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Dream Life

Chapter 1

By Jordan Published 2 years ago 5 min read
1

((Year 479))

A 13-year-old boy watches his city burn down. Civilians running in fear as soldiers attack. Women and children running for their lives as husbands try to defend their families. The young boy is frozen in disbelief as he watches this terror unfold in the middle of the night, the only light is from the flames themselves. The young boy is home alone, waiting for his father and younger sister. He snaps himself out of his daze and rushes downstairs and out of the front door to go and search for his family in the midst of the chaos. “After that child!” a random soldier yells out. The boy continues to run down streets and alleys dodging soldiers, eventually he gets tired and hides behind a barrel in a dark alley. As he watches the chaos continue to unfold someone taps him on his shoulder. “Son?...” his dad whispers. The young boy turns to see his father beaten and bleeding badly holding his younger sister's hand as she clutches tight to her teddy bear with tears in her eyes. ((Age/Year 879)) The sun shines through his window into his face. “Honey come down for breakfast before it gets cold!” his mother yells. “Same dream again…” the boy says to himself as he heads downstairs. His father is sitting at the table reading the paper while his mother is bringing plates for the three of them. She turns around “Good morning, dear-, Oh no did you have that nightmare again you don’t look so well?!” his mother shouted. “Mazoku, son, why won’t you tell your mother and I what this dream is you keep having, it’s the 7th time this month already” his father asked out of concern. “It’s nothing… just a stupid dream” Mazoku replied as he looked away in frustration. “It cuts off at the same part every time anyway so there’s nothing to tell you,” Mazoku states. Mazoku’s dad looked at his son’s eyes and thought to himself, but he didn’t speak on it. “Alright, well let's eat. Your mother worked hard to prepare us this meal” his dad said happily to change the subject. “Yes, yes I did and it’s one of my specialty dishes!” his mother stated while sitting down. Mazoku finished his breakfast and thanked his mother for making such a good meal. He went upstairs and put on his school uniform and said goodbye to his parents as he headed out the door. “Have a great day honey mommy loves you!” she screamed. Mazoku waved to his parents as he started to head towards the academy.

Mazoku is headed to The Academy of the Gifted. It’s where human children who show promise go to hone their abilities. In this world, magic is a power that exists everywhere. The depth of that power is determined by your bloodline and training. The Academy is filled with royal children or children from strong bloodlines making Mazoku the only commoner enrolled at the academy. In this world there exist several races. Humans, Beastmen, Fairies, Elves, Goblins, and Angels. All the races of the world coexist together living in their respective territories as the leaders of each kingdom work to ensure everlasting peace. Each race possesses its own magic making them unique in their own ways.

Mazoku sees a cart being pulled by a horse as he is walking through town and hops on the back of it to hitch a ride towards the academy. “Why do I continue to have the same dream… and why does it never finish?” he thought to himself. Mazoku looks at the people walking through town together going in and out of shops, until he glances over at the blacksmith and sees him forging a weapon. Mazoku jumps off the cart and looks into the furnace inside of the blacksmith’s shop and a flash from his dream pops in his head as he hears the cries and screams of women and children. He quickly grabs his head in pain. “Are you okay Mazoku?” a voice asked from behind. Mazoku turns to see it’s his friend Katsura, she was staring at him out of concern. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies. “I saw you from across the street so I figured we could walk to the academy together” she said with a smile. “Yeah sure, that’s fine with me, have you seen Kurobi?” Mazoku asks. “Nope but I’m sure we’ll see him in homeroom so let’s get going so we're not late” Katsura says as she pulls Mazoku’s arm. The two of them arrive at the academy, where their days will be filled with studying the history of the world, training to increase their magic ability and combat skills, as well as prepare for their careers. “Yo! Katsura! Mazoku! What took you two so long?” Kurobi yelled across the room as students were coming in. The three sat down together towards the back. “You know you two don’t have to sit with me if you don’t want to, I’m not royalty like everyone else” Mazoku stated. “Relax, Katsura and I come from 3rd rank noble bloodlines. It's not like we’re bigshots, plus who would you talk to all day?” Kurobi said while laughing. “Hahahaha, I guess you’re right,” Mazoku replied. As the other children make their way into the classroom some of the nobles and higher ranks whisper as they pass Mazoku as it doesn’t sit well with them that a commoner is allowed to attend the academy. “Settle down class please take your seats, as you all know it is the beginning of the semester, but this term starts the academy wide team competitions. These tests and competitions will measure your ability and combat skills against your peers and start your class rankings for the next 4 years. We will begin with an aptitude test and measure your current abilities to see where your starting ranks will be. The formation of teams will commence after rankings are established. As for the rest of today we are giving you the day to free roam campus, tomorrow will begin your curriculum. Dismissed.” the homeroom teacher announced. “Wow, they’re getting straight to it aren't they, even though we are first years” Katsura stated. “I’m ready for whatever!” Kurobi said while punching his fist together. Mazoku sat there silent deep in his thoughts. “Mazoku, you haven't been acting like yourself this morning, are you sure you’re, okay?” Katsura asked. “It’s nothing, let’s go.” he stated sternly as he got up and walked out of class.

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