The harbor smelled like salt and wet wood.
Arthur Valcrest stood at the end of the pier with a small travel bag slung over his shoulder. The early morning air was cold, and the ocean stretched endlessly toward the horizon.
A merchant ship rocked slowly beside the dock, its crew moving crates of cargo onto the deck.
In a few minutes, it would leave.
Arthur looked back toward the small coastal town behind him.
Stone houses lined the narrow streets, their windows still dark this early in the morning. A thin trail of smoke rose from a bakery chimney somewhere near the market square.
It was quiet.
Too quiet for the day he was about to leave.
"You're really going."
Arthur turned.
An older woman walked toward him across the pier, carrying a small wrapped bundle in her hands.
Her gray hair was tied behind her head, and the long coat she wore moved slightly in the wind.
Mira Valcrest stopped a few steps away from him.
Arthur nodded.
"The ship leaves in a few minutes."
She looked at him carefully.
"You could still change your mind."
Arthur smiled faintly.
"You know I won't."
Mira sighed, though there was a hint of pride in her expression.
"I suppose I do."
She handed him the bundle she had been carrying.
Arthur unwrapped the cloth.
Inside was a small metal pendant.
The symbol engraved on it looked like an old crest he had seen before in one of his parents' notebooks.
"You kept this?" Arthur asked.
"It belonged to your father."
Arthur held the pendant quietly for a moment.
"Your parents spent their lives studying Prana," Mira said. "They believed the world held secrets people still didn't understand."
Arthur closed his hand around the pendant.
"That's why I'm leaving."
Mira studied him for a moment.
"You're going to Aetherion Academy."
Arthur nodded.
"It's the best place to learn how Prana really works."
"And after that?"
Arthur looked toward the ocean again.
"I want to understand everything."
Mira shook her head slightly.
"That sounds dangerously ambitious."
Arthur shrugged.
"Maybe."
A horn sounded from the ship behind him.
The crew was preparing to leave.
Mira looked at the vessel.
"Looks like your ride won't wait."
Arthur stepped forward and hugged her briefly.
"I'll come back."
"You'd better," she said. "Someone has to make sure you don't forget where you came from."
Arthur laughed quietly.
"I won't."
He walked toward the gangplank.
Halfway up, he stopped and looked back one more time.
The town was small.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
It had been home his entire life.
But the world beyond the ocean was much bigger.
And somewhere out there were answers.
Arthur stepped onto the deck.
The crew untied the ropes.
The ship slowly pulled away from the dock.
As the harbor faded into the distance, Arthur leaned against the railing and looked toward the rising sun.
His journey had finally begun.
He had no idea that before long he would encounter: • rivals who could challenge him • powers that defied reason • and truths that would change the world itself
But for now, Arthur Valcrest was just an eighteen-year-old leaving home for the first time.
And that was more than enough.