《The Infinite Cycle》 Chapter 1 The grand clock tower in Aivon City chimed to mark noon as the sun sat high overhead. The streets were filled with citizens going about their daily business. The side streets of the city were far busier than usual due to people being forced off their usual routes. A massive parade of people were marching down the main street in celebrating the Dragon Festival. On a side street, a young child of six years tried to push his way through crowds of people. ¡°Mother, please hurry!¡± Cerlin whined as he grasped at his mother¡¯s hand and pulled her forward. ¡°We will miss front of the parade!¡± ¡°Darling do not worry, the parade only just started. It will be some time before they reach us down here.¡± Andra Stelvo tried to reassure her son that they would not miss the parade. Though there were plenty of citizens attempting to watch the parade, in this section of the city most people were still focused on their normal tasks. Cerlin pulled his mother through men pushing carts, women carrying baskets of their daily shopping, and guards patrolling the streets for security during the festival. Eventually they were able to make their way through the crowds and reach the edge of the main street. ¡°Come dear, let¡¯s stand near this wall so we won¡¯t get in the way of others.¡± ¡°Yes, mother.¡± The low thumping of drums could be heard in the distance as the parade made its way down the main street from the Senate Hall. Nearly half an hour passed before the head of the parade was finally in sight. Cerlin jumped for joy as the parade approached and he finally got to see what he was waiting for. The head of the parade was comprised of a group of men and women wearing black and white robes. On each of their breasts was sewn a bright gold insignia in the shape of a dragon head. These people were members of the Order of the Black Scale which was a special group of individuals dedicated to the protection of the few remaining dragons in the world. At the lead was the head of the order and one of the ten grandmaster sorcerers in the world, Vorian Dregna. His bald head and thick beard cut an imposing figure as he floated half a meter in the air upon a magic platform. Just behind him at his flanks, two men and two women went on foot and sent smiles out into the crowd. Numerous aspirants of the order followed behind the leaders and surrounded a large carriage. The carriage was heavily guarded by warriors of the order as well as a small squad from the Aivonus Republic¡¯s military. ¡°They are so cool, right mother?¡± Cerlin stared with wide eyes at the people of the Order of the Black Scale. ¡°I want to be strong like them when I¡¯m older!¡± ¡°Hmph, it will be several years before we will know if you can use magic, dear. And don¡¯t expect me to be happy about you becoming a warrior either.¡± Andra said harshly. ¡°After what happened to your father I would hate for you to end up like him¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry mother! I know that I will have talent in magic, I can feel it.¡± Andra patted her son¡¯s head and sighed as the carriage passed by them and they were able to get a short look inside. The carriage was covered in dozens of different decorations and was large enough to fit at least six people inside. It was pulled by four large horses with smooth brown coats and filled with its maximum number of occupants. The carriage belonged to the Grand Minister of the republic and was being loaned to the order for this event. ¡°I bet that you are sad I am too old to have been picked, right mother?¡± Cerlin giggled at his joke. ¡°Ha! Even with how much of a brat you are I would never give you up.¡± Andra laughed. ¡°It still baffles me how someone could just hand over an infant child. Even if the order is a respectable group, I could never abandon family.¡± ¡°Are you suuuuuuuuuure about that?¡± ¡°Yes dear, I am definitely sure.¡± The opulent carriage passed by the pair and continued on down the main street surrounded by all the members of the order. Behind the order came the real parts of the parade. First were drummers who were pounding out the beat of the march. Cerlin clapped his hands in excitement as the real entertainment was now coming into sight. Lines of dancers and singers flowed by as strands of different songs wove through the air. Though everything was different, all the chaotic notes from singers and musicians alike created their own kind of song. Cerlin and his mother watched the performers in fascination as they marched through the street and trumpeted out their music. Thousands of spectators watched the parade that day with glee and greatly anticipated going home to a large meal with all the special festival discounts on expensive food. Every year the Dragon Festival was held as a worldwide holiday. Each of the nations of the world recognized the sovereignty of the Order of the Black Scale on their home of Drakema Island. Every 100 years was when the order would personally make an appearance within a city outside of their island. The ceremony to choose the Dragon Champion involved the selection of one particular infant. Each time the order chose a new champion, they would select one of the capital cities and go there to find the destined person. As the youngest nation in the world, the Aivonus Republic was just now receiving their first visit from the order. An infant, less than a year old, had been chosen to return with them to undergo training. All of the countries of the world appreciated the Dragon Festival. It brought lots of trade to the selected city and the various governments were perfectly happy to let the order promote the festival. The Ordal Kingdom had sent an angry message to the order prior to the selection of Aivonus City. As the republic had rebelled and broken off from the kingdom some 300 years ago, the kingdom was mildly irritated that the order was willing to recognize them and chose a child from their capital. Though the Dragon Festival was held on the same day each year, the choosing of the infant for the order would soon be forgotten by much of the world. The governments would forget their squabbles over the selection of the city and return to holding their own celebrations without the order. For the next 20 years, the child would train to accept the power of dragons and become the Dragon Champion. That child would not remember the day they were chosen, nor the life that they would have had. All that they would know from then on would be the Order of the Black Scale. -------------------- *Avalian Empire, Divinus Isle, Imperial Palace* ¡°Your majesty!¡± A messenger burst into the office of the emperor, Wade Alvos II. ¡°Idiot! Do you not know how to knock?¡± The emperor spat in annoyance. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry your majesty, it¡¯s just¡­..your wife has gone into labor, sire!¡± ¡°Aha! At last!¡± The emperor jumped up in excitement. ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there - lead me to her!¡± ¡°At once your majesty.¡± The emperor followed the messenger through the halls of the palace to see his wife. He had been anxiously awaiting the birth of their child in the days leading up to the Dragon Festival. Normally, either he or his wife would make an appearance at the celebration but this year due to her pregnancy and his work, both of them were unable to attend. They had been expecting the baby to be born at any time and so the emperor had had a difficult time focusing on his work recently. Now that he was away from his desk with all the tedious documents to review, the emperor was grinning like a small child. He eagerly anticipated the birth of his child as the messenger lead him to the doors of his wife¡¯s room. The emperor returned to his office 3 hours later. His wife had given birth to a healthy little girl. Emperor Alvos was a bit disappointed that he would not have a son yet, but it was hardly a big deal for him. He sat in his lounge chair in front of a window and looked out across the city while reviewing the latest military reports. Skirmishes with the Vaizec Kingdom had been getting worse lately. The emperor grumbled in annoyance as he read the latest news of several of their scouting parties. The main location of these engagements had been upon the island of Arcus in the southern seas.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The emperor flipped through the reports until he came to an interesting page. It was a description of something that had been discovered on Arcus. A small cluster of mountains at the center of the island had hid something incredible which they had just now found. His eyes widened at the description of the location. From just a cursory search, this discovery seemed to hold great value. ¡°Guard!¡± The emperor called out to one of his personal guards in the hall. ¡°What is it your majesty?¡± The door opened and a guard entered and bowed to the emperor. ¡°I need you to send for Minister Jastre. I require his assistance to draft a letter.¡± ¡°Of course, sire. I will fetch him right away.¡± The guard turned and left to bring back the minister. Jastre was in charge of diplomacy with the other nations in the world. Other than Vaizec, the empire had a reasonable respectful relationship with each of the other countries. Most of the relations with other nations involved trade for unique goods and products. As such, Jastre also served as the minister who oversaw the internal commerce of the empire. Watching the large clock on his wall, the emperor waited 10 minutes before a knock was heard at his office door. ¡°Enter.¡± ¡°Your majesty, I heard you needed my services.¡± Edwin Jastre entered the room and bowed before the emperor respectfully. He held a sheaf of papers in hand as well as a handful of pens. ¡°As you heard, I would like to draft a letter.¡± The emperor stood up and looked out the window. Jastre sat down in the chair in front of the emperor¡¯s desk and readied to take down the emperor¡¯s words. ¡°May I ask to whom we are sending this message?¡± ¡°This will be going to Magevale. I¡¯m certain their collections of research and history will be able to answer my questions.¡± The emperor turned to face Jastre as the minister held a surprised look at the mention of the letter¡¯s destination. ¡°Don¡¯t be so surprised Jastre. Hmmmm¡­¡± The emperor stood for a moment and tapped his cheek as he thought about something. ¡°I want this to be addressed to Archmage Adrian at Nimbus Academy.¡± The sun sank low in the sky as the emperor continued to dictate his words to Jastre. The Dragon Festival on that day of the year 2634 would mark an important day in history. The birth of the princess allowed the celebrations to continue for several more days and from then on, the celebrations would have two things to focus on. Several days later, the emperor¡¯s letter made its way to the center of the Isle of Magic and delivered the surprising news to the Council of Archmagi. Emperor Alvos would be disappointed with the reply as the council told him to resolve their disputes with Vaizec before they would be willing to send anyone to examine the site. What the emperor did not know was that his letter had greatly excited the council and they would never deign to inform him of why. -------------------- *Isle of Magic Surrounding Seas, Unknown Location* After the emperor had sent his message to the archmagi at Magevale, a frenzy of activity began across the island. Among the most powerful mages on the isle were many different rumors circulating. 3 of the archmagi had left the city and traveled north to a secret location. 2 weeks after they had received the message from Avalia, a group of the most powerful mages in the world stood upon a ship overlooking a small island to the north of the Isle of Magic. ¡°How long will we be able to conceal this from other nations do you suppose?¡± One of the three archmagi spoke as they stood on the deck of their ship. ¡°We can start small, in order to give us time to collect the necessary materials, but we should create an illusion to shroud this entire area.¡± The second archmage pointed out several locations on the island they were eyeing. ¡°The focusing crystals will need to be placed across the main entrance.¡± ¡°I still disagree with this decision to keep all of this so secretive.¡± Archmage Adrian spoke with disdain. ¡°What is the point if others find out? This is still our territory.¡± ¡°Bah! You underestimate the greed of those fools who control the rest of the world.¡± The first archmage spat in anger. He pulled out a coin and held it up in front of his face. ¡°Plenty of people are only interested in this. They have no desire to study history or magic which is our goal here.¡± Archmage Adrian sighed deeply as the three of them continued to argue. They debated what methods would be most effective in concealing this area from prying eyes. It was not a regular shipping route, but they believed it was impossible to be too careful. While the three argued, several other mages sat below decks surrounded by writing tools. They were cataloguing all of the discoveries at this site so far. Around half of the mages were dedicated to copying the various runic letters that had been found and the others were looking for ways to defeat the protective enchantments. Dark clouds blossomed overhead and a curtain of rain came crashing down from the sky. The three archmagi retreated to their cabins inside the ship. After they left, a thick bolt of lightning illuminated the sky. The light shone for long enough to reveal a gigantic door set into the side of a cliff. The tiny island was practically one large hill with a sheer cliff facing toward the ship. A sizeable section of the cliff had collapsed from an earthquake and revealed part of the door. The discovery was made nearly a month before Emperor Alvos sent his letter. When the archmagi received his information, they moved to immediately secure this area and begin their investigation of it. -------------------- *The Primordium, Tower of Order* An enormous tower made of chalky blue stone stood within the vast landscape of the Primordium. On the ground floor on the tower was a vast chamber with a throne. Upon this throne sat the giant figure of a woman. Her skin was the color of shining steel with a bright polished sheen. Her height towered over the others in her realm at nearly 15 meters. Currently, she was emitting a loud rumbling sound as she slept with her legs draped over the side of her throne. A door at the side of the room opened and a thin figure approached the woman. ¡°My lady, I am sorry to disturb you but there is something that needs your attention.¡± The attendant tapped the woman¡¯s foot as that was the highest point on her body that they could reach. ¡°Mmmmm¡­ Ah¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± The giant woman lifted her legs off the armrest of her throne and sat upright while yawning. Her heavy metal body shook the floor under its weight. ¡°A messenger from Deepfel is here to see you mistress.¡± ¡°Oho, so that vile bitch wants to speak to me then? Her arrogance always rubs me the wrong way.¡± The woman tapped her fingers on her throne as she contemplated her options. ¡°Oh very well, open the gate and bring the messenger here.¡± The attendant bowed and moved to execute the woman¡¯s orders. Several minutes later, a large portal opened in the center of the vast room. Three figures stepped out of it and approached the foot of the throne. Two golem guards stood behind the leading figure as they came to stand before the woman. ¡°Greetings, High Shaper. My queen has sent me to initiate direct contact. She hopes that you would be agreeable to this.¡± The messenger lowered his head while raising up a black orb to show to the giant woman. ¡°Very well, initiate the spell.¡± The giant woman furrowed her stony brow as she waited for her least favorite being to appear before her. The messenger placed his other head over the orb and incanted the activation spell. After he did so, a large projection appeared in the air above the orb. The image showed a very similar scene with a woman sitting upon a throne. It was impossible to tell her height as the entire projection was magnified but all of her features were easily discernible. Her face was that of a human except for the entirely black eyes and the pointed teeth. Thick black hair was bound behind her head and she wore a robe of black and grey. Her hands were clasped and resting on her lap and could be seen to be comprised of only bones. A mischievous grin adorned her face as she sat there and stared at the giant woman through the projection. ¡°Hello Prizzy dear. I am sure you have heard the news by now?¡± The robed woman snickered as she broke the silence after a few moments. ¡°Silence your giggling Mina. My servants are certainly capable enough to bring me the news; as you would already have known.¡± The giant woman folded her arms across her huge chest and frowned at the projection. ¡°What is your purpose in this contact then?¡± ¡°Awww¡­ Can¡¯t I just want to take some time to chat with a friend?¡± The woman spread her arms and tilted her head innocently. Her grin continued to widen as she kept staring. ¡°Oh shut it, we haven¡¯t been friendly since this whole foolishness started.¡± The giant woman spat in anger and pointed a finger directly at the projection. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t sided with those morons we wouldn¡¯t be in this position.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s too bad that you don¡¯t understand my actions after all this time.¡± The woman tapped a bony finger to her cheek and smirked. ¡°I had hoped that after all this time you might have figured out my reasons. I am sure you would agree if you knew.¡± ¡°Enough of this farce. Contact me again if you have a real issue to discuss.¡± The giant woman raised her right hand and released her magic. A torrent of flame burst forth and incinerated the messenger holding the projecting orb. The last image of the woman was of her laughing as the projection disappeared and the messenger was turned into ash. The giant woman snapped her fingers and a side door opened. A servant rushed and kneeled before her to await orders. ¡°I will be returning to my forge for now. Give the word that I am not to be disturbed until I am finished.¡± She stood up and conjured a massive portal at her side. ¡°As you wish my lady.¡± The servant stood up and bowed. They stood and watched as the woman stepped through the portal and disappeared. The moment she was gone they set about their orders to leave her alone for some time. At the time of this conversation, the first battle of a war was taking place. Soldiers and constructs from Sanctum forced their way into the Abyss and marched for Doom¡¯s End. The treacherous hellscape of the Abyss afforded the demons a home field advantage and they were able to hold the forces of dawn at the borders of their realm. With this first battle, the 5th great divine war had begun. Chapter 2 Year 2640 Day 1, Week 3, Winter A brown-haired young boy yawned as he sat up in his bed. The early rays of sunshine were penetrating his window as the sun rose above the tall buildings of Aivon City. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again before climbing out of his bed. Heading for the bathroom, the boy could hear the sounds of pots clanging and his mother whistling downstairs. Entering his bathroom, the boy moved to start the water and let it fill up their bathtub. While the water flowed into the tub, the boy went over to the sink and started to wash his face. After he finished, he retrieved the heating crystal and placed it inside the bathtub to warm the water. Gathering up his clothes and a towel, the boy waited for the water to be comfortable and eventually climbed into the bath. Downstairs in the house, a woman was humming as she prepared breakfast for herself and her son. Today was an important day for her son so she had woken up early to prepare everything perfectly. Steam rose up from one of the pots she had on their stove and the scent of the soup filled the room with a comforting warmth. The woman looked up at the stairs and wondered what was taking her son so long to get ready. As that thought ran through her head, she heard the creaking of the top steps and saw her son¡¯s feet appear and begin to descend the stairs. ¡°So? Are you ready for the most important day of your life Cerlin?¡± Andra Stelvo smirked as she teased her son. She pressed the magic circle on their stove to deactivate the heat and grabbed a bowl for the soup. ¡°Ha ha mom.¡± Cerlin sat down at their dining table as his mother set a bowl of soup in front of him before turning back to the stove. ¡°What kind of result do you think I will get?¡± ¡°Your father¡¯s grandfather was the only mage I know of in our family and he had the fire element.¡± Andra lifted the top off another pan on the stove and poked the meat inside to see if it was done cooking. ¡°Though of course I have no idea if what magic you can use runs in the family. Perhaps you will learn if that¡¯s true when you begin your studies.¡± Andra took the pan of meat and plopped a large fat sausage down onto a plate and set it in front of her son. Cerlin licked his lips in anticipation and started to slurp up his soup even faster. The two of them sat at their table as they continued to speculate on how Cerlin¡¯s magic assessment would go. After finishing breakfast, Cerlin grabbed his bag from his bedroom and returned downstairs. Saying goodbye to his mother, he opened the door and stepped out into the chilly winter air. Since it was starting to enter the middle of the winter month, the air was getting colder and the wind harsher. The lucky fact was that there were only a few small clouds in the sky and so the sun was able to provide some much appreciated warmth. Cerlin traveled down his street and reached one of the main roads of the city. He needed to go to the main school management building for the magic test. The school itself was located not too far from their home, but the management building was all the way up near the government buildings and it would take some time to walk there. It would have been possible to hire a carriage to bring him there, but Andra had felt it would be a waste of money when this event would only happen once. She had told Cerlin that he could use the exercise and to not complain about having to walk a little ways. Under his breath, Cerlin grumbled about his mother as she wasn¡¯t the one who had to walk across half the city in the cold. The shop that she ran was only a few streets away from their house so she never had to travel that far in the first place. Cerlin continued his trek through the city and eventually reached the main clock tower square. In the large open area beneath the tall tower, the wind bit into Cerlin more noticeably and he clutched his bag in front of him and lowered his head as much as possible. The smaller side streets of the city offered enough protection from the wind due to the close buildings, but out here the was no such thing. Keeping his head down against the wind as much as possible so that he could still see where he was going, Cerlin turned toward his left to head in the direction of the government buildings. As he neared the location of the school management office, the clock tower in the main square began to chime. Turning his head back, Cerlin could just see the top of the clock over the roofs of the nearby buildings and saw that it was now 6th hour. The start of the hour signaled the official start of the magic testing day. Over the course of today, children would be able to come here and get tested for their magic potential and attribute. Cerlin¡¯s mother had made him wake up at this time so that he would be one of the first people to take the test. She had been sure that there were more families that would be obsessed with getting their children in first so she had wanted Cerlin to time it and be there early but not first. There was likely to be a short wait when he got there, but he would still be able to beat any potential crowds that would likely occur later in the day. Every child would be eager to see if they had the ability to use magic, even if they were not this was still important for every child to do. The mages conducting the examination would be able to determine if one could manipulate their internal mana to learn warrior techniques, even if they could not cast actual magic. Cerlin finally turned a corner and saw the building a short distance away. As expected, there was a short line of children standing at the door as a man stood blocking the entrance and seemed to be speaking to them. Just as he got close to the line of children, the man at the door turned and opened it and stepped to the side to let the children pass through. Cerlin approached the door and the man held up his hand to stop him. ¡°Since you have arrived just now young man, you will need to read the instructions for the test.¡± The man held up a hand and gestured to turn right once inside the building. ¡°The instructions have been posted on the wall to the right, once you finish reading them you may join the line in the left hall.¡± Cerlin nodded and stepped over the threshold and into the building. He looked to the left and saw a short hall where the others who had been here before him were currently lined up in front of a large set of double doors. Directly in front of him was two staircases that led up and an old woman was seated at a wooden desk between them. Cerlin moved off to the right and saw another hall with several doors but found the instruction poster stuck to the wall just before the first door. According to this poster, the magic test was made up of three different parts. The first test would examine any current ability to control magic. Most children would not be able to do much for this, only some would ever end up using magic before they were tested officially. Even if someone wasn¡¯t able to do magic at this point, it mattered little as they could just have never been in a position where they managed to use it without thinking. Cerlin had accidently broken several things in his house two years ago and that was why he knew he at least had potential for magic. A person¡¯s potential was what the second part of the test was to measure. Magic ability and potential was ranked with a series of letters from A to F. Magic potential was an overall rank and would simply give an estimation of how strong someone could become given proper training. Depending on the amount of mana a mage was capable of manipulating, they would be given a level and ranked within that level using the letters. Given a mage of standard skill at the level of Prime A, another mage of the same level but rank C would be considered weaker but only by a fairly thin margin. For typical mages, the letter ranking was fairly useless and only really made sense at both the lowest levels of skill as well as the highest. The differences in rank were more important for demonstrating the abilities of apprentices as well as highlighting the potential gap between two masters. Since the magic exam was not expecting most of the children to be able to use magic consciously right now, they would only be given a potential rank as of now. Once the school year began in the spring, students would learn to actually control magic and eventually be given a test to determine their first ranking. From the information on the poster, the final test of the exam would be the simplest and fastest. Determining the attribute of a person was very easy and would only take a moment to learn. Cerlin did wonder why a person¡¯s attribute mattered given the fact that anyone who could use magic could cast spells of each element. He continued to read the section and it actually addressed that very concern. Though instead of address it, all the poster said was that the information would be discussed during magic theory classes in school. At the bottom of the poster was a short line that said if one had questions; they should direct any of these to the scribe at the desk. Cerlin looked over at the old woman behind the desk as she scribbled on some papers. Cerlin did still have questions, but they were more of the kind that would be answered by going through with the test. Turning away from the poster he moved to join the line that still was waiting. As he walked across the room, another kid entered through the main door and went over to the poster to read it. As the door was closing, Cerlin could see several others approaching the building outside. In his mind, Cerlin praised his mother for her foresight and was glad that he had gotten here at a good time. Cerlin went over and stood behind the last person in line. Since the magic exam was for all children who would be 12 years old before the start of a school year, many of the kids in front were similar to himself. The line had gotten shorter but only by a small margin so Cerlin assumed that the tests were not particularly fast. Cerlin tilted his head as he wondered something however. The children who would come at the very earliest would be more likely to have shown magic and want to take the test as soon as possible. This would explain why each test would be longer at the beginning. When more children came and they didn¡¯t have magic at all, the tests would be fasts but crowded with people coming and going. There were no clocks in the hall so Cerlin was unable to tell how long he was waiting. It wasn¡¯t an unbearable wait but the hall was still fairly cold from the door opening and closing when people arrived. As he watched other kids enter and leave the testing room there were plenty of different expressions he had seen. There had been around 10 or so who had been in front of him and most of them came out with relatively happy or satisfied faces. Only one or two had seemed to be disappointed at all. Whether that attitude was due to not having magic ability or just having bad potential was something that only those kids would know. Eventually, Cerlin was the one directly in front of the door and the person before him finally came out. A voice rang out telling him to enter and Cerlin walked through the door and closed in behind him. The room he was in seemed to be some kind of meeting hall for the heads of the school but most of it wasn¡¯t in use now. A long table was set out in front of him with 5 mages sitting behind it. There were three men in the leftmost seats and two women on the right. The women at the end had a large quantity of paper in front of her and several strange tools set out. In front of the man in the middle were several bags holding something inside and in front of the man next to him were stacks of metal plates. Each of the mages were wearing the typical robes one might expect of their jobs.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The man at the left end had a massive book laid out in front of him with his handed poised above it ready to write. ¡°Name please.¡± This man called out to Cerlin so that his name could be entered in the test records. ¡°Cerlin Stelvo.¡± ¡°Birth date?¡± The man asked as he began to write the details in the book. ¡°Year as well please.¡± ¡°Day 6, week 8 of spring, 2628.¡± ¡°Ah how unfortunate, you were born so close to the start of the school year.¡± The man remarked in surprise. ¡°You almost would have been able to take the exam last year.¡± The man wrote down Cerlin¡¯s information and when he was finished he closed the large tome. He turned and nodded to the woman on the right end and she grabbed a sheet of paper and placed it before her. The man who was in the center of the table cleared his throat with a short cough and stood up. ¡°Alright my boy, welcome to the annual magical examination test. I assume you read the instructions outside.¡± The man raised an eyebrow and stared down at Cerlin. ¡°Yes sir, I did read it.¡± ¡°Good, good. Well then if you have no questions we can begin.¡± He looked to Cerlin if he had anything to ask. When nothing came, he continued speaking. ¡°Loras if you would explain the first test.¡± As he sat down, he gestured to the man sitting next to him and that man then stood up. From what Cerlin could tell, he was wearing the same robes with almost no differences. Each of the mages wore long blue robes with purple trimming on the sleeves and waist. The only thing he could tell that wasn¡¯t the same was a small pin on each of the mages¡¯ breasts. These pins seemed to have different patterns on them but some were also the same. The man in the center as well as the woman next to him had the same pin. The woman at the far right and the man at who was standing had the same as well. The best Cerlin could guess was that the pins denoted the ranks or levels of the mages that the poster had described. Since it had only given the names of the levels, he had no idea what exactly the different pins were referring to. ¡°Well then, as you know, the first test is to measure any current magical ability you might have. I am sure you know that not everyone ends up using magic before the test, so do not be discouraged if you can¡¯t manage this part.¡± The man reached down and took one of the metal plates and held it out to Cerlin. ¡°You see the magic circle inscribed there?¡± ¡°Yes sir. ¡° Cerlin took the plate that was offered to him and examined it. A complicated magic circle was covering the plate and had been made with some kind of white paint. ¡°All you need to do is try and focus any mana you can sense within you onto this plate. The paint will change to black when in contact with mana. I want you to try and turn the entire thing to black if you can.¡± The man nodded to Cerlin to begin the test. Since he had used magic accidently before, Cerlin knew that he could at least make some progress in this test. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate and feel the mana in his body. All he could really sense was a sort of thin fog inside his body and it was difficult for him to move it. Cerlin attempted to try and blow that fog through his body toward the plate in his hand. He felt a bit of movement and could sense the mana flowing slowly through his body. ¡°Oh! We are on track for the best year in some time.¡± The man who had given him the plate had clapped his hands together in excitement. Cerlin opened his eyes and saw that a little more than half of the magic circle had been dyed black. The man pointed at the woman on the end and Cerlin placed the metal plate in front of her. She quickly grabbed it and began tapping it with some kind of small odd looking hammer. The examiner sat back in his chair as the man in the center of the table stood up once again. ¡°Now then Cerlin, I¡¯m afraid I am going to have to apologize in advance for this part of the test.¡± The man grabbed a small pouch that was tied around his belt and pulled out a small ball-like candy. ¡°We need to drain all possible mana from your body to get a sense of your potential. The process is fairly uncomfortable just to warn you now. If you would go stand over there and swallow this.¡± The man pointed to three concentric magic rings that were drawn on the floor a few meters from the table. The smallest ring was made with a blue chalk and the two others were white. Cerlin took the ball from the man and went to stand within the rings. ¡°Will this be painful at all?¡± ¡°It should not hurt, rather, it will be likely a very bothersome itch all over your body. You will also likely feel tired afterward so be wary.¡± Cerlin swallowed the ball and felt nothing for a few seconds until it finally took effect. His muscles tensed as it felt like his skin was covered in thousands of crawling bugs. It took all of his focus to not jump around and try and rip his skin off. Even though he had little control over his mana, he could also feel the trickle of it leaving his body. As his body was more and more depleted of mana, he felt quite mentally exhausted. The magic runes below him were glowing slightly throughout the whole procedure and only faded after nearly an entire minute. While it wasn¡¯t actually pain, the process had indeed been extremely uncomfortable as a few of his muscles continued to twitch. Cerlin¡¯s body was lightly sweating and his arms trembled slightly. He staggered back over to stand in front of the table and rubbed his hands against the sides of his head. The examiner held out a large glass orb for Cerlin to take. ¡°Now all you need do is hold onto this orb for a moment so it can examine your mana veins.¡± While holding the orb, Cerlin felt a sort of soothing calm as the orb laid in his hand. It seemed to emit some kind of magic aura that felt like sitting in a soapy bath. He wondered if this was done on purpose to alleviate some of the awful feeling that remained from being drained of magic. After he had held the orb for perhaps around 20 seconds, its surface turned cloudy and the man pointed Cerlin to the woman on the end once again. He handed the orb to her and she placed it within some kind of box and cast a spell on it. ¡°Finally we get to the easiest part of the exam.¡± The woman who was second from the right stood up now and held out another glass orb. She smiled as Cerlin took it from her. ¡°This time you only need to hold it up against your heart.¡± This orb was much smaller and was easily clasped in his hand. Cerlin took it and held it up against his left breast. Waiting to see if anything would happen, after a few seconds the orb started to glow with a white light. ¡°Now you can hold it out so we can all see if you please.¡± Cerlin let the orb sit on his palm as it continued to glow. Soon enough, the glow started to change color as both red and brown light shifted to take over. The orb was dyed with a mixture of red and brown color that shifted and sloshed around inside of it. Each of the mages at the table gasped and their mouths quickly erupted into smiles. The woman reached a hand out and Cerlin deposited the orb back in her grip. ¡°An excellent result! You are the first dual-element mage we have seen in¡­. 3 years I believe?¡± The man in the center of the table looked to his colleagues with excitement. ¡°Yes sir. The last time was water and earth 3 years ago.¡± The man with the large book on the left end responded to the question. ¡°How wonderful! You are a lucky boy young Cerlin, being blessed with two attributes that also happen to be an excellent combination.¡± ¡°Ahem. I have the rest of the results finished if we want to end the test.¡± The woman at the end finally spoke up. She was holding a paper that was for recording the results of Cerlin¡¯s tests. The man in the center nodded and the woman passed the paper along the table to him. Her job for the exam was to use special magical instruments to measure the precise numbers of the tests. Once these were recorded, the numbers were then used to rank the examinee based on a special scale. The test materials were created with specific standardized spells and so there was an objective way to measure the strength of who used them. As the paper with his results was passed along the table, each of the mages¡¯ faces lit up in excitement. The man in the middle then grabbed from the stack of papers on the table and placed it next to the record sheet. He held his hand over the blank sheet and closed his eyes to focus on casting a spell. Cerlin watched, and as he did all of the contents of the record sheet was copied over directly onto the blank paper. Cerlin grinned in excitement himself as he got to watch a display of very fine magic control. Duplicating the letters on the paper was considered to be a very difficult spell that required immense concentration. After the spell was finished, the man handed the paper to Cerlin and passed the original back to the woman who wrote it. ¡°Congratulations Cerlin. You are sure to be a promising student in the upcoming year. A letter will be sent to your residence sometime in the next few weeks.¡± The man stood and offered his hand to shake. ¡°The letter will contain all of the details you will need before beginning primary schooling in the spring.¡± Cerlin shook hands with the man and clutched the paper in his other hand. He turned and opened the door leave. As he came into the hall again, he saw a fairly large line that was now filling the hall. Squeezing his way through the mass of other kids, he eventually managed to get out into the more open entry area. A small mob had accumulated around the instruction poster. It seemed that some of the ones who could read the poster were explaining it to others who could not. Though the capital had an excellent system for education, other children who came from remote towns and villages would likely be unable to read well, if at all. Edging his way through the growing throng inside the building, Cerlin pushed open the door and reemerged back into the wintry air of the city. There were a few groups of kids standing around the building, either sharing their results of the exam or waiting around for it to become less crowded. Cerlin strode off in the direction of the main city square so he could read his result sheet. When he came into the square after several minutes, he looked up at the clock tower and saw that it had been just under two hours since he had first left his house. Sitting down on one of the benches near the large fountain, he held up the paper in front of him to see what it said. At the top of the page was the basic information for him, name, birth date, and general appearance descriptions. Under that section was a line that stated how he was able to use magic before taking the test. Next to that were several boxes with some marked and some not. Unable to tell what the words under the boxes were referring to, he moved down the page to the scoring of his potential. A large box was filled with the letter B and from the description, this was his official rank of potential. Along with this overall ranking, there were several other specific types of magic that he had no knowledge of that were also ranked. At the bottom of the paper was a special symbol that was written as his official element designation. Since he possessed affinity for both fire and earth, the symbol was a combination of the two. It looked a bit messy with a swirl of red and brown colors mixed together into a spinning orb. Next to the symbol was a strange grey section that was written with magic runes. Even though Cerlin wasn¡¯t able to determine the significance of all of the extra stuff on the paper, just knowing that he had a good potential rank of B as well as two different elements was something to be greatly happy about. While dual-element mages were not super rare, they were always heralded as useful. Though they generally had lower potential than others, having a wider variety of spells to cast was always important. Other than that, Cerlin didn¡¯t really know why having two elements was so good and he hoped to find that out when school began in spring. Now that it was a bit later in the morning, Cerlin wasn¡¯t nearly as cold as when he had first set out. The wind had also died down a bit and he could hold his head up while walking. As he made his way back home, Cerlin¡¯s imagination went wild with possibilities as he thought about magic. Every kid would love to be able to cast spells and it would only be one more month until he would begin learning real magic. He couldn¡¯t keep a grin off his face as he traversed the city which was waking up to its usual activity.