24 First Day

"Van you must go to the Arcane College next week for the ritual." Mrs. Cartwright told him.

"Thank you for reminding me, I have been busy training my workers from the Labor Guild. They are becoming extremely skilled. They also seem to like the work, even though they work for a kid."

"You pay well, and you are not overbearing on them. Of course, they are going to like working for you."

"Do I really pay that well? It is skilled labor so of course, I am going to pay what they deserve. I pay 1 silver a week to each of my workers.

"Not everyone pays that. Most places pay around 75 coppers a week. Plus, you keep calling the same people back week after week. They are getting a good standing in the guild, and your reputation is increasing alongside the number of different products you put on the market. There are a lot of people waiting to come work for you."

"With, they work with me. I am right next to them making items also."

"No one else does that except master and apprentice. The boss normally sits in an office all day or is out and about."

"Well, I guess I am just a good boss."

"By the way how much profit do you have weekly?"

"About 50 gold. After everything is said and done."

"50 gold a week. That is amazing for a business your size. How many pencils do you make a week?"

"Around 10000. Half is bought by the Scholars guild still, but I sell a few hundred on the market, the rest is now an export. Once the demand for the pencils goes down so will my profits. So, I have to make as much as I can now. Plus, if I awaken magic I will be at the College for a few years."

"The Arcane College is 6 years long. The first year is to get a basic grasp of your affinity. The second-year will be more advanced magic in your affinity. The third-year is when people start getting filtered out. Because then you will be doing greater magic and magic, not in your affinity. It takes a lot of magic power for a fire mage to cast water magic for instance."

"What about the fourth through 6 years?"

"If you make it through the 3rd year you will already know about that."

The next week Van went to the Arcane College to unlock his magic. He was standing in the crowd at the steps waiting to register for the ritual when a member of the staff came out from the building and announced what was going to happen.

"Attention! Quiet down! Now there will be members of the staff coming out to register all of you. You will give them your name and then you will be called up one at a time to place your hands on this crystal. The crystal will emit a color that corresponds with your magical affinity. The deepness of the color will represent your magical strength."

When it was Van's turn to write his name, he noticed that the college was using his pencils. This brought a smile to his face the did not go unnoticed by the other candidates.

"What is he smiling for? Today is what determines what path your life will take. Wasn't he told this?"

"He must be an orphan and never got to use a pencil before. They are probably too expensive for him."

Van heard these comments and ignored them, he wrote his name and waited to be called up.

"Has everyone written their name?" the staff member asked. He looked around at the group of about 100 kids and didn't hear anyone speak up he continued. "I will now call your names and you are to come up and place your hands on the crystal. Are there any questions?"

"What are the colors?" a voice in the crowd rang out.

"Good question, Red is Fire. Blue is Water. Brown is Earth. White is Wind. Gold is Holy. Green is Plant. Black is Dark. Purple is Life."

"Can there be more than one?"

"Yes, a person can have more than one affinity, that is very rare. If that happens the two colors will flow around each other. Now let's proceed."

Names were being called and the crystal lit up more times than not. The kids that didn't have magic left the area to go back to their normal lives whatever they were. Some were angry and demanded a second try, the results of the second try were always the same as the first. It didn't matter if you were an orphan from the streets or a noble child. If you didn't have a magic affinity you had to leave. Most of the colors that showed up were lightly shaded colors, meaning that those people's magic power wasn't very strong. There were a couple of extremely deep colors and those people instantly turned smug because they knew that their lives were going to be easy. There wasn't a single dual affiliated person yet when Van's name was called.

"Van Augustus"

Van confidently walked up to the crystal and the crowd stayed silent as they did for everyone else. He mentally prepared himself and just hoped that he wouldn't cause too big of a commotion. He had actually been dreading and hoping for this day his entire life. He couldn't wait to unlock his magic, but he also knew that because of the contract he was going to be powerful in all types of magic known and unknown. He just didn't know how this would display on the crystal.

"Now, Van Augustus, Place your hand on the crystal."

Everyone went silent once again as the crystal started to light up. The light that came from the crystal was a blindingly brilliant white light that caused everyone in the crowd to shield their eyes. When the intensity fell back down to normal everyone looked at the crystal and what they saw left everyone speechless and frozen in place.

When Van placed his hands on the crystal, he felt a huge surge of power flowing through him. He felt like there was a black hole in his chest and it was draining the power of the crystal after the initial surge he felt empty, like he had been starving for weeks and finally seen a steak dinner that he wasn't allowed to have. He could feel the black hole feeding on the power from the crystal, so he focused on that feeling and encouraged it.

While focusing on the feeling he could see a small orb inside his mind, it was the location that was devouring the magical energy from the crystal. The more it consumed the larger and more solid it got. Inside his head, he could see the orb of energy getting bigger and bigger, soon wasn't able to see the edges of the sphere it obstructed his entire view. He saw the colors of the sphere and it was a rainbow of colors, constantly shifting between all visible colors. He then found himself standing on the surface of the sphere and it looked like an ocean made of different colored dyes. He felt that the sphere was starting to calm down, so he left his mind and opened his eyes.

The crystal was mimicking the sphere inside his mind, all the visible colors were swirling around in the deepest shades. The crowd was all whispering to each other, and the staff didn't know what to do. Van looked around at the crowd and at the staff everyone was staring at him and the crystal. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed and at the same time couldn't process what they had just witnessed.

The headmaster suddenly appeared and attempted to address the crowd. But none of his words reached even his staff members' ears. The headmaster took Van's hands off the crystal and took a step back. The crystal lost its vibrant dance of colors and returned to a clear state. That is when everyone came to their senses. The noise was deafening, Van couldn't hear a thing, and that is when the headmaster grabbed his arm and brought him inside the college.

"What is your name young man?" he asked Van

"Van Augustus. Sir." Van said as he pried his arm out from the headmaster's grip. He was getting tired of being manhandled.

"Come with me you and di have a lot to talk about."

"Yes, Sir"

Van followed the headmaster up to his private office, leaving the clamor outside behind. When they got to the office the headmaster rummaged around in a desk and pulled out a smaller crystal like the one outside.

"Please hold onto this crystal."

Van grabbed the crystal and instantly it lit up like the one outside. All of the colors were swirling around. Van could feel the sphere in his mind sucking in all of the power of the crystal.

~ I wonder what will happen if I just keep holding onto it.

Van hadn't finished that thought for more than a second when the crystal suddenly turned grey in color. Cracks started to form and a second later it crumbled in his hand and turned to dust.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing. Here try another one but wait for me to tell you to grab it."

~~ {It seems like the headmaster is somewhat a scientist like you were.}

~~ It seems like that.

"Okay grab it."

Van did as instructed, and both he and the headmaster started to count the seconds it took for the crystal to crumble into dust.

"5seconds." The headmaster said as he wrote down the information.

"Sir. Is this what you wanted to see me for?"

"No, after I witnessed the light and saw the crystal, I had a suspicion, but this confirms it. let me ask you a question, do you know why we have children touch the crystal at ten years old?"

"To unlock our Magical affinity."

"I know you don't know how that happens; humans are not naturally gifted with magic. We must force the affinity to appear. The clear crystal outside and the ones at the other colleges are gifts from the elves. Those crystals tap into the magical Ley Lines inside the earth. Each crystal is placed directly on top of an intersection or geyser. The one outside is special because it is both an intersection and a geyser. The clear crystals gather the energy and transmit it to whoever touches is. This rush of magical energy is what unlocks a person's magical core. Well, it is what builds it. The affinity is chosen at random and rarely are the two chosen. Your magical power is how easily your core absorbs the magic. Your core was not just absorbing the magic, your core was actively draining the magic from the crystal, as demonstrated by the two small crystals I handed you earlier. If I were to have left you touching that crystal outside, I am afraid of what would've happened, this has never happened before."

"Then how do you know I was draining the magic?"

"There are monsters that can drain a person's magic if they touch them, we have captured them and ran experiments. But you will learn all of this in class… you are coming to the college, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir I am, I know nothing of magic. it would be stupid of me to not attend."

"Good, we will continue this discussion another day, you have the entrance ceremony to get to. Go downstairs and you will see where it is."

"Yes, sir." With that Van left for the entrance ceremony.