Nioh’s nerves felt electrified. Not in the good way, not the way his magic stimulates them or the way they react to a nice storm. He was set to take his examination to enter into the Second Kodor today, and he had just learned that the test was combat oriented. He hadn’t had any expectations of the test beforehand, but this definitely was not what he had envisioned. Was that really the most accurate test of one’s magical abilities? Fighting? He hardly had any combat experience, he’d surely fail.
He was spiraling into a fatalistic train of thought he was hoping to avoid, so he took a deep breath to calm him. Then the doors to the testing area flew open and three people came rushing out, one between the other two battered and bloody. He recognized the person to be someone who was here for far longer, and much more prepared for the test, than Nioh. He felt his breaths coming quickly and the edges of his vision darkening.
When he came to his senses, he held a bag full of his belongings and was slipping a letter under his mother’s door. He could barely remember writing it, but knew it was short and contained promises to return to her and Magnostadt one day. He then slipped out of the city during the dead of night, trying not to lament the life he was leaving behind him. That was a little over four months ago, now.
Since, he’d made his way from Magnostadt to various towns and such, until he came to a port. The sea always appealed to him, maybe it had something to do with his affinity towards storms and “bad” weather. He had thought he might stay in the town for a bit, but he’d heard tales of adventures from sailors of all types. He couldn’t help but admit that they sounded enticing, but there was one tale in particular that caught his attention.
The story had lead to his months long journey north, to the frozen tundra. Nioh was naturally sociable, so he had made friends of the sailors he traveled with. They provisioned him as well as they could for the cold, unforgiving climate. His usual attire wasn’t a fit for cold places, so they gave him nice warm clothes and food enough to get him through the week at least.
Bundled up in a thick coat, Nioh left the ship and headed into a new chapter in his life. Maybe whatever had enchanted him about the north would give him the strength he needed to return to Magnostadt and actually take the test. Maybe he would find something here that would push returning to Magnostadt out of his mind forever. There was only one way to find out.
Word Count: 465/400
