A grander carriage than even the duke's carried him across cobbled and pebbled roads. Inside it were only him and Brand, but between them had been placed so many things that Lucas could not name. Foods and drinks, and other luxuries he could only imagine royals had enjoyed until now.

Brand encouraged him to eat and drink his fill, but Lucas refused. Despite the man's complete friendliness, it had to be some sort of trap, he was no noble or long lost heir. This was not supposed to be his lot in life.

Yet, he knew that was also false, in a single day everything he had known to be true had been cast into doubt. Now the only assurance he truly had was the smile of the man sitting in front of him. And so he ate and drank, savoring so many tastes and textures he could not describe but each one filled him with delight.

Eventually, when his stomach was fit to burst, his eyes wandered to the other things inside the large carriage. Jars upon jars of strangely colored dusts and gems rattled on shelves decorated with golden ornamentation as they moved.

"What are these?" Lucas asked, more confused than curious.

"Oh, those? Well, they're ingredients for my magical experimentation, I always keep some carbon and silver with me," he pointed towards two jars, both with fine dusts of sorts. One was black as soot, and the other glowed in the dim candlelight of the carriage.

Lucas was now even more confused, not only did he not understand Brand's meaning, but the words were foreign to him as well.

"Carb-on? What's that?" He felt a sense of curiosity creep into his voice.

"It's another name for coal," Brand chuckled, "you'll learn many names like that. A Crimson Mage's magic relies just as much on your knowledge of this world as your magical ability. Which honestly, I'm quite impressed by. Turning an entire field ripe as your first act, quite grand!" even mentioning the event made Lucas worry, but Brand had a huge grin plastered all over his face.

A second later, however, he saw the frightened look on Lucas' face, "there's really no need to worry Lucas, I only mean to compliment you. I assure you, you will do well among us," That made Lucas feel just a slight bit better, so he forced a smile on his face.

The rest of the day's ride was uneventful, as Lucas decided to employ silence, for fear of further such compliments.

By nightfall they had passed through a dozen fields and half as many villages, and they had reached what Lucas thought must have been a castle. He had never seen anything else so grand. From which Lucas could see a city so grand he could not believe it existed. The vantage points upon the rolling hills they stood on let him see it all, stretching from one side of his vision to the other, filled with lights even at dusk and the noises of so many people.

"Welcome to the capital, Lucas, and to the Crimson Mage's headquarters," Brand turned to the giant castle that stood before them.

It was somehow even more unimaginable than the city. Made of blue and black stone and shiny metal, it towered over them both threefold, and was made of many different parts. Each jaggedly protruding from a central building that looked like a cathedral in a way Lucas thought was clear fantasy. It was the kind of building he and his younger siblings would imagine mages lived in, orderly yet entirely chaotic.

A look of awe stretched across his face, and finally he dared to ask the questions in his mind, "how is this castle standing?"

"Well, first of all this is no castle, we don't have keeps or walls," Brand explained, "and I'm sure you'll find out how we keep it standing, that will be one of your first jobs as a trainee here. Even if you are under my tutelage, don't expect them to go easy on you!"

Lucas was far too confused to even listen to Brand's warning, but somewhere in the back of his mind the information was starting to coalesce.

As they approached the building an entourage of strangely dressed people appeared. Many wore robes similar to Brand's but more uniformly made and drab in comparison. Some others had even simpler robes, with only a single color of crimson or red, and only two had robes of grandeur that outdid even Brand's.

"Well, go and meet your fellow trainees, I have to explain your circumstances to the other archmages," he turned to those in grand clothing, who looked at Lucas with suspicious eyes. Then, left him to the care of the trainees.

Half of them or so were Lucas' age, and the rest were a bit older. They had all rushed to him the moment Brand left, and gathered around him, each of them voicing different questions.

"You're our age?" one asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"New ones are never that old," an older and thoughtful looking one replied.

A barrage of, "where are you from?" and, "what was your first magic?" came from the other side. Or at least, that's what Lucas could make out over the racket. It reminded him of how excited he and his brother were to see knights for the first time.

"Why are you all mobbing me? Aren't I just like everyone here?" he asked without hesitation. Yet as silence set in, a sense of doubt creeped into his mind.

"We're all pretty isolated here, so new people are exciting, I suppose," the older one spoke again. This time Lucas noticed he had two pieces of glass sitting atop well carved wooden handles that hid his eyes.

"Is that for decoration?" Lucas blurted out from confusion and pointed at the strange object.

"Oh, these glasses? They're so I can see better, have you really never seen a pair before?" he answered Lucas with further questions. And his curiosity was obvious, it seemed to be common knowledge.

A couple other trainees chuckled behind him, "you sure you're not five?" they said in a tone Lucas knew well, one of mockery. He then heard footsteps from behind him and a voice followed.

"I wouldn't advise mocking Lucas, he's probably more skilled than all of you," it was Brand's voice.

In a second everyone went silent, as if in reverence to a present god, but one of the children still spat out, "oh, and what did he do that we should be so scared of?"

The look in Brand's eyes told the kid everything, Lucas was sure. It was such a fierce stare that even he was terrified of the mild mannered man who had seen such potential in him.

Not even bothering to answer further, Brand grabbed Lucas gently and brought him inside the mansion.

The lobby alone was almost as large as the cathedral in his home village, and was full with activity. Many of what he assumed were both trainees and learned mages, from their robes, wandered from room to room or sat at tables to speak with one another. Crimson and blue dominated the room, like all church buildings, but the design was distinct. Where there was supposed to be pictures of the comet there were instead depictions of miraculous events Lucas did not realize were possible.

Mages in the same robes as the order were seen making gold and gems from dirt, and breaking armies and castles both with ease. Lucas didn't know if any of it was real, or who they had fought, but it was impressive beyond belief. Lucas thought to ask, but Brand was already talking.

"I will give you a short tour of the place, but after that I must get back to my work for a while. So I will let you settle in the quarters I show you and we will continue tomorrow," he said kindly, but it was clear he had other responsibilities on his mind.

Brand explained there were three wings to the building. The first was the research wing, where new techniques were discovered and experiments in magic were conducted. That was where he worked most of the time, though as a senior member he was able to use the facilities of all three wings.

When they entered the wing Lucas first saw dozens of staircases. It was a giant circular tower with tens if not hundreds splitting off of it from different levels and sets of stairs. The entire thing was built of bricks he didn't recognize, some as white as the sun and some as black as soot, swirling together like light and darkness.

"My lab is at the top, so it's easy to remember where it is. But don't worry, if you get lost just ask someone," he smiled back at Lucas, laughing at the awe clear on his face, "this is the smallest wing Lucas!"

"The others are larger? How many people are even here?" he couldn't believe the statement.

"A couple thousand, I believe, I don't particularly keep track," with that they retreated to the lobby and went west instead of east. Where supposedly the military wing was. Brand didn't have much to say about it.

"That's where they use magic to make or improve weapons, it's a travesty if you ask me, but I respect them for working so hard on it," it was clear he said that with disdain, but he still kept a smile on his face, "so even if you choose that place I won't complain."

"I get to choose?" Lucas asked, finding it strange.

"Of course, once you finish being a trainee, like everybody else here!" then, without them even having entered the doors to the west they turned north, "this is the school wing, where you and the other trainees are taught and where you will be staying. I'll show you to your room, and you can explore the wing as much as you want, just be careful! Magic training can be dangerous, even here where we take many precautions," he patted him on the back and walked through the long corridor. Soon enough, it forks into two paths, and Brand turns him towards the left.

“This is towards the living quarters, in the other direction are the classrooms and training halls, '' he explained, unlike the rest this was a simple looking corridor. With floors made of bright white and brown wood and walls of a blackish stone with many framed images of men in robes.

“Are those paintings?” Lucas asked, his father had told him of such things, made by masters of using colors and something called paint to draw men of great power and fortune.

“Yes, of each head of this wing, which we also call the Crimson Mage Academy,” Brand explained lightly. He continued walking as he spoke, and the corridor opened into a large rectangular room. Chairs and tables were everywhere, with a small library in one corner, and plates of food piled on a large table in the other. There were steps going up, showing dozens of doors lining the walls of higher floors.

Brand escorted him to one on the third floor, the door was solid wood he had not seen before, darker than the oak and pine he was familiar with. And on it was carved something in letters he couldn’t read.

“What’s written there?” he asked Brand, not wanting to show his folly to anyone else.

“Oh, it’s your name, this is your new home after all!”

He opened the door, and Lucas couldn’t believe the luxury he saw on the other side of it.