2018, California

  A young man walked through some leaf covered forests with a backpack slung over one shoulder. He was wheat complexioned, had dark eyes and blonde hair that was cut short on the sides. Thanks to his parentage, he felt he looked like an east Asian idol with a bad dye job. He was a long way from home.

  He didn't run away exactly. He preferred to think that he was on walkabout. That sounded better. After all there was no reason for him to run away. He was a perfectly healthy and happy alien-hybrid living in a realm of magical creatures with his magical sorceress mother and his giant-mace wielding father. They loved him, he loved them; his extended family, his mother's sisters and their significant others; and his grandmother, the mother of all magic (it was a title).

  He was curious about the wider world, however. Places where spellbooks weren't people's first readers, and arcane language arts wasn't required schooling. Somewhere normal. Yeah, normal. So, he crept out of his home one late night with all of his worldly possessions stuffed in his backpack, which held more than one would think. He knew that his mom would probably freak out a little bit, but he was fairly confident they wouldn't come after him too quickly or send the calvary. Afterall, at his age, his father and his twin sister were travelling through dimensions, hunting interdimensional criminals for the bounties on their heads.

  A walk around California was a walk on the beach in comparison. Sometimes literally. Besides, the young man was skipping problematic areas where there were Power Rangers once upon a time. So, he avoided Angel Grove like the plague. That was almost his second home anyway. Been there, done that.

  He stopped walking, a sound penetrating his thoughts. He had heightened senses and perceptions. It would be his luck to inherit the spidey-senses some members of his family had. Not that he was complaining when they saved his hide. He dropped to his knees as something flew over his head and exploded a tree in front of him. He covered his face and rolled into a ball to protect himself as pieces of wood and splinters showered down over him.

  He stood and turned around. "Dude! What was that?" he demanded, dusting himself off. He and another creature blinked at each other. The creature was a white nine-tailed fox demon that wore a mask and dressed in baggy yellow and gray pants. A deep sleeved kimono was covered in leather, fur trimmed armor. Its arms ended in claw-like hands, but the feet were too animal-like for shoes. The mask it wore over its face that had red markings under the eyes, and a mane of dark, greenish hair was pulled into a long braid that hung down it's back. For all that, it was short, and slim, like a young boy. The decorative hammer that returned to its hand looked almost too big for it, but it held it with ease.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The fox-demon flattened its ears and snarled under the mask. "Tremble before me, human! Leave here! You are trespassing!" it said in a voice that sounded like a young kid trying to appear older.

  The young man dropped his head back. "Is it because I ran away from home or because I'm a Goldsmith?" he asked the heavens but got no answer.

  The fox-demon snarled again. This time it ran forward and jumped up, holding the hammer above its heads, preparing to crush the young man. "Ogre Summoning Hammer!" it yelled.

  Van Goldsmith jumped backwards a few feet, but he still felt the earth shake under him as the hammer met the ground. The fox-demon was moving again. Van barely managed to avoid being crushed. Whatever his initial thoughts were about the thing, it was fast and strong. "Okay, kiddo. You wanna play?" he asked. He dropped his backpack and held out a hand. A large spikey mace appeared in it.

  The fox-demon narrowed its eyes. It took in a deep breath as it scented the air. "What are you supposed to be, anyway?" it asked as it warily circled the young man.

  "Didn't you hear me? I'm a Goldsmith," he said and ran toward the demon with his mace. The demon charged forward. The two weapons met. They strained against each other, eye to eye. Van's eyes widened when his mace gave out. Even as a dark exoskeleton formed over his skin, the hammer crashing into him was still one of the most painful things he'd ever felt. He flew off his feet and crashed into another tree, taking it down in the process.

  The demon rested the hammer against one of the tigers' heads that adorned each shoulder of its armor. "So, a Goldsmith isn't that spectacular after all," it scoffed.

  Van sat up and shook himself, the exoskeleton disappearing. He sighed. "I just wanted to try out the normal thing. Was that so much to ask? I mean I know I'm not. I just wanted to try it out," he complained as he got to his feet. He knocked some dust and debris out of his hair. His friendly face had lost all humor and his glared at the demon.

  The fox-demon slunk back warily. Maybe a Goldsmith wasn't something it wanted to trifle with after all. "Stay out of my way. Next time you won't like what happens," it warned him. It threw something on the ground that erupted a cloud of greenish dust. When the dust cleared, the demon was gone.

  Van collapsed on the ground with a sigh. "Augh," he said and flopped backwards. He was more tired and hurt than he let on. "This is not going to end well," he groaned. Grumbling to himself, he got to his feet again and looked for his backpack. When he found it and picked it up, there was something stuck to it. It was a blue shuriken made up of four triangles fitted around a circle. It was a key chain clipped to his backpack. He frowned and groaned again. "Here we go," he grumbled. He unclipped the shuriken and it began to glow. It grew in size to fit his palm. It began spinning, throwing off a blue light that engulfed him. He didn't know where he was going to end up, but he knew normal was no longer part of the equation.

  And So It Begins