Two
When Leo was maybe 10 or 11 years old, he’d read a book about a little girl with extraordinary powers. Not the powers that permeated the world after the Rending, and not the powers that cultivators wielded using mana, but a different kind of power. True magic. The book had been written by a man who’d survived the apocalypse and who’d had memories of a time before the cultivators and the Coalition. A time when the people of Earth ruled their own world.
In the book, the little girl’s family did not like her. Her brother dismissed her, her father disdained her, and her mother neglected her. For the little girl’s entire childhood, the only adults who had ever really taken care of her, or believed in her had been a kind librarian, and a teacher at a school her parents almost didn’t send her to.
Alone, abandoned by the people who were supposed to love her, and powerless to change her own fate, she manifested power that would allow her to protect herself. The little girl had developed magic. Her magic allowed her to defend herself against her powerlessness in the face of the self-proclaimed bigger, smarter, stronger authority figures who were eager to abuse their power over her. She was a bookish little girl, one who loved learning as growing and knowing. A child who the world seemed bent on keeping small, and ignorant, and helpless.
Leo had identified so closely with the main character that he’d often thought of the people in his life in relation to the characters in the book. The teacher, Ms. Goulding, who taught history at the local academy might’ve been the librarian, the kids he lived with in the group home were like the little girl’s awful sibling, and if he had to classify his caseworker, Ms. Belle, he’d say she was the principal. Mean, large, and possessing such a pure disdain for children and young people of any caste that he couldn’t understand why she’d chosen the job she had. Good benefits, perhaps?
Well, it didn’t matter anymore, not really, Leo considered as he let his mind settle back into the present from his musings. Today was likely the last day he’d see her.
“This is it,” said Ms. Bell pulling up to a curb about a kilometer or about 2/3 of a mile away from the entrance of the Coalition testing building. The building itself was located in the center of the sector.
The campus was huge, and even though Leo had been at their meeting spot early Ms. Belle had come late. Really late. Leo had actually watched as the school bus with the academy student had pulled off and left for this very campus before her vehicle had even shown up.
“Ma’am?” Leo asked. If she dropped him off here, he’d almost definitely miss registration. He couldn’t be late for registration, because at only 16 years old, he wouldn’t be considered a legal adult unless he’d undergone a mana baptism or was 18 years old. Adult or not, they had kicked him out of the care home today. That meant that he needed to make it to registration, because the alternative was not an option.
The campus itself contained both the housing, and embassies for the Council, the Institute, and the various sects and clans, and those were just the facilities for the planet-side residents that had dealings in this sector of the North American Confederation. To get to the testing building, Leo would have to… Well, he didn’t even know. He didn’t have phone, or a datapad, or even a fancy chip like most people even vaguely middle class or above did. He had a map, an actual paper map. It was enchanted, but only with the most basic runes for direction and position. It could tell him where he was, and which cardinal direction he was traveling in, but that was about it. It was undoubtably one of the most expensive things he owned, and even then, it was something he’d been given for free in the package he’d received from the Coalition when he’d officially registered for ignition.
Any other item of even moderate value had been taken from him by the workers at the home under the guise of donation resources, and recompensating the sector. Considering he was a ward of the sector, and that he never saw those small treasures again, he sincerely doubted the validity of their statements. He’d never complained though, especially when some of the staff with more of a conscience made sure he’d be given full portions for almost a month afterwards.
However, a simple runic map, the sort any novice enchanter could make was not going to be enough to get him to the building on time. Not that Ms. Bell cared either way.
“This is as far as I’m mandated to take you,” she said. She wasn’t even looking at him, just idling the vehicle on the edge of the campus, her face half out the window as she smoked something. It was some herb variant from the wilds that was said to have mild psychoactive properties. Probably why she’d been late, and why she didn’t want to drive any closer, now that he thought about it, considering it was technically illegal to be behind the wheel with it in your system, even if the vehicles basically drove themselves. But that wasn’t Leo’s concern.
“Ma’am,” Leo began, eyes straight ahead, and teeth gritted. “I’ll be late. If you could just drop me-”
“Not my problem,” she said, finally turning to him.
“If I don’t make it to registration-”
“Are your ears broken, or are you just stupid? You’re. Not. My. Fucking. Problem.” She enunciated each word, like Leo truly was slow and hadn’t understood her the first time. “Now, get the fuck out,” she turned back to the window. Leo breathed deeply. The woman was right about one thing, the moment they had crossed onto the campus, Leo was no longer under her power. She had no control over him anymore.
“Ma’am,” Leo tried again, the tingle in his arm that had made itself known at the school flared up again.
“I said, get out!” She pressed a button, and the passenger seatbelt released as the door slid open. Accepting that he wouldn’t convince her, Leo bent down to gather his pack. Head turned, and eyes facing the floor, he didn't see it coming when Ms. Bell gripped the smoke between her teeth, freeing her hands, and bodily shoved Leo, heaving two handed to force him out of the vehicle. His eyes down, he was unprepared for the jarring impact. It was only his quick reflexes, and familiarity with similar scenarios that allowed him to twist his neck out of the way of the doorframe, and tuck into a protective ball in time.
He was tall, but not particularly big or heavy. The impact onto the sun warmed concrete jarred him hard enough that it took him a moment to notice that while his tailbone had painfully made contact with the ground, his legs and pack were still half inside. Ms. Belle decided to fix that problem by gunning the vehicle. Leo had only enough wherewithal to grab the handle of his bag and yank his legs free before Ms. Belle drove out of his life, forever.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
That was it. Nearly 17 years in the system, and that was it. No more placements, no more group home, no more Ms. Belle, who had somehow not even been the worst of his caseworkers. Today, ignition or not he’d be an adult in accordance with Confederation law. His arm’s tingle turned into a pervasive, pulsing burn.
Coalition law named age of majority at 25 for humanoid sapients, but being Earthborn into one of their colonies did not make him a Coalition citizen. The only way to become an official citizen was to either ignite his core or get adopted into a clan. The latter was the realm of fantasy for anyone without an ignited core, but the former would make adoption a moot point for Leo’s purposes. Besides, he’d given up on being adopted by anyone a long time ago. They’d had 16 and a half years to do it before today, and he had no reason to believe anything would change.
No, Leo would be like that magic girl in the story. He would have his own power manifest, and he’d learn to grow stronger, to protect himself, to go after the things he wanted, and never be denied because of weakness or the luck of birth. He knew what life had in store for him if he didn’t, and he genuinely believed death might be a better option. He refused to die in a mana farm, or under the boot of the gangs. Conviction reaffirmed, he stood himself up and did what he always did in situations like these. He broke the problem down into manageable, solvable chunks.
He had a long run ahead of him if he wanted to make it to testing registration in any semblance of time. He didn’t know where he was going or exactly how far away it was on this sprawling campus. He knew he’d need to moderate his speed if he wanted to maintain a fast enough pace to make it all the way.
So, sitting on the edge of the curb, tailbone throbbing, arm tingling, and holding at bay a completely unwelcome and confusing sense of grief, Leo did his breathing exercise and pulled open the map.
A small red dot pulsed with a tingle Leo could swear he felt. Shaking off the feeling, and ignoring the increasing burn in his arm, he tried to orient himself to where he'd located the testing center and plot a path. It wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with. He’d practiced using the map every chance he got after receiving it. Using it to plot courses and walk around the sector, or at least the parts that were safe for him.
His mind marked the rout, he’d always had an incredible memory, then he stood, dusted himself off, and set out on his way at a steady jog. The pounding of booted feet against concrete, the feeling of his skin prickling with perspiration, the anxiety that hummed just under the surface, telling him he was running out of time. All of it pulled at Leo, like a phantom string in his mind.
“Run run little rabbit,” a man with heavy feet and foul breath clomped against the floor above him. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
Adrenaline spiked through the boy as he stifled his breath in the corner of the basement closet. It was an unfinished thing, all concrete, hardwood and exposed piping. What it lacked in aesthetics, it made up for with the number of small corners and nooks. Siny sanctuaries that an eight-year-old Leo took ample advantage of. It was a useless advantage, he knew. They’d always find him, eventually. But anything, anything to stay out of the man’s reach just a moment longer.
The man had a life affinity. Life affinity practitioners were not people you could hide from, he knew that, he did, but he couldn’t just stay where they’d put him, bundled into a corner of a room he shared with the three other wards who lived in the house. That was asking for casual cruelty. If they wanted to do something to him, he wouldn’t let them make it casual. He would make them work for it. Maybe then he’d prove to be too much trouble, maybe they’d leave him alone.
But the man was a 1st Circle life practitioner, and even at nearly the lowest tier, ‘life’ was a terrifying affinity.
A giant hand stretched for him, filling his vision, signaling his defeat as the man-
“Kid, kid, are you okay?” It was a woman in Coalition green. She was staring at the panting, sweating mess of a kid in front of her. Me, he thought, she’s staring at me. Her eyes lingered intently on him, tracing the contours of his face with what felt like unnecessary intensity.
A second circle? Perhaps a third? Get it together Léandros. He violently shoved the memory away in the overflowing mental vault where he kept the others. His arm was a blazing inferno now, throbbing and pulsing and doing heavens knew what. Was he okay? No, no he was not. But nobody actually cared for honesty, so instead he steadied his breathing and answered her.
“I apologize for being late. I’m here for the testing?” He asked. The woman looked him over dubiously, but nodded in acknowledgement, more or less proving Leo’s assumptions about how much she cared. It was fine.
“Core ignition?” She asked. He nodded, his breathing finally evening out with a careful application of willpower and experience. “Well, you’re a little late, but not by much, and registration hasn’t closed yet. You’re lucky, they’re still just going over the process and instructions,” she said leading him briskly from the entrance of the building to where a series of desks had been set up in what Leo was finally having the wherewithal to appreciate was a beautiful building.
He could practically feel the enchantments in the columns set at intervals in the massive atrium. Above them was a skylight he didn’t doubt was equally if not better enchanted than the columns and entry points. The whole place was a gorgeous array of white marble with black and gold striations, and with plants both mundane, and obviously enhanced, everywhere in varying shades of green. But it was the power, the almost visible flows of vibrant energy that could practically be felt by even an untested mundane that truly caught his attention.
For one beautiful, glorious moment, Leo’s whole being settled. In a room awash with mana, he was captivated by the wonder of just existing in such a place. His mind was enthralled, and it felt like his body seemed to almost resonate with the waves of power being emanated by the building and the many high tiered people within it. As with so much in his life, however, he was dragged back to his reality all too quickly.
“Would you like to leave the pack with your family during the testing?” The woman asked. She wasn’t even looking at him, instead, she was concentrated on the tablet in her hands as she unknowingly trampled on any good feelings he’d been able to manifest thus far.
A quick peek around at one side of the room showed a mass of people that he didn’t know how he’d missed upon entry. No, that wasn’t true, he’d been so giddy at the marvel of architecture and enchantment that they’d faded into the background. A bad habit he needed to break. Immediately. Though in his defense, he’d never felt anything like he’d delt inside this building.
“I’ll keep it,” he mumbled, eyes once more trained on the ground in front of him. He felt the woman’s eyes on him, studying him as she paused briefly, before she shook her head and marched on.
“Suit yourself, let’s get you in the system and on your way,” she said, her voice overly cheerful. “Who knows, you may walk out of the building with an ignited core.”
Who knows indeed Leo thought his eyes on the open doors of a hall filled with what he knew to be thousands of kids, all around his age or younger, praying to whichever divine or spirit blessed their clan. All hoping, and wishing, and imagining that at the end of today, they would be one of the fortunate ones.
Leo didn’t pray to any one of the myriad divinities that had ascended past mortality. Instead, he prayed to the power itself. Pled, more like. Begged even, that the power that suffused the world, which made up the rifts and the divinities, which allowed mortals to ascend, would take see something in him and give him this one thing.
It was more than a fervent plea; it was a command. Give me power, he demanded, or give me the means to take it for myself. Then, even if it was only in his mind, he felt the universe accept.