“As many already know, Gix was once the largest nation on the western continent. A militaristic empire ruled by a monarchy for thousands of years.

“A member of the ruling family at the time who was the last in line to inherit the throne, Kye Vintrox, had successfully removed all his political opponents and secured his place next in line to be emperor. This was accomplished by the suspected assassination of all his siblings and was believed to be arranged by him. While not proven that he did this, all his siblings ended up dying under mysterious circumstances and assured him the crown.

“Kye Vintrox was made emperor and ruled Gix for sixty seven days before dying from an accident that involved him falling off a horse and hitting his head. The result of his death left Gix without a ruler and no viable candidates, since he had no heirs and all his siblings were dead. This began a process within the empire to find another ruler.

“Gix was not unaccustomed to ruling dynasties dying off and being replaced by another, but in the last thirty five years to this day, no family has risen to the role. This was unprecedented and has never happened before. While the ruling family of this nation have changed throughout its history, there was always one family that would rise through civil unrest and take the crown for themselves, until now.

“No family had a strong enough claim to the throne, and the few front-runners that were vying for the throne also died under mysterious circumstances. This started a conflict between powerful noble families. Due to so many coincidental deaths, the families started accusing each other of assassinating their political opponents.

“Within a year of Kye’s death, the conflict between the noble factions got so intense that the remnants of the government broke down and triggered a civil war. Each state within Gix formed alliances with different factions and noble families.

“This began thirty five years ago and the conflict has been going on since then. It’s been so long that people just started referring to the Gix empire simply as ‘The Warring States’.”

—”A Brief History of Gix and the Warring States” By Sam Worhock

-Ten years ago.-

Alan was in a refugee camp near the border of the Union States. He was sitting on a bench waiting for his friend Cris.

Around him were tents and people with expressions of worry and despair. People were waiting for their refugee claims to be processed and to be let into the Union State proper, but until then, people from Gix like Alan were forced to wait in these camps.

Cris: “Hey Alan!” he called out as he came running past tents toward his friend.

Alan: “Hey Cris,” he yelled back.

Cris came to stop in front of Alan.

Cris: “So, are you ready to go exploring that area I was talking about?”

Alan: “Oh, um, um,” he said, struggling to say something.

Cris: “What’s wrong? You trying to say something?”

Alan: “Yeah…Um, my family is leaving here soon, in a couple days. We got sponsored by my uncle in Graheel.”

Cris: “Really?! That’s great!”

Alan: “Yeah… but I don't want to leave you here—” he said as he teared up, but before he could say anything else, Cris punched him in the shoulder. “Ow” he mumbled, rubbing where he got punched.

Cris: “Don’t be a crybaby. One of us has to get out of here, and if it is you, then you gotta go chase after our dream. Don’t worry, me and my family, we'll probably get out of here any day now as well.”

Alan: “But…It should be you that becomes an Archmage.”

Cris: “It doesn't matter who. Just one has to do it. It's something we promised to do between everyone. You, me and…my brother…Lance… ” he said as he started to tear up a little. “Gah, look at what you did. Your stupid crybabyness is rubbing off on me.”

Alan: “I’m not a crybaby.”

Cris: “You are too.”

Alan: “Am not.”

Cris: “Then let’s go explore that haunted place I found and see if you really are not one.”

Alan: “Do we have to?”

Cris: “Yes, c’mon.” he said while gesturing to follow him.

Alan didn’t really want to go, but he knew this might be the last time he gets to spend with his friend. So, he reluctantly followed. The place they ended up exploring didn’t have any ghost, and Alan wasn't able to dodge the crybaby accusation even after following Cris into a supposed haunted place.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

-Back to current day.-

At the Graheel university, Alan was in an office sitting beside his friend Sere. Across from them, sitting at his desk, was professor Sorin Black of the Gray Scale college.

They were both called in today to talk about Cris. Part of the process of getting accepted into the Arcane Eye college involved a formal interview with people that knew Cris. It was something that was meant to help determine a student's character, and if they were truly worthy of getting accepted into that college.

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Cris had asked them if they would go through that interview for him, to testify to his character. They both agreed. That was the reason they were here today, sitting in Professor Black’s office.

Both Alan and Sere have been talking to Professor Blackfor some time at this point.

Sorin: “And he’s still in good standing with the Church of Light youth group: ‘Peace for Gix’?”

Sere: “Oh yeah. Cris was so helpful during our donation campaign. We managed to raise a hundred thousand glint for humanitarian aid to Gix.”

Sorin: “Hmm, that’s quite impressive. This definitely helps build his character as an upstanding student. I’m also not surprised he would join such an organization, with him being a former refugee of Gix and all. Speaking of former refugees, you were one as well,” he said, directing his attention towards Alan.

Alan: “Um, yeah.”

Sorin: “As I understand it, you were best friends back then. It must have been hard for you both being displaced and everything. But, despite that, you manage to come out of it and end up here. You both should be proud of yourselves for getting this far.”

Alan: “Thank you for saying that. Cris is one of the hardest workers I know. He’s a really good guy and deserves to get into the Arcane Eye college.

Sorin: “Well, don’t worry. His chances of getting in are looking really good. I know I've taken up a lot of your time, but there is just one last question I need to ask you both. What would you say motivates Chris? What does he want to do with his life?

Sere: “Isn't that something you should be asking Cris?”

Sorin: “I already have, but I need to hear what other people think it is. It’s all part of his character review.”

Sere: “Well, based on what I know about him, I think it probably has something to do with ending the conflict in Gix. He was always one of the most passionate people working in our youth group fundraisers. I don’t how he would go about doing that, but I'm sure that’s probably one main goal motivating him.

Sorin: “What about you Alan? Does that sound right to you?”

Alan: “Yeah. He has a lot of family still in Gix. Working towards peace would likely be his main motivation, but not his only.”

Sorin: “The way you're talking about it, sounds like you know something. What else would you say is motivating him?”

Alan: “Oh, um” he then paused for a few seconds, struggling to say something. “Sorry it's just a little embarrassing to say.” he said while nervously laughing.

Sorin: “Don’t be embarrassed. No one here will make fun of you and everything you say here will be completely confidential.”

Alan: “Um, it's just that when we were young, we promised each other along with a bunch of our other friends that one day one of us would become an Archmage.”

Sorin: “That is not too uncommon for people when they are young.”

Alan: “Yeah, and it is not just a, um, passing kinda kid's dream. He really wants to become one and is trying. Doing it to keep his promise for the ones that didn’t make it out of Gix…” he said in a tone that sounded a little sad.

Sorin: “Say no more. I get it. I can tell this is bringing up some painful memories for you. We have therapists and counselors available for students on campus, so I encourage you to use their services if you need it. “

Alan: “Thank you. I’m already doing so.”

Sorin: “Good. Also, what you're saying tracks. Your friend has already expressed that he wants to become an Archamge and use that influence to push for peace in Gix. I'm sure with how talented Cris is that —” he was interrupted by his office door swinging open.

Another professor had barged into the room. He was bald with large bags under his eyes and wore similar robes of the grayscale college like Sorin Black, but was lower rank. This was professor Karl Jixi, an assistant professor to Black.

Jixi: “Sorin we have an emergency!”

Sorin: “I'm in the middle of doing an interview about Cris Miles, what's so important that you needed to barge in like this!” he said, furious at Jixi's sudden appearance.

Jixi: “This is about Cris! T-There was an accident that happened just now!”

Alan: “What happened to Cris? Where is he?” he said with a look of extreme worry for his friend.

Jixi looked at Alan and just responded without thinking.

Jixi: “H-He’s in training arena 17, and it's bad. There was—”

Before Jixi could say anything else, Alan ran past him toward the training area Cris was at. The way Jixi was talking about his friend didn’t sound good to him. He had a really bad feeling about his friend and needed to make sure he was OK.

Alan used enhancement magic to increase his speed, using all the available aether he had to go fast as possible. It was dangerous to use so much aether as he was doing right now, the strain it caused on his body could greatly injure himself, but he needed to get Cris.

He zoomed by countless people and buildings, feeling the strain the magic was putting on his body as he went. His legs burned and ached, he felt he was getting close to his limit, but he did not stop.

A few people saw Alan run by frantically and gawked.

Just at the entrance of the training arena, there was a sharp throbbing pain in his left leg. He had pushed himself too hard and had severely strained his muscles. Despite this, Alan undid the magic on him and continued to limp through the pain into the area. Nearby there was an ambulance vehicle with a nearby crowd gathering around something.

He then heard people scream out. Telling the crowd to make way. As the crowd parted, he could see two paramedics carrying a stretcher. In that stretcher was Cris, unconscious, covered in blood with his left arm missing at the shoulder.

Seeing that, Alan froze. It was like time had slowed down for him. So many thoughts ran through his head at once, it all just became white noise to him. Memories of his childhood with Cris flashed before him.

The time they got in trouble with their parents, the time they built a treehouse, or when all of his old friends promised that they would all become Archmages and defeat the evil nobles.

He was so overwhelmed he couldn’t feel anything, but a single tear managed to make its way through and slowly run down his face.

Cris was loaded up into the vehicle before departing to the hospital, with siren blaring as it drove off into the distance.

Jafar: “Alan?”

He turned his head and saw Jafar in his orange Ember Gear robes, who was with Cris while Sere and him were being interviewed. He looked shell shocked.

Alan: “Jafar? What happened?”

Jafar: “It…it was an accident. He was sparring with a senior and he got hit by a lightning bolt that blasted off his arm.” he said with his voice slightly quivering.

Alan: “How?” he said in an almost daze like state.

Jafar: “It failed. It all failed. All the protection magic that was supposed to stop this, from the magic in the arena to Chris’s ward failed, all at the same time.”

Alan: “How’s that—” he said before being cut off by Jafar.

Jafar: “It was him! Alan, it was him!” he yelled out.

Alan: “Who?”

Jafar: “Cid… I saw him briefly off in the distance before I lost track of him. I-I think he was smiling when it happened.”

Anger was now another emotion added to the mix of what he was feeling right now. Part of him wanted to chase down Cid and beat him half to death for what he did, but what little bit of rationality that Alan still had told him not to, instead he decided to focus on Cris for the time being.

Without saying anything else to Jafar, Alan turned away from his friend and slowly spent the rest of the day, slowly, limping towards the hospital Cris was being taken to.