The Many Guilds

Ares awoke early, it was routine for him. Work demanded that he got up before seven am every day. Already the knowledge that he would have to see Grant today was disturbing his mind. As he sat up and pushed away the blanket. He felt slightly different. He looked down and could see his normally unhealthily visible ribs were less noticeable. He silently considered what he had been eating and doing, but could find no explanation for the change. He examined his palm briefly but found it too had not changed.

Ares's brothers were awake and up. Chris was the eldest at the age of twenty-three, he was the size of a small troll. Because of his age and size, he led the others.

"Ready to get to work guys?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yes" Tom and Ben moaned quietly, Tom had just turned twenty and Ben was seventeen years old. They in no way had the same enthusiasm for work that Chris displayed.

Because the others were older than him they all had different shifts at the mine. They worked harder jobs then Ares, they worked in the deepest parts of the mines. It was far more dangerous but the pay was much better.

"Later tiny" Chris yelled as he ruffled Ares's hair and bundled out the door. Both Tom and Ben followed suite ruffling his hair then slamming the door and going out to work. Ares figured that he had around half an hour before he would have to set off, just enough time for breakfast. Jessica was their sister and was fourteen, although she was the youngest other than Ares. She was still at home, in the kitchen.

"I have some fresh bread for you already made" Jessica said quietly from the end of the carriage.

"Thanks Sis" he said grabbing a loaf and happily tearing off a chunk and ramming it into his mouth like an animal. Jessica worked in a small shop which sold fresh food and sometimes brought bits home. Chris particularly didn't like this due to the dangerous public but Denise liked to contribute to the family.

Although he was eating his thoughts were still preoccupied with the magic circle on his hand. What was he going to do to fix it? Knowing that it was related to the magic guilds the options for were bleak.

"What's up little brother?" Jessica asked interrupting his troubled thoughts.

"Just thinking about work, I don't suppose you know anything about the magic guilds?" It was a long shot but asking her wouldn't do any harm and she undoubtably knew more than him about the city's workings.

Jessica looked shocked. She looked up and down the carriage checking if anyone was in the vicinity. After confirming they were alone she looked at Ares.

"Ares, why are you asking about the guilds!" her eyes were sharp.

"I heard they know about magic circles and I found one." Normally he wouldn't hide the circumstances but after understanding what the magic circle was about he didn't want to drag his family into it; It sounded like it could be dangerous.

Denise looked torn after a few seconds she explained.

"Magic circles are binding spells, they are curses or blessings. If you found one you need to leave it alone, you didn't touch it did you? The spells can't be undone by any but the highest of each magic branch leaders." Ares was astounded by how much his sister knew, he was just wondering how she had come to know this knowledge in detail.

"How do you know then?" She looked uncomfortable.

"I serve mages all the time they mentioned it in passing." She hung her head. It was clear this was at most a part of the truth and she was hiding something. Ares did not pry and instead let the conversation end and silence prevail.

He continued to eat the food in front of him in silence. He glanced up at Denise and could see she was conflicted she looked like she wished to tell Ares something but wasn't sure.

"Denise, do not speak unless you wish to tell me the whole truth" he said. He wasn't about to force anyone to talk if they didn't want to but he didn't want to be lied to.

She sniffed. And remained silent.

Ares glanced at his timepiece he only had five minutes left before work! Where had the time gone? He stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth.

"Got to go" he mumbled bread crumbs flying from his mouth.

He made his way quickly to the mine; work would inevitably be difficult today, especially considering the events of yesterday. He thought to himself he would try to leave early, perhaps if he distracted Grant with food, he wouldn't notice him leaving.

The day flew by uneventfully. Once during the day Ares was attacked by Grant for "dawdling". He had been paused for less than two seconds before being beaten to the ground and stamped on. Considering the previous day, it was likely he was looking for a reason to hit Ares. Ares however used this beating in his favour. He made it look like he had been badly injured by Grant and began limping and moaning.

Grant knew that on a normal shift this would not matter in the slightest however he had been told off the day before and told he was under strict observation. This not only curbed the actions he could take but also made him somewhat apprehensive in letting a complaining injured miner draw attention to him. He therefore allowed Ares to leave a little early.

After arriving at the surface, Ares could hear a busy bustle.

It was recruiting day for the guilds! How had he forgotten?

The guilds had been in place for thousands of years and were a staple in the prosperity of any city. The guilds were organisations who raised mages. A single arch-mage could protect a city for a millennium and raise the profile of the whole region. This however was often a dream as raising an Arch-mage was far more difficult than finding a needle in a thousand haystacks.

Today was the day they took new applicants a monthly event. The various magic guilds situated within the 3rd City had opened their gates to recruit prospective Mages. Of course, these guilds would not offer spaces easily, every different guild had tests and talent was at the forefront of these tests there was also a strict age limit of maximum 14 years old.

The most popular guilds were always the main magic branches they had the most complete knowledge from the ancients and the magic was countless times more powerful than other branches.

The primary guilds within every city were the light guild and the dark guild, the magic which had been passed down within these branches was known to be far more powerful than any other guild and as such these guilds had profited from hundreds of years of prosperity and become the most powerful two guilds in the world.

These two guilds were closely followed by the secondary element guilds; the fire, earth, air and water guilds. Each of these guilds was split into three different sub-guilds however they would pool their resources in times of crisis.

The sub-guilds which came from each of the secondary guilds included the ice, water and steam group within the water guild. The Lava, plant and rock groups within the earth guild. The wings, the dust and the wind groups in the air guild. And within the fire guild the lightning, sun and burning guild. Each category taught a specific branch of magic however more talented pupils could study more than one category of each elemental guild.

There were also the somewhat forgotten dark guilds, these were categories that not many practiced due to lack of knowledge and also reduced members. Some included practices like Necromancy, Eclipse and Space. These were often shunned by society as it was rare that any person would apply to them, even finding their stalls would be difficult.