Based on Black Clover: The Tales of Umi

Life is Not What it Seems

*Almost seventeen years later*

"Umi! Wake up, you're going to be late for the fields!" mother shouted.

I put my bed sheet and a pillow over my head and groaned "Ughhh it's my Birthday, can I just have this one day off?"

"I'm afraid not! You know how everyone is relying on you dear." she said with an energetic tone.

I quickly got out of bed and put on a light and white long-sleeved shirt and beige shorts. Then I went to the kitchen to find the smell of my mom making eggs and a salad made from flowers. I grew up in a town named Yuri in the forsaken realm where we mainly grow flowers and the occasional vegetable. It is annoying at times because flowers are very high maintenance, but in return, it's beautiful to look at and smell. Since I turned thirteen I worked on the farm, helping the more experienced people maintain the farms. Working at the farm gets me a decent pay to put towards our food so we don't have to eat flowers all the time.

As I finished breakfast and started to head out the door mother stopped me, "Wait!" she put both of her hands on my shoulders, "Happy Birthday Umi," she kissed me on the cheek. "Have a good day. There's something we and your father need to discuss when you get back."

Father worked as a vendor in the Royal Capital. He sells all the flowers from the village out of a small cart that is pushed by himself. Unfortunately, since he doesn't have a lot of mana he tends to have to rely on his physical strength, and for that reason, he's gone for weeks at a time.

"What is it?" I asked in a scared tone. I had told my parents not to buy anything since we were poor. What could it be? I haven't pranked my cousin Chikara while working on the farms for a while.

"Don't worry about it Kiddo. Go before you're late again!" she said laughing. Mother patted my head with her hand and with that, I left the house and went to the farms.

"Umi! how nice of you to bless us with your presence....five minutes late....again." Furui said with a Scowl. Furui was the old man that gave me the job. He's worked on the farms for more than forty years and knows everything when it comes down to the anatomy and care procedures of our flowers. His water creation magic is useful as it allows him to create a light downpour to perfectly water the plants without overwhelming them.

I dismissed his anger towards me, "Oh come on Furui, we both know I make up for that."

"That may be true but don't forget that you are a person the kids look up to. I don't want anyone to be late or play hooky on my watch." He said as he pointed his finger up. It annoyed me when he talked down to me like a kid but this time considering I've been late three times in a row, I'll let it pass.

I rolled my eyes, "Shall we water the plants?" 

"Indeed, Water Creation Magic: Tears of Storm Clouds."

 Furui's grimoire glowed light blue in front of him and as he put both of his palms above the plants, rain droplets fell onto a small patch of the sunflower farm. This is where I come in. Just like Furui I put my hands to the sky and used my mana. As my golden mana flowed to the spell, Furui's spell tripled in size and three times the number of plants were now being rained on.

"You know, as much as I hate the fact that you're always late, your magic is incredible and is unlike anything I've ever seen." Furui said as he scratched the back of his head.

I looked down at my feet, "It's not that good. I can't do anything for myself. All I can do is just enhance other people's spells." It's true. Individually I was useless. That's why when I turned fifteen I didn't even go to the grimoire awarding ceremony. I knew that it didn't matter either way. I was just always going to be someone who depended on others, so why would I need to get more spells? My parents were disappointed as each ceremony took place and went by without me attending, but, if I were to get a grimoire I would be lucky to even have a page in the book.

Furui turned his face to look at me, "That's all you need here though! Thanks to you we can plant three times as many farms and this village can be that much more prosperous. We could be even greater if you just stopped being so stubborn and got your grimoire."

"Yeah, yeah, I know already Gramps. Geez, you really take the fun out of this work." I said as I walked towards the daisy farm.

Today's day of work felt longer than ever. In addition to simply disliking it, I couldn't get what my mother said to me this morning out of my mind. What thing must she tell me that made her get so serious? As I walked home in the dark my legs felt heavy. I used all of my mana reserves to help people water and pick plants quickly. Even my eyes were starting to get heavy as a yawn escaped my mouth every three minutes. On the dirt path lit up by nothing but the moon I continued to walk alone, although, there was a man ahead standing right in the middle of the street. As I moved my head up to view him I noticed he was wearing dark clothing with a protective brown chest plate on him. He was looking right at me with a mischievous grin which made my heart rate quicken.

"Looks like you're in the wrong place at the wrong time pretty girl." he said with an evil laugh to follow.