It's been five years. I had grown from a small child into a young man of thirteen. Klim and Falco had grown up too, they had become real men and were like brothers to me. During this time I became good friends with the locals. Klim taught me how to fight, but Falco... he taught me nothing. Falco was always cheerful, though, and Klim was always responsible.
Nothing significant had happened over the years. Life in the village was boring and not particularly interesting. We sowed the fields in the spring, harvested the crops in the summer, and the rest of the time we lived on these supplies until the next spring. The Frowsals never came back, probably thinking that all the villages had starved to death. But with my help, they survived.
But one thing that has changed my life dramatically is my abilities. During these five years, I have developed them well and discovered many new things about myself.
One summer season the elder held a feast. The villagers remembered the miracle that had happened the year before. People sang and danced, praising the god, and I decided to go to the forest and catch a large animal for the feast table. In harmony with nature, I decided to experiment. I squeezed as much energy in my hand as I could, and a point formed, emitting a bright light. I directed it at one of the trees and gave it a jolt. The ball of energy reached the tree and exploded, causing great destruction. The tree was torn from the power and one half of it fell to the ground.
I became interested in the nature of this power. What is it? Magic? And what flows in me and other beings? Mana? Chakra? Qi? I decided to call it magic, and the energy that surrounds all space and of which all living and non-living things are composed - mana. And my devastating shot was a technique. To call it a spell would be misleading, for I created it myself, without reading spells or making seals with my hands. I manually gathered mana and compressed it as much as I could. A large amount of mana compressed at one point wrought great destruction. I decided to call my technique "Magic Surge." By its very nature, it is a burst of magic: the compressed energy releases its full destructive power when it comes in contact with an obstacle.
I could call it an explosion, but it's not. A magical burst carries no "fire" power, only pure energy. An explosion would leave dust and cinders at the detonation site, but a surge just tears everything in its path.
Each time I practiced my surge, I could create a ball of increasing destructive power. Each time I could put more mana into the technique. I noticed that my mana supply was increasing, which was good for me.
Now with this destructive technique, I could defeat any enemy, including the Frousal soldiers, should they ever decide to attack our village and others. But how would others perceive this magic? I haven't met anyone who even comes close to me in ability. I haven't heard any mention of "magic" or anything else in the conversations of the villagers.
I decided to see how my closest person, Earl, would react. I figured if it turned out to be something bad, he would react more loyally. One languid evening, I called him over for a private conversation, and we went out and wrapped around the back of the house.
- What did you want to show me? A snorgle with six legs? - Earl asked irritably.
I gently opened my hands, and there was a ball of light, shining brightly on our faces. I looked at Earl's face, and his eyes went wide. There was an expression of mingled horror and surprise on his face that I couldn't recognize. He grabbed my hands, closed the ball of light, looked back and whispered:
- Don't ever do that again.
- What? But why? What's wrong? - I asked.
- Only gods are allowed to perform miracles. You'll be mistaken for a creature of darkness and killed. I know you're a good man, and you're definitely not a nonhuman, but if you showed this to anyone else, you'd be burned as a foul thing," Earl said through gritted teeth.
- I hope we don't come back to this conversation again," Earl said and walked into the house, leaving me outside alone with my thoughts.
The reaction was extremely negative. If I had shown it to anyone other than Earl, I would have been considered a witch and burned at the stake. I wanted to ask him more, but he made it clear that we weren't going to talk about it anymore. From that moment on, I decided to hide my magical abilities. I would hate to become a public enemy and be burned.
...
One perfectly ordinary day Earl told me that our kingdom of Zoldasan had fallen. The last battles in the capital had lasted a long five years. The king and his retinue had defended themselves in the fortress and kept the troops away, while Frousal simply waited for them to starve to death. Frousal has not stopped his military campaigns and has already launched an attack on the neighboring state of Carnair. Again the war would take many innocent lives, but there was nothing I could do about it anymore.
I was interested in the world outside, so I asked Earl about the world order. He is not an expert and does not know the whole picture, but he told me about our central continent, Escaline. He drew a rough map of the continent and showed me the major countries. Two small states, Zoldasan and Carnair, surround Frousal. But nowadays the map has changed, and the lands of Zoldasan belong to Frousal. There are also two giant empires, Grimslein and Great Soland, in addition to Frousal. To the east of the mainland is the Elven Forest, and below it is Hrongale.
I was satisfied with this account, and fell behind Earl with my inquiries.