Kalar´s Continent

School had been fun today. Probably it would be like this most of the time now, especially with his new little helper. Goliath had really been a great help, if not for him, that math test would have ended in a disaster again.

It was too bad, that he was only a service Golem, meant to be a housekeeper, babysitter or assistant and had almost no built in ancient knowledge. No extensive libraries, no blueprints or recipes, no powerful secret techniques, all he had was the b.a.r.e minimum of common knowledge, that any lowly Magician would have had.

When Goliath told him about that point, he had been very embarrassed, almost remorseful, that he was not one of the powerful War Golems, but Teo instead was happy with the silver lining.

Goliath may not have a huge arsenal of highly specific knowledge, but wasn't the common sense of a long forgotten era of Magic just as valuable? Even the 'casual remarks' he had gotten so far proofed to be incredibly useful! Teo was already eager to see, if he also had some tricks to improve his Enchanting skills.

"Hey, Teo. Do you have any plans after school? Today is 'Kalar's Unity Day' and they always arrange a huge festival in town," Jack blurted out of nowhere, while they were all walking out of the school grounds.

'Kalar's Unity Day' was heavily promoted by the Association and the official holiday, to commemorate the unification of the Continent around 150 years ago.

According to Mrs. Leadford's history classes, there used to be dozens of small Kingdoms on the Continent, all perpetually at war with each other. The Continent was drowned in civil war, famines and plagues were a daily occurrence and the citizens were being suppressed by so called 'nobles'. One day however, the strongest Archmages of the Continent signed a pact, took over all the kingdoms one after the other, abolished the feudal system and brought peace back to the land.

Thus the High Council of Archmages and the Magic Association, which they oversee were born and a new era of Magic and prosperity began. And the day, on which they officially declared the unification of the Continent, was exactly today, some 150ish years ago.

Last year, Teo had regrettably missed it, as he was new in town and incredibly busy, he had wanted to see it with his own eyes, since he first heard about the festival though.

"Of course I have time! I can't miss the festival again this year!" Teo replied very enthusiastically, deciding to postpone his usual Enchantment practice with his uncle to... sometime else.

"Of course, you will have to join us too, Angelika. Who else would look out for us?" speaking way too loud for normal standards, Jack had already thrown himself at his second target and was circling around the black-haired girl, like a firehawk around its prey.

"I... I don't know. I will have to ask my mom first, I don't want her to worry," said Angelika softly, while blushing a little bit. She was still not used to Jack's assertive personality and unsure, if she ever would be.

"Well, its decided then. We meet in front of the city hall in around one hour," decided Jack, neither accepting a no, nor a maybe for an answer, and flashed her a dazzling grin.

After parting ways for the time being, Teo and Jack went to the black carriage, already waiting for him at the usual place —he would still need to get a message to his family, or they would probably start a search party and forage through the whole town in search of him again.

"Please tell my uncle, that I'm going to the festival! I'll buy you a pretzel next time!" Teo shouted, still a good dozen meters from the carriage.

"No, wait! Please come back, young master!" Phillip, the driver in question, shouted back, after realizing what was played here and hurriedly tried to get out of the driver's seat, but the two boys were already nowhere to be seen. "Damn it! It better be a damn good pretzel, if I get a pay cut for this again!"

Both rascals had taken to their heels, as soon as old Phillip showed a reaction, seemingly with much practiced routine; and were already on their way, to squander their pocket money, like some proper profligate youths. One only lived once and Teo still had the rest of his life, to rot in the mansions catacombic cellars.

...

They ran through the business district, with its neatly placed, white stone plates — that got insanely slippery when it rained— and hurried towards the harbor. The streets were already decorated and hung with garlands and lanterns, still waiting to be lit, since it was barely afternoon yet and it would only get dark enough to see then shine in a few hours.

Everything was packed with people, shuffling and bustling about, even though, the official festivities had yet to begin. To continue on ahead, they had to crawl their way through the masses, unable to see anything, besides fancily dressed butts and backs, as they were still not very tall yet.

"Where do we go now?" asked Teo a bit worried, he had no idea, where they were now exactly, as he could not orientate himself properly in this sea of people.

"Just a bit further ahead. They opened some stalls down near the harbor already!" Jack replied, seemingly knowing the city like the back of his hand, he was able to run through the streets blindfolded, without bumping into anyone.

After they made it through the nearby shopping district, the amount of people continuously decreased. Jack still seemed to be fit as a fiddle, Teo however needed to catch his breath for a second and leaned onto a close by wall. He did not work out enough, it seemed.

From here it was not far to the harbor anymore and Teo could already smell the salty breeze, wafting from the ocean. People could be seen working and carrying supplies, all over the place, apparently the preparations for the festival were already in full swing and a series of small stands had been erected on both sides of the road.

Some had even opened business already, not wasting a second, when there was a chance to add even a single additional copper coin to their profits. Jack and Teo kept their eyes peeled for a decent food stall as they sauntered along the promenade, since they were already starving from the long day of school.

The aroma of freshly cooked food, exotic spices and dishes, only available for special occasions, made Teo's mouth water like crazy. He could not assign any specific smell to a single stall or dish, as it was his first real festival and he had probably never tasted any of them, but damn, did it smell good.

He stopped at a stall, which exuded an especially alluring aroma and turned to his red-haired friend.

"Hey, wait. What do they sell here?" Teo called out, causing Jack to stop in his tracks immediately, almost causing a mass collision with the people walking behind him.

"Oh, so you like that kind of food, hmm?" Jack came over and flung his arm around Teo's shoulder, a wide, teasing smirk propped up on his face.

"Ehhh..." Teo was speechless, he really did not know, what this stall sold, the smell it gave off was simply sweet, spicy and smelled absolutely delicious. He had not the slightest idea, what Jack wanted to imply.

"Don't be so nervous, I am just messing with you," Jack said while laughing. "Those are Cinnamon Worms, a sweet pastry from the south. I heard, they are really popular with the girls. Well, they're tasty, so that's no big surprise."

As they got closer to the stall, Teo could espy long strands of fried dough, wrapped around a thin wooden stick like a helix, brown, sugary sap leaking from between its coils. The smell this close up was amazing!

"Hello, three Cinnamon Worms please, two to go and one packed for later," said Teo in a firm voice, after a bit of hesitation and waiting for his turn. He handed over six coppers and was on his way.

It was love at first bite. This new spice from the south, 'Cinnamon', tasted just as delicious as it smelled, making the edges of Teo's mouth rise unintentionally.

While they continued to walk along Sigella's well maintained promenade and indulged in their sugary, sweet invertebrates, Jack said mockingly with his trademark smile,

"The stall was not going to run off anytime soon. We could have just gotten a fresh one for Angelika later, you know the saying, the way to a cold pastry is plastered with good intentions." He laughed out loud to his own joke, apparently believing himself to be incredibly funny.

Teo could not always appreciate Jack's weird sense of humor, even if there was some truth to his words today.

After finishing their treats, the two boys hurried over into the direction of the city hall, they had wasted a lot of time already and Angelika was sure to show up as punctual as always.

Apparently her mother had approved her application, as they could see her from the other side of the plaza, wearing a beautiful, light-blue summer dress, with white flower patterns on it. To be honest, her mother was more than happy to oblige to her request. She had always worried about her little flower not finding any friends in school and would practically push her out of the house every time she asked for permission to play with her new friends.

Her long, completely black hair set the perfect contrast to the light color of her dress and with the small flower-shaped hair ornament the small girl could instantly melt anyone's heart with a single look. Even in the short few minutes she had been waiting for the boys, already more than five aunties had approached her and offered to help her find her parents again.

"Oh, wow! Did you buy this for me?! Thank you!" she cried out and gave Teo a small hug, after he gave her the last Cinnamon Worm. She quickly let go though and even blushed a little, embarrassed by her sudden reaction, Jackson however could only stare at Teo with envy burning in his eyes.

The trio walked over to the market again, where a huge parade was waltzing down the main streets of the city, passing right through the business district. There were common and exotic instruments, playing a cacophony of different sounds, dancers and acrobats in colorful costumes performing in the streets and on special horse-drawn carriages, even some jugglers and fire-breathers mingling between them.

Fire-breathing was a special technique, utilizing the Fire Element, to breathe a column of searing flames from one's lungs. Teo had once heard, that it was a speciality of the desert tribes, who developed it after the image of a fire dragon's breath.

Soon they went to the harbor again, where even the slower stalls had now become operational. They ran around on the bustling promenade, sometimes trying out the games, offered by some of the stalls, or stuffing themselves with seasonal specialties.

Teo had never had so much fun in a single day, and probably neither had Angelika, the quit bookworm she was. In Jack's case there was no need to worry though, as he always seemed to enjoy everything he did, always full of vigor and a seemingly infinite supply of energy.

When the sun just fell beyond the horizon and they sat down at the ledge of the harbor basin, Angelika suddenly pulled something out of her pocket and turned to Teo.

"H-here! I have something for you. Thank you again for the pastry!" she said nervously, her extended hand shaking ever so slightly.

It was a small pouch, woven from a dark blue fabric, with the image of a white deer stitched onto it. Teo had already heard, that it was a custom around here, to keep the hair of a white deer as a lucky charm; she must have bought this at one of the stalls, when he was not paying attention. He doubted, that it contained authentic hair from a real white deer, as they were extremely rare, but it was awfully nice nonetheless.

"Thank you!" said Teo, taking it and conjuring a small smile on Angelika's face at the same time. He tried to ignore the murderous gaze of his friend, who looked like he could explode at any second now.

"Of course I have one for you too!" she hurriedly turned to Jack and handed him an identical pouch, after coming out of her short trance.

"Owww, thank you! That really wasn't necessary, hehehe." Jack's facial expression did a 180 degree turn in less than a second, now he only wore a dumbfounded smile.

They continued to fool around for some time, until they heard a thunderous noise, exploding over their heads. As Teo looked up, he saw the dark sky, illuminated brightly by streaks of glowing colors. Before he could even ask, Jack had already answered his question,

"Fireworks! Don't worry, it's just an alchemical product. They are only used for special occasions though, they are crazy expensive."

As Teo sat there, observing the brilliant flashes of light, exploding in his field of vision, he slowly began to like this city more and more.