Big Day
The priest welcomed Fate with a smile and a pat on the back, leading him toward the center of the dais.
There, floating in the air at chest height, was the Awakening Stone. Enchanted by the best and brightest of the Empress' Guard, the Awakening Stone was a transparent orb the size of Fate's head, swirling with white energy both within and without.
When one placed their hand on it, the white would change colors depending on the result. Red meant there was no Mage Seed inside of you. Green meant there was, and the orb would immediately start the Awakening Process.
"Please, put your hand on the Stone. May your friends and family gathered here today bear witness to your results."
'Friends, and family, sure," Fate thought. 'I don't have any friends, and the only person I can call family is too busy to see the most important moment of my life.' He kept his thoughts to himself, doing as he was told and placing his hand on the orb. And he waited…
And waited…
"Some of us have to go to work, you know!" yelled a man from the pews.
The church filled with laughter and jeers. None of them expected him, a lowly criminal and a punk without a last name, to succeed where they had failed. None of them were even Magicians, much less possessors of a Mage Seed. They were purely mortal, and they refused to believe the town thief was any different.
The priest kept his smile up, although after ten minutes had passed, even he was wondering why the Awakening Stone wasn't responding. Fate stood there stoically, having faith in Old Man Travis' assessment.
After the twenty-minute mark, he cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose this counts as a fail- " His words were interrupted as the stone flashed green.
The entire church fell silent, save for the loud sound of the wind as the Stone gathered Mana in preparation to jostle Fate's Mage Seed awake.
"Brace yourself," the priest whispered to Fate. "I've been told this is supposed to hurt."
The priest didn't lie; Fate soon found himself wracked by immense pain. He tried to jerk his hand away, but he found that he couldn't move. He couldn't even blink.
All of the Mana gathered by the Stone poured into Fate, filling his limbs and putting him in an odd state somewhere between euphoric pleasure and hellish pain. He felt as if he was simultaneously being massaged by angels and stabbed by the pitchforks of demons. For a second, he feared that this would go on forever, the Mana within him reaching its peak as nothing changed.
Then he felt something within himself, a piece of him unfettered by the mortal limitations of his body. It sparked to life, roaring into a bonfire as it pushed the Mana of the Awakening Stone out of his body.
The wooden shutters rattled on the church windows and the candles winked out as his Mana – for it was Mana that he was using – surged out, bathing everyone in attendance before it coiled in on itself and retracted back into Fate.
The Awakening Stone chimed, releasing Fate from its grasp. He fell to his knees instantly, breathing heavily as he recovered from the pain and reveled in his new power. The orb floated higher into the air, stopping just short of the tall ceiling as it projected a screen of light below it for everyone to see.
A recording of the Empress herself appeared. She was a beauty beyond words, her golden eyes and flowing blonde hair seeming to glow with an inner light. She smiled, staring at nothing, and her musical voice graced those in attendance.
"Congratulations, Magician. You have taken the first step on the path of a Mage, and have proven yourself worthy to join my Royal Mage Academy. The Guard stationed in your town will be here shortly to escort you to a teleportation formation bringing you to the capital, the wonderful city of Hetforn.
"As always, admission and tuition are entirely free, although all Spells at and above the Sprout Grade will of course require payment. Congratulations once more. If you're lucky, you may even work for me one day. Goodbye, and make me proud!"
The projection flickered out and the orb returned to its normal position, and everyone in the church watched Fate with rapt attention as he pushed himself to his feet. No one said a word, even when the doors to the church swung open and a member of the Empress' Guard marched in.
His green armor denoted his Journeyman status, his stern face surprisingly young, with close-cropped brown hair and serious green eyes. He paid no heed to the stares of admiration and jealousy he received from the townsfolk, moving between them with his eyes only on Fate. He stopped at the foot of the dais, straight as an arrow.
"Citizen Fate, you have four hours to get your affairs in order. If you wish to accept the Empress' offer and join the Royal Mage Academy, meet me in front of this church within that time."
Fate swept his gaze over the assembled crowd, his eyes lingering on Old Man Travis before he returned it to the Guard. "I'll only need thirty minutes."
"Very well." With that, the Guard turned and left, closing the door gently behind him.
Everyone else stood and filed out afterward, grumbling all the while, which left just Fate, the priest, and Travis. The old man walked up and clasped Fate's shoulder, grinning happily.
"Congratulations, my boy. I suppose this means you'll be resigning?"
"I'm afraid so, old man," Fate replied, returning the smile. "You'll have to find someone else to shine those shoes."
"Bah, I'll just do it myself. None of the children in this village can be trusted with responsibility. Here." Travis pulled something out of his pocket and grabbed Fate's hand, placing a jingling pouch in it. "There's your pay for the month, plus a little bonus for your birthday. Don't spend it all on frivolous trinkets; those Spells at the Academy can cost quite a pretty penny, and you'll want to get at least a few of them."
"Thank you, Travis," Fate said, grasping the man in a hug. "Speaking of which," he said, breaking the contact and turning to the priest. "What Facet do I have? Fire? Gravity? Maybe Wrath?" He asked, firing off name after name in hopes he got a cool one.
The priest frowned, his gaze flicking to the Awakening Stone. "I don't know yet. The Stone is being awfully slow. Although to be fair, this is the first time I've ever seen it Awaken someone." Just then, the orb changed from green to blue, and a small screen flickered into view above it. "… Well, there's your answer."
"I've never heard of this one before," Travis said, frowning.
There on the screen, in bold, black letters, was a single word: Negativity.