The wind whistled through the trees, carrying a smell of wet earth that reminded that it had rained yesterday.
Sunlight filtered through the trees, whose leaves were tinged with orange colors, warning it was autumn.
However, there was a place where light passed completely through. A small circular gap, where no plant had dared to grow.
A place that was daily used as a combat arena.
"Ready?" a voice said.
A young blond was with his front forearm extended with an open palm and his torso in profile.
In front of him, was another boy, with brown hair and green eyes.
He was in a lateral position, with his front hand protecting the body and his back hand raised to protect his face.
"Yes," he replied firmly.
As soon as the boy responded, the blond attacked with monstrous speed.
He propelled himself forward, attacking with a quick punch using his already extended arm.
Joan leaned to one side quickly, deflecting the blow with his shoulder, taking advantage to counterattack with a hook to the kidney.
The blow passed, Lloyd with quick footwork had propelled himself backward. However, that wasn't all that happened.
His punch had been a distraction, he'd put his foot behind Joan's heel, expecting a counterattack, when moving backward, he brought his opponent's foot forward, making him stretch his leg.
Quickly, Lloyd raised his foot and extended it toward his opponent's knee, though he didn't hit it, just touched his knee with his foot.
"Broken leg," the blond said calmly. "You let yourself get drawn into my trap too easily, I already told you that you must be attentive to everything."
Joan sighed while nodding.
"Yes, I know, though I'm not a genius like you, I need more training," Joan replied.
Lloyd was about to reply that they'd been training together for over six months, but he kept quiet.
He didn't want to lower his friend's spirits.
"I know. But you must train daily, observe every small detail of your environment and learn to remember it," he said.
Joan nodded. He hadn't given up.
Even having magical power lower than average, he continued training with hopes of being able to develop Touki.
However, even after six months of hard work, he hadn't made any progress.
Lloyd suspected he wouldn't develop Touki, or if he did, it would be a very weak one.
But Joan's will seemed unbreakable, he wouldn't give up, if he could make progress, however small it was, he'd take it.
"Yes, I know, that's what I'm doing," the young man said somewhat irritated.
It was hard to see how Lloyd was increasingly unreachable, while he made no progress.
Sometimes Joan wished Lloyd would behave worse with him, so he could give up.
But it wasn't so, his friend wasn't a jerk, and always supported and helped him improve.
He couldn't simply give up, not if Lloyd trusted him so much.
"Well, we've trained enough, do you want to go eat some roasted chestnuts?"
Joan shook his head.
"I'll keep training, I'm not tired."
The blond simply shrugged, he knew he wouldn't convince him.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," the blond said goodbye.
"Get ready! Tomorrow I'll definitely be able to defeat you," his friend replied.
The blond couldn't help but smile, not in mockery, but in pride. He was happy to see Joan's will remained unbreakable.
The boy started walking, relaxed. The melody of dancing leaves was pleasant, and the forest smell comforting.
Unhurried, he walked along a small stone path, which led him to the city.
From afar it's imposing, a large city without walls, painted in ochre colors and a yellowish white.
Surrounding a small hill, on whose summit was a luxurious mansion: his home.
The boy entered, walking on the stone tiles, doing his best not to step on the lines between them, as if challenging himself not to do so.
Soon an autumnal smell tickled his nose, a sign he'd found what he was looking for.
In one of those hidden places, that hide pleasant secrets, was a small roasted chestnut stand.
It wasn't in the central plaza, competing with other stands to call your attention.
On the contrary, it was a place worth seeking, away from the noise to bring peace.
"Good afternoon, the usual please," the young man asked, approaching the stand.
There was an old man, with a calm but serious expression. Apparently, not even age would prevent him from serving happiness.
The old man carefully stirred the chestnuts, inside a cylindrical metal container, which he used to roast them.
While doing so, the smells enveloped Lloyd even more, who could already imagine tasting that delicacy.
The young man slid his hand into his pocket, caressing a small square coin while waiting.
In that world, there was a curious form of distinction between coins.
There were triangular coins called teeth, made of bronze. Square coins, made of silver, called scales, and lastly, circular gold coins.
Ironically, these were more valuable every day, because they were harder to produce, years ago the use of circular bronze and silver coins had begun to generalize.
Therefore, it was difficult to find such coins, and most likely their value would increase over time.
"Here you go young man," the old man said, handing him a cone full of chestnuts.
"Thank you, here's your payment," Lloyd said, handing over the coin and taking the cone.
The old man sighed.
"Thank you very much, come back soon," he said goodbye.
That silver coin was worth more than his entire stand, however, he knew Lloyd would insist on handing him that coin until he gave in.
Though they'd reached an agreement, if any xeno child passed in front of his stand, he'd have to give them some chestnuts.
It wasn't enough to make up for years of abuse caused by the original Lloyd, but it served to lighten his conscience.
"It smells so good," the young man said, walking through the streets.
The chestnuts emanated comforting warmth toward his hands.
The boy extended his hand toward them, catching one between his fingers, and blowing to cool it.
After that, he brought it to his mouth. That delicious flavor enveloped him.
Why did it taste so good? It was still a chestnut after all, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
But there was something indescribable about them, a "je ne sais quoi" that made them special.
Was it magic?
No, in that world, magic was a phenomenon that could be studied and understood.
However these chestnuts had something special that couldn't be understood.
It was a mystery, something that had no explanation and you could only take for granted.
Lloyd liked mysteries, they were like life's seasoning.
For example, the reason he'd transmigrated to that body was another mystery.
One that for now, he didn't have to solve.
"Welcome back, master," a voice then said.
The journey back had become quite short, he'd barely noticed his return.
"Hello Calypso, how are you? Want some chestnuts?" the boy asked, extending the cone to the girl.
She looked at the chestnuts, they looked appetizing but... wouldn't she seem like a glutton if she accepted?
No, it would be a terrible sin to refuse a gift from her master.
The girl nodded, introducing her fingers into the cone, and taking a chestnut.
"Thank you master, and I'm perfectly fine, I've already finished today's magic classes," she replied.
Since that incident with Leona, Calypso had advanced quite a bit with magic.
She decided she would learn to use and control her power; she would no longer harm her loved ones, she'd protect them.
"I see, keep it up," Lloyd said, his pawn was getting stronger, something worth celebrating.
"Oh! That's right," the girl then searched in her pockets, taking out a paper envelope. "This letter is for you."
Lloyd looked at the envelope curiously, the seal was recognized instantly, it was the symbol of House Noir: a raven.
The young man handed the cone to the girl, to be able to check the letter carefully.
He opened it delicately, taking out its contents.
The boy took the paper carefully, while unfolding it to read it.
His eyes widened in surprise upon reading the first lines.
"Well... It seems I was invited to a party."
Lloyd had been invited to the party for Penelope von Noir's fifteenth birthday.