Kindness

“Spineful?”

What type of name is that??

“It’s a call back to how we’re done running!”

Talos puffed out his chest, putting his hands on his hips as a smug look was plastered all over his face.

“And are now going to face whatever challenges that come our way!”

Kaito looked at Ansel, his broad back hunched over and his hand on his face. Eira’s eyes remained focused on the road ahead but her closed mouth pulled at the sides, her smooth dimples surfacing behind.

“Talos…submitted the form while we paid.” Ansel explained.

“Me and him were so busy making sure we had enough money for the guilds’ service fee, that we didn’t realize he’d filled that part out.”

Eira looked at Talos reproachfully.

“Tsk”

“Haha…it’s not that bad.”

He walked over to Eira, leaning against her as they walked.

“C’monnnnnn, how long are you gonna be mad about it?”

She glared at him, not uttering a single word.

“Hmmmm we should take you to the guild.”

“Huh?”

Ansel stroked his chin.

“I mean, they can at least check your manaprint…and who knows. Maybe we’ll find a record of you before you lost your memories.

Kaito looked back to his right, Eira walking and Talos clinging to her playfully. The four walked down a big rock road, carriages being pulled by horses and food stalls set up along the left side. Looking at the signs, Kaito saw that it was not a language he knew, the scribbles would have been illegible. Yet, somehow he was able to understand it, the wooden sign with lines and shapes he’d never seen, he knew it was a sign for the local butcher. The town looked fairly developed, yet it was extremely clear to Kaito that the world he found himself in was much like a fantasy world from the MMORPGs he’d played in his youth. The buildings had a medieval vibe to them, and the roads filled with pedestrians and horse carriages. All the people he saw were visibly lower class, some with rags as clothes, and others with proper pants and shirts. A multitude of colors could be found among the people, some with very dark skin colors, whereas others had almost a sickly paleness to their skin hue. Looking closer at those with paler skin, he started noticing a peculiar pattern among them.

“This way.”

Ansel turned the corner at the end of the road, the three following him from behind. Walking for a few more minutes before turning once again, this time making a right corner at a fairly big building. Looking at the sign, Kaito was met with strange symbols, symbols that he knew meant to say “Inn.” Ansel walked passed and crossed the street, entering an alley on the other side. The musty smell of trash emanated from the darkened area, and looking back at Eira and Talos, Kaito noticed the murderous air coming from Eira had dissipated, her face now apathetic to the boy holding onto her arm. Ansel turned left again and stopped right outside the alley.

“Hm?”

“We’re here.”

“Yaaay! Time to get our money!”

Kaito looked up at the building, the roof slightly higher than the ones around it. The signage had more unknown language, “Eigo Branch” is what he understood from it, the information seemingly flowing into him. The three walked up a small flight of stairs at the entrance of the building right next to the alley. Eira and Talos walked and Ansel stood holding the door open.

“O-oh, sorry, thank you.”

Walking in and hearing the door close behind him as Ansel walked past, Kaito was met with a calm atmosphere, the room near empty despite the sunlight just starting to dim. Looking at where Ansel was walking, he saw a silver-haired girl with glasses behind a wooden counter. She smiled at Ansel and his party, chatting with them and giggling while handing them paperwork. They continued to chat for a moment until Talos, Eira, and Ansel looked back at him, waving him over. As Kaito walked over he noticed the extremely pale skin of the girl, her white and pointy ears on the sides of her head, matching those he’d seen outside.

Elves.

“Hello. Um my name’s Kaito, I uh…” He gave a slight bow instinctively, his face flushed as he realized just how dirty he was.

“Good Evening, my name is Bella. Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild of Eigo.”

She gave a professional bow in response, her hands clasped together in front of her waist.

“Please do not worry sir Kaito, they have already explained to me your situation.”

The elven girl reached down and grabbed a glass sphere. Walking over a few steps, she placed it on a 4-point stand that let the orb nearly hover off the counter table.

“Since you are lacking your memories, this orb will check your mana print and display any previous records of you in our database. However, if there is no record of you it will create a new record of you.”

“Oh I see, so I just place my hand here?”

“Yes.”

The glass orb was cold, the smoothness uncanny in Kaito’s hand. Ansel, Eira, Talos and even the receptionist, Bella, all stared at him. The glass orb remained still, unchanging; the room holding its breath until Kaito broke the silence.

“So ummm, how long is this going to take?”

“I don’t understand…Bella what do you make of this?”

“I- I don’t know, the Orb worked fine minutes ago- actually Eira can you check?”

“Yea alright.”

Her hair swayed as she speedily walked over to where Kaito was, her hand raising smoothly and resting atop the orb. Instantly, a pale blue light began to emanate from the orb, a small aura forming around her hand. Pulling it away she looked back at Ansel who seemed to realize something. His eyebrows raised in surprise and shot a glance at Bella. She immediately pulled out a small stick, her eyes burning in a sudden determination, as she pointed it at Kaito.

“[Levitate]!”

Kaito’s body began to float up, his hands suddenly being pulled together as a sudden wind pressed up against him from all directions.

“W-what’s going on???”

“Calm down Talos, it’s just a precaution, PLEASE UNDERSTAND.” Ansel yelled as he looked up at Kaito, his worried face and battered clothes reflecting upon his brown eyes.

“Eira! Why are they restraining him!”

“W-whats going on!!?? Did I do something wrong?? ”

Ansel looked at him in pity. His mouth frowned, “sorry Kaito, we just need to be sure of something, then we’ll let you down.” He glanced at the counter, “Bella, could you have someone call Zareph?”

“Yeah, give me a sec.”

A few minutes passed and another man walked down a flight of stairs right behind where Kaito was hovering. His pointed ears and silver hair suggested he was an elf as well, however his skin was darker than the rest, the only exception being Ansel, who was also fairly brown. He held a book in his right arm, a purple jewel embedded at its center.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?”

“Sorry to bother you Zareph, but could you check our friend here.”

“Check? For what?”

“The orb worked fine just now, but when he touched it didn’t so much as give a flicker of any kind. It’s like…he didn’t have any mana, like at all.”

“Wow, really?!”

“Yeah. He didn’t seem hostile, but if he has what we think he is then…”

“I get it, don’t worry, let me check for you.”

He raised the book to his chest, opening it without his hands, the pages flipping by themselves.

Starting an incantation, the book’s purple jewel began to glow and light began to gather in front of him. Eira walked back to where Talos stood, her hands reaching out to him and clutching his eyes shut.

“H-hey! Eira-”

“[Purify]!!”

The man named Zareph put his left palm out in front of him, aiming at Kaito. His hand became infused with the light that had been gathered,a glow and shine emanating from it only to shoot a bright beam of light a single moment later, enveloping Kaito’s body completely.

“Ahhhh what the heck???” Kaito was blinded by the light, the beams onslaught, piercing through his closed eyelids as the light gently warmed Kaito’s body.

Zareph continued to chant for a few more seconds before eventually closing his book abruptly. The light vanished and they all looked at the floating Kaito in wonder, his body now clean from any dust and grim that he previously had. Ansel, Eira, and Bella gave a big sigh of relief, their worries now gone with the help of the man named Zareph.

“It seems he's not one of them. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

““Yes! Thank you very much.””

Ansel and Bella expressed their appreciation at the man, and Kaito began to slowly descend.

“...what was that?”

“YEAH! What the heck did you guys do to him!”

“It was a precaution”

Eira looked at Bella. Nodding she looked at both Kaito and Talos who were equally confused.

“That man was Zareph, one of the resident light mages in the guild. He is a B-rank adventurer that specializes in ranged magic.”

“...”

Kaito listened attentively, wanting to know why he had been restrained so suddenly, and generally in shock at what had just happened to him.

That was magic… I was levitating! Holy crap. Does that mean I could also-

“Everything in this world has magical energy, we call this energy mana for the sake of convenience, and no matter how weak or how obsolete something is, it will always have, even if only just a little, a manaprint.”

“That doesn’t-”

“Talos let her finish” Eira interrupted, rubbing his hair and messing it up as his blond waves scattered under her fingers.

“A manaprint is like a piece of a person’s mana that lets us know how capable they are and generally holds important information about them. This orb is made from mana crystal, which evokes the information from your manaprint; some doctors also use it to check for magical illnesses and such.”

“It didn’t glow when I touched it.”

“Yes it did not, which would have meant that you are something that doesn’t have mana…”

Talos’ eyebrows raised in surprise.

“YOU GUYS THOUGHT KAITO WAS A DEMON!!!??”

The few people inside the building turned in a curious surprise at the center counter table.

“Shut up!!” Eira whispered, clocking his head with her knuckles.

“Owaowao”

“A demon?!”

Kaito stepped back in surprise, looking around and now seeing people staring at him. Taking two steps forward he leaned onto the table and whispered.

“Why would I be a demon?”

“It’s because, sir Kaito, demons do not use mana like us. They use negative mana, or nama for short.”

“It’s a source of energy specific to demons and those with their blood.”

Eira chimed in.

“Yes. And it is completely undetectable from any mana crystal.”

So they thought that I was a demon. Damn I need to be careful then.

“Ha…ha”

Bella’s expression dimmed, her purple eyes blank and empty as she tilted her head and looked down.

“Bella you almost seem disappointed” Eira commented, her eyebrow raising as she looked at the elf.

“Ah no no no, I’m not disappointed haha. Anyways since you're not a demon- but you also don’t have mana…hmmmm.”

“It’s so strange.”

“Why? Isn’t there like hella people that can’t even use magic?”

“Yeah, but that’s because they have barely any mana. Kaito literally doesn’t have any.”

Ansel explained to the boy just how strange the situation was as he continued caressing his chin, the room growing dark and candles now lighting the room.

“I’m sorry but I might need to bring this up with the guild master…”

“That’s fine Bella, maybe he’ll know what to make of this. For now let's all go eat dinner and get some sleep.”

Ansel turned to Eira and Talos, the three beginning to walk away from the counter. Kaito stayed back, assuming he would have to find somewhere to sleep.

I was just some guy they found in the forest…figures.

Kaito began walking toward the door, his face to the floor, looking at his shoes, torn and scratched up, yet now shiny and dust-free.

“So Kaito, what do you want?”

“Hm?”

“Do you drink? Ansel always holds back on us because we’re still kids, but you look old enough.”

“I- I can come with you?”

“Yeah, I thought about it on the way here, I’d feel bad just leaving you here penniless and alone.”

“But I’m.. a stranger, you literally found me in the woods.”

“Ha yeah, but still I have a feeling about you, the same one I had when I picked these two rats up.”

“...”

Kaito couldn’t understand him, how he was being so kind to someone he just met. He thought about it, the party called “Spinful,” named by the golden boy Talos. The swordswoman Eira, and her complicated personality. And the “big brother,” a man twice Kaito’s size, seemingly kind hearted and family figure to the other two.

“So what do you say dude?”

Talos was swaying in anticipation, his jolly behavior contracting the girl next to him. Her cold silver eyes staring at him patiently.

“I could go for a beer.”

Kaito smiled and left the building with them, heading to the diner, a party of four; the party of adventurers named Spineful, a call back to how they’re done running away.

—--

2 Years Later:

A 27 year old Kaito woke up in a small house. The walls made of rock and two bunked beds next to each other, the beds empty except for the one above him. Getting out of bed he started toward the bathroom on the far left corner of the room.

“Hey Eira where’s Ansel?”

“At the guild for his exam.”

“Oh dang I guess we missed him.”

Kaito turned the metal handle of a sink, a small magical circle forming and creating a small river of water. It flowed down the sink as he filled his hands and wet his face.

“You missed him, I wished him good luck in the morning.”

“Are you serious?? Why didn’t you wake me up!”

“Cuz you didn’t tell me…duh”

Kaito’s face reflected on the mirror in front of him. A small square that just about fit his entire face if he took a step back. His deep brown eyes invisible in the dimly lit bathroom; the spikes on his black hair all over the place. His beard had begun to grow back, and a scar on his tan cheek reminded him of his first sword training session with Eira.

“How long are you going to lay there?”

“I was waiting for my student to be ready…”

“What about your morning training?”

“Did double last night to free up today.”

Kaito sighed and changed into his clothes, a brown shirt and stained pants, under a steel chestplate and knee pads. His new shiny boots finally completing his armor set after two long years.

Opening the door, he announced “I’m heading out then!” making sure she could hear him leaving. Walking through the small living room and kitchen, Kaito opened the front door and heard a thumping noise. Waiting for a few seconds, the thumping became a thunking, the sounds growing louder and a familiar face surfacing in the hallway.

“So annoying ugh.”

“Your hair is uhhh.. How should I put it..”

Glaring at him she took out a come from a hidden pocket in her metal skirt.

“Who’s fault do you think it is?”

He turned his back on her and began walking.

“You had all morning.”

“Hey wait! Dude what the heck.”

Her voice raised in pitch, making her sound slightly more feminine than usual. Stepping down the small flight of stairs, she caught up to Kaito, a grand castle far in the distance, covering the sun from their view of the horizon.