, if pushed too hard, the young man will leave quietly on some dark and windy night.
The two girls stared at LAN for a long time, and it was Emilia's shrill voice that broke the silence, "Why? "!"
"No reason, just not going." The young man's insistence, his fiery pupils locking onto his toes, his long eyelashes obscuring his eyes and the mist in his pupils.
Realizing that she could no longer force him, Osirena stopped her sister from saying what she was about to say. These things had only been inquired about, and they had no position to persuade him until the village chief announced it.
"Well, let's not worry about that. Anyway, there's no definite decision yet." "Whether LAN will go with them to Kotter Academy or not depends on the adults' decision, apart from his own idea," said Osirena.
It was rare that Emilia had overheard the news word for word, and that the village chief had announced the matter of Cott Academy in the evening. But surprisingly, LAN did not refuse in person, and after the meeting was over, the village chief deliberately kept LAN behind.
The first thing LAN said to the sisters when he got home was, "I'll go to Rosemary with you, but I won't go to Kotter Academy."
Emilia wrinkled her little face, "That's Kotter Academy! It's Kotter Academy, one of the Four Great Academies, along with Pisan's Firex Royal Academy, the Four Gods' Green Dragon Academy, and Winnier's Rose Academy! He doesn't get in!"
"Maybe there's something that can't be done..." Osirena said slowly, she could never forget how he was covered in blood when she saved him.
"Humph, why go to Rosemary instead of Kotter Academy?" Emilia clearly didn't think he would have any choice.
"All right! Go to sleep quickly! I'm going to go shopping in town with the village head tomorrow!" Osirena made a quiet tidying up, meaning that they had just spoken too loudly and would be heard by LAN in the next room.
"Oh..." "Emilia grumbled, reluctantly going to sleep. The spring days were not long, and the simple fishing village could not afford the luxurious lighting crystals. Early to bed and early to rise was the best way.
Sighing softly, LAN took in the conversation of the two sisters next door word for word. Having lived in the fishing village for four years, he knew the planet known as Huangluo like the back of his hand.
Original. It was his preferred adjective, and the other side of the sea was blank, except for the three continents that had been formed into one. And another word that could describe the planet is - the source of the gods.
As he spent his leisure time reading at the old village chief's house, he had some knowledge of the deities here, a natural consciousness formed by people's beliefs and expectations, which was essentially different from the two sides of the same coin of the deities he knew. He could even be certain that these so-called deities might only influence the planet or the continent.
The Four Gods, with their vast territory, are the most powerful country on the continent. However, to the north is Pisan, the second most powerful country after it. There are too many borders and hostile relations between them, which completely restrict the development of the Four Gods; To its west, across the bottomless canyon of the abyss, lies Venier, a country on another continent known for its academic and peaceful nature, which does not stockpile troops, does not resist, and has lived in peace under the mutual restraint of the other three countries; To the east of the Four Gods, across the shallow strait, is Berudendi, known as the land of Magic, with towering mountains to the north, endless marshes to the east, and the sea to the west, though much weaker than the Four Gods, it only needs to defend the west coast facing the Four Gods, though it has no power to contend. But it is no longer an easy piece of meat to chew.
The capital of Berudendi, Saint Mary of Heaven, is located on the mountainside of the sacred mountain. From a distance, half of Saint Mary is submerged in the ever-lasting clouds of the sacred mountain, which is where the name of Saint Mary comes from.
"Rosemary... The City where the gods descended..." LAN murmured softly, "Since all my doubts can be solved there, let's go and have a look..."
LAN had been confused, not just because he couldn't remember his past, but more of his instinctive reaction, the mysterious air flowing in his body when chopping firewood, the sparks flying between his fingers when starting the stove, he couldn't even remember his birthday, but on the first day of being rescued and waking up, he was able to tell others in a very certain tone that he was 14.
When he first saw the old village chief, the thought that flashed through his mind was the fourteenth-level pastor of Light, and the book of the Holy Word that was now under his pillow, the old village chief said it was written in the divine language, but he knew it, and the academy, which he instinctively refused to enter, with a feeling that once he entered, all his efforts would be in vain.
And that enigmatic perception of the deities in his heart, two sides of one: confident and arrogant Mephisto.Pheles; Beelzebubu of effort and envy; Lilith of ease and idleness; Alastor of concentration and anger; Moloc for growth and binge eating; Love and promiscuity Belphegor; Hope and greed Behemoth.
LAN couldn't understand why he had such a strong perception of the gods, and what puzzled him even more was his instinctive belief that the gods had given up on this world, which was why he had an exceptionally strong desire to explore the gods of this world. Not to mention that every time he looked up at the stars, he had a memory that the stars had once been swirling in his hands.
Finally, there was that strange pattern on his right arm, a flame-like coat of arms like a phoenix in nirvana, as if something had been overlooked...
But, having been confused for four years, I don't care to wait any longer, I close my eyes and soon fall into a deep sleep.
In the dead of night, the strange pattern on LAN's right arm suddenly lit up, and the red light spread out, forming a transparent figure beside his bed, and after the figure turned into a real boy, the strange pattern vanished.
The boy had almost the same appearance as LAN, the only difference being that the boy's eyes were as black as obsidian rather than as glowing red as LAN's flames.
Fingers lightly touched LAN's quiet sleeping face, "Don't look into the past, it's the past you've struggled to get rid of, so absolutely, absolutely don't think of it..." The young man's voice was so steady, as low as a murmur of a spell that drifted through the night, forming a series of substantial magical words, which soon sank into the sleeping LAN's chest one after another.
Contentedly watching the last word disappear, the young man standing by the bedside lowered his head and kissed the maple leaf-shaped scar on LAN's forehead, "From the day the contract was transferred to you, I have been the night light that belongs only to you..." The young man's voice drifted in the diffused red light, the young man disappeared, and the strange pattern on LAN's right arm emerged again.
In another wooden house not far away, the dim glow of the lighting magic shone through the cracks in the doors and Windows, which was the residence of the village chief.
"Really amazing..." It must be a phoenix that has been reborn at least a thousand times..." The old voice, and the body that seemed like a candle could fall at any moment, this old man, huddled under the window and fiddling with a tiny magic crystal, is the head of this small fishing village of less than twenty households. "Sith friend, I sent you this extraordinary child. As for whether he can inherit your will, it depends on your luck..."
The sky was filled with a vast white light, and a new day had come.
Oselena was always the first girl to rise in the village. Her skin was not rough from hard work, nor dark from years of sun exposure. Instead, it was as rosy, fair and delicate as that of a baby. Osirena was pretty, but she never showed off. In fact, in such a small place, there was no one for her to show off.
Among girls of the same age, there was only her precious sister Emilia, a beauty who looked very much like her. If Osirelna was classical serenity, Emilia was wild exuberity, with pale, healthy skin and long, straight legs that were explosive, like a vigorous cheetah.
Kotter Academy opens in early March, but now it's mid-February, and after deducting the time spent on the road, there are only three or four days left to prepare.
Osirena prepared breakfast and dragged Emilia, who was still sleepy, to the village chief's house. The other two children, Bur and Moya, were already waiting there, but this did not mean they got up earlier than Osirena. Judging from the dark circles under their eyes, they were so excited that they had not slept all night.
"Is LAN really not going with us?" It was Burvigi, a tall boy, who had been planning all night to enter the Kote Academy for three years and then become an ordinary soldier in the army of Berudandi, who had been at peace with the Four gods for twenty years, and judging from the current situation, another twenty years of peace would not be a problem. An ordinary soldier earns 120 gold coins a year, and if he's lucky, he can get a lower rank officer to work for twenty years. If he's not lucky, the gold coins he has saved at home will be enough for him to live a carefree life for the rest of his days.
"He has other plans." "But he will still go to Rosemary with you," said the old village chief, trembling slightly.
The other boy in the room was called Moya, an adopted child of the old village head. Years of fisherman life had given him a strong body, but for a relatively short child, no matter how strong a body is, it cannot erase the weakness perceived by others. He was also looking forward to the entrance to the Kotter Academy, but his ambition was different from that of Burvigi. He wanted to become a magician, and once he got rid of the title of apprentice, he would become a nobleman, which meant great wealth and glory.
When LAN got up, the four children had already squeezed into the village's only carriage with the old village chief, heading to town, and he seemed not to have noticed what had happened in his room last night.
Smiling and brushing past the adults who were about to go out to sea to start a new day, cleaning the room, chopping firewood, fetching water... It seemed that his life was supposed to be like this, and he loved the hustle and bustle. When he was busy, he did not inquire about his past, nor did he think about his future. He hoped that life would go on like this, though he had a premonition that all the peace would be shattered as he headed to Rosemary.
But now he doesn't want to worry about the unknown things that are about to happen, he just wants to be himself, he is just "LAN", an ordinary boy as ordinary as can be, nothing more.