《Lost Cities of Taeralis [Kingdom Building]》 chapter 1 Rebirth, Orphans and Ash Marcus tried to blink and open his eyes, but they felt sealed off. He tried to focus and strain his eyelids to open them, which only ended in pain around his eyes. He tried to lift his arms to touch his face but found he could only move one of his arms. The other felt trapped under something heavy with an edge, so he dared not move it; with his movable free arm, his left arm, he pulled and felt a piercing pain cut across the back of his hand, leaving a shallow wound across his entire arm as he pulled it out. He reached up and touched his eyes, finding them shut by crusted dried blood. Ignoring the pain, Marcus rubbed his eyes, feeling the crusted blood fall off, and when he could finally see, Marcus found he was surrounded by ash, broken iron and the sound of crickets in the distance; it felt like he had fallen asleep on the battlefield. ¡°Where am I?¡± The place looked dark, and the air smelled of burnt flesh and wood. This was a battlefield. In the distance, he could see a large towering wall and a city beyond it. There was nothing like this on earth. If there was, he surely would have seen it somewhere or heard of it, a city¡­ no cities built on and around a mountain. He should have known about such a thing if this were earth. All he could remember was going to sleep in his apartment room. Marcus tried to pull his other hand free, but the pain in his back suddenly grew heavier and uncomfortable as he was pressed down onto the ground. He looked around behind him and cursed. It was not only his arm that was trapped; his entire body was under a pile of broken chariots, wagon wheels and bent irons. ¡°What the hell?¡± He tried to kick, but even then, he realized he couldn¡¯t move his leg. There was little to no space to move his legs. He looked around and, uncertain or unwilling to starve here, he called out. ¡°Help, anybody help.¡± ¡°Anyone.¡± ¡°Help!¡± he yelled. The wind blew, and suddenly, the cold he had been ignoring stung against his skin, causing him to shiver. A jacket would be good right about now, he thought. Wandering why it was so cold, he looked up and saw the black clouds that extended across the sky, blocking out all light from the sun and casting the entire world in gloomy darkness, the only place as far as he could see that the dark clouds did not appear to touch was the sky was the place above the city where the highest buildings touched the silver clouds. The entire sight felt unnatural, and even then, he would have to free himself to understand what was going on. Or it was simply a dream. Then, all he had to do was wake up. His teeth chattered and clicked from the cold, and he tried to pull himself out again. He felt the pile of scrap iron shift, and then a scream left his lungs as pain lashed his leg; something had shifted and landed on his leg. All he could think was that his leg was broken. He tried to control his breathing for a time, and he could feel tears rolling down his cheeks; he ground his teeth, and after an even longer time of enduring the pain, he felt his eyes go heavy as the world went dark slowly but surely and his head hit the ashy soil. _____________________________________________________________ ¡°Where are you going?¡± a girl''s voice asked. ¡°Is this what you heard,¡± another voice tried to say, indicating something else. ¡°That¡¯s probably a monster,¡± a deeper voice said. ¡°No, I heard it this way,¡± a sharp voice replied to the three. Marcus heard the voices come closer. But in his dazed state, he could not make them out clearly. All he could do now was wait for help to find him. Perhaps call out, or they would be headed straight towards him if he was lucky. ¡°There is nothing here.¡± ¡°If we go any closer, we¡¯ll be close to the Forgotten forest.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a scared gremlin, it''s close.¡± the sharp voice said. ¡°She¡¯s right, Clara.¡± Finally, after what felt like an eternity of listening to the bickering of children, the children climbed over the mound of ash and earth and looked down to see a boy, beaten and bruised, helpless and trapped under the rubble of the war-torn AshFields. ¡°There you see, I was right,¡± She said, a smug look on her face. Clara could be stubborn at times, but this time, she knew what she had heard and she had been sure it would be something good this time. Like every other day, she had gathered her friends and come to the Ashfields to scavenge for scraps of metal to sell for food or clean water in the lower city of Srok. Like the other orphans, it was desperation that drove many like her and her small crew of street rats into the land beyond the wall and even then, none of them dared move past the very centre of the Ashfields. None of them were brave enough to even step a mile or two next to the forgotten forest as they called it, comfortable with staying in the Ashfields where the people from the higher city came to fight the Tides of monsters. Clara, Like many others rejected by their mothers and fathers, or those who lost them to starvation or illness, were left to fend for themselves in the slums of the lower city of the fifth wall. Even though the group treated each other like a small family, they were all of different races. They were mostly halfbreeds who could not fit with the Goliath giants, the Aasmar high lords and sometimes even the humans, they were offered no help by the people of the city, and soon they got used to it, avoiding those and most parts of the city where the white hair common among half bloods got you thrown out into a dark alley at the least. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The group of street rats looked up at the forest beyond the Ashfield battlegrounds, and they felt eyes looking back at them. ¡°Clara, we should hurry.¡± one of the teenagers said, causing her to look away from the forest in the distance. ¡°Hurry get him out,¡± she ordered, and the group of seven children looked down at the pile of iron scrap and war rubble. Sure, she had thought she would be getting something better than another mouth to feed, but she just didn''t have the heart to let the boy die out here. Marcus looked up from his daze and saw the different faces looking back at him. Some looked at the distant forest and were frozen in place by the sight, and it seemed for a moment that none of them would move. Finally, someone had come, and now all he needed was a little help to free himself and get out of this place. ¡°Help me,¡± Marcus croaked, lifting his one good arm. ¡°Is he alive?¡± ¡°Of course he is,¡± Clara said, ¡°Geneve, Zek get down there and help him.¡± ¡°Me, why me,¡± Geneve asked as she twiddled her large thumbs. ¡°You''re the strongest, you should do it.¡± Geneve and Zek were both half human and half Goliath. At fifteen, the two siblings were as strong as any common man and just as tall. Geneve, like Clara, wore a rugged, dirt-filled dress and covered her body in a brown rug over her shoulder. On the other hand, Zek wore a dirty tunic shirt and trousers that left his bulging arms, three times the size of Clara¡¯s, out in the open. ¡°What do you think happened to him,¡± Zek asked, sliding down the mound of earth before stumbling into the pile of wagons and metals. ¡°Don¡¯t know but heard the noise when I was looking around for something good to sell in the lower quarter,¡± she said. Seeing what they were doing, the two of the other boys jumped into an earthy mound crater and started pulling out the scrap metal and wagon wheels and throwing them to the side. One tied the parts that looked valuable on their backs with a cloth to be sold in the city. Once the large pile was lifted off the boy, Clara, their leader, slid down into the pit and looked down at the frail, bloody body of a boy with skin the colour of earth. ¡°Is he alive,¡± one of the boys asked, poking the figure of Marcus on the ground. ¡°Of course he is,¡± Clara said before looking at her second,¡± Gabe, is he alive?¡± Gabe, like Clara, was a human orphan by all appearances. That''s if you didn''t look closely at his earthy-coloured hair. He was skin and bone. When he needed to see, he often squinted. He was considered the smartest of their lot, and some even said that he once lived in the higher walls. ¡°Who are you? What is this place?¡± Marcus asked, and the group of small children looked at him, confused. Marcus looked back at the dirty and scrawny-looking kids dressed in medieval tunics and lacking basic hygiene, waiting for an answer. He tried to move and was surprised by the pain and numbness of his body as he felt two beefy arms grab him, holding him like a child, a feeling he had long forgotten in the days after he left home. The two hands helped him to his feet, and he grunted in pain as he realized his foot was turned sideways and limp. A small, skinny boy looked at him curiously, inspecting his eyes. ¡®Wait¡­ what is he looking at and why am I so small.¡¯ ¡°What is he saying? ¡°Clara asked Gabe. The other boy turned and looked at her with a confused look on his face, and he shrugged. The skinny boy turned back, grabbed Marcus''s eyes, and opened them wider with his two dirty musky fingers, looking at each one, looking for something.¡°Clara, I think he is one of us?¡± Gabe said, and the girl pushed him to the side. ¡°What?¡± Clara asked, and all seven orphans looked at Marcus curiously. ¡°His eyes,¡± Gabe squinted from behind Clara, focusing on the boy, ¡°his halfblood.¡± They all squinted in imitation and looked at the boy''s eyes. One of his eyes had the golden iris of the Aasimar lords, and the other was clearly human. The girl, whom all the other children looked at for their decisions, came closer to Marcus, and he soon realized she almost stood as tall as him as he limped. From what he could remember, he was as tall as any man on earth. So why was he clearly as short as the thin, white-haired girl standing in front of him, and why did he feel small and thin? Compared to the two burly children whose arms held him up, his arms felt smaller, similar to those of a Teenager. The girl stood in front of him like an adjudicator. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she asked, pushing her finger into his chest and narrowing her eyes at him. ¡°Listen girl I don¡¯t know what is going on but maybe I can talk to your parents or someone grown up?¡± The kids, no, the gang of street urchins, looked at each other and laughed at him, some pushing and shoving each other to the ground. ¡°We are orphans and you are like us," she pushed him harder. ¡°What?¡± Marcus asked, confused. When he tried to move, he felt the hands of the two large children holding him still where he was. ¡°How old are you, boy? Maybe you can join my House.¡± she said, lifting her chin. ¡°Twenty-seven,¡± Marcus said, and the girl, Clara, looked him up and down, then turned and looked over at Gabe, who twirled his finger around his head in a gesture clearly indicating a scrambled head. ¡°Twenty-seven tides,¡± she tried counting on her fingers and gave up. You look no more than fifteen or seventeen tides old.¡± ¡°Clara, I think it¡¯s some sort of dark magic.¡± Zek said in a deep voice that Marcus did not believe a child capable of, before the larger boy quickly looked down and avoided the intimidating girl''s eyes. ¡°Maybe we should ask him,¡± Geneve proposed, looking at the scrawny half-human half-Aasimar in her and her brother¡¯s hands. ¡°Was it dark magic?¡± Clara looked up at Marcus. ¡°Dark magic¡­ What is that? There is no such thing as magic,¡± he said as he suddenly felt the pain in his leg and arm. Clara turned back to Gabe, looking for answers, and again, the skin-thin boy twirled his finger around his ear. ¡°So where¨C¡± the white-haired girl started, and the scrawny boy interrupted him before she could finish. ¡°If you all don¡¯t have parents, Can you take me to whoever is in charge?¡± Marcus asked, using his hand to feel his bruises before he was painfully yanked upright by the two giant children holding him. ¡°His right, I think we should take him away from this place," Gabe said, squinting at the dark forest surrounding them. Clara, realizing where she was, quickly looked up in panic.¡± Zek and Geneve curry him Gabe and the rest of you bring the metal, I think we have sayed in this place long enough.¡± After that, the band moved swiftly at the girl''s commands, and before he knew it, they walked at a hurried pace through the Ashfields, dragging him along seemingly worried about the forest behind them. They then returned to the safer parts of the Ashfields and to the city, moving past other scavengers and making their way towards the city. chapter 2 Marcus looked up at the towering walls, the orphans helping him move past the gates of the city as they entered through a side gate much smaller than the large gate doors that stood five stories high. In the city, they moved along a stream that flowed through the many buildings in the ward. The water was stale and dark, and if he looked closely, he could see all sorts of debris floating in the water. At one section of the stream, he watched as a man lowered his hose and pissed in the murky stream, and he soon realised how old and back in time the city was. They turned another corner, and a group of ragged orphans came to a stop. Marcus looked up at a stall where a man with a swollen eye was haggling with a boy not much older than orphans who had found him. The two cursed angrily at each other, talking as they held onto a broken shield. However, they did not notice the group and Marcus until the small girl, Clara, stood next to the stall alongside them. ¡°Levin, get lost if you aren¡¯t selling anything,¡± Clara said as she stepped next to the boy and looked up at him. Levin was a halfbreed like any street urchin in the lower city, he was tall like a goliath, and his eyes were golden like those of the Aasimar lords, along with his lean body; this gave him an intense look. He was a tide or two older than Clara, but even he knew to keep his distance from the girl. ¡°What do you want, Clara ¡°? Levin turned to her and crossed his hands as he looked down at her. ¡°I have come to talk with the old man.¡± The old merchant, who wasn¡¯t any older than forty tides, looked aghast at Clara, and he pretended to be hurt. ¡°Hey, young woman, I am one of the youngest men you will see around here,¡± he said, folding his arms. She ignored the merchant and stepped closer to Levin, making the larger boy uncomfortable. Glaring at him as though she could look straight through him, she shook her head. Levin took a step back and raised his hand. ¡°Fine, do what you want," he said, walking over to a wall and leaning against it, looking at the girl and her ring of orphans. ¡°What do you have for me?¡± the merchant, Jethro, asked, rubbing his hands together with a mischievous expression. ¡°Gabe and you,¡± she pointed at one of the boys who held the wheel, ¡°bring the wheel over and put it on the table.¡± Jethro watched patiently as the two dirty, thin boys came over and, with some effort, lifted the wheel and placed it on his table. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what we have here,¡± Jethro said, moving his hands over the chariot wheel. ¡°How much?¡± Clara asked. ¡°It¡¯s a nice wheel you have,¡± he pointed at some etchings. ¡°Here you see this looks like a sigil of one of the nobles. I can sell it to someone with a wagon as a replacement wheel. I can give you four small coppers.¡± ¡°Seven small coppers,¡± Clara countered, and to the side, she heard Levin scoff, she ignored the jab. ¡°Seven! What do you take me for?¡± Jethro crossed his arms, not willing to touch the burnt wheel. ¡°Six then.¡± From the corner, Levin scoffed again. ¡°Five and I see what else you have.¡± Jethro said. ¡°Fine,¡± she puffed out her cheeks and gestured for the other wheel to be put on top of the shabby table. ¡°Another one,¡± Jethro moved his hands along the wood of the wheel and placed his finger on his chin, thinking. ¡°Three,¡± he began to say but was quickly cut off by Clara. ¡°No four,¡± she glared at the man. ¡°Fine.¡± The shady merchant rolled his eyes. ¡°Hey are you in charge here,¡± Marcus asked, wincing in pain. This caused Clara to turn and glare at him. Marcus tried to take a step forward, but the hands of the two Goliath children held him back, causing his bent foot to flare up in pain. Jethro looked around and finally pointed at himself with a smug bashful face ¡°Me, of course, am incharge,¡± he said walking past Clara and towards the boy ¡°I have seen everyone of these ahm customers but not you,¡± he looked him up and down at Marcus ¡°never seen you before¡±. ¡°Leave him be.¡± Clara said. Levin raised an eyebrow, noticing Marcus for the first time. ¡°What, did the orphanage finally decide to throw him out?" he asked, moving closer and trying to get a good look. Jethro was like any human man¡ªnot too tall and not too short, either. Yet as he leaned his face towards Marcus, the boy frowned and glared at Jethro, causing him to notice the boy''s eyes. ¡°Oh my, another half blood. the Aasimar lords sure know how to keep themselves entertained.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Asmor?¡± Marcus tried to say the word,¡± What is that?¡± Marcus had been short growing up and, like many, took on the bad that came with it. When he hit his growth spout, he was simply lucky to put all that behind. So when the shady-looking man left his stall and leaned over him, he felt angry. The way the man looked at him reminded him of being weak. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°You boy, you are Aasimar,¡± Jethro said, ¡°at least half-blood,¡± looking intently at Marcus¡¯s right human eye. ¡°His none of your business,¡± Clara stepped between them. ¡°Tell you what, he shifted his eyes to look at her with his mischievous grin,¡± Your friend needs healing, and I can heal him,¡± Jethro said ¡°Can you really fix my leg,¡± Marcus asked, still unsure if the man was a doctor or not or whether the magic that the children had spoken of would be what he would use. ¡°Yes, I can but It will cost you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any money.¡± ¡°Manney! What is that? I need coins, and don¡¯t worry; I am sure Clara is willing to pay,¡± Jethro said, extending his open hand in front of the girl. ¡°Are you trying to cut me?" she glared at a shady merchant in rugged clothes. ¡°Hey boy, if I pay for him to fix you, will you join up with me?¡± Levin, who had been ignored all this time, stood eyes focused on Marcus with a look Clara did not fail to notice. ¡°What?¡± the boy asked. ¡°I can pay Jethro to heal you and in return you help me and my friends.¡± Levin said. Levin was one of a few orphans in the lower wards and districts with the blood of the Aasimar lords in his veins, and it was this very blood that the orphans of the Aasimar were known for, half breeds like him who kept the eyes of the Aasimar lords were known more specifically for one thing. Like Levin, they were well known for being wild cards because they were either good at magic or they would show a basic ability for the craft, a gamble most of those who hired them were willing to take. ¡°No, I found him and he is with me,¡± Clara said, blocking Levin¡¯s path. ¡°How much?¡± She turned to Jethro. ¡°Seven small coppers,¡± Jethro showed her his hands, waiting for her to place the coin. Levin and Marcus both scoffed at the shady merchant and his blatant thievery. He had bought the wheels for nine small copper coins, and now he was asking for more than half of that. Clara was too stubborn to see it. She looked down at the hand, asking for her coin. She wanted to do the right thing, but it would mean giving up the coin she would use to feed her friends. Jethro and Levin knew this. They knew that beyond the rough facade the girl put on in front of everyone in the ward, she would do anything for those she considered her friends. She looked down at the coins and hesitantly placed seven of the small coins in the man¡¯s hands. Levin scoffed and walked back to the wall and leaned back against seemingly content to watch. Jethro closed his hand around the coins and beamed, ¡°Well, follow me and bring your friend along,¡± he said, heading back to his stall. Marcus grunted as the two half-Goliath kids lifted him and led him towards the stall, where they proceeded to place him on the cobblestone. ¡°How are you gonna fix my leg?¡± Marcus asked as he sat with his mangled foot stretched out. ¡°Am going to heal you. I may not look like it but I have a minor ability to heal,¡± Jethro said. Marcus was skeptical as he looked at the man¡¯s swollen eye. " Then your eye,¡± he gestured to his own. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you healed yourself, then?¡± ¡°Because I''m a merchant and people are willing to pay for magic.¡± ¡°Magic! You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Marcus tried not to roll his eyes. ¡°You two hold him down,¡± Jethro ordered Zek and Geneve. Marcus felt the arms clump down on his shoulders. Then he watched as the shady merchant grabbed his foot and yanked it back roughly to its normal position. Marcus screamed and tried to kick and get up. This surprised the two Goliath children, causing them to push down on the small boy even harder. ¡°Now,¡± Jethro said, and his hand glowed with a faint light as runic symbols floated above it in small circles and hexagons. Slowly but painfully, the ligament in his joint mended in a piercing pain as he clenched his jaw. And when the deed was done, the two Goliath half-bloods quickly let go of Marcus and stepped back, worried and uncertain looks on their faces. ¡°He is mighty strong! Thought he was going to throw me back. Are you alright Gevene.¡± Zek asked, feeling out his fingers. ¡°Am alright," she replied to her brother. ¡°Isn¡¯t healing magic rare?¡± Gabe looked inquisitively at the merchant, who simply shrugged and moved away from the group to catch his breath. ¡°It is, but I also have my secrets," he turned to Marcus. ¡°Well I¡¯ve done all I can, you can¡¯t run around,¡± Jethro said, breathing heavily, a thin shin of sweat on his forehead. ¡°You¡­You used magic,.... real magic¡­.it actually exists. What place is this?,¡± Marcus muttered to himself. ¡°Can you stand,¡± Clara asked, standing in front of him and placing her hands on her hips. ¡°Yes, I can. I think so,¡± he said, raising to his full height for the first time and standing a head taller than the girl. By his standard, she was about five and a half feet tall. ¡°You owe me for this," Clara said. Looking at him, Clara''s body tensed as she put on a brave front. Marcus scratched his head. " Sure, but I don¡¯t know what I can pay you back with.¡± ¡°You can come work for me.¡± Marcus looked at the young girl and then at everything around him. For the first time, he realized he truly was not on earth. What would someone do in his situation? He needed information. He needed to find out what was going on. He needed to survive, and he needed to understand what this place was and if he was still on earth. He looked back at the girl sceptically, ¡°And why should I work for you?¡± ¡°Because I have magic and I can protect you.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what the cops are for?¡± Seeing the confused look on her face he amended his words to be more fitting of the medieval times. He hoped it would work. Because the roads here were made of cable stone and the people wore clothes he had only seen from pictures in his renaissance history classes. ¡°I meant guards, isn''t that what the guards do?¡± Everyone but Clara burst out laughing at him. Even the merchant laughed from where he stood, packing his stall on the wagon. ¡°You are funny, boy,¡± Jethro said, shaking his head in amusement. ¡°The guards don¡¯t care about anyone down here in the lower wards beyond the fourth wall.¡± ¡°Then I will go to the fourth wall.¡± This time, no one laughed, not even the shady merchant Jethro, they simply looked at him with pity while others just looked down avoiding his eyes. Clara looked at him and spoke, her voice could have been placed between fear and anger, ¡°If the guards find you out in the fourth wall after dark they will tie you to the pole, and you will be whipped fifty times.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right boy, fifty lashes will kill you. If I were you I would follow her. She is one of the good ones.¡± A pole and lushes with a whip he was disgusted by the thought. Marcus gave a shaky smile as he imagined someone taking fifty lushes, but he could not bear the thought. He looked down at his young body and knew that the merchant was right; he would die if he was subjected to fifty whips. After all, he knew that such a whip in good hands travelled at nearly the speed of sound. Marcus closed his eyes and nodded towards the girl in front of him. He would wait and watch. chapter 3 Guild, Coin and Debt The eight walked past the many buildings with broken windows and broken wooden doors and made their way from the outskirts of the city, where many buildings were abandoned, towards the direction of the fourth wall, where the buildings became more tolerable, where windows were sealed off tight, doors were nailed into hinges, and the worst anyone could complain about would be a leaky roof or a skulking rat beneath wooden boards. They moved past people with grim faces trying to sell them days-old food, past a drunk trying and failing to get back up on his feet and leftover human feces that smelled as they passed by many of the dark alleys. These are things a modern-day person like him would have never thought of coming across. On one of the streets, a dead body was left on the side of the building, clearly dead, eyes staring blankly in the distance, flies making his nose, eyes and mouth their home, and the smell... He shattered. He could only cover his mouth to prevent the bile that threatened to make him feel even worse. The dead body had an identical smell to that of human waste and urine. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Marcus asked, trying to keep a musk on his face and not show any agitation. ¡°We are going to the guild,¡± Gabe, the skinny-looking boy, answered. ¡°Like Merchants guild.¡± ¡°The boy looked at him curiously, getting a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°No, there is no such thing in the lower wards. There is only a hunter''s guild in the fourth wall and a merchant''s guild beyond the third wall.¡± ¡°Then what is your guild?¡± ¡°Our guild is the Rat''s guild; we protect each other,¡± Zek said in a rough, loud voice from behind Marcus. ¡°The Rats Guild?¡± He asked, cocking his head to the side, "What is that?¡± To the big boy''s dismay, he did not get the chance to answer, Clara spoke up, and he hung his head. ¡°No more questions, we are nearly there, you¡¯ll see,¡± Clara said from the front of the group. The rats guild was, to put it kindly, a large warehouse that resembled a hunger, with wooden and stone pillars supporting the earth above where the structure had been dug into the mountain. A less amiable man would have called it a large cave with supporting pillars, living burrows in all corners, and makeshift tents set up in the dark spaces where one could get some rest. It was a messy place to be in; it reminded Marcus of a lunch hall filled with children fighting, Sleeping, Eating, and, in some cases, partaking in sins of the flesh due to the lack of adult supervision, the oldest of whom was nineteen or in their early twenties. On the side were different stalls run by shady-looking men and women, who exchanged their coins for whispered secrets or well-concealed items. ¡°Follow me, we¡¯ll find a place to sit and I¡®ll get us something to eat,¡± Clara said. Like any other group, the eight sat on the ground, and Clara went ahead, dividing the dried meat she had bought as they walked through the guild building among her friends. The two Goliath children got the most, followed by Clara and Gabe, then the girl and the other two boys. Lastly was him, and to his dismay, he got three strips of dried jerky, which was less than what everyone else got. Marcus looked at the small, thin pieces of meat a foot more or less in length, and slowly, he nibbled on them as he looked around at the rest of the group and children in the sizable cave-like warehouse. Looking at the two Goliath children, he saw their skin was grey in tone. It had become one of his curiosities for some time during the walk. ¡°What are you? Marcus asked, causing everyone to stop their chewy struggle with the jerky and look between him and the two siblings. ¡°Their father was a Goliath, and that¡¯s why they look like that,¡± Gabe said, drawing his attention away from the pair, who made as little eye contact as possible. ¡°Wait so there are Humans, Aasimar and Goliath people?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Clara said, ¡°have you been living under a rock or something. And you don''t have to be rude.¡± ¡°Where I''m from there are only humans.¡± The group stopped eating and laughing and looked at him with confused expressions. He realized perhaps he should keep quiet until he knew more. "Only humans? then was it your mother or father?" Marcus looked confused. "What?" "The aasimar was it your mother or your father?" Clara asked. "Neither." "Clara, Don''t," Gabe said, shaking his head. At the end of the day, they had seen many like him, leaving in denial and hoping their reality was some sort of Dream. "So you have never seen magic or the other races." she recounted, looking at him pitifully. ''Yes. '' After all, he had never seen magic or the other sorts of people. Marcus then knew if he wanted to learn more about this world, it would be better if he shut his mouth, and observe rather than speak. Switching their attention back to their hard strips of jerky, Marcus saw a small group of half-giant kids approaching them from the wall; they pushed aside anyone who got in their way, moving as though they owned the ground they stepped on. It was not only him who saw the movement of the four boys. Zek, Geneve and Clara all tensed up, slowly taking bites of their strips of meat. The group moved forward, stopping when they stepped in the middle of a small dysfunctioning group that had taken Marcus in. The four were like Zek and Geneve in appearance, only much bulkier, more well fed and with dark strips of the goliath. The four looked around at their group, their eyes lingering on small rations they were all eating. "Zek, Geneve, what are you doing with these weaklings? They can¡¯t even feed themselves.'' The large child¡¯s eyes rested on Marcus and the jerky he was chewing on. ¡°So Clara, do you got our coin,¡± the largest of the boys asked, stepping in front of her. ¡°Not today Agmak I don¡¯t have your coin.¡± Agmak looked around at the small rations the eight were eating and cursed, ¡°This is horse shit, Zek. You should come with us. I will even forget about the coin you owe me. ¡°They told you they weren¡¯t gonna join you.¡± She stood defiantly in front of the large boy. ¡°They cost us the job and a lot of coin. You know it¡¯s two copper to keep them on your team.¡± Marcus slowly lifted his elbow, his eyes never leaving the side of the boy''s head. He nudged Gabe in the shoulder and whispered, trying not to draw the attention of the four large boys, "What are they talking about?¡± Seeing his interest, Gabe leaned in closer to whisper, ¡°Agmak and his friends were doing a job with the two, and you didn¡¯t hear this from me, but Geneve¡­ she doesn¡¯t do well under pressure. She froze and dropped the bag with a necklace that could buy Agmak and the rest of his boys enough rations for months until the next tide.¡± ¡°How much do they owe him?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Gabe shrugged,¡± but Clara¡¯s been doing her best to keep them off Zek and Geneve.¡± Suddenly, the air around them went dry, and the temperature around Clara grew, causing Gabe and Marcus to look up at the girl. Clara stood in front of Agmak, her hands tense at her sides and her fingers glowing like hot coals as she looked up at him. ¡°Are you sure you want to fight me,¡± Agmak looked down at Clara with a smug grin on his face that only grew weary as his eye darted to Clara¡¯s red-hot fingers. ¡°That¡¯s innate magic.¡± Gabe whispered to Marcus as the boy looked at Clara admiringly. ¡°That¡¯s enough. You two, if you are going to fight, take it outside or to the pit.¡± A cold voice spoke loud enough that everyone in this part of the warehouse could hear him, and as quickly as it had begun, the two backed down, resorting only to glares. "Agmak, she keeps her word. You will have your coin.¡± the older voice reminded the other boy. Marcus turned to see the speaker, and in the distance, a figure in all black walked through the crowded cloth tents. He stood on a raised mound of earth and looked at them with unconcerned eyes. The man was tall and had a thin frame, but what actually gave him an edge that made Marcus¡¯s spine tingle was the nonchalance of his posture and the way he spoke, knowing that nobody would say anything to oppose him. With a flagon of ale in his hand, he looked around and stumbled across the cave towards the stalls that made up a sort of counter setting where many orphans and those with a coin in the southern lower wards come to sell and buy. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Who is he?¡± Marcus looked up at the lanky man walking away. ¡°He is the guild master, don''t get on his bad side, and If you get a chance to work a job he places with the merchants, do it right and you will be making as much coin as anyone in the lower cities.¡± ¡°You said Clara needs coin , how do ,uhm ,the members of the guild make coin then?¡± ¡°Ohh that¡¯s really easy. You can just do what you want. The guild is for protection but you could sell them anything if you can get your hands on it and there is also the protection fee. The guild pays a lot of coin for items from the houses of nobles and even better if you can tell them secrets about nobles.¡± Gabe bit and tore off a stripe of jerky. ¡°And how do we do that?¡± ¡°Only members of the guild who can use magic normally take those jobs.¡± ¡°So we can¡¯t help her.¡± Gabe shrugged,¡± if you have magic maybe you can help her get coin.¡± ¡°What if she can¡¯t pay them or refuse to pay them?¡± Gabe looked at him and shook his head. ¡°Zek and Geneve are Goliath. If she can¡¯t help them pay they will find someone else to help them pay.¡± ¡°Gabe and Marcus come with me,¡± Clara said, turning into their makeshift tent, the one Clara and her friends slept in. ¡°Gabe, how much coin do we have?¡± The small boy looked up and raised his fingers, counting in his head. ¡°Not enough coin, we can help Zek and Geneve pay but we won¡¯t have enough for days after that.¡± Clara shook her head and held her hands by her sides, trying not to lash out. She turned her eyes to Marcus. ¡°What can you do? Do you have magic?¡± ¡°Magic ?¡± Marcus looked confused, but Gabe was quick to respond. ¡°I don¡¯t think he knows if he can do magic.¡± ¡®Of course I think I know what magic is but do I believe it no. not at all.¡¯ Clara unfolded the rag running diagonal across her shoulder and waist and pulled out a folded brownish paper, gesturing for Marcus to take it. Marcus, looking confused, reached out for the paper with his hand unfolded and looked at its contents. Confused, he turned it over, and the same was true for the other side. He looked up at her, and Clara¡¯s irritation was so bland that Gabe could see it. The thin boy walked over to Marcus, looked down at the paper, and then back up at him. ¡°That¡¯s Katch paper, you push your magic in it and the paper displays what your affinities are.¡± Gabe turned, blocking Clara¡¯s view, and started a whispered conversation with the other boy. Clara watched them huddle together like mischievous rats and waited for Gabe to tell her the results of whatever they were talking about. Marcus looked at the paper, turned it over and still looked confused. ¡°And how do I do that?" he asked, keeping a sceptical eye on the other boy. ¡°Like this,¡± Gabe grabbed the Katch paper from Marcus¡¯s hand and held it on his own. He shut his eyes, and with a mighty effort of concentration, his face turned red. For all his effort, the paper showed no changes, but it remained blank. Just when Marcus was starting to doubt what the other boy was attempting to show him, the brownish paper started to glow, and words began to appear, symbols and runes forming detailed complexity. It would have been hard for someone to make out the mix of symbols and words, but Marcus was a software engineer, and sure, looking at code for eight hours a day was headache-inducing, but the symbols on the paper felt flat without that intimidating factor of code when you looked at it without context or understanding what it turns did. The paper looked like a DaVinci note with words and illustrated symbols. ¡°That¡¯s very tough for someone like me. See that,¡± he pointed to the symbols on the left. These are the types of magic, and these are the affinity patterns, " he pointed to the third part that was written in numbers. This is the amount of power for each affinity.¡± Marcus looked at the paper, concentrating on trying to understand the complex writing on the paper. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; this is not that impressive; I am not a mage,¡± he said, pointing at the symbols and the corresponding numbers. After understanding what Gabe had explained, this is what was written on the paper in brief form.
Gabe
Affinity Strength/ Weight
Light 0
Dark 0
Elemental 1
Arcane 1
Psychic 0
Shadow 0
Bloodline 0
The sections that the magic wrote in the middle were descriptions of the magic and spell and runic formations that the affinities were a part of or used for, like a personal recorded history. He explained that if he were to master a spell, it would appear in this section of the katch paper in the form of a complex spell formation that would disappear over time if it was not reinforced. ¡°You can use elemental and arcane spells then?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°No I can''t, I don''t have enough power in either affinity.¡± ¡°Are you two done talking like little gossiping girls?¡± Clara pulled the two boys apart and looked down at the paper. She read the name on the paper. ¡°Is he showing what to do?¡± ¡°Yes, I think I get it.¡± ¡°Well, go on let¡¯s see!¡± she pushed the paper towards Marcus, the letters symbols and numbers all disappeared as soon as it left Gabe¡¯s hands. Marcus grabbed the paper and held it before himself,¡± he focused on the paper trying to see the words but nothing happened.¡°I don¡¯t think it''s working. Am I doing this wrong?¡± He looked from Gabe¡¯s face to Clara''s. ¡°No, you have to send your magic into the katch paper if you want anything to happen," she pointed out. He looked blankly at the two and tried to imagine himself pouring his magic into the paper. After a while, and minutes of trying and failing, Marcus soon realised that he didn''t know how to inject magic in the paper, ¡°Is this supposed to feel like anything.¡± ¡°It''s supposed to feel like heat from a campfire," Clara said. ¡°No, that''s only because she has an innate spell ability of fire. I have heard it''s also supposed to feel like a cold or a shock. Did you feel anything like that?¡± ¡°No,¡± Marcus said trying to concentrate, ¡°how did it feel for you?¡± he looked at Clara. ¡°The first time I did it was in the winter in the cold. I wanted to warm myself and ¡®bum!¡¯ my hand caught on fire,¡± Clara said. ¡°When I did it felt like a buzzing that moved through my body. And into the paper.¡± ¡°Like a buzzing,¡± he looked at Gabe, who nodded smugly in response. ¡°Keep the katch paper. Keep trying until you can do it, she said. Let''s go to the fourth wall. We''ll sleep here and go to the wall in the morning. __________ It took most of the day''s hours for the group to reach the outskirts of the wall. Marcus soon came to realise that Srok was as large as any medieval city, with many people living ordinary but poor lives with poorer standards, water drawn from the wells dull and murky, and people preferred to stay in their houses, bodies that died in the street were left for the vultures until the guards forced people out of neighboring homes to clean and dump them out into the Ashfields. During the hours they took to reach the fourth wall, they slept in small abandoned shacks, and with no coin in their name, Clara had ordered the boys Nel and Linus to find them something to eat. For orphaned kids like them, finding food was relatively easy in a way. The water that flowed from the higher stratum of the mountain''s peaks was dammed at every wall and used in the cesspits and trenches to move the waste from the higher walls and Cities on the mountain to the base in the lower cities, then the waste was left to drain into the forgotten forest. The two boys found one of the trench''s holes, and Nel laid down his legs facing the trenches. Linus held a stone brick on the other end of the trench, Marcus watched as the two waited, and they stayed still, and Marcus watched a large rat the size of a rabbit curiously sniff at the opening; it slowly and cautiously moved its head out and sniffed the air. The large rat reached Nel¡¯s feet and sniffed it. The rat nibbled at the boy''s feet, and Linus, who was crouched down on the other end of the trench, swung down the brick onto the rat''s sizable head. "Yesss! There we did it," Linus said, grabbing the large rat. "Here, catch it, and make sure you cut it nice and good," he threw it towards Zek. The large boy grabbed the creature midair and started to skin it with a small knife he pulled out from under his tunic. ¡®Is this how the people, the children of this world, live feeding on rats when they cannot afford to buy food? What about sickness? What happens when they fall sick. On the other end of the narrow alley, Clara started a fire with her magic, and they huddled around it for warmth. Skewed on a stick, the large rat was put on the fire to roast. That night, Marcus did not eat, going through the next day on an empty stomach. Next to the Fourth wall but still within the fifth wall boundaries, the buildings were well maintained, and the streets were kept clean. Interestingly enough, none of the buildings were homes or Manors of wealth; they were a facade of civility, they were brothels, shady merchant buildings, and detestable tavern buildings. A place where all the rich came to play without consequence. ¡°Gabe, take Marcus to the streets to see how he does in the markets. They may be willing to give him more because he is an Aasimar half-blood.¡± ¡°Wait, are we going to ask for something,¡± Marcus looked around at them. ¡°No,¡± Gabe scratched his head pitifully, ¡°we are going to beg for coins in the market and if we are lucky even butchers will have leftover meat to give as well.¡± "Can¡¯t we work for the coins? It¡¯s better than begging." Clara, Zek and Geneve all looked down. "Listen, no one is willing to employ a half-blood especially one who can''t do anything," Gabe said with a lopsided grimace. "Marcus, we can¡¯t start doing that. Just do as Gabe does. It¡¯s much safer for everyone." Clara said, "It''s safer than searching the Ashfields." The two moved towards the gate in the fourth wall that led towards the fourth upper stratum of the city; the land was not flat enough to allow for cleanly constructed stairways. Instead, stairs were built on the steep slope mounds, and where the ground was easy to walk upon, the ground was left to slope upwards naturally, the two moved past the prison fortress, as Gabe had called it . It was a large circular building that was made of black stone and rose above almost every other building in the area and was filled with local militia guards, idly standing guard. The fortress prison was lodged into the soil and anchored the surrounding ground like a plant''s root and in the distance, the stairs continued up and led to the fourth wall''s gate. The guards idly looked at the two boys passing through the gate and did nothing to stop them, but the whipping posts that stood next to them reminded him that if they did not return by the late hours, they would be subjected to lashes and the bloody body of the barely breathing man tied to one of the posts did nothing to ease his worries. chapter 4 ¡°Welcome to the city of Desa,¡± Gabe said as he stretched out his arms, gesturing at the city around them. Marcus looked back from where they had come, and for all intents and purposes, the two cities were connected by a drawbridge. It was a good system that guarded every city if an attack was to come from the base of the mountain. But more to it, the bridge acted as a boundary between the cities. He supposed that if the two lords were unhappy with each other, all one of them needed to do was pull in their side of the bridge to cut off access to their city. Or if one city fell to monsters, then the action would protect the citizens of the other city. For a civilization trying to keep its people alive, this seemed a unique way to handle their geopolitics. And looking at it now, unlike the first time he had looked at the rising cities built into the mountain from the Ashfeilds, he saw the pattern upon which each city was built. Desa was built like a fortress city, and much like Srok, where Clara and her band lived, the lower parts of this city were filled with houses made of stone and timber and closely packed to fit as many as possible. The only difference was that these buildings were well-maintained and somewhat cared for. Where previously wooden debris cut off the narrow streets in the other poorer city here, the tightly packed streets were kept unclogged, opening up the narrow alleys that led to a large marketplace. Desa was one of the five cities protected by the fourth wall in the mountain, and although not as large as some of the others, it had many homes and artisan workshops that filled the city, and tens of thousands of people from this city came to buy and sell their wares, if it had to be compared to the rest of the cities it would be called a trading city. ¡°Desa, is that what this place is called.¡± ¡°Yes, they say the count of Desa is a very rich man, coin is easier to find here.¡± ¡°So Srok is ruled by a Baron, And Desa is ruled by a count. Does that mean that someone even higher up rules the cities high up on the mountain.¡± ¡°Yes, see you know more than you think. the cities in the third wall are ruled by the marques and the ones beyond that by the Arch dukes.¡± ¡®Of course every society needed structure of rule and what other way was there for cities that were built on a mountain to do that.¡¯ As one went further into the city, the wards converged on the market. The buildings surrounding it were three to two stories high. ¡°What do we do now,¡± Marcus asked, looking around at the city and trying to take in as much as possible. ¡°Just do as I do,¡± Gabe said and walked over to an isolated spot next to a corner street from the market; he placed down the rag he covered himself with during the cold nights and sat on it, he placed his hand palm up. Marcus looked with unease at the sight and looked around before hesitantly taking a seat. He had never been a beggar. The entire act made him uncomfortable, the groveling and act of putting his life in someone else¡¯s hands. the feeling disgusted him. The only thing that helped calm his nerves was the fact that he had foregone eating the rat meat the other two boys had caught in the sewer, and his stomach was growling and yawning for something to fill it. So he hesitantly sat. At first, he was just not willing to let his pride be dragged down. And as he sat, he thought. One day, he was living a reasonably comfortable life, and the next, he was a beggar. it was moments like this one thought back to what they had and wondered if it was truly terrible. The worst part was that he didn¡¯t know how to act like a beggar, and the entire thing felt wrong. He shivered as a memory came to his mind, a memory of a beggar he had once seen freezing in the winter. He couldn¡¯t help them. He looked around at the passing crowds and asked himself, if he couldn¡¯t help a beggar in a modern society, then what chance did these people of a preindustrial world have of helping him? So he sat for hours, ignoring the furtive glances Gabe was shooting his way. ¡°Pts, your hand. you¡¯re doing it wrong,¡± he whispered loudly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Lift out your hand,¡± he said and gestured, pushing his hand out. A passing older woman, mistaking the gesture for an overly eager young street urchin, paused midstep, looked around, and dropped a copper in Gabe¡¯s hand. She probably thought the boy was going on an empty stomach, and by the way, the other boy looked, he probably was. ¡°Thank you,¡± Gabe bowed and added, ¡°Let the River and Sun guide you. ¡°He muttered, bowing again to the woman. Marcus looked down at his hand and slowly raised it. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. That single action caused him so many unpleasant emotions he that couldn¡¯t put together. So he sat for hours, willing his mind and thoughts to flee this new place he found himself. Marcus was beginning to understand why Clara had put him to work immediately. If this is what they expected him to do, no wonder they did not ask if he would be comfortable. Yet again, if you were living on the streets with barely enough to eat, you did what you must. Those who didn¡¯t found themselves in far worse positions. And all the while, labourers passed by, housewives and artisans moved past him, giving him a coin or two as a new face on the beggars¡¯ street. The beggar¡¯s streets were often located in varied trading cities. They were often filled with beggars and found before or near a market. They were a place where those too poor and unwanted often found themselves begging for anything society was willing to give them. And as the day came to a close, Marcus was startled from his musings as he watched the scene of all the beggars, young and old, as they stood up from their designated spots and eerily matched in a somewhat organized file away from the street and towards the gate to Srok. The guards did not seem bothered by the action, the shopkeepers and stall owners did not mind them, seemingly used to the occurrence, and for the customers, the beggars gave them a wide berth, trying to avoid any confrontation that would keep them in the city for longer. ¡°Get up, we must get going the guards will close the gates soon and they will stat whipping any one left behind.¡± Gabe ordered, getting to his feet and stepping in behind the crowd of beggars. Remembering the whipping post they had moved past earlier and the half-dead man tied the one next to it, Marcus quickly got to his feet and dusted himself off ¡°Yeah, lets go.¡± When they returned to the rest of the group and counted the copper coins, the two boys made a lot of coin, in this case, a lot being enough coin that they went a week without Clara having to tell them to head to the Ashfeilds to search for things to sell, enough that they each would have some dried strips of had jerky to chew on as they slept. and keep Agmak and his crew from bothering them. For them, it was one of those lucky breaks they got when they had enough coppers to feel safe and well-fed, and this luck continued for days after that. It was during the second week that the trouble came. As the two sat next to each other, Marcus noticed a group of giant people, goliaths, come and stand in front of them, two young beggars. The giant men had rough and dirty hands, wore sturdy leathers, and had heavy boots. They all had dark markings on their stone-grey bodies, marking them as true people of the giants. ¡°I thought they were lying, talking about horse shit but there is an Aasimar actually begging for coin,¡± the large bald one said, looking at Marcus, whose hand was outstretched as he focused his eyes above the shoulder of the man. By looking at all passersby in this way, he caught the attention of the many who saw a young boy with one eye with a golden iris and another dull and bland. The enigma caught most people¡¯s attention, and when they realised they were staring at the rare sight, they often felt guilty enough to leave him with some coin. ¡°See what I said? You owe me ten large coppers,¡± the other large man with a clean chin and markings on his cheek said. ¡°Ten! You said it was five,¡± the bald man protested, shoving back his friend. The other giant dressed like a smith walked closer past the two arguing fools. ¡°Boy, I will give you one large copper if you start hopping on one leg.¡± Marcus looked at the man straight in the eye and didn¡¯t know what to do. From the side of his eyes, he saw Gabe looking at him with an employing look and slight nods, sighing internally as he got up on his feet. The man got an amused look in his eyes as he watched the boy start hoping for coin. ¡°Here you go,¡± the man laughed at him and tossed the coin in the air. ¡°I have always wanted to see an Aasimar dance like a dog.¡± ¡°Here,¡± the clean-shaven Goliath pushed the smith to the side. He looked at Gabe and then Marcus. After a week of living on the streets with Clara and her ring of friends and his adamant refusal to eat rat meat, his body had become as thin and scrawny as the other human street teenagers and children. ¡°I will give you two large coppers if you can entertain me, ¡°the man smiled, an idea forming in his head. He looked at Gabe.¡± If you punch him, I will give you a copper coin.¡± Marcus gave the large man an icy stare and turned a questioning look to Gabe. His eyes went wide in surprise as he watched Gabe stand on his feet and face him. Shocked and confused by the other boy¡¯s actions, he quickly reacted as Gabe twisted his body and threw a punch right at his face. Reacting instantly, Marcus dodged to the right, the first missing his face. ¡°Hey you dodged,¡± the man said, ¡°you are not supposed to dodge.¡± ¡°I Have a better idea,¡± the bold goliath said as he pointed at Marcus,¡± half-blood, I will give you three large coppers. ¡°If you don¡¯t dodge,¡± he nudged his fellow giants, showing what a better idea that was. Marcus looked at the three men who were looking at him expectantly; he turned back to Gabe. Was this what it felt like to be a half-blood in this world, pushed to the street and with no control over one¡¯s own life? Three men wanted to see him beaten. He clenched his jaws and met Gabe¡¯s blank look with resignation. He focused his mind on trying to watch for Gabe¡¯s eyes so that he could better avoid taking the full weight of the punch. As soon as he did, he felt a buzz distracting him with slithering streams of colours and then pain across the left side of his face. ¡°Do it again,¡± a voice said. As he opened his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a colourful world. In that small instant, as he recovered, he saw the world had changed. The three men and Gabe were there, but all over the sky, lines of glowing lights flowed like threads¡ªstreams of colours. ¡°Again.¡± the voice came with cheery laughter. Another punch came, and he saw the same colours on everything, on everyone in the world. As he stumbled back and Fell on his butt, the colour disappeared, and all around him, the three men, along with the passersby, were looking at him, pointing, laughing at him and throwing insults at him. ¡°Here you go the man threw the three large coppers onto the ground and laughed at Marcus. ¡°Half Bloods useless and weak.¡± ¡°An Aasimar, reduced to this thing because its parents can¡¯t control themselves.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t they just die.¡± ¡°Poor thing.¡± Marcus didn¡¯t look up. In fact, it had been foolish of him to ignore the warnings of the orphans. The world hated orphans, and the world hated half-bloods even more. He walked past the crowd, and they avoided him like the plague. He would not get angry, or so he tried to convince himself, but the looks of disgust and the spitting made his blood boil. ¡°You are back early.¡± Geneve asked,¡± what happened to your face?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Marcus said, moving over to Clara, who was seated on a stone in the closed-off alley. He placed three coins in the girl¡¯s hand. He moved to a corner and lay on his side on the ground. He pulled out the Katch paper and focused, not because he wanted to see anything but because he wanted to calm down and forget about what had happened to him. Gabe returned before Marcus could fall asleep. ¡°What happened out there? Marcus returned early with a swollen face.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It was my fault they told me to, and look, we made more than we had in the last two months.¡± Gabe held out the coins. A hint of understanding flashed across Clara¡¯s face as she understood what Gabe was trying to tell him, ¡°How could you do that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Clara I understand why he did it,¡± Marcus said softly from the corner he had taken to sleeping in. That Night, the group didn¡¯t say a word. Geneve offered him a roasted rat, and he refused to fall asleep in the cold Night. chapter5 The world was dark, the magic was thick, and every man, woman, and child had it. Sometimes, the magic was like thick smoke. Other times, it was light and thin. The figures in his dreams smoked in two, three, four colours or more. Marcus woke and opened his eyes, twitching and buzzing. He felt the cold wind of the night street. ¡ª---------- The next time they went to the market, Gabe sat in his usual spot, and Marcus sat further up the road next to the vendors. For the next few days, nothing happened. The people ignored him, and the coin he got grew less and less over the days. perhaps he should have preyed that it stayed this way. Two young men appeared in the street, and as they moved, the people stepped aside, giving them curious looks. And those who didn¡¯t were pushed aside by the two large Goliath guards. Each of the two young men carried a dagger on their belt on open display, something most citizens of Desa could not do. ¡°Are you sure it wasn¡¯t some rumors about a beggar boy," Terlim asked. ¡°Yes, I am sure, I asked around, and the commoners in the nobles wards told me we would find him here,¡± Raltein said. ¡°Tsk, let¡¯s be done with this, if he is as interesting as you say, Perhaps this won¡¯t be a waste of time,¡± Terlim said. ¡°Am telling you it¡¯s true, ¡°the pudgy boy, Raltein, said. And when the two Aasimar and their Goliath guards stopped in front of a young man. They saw that the boy''s skin was the colour of earth, and his eyes were unique and different. One eye was the dull black of the humans, and the other had the golden iris of the Aasimar. The boy looked like a true abomination. He was imperfect and incomplete. The young beggar smelled foul and was covered in dirt. His dirty rags, along with his body, which was all skin and bone, made the taller of the two young men wrinkle his nose. ¡°They should have killed you and your mother. To let such impurity be. Disgusting!¡± Terlim said, covering his nose with a cloth. ¡°Raltein, you should have him get off the street. It''s embarrassing for us,¡± Terlim said. ¡°How am I supposed to do that?¡± Raltein looked up at Terlim, rubbing his hands uncertainly. ¡°You can use your new spell form, the commoners won¡¯t see the wind magic.¡± ¡°Are you sure about this? ¡° ¡°Go on, you wanted to show me,¡± He pushed Raltein in front of the beggar. ¡°This is a good test . Your father can pay the fine for you using magic in this dump." They knew that in many cities, magic was frowned upon, and its use was decreed for the sole protection of the people. In other places, only those tied to a noble house were allowed to use it openly. This especially applied to users of innate magic¡ªthose select few with the ability to use magic without ever studying it. These people would quickly find a Noble House to tie themselves to and, more often than not, live lives without restriction over their magic. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Raltein looked around, and seeing most people going about their business, he pulled out a small piece of Katch paper. He then took a few moments to read the spell, memorize it and a moment later, the pudgy boy started chanting under his breath. Marcus had sat silently, wishing for the two young men to run along, when the slight breeze around him suddenly stopped, and his lungs begun to strain for air. He looked at the young, pudgy man standing with his hand stretched out. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Was he doing something? Marcus tried breathing deeply and in a controlled manner, but that didn''t seem to help. his hand went to his burning chest, and he tried to take a deep breath, but he felt his lungs constrict like his nose had been plugged. ''Is this magic?'' he asked, looking up at the pudgy young man. ''Is he the one doing this?'' Although he had seen magic in his short time here, Marcus was not expecting to be attacked using a spell. After all, he was a beggar, and it would seem such a waste. ¡°What is going on?¡± Marcus''s hands went to his burning chest. He couldn¡¯t breathe and he feeling was just getting worse. He looked at the young man casting the spell and didn¡¯t know what to do. He looked around and tried begging for help, but no one was looking at him. ¡°Stop you fucker.¡± Marcus reached out for the young man, his fist as fast as he could make it. The fat young man stepped back with a broad grin, avoiding the beggar''s striking arm. ¡°You can¡¯t do this,¡± he growled out. Raltein tried even harder, and Marcus felt his vision starting to become dizzy. ¡°Who''s going to stop me?¡± the aasimar asked. Marcus turned to the only person who he believed could help him. ¡°Help me!¡± Marcus looked to said and watched as Gabe who had already been watching squinted his eyes, meeting the other boy''s. ¡°Help me.¡± For a moment, his gaze met Gabe''s, and for a moment, he thought the worst. The other boy didn''t seem to realize what was going on. He looked between the two, Aasimar and Marcus, then noticed the katch paper and the outstretched arm of one of the boys. Gabe''s eyes widened, and without a second of delay, he shouted and pointed. ¡°Magic! They are doing Magic,¡± Gabe rose to his feet and pointed at the young man. All the people in the sprawling market stopped wherever they were, whatever they were doing, and looked around in panic and to where Gabe was pointing, none willing to be the subject of any misplaced magic. Those who saw the casters gave them a wide berth, pushing into their standing neighbours and causing a small commotion in the marketplace. The noise and sudden chaos caused Raltein to lose his focus, forcing him to look around at the many eyes on him. He sheepishly rubbed his hands to hide the fact he had been casting and made to put on a brave front in front of his lessers. ¡°He is using magic.¡± one voice said. ¡°Magic!¡± ¡°Out in the open!¡± ¡° what kind of Magic!¡± The many market-dwellers gawking at the unsanctioned display of Magic gave the pudgy boy a sense of importance as he puffed up his chest, basking in their adoration. It also gave Marcus the chance to run away. ¡°He''s fleeing,¡± Terlim said, and Raatein turned back to see Marcus shambling away. ¡°Guards go after him, catch him and don¡¯t let him get away,¡± he ordered the two goliath guards under his father''s employ. The Goliath guards did not waste time. They ran forward as fast as their large bodies could move, and when Marcus glimpsed back, he could see he was not faster than the two guards who were quickly closing in. His famished body was not as well built as the two men chasing him. He took as many turns as he thought possible to confuse and mislead his pursuers and came to an alley where he hoped to catch his breath away from the two overzealous young men and their guards. Fighting for a street rat like him, as he had become, was not an option. If he fought a citizen of Desa city and was caught, he would be subject to whipping for disturbing the peace. If he was killed by these citizens, no one would care, so he had to be careful with his actions. Unfortunately, when he came to a stop in an alley and tried to breathe and understand why he had been attacked, the guards of the two young men caught up with him. "Listen, guys, I have nothing...uhh," he whizzed, his ears burning from the short run. Why don''t you just go back and tell them you didn''t find me ...uhh?" "It''s not the job we get paid for," one of the Goliaths shrugged and stepped closer to grab Marcus, his partner following closely behind. "Wait," he raised his hands out as the goliaths stepped closer. You do not have to do this," he looked around and cursed. Of all places, of course, he had to stop and catch his breath at a dead end. As he turned back to face the two towering men, a hand shot forward and grabbed his hand, and as he tried to pull away, another large hand, larger than his head, grabbed him by his other shoulder. "You fuckers can''t do this," he tried to free one of his hands to punch one of them, an when he managed that the Goliath seemed unaffected by the blow, the man squeezed into his shoulder and causing him to wince from the pain. Marcus struggled against the two goliaths, but unlike Zek and Geneve, these two were miles apart in strength from the half-starved human-goliath siblings. The hands grabbed him and pushed him to the wall, holding him still. It did not take long for a figure of one of the young men to turn around the corner as he walked with an air of superiority. ¡°Can you believe this, someone with your eyes running like a dog and begging these-- these people,¡± Termil said as he walked closer disgust and contempt lacing his every word. A second later, the wider group of the two figures joined him. ¡°Did they catch him?¡± Reltain came around the corner, breathing heavily and supporting his bulk with hands on his knees. Marcus was dragged forward, winded and half starved, he fought to free himself, but he was slammed into the wall, and he felt pain jolt through his entire body. ¡°You can still fight, good. you can pay for making us run. Raltein give me your dagger.¡± he raised his hand calling or the dagger. ¡°My dagger? why?¡± Reltain¡¯s hand moved protectively and hesitantly. ¡°Just give it to me. You''re the one who let him run away,¡± he stretched out his hand, asking. Slowly, the pudgy young man unsheathed his dagger and handed it over to Terlim. ¡°What are you going to do with it?¡± ¡°I am going to purify this half breed. hold his head,¡± Terlim said. Seeing the dagger, Marcus pushed harder and tried to pull his head away, but the two Goliath guards pushed him knees first to the ground and held his head up, facing The Two Aasimar. Raltein looked around nervously, but he didn¡¯t even have the courage to stop his friend. "Which eye will it be? Will it be the human eye?" Terlim brought the dagger next to his right human eye," or would it be the Aasimar eye?" he moved it to the left said of Marcus''s face. ¡°I will let you choose,¡± he said, and he felt Reltain¡¯s uncertainty. ¡°What is it, Reltain.¡± ¡°Are you sure we won¡¯t get in trouble for doing this?¡± Raltein asked, his eyes darting from one corner of the alley to the opposite end. ¡°Of course, I am sure. he is a half-breed, a street rat. The Count of Dosa wouldn¡¯t care about the likes of him,¡± Terlim said. "now choose which eye will teach this abomination a lesson.¡± ¡°Uhm... Uhm.¡± ¡°Come on, Raltein, make up your mind before the counts guards discover us.¡± Raltein looked down at Marcus, and Marcus stared right back, not in fear but hatred. Raltein looked up at Terlim and then back at the beggar. Was this what he heard of having the power to control another man¡¯s life? He did not have to fear it. He had to make the hard decision, and like his father had told him, he would when the time came. He looked down at Marcus, and all he saw was dirty, filthy, and impure, and Terlim was right. The count would not care if another street rat died on the street. Marcus cursed, stared at the dagger an inch away from his face, his breathing coming heavy and burning his ugs after the run and being beaten by the giant Goliath guards and felt his body freeze. He met the pudgy Aasimar¡¯s eyes and watched slowly as the boy gained his confidence and came to a decision. He would have screamed, but the fight in him had been beaten out, and his body ached; seeing no way out, he decided to beg as he had the past few weeks. ¡°Please don¡¯t do this, you won¡¯t see me again.¡± Marcus begged. ¡°Look Raltein, he begs even now,¡± Terlim mocked. ¡°I can give you everything I have.¡± Marcus continued without a thought of his words, picking at anything that would save him. ¡°You have nothing,¡± Terlim said and watched as the comment took effect. Marcus was a beggar, he truly had nothing to offer. Was this what the world decided he was to become? ¡°Well, Raltein, which eye are we taking? The boy asked, the knife less than an inch from Marcus¡¯s left eye. Before the pudgy young man could choose which of Marcus'' eyes was to be gouged out, a stone flew through the air and hit Terlim in the head. Terlim unconsciously cut down at the kneeling Marcus. Marcus barely had time to react. He saw the blade flash, and he closed his eyes¡ªPain. Searing, sharp, and ice-cold. He gasped as pain exploded across his left eye. Then, something else stirred. Darkness, writhing and alive, erupted from within him. The powerful force blasted outward, sending the Goliath guards and the Aasimar boys flying against the alley walls. And in the shouts and grunts of confusion, he felt as small, weak hands grabbed him beneath his shoulders, hauling him up and currying him away. ¨C chapter 6 ¡®Magic, Study, Warrior¡¯ The Ashfields were empty, a barren land-- a scar on the plain, where warriors were forged, and the young and eager died. The ash was itself soaked with blood of both men and beast and when it was not home to the daughter called ''War'', it was home to the son called ''Desperation''. And it was desperation that had those few people with their hands deep in the ash and dirt, all scavengers piling broken metal, wood, and weapons that could make them coin. And standing in a simple tunic and rags, Ivor looked down at the large pit he had dug up. To the side, the half Aasimar, half Goliath man had a stacked pile of tattered iron and broken arms that was placed next to a small cabin outside the wall. The cabin was in the middle of the Ashfields, and what most did not know was that he built the cabin every time the Great Houses fought the tides of monsters in the Ashfields. ¡°Ivor, old man Ivor!¡± The half-Aasimar, half-giant man turned his head away from the pit he was scrutinising and saw three young teenagers running his way, skipping and stumbling over mounds of shifted earth. ¡°Clara, what brings you to my home today? If you''re looking for your friends, worry not. I last saw them scouring the fields to the east.¡± The man Clara was speaking to stood over seven feet tall, had broad shoulders, a bald head, a thick beard, and the definition of an oncoming gut. His eyes were both golden-hued, and he smiled without a care in the world¡ªunlike the teenage Goliath or the blacksmith he had seen in the market. This Ivor had the body of a warrior, and the fact that he was living outside the wall on his lonesome lent credence to Marcus¡¯s conclusion. ¡°What can I do for you?" he said, smiling like a loving uncle happy to indulge Clara. ¡°Can you help teach Marcus magic,¡± Clara pointed at Marcus. His smile fell away, and he looked up over Clara¡¯s shoulder at Marcus. ¡°No,¡± he shook his head, his sad eyes never leaving Clara. ¡°You''re the only one who can help him, I can pay you.¡± She grabbed at her rugged tunic that held the last few coins of copper Marcus had held onto before the meeting with the Aasimar boys and was not given to Agmak. ¡°Take him to Victor. I am sure he can teach him," Ivor said as his beard swayed. He then headed to his cabin. ¡°No, he will take him away,¡± she lowered her voice and stepped closer. He turned and raised his eyebrow, ¡±so boy- you''re one of those.¡± Marcus shrugged. Ivor turned back to look at Clara. " He''s like you, then. You''re alive, aren¡¯t you? I am sure he will be alright as well.¡± ¡°No, he won''t, he has innate magic.¡± ¡°Yes, and so do you. I see no problem unless you think your friend is more?¡± He turned back, picking firewood from a rack and heading towards the door of his cabin to warm his fireplace. ¡°No,¡± she ran in front of him, not daring to block his path to the door but obstructing it enough. Marcus has two innate magics.¡± Ivor paused at that, and memories of him and his battle brothers flashed before him as his lord ordered him to charge the gates of a rival House. By all measures of men, Ivor and his battle brothers were neither cowards nor weak, but facing a lord of house Crawtomb with two innate magics was one of many things a man could not do lightly. Having two innate magics made a man stand above most men, for he would never forget the spells. He would never need to study or have the need to keep them written down in a spell book or Katch paper. What this meant was that such people were above other casters, unlike regular casters who forgot spells, letting the intricacies and finer aspects of the spell be more complex to recall, needing the caster to recite and relearn the spell. They did not have to worry about not using a specific spell or magic form for an extended period of time. Two innate magics, this was the sort of power that belonged beyond the third wall. Ivor paused again, sighed, and closed his eyes. " All of you come, let¡¯s talk inside.¡± They stepped inside the cabin, and Marcus looked around the room. It was a small room meant for a single person. In the middle of the room, a simple wooden table with carved legs and a rickety wooden chair were placed. A straw-stuffed mattress was on a simple bed frame, and behind him, a solid black chest was placed. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When he looked to the side, he saw a coiled length of rope hanging on a hook, a weathered cloak hanging from a peg, and a candle made from animal fat. Ivor took a seat behind the wooden table and let the three teenagers stand in front of him. ¡±So tell me what you think your friend is capable of.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust Victor," Clara said, looking down at the wooden floors of Ivor¡¯s cabin. ¡°And you think he will take him away.¡± ¡°Yes, he has two innate magics and ¡ªand,¡± Gabe turned to Marcus. ¡°Marcus, use the katch paper. Show him.¡± ¡°No, you will do no such thing.¡± Ivor raised his hand, stopping Gabe in his tirade, ¡°If what you say is true, it would be unwise to show anyone, and I personally don''t have any preference for truth seekers rummaging through my mind.¡± ¡°Mind readers!¡± Marcus looked over at Clara. ¡°So he doesn¡¯t even know of mind magic,¡± Ivor said, turning to Clara, ¡°where did you find him?¡± ¡°Found him in the Ashfields, Gabe thinks they threw him there?¡± ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± Ivor pinched his eyebrows and went silent, and Clara, Marcus and Gabe were alongside him. ¡°Before I can give you my answer,¡± he turned to Marcus, ¡°show me what you can do.¡± Marcus scratched his head. ¡°I don''t think I know how to use magic.¡± Ivor raised his head to meet Marcus, furrowed his large, bushy eyebrows, and looked at him like a fool who knew not how to walk. Then he looked at the other two, asking if this was some sort of joke. ¡°It¡¯s innate magic¡ªyou just use it,¡± he said, looking Marcus straight in the eye. ¡°Up until a month ago I didn¡¯t even know magic was a real thing,¡± Marcus shrugged. ¡°Boy, you mean to tell me you have never used magic,¡± Marcus¡¯s eye twitched at being called ''boy'', and Ivor didn¡¯t miss it. "No, never. Not once in my life," ''that is this life as of the past weeks.'' Ivor continued staring at the three like fools and trying to understand the joke, ¡° so you mean to tell me that not once over the many summers of you life have you used magic." "Yes," Marcus said. Ivor''s eyebrow twitched, and as much as he could tell, the boy was not lying-- which was odd. "Tell me then what are the innate spells you have written on your soul.¡± ¡°On my soul¡ª" he muttered in confusion. Then, as he realised what the older man was asking, he continued, "I have ¡®Arcane Sight''.¡± Ivor sat straighter in his chair at the words, taking the boy seriously. And I have Nova of Shadow Sun.¡± Ivor¡¯s face went blank, and he turned, looking at his window, peering into the far distance. His hand twitched. ¡°Victor. If you told Victor, you would definitely not see your friend again, Clara,¡± he said in a lower voice that was loud enough to etch worry deep in their hearts. ¡°Yes, I know.¡± she replied with a defiance burning low in her voice. ¡°Arcane Sight, how does it work for you?¡± he turned back to Marcus. ¡°The time it happens, I can see colours. I think it¡¯s magic,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Can you do it now?¡± Ivor looked at Marcus and saw the blank look of confusion on the boy¡¯s face. " Boy, unlike spells, innate magic is easy¡ªjust wish to see it, command it, and will it.¡± Marcus, ever sceptical, was surprised, and the appearance of colours had him stumbling back into the wall. ¡°What do you see, boy?¡± he rumbled. ¡°Colours.¡± ¡°What do you see when you look at me?¡± ¡°I see White, Blue, and Red," the boy said, and Ivor¡¯s eyes widened a bit, a shiver running down his back. He stood and walked over to the chest behind him. It was plain, and one would guess that he liked it that way. He reached in, grabbed two daggers, and walked back to his seat. He placed them in front of the boy. ¡°What colours do you see?¡± he asked again. Marcus looked down at the two daggers. ¡°The right one is blue, and the left one gives off white light.¡± Ivor did not respond. He grabbed his two daggers from his plain-looking table, moved over to his chest, and dumped them in. "Mage sight. This is very rare magic. It¡¯s good magic, and most can¡¯t tell when it¡¯s being used. Avoid arcane mages using the same spell-- they will know if you are using it." The large Goliath man turned back to the group, shaking his head in disbelief. ¡°Fine Clara, I will teach your friend.¡± ¡ª When the children left, Ivor was curious, if not intrigued, that the boy had manifested two innate magics. For that alone, he would have accepted to teach him, but not only did he have a more focused mage sight, but he also had a second innate magic, one that even he had never had. To think they would throw away someone so powerful just because he was not of pure blood, Ivor stood still behind his door and thought. he thought of what to do next with this information. he could tell one of the noble houses and help the boy out of the slums, but that would leave him a serf for whichever house took him in. If he took him to the church-- no, they would cripple him. he shook his head and came to an idea if they were willing to throw the boy away, he would teach him. He would forge him if only to show the houses that half-breeds like him were more than just¡ª. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he opened them and breathed once more, he was calm, the bloodlust gone from his eyes. The next day, the teenagers came to Ivor¡¯s cabin with something akin to new-found energy. The youngest of the orphans ran across the earthy, ash-soaked dunes, laughing and, at moments, digging through the war-torn earth before running back to the group, showing everyone. As for Marcus, he followed along, talking with Clara the entire time as he tried asking questions, and she tried to answer all of him about all she knew. Ivor stood on the ridge of a hill where his cabin was. His hands were dirty and filled with ash and brown earth as he sorted the different kinds of metals and weaponry left behind that he had collected after the annual battle of the Ashfields. The group of eight came to a stop in front of the cabin, and after a few words between Ivor, Marcus and Clara, seven of the orphaned teenagers left to scavenge the barren lands. Ivor looked at the boy in front of him and did not know exactly what to do. Sure, he had agreed with the boy and Clara to offer tutelage, but what was the point? Would there be a point? Sure, he could teach him, but the boy was orphaned and left for dead. The boy was living in the slums of Srok under the rule of Victor Stan, and the Baron did not care for people as long as he got a cut from the black market, thieves and smugglers. He could show him all he knew, but it would be a waste. Someone with two innate magics would cause a lot of trouble not only for himself but also for Clara and her friends. It was a question he had thought of all night-- what was the boy capable of? Was he capable of joining a house as a guard? Of course, he was. Would the power he would give the boy be used for good or evil-- that he was not sure of? Sure, Marcus could become strong, but Victor and the Baron of Srok would never let him be. He felt it was a waste of time, for with strength came daggers in one¡¯s back, corruption, and pointless deaths. But to waste so much potential, Ivor only hoped the gods of Sun and River would merely look kindly upon the boy. He sighed internally. ''Then let it be for the gods of Sun and Water and let what comes be that which they will.'' Chapter 7 Marcus stopped before the giant Goliath man and waited for the lessons to begin, oblivious to the man¡¯s thoughts. He was going to learn actual magic, a concept he thought to be left for stories of fantasy, it was that feeling of cobbled power and control most imagined that flared as Marcus wandered of all the possibilities. As a person fascinated with computers in his old life, the concept that zeros and ones were capable of running heavy calculations and machines was awe inspiring and if that was the case then what of magic-- the thing Clara had told him held the most potential in this world, he would simply have to find out. "Come," Ivor said, turning his back and heading to his cabin. ¡°Are you going to teach me magic? ¡° If he needed to find out what happened to him, then this was one of many steps to his answers¡ªanswers to why he was here and to why he couldn''t remember something. "No, I will teach you Warcraft," he said in his deep voice. Marcus had a confused look on his face. ¡®What the man meant, he didn¡¯t know.¡¯ "What is that? Is that some magic?." "Seat boy," he gestured to a chair opposite his own. ¡°I hope you are as smart as you look because I will not teach you like the nobles. I know very little about other ways of magic, but Warcraft is something that I can teach you.¡° Ivor noticed his words passing over the boy¡¯s head and continued. ¡°Yes. warcraft is a form of magic but first tell me. Do you know of the seven schools of magic?¡± ¡°I think so, I have seen them on the Katch paper but don¡¯t know how they exactly work, " Marcus said. He wanted to ask about how the laws of physics work alongside them. Marcus started and was promptly stopped by the raised hand of his new teacher. ¡°Let¡¯s start there.¡± He walked over to his plain black chest behind his chair next to his bed and pulled out ten interlocked coins on a piece of cloth string. In his other hand, he held a scroll encased in a wooden cylindrical case. He walked over to the table and heavily sat himself down. ¡°There are seven schools of magic, each unique in its workings. You are Aasimar, so you doubtlessly have an affinity for light magic. " He looked at Marcus, and the boy nodded. Regardless, I need you to read this scroll.¡± He pulled it out, and it rolled from his hand across the table and to the floor of the cabin. "You want me to read? I thought you would teach me magic." "I didn¡¯t pick you as one for impatience," Ivor mocked. ¡°You will Read the scroll after I have explained the basic magics then I will teach you." "And what are the basics?¡± "One for questions I see," Ivor assessed, much to Marcus''s dismay, "The schools of magics, as I said before, are all different but work together to create spells. There is light magic, Dark magic, elemental magic, arcane magic, Psychic magic, Shadow magic, and Bloodline magic favoured by the Goliaths. ¡°Do they all have their own spells that can¡¯t be found in other schools?¡± ¡°Yes and no,¡± Ivor sighed. " some spells can be cast using only light magic and others you will need to use one or more affinities to cast a working spell. Innate magic is counter to this fact.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Marcus looked up from the scroll. "Innate magic is different because its often the most accurate of ways to cast magic and is a manifestation of aether in ones body. ¡°And what if you don''t have innate magic?" ¡°Since Most spells depend on more than one school of magic. There are other ways to cast spells.¡± He grabbed the clay jug, pulled the stopper open, and sipped its contents. ¡°There are five basic castings: rituals, enchanting, spell forms, and innate magic, the strongest way to cast magic.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference? ¡° ¡°That¡¯s why you need to read the scroll. But remember this, innate magic only comes to those blessed by an affinity. Sometimes, it''s strong.¡± He looked at Marcus as he said the words, "Other times, it''s weaker but never useless. It can be cast instinctively without complex rituals or focus.¡± ¡°And what is the most potent form of casting apart from innate magic? ¡°gods, You sound like the nobles in the high walls,¡± Ivor said with a half-hearted smile of disappointment. ¡°The King of Taeralis, an Aasimar, uses the most powerful spell forms, but that is not where his strength lies.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Then how can he use the strongest spells?¡± "It¡¯s the affinity presence in his soul-- my master called it magical weight." Ivor unstrung the wooden coins with square holes and placed all ten of them on the table. " Think of each coin as how much you can use for a spell." He placed five coins in two columns. ¡°People with an affinity of five or more always emerge with an innate magic.¡± "So, anyone with an innate magic is strong." ''So, is Clara that strong?'' "Again, yes and no. I hope you can see how revealing you have two innate magics tells me how much magical weight you have." He sighed. "I can tell you are at least as strong as a Lume magician, and you can cast spells of the advanced level." "I see how that can be dangerous." Marcus nodded. "It¡¯s more so in the high courts of the great houses," he breathed and shook his head, banishing many such thoughts. "Now you will read this for this week, and then your training will begin." The man stood and walked over to the door. He said nothing, and Marcus, based on his expression, didn¡¯t ask more. The first week was all about reading. Marcus asked Ivor why he was reading, and Ivor said that it was better for him to understand the basics before they got started with anything. Marcus had come to a summary of all the schools of magic, starting with light magic that focused on restoration and mending. Dark magic focused on destruction and afflictions. These two magics from the scrolls he had read were described as relatively opposite to each other and countered each other. The following two schools included elemental magic, which dealt with the elements of the world: fire, water, earth, and air, and included complex spells like lightning. While arcane was the opposite on the other hand, it dealt with the void of elements, the space where elements did not exist. It dealt with pure energy and force. The next magics were those of mind and body. Psychic magic was a magic school that dealt with the mind, moving objects and seeing truths. Marcus was intrigued by bloodline magic, which dealt with improving physical attributes, having never heard of it before. Lastly, there was the shadow school of magic, which was said to have come from the clouds that covered most of the world in shadowy darkness. Although this is how they speculated about the magic, he was skeptical and could understand how they could have come to this conclusion. Yet this was magic¡ªmagic! And like any young boy with dreams, he dreamt of magic and all its possibilities. The other thing was that the higher the number of spells a person could cast, the more powerful they were. So it was on one faithful day that Marcus arrived with Clara, Gabe and the others to find the aged man seated on his chair with a sombre look on his face. As the group left, Marcus uncertainly made for his seat in the quiet cabin, and Ivor¡¯s eyes carefully followed Marcus¡¯s every action as the boy sat. Ivor didn¡¯t speak for a moment, but seeing Marcus comfortably waiting in silence, he said, ¡°I may have agreed to teach you, but I have been hesitant." "Hesitant. Why? you can just teach me a few things, and I will be out of your hair." Marcus said. "If it was that easy, I would have taught you already and have been done with it." ¡°Then why not do that?¡± Marcus asked. If Ivor could teach him how to use ¡®this magic,¡¯ he could start finding how he got here or away to return. "It¡¯s not that simple. I have been thinking about it." Ivor looked Marcus straight in the eye." You have two innate magics, something very rare. If I teach you, what will you do then? With your strength, you can start a house and become as powerful as nobles, or you can become a danger to yourself and your friends, or even the Mountain cities and I personally don¡¯t want more blood on my hands." Marcus¡¯s eyes brows narrowed in confusion, and Ivor noticed. "Now, I am not saying you¡¯re a bad person, but I have seen many men fall to the depravity of power." "It¡¯s good that you are cautious, and I agree with you. But I almost lost an eye." Marcus pressed his lips in anger. "Yes, I am aware. And seeing your patience speaks well of your character." ¡°Thank you.¡± Marcus nodded, ¡°but at some point even I get tired of worrying about those people who don¡¯t understand what it means to be a person.¡± Ivor looked at him with his Aasimar golden eyes and nodded once, ¡°can you make an oath to me that you will never be unjust in your power and protect as many people as you can.¡± If magic had landed him on this planet, learning about it would only help him understand it better. And if all he needed to do for knowledge was not to harm the innocent, he would as long as they did not threaten his life, then he would do it. ¡°I swear, Marcus,¡± started if it was a promise the man needed, he could not degrade him the piece of mind. ¡°No, no. Not like that, Marcus. Get on your feet and place your hand over your chest.¡± Ivor stood and performed the action, demonstrating to the boy. Marcus got to his feet, stood back straight, and placed his hand over his heart. ¡°Do not resist boy. just say the words.¡± Ivor stood straight and began chanting his oath. ¡°True honor lies in service to others. I vow to teach thee this truth. I vow to guide thee in the ways of Knight and WarCrafts.¡± A presence reached Marcus, and he felt a weight settle on his shoulders and the tightness in his arms. His mouth started to move. At first, he resisted, but then he remembered Ivor¡¯s words, so he let it happen. ¡°I shall serve with a heart steadfast, that I may earn thy trust and the people¡¯s.¡± Marcus stumbled. A hand grabbed his shoulder, reminding him he was not alone. Take a seat. It¡¯s the same bloodline oath I took with my master, a little more relaxed though it may be. ¡°What¡¯s next,¡± he asked, trying to centre himself. ¡°Do you remember the rules of magic?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Marcus breathed softly. Of course, he remembered. ''Regular magic required frequent use; neglect could lead to forgetting specific spell forms or loss of proficiency.'' ''Spells rely on precise focus, formations, or aether flow. Without practice the connections weaken.'' ''Advanced spells degrade faster the longer one takes without using them.'' ''Casters often forget the specifics of a spell, and often need to relearn formation.'' ''Forgotten spells may result in incomplete casting or reduced potency.'' ''Also, Forcing forgotten spells causes magical strain and higher aether consumption and recovering them requires significant time or study.'' ''people use Katch paper or grimoires to recall forgotten spells.'' ''Innate magic only emerges from an affinity level between five and nine. It functions instinctively and such spells can not be forgotten.'' ¡°Next we will learn more about your Arcane sight, what it can do and its limits.¡± ¡°What about my shadow innate magic?¡± ''Was he not going to teach him.'' he thought to himself, but he did not say it aloud. He hoped there was a reason for Ivor¡¯s actions. ¡°Yes , Nova of Shadow Sun, another strong magic, forget it for now. once you can use your Arcane sight and I deem you capable enough with a dagger then we will see about your shadow magic.¡± ¡°You want to teach me how to use a dagger.¡± ¡°Of course, a man who knows well how to use a dagger, survives in Srok.¡± ¡°I thought you said you were a knight. knights use swords.¡± ¡°Yes, I was,¡± he said, deeming that an adequate answer. He grabbed the wooden round pallets on the cloth string and placed them on the table in front of Marcus. He placed two of the hollow coins first down. ¡°Choose,¡± the half-Goliath commanded. Marcus looked down, then back at him. He pointed to the left coin. ¡°Fail,¡± Ivor said, his large hands swiping down and grabbing the wooden coins. ¡°Again,¡± he placed two coins down again, and Marcus pointed to the Right wooden coin this time. ¡°The right one," he said, thinking to himself. Ivor looked up at him; he looked him straight in the eye and squinted, ¡°Are you using your Arcane sight?¡± ¡°Was I supposed to,¡± he wasn¡¯t sure what the Goliath was animosity for unless there was something he was missing about the hollowed-out coins. ¡°Of course, that¡¯s what the training is for¡ªnow at least,¡± Ivor said, not with anger but with patience in his voice. Marcus cast the Arcane sight spell, and the colours spread into being. As the boy cast the spell without any gestures or words of power and looked at him, Ivor felt uneasy. He felt his very soul retreat into his being. He felt the boy looking at him, past him. The spell sent a shiver down his spine, but this time, he knew it was the gaze, something else he would need the boy to control. Ivor placed the two wooden coins down, and it was clear as daylight. Marcus saw the magic filled in one but no magic in the other. ¡°The right one is filled with magic, the left one isn''t, the left is not.¡± ¡°Aether boy, the right one is filled with aether.¡± the half-goliath corrected. What colour is the aether?¡± Marcus looked back down at the small wooden palate, ¡°It¡¯s blue aether.¡± ¡°So you really can see the affinity, that-- that¡¯s very useful.¡± he said, nodding to himself. ¡ª--- chapter 8 On the first day of the second week, the exercise involved picking out which wooden coin pallets were infused with aether. And as the days went on, Ivor increased the number of pallets, infusing aether into them and asking which ones were infused-- sometimes all were infused, sometimes none. This continued for four days. On the fifth day, Ivor realized that no matter how long the sessions took, the boy¡¯s Arcane aether seemed endless. This realization was both worrying and exciting. Worrying because he could not tell what the boy was capable of, exciting because he had the potential to change the world. Ivor paused their lesson and told him to sit. ¡°Can you tell how many spell tiers there are?¡± ¡°There are five tiers of magic.¡± ¡°And do you know to which tier the arcane sight belongs?¡± From the reading he had done, there were five tiers of magic that he had gleaned from the few books and scrolls Ivor kept around- the first tier dealt with basic magics, easy to cast with their simple spell forms, and then tier two was more advanced adding complex spell layers and understanding this kept on for the higher the tier. Tier three and four separated the magicians from war crafters who used tier one and tier two spells. And strongest of all were the tier-five spells. And many times, scholars argued that the royal magics- the heirloom spells of the houses- should be put in this category as well because of how unconventional they were, like the Wyvern Lords¡¯ taming spell. Lastly, the old magics, there was nothing much written about them because of their rarity. ¡°Three,¡± Marcus was not so sure, and of course, he didn¡¯t want to oversell himself. ¡°Close enough. It¡¯s a Tier four or five spell, I suspect, and it¡¯s a Royal Magic¡±, Ivor corrected. Unlike other mage sight spells out there, the efficiency of the boy¡¯s spell seemed near perfect. ¡°And one of the very few I have come across,¡± he added in his sombre, grating voice. Well, that was something Marcus thought. At least he had a strong Affinity presence in the arcane, which meant that teleportation spells, at least to his understanding of the scroll he read, were not far out of reach. ¡°With your ability to see the affinities of others, I hope you can choose your battles wisely.¡± ¡°So if my affinity is far stronger than my opponents does this mean I will have a better chance of winning.¡± ¡°Sure, in most cases,¡± he said with a slight shrug, ¡°if you can keep channeling as much aether as you have over the past weeks.¡± The following week, the third week of his tutelage, Ivor had Marcus tie a cloth over his eyes, and the tests continued. This time, seeing the magic behind the blindfold became more challenging. Unlike when he was using his eyes to look at the objects directly, the goal of the exercise had changed and become more complex-- Ivor had instructed him to focus more on his aether, with the goal being to catch the simple traces of any type of aether by hind any obstructions to his path. ---- When Marcus went back to their camp, Clara was the first to speak ¡°Hi Marcus, what does Ivor have you doing this time, i hope not reading again?¡± Clara asked as she watched him nibble at the roasted meat. ¡°His having me use my innate magic to identify aether infused in objects with a blind fold on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± Geneva said. ¡°does that mean you can see with you eyes covered,¡± Clara asked. ¡°Sure you could think of it that way.¡± ¡°So can you see in the dark,¡± Linus asked. ¡°no, I cant. I can only see aether infused things or anything with aether really.¡± ¡°Could you Show me, ¡°Geneve asked? ¡°No, show me,¡± Linus said only for Nel to push him to side asking with excitement and awe. It was times like this he remembered he was in the body of a young man -- and the teenagers around would be looking for something exciting to do. Marcus looked around at the eight teenagers of the troop who were slowly becoming his friends and family in the street alley where they slept. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Marcus said, calming down his eager crowd, ¡°You may feel something. Don¡¯t worry; it¡¯s not dangerous. ¡°Looking at her face, the towering Goliath girl was having second thoughts, but to everyone¡¯s surprise, she didn¡¯t back down. Marcus cast his Arcane Sight instantly without a need for a spell formation, and he looked straight at her. Geneve felt a cold sensation on the back of her neckline, and her eyes widened. ¡°I felt it-- it feels weird, but its like i blinked and it gone,¡± she said. ¡°Me. do me.¡± Nel said. ¡°Me .¡± Linus raised his hand. ¡°I wanna try it,¡± Ethne said sheepishly. ¡°No, show me.¡± Gabe and the others quickly raised their hands, all of them taken up by the excitement to volunteer. Marcus, being Marcus, looked at each intern, and some felt it-- others, however, did not. ¡°I felt it,¡± Geneve said. ¡°I did too,¡± Gabe said. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Nel said You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°neither did I, ¡°Linus added as well. Looking at the orphaned teenagers who had just recently become his friends and family. This is what he saw. Zek had four collective colours, red threads that represented bloodline magic smoked off his body, covered with slivers of black, yellows and grey for dark magic, arcane magic and shadow magic respectively. Geneve, like his brother Zek, had the red of bloodline magic, which was not as prominent the purple of psychic magic. The yellow of arcane magic and thin strands of the grey of the shadow aether. The threads of magic floated off their bodies and into the air and joined the magical ley lines. Gabe had Thin wisps of arcane Aether and blue elemental Aether spiraling off him. Linus and Nel had the same thin wisps flowing from their bodies to the Aether ley lines. It wasn¡¯t surprising to see Clara¡¯s Aether blazing, in blue elemental magic along with smaller smoking threads, the white colour of light magic, the yellow of arcane, the red of bloodline magic, and a much smaller strand of grey shadow aether. The thing that surprised him even more was the number of colours around the youngest of the girls. Ethne, the youngest among them, had a ribbon of colours- all the colours were solidly flowing off of her, apart from the grey shadow magic. His eyes widened as something suddenly became clear: although Ethne had as much magic flowing around her, it was not solidly made manifest like Clara¡¯s. Therefore, he came to the conclusion with the evidence in front of him that innate magic was formed when enough Aether of a single affinity converged on itself and, like a big bang, formed a spell form. It meant that although Ethne had a lot of Aether, it was too split among many affinities, and she would never have innate magic. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ethne asked as she slunk back, her large, flaked golden eyes reflecting the campfire and hid behind Geneve, sparing a look for Marcus that he could only describe as fearful. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just surprised and realized something was in fact. Thank you.¡± ¡°Ahh, you¡¯re welcome,¡± Ethne said, ¡°blushing as she stuffed her face with roasted rat meat and looked away. The next morning, when Marcus did not make his way to Ivor¡¯s cabin, Gabe was fast to notice or, rather, to question him. He questioned him why he hadn¡¯t left for the cabin as they stepped out of the gate. ¡°Old man Ivor is gone to visit the markets in ForgeHold city, he says that he will be back in a week.¡± ¡°That means you get to spend the rest of the week with us,¡± Gabe said. ¡°yeah, I will be taking the time to see what else my spell can do.¡± ¡°And I will help you,¡± Gabe suggested, an excited look on his face. Together, all the young teenagers made it into the Ashfields filled with the dull smell of ash. If one of the scavengers scoured an area for scraps of iron and wood and failed to find anything, they would move on, never staying in one place. ¡°This is the place we searched yesterday,¡± Clara said as she looked around at the shallow ditch, ¡°let¡¯s move forward to the next spot.¡± Linus and Nel were the fast to run forward and started digging around-- their strategy was that those with small fingers were used to lightly pick at anything interesting and after they let Zek and Geneve carry away the heavy hips of soil if their was anything intresting. It was hours later, much to Gabe¡¯s insistence, that Marcus cast his spell. ¡± How does it work? Can you see me ?¡± Gabe asked, passing his hands in front of Marcus¡¯s face, which was covered in rags that only let him see using his magical spell. ¡°I can see aether.¡± ¡°What does it look like?¡± Gabe asked. ¡°It looks like¨C.¡± Marcus looked up at the sky, where the many Ley-lines of aether of different affinities were attracted to each other and formed large floating threads of The different affinities that worked their way through the many mountain cities. ¡°It looks like a child was given colours and drew lines across the mountains,¡± he said in awe. ¡°That. That sounds wonderful,¡± Ethne said from beside him and Gabe, looking up at the cloudy grey-blue skies filled with nothing but the smog of clouds. When his gaze landed in the war-torn grounds of the ash field, Marcus cocked his head to the side as he watched thin tendrils of magic leave the ground and float up towards their respective colours of aether. Slowly, he understood what he was witnessing. ¡ª The Ashfeilds were the place where the people and the great houses came to fight against the monsters that attacked mountain cities. It was the place where if a soldier died, their armour, sword, or shield could be found buried in ashes, and if the weapons and armour these men and women carried were anything like the enchanted daggers Ivor kept, then they could sell it for a lot of coin. Marcus ran to the closest spot with aether licking towards the sky and started digging undaunted by the soil. His fingers grew dirty with ash and earth as he dug, and the more dirt he pushed to the side, the more the aether escaped the ground. Seeing Marcus digging with a fervour, She had never seen in him. Clara was curious,¡± Marcus did you find something.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he nodded, heaving a heavy breath. ¡°Zek, Geneva, guys over here ,I think we found something,¡± she called out to her band of friends. ¡°What is it, Marcus?¡± Zek asked, getting to his knees and using his large, half-Goliath hands to shift dirt and ash like a burrowing mole. Digging hands reached out and felt something hard beneath the thin, dark soil, and using his massive hands, he jerked and pulled. If Clara had been expecting a torn, broken piece of armour or sword, it was not what she saw. All the searches she had done, searching deeper than they were digging right at that moment, Clara knew in those times she would have found nothing, not even a scale from plate armour or a fully functioning helm. Yet here they were, grins plastered on all their faces. They had found it, a shield fully functioning and reacting to aether as Marcus held it. It had a few snaps and dents, but so what? Even she could see the enchantments running along it. ¡°We did it,¡± Gabe yelled, and the entire cadre of teenagers let out whoops and yells of happiness. They spent the next couple of minutes making their way back to the city, and Marcus walked with the rest of the group. Although his body moved along with the ragtag band of orphans, his mind was elsewhere, and his hands were caressing the inscribed letters of runes on the rounded shield. The writings were commands guiding the aether in the enchantment. ¡°Marcus, come over here, bring the shield with you,¡± Clara called, breaking him back into reality¡ªlike the first time he had been brought to the city. Jethro, the shady merchant, had a welcoming smile, the man not one to let something as valuable as the enchanted shield pass him by. Come on, Clara told me you guys found something interesting. He rubbed his hands together and watched Marcus place the shield on the shady merchant¡¯s counter. ¡°Interesting, this is very interesting, Clara.¡± ¡°How much are you offering,¡± Clara asked. Jethro looked down at the shield, his hands gliding over its intricate carving. ¡°You can¡¯t rush a professional darling, I can get you the best deal,¡± he admonished. Deep in his thoughts, Jethro was excited, to think that out of the rubbish, wagon wheels, and destroyed armour the kids often brought from the Ashfields, they would bring back an enchanted item. Finally, even this cover he took on as a job was paying off. If he actually thought about it though, Jethro could probably sell the shield in Forgehold for five small gold coins which was fifty silvers-- a wealth man¡¯s pay in Srok. A snap of fingers broke him out of his thoughts.¡± How much for this?¡± Clara kept asking and focusing on the merchant. ¡°Five small silver,¡± Jethro said. ¡°That¡¯s enchanted,¡± Clara frowned, looking at Jethro,¡± it costs hundreds of gold coins in the high markets.¡± ¡°Fine one large silver,¡± the merchant clenched his jaws. ¡°Nine large silver,¡± Marcus countered. If he knew anything about enchanted items, it was that Ivor kept those he owned like treasured jewellery. Jethro frowned and looked at Marcus, who met his gaze steadily.¡± Two small silver.¡± ¡°Eight large silver.¡± ¡°Three large silver,¡± Jethro said, eyes widening. ¡°Seven large silver.¡± Marcus had a slight smile slowly creeping up on his face. ¡°Four large silver.¡± ¡°Six-,¡± Marcus started, only to be stopped by Jethro raising his hand to halt him. ¡°Fine, fine. I will give you five silver for the shield,¡± Jethro assented, whining about how children should not be taking this much silver and how useless it was to orphans in the Slams of Srok. Slowly and hesitantly, Jethro counted out five large silver coins and placed them in Clara¡¯s hand. Immediately, he reached for the prized shield, covered it in rugs, and placed it in his wagon. Five large silvers meant fifty small silvers or five hundred large coppers. (5 large silvers = 50 small silvers = 500 large coppers) Clara held the coins tight in her hands and close to her chest. Moving to their alley, she looked down at the silver. With this, Clara could help Zek and Geneva keep honouring the promise of the or she could completely buy out their debt from Agmak. A promise that they had made between them, as long as she could help them pay their debt, they would always have her back and be a part of her dream. She stared blankly at the wall, tears wailing in her eyes. this was it a chance as she realized it could be over between the half Goliaths sibling and Agmak forever; she had helped her friends and her family. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Marcus came up from behind her, his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m alright. I was just thinking.¡± She said,¡± Thank you. With this, we can pay for Zek and Geneva¡¯s debt, and we can be done with the rats guild. ¡°You were planning to leave the guild?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Yes, we planned to leave and start a house with Zek, Geneva and me. We would have enough strength to be a house.¡± ¡°What would you call this house?¡± He asked, looking up at the blue-grey sky. For all Ivor said about his time as a House Knight for the nobles, there was one thing Marcus had mentioned that still rang in his mind. With his high affinities, he had said it in passing, and the fact that the houses got access to knowledge forbidden to most of the populace, it would help him to find out if it was possible to return home, his only goal at the moment. ¡°House Morkan... It means hope from darkness.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good name.¡± ¡ª