Chapter 1
I am the third prince of the Reinhardt kingdom, Elijah Reinhardt. I am a brunette and, although my parents both have blue eyes, I have purple eyes. Purple eyes are said to be one of the eye colors of demons in this world. I don’t know if it is true, but my mother would always say that I am a very handsome young man. Atlus Reinhardt is the first prince and my older brother. He is a tall man with a strong sense of pride, always lingering around him, and is always consumed by work and training to become king. The second prince, who is constantly in the training room, Atticus Reinhardt, a well-built and confident man. He is slightly shorter than the first prince but just as strong, Atticus has a well-defined face with a chiseled jaw line similar to our father. The person that I have spent most of my time with is my only sister, Cassia, the first princess. She is a kind, beautiful woman with long curly hair similar to our mother. Cassia tends to spend time reading books in the castle library or the garden.
During my years as an infant, I spent a lot of time with Cassia in the gardens. She would play with me all day, I think it was because she was lonely and the first and second prince wouldn’t spend time with her. Cassia always had a bright smile on her face every time I saw her. She was one of the kindest people I have ever met. Once I was old enough, I would constantly ask her questions about the world and our family. Sometimes she didn’t quite know but she had the answer to almost every question I had.
This world has something called mana or magic power; in order to get stronger someone must collect this mana inside their body. When it comes to mana, one can accumulate more through meditation techniques or, in rare cases, through battle. There are different ways the mages and knights use mana, along with a different system. Knight’s are known to have a base of a little mana but slowly build it up from 1 to 10 star with only 5 people in history having reached 10 star. My father has been stuck at 9 star for the past 22 years. On the other hand, mages have circles; spanning from 1 to 9 circles. It is not known who has all reached the 9th circle or how to do so. Once someone reaches the 9th star or 8th circle, they hit a wall that is almost impossible to overcome. Almost everyone is able to become a knight, but it is rare to find someone able to control magic and seen as impossible to control both. Along with that, each region is split up into similar categories.
The Reinhardt kingdom is the largest kingdom on this continent, which is known for its consistency in producing the strongest knights. The border to the east of Reinhardt is Vralia and Kizar. Vralia is a small country at the very tip of the continent. Vralia mostly contains traders and farmers. Their land is almost filled with farmland and animals. Kizar is right below Vralia in the middle of the continent. Kizar is almost entirely woodlands, in the center of the woodlands is the land of the elves. The elves are a very territorial bunch who will kill anyone who isn’t their own upon entry into their land. The borders to the south are Aran and Khakhazad. Aran is the smallest country on the continent and resides in the southwest. It isn’t a very rich country, albeit, they are very famous for their beautiful women and the first princess is said to be an angel sent from heaven. Khakhazad is slightly smaller than the Reinhardt kingdom. It contains many Mages and is home to the Mage towers, of which there are 5, the Tower of fire, the Tower of water, the Tower of earth, the Tower of wind, and the last Tower contains all types of Mages. Most mages throughout the world come from the Khakhazad kingdom. The very last country on the continent, Virastis, borders Vralia, Kizar, and Khakhazad. They are a port country with very little governmental control. The 2nd Continent is the most dangerous, it is split in half by the Land of the Dragons and the Forest of the Damned.
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Each year every kingdom on the 1st continent has to send troops to the Forest of the Damned. The soldiers that are sent to the Forest are there for a year to hold off the demons that reside there. There are 8,000 sent every year, with around 2,000 lucky to be returning.
Cassia said “There is a tradition in our family, in which when a prince turns five years old, he is sent to the White Flames of Reinhardt to accept a spirit. The day after they will begin training with the sword and the spirit, they receive.” Which means tomorrow I will be sent to the flames to get a spirit. Cassia told me not to worry too much about it, all that I have to do is to open my heart and the spirit for me will come to me.
As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered what spirit I might form a contract with. I didn’t know much about this world or what spirits all exist, but I hope it is a strong one.
I woke to Father standing above me, “It is time, let's go.” When he spoke, there was power in his voice, as if telling me this is the only way, the only choice I have. I followed him and the guards through the garden and to an old ruin-like structure. My mother, Cassia, Atlas, and Atticus were all waiting for me. I was slowly nervous of what might happen, as I approached the ruins, white flames arose from the center and set the whole place ablaze. As father came to a halt, he told, “continue into the flames, do not worry, they won’t hurt you.” I felt as if I could trust his words, so I continued into the flames. As I approached, they began to grow larger and stronger. I felt the heat and began to contemplate if Father was telling the truth. I looked back only to see him nod, so I continued walking.
When I entered, it no longer felt hot, instead it was warm, like the hands of my mother. As I began to relax, things started to appear in the flames. I couldn’t make out what they were as they would scurry off as fast as they appeared. The bigger ones I could make out a little of what they were. But suddenly, they disappeared again as something else almost 3 times the size rose out of the flames.
“A Phoenix? But I thought those only appeared in legend.” Cassia Shouted
“A Phoenix? I have heard of it in my past life but I didn’t think they were real. Is this really my spirit?” I thought to myself. Shortly after it appeared, it came at me and flew into my chest, then disappeared. As the Phoenix disappeared, so did the white flames.
“Congrats.” Atlus said “Now you must begin training with it in order to learn to borrow its power.”
I begin to walk off, but as I do so the ruins burst into black flames. “W-What’s happening?” I ask.
“I don’t know, this has never happened before. Just stay there for now, it should go away in a bit.” Father says to me.
I follow his advice and stay still. I see similar images as I did in the white flames, but something about these seem... off. The images begin fighting in the flames. As one slowly comes into view, it annihilates all the other images and continues coming closer to me. As it comes into view it says something “My name is Pandemonica.” Directly after, the black flames disappeared, along with Pandemonic. No one saw the strange figure that called itself Pandemonica other than me, so, I figured I was hallucinating.
