[[Volume 1]]: Humble Beginnings

Chapter 2: The Spark

One month later, in the final month of the year.

As Tyrith sleeps, he dreams.

He is in a nightmarish land filled with purple fog. He can see only a few feet in front of him as he trudges through the fog.

Before him, a figure unfolds from nothing, with 12 pairs of wings surrounding it. 2 more similar figures unfold from the void, and they converse. One of them notices that someone is watching, and turns around staring at Tyrith. A bright light emanates from the figure, awakening Tyrith.

Tyrith woke suddenly in his bed, forgetting what he had been dreaming about. He went about his morning routine, then he got on the train. This time, instead of going to his academy, he went to the palace in the Ruling District. Today was the day slated for his Final Exam, and if successful, his graduation.

The train rumbled gently as he looked out the windows and watched the scenery slowly change from the housing of the Residential District, to the spindly offices of the Ruling District. Tyrith ruminated on his home city, Valenhome, the capital of the White Gold Empire.

The 7 Districts of Valenhome were arranged in a hexagonal formation, with the Ruling District in the middle, due to one of Valen's quirks being his obsession with what he saw as 'perfect' geometry. In the modern era, the districts are interconnected with the Capital Train System, which provides mobility between districts. Before that, people usually only traveled between the Residential District, and one of the districts they worked in. Now however, researchers in their free time could travel to the Military or Economic districts and widen their perspective, and vice versa. As well as this, the capital had been undergoing a population explosion due to the effects of newly mechanized agriculture after the steam revolution. All of the districts have been expanding outward, creeping up on the territory surrounding the capital. However, due to the Ruling District being in the middle, it could only choose to expand upward. This gave rise to the unique architecture of the Ruling District, tall, unwieldy office buildings, spewing steam. And in the very center of it all, sat the Imperial Palace, the seat of ultimate power in the Empire. That is where Tyrith is heading.

<"I wonder if the Ruling District used to look more similar to the Research District, before the big expansion in population.">

The buildings flew past as the train approached the giant marble castle. It had 6 points, where imposing towers rose from the ground, filled with slits for mages to cast spells out of. A vast wall, carved by Valen's Innate Spell into huge bricks, connected these towers. A keep rose inside the walls, and inside sat the throne made of marble and gold, intertwining to form the heads of lions at the peak of the throne.

Tyrith departed the train, and made his way, along with dozens of other students, to the audience chamber in the keep. Here, the ceremony will be held, for their Final, their Sparking.

The students streamed into the audience chamber and sat in the chairs they were assigned. Up on the smooth dark stone stage in front of them, the Spark Injector sat. The culmination of thousands of years of incremental technological improvement. It was quaint, roughly about the same size as a desk in Tyrith's academy. It consisted of a chair to sit in, and a roughly spherical bronze and gold device, with an aperture aimed at the chair.

And beyond the Spark Injector, on a simple throne, sat the current Empress of the Empire, Kalactissia. She exuded a queenly aura, and a subtle sense of power. The air around her seems to stir with every little movement.

To pass the Final, Tyrith would have to succeed in his Sparking, personally overseen by the Empress.

Eventually, nervous students stopped filing into their hall.

Kalactissia waved her hand slightly, and the air rippled, then she stood up. A silence descended over the hall.

["Welcome, students of Valen Academy. You have preserved for so long, and now your efforts are about to pay off. After this day, you will no longer just be students, you will be Mages of the Empire. You are the future of our Empire. As such, I will oversee each and every one of your Sparkings, and give you my blessing as a Mage. May the Lord be with you."]

Although religious fanfare had fallen out of favor due to the aggression of the Theocracy, it was still used in formal events like this.

The Dean of Valen Academy stepped onto the stage, and cast a voice amplification spell.

["Hello students. I am so very proud of you all. To keep this as short as it can be, let us begin now. Armais, step forward."]

The first student got out of their seat, and stepped onto the stage. They sat in the Spark Injector. Kalactissia got off her throne, and stepped forward, standing behind the spherical part of the injector. She laid her hand on the runes engraved there.

["Start using your mana circulation method."]

The student complied, closing her eyes and concentrating. Kalactissia began guiding her mana into the injector, and it started glowing blue. A soft humming exuded from the machine, and grew stronger as Kalactissia injected more of her own mana, and guided the students into the injector. The glow grew in brightness, rivaling that of 10 candles, before the Empress spoke.

["Now."]

She activated the device, and a shockwave emitted from the injector, blowing back the Empress' long dark hair, and the excess mana lit up a few gems in her crown. As the light of the Injector died down, the student screwed her eyes, and after a half second, a red light emitted from her abdomen. The first Sparking of the ceremony was a success.

["The Lord has blessed you. Next!"]

The student gave a salute, then walked off of the stage. The Dean began to call up the next student to undergo Sparking. This process went on for about an hour until it was Tyrith's turn.

Tyrith walked up on the stage, his heart pounding as her surveyed the audience. He sat in the warm chair of the Injector, and began using his mana circulation method. He saw in his minds eye the Injector, and began pushing his mana towards it. Kalactissia also began imbuing the injector with her mana.

["Now."]

Time seemed to slow down. A visible and bright blue spark of mana exited the aperture of the spark injector, and dove into Tyrith's core. He felt a slight pain, and then he had the feeling of something inexplicably foreign awakening within him. Knowledge bubbled up from the depths of his brain and he knew instinctively that he had succeeded, and his core had Sparked to Red. The foreign feeling was his Innate Spell awakening. Kalactissia's shout about the Lord blessing him jolted Tyrith from his stupor. He saluted her and walked off the stage.

He sat back in his seat dazed, and watched as various other people Sparked their cores, including his friend Wendt. At the end of the ceremony, only 3 people failed to Spark their core. In the past, these people were known as Demonlike, and said to be the descendants of demons, but now, the discrimination against them was slowly lessening.

All those who had successfully awakened their cores were taken to a training chamber to test their Innate Spells. This was their graduation ceremony. The training chamber was vast, with a wide assortment of objects and people, all designed to test the variety of Innate Spells which have just awakened.

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There was a pillar of marble with a sapling on it, a pillar of marble with a dense block of metal, a plane of glass, a mirror, a torch, a candle, all sorts of objects. Then there were the people, hired by the Empire to serve as test subjects for the non-lethal Innate Spells. Students would choose where to go based on the intuition they felt when awakening their Innate Spell.

Tyrith chose to go to a pillar holding a dense black rock, standing about a meter high. He stood about 10 paces away from it and prepared himself. He stirred the mana within his core, and performed the actions engraved into his mind: aiming his hand at the rock, closing then quickly opening it like he was flicking something at the object. An invisible force flew from his hand and hit the rock. As a result, the rock had split open about 10 cm tall and 3 cm deep.

Tyrith stepped forward to evaluate the effects of his spell. It looked as if someone had slashed the rock with an infinitely sharp sword. He felt the smooth edges of the cut, which glinted in the light, as he thought.

<"I got lucky, my Innate Spell requires only a somatic component. It seems like it takes up about 10% of my current max mana reserves to cast, at maximum power. The effect should be controllable... I think I'll call my spell 'Slice' ">

Tyrith went to another pillar, where a root vegetable called Khar sat. He focused his will and cast 'Slice', at a lower power. The root vegetables were sliced cleanly in half.

<"Excellent, that took less than a percent of my mana reserves. This should prove to be useful in daily life.">

He practiced casting 'Slice' a few more times on various objects.

<"It seems like objects that impede the flow of mana are more resistant to 'Slice.' On the other hand, objects which conduct mana well are less resistant. I was able to cut through a thick gold block, and barely scratched a block of marble. ">

He decided he was done testing his Innate Spell for now, and walked around looking for his friend Wendt.

He found Wendt near a volunteer tester. Wendt and the tester turned and looked at him at the same time, and Wendt spoke.

["What's up Tyrith? Wanna know my awesome Innate Spell?"]

["Sure man, tell me all about it."]

["I call it 'Can I Borrow That?' It allows me to temporarily share the vision of someone. It's easier for me if they're willing, but if they aren't I can force my way through if I expend enough mana. Unfortunately, it doesn't really seem to have much use in daily life... What's your spell?"]

["I call mine 'Slice.' With it I can cut objects and leave a deep imprint. I can also reduce the power to use it for stuff like slicing vegetables. It should be semi-useful in daily life, and also for self-defense. "]

["That sounds dope. If it were me, I'd go around slicing things."]

["That's probably why you don't have this spell."]

After a half hour of idle conversation, the instructors drew all the students' attention.

["Come forward and register your Innate Spells."]

All the students shuffled forward and added the details about their spells to the Registry, a national compendium of all innate spells gained each year. Upper Academies trawled this Registry every year to seek potential talents. Tyrith and Wendt added their names and spells to the Registry, and they were released.

They went back to the train, and choose a compartment to sit in. Wendt spoke first.

["Want to go relax in the Economic District?"]

Tyrith thought for a moment, then agreed. He had been devoting himself to school, and now that he was finally a Red Core, it was due time for relaxation.

["Sure, why not. What do you want to do?"]

["Hmmm... we can go to Quentien's, then go shopping at the market."]

Tyrith nodded in assent.

The train rumbled as they waited to arrive at their destination. While staring at the table between them, Tyrith had the sudden urge to use his innate spell. He controlled his power to the minimum, and rapidly used 'Slice.' He slowly spelled out his name out of the slices he made on the table. The slices were very shallow and only viewable from a certain angle. He got a great sense of joy out of being able to use magic now.

Later, the train came to a stop outside of the main train station of the Economic District.

Tyrith and Wendt stepped off. The main train station was right next to the river that ran through the Economic District, the Marble River, known for its slopes of marble. Boats traveled up and down the river, holding cargo and people.

They made their way to Quentien's, a favorite restaurant of locals. They walked through the spruce doors, and sat down at a table. A waiter walked up to them, wearing the plain red clothes of the establishment.

["How can I help you gentlemen?"]

Wendt spoke first.

["Could I get your ale and some mutton, with a side of yerek salad."]

The waiter wrote on his notepad.

["Got it. And for you?"]

Tyrith deliberated for a second before deciding.

["I'll have the chicken, with rice, and just water to drink."]

["Yes sir."]

Just a few minutes later, their food came out. The service was quite fast thanks to Quentien's Innate Spell, which allowed him to instantly create food dishes whose recipe he knew, out of the raw ingredients.

They dug into their food, hungry after advancing a major level. As they ate at the wooden table, Tyrith saw some students from their academy out of the corner of his eye, and he waved at them, they waved back and sat next to them.

One of them exclaimed:

["Happy graduation guys!"]

["Happy graduation. Nice to meet you, I'm Tyrith."]

["I'm Mira!"]

["Orris."]

Tyrith shook hands with both of them. A couple minutes later they ordered food as well, then scarfed it down. After relaxing for a bit, listening to the music being played in the restaurant, Mira spoke up.

["So... wanna talk Innate Spells? I'll volunteer to go first."]

Tyrith and Wendt nodded, and she started to speak quickly.

["I call my Innate Spell 'The Weave.' Basically, I can spin my mana into thin threads, and control them."]

She demonstrated her spell, spinning small red threads and then tying them into a knot.

Tyrith and Wendt gave their standard explanations of their innate spells, with interest from Mira and Orris. It was then Orris's turn.

["My Innate Spell is called 'Flash.' It allows me to teleport very short distances, while producing a bright flash of light at my previous location."]

Tyrith was quite impressed, as teleportation spells were quite hard to learn for those without a spatial attribute, and were rare as an Innate Spell. Those who could teleport were usually lauded as experts of experts.

The group chatted for a bit, wondering if an Upper Academy would take them in, and eventually, Tyrith and Wendt paid for their meal, about 20 bronze celens, then left for the market.

They walked along the paved streets for a few minutes before arriving at their destination, a mass of covered stalls and squat buildings that contained a bustling market. Tyrith walked up to the usual stall he visited, where a man sold magical equipment.

["Greetings young Tyrith. Looking to buy anything this time?"]

["Nope, just browsing."]

["Ah well... one day I'll get your money. Anyways, I have some new stock, come check it out."]

The merchant pointed to a golden ring, with 3 mana crystals embedded in it, in a triangular pattern, with a rune engraved in the middle.

["This is a seeking ring. Press it against any magical equipment, then infuse mana into the ring, and it will generate a small arrow pointing in the direction of the attuned magical equipment. It's good for those who have butter fingers. Or, you can buy a pair, and attune them to each other, to always be able to find someone."]

The merchant reached to the side and grabbed a wooden staff which went up to his chest. The wooden staff was ramrod straight, and was capped with silver.

["The core of this staff is electrum. Casting spells through it will make the mana travel out through the top and bottom caps, and disperse the spells into a large area. This can be used for seeking spells, if you want to water your garden, or maybe to project an umbrella."]

The merchant took out two more items.

["These are for the more adventurous folk."]

He held up a sword, it looked similar to steel, but much darker.

["This sword is made of dark gold. It's insides are inscribed with runes which amplify, gather, and concentrate mana, which can be dispersed through the edge or tip of the sword, or channeled into one of the five elemental crystals it has embedded in the hilt. It's stronger than steel, and sharper too. A great asset for any mage skilled in the sword, and looking to go to battle."]

In the other hand, he held what looked to be a curved wooden stick, with a metal cylinder atop it.

["This is a projected magic weapon. These are pretty new innovations. Similar to gunpowder weapons, they allow a mage to project their spells to a great distance, increasing the range of their attacks. However, it does have the downside of using up a mana crystal each time..."]

["300 gold celens for the both of them."]

Tyrith felt a little pang in his heart as he heard the price.

["Maybe next time...."]

<"That sword seems like it could complement my 'Slice' well... but I can't afford it, and I'm not even an Orange core yet.">

He went to go find Wendt, who was perusing clothes, some of which had crystals embedded in them.

["I'm going to head home. Catch you later, at the announcement ceremony?"]

["Sure thing. See ya."]

Tyrith made his way through the crowds, and back to the train.

By the time he got home, it was dark out. His parents had waited at home and gave him their utmost congratulations on his Sparking. He celebrated with them for a couple of hours, then went into his bedroom.

While he had to wait to see if he got into an Upper Academy, he could begin practicing magic right now. He sat on his bed and activated his mana gathering technique. Through his mind's eye, he could see the ambient mana particles in his room and gathered them towards him gently. This time, he guided them into his core, which glowed a dim red in his mind sight. After a few mana particles entered his core, he was able to see the brightness increase gradually. His goal was to advance to the next minor stage in the next few months, the Solid Bright core.