Entry 6:
Hey Journal. I think I just realized something. I was an extremely sheltered child. I knew nothing of the outside world. I've been travelling for only about a week, but I have seen more new things than I thought I would've. I've seen only one real village, the only place with more than one living person, really. Farandal really messed up what I thought of cities and villages. I used to believe that all other places were big, bustling hubs of activity, filled with underground crime networks and rouge magic knights fighting against a corrupt authority. I know realize that those dreams were stupid as hell. The only way I could learn about the outside world was from books. I didn't know that a lot of those books were pure fiction, or completely biased. From what I've heard, there are no "rogue magic knights" or a corrupt authority. There is no massive network of underground crime. There are actually only a few cities with as much activity as I believed all places had. I was way too gullible when I was a child. I really wish that I never believed any of those things. I kind of embarrassed myself when I first got to my first village. Well, according to some people back at that village, at the rate I'm going, I should reach the capital in, at most, 2 months. I really need to hurry up. I really want to explore the capital a bit before the magic knight exam. That's all I have to say tonight journal.
See you later Journal.
Entry 7:
Hi, Journal. Sorry that I haven't talked to you in 3 days, not much has really happened lately. Only 2 interesting things happened. The first is that I ran into another person who going to take the magic knight exam. He seems to be using a broom to get there, but not in a big hurry. He asked me why I was walking. I just told him the truth: to prove that I'm worthy of joining the magic knights. He also asked who I'm proving this to. I actually had to think about this for a moment. Who was I trying to prove myself to? Sure, my master told me to walk there, but there's no way of him finding out how I got there and even if I used my magic to get there faster, I would have still gotten there under my own power. After thinking for awhile, I told him, "I guess I'm trying to prove I'm worthy to myself more or less." He said he kind of understood that. He asked how this road got here, too. It wasn't here not even a week ago. I had to tell him that I kinda put it there with my magic. I've been making a path for a few kilometers ahead of myself to make things a little easier. The path always ends a few meters behind me. Turns out his magic is "Metal magic" by the way. It basically allows him to, well, make things out of different types of metal. He has a regular 3 leaf clover. It looks pretty.
"Hey, why are you talking to yourself?"
"Oh, my Journal is a magic Journal that writes things down as I say it."
"Cool. Keep it safe. There are bandits that would want something like that."
"What the..? Huh. Seems like when Journal is open and I'm not talking to it, Journal just writes down everything that's said around it like dialogue in a play. Cool."
So, the other interesting thing that happened is that I kinda came up with a song while I was walking. I call it my walking song. Shut up, Journal. I know the name isn't creative, but hear the song. It goes like this:
"Though the road is long
And my legs are numb,
With a hop and a skip
And a de de da da dip,
I will walk along!
Though the path is rough,
And nights are dark,
With a big smile ,
I will go on awhile.
I will walk along!
Though I may be alone,
I will never be lonely,
With my my journal,
As my companion only.
Though the road is long
And my legs are numb,
With a hop and a skip
And a de de da da dip,
I will walk along!
To reach my goal
I will never falter,
Though my path may change
Destination won't alter.
To protect all people
Is my dream.
Through the darkness,
A hope shall gleam.
Though the road is long
And my legs are numb,
With a hop and a skip
And a de de da da dip,
I will walk along!"
"Hey, that's actually kinda catchy. Is it okay if I sing it?"
"I don't see why not. To be honest, I got the tune from old songs sailors would sing while sailing."
Well, it's late Journal and we need to make camp and sleep.
Goodnight Journal.
Entry number 8:
I was not happy today Journal. This morning, while I was preparing to set off again, I noticed that the other guy (forgot to mention his name was Arlin. What a stupid name) was already gone. I was a little impressed at first because he didn't wake me up and I am a very light sleeper, but I looked around a little and noticed over half of my supplies I had gathered were gone and note that read:
"Hey Jona, thanks for being a trusting fool! I would also like to thank you for the supplies! I had to wake up pretty early to be far enough so that you couldn't chase me down. I had to be really quiet too. Man, you are one hell of a light sleeper. You damn near woke up a few times when I was 'borrowing' some stuff for later. I left you your Journal since it seems to be your loser ass's only friend. How sad is that?! Now let's see if you can make it to the capital! Maybe if you hadn't told me you were walking the whole way this wouldn't have happened, but you're a trusting dumbass. At least there's one less person to compete with at the exam now. Couldn't let some nobody like you show me up.
Later dumbass!
P.S. Looked at your grimoire. There's no way you'd get into a squad with an evil grimoire like that. Consider this a favor."
I am going to make Arlin pay for what he did if I ever see him again. He underestimated how serious I was about getting to the capital. I hope he's at the exam when I get there. I am going to make him regret ever meeting me. I travelled over 10 kilometers today. I'm almost halfway there.
Goodnight Journal.
Entry no. 9:
Hey Journal. I know it's only been a day since I talked to you last, but I just feel like talking. I just realized I never told you the history of Farandal like I said I would back in my first entry. Since nothing happened today, I'll tell you now. Even though Farandal is now part of the Clover Kingdom, it was once a city on the edge of the Diamond Kingdom. It was pretty well known throughout both the Diamond and Clover Kingdoms. The reason it was well known was because the citizens all had very high levels of mana, even without any magic gem enhancements. There used to be a lot of people living in Farandal, and a few of them weren't even human. According to some census records I found a while back, a few elves used to live in Farandal. Before then, I had thought that elves were just some characters in fictional stories. Well, as it turns out, after a few decades, there were less and less citizens left in Farandal who were pure human anymore. After about a century, the pure human citizens were nearly none. I don't know how that change happened so fast, none of the records say how it happened. Even though they were citizens of the Diamond Kingdom, the citizens of Farandal didn't agree with the kingdoms increasing militancy. The leaders of the city joined together in a meeting of representatives. There were around 20 representatives in total each representing a different group of Farandal, from merchants to builders, to farmers, to the peacekeepers, to the incarcerated, and even those who were homeless. It was through a unanimous agreement that the city would secede from the Diamond Kingdom and declare itself part of the Clover Kingdom. Unfortunately, there was a spy within the representatives, who was to report any suspicious activity. They had left the city and made there way to the capital of the Diamond Kingdom. It was only a few weeks after they seceded, that the silent massacre happened. Refusing to let such a powerful city to join the Clover Kingdom, the military leaders of the Diamond Kingdom had decided that it was better for the city's citizens to be exterminated, than part of the Clover Kingdom. During the night, several Diamond Kingdom mages entered the city. They used powerful spells to send out different clouds of poison throughout the entire city. The citizens, unaware of their impending demise, slept. It was less than 3 hours before there were no more citizens. Not even the attacking mages survived. The only ones left were the most powerful citizens, who were trying to establish trade routes with neighboring villages. When they returned, all they found was a city of corpses. One of the survivors cast an unusual spell on the entire city, one that could only be used once. It would find any bodies that had a possibility of being reanimated with remnants of their personalities. About 70% percent of the bodies were reanimated. 15 of the attacking mages were reanimated, but changed. They were told by their leaders that they would survive the attack, that they would be free to live their own lives after this. They were lied to. Their leaders sabotaged the mages themselves. Under the guise of granting them more power, a hidden curse with a specific condition was placed upon them. The condition to activate the curse was to use the spells they used to kill Farandal. The curse made them unable to stop the spell or protect themselves from the effects of their spells. They remembered feeling the curses activate after they cast their spells. They said they realized the truth shortly after, regretting ever agreeing to this plan. Farandal was now a city of remnants. Out of the population of nearly 2000, only 4 living citizens were left and out of those for, only 2 were able to make a child. They were the youngest of the cities representatives sent to establish trade. The others were elderly citizens. They decided they would not abandon their home, even if it was a dead city. They had one child. The child's mother was unable to have a second due to an illness she contracted, shortly after giving birth. The parents came to the realization that this child was the only hope of the Farandal legacy lasting. They taught there child of the world and how to survive. Thanks to their efforts, the final bloodline of Farandal lasted for generations. Now, the current holder of this bloodline is me. I must keep the bloodline alive, for the purpose of Farandal was to protect the weak, helpless and innocent. That is why I want to be a magic knight. I want to keep the traditions of my home alive. I want to protect any and all who are in danger. This grimoire I possess is the very same that was used to reanimate the people who died that night all those years ago. It is my duty, as the sole representative of my city, to be a sentinel for the injured, the weak, the young and the old, those who cannot protect themselves. As long as this bloodline lives on, there will be at least one person who protects the weak. That was the history of my home Journal. It's late and I'm quite tired.
Goodnight Journal.
Entry 10:
Hey there Journal. The days have still been uneventful, but I need to talk to someone. I miss home. I miss my master. I miss everyone back home. I want to go back to Farandal and just see them again. It's been only a little less than a month, but time seems to go by slowly when you're all alone, walking to a city in the middle of the kingdom, especially when the journey started at the edge of the border. I just want this journey to be over already. This loneliness is maddening torture. Spending days alone, with only the sound of your footsteps to keep you company. Even for the solitary ones, no person could go nearly a month without contact with others. This journey will most likely take nearly 2 months. Will I be able to last until I reach the next village? Even if I do reach the next village, will there even be anyone who will talk to me? Will this journey end as I want it to? What will I do if I don't get into a magic knight squad? These questions swirl in my mind as I walk. I cannot get rid of them and I'm scared I maybe going prematurely mad. I occasionally hear a voice. It says it lives within my Grimoire, but I don't possess any of the 4 spirits. The voice tells me I will be able to use its power when I am ready. What does the voice mean by that? Am I going mad? What will happen to Farandal if I go mad of die on this journey? Will it finally start to decay and fall apart? What of the remnants? Will they fall? They, too, wish to protect the weak as I do. If I'm gone without an heir, will they still be able to do this? I have to sleep Journal. I don't know why, but I'm exhausted.
Goodnight Journal.