Shunya looked around, examining his surroundings. His room had worn down stone walls and a creaky wooden floor. He had a mirror, a bed, and a small table next to it, on top of which there was a picture of two adults with what looked like a smaller version of him with.

The mom's and dad's faces were crossed off. This isn't half bad Shunya thought to himself as he examined himself in the mirror. He was pale, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and about 5 feet tall.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door, "Caleb!" a rough voice called out "Its time for yer shift! Open the door." Shunya opened the door to find a gruff-looking man towering over him. "Took yeh long enough," He grunted as he scratched his scruffy beard. "I've reassigned ya to the lifting division, it has better pay but the work is much harder." "Oh, thanks sir." Shunya bowed. "Sir? What happened to yeh all of a sudden" the man asked, confused "Did ya forget my name again?" . "Oh , uhmm" Shunya stuttered, trying to think of an excuse.

"For the last time, its Drusus," the man sighed, gesturing him to follow him. "Oh right, yeah Drusus," Shunya said as he walked along.

They walked along a bare corridor; he noticed doors to other rooms along the walls of the corridor. "Right, Damien's already there, so tell him to show you the ropes," Drusus said as they approached an open courtyard.

The courtyard had 9 wells in it, each well had a boy drawing water from it. There was a canal in the middle, in which two boys were pouring water into.

"Hey! Caleb!" a cheery voice called out to him. Shunya turned around to see a short, smiling boy wave out to him. He walked over to him.

"So, you got assigned here too?" Damien asked as he pulled up a heavy bucket of water. "Yeah," Shunya said as he observed the pulley being used to draw the water.

"So I just have to draw out water and fill the canal with it? That doesn't seem too hard," Shunya asked Damien. "You say that because you haven't tried it yet," Damien wheezed as he pulled up his bucket of water. "Your turn now, try not to spill the water," Damien said as hauled his bucket of water towards the canal.

"Hey Damien! How's it going, bud?" A slick sounding voice called out. Damien flinched and turned around "H-Hey James. How's it going?" Damien stuttered. A towering, black-haired figure smiled at him menacingly. "Oh, its all good." James said as he eyed the bucket in Damien's hands. "Looks like your bucket is empty, Damien. Why don't you go fill it up?".

Damien looked at his bucket, "B-But I just filled it". Shunya raised his eyes "Oh did you?". He kicked the bucket, sending it rattling to the ground. "Well, looks like its empty now!" James cackled as he walked away.

"Who's that jerk?" Shunya asked as Damien went to pick up his bucket. Damien looked at him, puzzled. "Do you have amnesia or something?" "Humour me for a second," Shunya persisted. "Who is he?". "He's James, the supervisor. He likes to pick on people, makes him feel superior" Damien sighed. "I see.." Shunya scratched his chin "Do you think we would be affected in any way if he were to ... disappear?". Damien stared at Shunya, "I hope that was a joke Caleb." Damien snapped as he handed him the bucket. "I've seen him toss a bull over his head for being in his way, there's no way you could take him out." "Oh yeah, I was definitely joking," Shunya said, laughing unconvincingly .

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Shunya wet the rope he was using to pull the bucket with, swung it over the pulley, and grinned. This was going to make work a lot easier.

.............

"We're done already? I was just getting the hang of it!" Shunya said. "Why would you want to do MORE work?" Damien asked, as he followed the rest of the workers to the banquet hall. Shunya shrugged.

They walked down a hallway leading up to a large dining hall. Shunya and Damien took their seats as Drusus, the buff man from earlier, stood facing them all.

"Right!" Drusus' commanding voice boomed throughout the room. "Your wages will be given later, as I have an announcement to make." Ignoring the groans of the crowd, he continued "So, as you all know, we are being visited by a great priest in a few days who will grade yer mana levels and see if yer fit to pursue a career in magic. Just wanted to remind yeh."

"How long is this going to take?" Shunya whispered, "This is boring." Damien glared at Shunya "Pay attention!".

"Your wages, as always, are proportionate to the amount of work yev done. Don't like it? Work harder" Drusus chuckled a bit as his assistants began handing out bags of coins to the workers.

An assistant silently dropped two bags of coins in front of Damien and Shunya. While Damien immediately began to count his salary, Shunya gazed at the food counter and noticed a shop right beside it.

I wonder whether they sell glass bottles there Shunya thought to himself. "Caleb!" Damien gasped, "You've gotten 60 coins!" "Is that a lot?" Shunya asked, lazily. "Are you kidding?" Damien asked, incredulously. "The standard amount is like 20! I got 30 and I nearly broke my back". "Yeah, that's cool," Shunya said as he got up and walked to the food counter.

He returned with a glass bottle full of a yellow liquid, a matchbox and a glass of whiskey. "Didn't know you were much of a drinker," Damien observed. "This is fuel," Shunya said as he ripped a piece of linen from his shirt, soaked it in the glass and stuffed it in the bottle's neck.

"Do you know how to use fire magic?" Shunya turned to ask a puzzled Damien. "I know the theory, but I can produce a momentary blaze at most" Shunya smiled evilly "Oh that's more than enough," he said as he grabbed Damien and led outside. "I need you to show me James's cabin," Shunya said, walking at a brisk pace. "Are we going to rob him?" Damien asked, "I'm pretty sure he's sleeping there so it shouldn't be too difficult"

"Great, lead the way," Shunya said. Damien navigated the dark corridors with surprising ease until he reached a noticeably luxurious, albeit small, wooden cabin. "Does anyone else live here?" Shunya asked, "James likes his privacy, so he made the other workers move," Damien whispered.

Shunya held his bottle upright. "Damien, set fire to the wick,". "Why?" Damien asked, then suddenly it dawned upon him, "Wait.... Are we going to KILL HIM?". "Its just a test, and you know that we'd be better off without him" "B-But we're killing him! Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Stop lying to yourself Damien," Shunya said coldly. "You know damn well that you want him dead. He makes your life a living hell. The only reason you don't want to kill him is because you're a coward. You're scared you'll get in trouble, Like a little-" Shunya was interrupted by a sharp slap to his face. "I want him dead, but I will not kill him." Damien snapped at him, on the verge of crying "If that makes me a coward, so be it!". Damien stormed away, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Shunya merely looked at him in disgust. Well, time for Plan B Shunya thought as he picked the lock for the door.He closed the door and gently poured some fuel on the wooden floor and a little on James's eyes for good measure . Then, taking a matchbox out of his pocket, he lit the wick of the Molotov cocktail and threw it straight on James's face. "AAAARRGH!" He screamed as he felt his face on fire.He fell to the floor, clawing at his own face, spreading the fire to the floor. Shunya quickly made his exit, ignoring the desperate cries for help erupting from the room he just left. Ironic Shunya thought, If he didn't care about privacy so much, he would've probably been able to live.

Shunya reached his room and lied on his bed for a while. Even after setting someone on fire and killing them, he didn't feel a thing.

At least the Molotov recipe came in handy Shunya yawned as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.