Finding Yourself

*This story is telling about Ethani's journey to find himself.*

I wake up as a habit. Do my daily routine and head to the academy. I chose to learn at Sunflower Academy, which is far away from Universe City. I don't like that busy city near the learning environment…

"Ethani?" - ???

And for some reason, I'm still stuck in my preparation for the exam…

"Ethani, you hear me?!" - ???

Haiz what am I going to do? Everyone is done preparing, the examination is coming, and my deadline only has a month left.

"ETHANI!" - ???

I snap back to reality. How long have I lost myself in my thoughts? In front of me is Cloudcage, who is holding onto my shoulders and shaking me back to the earth.

"You can stop now"

"Man, why do you look like you don't sleep for many days?" - Cloudcage

"I'm worrying because the examination is coming, I even don't know what I'm going to show them"

"Same as you, I don't want to make another mistake and put the whole academy in the water for a week" - Cloudcage

"Yeah, I remembered that too, and you have to find the right spell to vanish it"

"I know, maybe myself doesn't match with that spell" - Cloudcage

"What am I gonna do? I look so dead, I'm not lying"

"Maybe you should take a break from it and go somewhere to find yourself. I'm going to do that tomorrow" - Cloudcage

"Which places are you going to go?"

"Somewhere, many miles away from here. I don't know yet, but it is worth trying" - Cloudcage

"Haiz, maybe I take a chance to take a break too"

"Good to hear, go for it and find your way to the journey" - Cloudcage

"It's going to be an unknown journey for ourselves"

"Sure it is, haha" - Cloudcage

Talking with him makes me feel better. That is Cloudcage, I met him at a music competition with some others, and we became best friends. I should go to my dorm to pack stuff for the journey. I say goodbye to him and go to the dorm.

Well, look at that, my messy things all on the floor and everywhere. I should clean up before I go. Time passed. I think I'm ready, everything is clean and orderly. I already packed my stuff for the journey and now lay on the bed to take a good sleep.

When morning comes, I wake up and do my routine. Everything is ready, I lock my dorm's door and go for the journey. At the train station, in my hand is a ticket to go to the Snowy Land. I don't know why, but somehow it called me back there. The train comes, and I get it. When the train reaches the station, a strong, cold breeze flows through my face. Here it is, Snowy Land, the land of snow and cold. I followed the directions to the nearby village to rent a room for a few days. People here are friendly and welcoming, they bring back my childhood memories of when I was here. After all, I finally found a small and cozy hotel and rented it for a few days. I go to my room, put down my bag, and lay on the bed. Maybe I should go around a little bit.

Leaving the hotel, and going around the woods. Today's snowfall is lovely, falling slowly, one by one. I don't know how long I have spent around this place looking at the beauty of the woods. Suddenly, I stopped. In a small area in the woods covered in snow, I slowly walk in and see an abandoned house. I open the door and look in, it's empty. There's nothing in it. When I went around the house, the thing that terrified me was the scythe that had been stuck in the house's wall with a strange circle of symbols on it. I come near it and risk my life to touch it. But nothing happened, I used all of my strength to pull the scythe out. After around ten minutes or more, I finally pulled it out. I hold the scythe on my hand, and look at the symbol. It's gone and make an explode.

I cover my eyes, and when the smoke slowly disappears, I see around me some weird black monsters. They start growing and are ready to attack me. I calm myself, and then when I run to them, they start attacking too. Luckily, I had some practice training to use scythe before. I doged their attack, and then I swung the scythe and cut them in half. They suffer on the ground, and then they disappear, leaving some star fragments. I go around to pick all of it, then I sit on the porch and try to match it back into a star. The last piece I put in, all the fragments stuck together, and it became a little star. Noticing that the sky is going to be dark soon, I put it in my pocket and went back to the village. After dinner, I take out the little star and look at it. I wonder if this star is a living creature or something kinda similar to that. I put it aside and went to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up half asleep and half awake. My hand touches something fluffy on the bed. I turn my head and look at it. A fluffy purple ghost is sleeping next to me. This is normal. I used to see a lot of strange things around my life, so I let it sleep and went to do my morning routine. While I am making my breakfast, I see it awake and look at me. I give it a smile and continue making breakfast. It starts to wonder what I am doing, so I give it a slide of bread. It eats happily, and I am finally enjoying my breakfast. After breakfast, I spent half a day researching what kind of that the purple ghost. But it always led me to a dead end. I began to get tired and lay down on the bed. It looks at me like "What's happened to you?", I sign and take a nap.

I wake up nearly at midday, and the cold weather makes me wanna sleep more than I do while staying in Universe City. I get out of bed and make myself a cup of coffee to wake me out of this sleepy thing. While I'm waiting for hot water to boil, I see the purple ghost try its best to communicate with me. "What are you doing?", I asked. It seems like it wants me to know its name. I try my best to understand them one by one. After brainstorming for more than an hour, I think I may know its name. "So your name is Henki, right?", it gives me a nod, and oh wow, I finally do it.

The many days and more, by my side was Henki, who is my pet and my protector. I bring Henki along to journey with me around some famous places in Snowy Land. Although it sometimes gets tiring, I feel more fun and enjoyment than before. But then I realized that no one can see Henki like I do.

One day, when I was in a local coffee shop to rest, I heard a story from the locals. They said behind the mountain there is an abandoned smithy owned by a scary beast, many people come there and never return. They also want to go there to steal something back and sell it to make themselves rich. I feel like there will be something there, so I decided to go there sooner than the locals.

I make my way there before sunrise. I was climbing on the mountain, and I almost ended my life if Henki hadn't saved me. The sun is on top of my head when I reach the top of the mountain. I look around to spot the location of the smithy, but it is just white. Henki hears something and takes me along with it. I follow Henki to a small cave and use my phone flashlight to show the way. I was surprised that the cave led me to the abandoned smithy. Henki and I go around the shop, and then we hear a voice talk to us.

"Oh, hi travelers, welcome to my shop" - ???

"Hi sir, but may I ask where you are? I hear your voice, but I don't see you, sir"

"Young man, come down here near the anvil" - ???

"Uhmm, are you a hammer?"

"Yes, this is me, my soul was stuck in this hammer for a long time ago. This place without me has become abandoned" - ???

"My name is Ethani, nice to meet you"

"I am Rorn, the old smithing man. Who is behind you?" - Rorn

"Oh, you can see it? That is Henki, my ghost pet"

"I see, this is the first time I meet a Knight here, congratulations" - Rorn

"A Knight, me? I'm not sure what you're talking about"

"You are a Star who was chosen by the Star Guardian Morus, the Wild Cat. I know he passed away a long time ago, but I can feel his power still existing" - Rorn

"Maybe I will understand more of the words you said. But first, I must get you out of here, the locals are coming"
 "I will keep silence" - Rorn

"Thank you"

I pick up the hammer and hold it, run to the dark corner of the cave, and hide there. Then I hear them, the locals. I hold my breath, hoping they don't see me here. When they are all in the shop, I slowly walk in the dark and then run out of the cave. I slide on the snow to the nearby forest and hide there. I sneak around the trees until I finally come to a safe place far away from the mountain. I built a tent, and Henki found some wood for me to make a campfire. I put the hammer down with my bag.

"Rorn, it is safe for you to talk"

"Wow, what an amazing escape!" - Rorn

"I do my best, besides, I don't want to let the locals see me there. If I didn't get there soon, they would sell you to another smithing shop for money"

"So lucky, I owe you a life" - Rorn

"It's okay, you don't need to pay me anything"

"Okay, but please let me help you upgrade your scythe. Can you help me out of this hammer?" - Rorn

"I will try my best"

I took out the scythe and swung at the hammer with all of my strength. The hammer doesn't have any scratches. I do it again and again, but the hammer is still as good as normal. I sign and try the last time, and Henki uses its power to help me. I take a long breath and force my scythe down to the hammer. I take it out, and I see the crack. The hammer is cracking in half, finally, Rorn's soul is free. Many small spotted lights fly out of the hammer, and Rorn appears in front of me as a huge beast.

"Thank you, Ethani, you free my soul. Now I can rest with all my friends in the universe. As I say, can I borrow your scythe?" - Rorn

I give the scythe to Rorn, on his hand is a hammer, and he is forging it. After he used his hammer to forge my scythe, he gave it to me. I take it and swing around. Rorn upgrades my scythe to become lighter, stronger, and shaper. I gave him my thank-you bow with all my respect, and he disappeared in the air. He left his hammer there, not the one that kept his soul, but the one with which he forged my scythe. I hear his voice when I pick up the hammer.

"This is my final gift for you, Ethani. You deserve all of my smithing knowledge, I hope it will help you and other Knights like you" - Rorn

I'm speechless at the gift of Rorn. This is the one that changed my life forever.

I came back to the academy after nearly a month of staying in the Snowy Land. I finally have enough to show them in the examination. And when that day comes, I pick up my scythe and put Rorn's hammer on my desk.

"Are you ready, Henki? Today is the day to show them what we've got"

Henki thumbs up, and we step into the stadium behind the academy. Waiting for my turn, Cloudcage appears next to me.
"Hey! Look like someone got his new look" - Cloudcage

"Haha, you too, your skill show is awesome, man. By the way, nice staff, where did you get it?"

"Thanks, it's hard to say, but I got it from a legendary wizard. Before he passed away, he gave me this. It seems we all got a pet after the journey" - Cloudcage

"Mine is Henki. It appeared after I had taken this scythe out of the wall with symbols"

"Cool, I had Cyrus after taking the staff, a lazy ram on the cloud" - Cloudcage

"Student attention, the next one is Ethani. Please come to gate number two" - The judge

"I have to go, bye!"

"Good luck, Ethani!" - Cloudcage

I run to gate number two immediately, and I'm ready. Walking to the middle of the stadium. The judges start their challenge with me. I look around and see some floating targets. Behind me is a robot with a smart AI that is going to attack me. I move fast and splash all the targets. I move to the back of the robot and swing my scythe. And I cut it in half, all the targets and the robot explosive. Everyone in the stadium cheered at my skill show. The judges whispered something, and then I passed the exam. I return to my seat with Cloudcage and watch the others. Our friend, Darby, has an amazing skill show, and his firearm is so good that he doesn't miss any targets while in the air. Also, there is Duality, their skill show makes everyone terrified when they put the whole stadium in darkness for a few seconds. All of us never mess with them. We all had an amazing day with so many amazing skill shows. But after all, the only thing on my mind is why I'm the chosen one, and what kind of Knight am I? I noticed Cloudcage, Darby, and even Duality have pets, but everyone can't see them. Maybe they are Knights too? I don't know, maybe I'm right about it.