4 City of Gods

As the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon a gentle knock sounded on the other side of the closed door to Jien's room. It was a sound that he was quite used to as he raised his head from his pillow and bade the one who knocked to enter. He had been sleeping but as always throughout his years thus far, he was a light sleeper. Though oddly enough this phenomenon was only in terms of other people interacting with him or near him as he slept. He could sleep through, rain, thunder, and all kind of naturally occurring sounds but a voice speaking to him or a simple knock on his door was always enough to wake him up.

The one who entered the room was none other than the same maid who had held him shortly after his birth and his mothers' passing. She was 5'4" with light blue eyes, long brunette hair that flowed gently to the small of her back, and a thin yet shapely form. Her name was Runa and after that first night, she had been appointed as Jien's personal nanny and maid. She entered his room at his prompt, opening the door quietly and closing it after her.

This was not the time that she would usually wake Jien up to get ready for the day, but the trip that he and his father were to take was due to be a long journey. She walked over to his bedside as he stood up from the comfort of the warm blankets. The chilly morning air touched his now slightly pale skin. Several years' worth of spending less time outdoor had paled his skin greatly in comparison to the lightly tanned skin of all others of the household. He removed his pajama top and bottoms as he did every morning, exposing his thin, almost unhealthy-looking frame. One would wonder if he was fed well enough given that he was so slim. What they would likely be surprised about was that he ate quite a lot for his age. That being said he also ate a lot healthier than those his age as well. He had read many a cookbook in his search of knowledge, learned much about healthy diets kept by many travelers to remain fit and healthy during travels. His knowledge in this area had also helped improve the health of the whole of Losler Manor. He waited patiently as Runa dressed him in a white dress shirt, simple black button-down vest, a pair of black dress pants, socks, and finally two well-polished black shoes. His long brown hair was brushed and put into a simple ponytail reaching to the middle of his back. Though his father had constantly urged his son to have his hair cut after several weeks of unmotivated stubbornness he had finally given up on the matter.

The now seven-year-old Jien walked from his room after being dressed and walked down the stairs to the first floor of the manor. The fact that he was seven years of age was the entire point of him having been woken up so early. It was on or after the seventh birthday that children were allowed to have the ritual performed that would allow them access to mana, and ultimately acquire the ability to use magic. This was a common tradition and even the children of the streets had it done when they came of age. There was no cost to the one having it performed and honestly the ritual could be completed anywhere. For those of prestige such as the Lord in charge of a middling city, it was a tradition that was taken quite seriously.

Jien walked into the large dining room where his father was already waiting, reading lightly through some documents and sipping on a cup of hot tea. As Jien sat at his seat a few simply dressed butlers and maids came from the kitchen with a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and fresh fruit for the pair. Despite needing to take off in the not-too-distant future they both took their time and ate with the manors expected of them at their level of status. Unlike usual meals, though where Lord Losler would talk to his son regarding the affairs of the city or about any topic, he could think of that may get Jien to say a few words, today he was quite silent.

After they had both finished their meal and freshened up shortly the father and son headed outside to meet the dark, wood carriage waiting for them at the bottom of the manor steps. The carriage bared the Losler crest, a sword lying flat along the bottom, a book opened evenly with a quill whose feather was a brilliant green laying at its' center. The carriage driver opened the door for the pair, closing it when they were comfortably seated and then taking his place before taking the reins and starting the journey. Soon the carriage rolled down the path to the Losler Manor and out into Afrem City.

Lord Losler paid attention to Jien, trying to see if perhaps he would be interested in the sights that Afrem City held. However, disappointingly he found that Jien had opened up a book as soon as they had started moving and was not paying attention to anything around him. His father sighed deeply, not knowing what he was going to do when he grew to an older age. It was firmly apparent that Jien was in no way interested in picking up the reigns from his father. However, when he read the title of the thick book Jien appeared to be casual reading he choked on his thoughts. 'Graflers' Magic Theorem' was pressed into the maroon leather of the book. Grafler being one of the most profound magi to have existed in the past century of not just the Elitrix Empire but the entirety of the Oslus continent. Known as the magi that brought the era of peace that they were currently living in with the other kingdoms and Empires by singlehandedly devastating all nine armies with one single spell. This spell removed close to eighty percent of all of the armies at once. While it was a great display of power, it was also the end of Graflers' very life.

Magic in no way was infinite, mana did not grow on trees, nor did it permeate the air. Mana was stored in the body, slowly accumulated, and replenished over time by what magi call the 'soul core'. You could not spend what you do not have and attempting to do so would first damage the psyche, then the soul and lastly drain the body of all vitality until it would simply turn into dust in the wind. Grafler had paid the price to cast his Opus of spell work. While it ended the war with a body count in the hundreds of thousands, mages, warriors, foot soldiers were all reduced to nothingness in an instant. The kingdoms withdrew their troops in fear that further weakening would leave them vulnerable. This in turn led to peace out of lack of military might and generation after generation forced into mandatory military academies. And here Jien was reading his formulas and theorems casually. It gave hope to Lord Losler that though his son may not become a city lord that he may have hope as a mage in the future.

Towards this end, they were heading to a city several hours out, 'City of the Gods'. Though the name made it sound that the gods existed in the city it was not the case. There instead were temples to the numerous gods in existence. This was not something that only the Elitrix Empire had. Each island nation or kingdom had one, as the rite to unlock magic was very important to all, both to increase knowledge but more than that to increase military might once more. The archons of each god, priests of the highest order would move between the various 'cities of the gods', raising new ones when a new empire would rise or simply moving the temple if a kingdom would fall. These cities had existed for a millennium, many generations wrote about them and as time would move forward, they would write about how the number of shrines would slowly increase.

It was the middle of the day before they finally reached their destination. It was a city that spanned many hundreds of square miles in all directions. Its' bright white, pristine walls were visible from a long distance back. Only when these unblemished white walls came into view did Jien finally close the book he was reading. As they approached the large white gates before them that towered several hundred feet high Jien peered out the window casually. Seeing this his father smiled warmly, at least his unmotivated son was showing interest in something other than the books that he constantly read in the darkness of his room or the well-lit library.