Chapter 1:Where It All Begins
In the world of Elarion, Ether is everywhere.
It glows in the lamps along the streets, warms the baker's ovens at dawn, and hums in the wind that carries travelers from town to town.
Some people use Ether for small comforts—lighting stoves, mending tools, warming their homes on cold nights.
But others devote their lives to mastering it.
Those people are called wizards... and among them stand the guilds.
Guilds that took on requests from every corner of the land.
Guilds that protected towns, escorted caravans, cleared monsters, and sometimes caused as much trouble as they solved.
But our story doesn't begin with the great guilds spoken of across the continent...
It begins far from crowded cities and tall spires, in a quiet harbor town on the coast.
Today... our story begins in Marinveil, where two young mages from the AetherBound Guild walk side by side on Aria's very first quest.
The narration fades like a voice carried away on sea breeze.
Marinveil Harbor — Morning
The world was brighter than Aria expected.
She had seen drawings of Marinveil in the guild library—little sketches of a crescent-shaped bay and the ring of buildings hugging the docks—but books couldn't capture the way sunlight scattered over the waves, or the way the air tasted faintly of salt and fresh bread at the same time.
Seagulls cried overhead, swooping low and bold. Fishermen shouted prices across the pier. Nets hung to dry between posts, dripping faintly into the water below. Wooden planks thudded under carts and hurried footsteps, the whole harbor moving with an easy, noisy rhythm.
Aria walked a little closer to the edge of the street to look at the water again.
The morning sun spread a path of light across the bay, shimmering each time the waves rose and broke against the hulls of docked ships.
...It really is pretty.
She had to stop herself from slowing down. The small delivery parcel in her hands felt almost too light for something called a "quest," but the AetherBound emblem on the back of her left hand made it feel more real. This was her job—her first official guild task.
"Hey, you're gonna fall in if you stare too hard," Ryoto said beside her.
Aria blinked and pulled herself away from the edge. "I—I'm not going to fall."
Ryoto walked with his hands linked behind his head, long legs relaxed, as if they weren't technically on a mission at all. His short crimson-orange hair caught the light every time they passed a patch of open sky. Compared to her, he moved like he'd done this a thousand times.
Which, she reminded herself, he probably had.
"I'm serious," he added, grinning as a gull swooped low. "The sea loves distracted mages. Next thing you know—splash. Aria stew."
She let out a small laugh. "That's not funny."
"Kind of is," he said. "I'd jump in and save you though. I'm cool like that."
"You can't even swim that well," she murmured.
"I can float aggressively," he corrected. "It counts."
It didn't. But Aria smiled anyway.
They turned off the busy main pier onto a narrower cobbled street lined with small shops.
A woman swept her doorstep. Two kids ran by carrying a basket, the smell of warm bread trailing behind. Somewhere, a bell chimed the hour.
Aria looked down at the wrapped parcel—a sturdy, tied-up package about the size of a book.
"I still feel a little bad," she said softly. "Making you come with me on something so small."
"Hey, hey," Ryoto said, leaning forward to see her face. "Don't say that like I'm suffering."
"You're B-Rank already," she reminded him. "You're used to real missions. Monsters. Bandits. Dangerous things. This is just... returning something."
"'Just returning something,' she says."
Ryoto sighed dramatically, letting his arms swing. "Listen, Aria. Every quest is real. Even the little ones. If people could do everything themselves, they wouldn't ask a guild, right?"
She considered it. "That's true..."
"And besides," he added, grin returning, "an easy morning walk in a pretty harbor town with a cute partner? I'd be an idiot to say no."
Her cheeks warmed. "R-Ryoto..."
"What? It's true."
He reached out and lightly rested his hand on her head for a second—tilting down, since she was much shorter. "You're braver than you think just by taking a mission at all."
His hand ruffled a bit of her navy-blue hair before he pulled back again.
Aria's heart fluttered unexpectedly.
"I..." She looked ahead quickly so he wouldn't see her blush. "Thank you."
He shrugged like it was nothing. "No problem. But you know, you could've picked one of my quests instead."
Here it comes, Aria thought.
"Imagine it," he continued, already hyping himself up. "We could be fighting a horned boar right now. Or chasing bandits. Flames everywhere. Me punching a giant monster—"
"Scaring the villagers," she said gently.
"—saving the villagers," he corrected, thumb to his chest.
"And accidentally burning half the field."
Ryoto looked betrayed. "Okay, that was one time. And the field grew back greener."
"Because Master Seraphine personally regrew it," Aria reminded him.
"...Details," he muttered, but he smiled.
She shook her head, amused.
Then exhaled softly.
"I wanted to start with something my rank can handle," she said. "And I don't really like fighting people... unless I have to. Helping with deliveries feels... nicer."
She pictured the AetherBound Guild hall—the warm light, wood walls, the sound of members sharing meals. Compared to that, Marinveil felt bigger and louder, but the warmth was similar. People living. Working. Laughing.
If she could keep that safe by doing even small things... that felt like enough.
"Yeah," Ryoto said. "That sounds like you."
There was no judgment in his tone. Just understanding.
They walked in comfortable silence.
Then a gull screeched behind them.
Ryoto flinched so hard he almost tripped.
Aria turned. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said quickly. "It just... yelled in my ear. Rude bird."
Her lips curved. "You almost fell."
"I was testing the street's durability," he declared. "For safety. For you."
"Of course," she said flatly.
He shot her a look—then laughed.
They reached a small shop with a painted sign of a gear and quill crossed over a crate. The windows were open; the smell of oil and ink drifted out.
A man hurried to the door the moment he saw the parcel.
"You must be from AetherBound," he said, bowing. "Thank you, truly. That ledger is important."
Aria bowed slightly as she handed it over. "Here you go. We were asked to deliver it safely."
"You did just that," he said, relieved. "I was worried it was lost."
Ryoto waved. "No worries. Lost stuff, found stuff. That's us."
"Please tell your guild I'm grateful."
"We will," Aria said.
They stepped back outside. The harbor was busier now. A distant ship horn echoed across the water.
"My first quest is complete," Aria murmured.
"See?" Ryoto stretched. "Easy. You did great."
"I only walked and handed something over."
"Yeah, and you didn't trip once," he said proudly. "Achievement unlocked."
She bumped his arm lightly, still smiling—
—and then a scream ripped through the air.
Sharp. Frightened. Echoing off stone.
Aria froze.
Ryoto's expression hardened instantly.
"Aria—"
"Right," she said, already turning toward the alley.
Her heart pounded.
She didn't like fighting.
But she didn't like the idea of someone being hurt even less.
They ran.
The scream led them into a narrow side alley, where two tall warehouse walls funneled sound like a tunnel. Crates were stacked unevenly, some broken, and a loose fishing net lay coiled near the entrance. A single lantern flickered above, its weak glow struggling against the daylight.
At the far end of the alley—
stood a girl.
Not a child.
A teenager, maybe seventeen, with sharp posture and sharper eyes.
Her short mint-green hair framed her face unevenly, the kind of cut done quickly for practicality rather than style. She stood firm, back straight, one foot subtly angled as if she were ready to pivot or counter.
A massive, overpacked engineer's backpack weighed on her shoulders—so full that every tiny shift of her body made it clank and rattle like a traveling workshop.
She wasn't trembling.
She wasn't cornered like prey.
If anything...
she looked annoyed.
Five thugs circled her, older men with the swagger of people who picked easy targets. One stepped forward, jabbing a finger at her chest.
"Last chance, girl. Drop the bag. Tools like that fetch good money."
Sylvi's arms were crossed.
Her glare was flat and tired—like someone whose morning had already gone wrong, and this was somehow the last straw.
"Touch my tools," she said coldly, "and I swear I'll weld your hands to your own face."
Aria froze at the firmness in her tone.
The girl sounded older—far older than Aria, almost like one of the guild's senior teens back home.
Ryoto muttered, "She's got attitude. I like her already."
Aria elbowed him lightly.
"Not the time."
The biggest thug reached toward the strap of Sylvi's backpack.
She didn't flinch.
She didn't back up.
She just raised a single eyebrow, irritated beyond belief.
That's when Ryoto stepped forward.
"Hey."
His voice echoed off the alley walls, sharp and firm.
The thugs turned.
"You heard her."
Flames glimmered faintly around his fists as he cracked his knuckles.
"Back. Off."
Aria stepped beside him, drew a steady breath, and lifted her hand.
"O guiding winds of light, carry him swiftly!
Grace!"
A soft sky-blue glow wrapped around Ryoto's legs like drifting breeze.
Ryoto grinned.
"Oh yeah. That's the good stuff."
The first thug lunged.
Ryoto moved—
a blur of fire-fueled speed—
and planted a flaming fist into his stomach.
Thud.
The man folded instantly.
Another thug swung wildly.
Ryoto sidestepped, grabbed his collar, and tossed him into a stack of crates. Wood splintered under the impact.
Aria flinched.
"Ryoto, maybe—"
"You can't half-punch a criminal," he called back.
Meanwhile, the thug nearest Sylvi tried grabbing her arm.
Sylvi sighed, reached for a compact gadget holstered at her belt, and flicked a tiny switch with practiced ease.
Wh-tkk!
A glowing blue pellet fired out—
striking the thug square in the chest.
He froze mid-movement.
His whole body locked in place, muscles seizing as if invisible ropes had tied every joint. For a second he stayed there, eyes wide in shock—
—then he toppled over sideways like a stiff board, hitting the ground with a heavy thump.
Aria blinked.
"What... was that?"
Sylvi brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"Paralysis round. Version seven. I'm still perfecting it."
Ryoto stared. "Version seven?"
"Version six paralyzed the wrong people," she muttered.
Aria wasn't sure if she wanted to know the details.
The last two thugs took one look at the fallen man, one look at Ryoto, and bolted out of the alley screaming something about "crazy inventors" and "fire demon kids."
Ryoto let them go.
Aria released her spell; the glow around his legs faded.
Sylvi exhaled sharply and adjusted her backpack—the tools inside clink-clank-clunking as she repositioned her weight.
She did not look grateful.
She looked irritated.
"I had it handled," she said flatly.
Ryoto raised both eyebrows.
"Oh yeah? Your frozen friend there sure looked handled."
Sylvi gave him a side-eye filled with seventeen-year-old judgment.
Up close, he was taller than she expected—broad-shouldered for someone still young, with short, messy crimson-orange hair that caught the light even in the narrow alley. His eyes were a bright, heated red-orange too, matching the faint embers still licking around his fists. He wore his confidence openly, like he thought the world would bend before he did. The AetherBound emblem on his right shoulder marked him as the real deal, not some street punk playing hero.
"You punched a guy so hard he bounced," she said. "Congratulations."
Her gaze shifted to the girl beside him.
Aria looked much younger—small, with navy-blue hair that fell in a soft bob around her face, and wide sky-blue eyes that hadn't dulled yet. She held herself politely, almost formally, fingers still curled where she'd cast her spell. Compared to Ryoto's loud presence, she felt like a softer light—gentle, but steady.
Aria stepped forward, keeping her voice gentle.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
Sylvi hesitated—not out of fear, but because Aria's tone was unexpectedly warm.
"...No," she said. "Just annoyed. They slowed me down."
Ryoto tilted his head. "Slowed you down from what?"
Sylvi shifted her backpack, making the metal inside clatter loudly.
"I'm traveling," she said.
"Heading toward a town called Lantern's Reach."
Aria's eyes brightened. "That's where we're from!"
Sylvi paused.
Her gaze dropped to Aria's left hand—
to the sky-blue emblem of the AetherBound Guild.
Then to the red-orange emblem on Ryoto's shoulder.
"You two... really are from AetherBound," she said quietly.
It wasn't disbelief.
More like relief she didn't want to show.
Ryoto gave a half-smirk. "And proud of it."
Sylvi clicked her tongue, but the corner of her lip twitched.
"...Good," she said. "Then I guess this works out."
Aria tilted her head sweetly. "Works out?"
Sylvi looked away for a moment—just a second—then back at them.
"I'm on my way to join the AetherBound Guild," she said at last.
"Lantern's Reach is my destination."
Aria's smile bloomed instantly.
Ryoto's eyebrows shot up. "No kidding?"
Sylvi crossed her arms, trying to look unbothered.
"Yeah. So if you're heading back, I'm coming with you."
Ryoto grinned and stuck his hand out.
"Then I'm Ryoto Ashborne.
Fire mage. And I punch things a lot."
Aria gave a small polite bow.
"I'm Aria Roseheart... It's nice to meet you."
Sylvi blinked, hesitated—just for a moment—then exhaled sharply.
"...Sylvi," she said.
"Just Sylvi. And don't expect me to bow."
Ryoto laughed.
Aria smiled warmly.
Sylvi looked away, cheeks faintly warm.
Closing Narration
"And so, in a small harbor alley far from the great cities of Elarion,
three paths crossed for the first time.
A simple quest... a stubborn inventor... and two young mages still learning their place in the world.
None of them knew what their journey would become,
or how deeply their lives would intertwine.
But on this bright morning in Marinveil,
a new friend took her first step beside them—
and the road home felt a little warmer."
The camera pulls back:
Aria smiles gently, Ryoto lifts the backpack off Sylvi's shoulders to help her, and Sylvi mutters something annoyed-but-grateful under her breath as they leave the alley together.
Sunlight catches the three of them as they walk toward the road leading out of town.
Their journey back to Lantern's Reach... begins now.