Kaomagi Earth

Year 1989

"Dad? I think I got a really bad fever, why do I still feel fine?"

In the empty and partially unkempt mansion of the Bell family, a fourteen-year-old boy with a longish dark red hair woke up to find his body rise in temperature to an extreme degree, yet he doesn't felt its harmful effects.

"Hm?" the boy's father, having the same features as his son except for the hairstyle, glanced at him and in an instant, "ah, I believe you have received a Maneg Soul, Ronald."

"Really dad?" the boy, Ronald Bell, widened his sea-blue eyes. "I'm going to be a Court Wizard, just like you?"

"Yes," the boy's father, Alan Bell, nodded. "Wait for a few days for the Maneg Soul to settle in. Now, let me contact the Otherworldly Court about your recruitment and send someone to pick you up when the time comes."

"Hm? You're not coming with me to the Otherworldly Court, dad?"

"No, son. I have to take care of the Conglomerate. These days, my normal work has taken much of my time. So I can't do Court Wizard work as often."

A week later, the weird feelings associated with heat had subsided, it's still there but ignorable.

Getting out of the bathroom, almost stubbing his toe on the old tub on his way out, being shorter than the boys of his age, Ronald was well dressed in his overly baggy red shirt and blue trousers, which hid his body fat. He went down the stairs with a skip.

Today's the day that young Ronald Bell will go to the Otherworldly Court. And he was quite excited.

"Ah, there you are," Alan, Ronald's father said. There was someone beside him.

He was four years older than Ronald, with a pair of ice-blue eyes and white hair in the same style as Ronald's. Taller than the boys of his age, he had a light-blue cloak covering his entire figure.

"This fine gentleman here will bring you to the Otherworldly Court," Alan looked at Ronald's would-be mentor. "Come on, introduce yourself."

"Okay okay," he said, waving his hand. "Hey, the name's Joshua Ruze, and I will be your mentor. I'm sure we'll get along, kid."

However, on that smile that Joshua gave to the young boy, it was strained.

Nights before Ronald's Maneg Soul's merging completeness.

SPLASH

"Wah!" Joshua jolted up, his upper body wet from the cold water poured over him, though he barely felt the cold his brain still registered it and forced him awake.

He looked to his right to see Alan holding a bucket of water in a way that he had just poured it over him. "What the hell, old geezer!?" he grumbled.

"Come now, I'm not that old," Alan calmly spoke. "You weren't awake even though you were carried out of your apartment and droved all the way here. Quite a snoozer, you are."

"Wait, what?" Joshua looked around, he was in the garden of the ill-maintained Bell manor. "How did you?" he asked as he turned back to the Bell patriarch in a bewildered state.

Because going by what the Bell had said: he broke into his apartment, dragged him into the limo that was somehow cheaper than normal cars, according to the Bell, and drove him all the way here to be drenched in cold water since he didn't wake up after all of that.

It was fortunate that he lived away from his parents, he couldn't imagine how they'd react. Joshua was from a small town and moved to this city to study.

"I have my ways," Alan smirked.

"Ugh," Joshua groaned, knowing this was the typical Bell. "What do you want?"

"My son got a Maneg Soul," was all the father needed to say.

As Joshua stood back up silently and said, "I already have a junior to mentor."

"And there's no rule saying you can't mentor two." Alan shrugged. "As far as I'm aware, the only rule is that Guardians can't double as a mentor since they already have a role to the recruit."

"And why can't you do it?"

"I'm too busy with mundane work. Haven't you read the business section of the newspaper?"

"I don't read newspapers."

"Well, you should."

"Well, that's rich. A money pincher like you buys newspaper?"

"What? No! I only read it right from the kiosk and put it back."

"Of course you bloody cheapskate."

"Ahem," Alan coughed. "Anyway, I will call you when my son has fully merged with his Maneg Soul," he said as he walked past Joshua, going towards the limo.

"Hey!" Joshua turned his head to Alan and exclaimed. "I haven't agreed to anything yet!"

"Oh, you will," Alan mused as he reached for the limo's doorknob. "Besides, I will still impart Ronald with the family Order. So don't say I didn't do anything at all."

CLICK

PULL

"Get in," Alan said, waving his hand to the limo like a butler with a warm smile. "I'll drive you back home."

PIING

Manegia

Year 1392

After the spectacle of lights of many colors, which Ronald counted eleven, he was at the Otherworldly Court at last.

While the boy marveled at the holographic screens of the Transporter Room, one of its operators swung his chair back.

"Welcome back, Joshua," that operator of the Transporter Room, a young man, said. "You got another recruit?"

"Yes, John," Joshua replied. "Alan strongarmed me to mentor his kid."

"Oh, the third Bell, eh?" the operator, John turned to Ronald. "Nice to meet ya."

"Uh," Ronald stuttered. "Nice to meet you too?"

Were his family important? Was the boy's question... And what did they mean by another recruit?

TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP

Going out of the dark cylindrical room, they came upon a girl, sixteen years of age, who was resting her back against the corridor and was furiously tapping her foot.

She was about thirty centimeters shorter than Joshua. With braided pigtails which rested over her shoulders, and along with her eyes, was of the same shade as Joshua's eyes. Wearing a brown top which exposed her navel, tight pants, and an unstrapped hooded overcoat of a similar shading, she wore what was essentially a rogue's outfit like in those fantasy tabletops.

Overall, she was quite attractive and Ronald being a growing boy couldn't help but fluster.

"Ah, you're finally here," she said in an annoyed tone, standing straight. "Geez, what took you so long? Did you oversleep again?" Then she spotted Ronald, "who's this pudgy kid?"

And that ruined Ronald's impression of her. "Hey! I'm not pudgy!" he complained. Also, how did she know of his overweight status under his baggy clothes?

"This, Emilia," Joshua narrated, ignoring the boy's cries. "Is Alan Bell's kid, Ronald, and your new teammate."

"...What?" Emilia stated dumbfoundedly. "So I'm getting schooled for the whole year with this kid? Are you even allowed to mentor two at the same time?"

"Apparently yes," Joshua sighed. "So the old geezer made me do it."

"And why'd you agreed?"

"Because this is Alan Bell we're talking about, the guy who had the bright idea to install his company to other worlds to spy on them and also definitely to make a profit out of it."

"Oh..." Emilia shuddered. "What did he do to convince you?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Uh..." During the two's remarks about his father, Ronald stood there, not quite catching on to their conversation.

"Oh, right! I forgot to introduce myself!" Emilia exclaimed, hammering her fist to her other hand. She turned to Ronald. "Hello, kid. My name is Emilia Willows, nice to meet you."

Practicing Orders for the first time was an ecstatic experience for Ronald. Afterwards, they went to the second floor of the Otherworldly Court, to the Fire Guardian's chamber. Emilia decided to hang back though.

"Yo, old lady!" Joshua called. "I got the recruit here!"

"Ah, so the new recruit is here!" A voice of an old lady said.

Going deep inside the fire chamber, Ronald saw the Fire Guardian.

She was short, shorter than Ronald, with a greying long ponytailed hair and black obsidian eyes. Wearing medieval clothing, she has a demeanor of a gentle old lady.

"Hello, miss," Ronald greeted. "My name is Ronald Bell."

"Oh, so you're Alan's child. And polite too, unlike your father," the small old lady mumbled the last statement, being in front of the desk as it would cover her short stature. "I am the Guardian for the Mother Soul of Fire, I am called Gertrude. And as you can see, I am a dwarf."

"Ooh..." Ronald was excited. It's the first person he met straight out of a fantasy!

"Oh my, he is full of wonder," another voice said. "He reminds me of when Alan first came here."

Coming from the balcony, a well-endowed woman who was an albino, white long and wavy hair, and a pair of red eyes like crimson blood stood tall. She was wearing a casual red dress that exposed her bare lower legs and a sunhat on top.

She was very beautiful and Ronald couldn't help but blush.

"Greetings, little Ronald," she greeted, pinching the hem of her dress and gave a bow. Ronald couldn't help but stare. "My name is Rosalie Bloodlight, but everyone refers to me as Rose."

"Woah... You're so pretty, miss," Ronald muttered.

"Fufu, thank you, dear," Rose chuckled. "I am certainly conscious of it since coming here, where I can properly see myself in the mirror."

"Huh?" Ronald blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Because in my homeworld, my kind cannot see oneself upon the mirror. But that rule does not apply in this world," Rose explained. "I am what people call a vampire," and she gave an open smile, revealing two sharp teeth.

"Eh?" Ronald stood there. "Eeh~!" And shrieked.

"Pfft!" Joshua couldn't hold his laughter. "Emilia should've seen this!"

"My, my," Gertrude smiled wryly.

"Fufu," Rose chuckled with her hand over her mouth. "True, your reactions are always cute."

Spiri Raia

Year 899

"Hey, Joshua," Ronald said. "Remind me why we can't just have the managers put the report down and have it transferred directly?"

"Because there isn't any working Catalyst that pinpoints the coordinate for the transfer, and putting a visual feed just to collect a bunch of paper isn't worth it," Joshua reminded. "And we only have the desk phone Catalyst the first Lightning Guardian made that can only send like ten words to the Transporter Room, so they're only there for the managers to notify us."

"And why can't we just set the spot with our Order?" Ronald asked.

"It'll be inconspicuous to have rainbow lights coming out of the building, why do you think we're transferred far outside of the town?" Joshua deadpanned.

"Right," Ronald panted as he walked through the countryside. "Getting tired walking this long."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Emilia chastised under the Otherworldly Court's robe on top of her overcoat. "You need to lose some fat off of you."

"Hey!" Ronald shouted.

"Besides, worlds move around the Sea of Nothingness," Emilia continued. "The coordinates change every day."

"Uh, no," Joshua denied. "The Transporter Room observes and transfer in a world by its maneg signature like our Maneg Souls, not by current positions in the Sea.

"Fixed coordinates for that world only are established when a hapless Court Wizard gets thrown into there blind for the first time. So it doesn't matter if worlds drift around, the numbers stay the same."

"Oh, I see," Emilia muttered in understanding.

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Ronald asked, not understanding the whole exchange.

They looked at Ronald, and then to each other, and back at the boy.

"Yeah," Joshua said. "I'll explain to you later."

"Fine..." Ronald grumbled as they head towards the town where a certain Kirash noble resided, to the last Bell Branch Alan installed there before his son's recruitment.

That was twenty-nine years ago...

"By the way, why not set the coordinate outside of town?"

"They'll get mugged along the way, kid."