A Spark of the Future

Chapter 3

Jack awoke with a start. His entire body ached, he tried to open his eyes, but the brightness burned causing him to wince. He slowly blinked, his eyes watering in agony. While waiting for his eyes to adjust he tried to slowly observe his surroundings. First, he noticed that he was warm and dry, something he was not used to waking up on the streets. He was lying in a bed that was incredibly soft and smelled fresh and clean.

A heavy cotton blanket covered him, and an extremely soft pillow embraced his head. If it wasn’t for the extreme pain emanating from his leg, Jack probably could have fallen right back asleep. His leg pulsed with a deep throbbing pain that seemed to be on beat with his heart. As his eyes adjusted, he could start to see his surroundings. He was in a hospital room.

Everything was a soft white, and sun rays were shining through the window, promising a beautiful day. His mouth was dry, and he looked for a glass of water. Happily finding one beside the bed, he quickly chugged it all down reveling in the taste as he did so. Basking in the comfort of the bed, Jack almost didn’t notice the person sitting beside him. It was the giant man from the alley. Jack jolted upright. A fresh shock of pain shot through his body from his leg.

“Relax.” The giant man said in a soft voice. Jack remembered his name was Tram. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He put his hands out in a calming gesture.

“B.. But you killed Bones!!” Jack quickly stammered out.

“Bones?” Tram said confused. Jack flushed with embarrassment because he had used the nickname he had given the skinny water man out loud.

“Ah.” Tram’s demeanor changed, and after a moment he said. “You mean Vyckos Dorin.” His face darkened as he thought of the man.

“Vyckos Dorin is a very dangerous individual. He is wanted for many heinous crimes, and he would have probably killed you just for fun.” Jack felt his face go pale at the thought. “But unfortunately that was only an advanced water clone. That was not his real body. He was operating his clone from a remote location. I was working on gaining his trust. Alas, once I saw you had absorbed the elemental core, I had to blow my cover. I know you have questions, but first I need you to answer some of mine.” Tram pulled out a notepad and a pen, they looked comically small in his hands. “What’s your name?” he asked.

Jack thought about giving a false name but didn’t know where he was and had a feeling that things would go a lot smoother if he cooperated. “My name’s Jack.”

“Do you have a last name or any family, Jack?”

He looked down at his hands and quietly said. “No.”

“That’s what I feared,” Tram said softly. “How old are you?”

“I don’t know, I would have been turning 12 when the orphanage burnt down. It’s been 2 winters since.”

Seeming satisfied with that answer, Tram continued. “What do you know about magic?”

“Not much.” Jack was still looking down at his hands, not enjoying the barrage of questions.

“Do you know what happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“We believe you naturally absorbed a pure element core.”

“W…what?”

“Did you find anything in the alley?”

Suddenly remembering the cube, Jack tried to be subtle, but Tram noticed him reach for where his pocket had been.

“Hmmm, so it was in your pocket, just like we thought. You’re lucky to be alive, few today have absorbed an element in that manner and have lived. We are bringing in a specialist to take a look at you. I’m very sorry you found the cube, it’s my fault, it was incredibly dangerous for you to pick up.” It was Tram’s turn to look at his hands, ashamed. “I had picked a location that I thought no one trafficked. You got caught in the middle of an operation that was to prevent criminals from getting their hands on the cube. There has been a serious increase in criminal activity involving elemental cores, and it has everyone worried. If what we believe is true, and you have absorbed an element, then by law you must go to school to learn how to use your powers, and after that of course, the mandatory military service.”

“What do you mean by mandatory military service?”

“Oh. Right... I guess you probably wouldn’t know about that.” Tram sighed heavily. “The Royal court and the government require all elemental users to go to school to learn how to use their powers effectively. Unfortunately, after schooling, because element users are so powerful, they are utilized by the military. Being a smaller country compared to the other 2 great powers, we need all the strength we can get. Being forced into the military has always been a big topic of debate. Scions of wealthy families are never compelled to join of course for political purposes. It wasn’t too bad for me; I have the stone and fire elements. Both are basic but useful. I worked mostly as a hunter in the monster corp. I know this is a lot for you. But you could see this as a golden ticket. Families save up for generations to obtain an unrefined core of a basic element.”

“How do you know all this? Who are you? Who were those people that were shooting at us?”

“Ah, I apologize for not introducing myself.” Tram stood up. That’s when Jack noticed his clothing had changed, he was no longer wearing dark inconspicuous clothes. He was wearing thick well-fitting leather and linen attire with small square metal plates covering the vital parts of the shirt and pants. A red scarf was tied loosely around his waist. The scarf had a bright gold symbol on the front that looked familiar to Jack. The large man took a tiny step backward and made a small, elegant bow, before standing up straight and saying. “My real name is Gant the Grand, a member of the Royal Whispers.” Obvious pride in his voice as he spoke.

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Jack looked at him blankly, having no idea what any of that meant. There was a soft knock on the door, followed by a nurse quickly entering. Gant was still standing proud when the nurse entered, she saw him and immediately gasped when she saw the symbol on his clothing. She was an older woman and quickly bowed her head while profusely apologizing for entering unannounced. “I’m so sorry sire, I had no idea a royal member was here.”

“Hahaha.” Gant laughed with obvious bravado, “it is no problem, please see to the boy.”

Jack still had no idea who this man Gant was, but the lady seemed in awe of the symbol on his chest. Jack looked at the symbol again trying hard to remember, when it finally hit him. This was the same symbol that one of his favorite childhood books contained. It brought back fond memories of the orphanage. He would spend all day in the library, curled up in a window nook enjoying the stories of the world. This specific story involved a hero who battled monsters and saved villages.

Jack remembered that the hero of the tales was a member of some guild. Those tales must have been based upon the guild Gant was a part of called the Royal Whispers. After apologizing, the nurse quickly scurried over to Jack, her head held low. She checked his pulse noting it on a clipboard, then she slowly pulled the sheets back to take a look at his right leg, where the cube had been. This was the first time Jack also got to see his leg.

The scar tissue was still bright red, and jagged lines extended up onto his torso and down his lower leg. Jack felt his stomach drop as he looked at the scar. He had always been self-conscious about his looks and now he had a huge scar that looked horrifying. The nurse slowly inspected it up and down, and after a couple of moments, she seemed satisfied. She gave Jack a warm smile and said, “You have a very strong heart young man.” She noticed his empty glass and quickly refilled it before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. At this point Jack felt exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open. Gant noticed Jack was having trouble staying awake and he quietly put his notepad away.

“You look tired. I have a lot more questions for you, but for now sleep. You won’t be leaving the hospital for some time.” Gant softly shuffled out of the room, his huge form requiring him to hunch over and turn sideways just to get through the normal-sized door. Once Jack was alone, he quickly fell back asleep.

The next week at the hospital was one of the most confusing weeks of his life. Multiple government officials came through, making him fill out all sorts of documents. One of them even had a special crystal to record his mana signature. “Mana signature?” Jack asked.

“Every person’s mana has a distinct signature; it is recorded for logistical reasons.” The government official explained. “Your mana can also be quantified into a value of magnitude, giving us a good idea of your overall strength.” The official's eyes widened when he measured Jack’s mana level. “What have you been doing” he asked incredulously. “The average first-year measures between 50-75 mana. You are already 200.”

“Uh, I really don’t know,” Jack said awkwardly.

The official seemed bewildered, but eventually he put it down to the fact that he had absorbed the element naturally. Gant didn’t seem satisfied with this though. The next time he visited, Gant brought another man with him. This man was a sight to behold. He wore an incredibly ridiculous-looking outfit. He looked like a mad scientist from a book. He had on a big coat that had numerous devices and mechanisms all over it. His face was dirty, and on it the craziest glasses Jack had ever seen.

His glasses had 7 different lens options that he could rotate in front of his eyes. His hat had small green and red lights built right into it, and the lights would light up at random intervals. The man looked at everything with interest and seemed like he was thinking of probably 50 different things at once, as he quietly mumbled to himself. His eyes were unfocused, and he appeared transfixed in a seemingly random tile in the wall when Gant grabbed his attention.

“What’s that? The man said, seemingly surprised by Gant to be beside him, even though he had just walked in with him. “Oh yes.” He walked up and started poking at Jack’s leg without any hesitation. “Which leg was it again?” He was rather rough, and Jack winced. “Oh, I’m sorry to be rough my dear boy, I’m just so excited to have such a fine specimen.”

“Hem,” Gant cleared his throat.

“Right…right” he acknowledged Gant. Then he gathered his thoughts before stepping back and bowing slightly. “Fineus Firecore, at your service. I was informed of your situation by our mutual acquaintance Gant. I happen to also have the electricity element along with fire, air, and motion.”

This grabbed Jack’s attention. “4 different elements? Wait how many can you absorb?” Jack asked, confused.

“Oh wow, Gant had told me the situation was dire….” Fineus said. He had been poking around Jack’s injured leg but had stopped and was staring at Jack. “My word boy, do you not know anything about elemental cores?” the strange-looking man had leaned in, peering at Jack over his spectacles.

“Uh….” Jack was intimidated by the man and couldn’t get his thoughts in a row.

“Oh, you poor child. A person can absorb up to 4 elemental cores, it is common for a person to absorb more than one of the same elements as Gant did because it gives them more control over said element. Some people choose the other route like me, to have four different elements, but with less control and strength. At age 14 an individual normally absorbs their first element core. This usually happens by ritual, but you are special in that regard.” He said looking down at Jack’s covered leg.

“Then’” he continued on, “It takes the body a year to adjust to said element, no matter the absorption technique. After a year the body is able to absorb another elemental core. The body can absorb 4 elements in total. Some have tried to absorb more but they have never survived. Now that you have your first element, obtaining the rest will be much easier. The government almost ensures all users obtain a full power set just to maintain military strength.”

“So,” he said changing the subject, “Gant informed me your mana level was much higher than standard. Care to explain that?”

“Uh,” Jack said sheepishly.

After some talking, Fineus quickly came to a solution. It turns out Jack had self-taught himself enchanting and had been heavily enchanting items for the last two years to help pay for food. Due to his hunger, Jack had inadvertently been slowly increasing his max mana because he was constantly pushing himself to the limit. “It is widely known that enchanting could increase your mana, but the upper echelon families didn’t want to dirty their hands with such filthy methods. The commonly used method was mana manipulation training, due to the fact it was easy to learn and was a precursor to elemental manipulation. It would be incredibly hard and take insane self-control to do what you did without life-or-death circumstances. It’s a shame you absorbed electricity, a more basic element and you could already be a powerful element user.” Fineus explained.

“A more basic element?” Jack asked, confused.

“Electricity,” Fineus explained, “is not a commonly selected element due to its difficulty to control and its general danger and destructiveness to its user and others. There have only been a few famous users of electricity throughout the years. The most well-known was a woman who combined electricity with the water element to create an incredibly dangerous combination. The combination allowed her to dominate the battlefield and become famous for her coliseum bouts, but unfortunately in the end the combination was so dangerous it took her life. Electricity element users are commonly looked down upon, they are mainly seen as batteries. Not many users have become effective with the element. Its utility is seen as minimal compared to others, and its compatibility with other elements is lacking. For it to be the first element absorbed is incredibly rare. I’ve actually never heard of someone getting it first.”