The Next Path of a Hero Update!!
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First up: When Cyan loses everything and everyone at the start of the Monster War, he is saved by a wizard named Professor Krygo Divree, who is a teacher at a school for training mages (a word for magic casters for those who don’t know). Cyan has some magical skills, not a lot, but enough to encourage him to get training at the School of Magi. Cyan’s magic, though limited they are, consist of four different elements, fire, water, ice and lightning, and he is able to shoot small projectiles of these elements out of his left hand and use the same elements to cover any weapon with a blade, such as sword or dagger. The ability to cover a sword’s blade with elemental magic means that Cyan is a sword mage, and because of this aspect, he is able to continue his training in sword fighting.
With all of that revealed to Cyan, he decides to dedicate himself to training in this field of magic, as well as keeping up his knowledge in the ways of the samurai, all so that he could become strong enough to obtain his vengeance. About a quarter of the way through the story, I do a time-skip of two years, where a fourteen-year-old Cyan had grown into his new role as a samurai mage. During those two years, Cyan makes a new friend in a young man named Glenn Marinus, who has aspirations to become a knight. Glenn helps Cyan through his grieving process, gives support and encouragement whenever he thinks it is needed. To Cyan, Glenn is as good as a brother. Then there is Glenn’s mother, Rosa Marinus, a healer that works in the castle of Cyan’s home kingdom, Palasanctus. Rosa is an emotional sort, which acts as a double-edged sword in her case. She is extremely passionate about the work she does, caring so much for others that she’s willing to face the ordeals that comes with the job, but she also feels immense pain for those that she can not save or comfort. When she had lost her husband, years prior to the story, she had become even more protective of Glenn and more fearful of what the future holds.
Also at the School of Magi are other students, with three particular characters that serve to give Cyan frustration and to push his rage buttons. Yvron Goldez, a shadow mage from a wealthy family, Icis Flitz, an ice mage with a sense of cold cunning, and Lavas Cole, a fire mage with a mean streak. It should be noted that Icis and Lavas don’t really talk much, because in the beginning I meant for them to be mere lackeys to Yvron, who started off as a rival for Cyan. But as time went on, I had actually grown fond of the trio, and decided that these three deserve to be shown to be best friends, even if they are obnoxious bullies. During Cyan’s time at the School of Magi, these three are used as something to test Cyan’s patience and, whenever his patience fails him, someone to take his anger out on, and believe me, over the two years, Cyan has truly nurtured his inner anger and hate to a frightening level.
Among the students is one who I came to like so much, that I actually have future plans for him, and his name is Auroro Darkes. He absolutely hates his first name, so he insists everyone just call him Darkes, but this sadly makes it easy to tease him by just simply referring to him as Auroro. He is not so much as a friend to Cyan, nor is he a rival. He is simply there to help provide a foil to Cyan. Darkes is something of a self-serving coward, but when he sees Cyan risking it all, he’s encouraged to stick with his own friends, no matter how terrifying things will get.
Rounding out the School of Magi cast is Lady Sashasee, the sword instructor, and Master Fuso, the founder and headmaster of the school. Lady Sashasee is a middle-aged, charming woman who knows how to handle a fight, either with her bare hands or with a weapon, and really favors Cyan as a student. Her primary goal is to teach sword mages how to use their weapons effectively in combat. Because her training exercises focus solely on the physical aspects, the fact that she is not a mage herself is rendered moot. She does, however, own a katana that allows her to cancel and nullify magic spells, which is useful for dealing with unruly students who decide to have magical duels outside of classes. As for Master Fuso, he is an old sage that radiates power and just seems to have a way of reading people that seems to go beyond the mere physical. Wise, powerful to the point of being intimidating even when he’s just sitting down, and good natured enough to make Cyan feel that he can trust Master Fuso on matters that are very personal to him, such as his inner darkness that threatens to consume whatever he has left of his humanity.
Halfway through the story, after a few failures and gaining an epiphany, Cyan realizes how close to darkness he has gotten, and in order to fight said darkness, he decides to go on a quest that will take him clear across the Trino Continent. At this point, Magus had joined him, and the two set off to find the legendary sword known as Masamune, a Sword of Light. Cyan got it in his head that in order to vanquish his inner darkness, or the void as he calls it, is to defeat the very monster that had created it. In Cyan’s mind, the two are tied together, interchangeable and linked in a way that allows them to feed each other, which in turn weakens Cyan.
...Okay, maybe that sounds psychologically impossible in the real world, but bear with me on this. Consider that the human mind is a strange place to begin with. There are people in the real world who become emotionally attached in inanimate objects and treat said objects like one would the Companion Cube from Portal. Another thing to keep in mind is that in this story, magic exists, Magus, a magically imbued rat that can talk, can be transfigured into other creatures without pain or other harmful side effects, and Cyan is looking for a magic weapon that can slice through solid rock. So, I think people’s imaginations can be stretched just enough to say that an actual link exists in this mystical world that causes Cyan to believe that he has to kill a monster in order to end the void. Just roll with it...
As Cyan and Magus search for Masamune, they come across other supporting characters, with the most prominent one being a man named Clyde Stratos, a soldier from the Nobilis Kingdom. He sees in Cyan what most people don’t... the potential to be the greatest warrior in all of Trino. But Clyde also recognizes the darkness in Cyan’s heart, and being the experienced man that he is, Clyde decides to give them his help. That is, after Cyan and Magus help him and his people reclaim their home. During the two years of the Monster War, the Nobilis Kingdom seemingly was taken, which forces the people of that kingdom to fight in the shadows of defeat. No spoilers, but as that threat is being handled, Cyan and Magus also meet Linka Terrace, a warrior monk (someone who specializes in hand-to-hand combat), who has quite the history with Clyde. Then there is King Kynoah Strogest, an unorthodox ruler who seemed to have neglected his lessons in formalities.
As the story progresses, Cyan and Magus, guided by Clyde, meet the last of the supporting cast in the Caelestis Kingdom, featuring two women who seem to be polar opposites, but are incredibly close friends. First is Echia Dusk, a powerful mage that gives one the impression that she is a witch. She wears mostly black, wears jewelry that has skulls, snakes, spiders and rats designed on them, and has a very alluring air about her. Playful at times, she is also known for a fiery temper, which puts her in contrast with her friend, Mi’Leeya Chi, a head priestess of the Astral Shrine. Mi’Leeya is the quiet type and is a healer like Rosa, but her magic goes deeper than others. Mi’Leeya has an affinity with the spirit world, and thus can use the powers of that realm to aid her finding out certain things or generate certain barriers or, in some rare cases, help people gain a spiritual blessing that will grant that someone a new power. *wink-wink-hint-hint*
And I think that about covers all of the support characters. I might have left some out, but that is either because they are so minor that they don’t warrant any mentioning or I thought that it would be too spoilery.
With that said, I will leave it here for now (just so you know, there is a lot to cover, considering that PoaH is almost six hundred pages long). Next week, I will give you details about the villains, because what is a story about an up-and-coming hero without villains?
Until next time, this is ESB ‘Stringfellow’ signing out.
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