《Wasting Time》 Wasting Time - Jax Ascends The names Jax Rein, im 19 live in the clean and green Rotorua in New Zealand and by clean and green I mean constantly smells like shit (literally). Ive lived a consistently shit life ive never been very good at anything, my father abandoned me when I was 3 apparently and my mother passed away last year, I cant say I miss her mainly because her priorities were drugs alcohol and cigarettes. I have a average body andddddd im a virgin. Im unemployed and living off the doll, I don¡¯t have much but it¡¯s enough I suppose. Well enough with the introductions im talking to you all today because ive got some exciting news! So picture this here I am mopping around in my excuse of a apartment (which ive nick named the virgin cave, similar to the bat cave expect I have no cool gadgets and there¡¯s just a shit ton of used tissues) anyhow so here I am praying to a god who I don¡¯t even believe in saying things along the lines of ¡°How did someone all powerful make everything so boring¡­ Gods useless¡­.. WTF is with all the wars and diseases I mean really what are you uptoo¡­.. Yo God straight up make all girls have like a minimum of DD tits.¡± Next minute i''mteleported out of the virgin cave floating in what appears to be a completely black vacuum. (Vaguely similar to Kim Ks vagina) So I¡¯m kind of just floating here, totally not freaked out because I¡¯m a man. (its convenient that it¡¯s a black void because no one can see the shit trailing down my leg.) I lost track of time for this part it felt like I was in there for years, i was terrified at first with no idea what¡¯s going on. A ????? Amount of Time Later *Rustle Rustle¡­. Rustle* ¡°Hmphhhhhhhhhhh¡­¡­ Aaaaah¡± Jax ¡°Well that¡¯s one way to alleviate the boredom from the huge amount of things that aren¡¯t happening around me.¡± ¡°DID YOU JUST JERK OFF IN THE ABYSS!?¡± ??? *cough* ¡°Nah mate you¡¯re imagining things.¡± Jax ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­. You lie¡± ??? ¡°Don¡¯t know what your talking about I was scratching a itch¡± ¡°¡­. Ha¡­¡­. haha¡­¡­¡­hahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It is the smallest things that give amusement when you¡¯ve lived as long as I have.¡± ??? ¡°Glad to be of service¡­¡­ So mind telling me who you are and where I am?¡± Jax ¡°You are in the Abyss and I have many names, but I suppose your race refers to me as¡­ God¡± God ¡°Right well God I don¡¯t suppose you intend to flip me back home anytime soon?¡± Jax ¡°You are not afraid or even surprised by this?¡± God ¡°Honestly I kind of just took a wild guess that I fucked off some kind of higher being when I prayed and I¡¯m a bit numb to fear, it feels like I¡¯ve been here for an eternity.¡± Jax ¡°¡­.. You have been here 13 Days 7 Hours 23 Minutes and 16 Seconds¡± God *Cough* ¡°Anyway can you send me back?¡± Jax ¡°Do you recall complaining about my performance?¡± God ¡°¡­¡­¡± Jax ¡°Do you know why I brought you here Jax?¡± ¡°Nooooooooooope¡± Jax ¡°I have lived since the beginning of known creation I have created this universe from scratch and destroyed galaxies on a whim. I have experienced everything I have ever been able to imagine, the problem is I can no longer imagine anything else¡­. I am hollow¡­ Empty¡­ Do not misunderstand Jax I still feel I can still laugh love hate but the feelings are fleeting, they leave me as quickly as they come and then I am back to feeling nothing.¡± God ¡°I cant say I can relate God surely there¡¯s something out there that you could do?¡± Jax ¡°There is only one thing I have never experienced Jax¡± God ¡°Go do that then?¡± Jax ¡°I have never experienced True Death¡± God ¡°¡­..¡± Jax ¡°I am going to destroy myself Jax so that I may finally rest but without a God the Universe will become what you see around you¡­ Nothing. So you will become God Jax, not because you are qualified or special but simply because you garnered my attention with your insitent complaints. I wish you luck¡­..¡± God I watch as the Abyss seems to become filled with light, small pricks that seem in the far distance that are quickly becoming larger. The light has gotten so large its like a wall of white, it quickly fills the last parts of the black void of the Abyss and slams in to my head. ¡°FUCKKK!!!!!" I Screams as I feels like every atom of my body is being torn asunder the only reprieve being that Ifeels my consciousness rapidly slipping away. Some time later¡­. Nearly all the light has faded all that remains is a tiny ball of light hovering infront of Jax ¡°Even now¡­.. I can still feel fear, what awaits me I wonder?¡± God Just like that the last of the light flows into Jax and the Universe freezes for the briefest of moments almost like a sigh before it continues on second by second day by day years by years for eternity. Wasting Time - No Way Wasting Time ¨C No Way!? I jolted awake, the room was dark and my league of legends game had a big red Defeat staring at me. *Sigh* ¡°Guess I failed my Promos again¡­¡­ man that was a fucked up dream¡± Jax I gazed at my alarm clock and it said 2:36am. ¡°Guess I should go to bed.¡± Jax I turned off my computer and went to my room and lay in bed thinking about that messed up dream I just had. A Few Hours Later ¡°Oh what the fuck its 5am and I¡¯m not tired at all¡­ well it¡¯s not like I have to work, I really do need to get a job. *sighs* Come to think of it I feel pretty good¡­. Actually I feel amazing, I¡¯m not sore, tired or anything. Nahhhhhhhh surely not..¡± Jax I shift my eyes shift left to right real quick, I listen to hear if anyone in the other apartments below him are awake. ¡°What am I thinking, it was just a dream¡­ Buttttttt YOU NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRY!¡± Jax I put my arms together with his palms facing partially outward and says, ¡°KAAAAAAAAAAA-MEEEEEEEEEEEEH-AAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Jax Suddenly a blue orb begins to pulsate between my hands ¡°OH SHIT!!?! NO FUCKING WAY!¡± I move my arms so that they¡¯re facing the roof so that if this actually works I¡¯m not going to blow up anyone. ¡°MEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!¡± Jax A ginormous stream of blue energy shoots from my hands pushing me down into the mattress while blasting a hole through my roof, my ears start ringing from the destruction around me, seconds go buy and the last bits of energy leave my hands while the beam shoots off into space. ¡°OH MY FUCKING GOD!? No fucking way!? I mean shit everyone fucking tries this when they¡¯re a kid but I didn¡¯t ever think it¡¯ll actually work¡­.. Does this mean I¡¯m like a fucking Sayain or something¡­...¡± Jax Jax Starts to hear movement in his apartment as people are awoken from the sound of his roof being destroyed ¡°Calm down Jax, Calm down¡­. I can¡¯t calm down this is way too awesome, Alright okay fuck I can do this think think think¡­.¡± JaxLove this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°What is going on¡­..?¡± Jax A monotone voice responds to my question in my head saying. ¡°You are God therefore when you Willed your self performing the Kamehameha it happened.¡± ??? ¡°The hell? Who are you?¡± Jax ¡°I am now you and part of the power given to you I hold all knowledge.¡± ??? ¡°Well that¡¯s convenient, do you have a name?¡± Jax ¡°I am you therefore I am Jax.¡± Jax??? ¡°Yeahhhhh no that¡¯s going to be way too confusing, I¡¯ll call you¡­. Vault.¡± Jax ¡°Understood.¡± Vault ¡°So that wasn¡¯t a dream I really am God Vault?¡± Jax ¡°Yes.¡± Vault ¡°So how does this work? Like what can I do?¡± Jax ¡°You have dominion over everything.¡± Vault ¡°Yeah but like how do I use my abilities.¡± Jax ¡°If you Will it to be then it will be.¡± Vault ¡°So I just think hard about it and it¡¯ll happen?¡± Jax ¡°Correct.¡± Vault There is a loud banging on Jaxs door ¡°Oi What the fuck are you doing in there!?¡± ??? ¡°Ah fuck how do I sort this out.¡± Jax ¡°There are multiple known ways.¡± Vault ¡°Like what?¡± Jax ¡°Reverse Time, Memory Wipe, Will it too¡­¡± Vault ¡°This is way too awesome to be true.¡± Jax ¡°Oi! Jax I can hear you open the door!¡± ??? Jax briefly glances at the door and clicks his tongue. ¡°Alright lets do this.¡± Jax I quickly look at the clock and see its 5:21am i close my eyes squinting my brows and starts repeatedly thinking ¡°Reverse time to before I did the Kamehameha.¡± ¡°Did it work?¡± I open my eyes and looks at the roof, ¡°Well the holes definitely gone.¡± I look at the clock and it reads 5:16am. ¡°This¡­. Is¡­¡­ So¡­¡­. COOL!¡± Jax ¡°What should I do!? I can do anything¡­. Anything at all¡­..¡± Jax If anyone were to look at Jax at this time, they would see a creepy smile with his tongue rolling over his lips. Fast forward until he¡¯s eventually finished the orgy that went on for a good few years, and then reverse time to where we left off because time is precious after all. ¡°Hehe Well that¡¯s that out of the way¡­. At least for now." Jax "Wait if I reversed time back to when I woke up, doesn¡¯t that mean im still a virgin?¡± Jax I spend a few minutes contemplating this and in the end couldnt come up with an answer. Vault is suppose to know everything but he wouldnt respond when i asked him. ¡°Now if I were a all powerful being what would I do¡­.¡± From here for an amount of time that I lost track of went by, but surely passed hundreds and thousands of years. I experimented with all manner of things such as, taking over the world introducing my as god more orgies and eventually touring the universe and actually fulfilling my duties as God. I had a brief sample of what the Universe had to offer. But that¡¯s a story for another time, this story is about my first holiday after 1 year of hard work¡­¡­. Wasting Time - Fantasy – A New World A Year after Jaxs Ascension The sound of fingers clicking echoes throughout space, (yeah I know no sound in space, get over it) Jax watches on as Earth explodes and shatters into fragments that shoot outward. The Fragments continue to speed away for a few minutes then lurch to a halt as if somethings holding them there, then they slowly at first start to withdraw back to their previous location picking up speed as they go along until Earth has been reformed as well as all life upon it. ¡°Well that surprisingly wasn¡¯t very fun.¡± Jax Jax is currently floating around Earth in orbit. ¡°Eh im going on a holiday¡­. What to do, What to do?¡± Jax¡± ¡°Hey Vault I want you to make a generic fantasy world for me to mess around in¡± Jax ¡°Explain Generic.¡± Vault ¡°You know Dragons, Elves, Dwarfs, Heroes, Demon Lords that sort of stuff.¡± Jax ¡°Information has been compiled from novels you¡¯ve read prior to ascension, from the application Kindle and Website Royalroadl. World is ready to be made when you Will it¡± Vault Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Awesome, I don¡¯t want it mixed in with this universe so chuck it in its own separate dimension. Now how am I going to fit into this¡­ Do I want to do the typical coming of age sort of thing or am I gonna go in full blast and be straight overpowered? I probably shouldn¡¯t go in knowing I¡¯m God as it would ruin all the fun and I would probably just cheat, so ill temporarily wipe that memory and seal all of my awesomeness for this.¡± Jax ¡°Alright Vault for this World I¡¯m going to play in it and I want to have my memories and all the powers of God sealed away from myself.¡± Jax ¡°Understood.¡± Vault ¡°Now I want to be ¡°Born¡± into this world into a relatively decent family but I don¡¯t want everything preordained like for instance you know everything that¡¯s going to happen, so just find some nice family that¡¯s not struggling for money and chuck me in there.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Vault ¡°Cool so I want to be over powered with pretty much everything, not so badly that I have no threats and I can just steam roll over everything but I definitely want the potential to be the strongest being in this world. Speaking of strong chuck in deities like the Greeks ie God of War and what, obviously theyre not real Gods just powerful guys.¡± Jax ¡°Understood, is there anything else?¡± Vault ¡°Nope that¡¯s it.¡± Jax ¡°Understood, Dimension 234414515, Planet ¡®Generic Fantasy World¡¯ will be created and have time accelerated by 50000 years once you Will it, afterward you will be ¡®born¡¯ into said world.¡± Vault ¡°Right!¡± Jax ¡°Create Dimension 234414515 Planet Generic Fantasy World and Accelerate time by 50000 and¡­.. Reincarnate me in the world? Am I even reincarnating im not exactly dead, hey Vau¡­¡± Jax ¡°It is done. For future reference when completing tasks through me a simple create will suffice.¡± Vault ¡°Oh so now you te¡­..¡± There was a light popping sound and Jax disappeared. Thus begins the Tale of Jax the Destroyer¡­ Sort of. Wasting Time - Fantasy - Prick The constant sound of city bluster runs throughout the city of Reigar, boasting a population size of roughly 150000 living in the actual city itself, with an even larger population living along the outskirts. In the Eastern District the sound of a young boy¡¯s laughter echoes through the streets. ¡°Jax bring Dog(lol) inside its time for dinner.¡± ??? ¡°Who is this Jax you speak of wench I am Jax the Hero!?¡± Jax ¡°Jax call your mother wench one more time and you can forget about going to the festival with your friends¡± ??? ¡°Its fine Kerin he¡¯s just playing, isn¡¯t that right Jax my big Hero?¡± ??? ¡°Hur hur it is good to finally get some respect around this house, let us venture inside Dog.¡± Says Jax attempting to speak like his dad in a deep rumbling voice. Kerin watches as Jax and Dog run inside to the kitchen then looks over to Lana. ¡°Lana you shouldn¡¯t let him talk to you like that.¡± Kerin ¡°Oh relax Kerin he¡¯s 7 let him have some fun.¡± Lana ¡°Hmph he¡¯s 7 now but in a few days hell be 8 and that means he has to take the examination, he¡¯s going to have to be on his best behaviour for the examination coming up we can¡¯t afford to have our son calling a mage a wench or peasant!¡± Kerin ¡°Look I¡¯ll talk to him tonight, it¡¯ll be fine, he¡¯s actually quite shy around people he doesn¡¯t know anyway.¡± Lana ¡°*Grunts* Sorry darling it¡¯s just I hate these compulsory examinations to check people for the talent. Everyone knows that the power generally only manifests in those with a bloodline! But because those arse hats living in the tower have found a few within the so called ¡®peasant¡¯ ranks we are all forced to go through with it!¡± Kerin ¡°We both know there is nothing wrong with the checking of the talent Kerin it¡¯s the people who are the problem¡­. They¡¯re all so kind and friendly before the test but as soon as they know that you have no talent those smiles turn to disdain.¡± Lana ¡°It¡¯s not their appearances I¡¯m worried about Lana, people that are ill-tempered have been known to disappear when they¡¯ve gone to the examinations¡± Kerin ¡°All we can do is be on our best behaviour and hope we don¡¯t do anything wrong *Sighs*¡­. I can¡¯t believe Jax is about to turn 8, they grow up so fast.¡± Lana A few days pass I¡¯m walking with my father and about to pass into the central district were the King and all the Mages live, my father told me that im going to be tested to see if I have any magical power and that I have to be on my best behaviour or I¡¯ll get in big trouble. I¡¯m looking around in awe at the differences between the central district and my home, all the buildings here seem to tower into the sky and shine with such a bright radiance, as I¡¯m looking around I notice Pa looks really grumpy for some reason. ¡°Remember Jax you have to be on your best behaviour only speak when spoken too, ok?¡± Kerin ¡°It¡¯s okay Pa, I¡¯ll be good and when I become a Mage and a hero ill make us all rich and well live in this nice place¡± I say sporting a huge smile on my face Pa seems to be upset at what I said he never has smiled much but he looks really upset. ¡°Just don¡¯t get your hopes up¡± Kerin I nod my head but all that¡¯s going through my head is how I¡¯m going to be the greatest Mage that¡¯s ever lived and how happy my family will be when were rich. As we continue on our trek we eventually come towards a wall that surrounds a tower that stands taller than every other building. We approach a gate that has some Guards standing at ease. They¡¯re uniform looks so cool with all that shiny metal I think that when im a Mage I want to wear armor like that, it looks way cooler than all those stupid dresses the mages wear. One of the soldiers who looks like he might be the boss gazes at me and Pa and when we get a bit closer and yells. ¡°Halt! State your name and purpose.¡± Guard ¡°Kerin Farrst and im here for me boys examination Sir.¡± Kerin The guard looks me up and down like he¡¯s examining how much im worth, I¡¯ve already made up my mind and decided I don¡¯t like him. ¡°Move through the gate follow the main road to the tower and wait at the first floor, someone will come and collect the both of you.¡± Guard My Pa nods his head in acknowledgment and we head through the gate toward the tower. As we arrive at the entrance I look up and think to myself that it looks even bigger when you¡¯re right next to it. ¡°Remember what I said Jax, behave you could get yourself and your mother and I in a lot of trouble.¡± Kerin My father looks really serious so I know I can¡¯t play around so I assure him I¡¯ll be good. We move into the tower which is illuminated brightly by blue crystals along the wall I pause at the entrance looking around at the pretty crystals. ¡°This way Jax.¡± Kerin My father leads me through a door to the left which takes us to a room filled with people along the sides and a table and someone wearing a dress sitting behind it with 2 doors behind him. We approach the table and my father says ¡°Kerin Farrst and my Son Jax Farrst here for his coming of age examination.¡± Kerin The man doesn¡¯t look up at us but tells us to take a seat somewhere and that well be called when its my turn. After taking a seat I look around and see that a lot of the adults and some of the kids like me look really nervous. I don¡¯t understand it, shouldn¡¯t everyone be really excited and want to become a Mage. I want to ask why they look so nervous but I promised my Pa I wouldn¡¯t speak unless spoken too. Me and my Pa have been sitting here for what feels like yearsssssssss theres been people coming in and out of the doors by the man wearing a dress for a while now. I saw a few families that looked like they might of lived in the eastern district going in, upon coming out the parents always seemed to be happy and itching to leave but the kids mostly looked sad. Eventually my Pa and I are called to come forth where a different dress wearing man collects us and takes us to a room where my Pa was told to wait and observe if he wishes.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The Man looked at me with a smile but when I looked at him it just didn¡¯t look like a smile fitted him, he looked like a grumpy old man. ¡°Follow me through the door¡± Grumpy Mage I briefly glance at my Pa and he nods his head to tell me to listen to the man. I follow him through the door and we enter a dimly lit room that has 6different sections splitting the room with a big empty orb sitting in the middle of each section. In the very centre of the room is another orb sitting on a bench. ¡°Place your hand on the Orb, it will draw in your mana and then distribute it to whatever element if any that you have a attunement with¡± Grumpy Mage I nod my assent and walk toward the centre with dreams of being a Hero and Mage running through my mind. I Gather my courage and place my hand upon the Orb. Grumpy Mages perspective ¡°I don¡¯t know why they insist on testing these filthy peasants, ive been here for 4 years and not one of these filth have had the gift.¡± I Stare at the boy approaching the Attunement Orb not even trying to hide the disdain on my face. He pauses before the Orb as if he¡¯s thinking about something. ¡°Probably another one of those children peasants who think theyre going to become a Hero, Gods get on with it.¡± The boy finally places his hand upon the Orb and nothing seems to happen at first. Then I see blue specks start to form in the centre orb and my jaw drops in astonishment ¡°Gods he actually has the gift, hmph but that is irrelevant just having the gift isn¡¯t enough you need to have talent with a high attunement to a element.¡± Jaxs POV When I placed my hand on the Orb I felt like something strange , I don¡¯t know how to describe it other than that I felt something around my heart being ¡®pulled¡¯ out of me. Im staring at the Orb and I can¡¯t contain my glee! My Pa told me about how when those with the talent get examined that you can tell if you have what they call ¡®Mana¡¯ by the blue specks in the orb. My Pa explained to me after I nagged him about it that just having Mana wasn¡¯t enough to be a successful Mage you need to be highly attuned to a element, he said that the elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Dark, Light. He didn¡¯t seem very hopeful but he said if I have mana I should look at the orbs in the sections of the room and depending on how much they glow shows how much talent I have. I look around me but none of the bigger orbs are even glowing in the slightest, I look back to the central orb in confusement. The little blue lights are swirling around like normalbut suddenly they stop and form multiple blue droplets that fall to the bottom of the orb. From behind me I hear a gasp and hear the mage yell, ¡°Liquid Mana!? Impossible!.¡± Grumpy Mage "Hmph didn¡¯t he know im going to be a rich and famous hero I don¡¯t know what this liquid mana is but it sounds special." Jax Im still confused though the central orb is quickly filling up like a cup of water but none of the section orbs are glowing at all. Suddenly the force that¡¯s pulling something from around my heart stops. ¡°Such condensed Mana but with no attunements¡­ Truly a waste but it seems you have no talent.¡± Grumpy Mage I can barely contain my tears as I feel all my dreams ruined before my eyes, my Pa told me not to get my hope up but for some reason I just felt like I was special. I guess it was just a dream¡­. All of a sudden a tearing pain comes from where my mana was being pulled from. Before it had felt like there was a slight suction force that sucked up the loose mana (picture a apple covered in morning Dew) but now it felt like I was being torn inside out. Kerins POV ¡°My God the boy actually has the gift, how is this possible.¡± I stare at the orb with dense blue lights swirling around the central orb, I look to the sector orbs but I don¡¯t see any sign of glowing or flickering lights. I hear the Mage gasp and say something about liquid mana and how it should be impossible but I still haven¡¯t overcome the initial surprise that my boy has the gift. ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡± I flick my head back to the central orb and see my boy with his headtilting back screaming like a banshee. My first thought was to run in there and grab him,somethings clearly gone wrong. Just as I have ran to the door ready to open it a large shockwave sends me flying into the wall and smashing my head against it. I collapse into a heap and struggle to think, my heads slumped down and I see blood dripping on to the ground. I struggle to lift my arms and gently touch the roof of my head, my hand is covered in blood my eye sight seems to become blearier and blacker by the second. As I feel consciousness slipping I use the last of my energy to lift my head to stare at Jax. There¡¯s blue flecks swirling aggresivly all around the room and all the section Orbs I can see appear to be quickly filling. ¡°Gods Jax¡­.. What are you¡­. You know Papa loves you and you too Lana¡­. I love you both.. so¡­ much¡­.¡± Jaxs POV ¡°IT HURTS!!! MAKE IT STOP¡± I scream tears falling like a waterfall down my face, it felt like my heart was being torn out while the rest of my body was being stabbed everywhere all at once. Through my clenched eyes I saw the room becoming bright like a sun all the orbs I could see were being filled with Mana like a tap was turned on in them, I couldn¡¯t even move my head to look at the remaining orbs as I had already collapsed due to the pain and was unable to move but my hand was stuck to the orb. Suddenly the central orb exploded and a ginormous shockwave erupted from me leaving me unscathed. Even without the orb the pain didn¡¯t stop and I could still feel my Mana being pulled from me. Then I felt a new feeling almost the complete opposite like I was breathing in air but on a far larger scale. It felt like I was pulling something in from my surroundings. This feeling also resided in my heart I could only assume with the little coherent thought I had left that I was somehow pulling in Mana but for some reason the mana being pulled from me wasn¡¯t affected. The pumpingand sucking forces escalated rapidly and I could feel consciousness slipping. All of a sudden both forces stopped and I briefly hoped that it was over as the pain had resided I unclench my eyes but am instantly forced to clench them shut again as the light was blinding like staring in to the sun. And then the feeling of me sucking in the mana from the surroundings started again but this time it felt like I was a blackhole I could feel an endless flow of Mana entering me.I attempted to open my eyes again and all I could see was blue light flying towards my heart and disappearing. I was able to see small amounts of my surroundings now and the room was in tatters at somepoint all the section orbs had exploded, the grumpy mage was nowhere to be seen and the room where my Pa was watching looked as if it had collapsed. ¡°No Pa! Please I didn¡¯t mean too I¡¯m sorry please be okay I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m so sorry!¡± I screamed in a hoarse voice. The feeling of me sucking in Mana continued to escalate and I started to have the feeling of a bloated stomach but near my heart. I started to panic due to the pain returning on a even larger scale, this continued on a for few seconds and then I felt completely numb but the I could tell I was still sucking in Mana. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die, I¡¯m going to be a hero and save everyone and Ma and Pa will be so proud¡­. Yeah this is all a dream¡­ Just a dream I¡¯m going to wake up soon. We¡¯re all going to move to the central district and we¡¯ll have no worries and¡­..¡± Darkness claims Jax. ??? POV I was in Valhalla meditating when I felt the pull, I could only feel at first the surrounding Mana being gently pulled toward somewhere. I instantly lost my composure and was unable to continue meditating, I could feel that whatever was attracting the Mana was escalating rapidly. I tried to sense around Valhalla to see which God was causing the phenomenon but soon realised that it was not coming from here. ¡°Impossible the mortals are incapable of using such power¡± ??? All of a sudden the suction force stopped, I waited for a few seconds to see if it started again but it did not. I was about to recommence meditation again, I was curious but when you¡¯re immortal there is no need to rush things. And then I felt even my Mana being ripped from me, albeit only a fraction of my power but I sensed that no one was spared. The entire world was having its Mana drained. It was easy to detect where the suction force was coming from and I was preparing to leave Valhalla to quench my curiosity and anger at the mortal with the audacity to try steal my power. And then A shockwave that shook even the shining city of Valhalla. The planet quaked at the fury of whatever caused the shockwave. The world continued to quake for a long drawn outminutes and i couldnt help but think that the end had come. ¡°What¡­. What could possibly cause that¡± I spoke to my self and was ashamed of how my voice trembled. I gathered myself and teleported into the high skys above where the suction was coming from. Upon arrival I see my Brothers and Sisters all staring down with slack jaws and when I look down as well I¡¯m not surprised by their reactions. Complete and entire decimation as far as the eye can see¡­. Somewhere Else ¡°Oh what the fuck was that!!! FUCKKKK!!!! What the fuck Vault!? I said make me powerful not a fucking nuke?!¡± Jax ¡°You ordered me to make you have the potential equal to the most powerful beings on the planet and I did.¡± Vault ¡°¡­.. Are you fucking with me!?¡± Jax ¡°I am incapable of ¡®fucking¡¯ you¡± Vault ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± Jax Nearby planets started to explode and be reeved apart, suns collapsed and moons were thrown around like tennis balls. Sometime later All the destruction that occurred has been reverted and Jax is floating in the void of space with his mouth twitching. ¡°You know I thought you were like some emotionless assistant Vault but turns out you¡¯re just a prick.¡± Jax ¡°Let try this again but this time, ILL MAKE THINGS VERY CLEAR ON HOW I WANT IT!!!!¡± Jax ¡­¡­ Wasting Time – Fantasy – Attempt Two ¡°Do you understand EXACTLY how I want it!?¡± Jax yells exaggerating the exactly. ¡°Yes¡± Vault ¡°I swear to me(god), that if I somehow blow myself up again because you¡¯re screwing with me Vault I¡¯m going to find some way to fuck with you.¡± Jax I sigh in frustration, I¡¯m starting to think that I might have a slight anger issue. ¡°Alright attempt two¡­.. Create¡± Jax
Back on Planet Generic Fantasy World Grumpy Mages perspective ¡°I don¡¯t know why they insist on testing these filthy peasants, I¡¯ve been here for 4 years and not one of these filth have had the gift.¡± I Stare at the boy approaching the Attunement Orb not even trying to hide the disdain on my face. He pauses before the Orb as if he¡¯s thinking about something. ¡°Probably another one of those children peasants who think they¡¯re going to become a Hero, Gods get on with it.¡± The boy finally places his hand upon the Orb and nothing seems to happen at first. Then I see blue specks start to form in the centre orb and my jaw drops in astonishment ¡°Gods he actually has the gift, hmph but that is irrelevant just having the gift isn¡¯t enough you need to have talent with a high attunement to an element¡± Jaxs POV When I placed my hand on the Orb I felt something strange, I don¡¯t know how else to describe it other than that I felt something around my heart being ¡®pulled¡¯ out of me. I¡¯m staring at the Orb and I can¡¯t contain my glee! My Pa told me about how when those with the talent get examined that you can tell if you have what they call ¡®Mana¡¯ by the blue specks in the orb. My Pa explained to me after I nagged him about it that just having Mana wasn¡¯t enough to be a successful Mage you need to be highly attuned to an element, he said that the elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Dark and Light. He didn¡¯t seem very hopeful but he said if I have mana I should look at the orbs in the sections of the room and depending on how much they glow shows how much talent I have. I look around me but none of the bigger orbs are even glowing in the slightest, I look back to the central orb in confusion. The little blue lights were swirling around like normal but suddenly stopped and formed a blue droplet that fell to the bottom of the orb. From behind me I hear a gasp and hear the mage yell, ¡°Liquid Mana!? Impossible!¡± Hmph didn¡¯t he know I¡¯m going to be a rich and famous hero I don¡¯t know what this liquid mana is but it sounds special. I¡¯m still confused though the central orb is quickly filling up like a cup of water but none of the sections orbs are glowing at all. Suddenly the force that¡¯s pulling something from around my heart stops. ¡°Such condensed Mana but with no attunements¡­ Truly a waste but it seems you have no talent.¡± Grumpy Mage I can barely contain my tears as I feel all my dreams ruined before my eyes, my Pa told me not to get my hope up but for some reason I just felt like I was special, like I was going to be a hero. I guess it was just a dream¡­.
Suddenly I feel something akin to what a Wine bottle would feel when its Cork is popped out. It was almost as if there was a huge pressure in my chest that I had always thought was normal was finally lifted. I felt more and more mana flowing out of me, looking around the room I see all of the bigger orbs slowly filling with liquid like the central orb. I hear another gasp from the grumpy mage and him muttering to himself behind me, the room continues to become brighter. Finally, the suction force stops, I don¡¯t exactly feel tired and I feel like that I have plenty of mana left over. The orb has released my hand and I¡¯m looking around the room in a daze, each of the orbs are filled to brim with mana but for some reason the originally deep blue mana has changed colour into what I can only assume is the respective colours for each element. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder spinning me round so that I¡¯m face to face with the grumpy mage. He¡¯s squatted down and staring into my eyes, his hand has a firm hold on my jaw so that I do not look away, he doesn¡¯t look grumpy any more it looks more like an excited confusion.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He eventually releases his hand from my face but doesn¡¯t stand back up, he places his hand on my chest at first I don¡¯t feel anything other than the slight pressure of his hand. This continues for 10 seconds and I feel incredibly uncomfortable and the man is starting to look more and more frustrated. ¡°Boy you should be feeling me attempting to enter your mana core near your heart, picture it like im knocking on the door, you need to let me in.¡± Grumpy Mage ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything other than your hand mister?¡± I say in confusion. The man seems to get even more frustrated at this, he then closes his eyes and continues trying whatever he¡¯s doing. Eventually I feel something almost like the tiniest flicker of wind near my heart it was a very weird feeling, I didn¡¯t like it but it wouldn¡¯t go away. I focus on what feels like my Mana in my chest and when I blink my eyes suddenly I¡¯m suddenly standing in a room that¡¯s black everywhere. I turn around and behind me is a ginormous blue ball of light that reminds me of the sun, even though it looks incredibly bright my eyes don¡¯t hurt at all. I realised standing there that I felt like this entire place was a part of me, I could still feel that weird breeze but it now felt like it was coming from outside the black room. ¡°Mister said I need to picture him knocking and me opening the door so maybe the breeze is him knocking?¡± I say quietly pondering to myself. I clench my eyes and focus on the picture of me opening a door and the breeze coming in, and suddenly I hear a gasp. I look up and see the Mage in front of me but he¡¯s staring past me at the pretty ball. ¡°Wh¡­.Wh¡­..What are you!?¡± The Grumpy Mage stutters I tilt my head in confusion not understanding how to reply so I reply with a simple ¡°I¡¯m Jax mister. Did I pass the test can I be a mage?¡± I say with a nervous smile on my face. Silence reigns in the room for what felt like a long period of time, the mage appears to be attempting to gather himself and thinking hard about something. ¡°Boy concentrate on leaving your Mana Core, I need to discuss this with my superiors.¡± Grumpy Mage His reply makes me feel disheartened I don¡¯t know if I passed or not, from everything my Pa told me I thought that I had done well. ¡°Okay Mister¡­..¡± Jax ¡°Boy, you passed¡­. You have more potential than I thought was possible. Which is why I can¡¯t decide what will be done with you I need to discuss this with the Tower Lord.¡± Grumpy Mage ¡°And boy you can call me Preat, now focus on leaving your core we will continue this discussion out of here.¡± Preat I nod my head almost jumping from joy. ¡°I knew I was special! I¡¯m going to be the strongest Hero and I¡¯m going to go all across the world adventuring and learning all sorts of magic!¡± I think to my self I clench my eyes again and think about leaving my Mana Core as he put it and when I open my eyes I see Preat drenched in sweat with his eyes closed. I notice the lights seem to have gone out while we were in my Core and my father has his face near pressed against the window with his eyes wide open staring at me. ¡°Come with me Jax¡± Preat says to me and moves to leave the room As we leave the room my Pa instantly tries to ask questions but Preat cut him off before he could ask anything telling him to go in the waiting room for now, my Pa tries to argue but a sharp glance from Preat makes my father drop his eyes and be compliant. ¡°Preat is acting a lot nicer to me now but I still don¡¯t like him. ¡± I think to myself as he takes me to a ring like platform in a tube. I can¡¯t help but to contort my face in confusion he told me that we are going to the higher floors to speak to the Tower Lord, so shouldn¡¯t we go and take some steps? As if reading my mind Preat says, ¡°This is an elevator Jax is has been inscribed by runes that soak in loose mana and uses the Mana to move up and down floors of the tower.¡± Obviously this amazed me and interested me largely and the feeling of the elevator itself felt like I was floating when going up and upon stopping like something was pushing down on my shoulders. I follow Preat eventually approaching a door where he tells me to wait outside, he knocks on the door and says ¡°Tower Lord, It is 3rd Circle Mage Preat Vancout I wish to speak to you about an urgent matter.¡± I couldn¡¯t hear a reply but Preat must of as he walked inside closing the door, I stood there waiting for what felt like a long time dreaming about my future. Eventually the door opened and Preat told me to come inside upon entering the room he closes the door behind me and stands to the side. I look around the room it seems like an orderly office that¡¯s full of books and shelves and in the centre behind a desk sat an older looking man wearing a dress similar to the other few Mages I¡¯ve seen but his dress was black and a white pattern covering his heart. I briefly glance at Preat and note that that his dress is yellow. A gentle voice fills the silence in the room ¡°Take a seat Jax, I am Tower Lord Nor but you can call me Nor, I¡¯ve heard some very interesting things about you¡­ Do you have any idea what that is?¡± Tower Lord Nor ¡°Preat said that I was talented mister?¡± I say nervously in a quiet voice Noor leans his body over his desk with his hands clasped. ¡°You are far, far more than just talented Jax, how would you like to learn Mage craft at the Grand School Arcana?¡± Noor asks The first thing that goes through my head is of course raging excitement but a few doubts pop up. ¡°My families not poor but I don¡¯t think we can afford to go to the Arcana Mister.¡± I look down and stare at my feet embarrassed. ¡°You need not worry about that Jax the schools are free to all with the gift, and please just call me Nor.¡± ¡°Ye.. Yes Sorry Noor¡­. I don¡¯t have to wear one of those dresses do I?¡± Noor jumps back from his position in surprise. ¡°Haha, this is not a dress Jax this is a Mage robe many are inscribed for protection and all sort of other helpful things.¡± Nor says I felt embarrassed from how silly my question must have sounded so I nod my head. I was in the room for roughly 30 minutes as he informed me of how the Grand School Arcana runs, what to expect and how to prepare. He also asked me if I could read and write and all sorts of other questions, at the very end of the meeting he told me that my family would be moved to the central district if they wished to be and assured me that they would be well looked after. Nors POV The door closed behind Preat as he left to return the boy to his father and inform him of the situation. I hope his family is reasonable and doesn¡¯t do anything stupid, all with the gift must be taught as it would be too dangerous to let them run wild¡­. Especially for that boy, I attempted to read his mana subtly but I could not even take a glimpse of his power but it was there without a doubt, his core was protected by an impenetrable curtain and there were no cracks for me to slip through so in the end I had to give up. I was sure of one thing after meeting the lad however, that the lad will likely become one of the most powerful beings in existence if he is allowed to grow. If for some reason some fool estranges him from the kingdom or the tower it will spell the doom for us all. Such talent has never been heard of before, not even in the stories of old were the bards exaggerate the tales. Truthfully I know that he is too dangerous and should not be allowed to live, his power could rival empires. But I need to know.. know the limits of the Arcane, know the secrets of the world the gods and anything else, I wish to know it all. And maybe, just maybe that boy can show me. We will need to watch him as diligently as we watch our enemies for if he has any signs of turning against us he must be put down before the threat becomes too large. Wasting Time - Fantasy - The Arcane and Its Uses After speaking to Nor, Preat returned me to my Pa, I didn¡¯t know what to expect when I saw him, I hoped for joy and maybe pride but instead all that lay on my father¡¯s face was the emotionless mask he seems to constantly carry with him. Preat explained the situation of me attending the Arcana to my father, I say explained but it was more like a statement that I would be going regardless of how he felt about it. I feel like it should upset me that my Pa was been spoken down to like this but in the end my excitement overcame any anger I felt. The walk home was a silent one and when we got home he still hadn¡¯t spoken a word to me other than that he will come help me pack tomorrow. He called Ma and they went into their room, for the next 10 minutes or so I heard both of them yelling, I don¡¯t know why they even bothered to go in their rooms if they were going to yell at the top of their lungs. My Pa seems to be resolute in the decision of doing whatever the Mages want him to do while my Ma seemed scared, whether about the Mages, that I¡¯m leaving or maybe even of me, I¡¯m not sure. I got over listening to their arguments that just continued in a loop so I headed to my room, it was getting rather late and due to the excitement I didn¡¯t have much of an appetite. Before climbing in too bed I looked at myself in the mirror, what stared back at me was a skinny body with nothing worthy of note and a plain face with dark blonde hair. The only thing worthy of note on me are my eyes they¡¯re a deep azure blue, my Ma said they remind her of the ocean. I¡¯ve never seen the ocean but I definitely will someday. I take one last glance at myself attempting to picture what I¡¯ll look like in one of those dresses or robes as Nor called them and I head to bed. ¡°in just 3 days ill finally start on my journey.¡± I mutter to myself finally giving into the sleepiness that crashed into me at the end of a long day. The Day of Jaxs Departure I love my Ma and Pa but they worry so much, after giving me a lecture on to behave myself, stay safe and to visit home whenever possible they eventually gave me one last hug then pushed me away gently to move toward the Tower. I took one last look at my Ma and Pa and then turned around and walked toward the guards at the gate. I assume they were told to expect me as they ushered me inside and told me to wait in the entrance of the Tower. Upon entering I see 7 other kids like me waiting around, 3 of them were grouped up and the rest just stood by themselves. The other kids looked toward the entrance when I entered, most going back to what they were doing after seeing me. As I was looking around I made eye contact with one of the boys who, when meeting my eyes scowled at me and turned away like I had offended him in some way. I didn¡¯t pay him much mind, so far I haven¡¯t had a real friend. Sure I¡¯ve hang out with other kids and played games with them but I was never close to anyone and a lot of them seemed to only invite me to play because they needed numbers. I¡¯m taken out of my self pity after hearing the familiar voice of Preat saying ¡°That¡¯s all of you then.¡± He did another quick once over of the room upon making eye contact with me he gave me a slight bow of the head which did not go unnoticed by the boy that scowled at me just before, who decides to glare at me and as if I feel a pair of eyes on me I turn to him but as soon as we make eye contact he does the same thing, scowling and looking away. ¡°What¡¯s his problem?¡± I think to myself. ¡°Follow me¡± Say Preat about turning around without checking to see if were following before leading us into what he called the Nexus. He gives a brief explanation about how it¡¯s a large network of portals that can connect to all other ¡®nodes¡¯ placed around the country. Needless to say all of us were amazed, well almost all of the us. ¡°Haha, I am not surprised that something so common would fascinate commoners and lowborn.¡± a voice calls out from the rear of the group. I turn around and see its old scrunchie face that had called out, my parents always told me not too cuss but this guys a real asshat. ¡°Oh please, Gil stop acting like you¡¯ve seen or used a portal before.¡± A girl from the group of 3 people I saw earlier said. ¡°My Father uses them all the time! as I¡¯m so young there has been no need me for to use them but if I had wished it, obviously it is something that would be allowed to me whenever I wish it. You however Aria would need to book ahead and wait like all the other low born¡± He says with a sneer on his face staring at Aria as if asking her to challenge his statement. I don¡¯t know Aria, I know absolutely nothing about her but I have decided she gets points just for talking back to Gil, code name Scrunchie. Aria opens her mouth as if to retort when Preat decides he has no time to listen to them argue saying, ¡°Enough of your childish bickering, you are wasting my time, once the link in the Nexus is formed enter the portal and await instruction on the other side.¡± After saying this he places his hands on a pedestal in the room. After Preat spoke up Aria glared daggers at Gil while he just had a smug smile on his face as if he had won some great battle. My attention was pulled from them as I felt a sudden gust of wind and what looked like a big door with a glowing blue outline. Looking through the door I could see what looked like a clearing in a garden. ¡°Step through the Portal.¡± We did as he commanded and surprisingly when I stepped through I felt nothing, I expected to maybe feel disorientated or sick like sometimes when I rode with my Pa on his carriage. I was looking around the clearing when the portal closed at which point another Mage I presume by his red coloured robe appeared and spoke harshly to us. ¡°Listen well children, you have all been examined and found to have at a minimum great talent.¡± At this comment almost all of us straightened our backs, lifting our heads in pride. ¡°However! Talent while a requirement is not all that makes a great Mage, and you will do well to remember this. You. Are. Not. Mages. Yet! Never forget this.¡± His little speech killed a lot of the excitement we were all feeling. ¡°Now before I take you all inside I need to teach you the basics of the etiquette that will be expected of you. I will make the assumption that you are not all blind and have noticed that Mages wear similar robes generally only differing on the outside, aside from the personal enchantments inside the only variety¡¯s will be the colour which depicts the level the Mage has reached and been acknowledged of and then for the Mages of high position a symbol over their hearts.¡± He says all of this in a monotone voice as if he has had to say this on multiple occasions. ¡°First you are all students, you have no rank, no authority and no say. While you are at the Arcana you will wear the students robe which is white and will be given to you shortly.¡± ¡°If you graduate you will become a 1st Circle Mage which while they are the weakest of us, will earn you power and respect wherever you travel. They wear the colour of Light Blue.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ To make this short the colours from lowest Rank to highest are as follows¡± Student ¨C White 1st Circle ¨C Light Blue 2nd Circle ¨C Dark Blue 3rd Circle ¨C Green 4th Circle ¨C Red 5th Circle ¨C Black ¡°If you speak to any Magus you are to at a minimum address them by their rank being, the 1st ¨C 3rd circle as Magus, the 4th as Lord Magus, the 5th as Arch-Mage. If you encounter a Magus with a symbol on his robe you are to address him as his title, for example Tower Lord Nor from Reigar. Certain Magus will not hesitate to punish you on the spot for failing to show the proper respect, Tower Lord Nor was notorious for this. Do I make myself clear?¡± he asks irritably as if he had some place held rather be. As a chorus we all reply ¡°Yes Lord Magus.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but think that Nor, or Tower Lord Nor seemed incredibly friendly when he spoke with me and even encouraged me to drop the titles. Maybe he has changed. ¡°Now let¡¯s get a move on we need to assign you accommodation and give you a basic tour.¡± Saying that he turned and strode away, it seems like Mages are really impatient and don¡¯t like to wait for people. We all follow along silently eventually he leads us to our accommodation and I must say I was quite pleased with my room. We are each assigned a room to ourselves with Aria being the only female of our group being put into the female wing with the other new students who have arrived. He tells us to throw whatever we brought with us into our room then form back up outside so he can get the tour over with. Needless to say the tour was awful and I¡¯m scared that I am likely going to struggle to find my way around this massive building for the first few weeks. At the end of the tour he takes us to a class room telling us that we are to be here prior to 8am tomorrow with that he departs and leaves us to make our own way back to our rooms. We depart in two groups excluding Aria who went a separate way. 3 of the boys follow Gil, from the sound of it they were going to check out the recreation room. I was walking along in silence with the two other boys when one of them decided to break the silence.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°So what affinities did you guys have in your examination? I had what he said was a greater affinity with Fire a lesser affinity with Wind and a minor affinity with Earth. Oh and my names Jake nice to meet you.¡± Both the boys I¡¯m walking with were the ones with Aria before we left the city Reigar, Jake was tall and lanky with brown eyes and messy brown hair that was all over the place. ¡°Oooo cool! I wanted Fire, I have a Greater affinity to Darkness, and a strong affinity to Earth.¡± Although he stated he wanted Fire he seemed very smug about the ¡®Greater¡¯ affinity. They both look at me expectantly and I recall what Nor had told me. ¡°Whether it is that we lack the ability to test you properly I am unsure, however as far as we can tell you have a complete affinity to every Element Jax¡­. This is unheard of and I do not suggest you start telling your fellow students this. For starters they likely wouldn¡¯t even believe you but on the off chance they do it will likely leave you segregated. If asked I would suggest you pick two of the elements you are willing to focus on when in the presence of your fellow students. In terms of your affinity they¡¯re rather simple.¡± Minor Lesser Normal Strong Great Greater Supreme Complete I had previously thought of if I could only train a couple of the affinities in public which ones I would rather spend the most time on so I say. ¡°Hi I¡¯m Jax I have a Greater affinity for Water and a Great affinity for Darkness.¡± I obviously toned it down a lot but I didn¡¯t want to be seen as average. Pete looks at me with Wide eyes and says ¡°No way so unfair, Jake has an affinity for three elements and you have a Greater AND Great affinity? Man you¡¯re lucky what bloodline are you both from?¡± ¡°I am from the Mid Blood line of De¡¯Krat¡± Jake says proudly standing straight. Pete seems to become a little shyer after hearing that and his reply is a lot quieter than before. ¡°I am from the Low Blood line of Lum.¡± They both stare at me intently, I don¡¯t know how to react Nor or Preat never said anything about bloodlines all I¡¯ve ever heard about it is when my Pa said that Mage households pride themselves on the standard of Mages they produce and rank themselves on it. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m from the Farrst line.¡± I say timidly. ¡°Farrst? Never heard of that line, have you Jake?¡± ¡°Nope, never heard of that line, is it a high blood line?¡± Pete says excitedly. ¡°I have no bloodline my Pa is a merchant.¡± I say barely above a whisper. ¡°Huh what was that? I couldn¡¯t hear you.¡± Jake asks. My temper flares from the embarrassment, I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m feeling embarrassed, I may not come from one of these fancy bloody lines but my Ma and Pa are good parents and I¡¯m proud to be a Farrst. ¡°I said I have no bloodline and my Pa is a merchant!¡± I yell and run away too my room. When I reach my room I lock the door and lie in bed and cry. ¡°I just want a friend.¡± I whisper to myself. The next day I arrive at the class room, Scrunchie and his pals are all sitting close together, Aria Jake and Pete are also together and there¡¯s quite a few other people in here as well I assume from the other cities. I stand there awkwardly at first wondering if I¡¯m going to have to sit by myself. ¡°Hey Jax come sit with us¡± Jake yells from across the class. Him yelling drew everyone¡¯s attention to me and I pause stupidly thinking about how I thought I ruined the chance to be friends with them when I stormed off last night. I walk over and take a seat. ¡°About last night, sorry we didn¡¯t mean to be insensitive it¡¯s just well, it¡¯s very rare for commoners to have the talent so we just assumed you came from a bloodline.¡± Jake says with a serious face as I sit down. ¡°It¡¯s okay I over reacted as well I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°So friends?¡± Jake asks glancing at Pete and Aria ¡°I¡¯ll like that.¡± I say ¡°Hi nice to meet you Jax, I¡¯m Aria.¡± Aria was a short girl for her age, with rich blonde hair, light blue eyes and a pretty face. ¡°Nice to meet you too.¡± I smile shyly. ¡°To think a commoner would be given admittance to the Great School Arcana¡­ What is the world coming too?¡± Gil says loud enough that it carries from across the room while staring right at me sighing at end of his little speech. ¡°Oh piss off Gil! I¡¯ve heard all about your ¡®great talent¡¯, you should be glad you¡¯re even here, I¡¯ll say Jax has more right to be here than you!¡± Aria yells back. ¡°What was that you little mid blo¡­.!?¡± Gil starts to scream at her. Before the bickering could escalate a Magus of the 3rd rank wearing a Green robe enters the class room grabbing everyone¡¯s attention. Aria, Pete and Jake quietly chuckle while Gil seems to be fuming that he was interrupted before he could retort properly. ¡°Thank you¡± I quietly whisper to Aria She smiles brightly at me and says ¡°It¡¯s always a pleasure to annoy that stuck up arse.¡± I don¡¯t reply other than a just as large smile. ¡°Good everyone¡¯s here then let¡¯s begin, I am Magus Aran and I will be taking you all through the basics of the Arcane and its uses and eventually through basic control training.¡± ¡°When people think of Mages they tend to picture people shooting fireballs and having great magical battles, while we are able to do this of course we are also far more versatile.¡± ¡°One of the most common and useful abilities we have is inscription. This plays a huge part in battle between Mages and also in everyday life of us and the common folk. ¡°Upon graduation all of you as a minimum will be able to inscribe runes for basic things such as heating, light and other sorts of everyday things and also things such as inscribing a sword so that it will always be sharp without the need for constant maintenance. This is one of the largest reasons why Mages are given such a large amount of respect, other than the fact that Mages are immensely powerful.¡± Aran says laughing to himself as if he told a great joke. ¡°The reason why inscribing is useful for battles is simple, using the Runic Language of Old or Runes for short if I inscribed say my staff here with Fire Ball being two runes linked together one for Fire one for Ball¡± A staff appeared out of nowhere into his hand stunning the class¡± ¡°I am able to channel my fire affinity imbued Mana into the inscription like so¡± as he said so a ball of fire appeared atop the stuff instantly heating up the room several degrees, while he didn¡¯t seem to be phased by it at all. After a few seconds the Fire Ball disappeared like it never existed the only evidence remaining of it is the higher temperature. ¡°As you can see, it forms the spell I inscribed. Now however if I do it without the staff.¡± The staff disappears to who knows where leaving the class once again stunned. ¡°I am currently attempting to channel my Mana imbued with my fire affinity like before to form a Fire Ball but as I¡¯m sure you can all tell, it¡¯s not working. That is because Magic is reliant on Runes, without them the elemental imbued Mana cannot take form, this has caused endless speculation as to the reason why but we still do not know why this is. Now I¡¯m sure some of you are thinking that without the staff then that I am unable to use magic, that is where you would be wrong. ¡°Fire Ball¡± he speaks not loudly but loud enough to carry across the room and once again a Fire Ball appears above his out stretched hand not burning him the slightest. After a few seconds he once again gets rid of the fire ball and says. ¡°You would all have heard me say Fire Ball which is a requirement to cast magic without inscribed runes but the largest factor is the picturing of the runes and the effect you want. When I cast the Fire Ball I was picturing both the Runes for Fire and Ball linked together, there are a few flaws with this form of casting magic which is why we are so dependent on inscriptions. First the most obvious being that your enemy would be able to hear you say what spell you¡¯re going to cast. Second it takes longer to cast than channeling mana through an inscription. The biggest flaw however is the mental strain, with an inscription you simply channel your mana into the runes, when you free cast however you need to picture each of the Runes perfectly whilst at the same time holding the picture of the actual form of the spell. At first it may not sound difficult to you as you only have to remember a picture but you will find your mind under great strain trying to hold the form of multiples runes eventually causing enough drain on you that your spell fails and you suffer a back lash.¡± ¡°But before you can even think of inscribing or free casting you need to learn control, to do this we utilize our Pure Mana without an affinity imbued into it. The task is simple. ¡°For starters I want everyone to create a ball of Mana, to do this focus on your mana core and concentrate on your mana leaving your core and forming above your hand. It may take you a while to learn this so for the next week class will be focused on everyone being able to have a basic control of their mana, remember the Arcane is heavily influenced by your thoughts if you concentrate hard enough on it, it will happen, you just need to be patient. ¡°Magus Aran I thought you said that without knowing the runes we won¡¯t be able to use the Arcane?¡± a random girl at the back of the class asked ¡°Ah I was wondering is anyone would pick up on that, unfortunately no one has been able to figure out why but Mana without an Element does not require Runes at all. Some Mages have come up with theories as to why that is but as of yet no one has any definitive proof.¡± ¡°I see, thank you Magus Aran.¡± ¡°You may all begin when you wish, if you have any questions feel free to approach me to ask so that we do not distract the students.¡± He stated taking a look around the room to see if there would be any more questions before sitting in a seat and watching the class. I look around the room and see some students with their eyes closed, some with scrunched up faces and some with a care free look on their faces. ¡°Ah that was surprisingly quick, what is your name son?¡± Magus Aran asks out of the blue and to everyone¡¯s surprise a boy sitting by himself near the rear of the class already has a beautiful small glowing orb of light blue Mana fluctuating above his upturned palm. ¡°I am Zar of the Argon line, Magus Aran, I was taught this by my Father prior to attending¡± he says with a smug look on his face. ¡°Argon huh, so a High Blood Line, well good for you, you will have to wait for the rest of the class to finish before we can continue so for now unless told otherwise for the remainder of the week you are to study Runes.¡± He states while making a large book appear out of thin air then giving it to Zar. ¡°Of course Magus.¡± He says still with the prideful look on his face as if he was looking down on everyone else in the class. ¡°It might be too soon to judge but I think him and Scrunchie are going to get along well.¡± I think to myself. Speaking of which I glance at him and he seems to be frustrated, probably because he wasn¡¯t the first to succeed. Focusing on the task at hand I remember the feeling of my Mana Core and the feeling of Mana leaving my body when I took the examination. I focus on my Mana pooling above my hand forming a ball. I begin to feel the familiar feeling of my Mana moving but this time it flowed down my left arm to my upturned hand. Then ever so slowly a dark azure blue ball of light forms above my hand, I never noticed before because I never had anyone to compare too but my mana is a different colour to Zar¡¯s I wonder if it¡¯s just him or if everyone¡¯s Mana is different than mine. As my thoughts stray, so too does my control, the slow trickle of mana leaving my body like a crack in a dam becomes a small hole instantly causing my ball of light to expand into a huge ball that looks about a metre wide and tall. I hear the sound of chairs falling over along with the students besides me, I quickly focus on controlling my mana and then cutting off the Mana supply to the still slowly growing ball of Mana, resulting in it disappearing. I look around the class room Jake and Pete both fell from their chairs and are on the ground staring at me with wide eyes while Aria is standing staring at me with her mouth agape. ¡°My oh My, that was impressive, not your control, that was awful but the Density and the purity of it was amazing, what¡¯s your name? ¡°I am Jax Farrst, Magus Aran¡± I say nervously. ¡°Ah Jax, I heard many things about you.¡± He says with a big smile on his face like he knows a big secret. ¡°While you achieved the task I set your control was certainly lacking so do keep trying and try to keep it under control so you don¡¯t distract the other students. Now are you two going to get up or is the floor more comfortable than your chairs.¡± He says staring at Jake and Pete. They both hurriedly stand up and sit back down on their seats. ¡°Let¡¯s try continue without any more distractions everyone.¡± Magus Aran says before continuing to study the class. I hear Gil sniggering, with all his buddies leaning in close trying to hear every word that comes out his mouth as if he¡¯s the funniest Bard in the world. ¡°That. Was. Awesome¡± Jake states staring at me I chuckle softly ¡°really?¡± I ask shyly. ¡°Did you see the size of that thing!? Well obviously you did you made it but man it was like thisssss big!¡± He says stretching his arms out wide. ¡°It scared the hell out of me, a little bit of warning next time please.¡± Pete says laughing quietly. ¡°It was definitely impressive¡± Aria says agreeing with Jake and Pete. I smile happily thinking that I¡¯ve found some nice friends. Like this we turned up to class for the whole week with everyone being able to form the ball of Mana by the end of the week. Magus Aran eventually acknowledged later in the first day that I have sufficient control to form and disperse the ball of Mana and gave me a book filled with diagrams of the ¡®basic¡¯ runes and descriptions of what they do and what effect they are known to be able to provide when inscribed. At the end of the week he told us that the next week is all about expanding control of our Mana and that we are all going to have a turn putting on a ¡®Light Show¡¯ for him. He says that we are not required to be in the actual classroom as we prepare because he doesn¡¯t want any sneak peaks to what we come up with. And so ends my first week at the Arcana. Wasting Time - Fantasy - Proof Aran Pov The ¡®light show¡¯ as Magus Aran put it was a disappointing performance, which he already expected due to the students only just starting to learn control. There were only two performances that interested him one being Zar and the other being Jax. Zar¡¯s control was exemplary for someone of his age while Jax continued to impress him partially due to his control but mainly because of his unique Mana and the sheer amount of it. He briefly recalled the first practical test he had given the new class and the ball of mana Jax had created. While it was large, even students could create a ball that large, however it is likely to take some time and leave them incredibly fatigued, but in Jax¡¯s case it was near instantaneous ending with Jax looking like he wasn¡¯t fatigued at all. Aran had been informed to keep a close eye on Jax, when he had asked why he was told to not ask questions. Jax POV The first month of classes had been a let-down, I understood the necessity for control as we could harm ourselves and others but I really wish i could just fast forward these lessons as they had quickly become repetitive and weren¡¯t challenging anymore. I stopped my pondering and got back to the task at hand, gazing down at the short stick on my bench alongside my book of the basic runes. Aran hadn¡¯t said a thing about not being allowed to practice inscribing runes outside of class, with that being said although he had described how runes work, he never actually explained how to inscribe them in to an object. I pondered briefly if I needed to use a knife or something sharp to carve the runes. The idea didn¡¯t sit right with me, it didn¡¯t feel right that something that resulted in something so amazing, required a process that was just so¡­. Simple. If I can figure out how, I will inscribe the rune ¡®Light¡¯ on to the stick. I honestly have no idea what the result would be even if I managed to get this to work. What I wished to happen was for the stick to become lighter in terms of weight but whether that would happen or if the stick would become glow in the dark, I had no clue. All I could go on was that Magus Aran said that the Arcane is heavily affected by the desire of the caster. I eventually give in and decide to just try the simplest way I can think of to inscribe the rune into the stick, pulling out a knife I took from the mess I shrug and decide to just give it a try. I enter a sort of trance while staring intently at the drawing of the rune ¡®Light¡¯ for a few minutes trying to burn the image into my mind so that when I carve the rune in I can at least attempt to carve it accurately. My focus disappears as the burning sensation of my eyes continues to escalate and I realise that I had not blinked once for minutes. I wipe my eyes, clearing away the tears that had unwillingly fallen from them and turn my attention to the stick. With ¡®Light¡¯ still fresh in my mind I grip the knife firmly in my right hand and prepare to carve the rune on to the stick picturing the rune being created perfectly. And just like that I feel a miniscule amount of mana leaving me and the rune that I had been studying for hours formed before me glowing in the colour of my mana. It hovers there aimlessly as if waiting for direction. And wait it did, because as soon as I saw the rune word in front of me I dashed out of my seat and dived under my bed thinking that I had messed up. With my heart racing after waiting for a few seconds and realising nothing had happened I turn my head around and see the rune still floating there although it appeared slightly dimmer than before. I laugh quietly to myself glad that my friends weren¡¯t here to witness my display of courage, or the lack of. I hop out from beneath my bed and approach the rune word. ¡°Was it really that easy?¡± I say to myself as I circle around the word trying to get a different view of it, however regardless of which direction I was to it however it always appeared to me as the flat image that I saw in the book. I study the rune trying to organise my thoughts for minutes and watch as it becomes dimmer and dimmer until it eventually dissipates. Once it disappears I ponder the idea that the rune word was formed by intent to create it. Focusing once again of the rune word ¡®Light¡¯ still freshly burnt into my mind I will it to form before me. Once again the rune word appears and floats motionlessly awaiting purpose. As I had been expecting that it would work, I did not react so¡­ interestingly.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°If its intent to form the runes perhaps it¡¯s also intent to inscribe the rune into an object?¡± I say to myself. I attempt to picture the rune inscribing itself on the stick but it doesn¡¯t react in the slightest. After an hour of attempting to attach the rune to the stick and reforming the rune multiple times I become frustrated grabbing on to the sides of my hanged head to try alleviate the headache that¡¯s started to form. ¡°AHHHHHHHH!¡± I scream to myself and slam my forehead into the table. ¡°Why won¡¯t you just engrave yourself into the stick!?¡± I whine to myself as I picture what the stick would look like with the rune engraved into it. And with that thought the rune shrank to a tiny size and flew to the location I had pictured the rune being at on the stick, this event was closely followed by the same colour of my mana briefly brightening my room. After the light show I do a celebratory dance, I call it a dance but it was more of me hopping around whooping and patting myself on the back. Eventually curiosity overcomes my self appreciation and I move back to the stick and see a colourless tiny rune word depicting ¡®Light¡¯ near the top of the stick. ¡°Well it¡¯s not glowing in the dark so maybe it weighs less?¡± I say as I pick up the stick but I cannot feel any difference in weight. I slap my forehead with my freehand in annoyance at how forgetful I can be and remember that Aran had said that most runes need to have mana with the appropriate affinity channelled into it. And with that thought instead of slapping myself this time I pat myself on the back to congratulate myself on my new idea. The rune word ¡®Light¡¯ could be interpreted in different ways but the way it will work is likely to be affected by the affinity I channel into the rune. For instance, if I use a light affinity it would likely become bright and maybe if I used air then it would weigh less. I focus on the idea of imbuing my mana with air and supplying the rune with my mana. The rune starts glowing a dark azure blue and I instantly feel the stick that I originally guessed to weight around 2kg became near weightless in my hand. I cut off the mana supply out of curiosity to see if the weight would instantly become heavier again as I suspected but to my surprise the rune continued to glow. After a few minutes I got bored of waiting for a change and decided to play with the stick pretending I was a hero. I swung my ¡®sword¡¯ around trying to copy some moves I had seen a few soldiers doing at Reigar. In my imagination I was a great knight that was battling a evil demon and easily coming out victorious, to any outside viewers I would have been a child aimlessly jumping around and swinging a stick around incoherently. Throughout my ¡®battle¡¯ the stick slowly became heavier and heavier eventually returning to its original weight. This time I decide to channel a larger amount of mana into the stick to see how long it lasts. I manage to stay awake a few hours until sleep claims me and I fall asleep on my chair. I wake up to my ¡®alarm¡¯ which is just a piece of wood with the rune ¡®noise¡¯ chained with ¡®7¡¯ and ¡®Draw¡¯. I didn¡¯t understand how it worked originally and no one had bothered to explain it but now I found it likely that a runes effects are set by the intent at the time of the inscribing, in this case the ¡®noise¡¯ is just that, it creates noise, ¡®7¡¯ in this instance being thought of as 7am and ¡®draw¡¯ likely drawing in mana to keep the runes filled with mana. Coming out of my train of thought, I remember my experiments with the stick the previous night and look to see if the rune still holds mana. It does and is the glow hasn¡¯t dimmed in the slightest. I ponder multiple ideas as I go through my morning routine in preparation for class. After a period of time I leave my room to go meet up with Jake, Pete and Aria to walk to class together. Aria seems to be finding the lessons rather easy, while Jake has been roughly in the middle of the class, in achieving the tasks given by Aran and Pete is generally one of the last to succeed in any of the tasks. We head to class and the majority of the day passes in a blur for me, as soon as Magus Aran stated that we were going to continue more lessons on control I lost interest and started planning on the experiments I wanted to do after class. ¡°Do my lessons bore you Jax?¡± Aran says suddenly. ¡°No Magus Aran. I¡¯m sorry it won¡¯t happen again.¡± I say with reddening cheeks. Aran laughs quietly to himself ¡°I am curious to what is so interesting that you seem to be able to stare through me like I don¡¯t even exist.¡± He says with a straight face and raised eyebrows. The majority of the class giggles at the situation with the loudest laughter coming from Gils group of asshats. I drop my head staring at my table not wanting to make eye contact. ¡°Oh? So not only can he not see me, apparently he cannot hear me either.¡± He says dramatically causing another wave of laughter to echo through the class. Irritation overcame my embarrassment after being the joke of the class, yeah I wasn¡¯t listening but these lessons are boring and other than my first mishap I haven¡¯t found any of these lessons hard. ¡°I was thinking of some experiments I can do after class Magus Aran.¡± I say. ¡°What experiments could you possibly be conducting when all you¡¯ve been learning thus far is control and basic rune words?¡± He asks with a frown on his face. ¡°I was thinking of which other runes I can try inscribing and if I channel more mana into the initial rune if that will make the inscription stronger.¡± Upon hearing my words Aran¡¯s composure breaks and he starts laughing loudly. ¡°Ahhhh, that was a good joke.¡± He says with a smile on his face. ¡°It was not a joke!¡± I snap back forgetting to address him properly due to being frustrated of people laughing at me. Instantly Aran¡¯s smile disappears. ¡°Do not lie to me.¡± He says in a serious voice at a completely different tone than the voice he puts on to teach his lessons. ¡°I am not lying!¡± I yell in retaliation. ¡°You are very close to crossing the line Jax. First and most importantly there is no way for you to have inscribed anything without the appropriate tools, and second even if you had the tools it takes people on average months if not years to be able to inscribe perfect runes. Yet you expect me to believe that you, a student that has been here barely more than a month has not only managed to inscribe a perfect rune but has somehow done it without the tools?¡± He says irritably clearly starting to get annoyed at me. ¡°What tools? It wasn¡¯t even hard I just pictured it and it worked.¡± I ask more curious than angry at this point. Upon hearing my words, he stares at me with squinted eyes for a few seconds. ¡°Show me.¡± He states. I nod my head eager to prove I¡¯m not a liar, I pick up my pen and think of the rune word ¡®Light¡¯ which I find a lot easier to picture now than my previous attempts. With my intent the rune flared to life in front of me in the familiar dark azure blue. The class remained relatively silent with the exemption of the sound of Aran¡¯s chair being flung away from him as he abruptly stood up. My focus was uninterrupted and the rune shrunk to a miniscule size and flew toward the pen. After the process was complete the class was silent. ¡°Impossible¡­..¡±