User blog:Renzider/The Chronicles of Elgaia: The Forebear’s song- chapter 1

Chapter one

No one knows how the first summoning came to be. Many scholars have dedicated their lives to the task of recovering what knowledge was lost in the Great War between Gods and Men, and with it the potential to shine light on the origins of the summoner. What differentiates a normal human being with those who have the potential to bring forth beings of immense power into the physical realm? Physiologically, they are the same; there is no difference in the brain, blood, or body of those who can summon and those who cannot. This, in my humble opinion, leads to a unique train of thought, one which carries little credit with the University of Randall or the Akras summoner’s hall’s dedicated scholars. I believe the difference between humans who can summon and those which cannot is that a summoner contains within himself something which resonates with the soul of one of the heroes of Old. Pretend for a moment that every soul oscillated with a certain wavelength. What would happen if by chance two souls had frequencies which had the potential to resonate with one another? They would become stronger: some form of metaphysical link having been created which binds them, and if this connection was the drawstring allowing a spirit to return to the physical realm once more? Having this spiritual link between souls transcends even space and time, allowing a hero from a thousand years ago to once more walk this land. We are unsure how a summoned spirit is able to take the form they had while they were still alive, but we do know that they can be dispelled and re-summoned as many times as necessary without any consequence to the summoner. Perhaps this which links them serves as an anchor between worlds: Spirit and physical, and the summoner can draw the spirit back and forth at will.

History is a fragile thing: having lost so much of our world’s past to the destruction of war, do we really know every aspect of the fabled heroes who once fought valiantly against the Gods or their own people? Can we honestly say we know enough to write the life story of the heroes of Elgaia? Of course not. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. What if I told you that the same heroes being summoned today could in fact summon their ancestors as well? The Great War waged between Gods and Men was fuelled by the power these select few humans were gifted with, an ability many of the Old Gods despised and believed should belong to them alone. Now, I’m not saying these heroes alone were weak by any standards. In fact, you can see their strength every time they’re summoned into battle. I’m only putting forth the theory that for a war to be so destructive, so immense in its chaos, that the humans would need some way to be able to fight on equal footing to the Gods. Am I so wrong to believe this, and in doing so, to believe that this could potentially happen again?

-‘The chronicles of Elgaia’- Author unknown.



*Slam* “VALLEN!” Vallen’s eyes burst open at the sound of his name, throwing his head back off the desk he was resting on mere moments ago. Looking around for the source of the sound, he nearly falls out of his chair seeing his master leaning forward only inches away from his face. “I’m so sorry, Master”, said Vallen whilst giving his most apologetic look. He notices his master’s hand beginning to take on a pink hue from slamming his desk. Master Maximus certainly does not look impressed. “This is the third time this fortnight I’ve caught you sleeping!” His nose begins to turn a bright shade of red, a sign his patience was growing thin. Vallen knew that if he didn’t do something to diffuse the situation quickly he’d get a beating. Remembering his project was near completion, he quickly grabbed it, swiping off the pool of drool his nap left over its side. Giving his best amused laugh, Vallen smiled and let his charm take over. “I apologise if it looked like I was sleeping, I was simply trying to figure out why these electrodes keep malfunctioning. We both know how close you have to get to see those tiny things.” He flashed his teeth in his most charming smile. “Oww!”Cried Vallen, tears started brimming his eyes. Vallen had a way with words, but a facility for pain was definitely not one of his stronger points. “You think I was born yesterday? I saw the slobber gleaming over the capacitors, maybe if you stopped drooling on your work you wouldn’t have to deal with it short-circuiting all the time.” Vallen dropped his eyes and saw the trail of saliva slicked over the circuit board. Gods damn it, he thought as he slowly dabbed at it with a handkerchief. Maximus smiled, knowing he had embarrassed Vallen into submission, and walked off. A snicker of laughter to the side caught Vallen’s attention and as he turned in his chair, he realised his entire class had just witnessed the encounter! “Hey, drooler”, whispered one of the boys behind him, “you gonna cry?” The back of the class fell into crude laughter, and Vallen just slunk down deeper into his chair.
 * whack*

Vallen was a young man with short brown hair and of average height. An orphan since his mother passed away of an illness when he was 4, he was raised in the town of Aros, where he still lives studying at the school of mechanics under the watchful eye of master Maximus. He is an incredibly bright boy with a very active mind, yet he’s a decent student, neither exemplary, nor terrible at his work. Nothing about him was outstanding; he simply cannot stay committed to one project long enough to produce excellence, reaching the minimum requirements and moving on. The only noticeable thing about him is a white streak which runs through his short brown hair. Aros isn’t a particularly large town. Originally built to serve as housing for the worker’s who couldn’t afford the prices Randall had to offer and wanted something other than the slums of the city to live in, Aros soon began to grow as the Akras summoner’s hall’s reputation brought vagabonds and migrants alike. Now it’s known mainly for its reputable school of mechanical engineering, constructed by Maximus Altero under the direction of the summoner’s hall, where they have been known to work together in creating advanced weaponry, and pursue developments in the newer realm of electronics and electrical mechanics. Walking home after another terrible day at the school, Vallen notices one of his few friends, Jimmy, waiting for him at the corner of the street. James ‘Jimmy’ Newton has been Vallen’s best friend since he was 10, and probably the only person Vallen considers capable of keeping up with him mentally. “Yo, Val”, Jimmy spat on the floor, “heard Master Maxi set his sights on you again. You sure he isn’t into you?” “Ahh, word travels that quickly does it? All he did was yell a bit and do that thing where his nose turns red”. Vallen looked at his friend and smiled. “It’s like Christmas comes early every time he gets angry.” Jimmy smirked and ran a hand through his golden hair. Barely 16, yet already popular with the ladies, he was well and truly on his way to being one of the most eligible bachelors in Aros. “Yeah but you forgot the part where you slobbered over your project, did you pass out again?” Jimmy ran up to his friend and put his hand on Vallen’s shoulder. “That’s what, the fifth time this week? That’s not normal.” Vallen shrugged it off and started walking, “You know, I heard passing out is actually a sign of intelligence, with your brain switching off due to the monotonous dribbling of everyone around you.” He continued walking on his path home, but then stopped and turned to Jimmy as an idea hit him. “Want to spar before dinner?” “Do I want to spar? That doesn’t even merit a response”. The two boys grinned at each other and ran off towards the local militia encampment. Aros wasn’t far enough away from Randall to require its own military, relying on rotating groups of soldiers staying at the encampment to keep the peace if anything happened in town. The boys grabbed two sparring swords from the training grounds and went off behind some tents so they’d be harder to spot. Jimmy smirked, “you know you never beat me, so why do you keep trying?” Jimmy was probably the best swordsman in Aros. While no formal military school was present in the town, there have been many wandering swordsmen who have unwittingly passed on their techniques through many a spying session, and occasionally the soldiers staying at Aros would give in to pressure and hold training for those who wished to attend. Never had the boys missed a session. Vallen shot Jimmy a cold stare, his ‘defecating face’ as Jimmy liked to call it. Flicking his wrist in a tight semi-circle he managed to scoop some dirt and flick it at Jimmy’s face with the tip of his blade, something he picked up from a vagabond some months ago. Using the confusion the scattering of dirt caused, Vallen ran to his left, circling around to Jimmy’s side and lunging forward with a jab, trying to catch Jimmy off guard. Jimmy used his honed reflexes to dodge to his left, swinging his blade to his right parrying away the sword. “Now now, Val”, teased Jimmy, “We both know that won’t work.” Jimmy stepped forward while swinging his blade upwards in an arc, clipping Vallen’s sword and sending it rebounding upwards. Vallen pirouetted and used the momentum of his spin to curve his blade downwards into a diagonal slash, but stopped when his eyes righted on Jimmy and saw he had the point of his sword at Vallen’s neck. He cursed, “damn it, Jimmy! Nearly had you that time.” Vallen backed off and resumed his waiting stance. Jimmy cocked his head and gave his signature smirk. “Really? Because all I saw was a ballerina trying to play at being swordsman.” Jimmy danced backwards and pointed with his sword, baiting his opponent to run forward. With a roar Vallen sprinted, slowing down just before reaching Jimmy and slicing his sword down vertically at his opponent. “If you go to so much bother sprinting forward, why waste that by slowing down right at the end?” Jimmy lifted his sword and parried whilst using his free hand to grab Vallen’s sword arm, pushing him forward so that Vallen’s back was directly in front of him! Vallen dropped his weight and kicked out with his leg while spinning, trying to knock his opponent over. He felt his foot connect and Jimmy wobble, but then an intense pain blinded his senses. Vallen shut his eyes and grabbed his head as the mind-splitting tremor worked its way through his body. “Shit, Val! What’s wrong!? I didn’t hurt you did I?”Jimmy was concerned, he’d never seen his friend act this way before. Vallen cried out as the pain grew to a searing level and passed out just as the world become black.

---

“How many times has this happened?” “Not sure, I’ve seen him black out but never like this...” “This is important, son. His life could be on the line here.” “I’ve seen him pass out twice, heard about it happening another three, but who knows how many times it’s happened without anyone seeing.” “This is most unusual. It has all the characteristics of summoner’s arrest, but never has it happened past the age of 6 before, not to my knowledge at least.” “Is there anything you can do?” “He’s stable for now, but we’ll see what can be done when he awakes...”

---

Vallen winced, the rays of light creeping in from underneath his eyelids causing his headache to intensify. Squeezing his eyes shut to blot out the light, the movement required sent pain shooting through his head. “Oww!” He cried as he lay there still as a stone. Risking another peek he opened his eyes slowly, at first causing the headache to become worse but by pushing that aside adapting to the bright lights. He noticed he was in a medical wing of the local health clinic, and he could see Jimmy talking to an old man in the corner of the room. “Vallen!”Jimmy called out as he noticed his friend waking up. Running over to the bedside he crouched down and looked him in the eyes. “You okay? Feel any different?” “Wow, want to hold off on the questions for a second?” Vallen looked confused, “What happened?” Jimmy looked slightly abashed, “I feel like I must’ve hit you on the head, but this man thinks differently.” The old man hobbled over towards the bed, walking stick in hand, with grey peppered hair and a beard covering the majority of his lower face. While slouching over, he still seemed like he had a powerful stride, almost like he was doing it on purpose. “Ho ho, hello young Vallen”, the old man said. He looked tired yet had a jolly tone to his voice. “Gave everyone quite the scare there, you did.” Vallen was confused, “Nice to meet you, uhh... old man?” “Ho ho, feel free to call me Elder Grah.” His knobbly hand shot out and grabbed Vallen’s face, pulling his head to stare at him directly in the eyes. Vallen flailed but ultimately gave up, acknowledging how strong this man truly was. “How many times have you passed out before yesterday’s little show?” “To be honest, it’s a little hard for me to think with you holding my face like this” Vallen pushed Grah’s hand until he let go. “Maybe like five times or so...” Elder Grah sighed, “I may be old, but I am still shrewd. There’s no point lying to me.” Vallen saw this man wasn’t kidding around. Feeling a little self-conscious, he admitted the truth. “Lately I’ve been passing out instead of falling asleep. I hardly ever wake up feeling refreshed, almost as if I’ve been working instead of resting. It’s been going on for about a month or so.” Elder Grah cursed, finally convinced he knew what the issue was. “I’ve never heard of summoner’s arrest developing this late in a lifecycle before, it may be too late to solve your dilemma, my boy.” Shuffling in his bed so he was seated upright, Vallen looked a little worried. “What are you talking about? Summoner’s arrest? Too late? You aren’t making any sense.” Elder Grah looked sympathetic, “My boy, you’re a summoner.” Jimmy and Vallen both looked shocked. “But how? I’ve heard only 0.1% of people have the ability to summon.” “While this is true, the facts explain themselves. Normally a child begins these ‘black outs’ at five or six years of age, where we can monitor them and train them before any harm is done. You are a unique case, who knows why it took so long for your symptoms to occur or what possible consequence that will have.” Elder Grah had kindness in his eyes as he spoke, though his voice bespoke toughness unlike Vallen had ever seen before. “We must get you off to the Akras summoner’s hall right away, where more tests can be performed and training can be undertaken.” Vallen laughed, “Leave Aros? I can’t even stand after yesterday, let alone leave my placement at the engineering school and move to Randall.” “Hmm, yes, about that violent outburst”, Elder Grah looked worried, “I am only speculating, but I think a spirit may have tried using you as a focal point to enter our world. All the more reason to act with haste so it doesn’t happen again.” Vallen was shaken, a spirit trying to use him to enter the physical world! He didn’t think much of the black outs at the time, but upon retrospection it almost made sense: The feeling that he was never alone, never getting a good night’s rest, and now this excruciating headache which was only starting to numb down. “If coming with you can make all this stop, then I will”, exclaimed Vallen. Elder Grah simply nodded and began reflecting upon how to proceed, until a voice broke the silence. “Uhh, what about me?” Jimmy was feeling excluded from this conversation and at the thought of his best friend leaving felt he needed to speak up. “All I have here is a dead beat job in mechanics and an overactive imagination. I’ll do anything to come with you to Randall.” Vallen agreed, “He is my best friend, Elder Grah. Besides, no one’s better with a sword.” Elder Grah looked sympathetic to their plight, “Ah, bonds formed through the flames of youth.” He walked around the bed to get closer to Jimmy, putting a knobbly hand on his shoulder. “Vallen is a summoner, there’s no place for him here. He’d live in the summoner’s hall and train day in and day out. I’m sorry, son, but there’s no way I can take you with him.” Jimmy’s face dropped with the sudden realisation that this could be the permanent goodbye to his best friend. “When do you leave?” Elder Grah patted him softly on the shoulder, “I’ll have to gather my things, but we will set off at first light.” Jimmy nodded and turned, leaving the room abruptly. Vallen stared at his receding shadow as his best friend walked out of his life, wondering how such a thing even happened. “That’s it? He isn’t even going to say goodbye?” Elder Grah chuckled, “He’s frustrated at himself, I’ve seen it before. Don’t worry I’m sure he’ll be back before you leave.” Elder Grah then bid Vallen farewell and left him alone. A summoner! Vallen still couldn’t believe it. They were the elite few gifted with the ability to bring forth spirits into the physical realm. Every young child dreams of being a summoner, watching battles in the arena or hearing of their deeds spread throughout the land. But while it is indeed the most powerful ability a human can have, it is coupled with its incredible rarity. Only 1 in every 1000 has this innate ability, and even then there are varying levels of strength: from barely being able to summon the weakest of spirits to commanding a group of exceedingly powerful ones. Overwhelmed with the news he had received today, Vallen wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and drift off to sleep, but the fear of this invasive spirit kept him up. Having nothing else to do, he stayed resting in bed; his mind reeling at the thought of how rapidly the coming days will change his life forever.