When I came to, I found myself submerged inside a dark sea. I tried to swim to the surface, but it was useless. No matter how hard I tried to fight, I sunk further down. My mind went blank, and I began to panic, I pushed with my arms and legs but found no leverage. It felt like I was thrashing inside an invisible prison. Slowly, my strength began to leave me, and my limbs became heavier. After a while, I gave up. I sunk further down and felt my consciousness leaving me. But suddenly, a bright flickering light appeared Infront of me. I stretched my arm out and tried to grab it. The strange light approached me at a rapid speed and the darkness was driven away, by it. Everything became white and, I was oddly calm now. The warmth of the light made me feel save. My vision blurred, and when I blinked, a wooden ceiling materialized before me, gradually fading into focus. Straining my eyes, I found myself seemingly returned to what I believed to be reality. A throbbing pain began to fill my head, pulsating with each passing moment.   

What happened? Where am I? And what was this dream? 

I was overwhelmed by the amount of questions, so I first set myself up to scout my surroundings, but the throbbing pain in my head became stronger and I fell right back down, shielding my eyes with my left arm.   

“Ya shouldn't be moving boy. Ya got hit really bad."  

A deep voice spoke to me and as I looked to my right, I saw a big muscular man with a grey long beard sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. He wore a leather armor with a black pelt underneath. And right next to him was a big double-headed steel axe leaning against the wall.  

“Who are you?” I asked not sure what to do. 

The man stroked his beard. “I’m Jack Lantern, adventurer and lifesaver. And who are you?" 

I looked back at the ceiling and thought. I was not sure if I could trust him, even though he saved my life. So, I decided to tell him a fake name. Looking back at him, I told him the first name that came to my mind.    

"E-Eldric. My name is Eldric."   

"No surname? So, you're not a noble. What happened in the forest? Why were ya there alone and where do you live?" 

My memory was still a little bit fuzzy, but I could still remember what happened in the forest. 

"I-I got lost." I answered with a slight hint of uncertainty in my voice which he seemed to have noticed.   

Jack raised an eyebrow and asked me again. "What happened inside the forest? I can see that you're lying. Your mana is giving it away boy." 

My mana? I thought confused. I didn't know what he meant, but he knew that I was lying. There is no use in hiding it anymore. But I still don't know if I can trust him. 

The pain in my head lessened and I sat back up to look him probably in the eye. I took a deep breath and told him everything that has happened since I first woke up on the field.  

"I see, so ya lost your memories." He stood up and walked towards me. "Maybe you're a foreigner? From the northern islands? Ring a bell? I have never seen someone so young with white hair like you. And your blue eyes with that face make ya look like a pretty girl so you must not be from here!" he let out a big laugh.  

I wasn't sure if this was a compliment or an insult, so I just sat there in silence.  

He went back to his chair and sat down again. “But it was the right call to try and hide it from me. Sadly, it ain't gonna work with that mana control of ya. Skilled mages like me can tell that you're lying.” 

"Mana control? You mentioned mana before, but what exactly is that?" 

"Well." He began to think. "Mana is like the essence of life or something like this. Some people can use it, and some don't, but everyone has it." 

His explanation was very vague and instead of learning something, I became even more confused.  

Jack began to laugh again "Well I can't really explain it to ya, sorry. But I've got a friend who could. And conveniently, he should be here any minute now. He is not as skilled as me, so he can't see if you're lying and that's good. He will be a bit relucent to teach you so I will fabricate a story for ya."   

"Why should we lie to him? Isn't he your friend?" 

"Like I said, he will be relucent to teach ya if he knows the truth. And the less people know about your memory loss, the better. Trust me. And don't ya dare talk about the darkness." He suddenly became serious.  

I was surprised how serious this seemingly carefree man suddenly was.  

"What darkness? Do you mean the power I used against that bear?" I asked. I couldn't believe that this could be something so serious.  

Jack nodded. "It will only endanger your life if ya use it or talk about it. The darkness is blasphemy and everyone who uses it will be hanged. So never use it in front of people and never talk about it." 

As he finished his sentence the door opened, and a sleek-looking guy entered the room.  

“As promised jack, I am here. Now tell me. What happened yesterday and why-.” He looked at me and then back at jack in disbelieve. “You kidnapped a child” 

Jack looked at him with surprise “I didn’t kidnap a Child Tony! I found him in the forest!” 

"You want to say that you found him inside the forest and not took him from the forest? Am I correct?" 

"Yes," Jack answered " he and his family got attacked by the bear and he was the only survivor. I saved him and brought him here so that he could rest" 

Tony looked at me. There was no trace of empathy on his face and his could stare gave me the chills. He then looked back at jack. 

"I see." Tony took a chair from the corner of the room and sat down. "So what are you going to do now jack?" 

"I want to take him in. He got a lot of potential, and I want to ask you to teach him magic." 

"You want me to teach magic to a child whom I just met, only because you saw a little bit potential in him? I don't even know what element he has, how high his mana capacity is, or if it would even be worth it. You know how little time I have."  

"Come on tony. I think he has great potential. I pay ya for it and even take care of him." Jack begged. 

Tony pushed his glasses up to rub his eyes. "No. If you want me to teach him, then show me that he is worth it." He stood up and walked towards the door.  

"Go to the guild. There should be enough magic books for self-study. Come back when you learn two or three spells." He then left.  

I looked at jack and he looked back at me and shrugged. 

“Don’t worry boy. I you can do it.” 

“Why are you doing all this? I’m just some strange kid you found in the forest so, why?”  

Jack looked me in the eye and grinned. “Because it’s interesting!” He broke out into laughter and went to the door. “Don’t worry and just rest for today.”  

He is helping me just because it's interesting? Well at least I have someone I can rely on now. But I should still be careful. I don't know if I can trust this. 

My headache was completely gone now so I jumped up from the bed. 

"I don't need to rest. I'm fine let's go to the guild." 

Jack looked at me with big eyes and pointed towards my right arm. "How about your arm? Isn't it still broken?" 

"My arm?" I looked at my right arm and noticed how packed in bandages it was. 

How did I not notice that? Maybe the shock from the dream and this unfamiliar place distracted me from it? But I feel no pain. 

I began removing the bandages and Jack tried to stop me. 

"No no boy ya shouldn't-!"   

He went completely silent after I removed all bandages and began moving my arm freely around. 

"How is this possible? It has only been three days after I found ya..." He began to think. "But maybe.... maybe that's because of the darkness to?" He looked at me and began to grin. " I told ya that this is gonna be interesting!"