Intro to Life (Prologue)

*Step step step!*
A group of four children runs across a field in a small town of a country called Nihyle.

*Huff... Huff...* "Hey, Haitora!! Wait up!" A little child shouts at a kid in front of them while running.

"Can't wait for anyone on this new release! Whoever gets to the hideout first gets to flip the pages!" The little boy yells. 

The boy, who was called Haitora, holds a book of fantasy tale about heroic tales known and written plenty of times before, yet this one is the current most popular of this era.

*Step step step* 
"P─please wait... I can't run any longer..." The kid behind all the other huffs.

"I swear you two are too eager for this!" The third row kid grumbles, angry at the two front children.

Kids who have limitess fantasies become deeply fascinated to things that pour their imaginations into a medium. A simple picture book can get a child interested for the rest of their childhood years, or even remain with them long after they reach adulthood, as limitless fantasy in children can mature to an adult's dreams, aspiration and ambition.

*Thud*

"Alright, dibs on me!" Haitora cheers.

*Rustle rustle* 
Haitora opens the seal and reveal the book cover and all of its glory.

"Ohh! the cover have the legendary phoenix Icarus, That's so cool!"

"HEEEY!! DON'T YOU START READING YET!" The child shouts as they arrive seconds after Haitora.

Then, the other two kids arrives, reaching the small abandoned stable the children have claimed as their hideout.

"Haa~... haa~... I don't... Think I can see anymore... I'm so out of breath..." Wheezes the fourth child, struggling to catch a breath.

"C'mon now, you can't be a man if you can't even run across a river." Haitora says to them.

"How can you say that when you're not even human!" The third kid hisses.

In a world where humans, demi-humans and humanoid get along well, the sight of children of mixed races are common sight. Haitora just so happens to be a young phoenix that turned humanoid with magic.

Phoenix is a legendary creature known for its holy power and immortality with their distinct feature to resurrect and rebirth itself upon dying. But that was the case only for the legendary phoenix of old and god/holy spirit, Icarus. 

Some old tales say that Icarus willingly gave up its immortality and godhood so that it could reproduce, giving rise to the phoenixes not as beings who inherited its divine title, but as a species of bird that harbours a fragment of its power.

As such, phoenixes of today live only for 250-300 years before they need to rebirth and 'resurrect' themselves to a younger body.

By all means, they are not actually dying and resurrecting. Rather, they are simply repairing their bodies and restoring them to a younger state.

They can do this by the mana inside their core which is located in their heart, different from the mana organ a typical magical beast would have near the liver, which a phoenix also has.

They can resurrect for up to 8 to 12 times before they exhaust their core mana, totalling a long life of 3000 or more years before they exhaust their core mana.

However, they also expend these mana when reproducing to make a fertile egg/sperm, making them mortal just like all other creatures.

The goddess of fertility created a spell of which it allows for intelligent beings to breed with another intelligent being of different species. Due to the vast differences in their physical structures and sizes, the spell was considered redundant, and only used by those with peculiar tastes.

That all changed when she created another spell, one that could transform an intelligent creature into a shape resembling that of a human, the goddess's most beloved creation. Those who conceived while under the effects of this spell would give birth to a humanoid child, regardless of their own species, making many mixed species marriages possible.

Some creature simply use the humanoid spell to traverse the world and cities as tiny humans, as their animalistic form are simply too big. Popular amongst dragonkin.

 There are three kind of  Intelligent creature that roams this world. Humans, demi-humans, and humanoids. As mentioned before, humans are the goddess’s most beloved creature. 

Demi-humans are similar to them, but they have a distinct animalistic feature that differentiate them from regular humans. They usually have ears, tails or even fur reminiscent to an animal, with the only similarities to a human is their overall structure where they have two hands, and stand on two feet. 

Humanoids are not at all close or related to the other two.Rather, they use the goddess’s spell to transform to a humanoid form. They are normal creatures that are as intelligent or even more so than that of a human. But, they have interest in peaceful life and co-exist with other species using their humanoid form as a way to tell they’re friendly.

"Yeah well, sounds like someone's got out from the wrong egg."
A common Idiom to mock another's race.

"Y-you!!"

"U-uwah~! Please stop fighting...!" Cries the fourth child.

Out from the heated dispute, the second kid snatches the book from the hands of Haitora.

"Wha─ Hey!"

"You took too long, and now it's mine. Kyahaha~, now let's see..." They flip over the pages, revealing a picture depicting the hero of fairy tales.

"Ohh~! There it is! We finally got the ending!"

"Hawawa~, Let me see!" 

*Step step*

The children gather around the book, and read it together.

"Woah~! The hero looks so cool in the picture!" The second kid exclaims.

"I wonder if the mage hero will make an atelier." The third kid remarks.

"Hmm, in the end, I still liked the demon captain more than the hero party members." Haitora argues.

"E─eh? but Haitora, isn't he a bad person?" The fourth kid asks, looking at Haitora.

"I like him not because he's bad, mind you! Rather, because of his honor and loyalty to the demon king. It feels inspiring to me."

"Heee~, So you think being a pawn gets you going?" The second child chuckles, teasing Haitora.

"That's not what I meant! I'm saying having a duty to protect someone who's more powerful than you feels like you're the gate and the key, kind of like a trial before the final battle."

"... Sounds stupid, might as well call you lord stupid." The third kid responds to Haitora's explanation.

"Hwaaa~..., well actually, that might not be a bad idea."

"Eh? You actually want to be called lord stupid?" The third kid raises their eyebrow, concerned of Haitora's well being.

"No! I don't even want the lord's position, you guys can be anything else but for me, please call me Captain!"