It's a fantasy world called "Telos", with three continents scattered apart, each surrounded by several islands. There are no disconnected parts between them, and most of them are cut off by some tributaries of the sea. Despite this, in today's era of magic and stigmata, the communication between these continents has gradually increased due to the convenience of transportation. It has to be said that each continent has its own civilization and culture, however, these developments are inseparable from an extremely critical ability - stigma. This type of magic is the source of power for all Stigmata - "Fireball", "Teleportation", or "Shaking the Mountains with One Punch" can be done with the magic of Stigmata.

Ironically, not all people are born with stigma. Most of the people on the continent are ordinary people, and only one out of about ten people will have a so-called stigma. Those who possess stigma, even if they are born into poor families, can also receive good state benefits. People always think that stigmata come from God's gifts, but fate is so cruel and unsettling. The status of people is determined at the moment of birth.

And our story takes place in the southwest of the world, known as the town of Aresta in the "Orison Empire". A child named Lin Yan. His father, Lin Feng, is a refugee from the Eastern Continent, and his mother is a local resident of the town of Aresta. He doesn't have the stigmata mentioned above, he's just an ordinary person.

The rising sun shone beside the bed, which was made of simple fur, and woke up the boy lying on the bed. He opened his eyes, shook his black hair, and shook off the dust that had leaked from the roof all night. He sat up from his bed, stepped out of the cabin, which didn't feel solid, and washed up beside the stream.

"Today's task is to go to the church and clean up. He went into the room, took a piece of black hard bread from the wooden table, and then casually took a sip of the cloudy water from the wooden cup beside him, and went out.

Aresta, or the Orison Empire, believes in "Shilenva", the legendary goddess of the elements. Therefore, in this place, the vast majority of people who possess stigmata are elemental stigmata, that is, physiques that are good at releasing elemental magic. At the same time, the Silengwa Church in Aresta is the most luxurious building in the town, with a six-storey building that houses the only church school in addition to the statue of the goddess for worship. As long as you have stigma, this church school will be open to you for free. However, for ordinary people like Lin Yan, the curriculum of the church school is too far away. Those magical spells can easily wash clothes, roast stubborn meats, and even kill the monsters in the forest with a single finger. These are the things that every hot-blooded teenager craves, but since he is like this, he has to accept it.

As soon as I walked into the Arestar Church, I saw another familiar figure, a young man with a physique similar to Lin Yan and also with neat black hair. He is known as Long Ke, his father and Lin Yan's father are refugees from the Eastern Continent who fled together, the two are of the same age, and they have been good friends since childhood. However, Long Ke has a stigma, and at the age of 16, he has already reached the legendary ninth-order scar, and he is only one step away from the scar master.

"You're here earlier than me again," Lin Yan skillfully took out a broom from the corner and began to clean up everything in the hall.

Long Ke raised his head and moved his mouth, but he didn't say it, and in the end he just replied, "Yes." ”

Lin Yan raised his head and looked at Long Ke who was reading for a moment, and then provoked the topic: "I heard that you are going to be promoted to the Trace Master, just like those geniuses in the royal capital, you can become a Trace Master at the age of 16." So that doesn't that mean...... You're going to the royal capital?"

"Well......" contained a hint of helplessness, and Long Ke still didn't look up.

"I'm sorry I can't be with you. It was Lin Yan who spoke, he had almost finished sweeping the entire hall, except for the dust under Long Ke's feet, "It would be nice if I had stigmata so that I could ......"

"I'm going to class, it's about the same time. Long Ke stood up and interrupted Lin Yan's words, "Concentrate on sweeping your floor." A bit like an order, and a bit like a pity, he walked towards the second floor, ignoring the fact that he had already put the broom back on the side Lin Yan.

The brotherhood is deep, but in the end, it will be broken by the status of reality, or the power of stigma. Lin Yan thought so.

He walked over to the seat where Long Ke had just been, and suddenly found a calfskin book. Although he had not taken a formal class, he barely knew the words of the lingua franca on the cover - the Dictionary of Magic Runes. Maybe he fell?

After thinking for a while, he suddenly felt someone tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, it was a priest in black robes who he had also known for a long time - Seth Doyle. He is 90 years old, because he has a stigma on his body, so he is like a 40-year-old uncle under the nourishment of magic, in fact, people with stigmata live far longer than ordinary people, most of them can live to 150-180 years old, and ordinary people can live half of them is already considered a longevity species.

"Lin Yan, why are you in a daze," he smiled kindly at Lin Yan, "I just saw the two of you, just like when I was a child, you say everything to him...... I know you've worked hard to clean, so I've asked the Pope that you can come to the send-off banquet here tomorrow night. He gave a small iron card with a magic mark on it that Lin Yan didn't recognize.

Lin Yan took the card with some doubts: "Tomorrow night, he is going to leave in a few days?"

"Didn't he tell you, he's going to leave early the day after tomorrow. Old Mr. Doyle also looked at him strangely, "You have to understand him too...... You know he treats you as a good friend, so he doesn't want to tell you the difference. ”

Lin Yan really wanted to spew dirty words, but since this was a church, he might have to continue working here in the future, so he had to respect his words and deeds here. After taking a deep breath for a while, Lin Yan said, "...... Priest, is there really no way to get the stigmata the day after tomorrow?"

"Haha! You've been asking me this question for 13 years, and I've been asking it over and over again since you could speak. You yourself know very well that, at least in Orison, there is no way for a person to acquire stigmata. I think only the gods who have given the stigma themselves can do it. He still wore his standard smile, "Do you want to take a good rest these two days, you have been working for more than ten days in a row, and I know that parting is uncomfortable." ”

Lin Yan smiled bitterly for a moment, clutched the "Magic Rune Dictionary" in his hand, and nodded: "...... Thank you, Mr. Doyle. I will, cherish the time spent with him in everything. ”

Back in the damp cabin, he sat alone on the edge of the bed and thought alone. His father and mother had lost word of him at a CD trade trip next door a year earlier. And now, his friend is going to a wider world. He should be happy, right? He pulled out the peculiar dictionary on which each rune seemed to record a huge amount of effects and magical meanings, but without stigmata he had no chance of using them.

Could it be that the legendary god can only let me accept such an ordinary and miserable lonely life? Lin Yan threw the book aside, then fell on the bed and fell asleep groggily.