[Hey Val, what are we doing today?]
'I don't know, probably just taking care of the orphanage.'
[Aw, that's boring though. Why not go to town or even talk with Orin?]
'Orin said not to disturb him today, remember?'
[Right, right, he said something about making a new spell for his…]
'Don't tell me you forgot what a grimoire is, even after being in this world for 17 years.'
[18, we turn 18 tomorrow]
'Even so, you should remember what a grimoire is.'
[Why would I do that? I only care about practicing my blade, magic is your kind of thing.]
'That still doesn't excuse you from not remembering what grimores are. Huh…'
[What?]
'I think I know what we're going to do today.'
[… Val, what are we going to do]
'Nothing much, Len, just going to grab some books to read.'
[Val! Don't you dare!]
In a rundown building, a boy could be seen laying on his bed. His figure is covered by a thin blanket that seems to be beat up and worn down. He had brown hair that was long and rough.
The boy opened his eyes, revealing two dark brown eyes. He sat up on his bed and stretched his body, yawning as he did so. He stopped stretching and promptly got off his bed. He walked on the wooden floor towards a wooden wardrobe. The wardrobe in question seemed to have cracks on its surface and a hole in its right side, though it was the size of a pinky finger.
He reached his left hand out and grabbed the handle of the wardrobe. As he opened the wardrobe using his left hand, a gem could be seen on the back of his left hand. The gem was gray in color with a scratched image on its surface, showing an image of a circle with spots on its surface. But even with this strange stone on the back of his hand, he still appeared calm.
The boy soon closed his wardrobe as he placed a shirt and pants on his bed. As he changed, the face of the boy seemed to change every so often. One point it looked annoyed, the next it seemed calm, then annoyed again.
The reason was simple. The boy had a person living inside of his head.
[Hey! I know you hear me Val! Stop Ignoring me!]
Or in truth two people living in his mind and the reason for this is not that complicated.
Once upon a time, there were a pair of twins. They both were the complete opposite of each other. One didn't like violence and loved knowledge. The other loved violence and hated studying. They were total opposites, yet they never hated each other. They, in fact, cared for one another so much. They would have lived wonderful lives once they became adults and would still keep contact.
But the world had other thoughts for both of them. One day, on their Highschool celebration, the day where their time in school ended and they would enter the real world as adults. An incident happened, one that would end both twins. On this day, when the kind twin walked onto the podium to receive his Highschool diploma a unexpected thing happened.
You see the Highschool they studied at had a tradition where everyone would receive their diploma outside in the school's football field. It was big and had a nice look to it. It should have been the perfect day. But just the day before it rained from morning to night. This wouldn't have been a problem since they wouldn't be receiving their diplomas on the grass, but instead on a portable stage they had.
Of course where else to place this portable stage at then the schools own jumbotron that they had at the football field. It had been there since the start of the school and is old fashioned, which showed how far the school has gone over the years.
But no one has inspected if the screws that held this jumbotron in place were in tip top shape. Who would, since it was a lot of money to have people go up there and say that the bolts are fine. So no one has gone there to see if they were in place or if they were even fine.
And so, that little rain shower the day before was enough.
As the kindest of the twins went up to grab his diploma, in the corner of his eye he saw something fall next to him. Though it was quick, when that object hit the floor he could see it was a rusty screw. He would stare at this screw that laid on the floor, not noticing the jumbotron that was falling onto him.
That day would mark the change in the twin's tale. Days would pass, and the last remaining twin would drown in his own tears. Both metaphorically and quite literally, as he would later be found dead in the bathroom. That would have marked the end of the tale of the twins.
But it wasn't.
The two would wake up, alive. Though their situation was quite strange to say the least. They were both reborn inside the bodies of a baby, but the strangeness doesn't end there. The two would not be reborn in their own bodies, but instead be reborn inside the same body. If that wasn't bad enough, the two did not have any parents or relatives in this life. As they both were reborn in the woods, by themselves.
They would have died in those woods if not for the kind heart of a passing man who dropped them off at an orphanage. Under the care of a man called Gregory, the director of the orphanage, the two slowly adapted to their life in this new world. Overtime, they accepted their fates in this new world and understood it. Or at least one of them did.
In this new world, they both took on new names. The kind twin took on the name of Val, while the last twin took on the mantle of Len. They understood that this body of theirs was their own as well as the other and so created a rule on who is to control it. When it is a normal day, Val shall take control and if things seem a bit rough he shall continue control. But if things turn dire, then Len shall take the "controller" and try his best to make their situation better.
It was a simple and easy rule. Of course, there was some leeway to this rule. For instance, love. They made a rule that unless both of them must agree on the same lover, since having a lover that only loves one of them or only one of them loves their lover would be cruel to the other.
The other was in training. In this new world, the inhabitants are born with a circular gemstone embedded into their body. Depending on their region or even race, these gemstones are always planted there. These gemstones are called "Grimoires" and they allow each inhabitant the power to use magic.
Magic is quite a simple thing yet complicated. But in simple terms, the people in this world are able to access certain parts of magic called "Elements." Elements are simple things. For instance there was the water element, fire element, earth element, and wind element.
There was also a fifth element called the Abnormal Element. The abnormal element in itself is unknown since no one can tell what it truly is. All that is known is that grimoires who can use the Abnormal element are able to use magic that does not fall under the primary elements. They can manipulate gravity to their will, grow entire forests, summon stars, or even turn into light itself.
Who is able to use what element is decided by the color of their grimoire. Those with brown grimoires can use the earth element, those with red grimoires are able to use the fire element, then blue is water, then green is the wind element, and finally gray is for the abnormal element.
But just having a grimoire and a set element does not decide one's own strength at birth. Since each grimoire contains a personal magic for their user. As an example, if two people are born with red grimoires at the same time, one would think they would have the same strength.
But it does not.
Just because they both can use flames for their spells, does not mean they are at the same level. One person could have a magic that allows their flame to be golden and have the power to heal wounds just by being touched by it. The other could have a magic that allows them to create weapons made of flames or even armor. Or even have the power to turn the ground beneath them into lava and use this lava to create beasts or even as an extension of their body.
In the end, strength depends on the magic they have and what spells their magic has access to. Spells are simple to explain. They are basically rewards for training your magic. For instance if you train your flame magic to create a spear made of flames that can burn through stone, after days of hard work and after you are able to produce it by yourself. You will be rewarded with a spell that allows you to cast a spell of the same effect, or even greater, for a smaller price and even faster speed.
Back to the story on hand. Both Val and Len were born with a gray grimoire on the back of their left hand. On the surface of their grimoire, appearing as if it was scratched on, was the symbol of their magic. Named by the director of the orphanage, it was called "Virus Magic."
In simple terms, it allows them to produce Viruses that can either boost their body or harm the body of anyone who interacts with said virus. The downside of this magic was that neither Val or Len could control this magic of theirs. It would attack anyone and anything around them, cursing the victim's body with various viruses.
If not for Gregory casting a spell on them weekly that nullified their magic, the two would have long been kicked onto the streets. To be exact, at the age of 7 since that is the normal time for every grimoire to awaken its magic.
With the help of Gregory, the two would live a happy life. Sadly rumors of a war brewing spread across the town they lived in. Val and Len both believed that they had nothing to fear since they were still little kids at the time. That was until they heard that Gregory had left to fight in this rumored war. Only hearing that he died in battle till they turned 13 years old.
Before his departure, he made sure that every kid would be adopted and hoped someone would take care of "Vallen," the name they used for those outside. Happily, the other kids were adopted into loving families. Sadly, they didn't because every adult feared that their magic would harm them. So they stayed by themselves in the now abandoned orphanage, alone.
Or that should have been the fate if not for someone else staying with them. A boy called Orin. He was a strange kid for several reasons. One was that he did not act like other kids, but instead acted and thought like an adult. Both Val and Len thought he was reborn like them, but sadly discovered he was not. Another thing was his grimoire. Every person is born with one grimoire in their body, yet Orin was born with two. A red grimoire on his left hand and a gray one on his right hand, specifically on the back.
That in itself would have been weird, but what was weirder was when he awakened his magic and why he feared it.
Orin was born in a loving family of two, both soldiers who fought in the previous war and were deciding to settle down. When Orin was born, the love he should have been showered in was replaced by screams. They weren't screams of disgust to his dual grimoires or even of hate, but were of pain. As just coming out of his mother's womb, did his magic awaken.
It was a magic that Vallen named "Hell Magic." It allowed Orin to produce black flames that were so hot that it could turn almost anything it came in contact with to ash in just a moment. The screams he heard were screams of pain as his father, mother, and even the nurse and doctor, who were there to make sure that he was born alright, were burned to ash just from the heat of the black flames igniting all around his frail body.
His flames were suppressed by the aid of several knights who casted various sealing spells on his body. Originally, his fate was to be something horrible due to the fear of his magic going uncontrolled. But he was saved by Gregory as he promised to ensure that he would train Orin to control his flames.
And that he did. During Orin's stay at the orphanage, Gregory made sure to teach him how to lower the heat of his flames. Slowly but surely, the heat of his flames began to die down until by the age of 8 were they now only as hot as a small match. He would have stopped there, if not for the fact he feared his magic.
During his time in the orphanage, he dared not to make any friends or get close to any kids. Fearing that one day he would not be able to lower the heat of his magic and they too would burn like his parents and caretakers.
But one day, he met Vallen. A boy who had the same fate as him, to forever be alone. Curious, he talked to the boy when suddenly his flames heated up out of nowhere. In response to this heat, Vallen's Virus magic went into effect and began to infect the heat itself. Creating a barrier around Vallen that would protect him from the heat of Orin's flame. At the same time, Orin's flames protected him from Vallen's hostile magic, burning them as they got close to his body.
From that day, the two became close friends. Knowing that they did not have to fear their magic harming the other, they hung out with each other.
So when they heard of Gregory's passing and his final act. Instead of leaving with the other kids, Orin stayed behind. For two reasons, one was that he still feared his magic going out of control and the other was simple. He couldn't leave his only friend alone.
And so, they stayed together in the abandoned orphanage for the next few years. Both try their best to ensure the other lives by scrounging for food, clean water, and even small things that can make their lives better.
[Val! Please, I beg you! No more books!]
'I need to make sure you're caught up with every basic information that this world has.'
[Why!]
Currently Vallen, or Val, was sitting on an old dusty wooden chair. The room he was in was filled with various kinds of books. Some being stories about the old war, others the knowledge that scholars wrote so the next generation could understand it better than them.
Currently Val was reading a book with a title called "The Understanding of Grimoires and their History." Val sighed as he put the book on his lap, putting his head on his right knuckle as he stared at the ceiling.
'Len, please don't tell me what happens tomorrow?'
[What? That we turn 18?]
'...'
Val sighed once again as he grabbed the book and stood up. He took small steps towards a bookshelf as he moved to books and placed the book between them.
'Tomorrow is the day our deal with Orin begins.'
[Deal? What deal?]
'The deal we made with him when we learned of Director Gregory's death.'
[... doesn't ring a bell.]
Val placed hand on his face as he rubbed his eyes.
'Tomorrow is the day we leave town with Orin and become mercenaries. To hunt down the person who killed Gregory and retrieve his sword, Belone, from the hands of his killer or from a sword collector.'