Merchant district discovered.

Plaza of Heroes discovered.

All of us children are now following after Nana and Khan to the place where we will best testing our aptitudes for trades and magic. The overall ambiance of everywhere we go is one of laughing and cheering. Just being outside on this sunny and moist day bring my hope and mood up greatly!

When we finally arrive to the plaza where its at. My eyes can't believe how many people I see in one area simultaneously. People of different social statuses mingle together with each other. All kinds of races you can imagine are here too. And on top of it so is the smell of food heavy in the air. The mood descriptor of today is: festive!

As we pass by a huge banner going from one house to another house across the street I smell something sweet in the air. It smells toasty too. I start sniffing and try to find the source of this wondrous smell. Terion notices what I am doing and starts whispering in my ear.

"Haha, ya are like a shark in the water, which just got the smell of blood in its nostrils." I then look back at him in surprise as he pulls up two big copper coins between his fingers.

"Didn't I tell ya that I would treat ya to somethin' sweet?" He says while winking. Terion then looks at Nana and Khan. "Oi' Nana, Biali and me are going off on our own, is that 'kay?"

Nana and Khan just looks at each other first but then looks back at Terion and just nods. Looks like they are used to his antics. Terion just grins and grabs me by my hand and drags me off.

I wonder why Terion has taken such a liking to me? Is this how all boys act? I must ask Raedora when I get back.

The sweet toasty smell gets stronger as he drags me along to the heavenly place. I wonder where Terion got those coins from? Does he work when we are not playing outside? I has not got any pocket money after all!

"Hey there mister and miss! Can I treat you to my renown cotton candy?" Says a fat and fatherly looking man in an apron. His thick brown mustache just make him just ooze of friendliness towards me.

Before I can react Terion slams down the two coins onto the vendor cart counter and says: "Two cotton candies!" The vendor just laughs and then winks towards him. Do they know each other? The man then pulls one thin wooden stick and puts it into a glassy orb with white grains at the bottom. As soon as it was in he cast a spell with his other hand. Which made the sweet toasty smell come back, but even stronger this time. White strands could be seen enveloping the stick.

"So Terion how's it going at your apprenticeship?" Suddenly asks the man as the stick is becoming fluffier. My eyes fixates at it. It has been such a long time since I last had something sweet!

"My master says I got potential. He told me I need to get the hang of hammerin' better." Answers Terion in a familiar manner.

"Oh? Just like any trade out there. Technique and skill is everything. Take cotton candy for example." The stick is now surrounded by a fluffy white cloud half the size of his hand. He continues after a brief inspection of it. "Anyone can learn how to make it. But without the proper skill you will end up cotton candy which is not as fluffy or use too many materials. And without the proper technique you will end up scorching it, which makes it inedible."

Terion seems to be awfully quiet before talking again. "So it is my technique I need to improve then?"

"You catch on quick." Says the vendor as he hands the stick of cotton candy in front of my face. I look up in anticipation before I grab it with both my hands. "Hahaha, you sure found a nice looking missy, Terion." I then hear coughing from Terion.

"Uhm, eh, she is nice friend of mine." Terion quickly retorts with and the vendor just laughs and starts making a second cotton candy.

As I take my first bite out of the cotton candy I am delighted in how the fluffy cotton dissolves in my mouth. It releases the taste of toasted sugar which is truly divine and I could not help but to moan in delight. It nearly brought a tear to my eyes. It is nearly as good as cake!

"Mhmm, I see, boy. Do not just forget to find a wife." Say the vendor as he laughs. I look at Terion and I can see how his whole face is red. I tilt my head to the left while slowly eating my cotton candy. What is he so red about?

"Eh, I will. Sooo... How is the fair?"

"Great for business. I had customers which rewards their children with cotton candy for finding their aptitudes! Not like I protest at such developments."

"Actually! Biali is here to test her aptitudes. So I thought of giving her a lil' treat!" Says Terion as he grabs me by shoulders. The vendor then raises both of his eyebrows and motions with his elbow towards Terion.

"Be sure to give her a treat in the future too, aye?" He then starts laughing again and as I look up at Terion again it is like he is trying to hide behind me. I look back at the vendor again.

"Huh?" I say with my tongue still attached to the cotton candy.

Terion finally gets his cotton candy, and once he took it he just waved him goodbye and dragged me to the fountain in the center of the plaza. Luckily there was a free spot for us to sit at. The mist from the fountain hitting the skin felt wonderful in the blazing heat of the sun.

"I wish this day could go on forever." I said contently to myself while eating. Moments like these are to be treasured. I may lose everything I got at any moment. Might as well live like I mean it every waking second. I then look over to Terion, there is a thing I has been meaning to ask him for a very long time.

"Terion, do you know why your eyes have a golden color?" I ask him while looking into his eyes. He looks like he is in thought for a moment before looking at me again.

"I dunno'. I sure as heck has not seen anyone else with eyes like mine 'round here." He then tears out a big piece of cotton candy and puts it in his mouth.

"That would make you pretty special around here then." I say and shrug before biting into the cotton candy around again.

"Ya know, I never tried my magic aptitude test here."

"Why?"

"Never had an interest in it."

"Why do you bring up magic all of a sudden?" I stop eating the cotton candy and looks at Terion in confusion.

"I can't kick off my feelin' that something stirs within ya'. Ya' know?" Terion then gazes off into the distance.

"And what does this has to do with magic?" He then looks at me again.

"I feel something stirring within me too." I then look at my hand which is not holding the mostly eaten cotton candy stick. This reminds me of how I felt before I got my magic lessons. The teacher cast different spells in order to see how I reacted to them. In the end I showed great affinity for dark magic, meanwhile the other types I just got average affinity for.

"[Candlelight]" I chant and snap my fingers and show the dim light to Terion. He looks with awe at me and touches the light with his right hands index finger. In response I can see how his body reacts very positively to it. Do Terion have great affinity for light magic?

"Maybe your intuition is correct..." I mutter as I snuff the light. I look at Terion dead seriously and starts tutoring him. "You clearly got aptitude for magic, but you never bothered getting it checked!?" He looks chocked and I just sigh. You could had got a much better life you dolt!

I then put down my cotton candy and drags Terion by his hand towards the magic aptitude stations.

"H- Hey, Biali! What's gotten into ya!?" He protests but I do not care. It is my time to repay him for supporting me. Just bear with it, will you!?

After a minute or two we finally arrived at the general magic aptitude test station. Along the way Terion eventually stopped protesting and just sighed.

The station itself was manned by two people. One beast man girl with cat ears and a human man with a funny hat on his head. The whole station was seated on a floor of planks and at it looked like a target range. In front of the station is a counter with a glassy orb on it. The man notices us first.

"Hello there children, are you here to test your aptitudes for general magic?" The hat wearing man says as he checks us up. When he looks at me, his face changes into one of deep thought.

"Actually we are, but Terion here has not got his aptitude checked!" I say as I gently push Terion forwards the orb on the counter.

"I see, miss. Well, well, put your one of your hands on the orb first, Terion.

Do not worry, all it will do is to check your affinity for magic in general." Says the man. Terion just shrugs and puts his hand onto the orb.

As he does I can sense how his body reacts to the orb. I put my own hand in front for comparison and sense my own magic too. Terion is bright like the sun compared to mine which is as black as the abyss of the sea. What can this mean?

"Huh? Interesting." I mutter as I pull down my hand and look at Terion again.

"Terion, you got average affinity for generalist magic. The orb detected on the other hand great spikes in other affinities, so please check out the other stations.

Okay, now that your affinity is checked, we will check your aptitude for generalist magic. We will teach you a simple spell, for which you can hit the target in the firing range." The funny hatted man rambled on before finally teaching him the spell.

The way the spell works is that it works more on imagination rather than memorizing every detail of it in memory. Would be like cooking food without a recipe. It may either end up tasty or end up burnt!

Force needle

School\Affinity: Evocation\None

Base Cost: 1

Conjures a needle of pure force which is then flung at the target. Its damage is highly limited and at best can be used for distraction. The spell is simple enough to be used without any training.

After a little testing, Terion finally got the hang of the [Force needle] spell. With a chant and hammering motion, he blasted the target at the end of the firing range off the shelf. I ended up cheering and clapping for him.

"Awesome Terion!" He looks back at me with a grin. Now just to get him test the other stations! But before we could leave, I needed to test my aptitude as well. Oh well, should be easy enough.

"Do you need me to repeat what I said to Terion, miss..?" The man in the station said and I simply responded with: "Biali, and no."

"Okay then. If you need me to teach you the spell, just tell me. Otherwise feel free to hit the target over there-" Before he could finish I chanted [Force needle] and accidentally poured too much magical power into it.

As I snapped my fingers the needle punched right through the target and made the metal wall behind reverberate from the excessive force. Afterward the target started cracking and falling apart.

"Oops..." I say as I stare at the mayhem I caused. After a few seconds the girl which until now has been quiet started making noise.

"Mjaaa! Not again!?" She cries out as she looks at my piece of work. Then she takes out a notebook and scribble something into it.

"Again?" I ask her.

"You are the fourth tester to destroy the target! We are not made out of money!" She then shrugs and replaces the broken target. The man then looks at me and coughs.

"Uhm, you passed." He then leans close to me and whispers: "You need to work on your magic control though. Keep that in mind." I just nod and looks back Terion which looks highly amused from this spectacle.

"Let's go to the light aptitude magic station, Terion." I say before dragging him off.

The premise was similar at the light magic aptitude station. At the station stand two women in priestly clothing.

"Hello, we want to test our aptitudes for light magic!" I say to the two women who has distant looking eyes. They snap out of whatever they were doing the moment I spoke.

"O- Ok- ay." Stutters the woman closest to us. "I wi- will t- teach you a sp- spell!" I wonder why she is stuttering so much? She must have her reasons. The spell she teach us is an even weaker version of [Candlelight], but it is aligned to the light affinity instead.

Flicker

School\Affinity: Generalist\Light

Base Cost: 1

Conjures a short lived flicker of light. The spell is simple enough to be used without any training.

"[Flicker]" Chants Terion and for a moment an extremely bright light appears from his hand. It is bright enough for me to having put my hand in front of my eyes in order to not get blinded. So that is what it was, when I sensed his overly bright magic inside him.

"By the goddess..." Says the other woman which until now just had spectated. Her eyes then opens wider as she looks into Terion's golden eyes. "...we got one of the divine kin among us!" I am so confused now.

As I stand there contemplating of what Terion actually is he pats my shoulder and smiles. "Oi', your turn now, Biali!"

"Okay..." I quietly say before I chant: "[Flicker]" and with a snap a light appears...

The light is at first extremely dim but then it flares up into a corruption of itself and becomes a very bright black light! The two women just looks on in horror at what just transpired.

Eldritch flicker

School\Affinity: Generalist\Dark

Base Cost: 1

Conjures a short lived flicker of eldritch light. The spell is simple enough to be used without any training.

"This can't be good." I quietly say as I look at Terion who looks as if he can't understand what I am saying. The two women now are talking between each other but before I can start listening, Terion quietly drags me away.

He drags me all the way to an alley near the aptitude test fair. Before he starts talking he looks if anyone are listening. I can see sweat all over him and his breathing is faster.

"Damn it! Those religious crazies!" Says Terion as he holds me by arms. "Divine kin? Hogwash! I am me; Terion!"

He then leans next to a house wall and looks at me.

"Did ya' hear what they called ya?" I shake my head and he continues talking. "They called ya' the devil!" He slams the wall with his fist and looks visibly upset.

I sigh and sits down on my knees. I simply stare down into the stony ground. I can't even refute that claim.

"What should I do?" I say while feeling incredibly conflicted. Terion then looks at me with confusion.

"What do ya' mean?"

"Remember the story I told back at the church a month back?"

"...yes?" I look up at him and feel how my eyes become moist. I do not want to lose Terion. He is my best friend here.

"I only told half the truth in it." He blinks and then sits next to me. I then continue: "The whole truth is uglier." He looks down and is deep in thought.

"Biali, you is my best friend, and ya know it. If I can't accept ya' for who ya' are then I am a shitty friend!" He says as he looks into my eyes. I do not think he is fully comprehending the situation.

I put my hands around his right hand and do a long sigh.

"Okay then. What you will hear now is the whole truth. You are the only one I can trust with my life in this damned city after all."

"I am born in Ypterra, and my father is Raal'tara'goto Doombringer. And my full name is Be'ial'ale Doombringer. The names won't make any sense for you, because my father is known by his other name more: The Supreme Evil.

I got the blood of the supreme evil inside me. Devil? Close, the only devil blood I got is from my mother." I say to Terion who is looking like he is having a hard time believing me.

"Terion, before you say: I do not believe you.

Do you not think it is unusual that a child comes out of a dungeon in the middle of the city a few days after the damnable heroes failed the raid against The Supreme Evil? Hmmmm?" I continue with and tilt my head while looking at him.

"I was the reason the raid failed. I figured it out myself after I put what I learned from the church together with my Nemesis of Heroes title which I gained in my early childhood.

The heroes fell one by one as their divine protections failed to protect them against my fathers instant death magic. The mere presence of me stops divine protections from working." As I finish saying it I look down at the ground again.

"If it wasn't for that damn Mystia I would not be here! I would instead have a tea party with my friends!" I feel how my anger fills my whole body and I punch the ground which gets more and more scorched with each hit. Suddenly I feel a hug and all my anger dissipates.

"You had it hard, Biali." Says Terion which now suddenly dropped his accent. I hug him back and start sobbing. I feel a comforting warmth being emitted from him as I am in his embrace.

"All I wanted was to be with my mommy and daddy..."

"Who did this?" He asks while sounding shaken.

"The heroes... My whole life has been miserable because of them... I hate them..."

"Heroes..." I feel him tighten his grip around me, and then he looks behind himself.

The sound of footsteps echoing from the street can then be heard.