Far northwest, at the edge of Kalar's Continent, lay Ritark, a small trading village barely larger than a common outpost. Here, the local farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen could exchange their merchandise for more sought-after goods, such as cloth, tools, or accessories from the south.

Of course, they could also trade for more monetary currencies, but they were rarely taken home, since copper coins hardly keep you warm throughout the harsh winter, when the next marketplace is a several days journey away, like for many farmers.

It was as far from a bustling place as it gets, but it was the lifeline of the local community nonetheless. The major businesses of the region including ores and metalworks from the northern mine, fresh and salted fish caught in the North Sea, as well as literally selling cabbages to the neighboring cities.

It may not seem like much, but it was home to the young Teo.

This rustic village was everything he ever knew, where he grew up and where he played around with the other kids from the neighborhood.

Of course, this included the outskirts of the great Thorn Forest, which stretched from Ritark all the way north, even reaching past the mines on the slopes of Mount Kroll, the rocky cliffs and beaches around the North Sea and the tilled fields, just south of the village; but still, his knowledge about the rest of the world was rather limited.

He spent most of his time playing, exploring the surrounding landscape, or helping his parents with easy tasks in the household; and naturally getting scolded for playing in Thorn Forest.

It was not really dangerous as far as he knew, at least not until past Mount Kroll, but obviously, it was still considered a forbidden area for children; which did not seem to have much of an effect on the local troublemakers.

Of course, the sporadic poisonous plants and wild animals could be quite dangerous to children if not left alone, he had to admit, but they were only ever playing near the very edges of the forest!

Since adults frequented the woods around the village to collect wild berries and hunt for game, it was actually quite peaceful. Teo had only ever heard stories about large boars or even rogue bears being seen so close to the village, probably only told by old people to frighten naïve children, so his parents must certainly be overreacting! 

This leisurely lifestyle was going to change soon though since tomorrow was his 6th birthday. For many privileged children from wealthy households, this age marked their admittance into a school, where they would learn how to read, write, calculate and other things Teo did not have a clear grasp over.

But with his family being common craftspeople, this fate was not for him.

Parents who couldn't afford to send their children into the neighboring town's school could only impart them their own knowledge, as limited as it was and prepare them for what was to follow: Apprenticeship.

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With his father being a blacksmith and his mother sewing clothes, he already had better options than most boy's in the village could even dream of; except maybe the local merchant's son, who was sent to study in Sigella, the nearest harbor town to the south.

Tomorrow his mother would take him to the regional Magician's Office to test his Elemental Affinity and depending on his results he would either start training to become a qualified blacksmith under the firm guidance of his father, or...

He was not so sure about the alternative roads, his fate could lead him on, but he knew it was very likely, that he would succeed his father's craft, as all his friends did so far.

Magic in itself was not considered very rare or special even since roughly one in ten children showed measurable talent in one of the four major elements, but even minuscule amounts of talent brought great joy to their parents.

His friend Markus, who was tested last year, showed a slight affinity for the fire element, just like his grandfather, but he is still going to step into his father's footprints and become a hunter. Teo could recall this day very well because Markus' father continued to brag about it for weeks on end until Teo's father threatened to bash his head in with a forge hammer if he wouldn't shut up about it.

Of course, everybody could understand his reaction, as the Fire Element was a very useful Talent for a hunter, but it still didn't stop anyone from being annoyed by the constant bragging and exaggerations.

Usually hunters would only use the fire element for small tricks, like making arrows searing hot, to better slay large prey or lighting campfires made from wet wood with their bare hands, but it still gave them an edge over their competition; something very valuable with three hunter families in the village, constantly quarreling over the safe hunting grounds in Thorn Forest.

The extent of the effects they could summon would depend on their personal talent, training and experience, but even the most basic ability to keep oneself warm for a few hours, was very useful this far in the north, with its unpredictable weather and long winters.

Teo was very excited by the idea of having a talent for Magic himself, especially Fire Magic, like Markus. It would be the most useful for a blacksmith, as far as he could imagine, the increased resistance to heat being a major contributing factor.

But maybe it was just his personal preference, developed from watching his father working the blistering hot forge every day.

Of course, if there was a Magician working in the Magician's Office, it should be possible, to become a Magician himself, which did not seem to be too bad of an occupational choice.

At the very least, Teo never saw the local Magician working much on anything, even though the adults seemed to respect him a lot. He spent a lot of time in his fancy house near the forest, rarely accepting requests from anyone, aside from the regular affinity checks for the local children.

But whatever the criteria to become a Magician were, they must be extremely hard to meet, since he had never heard about anyone from the village succeeding; not even from the elders!

Anyways, Teo had no absurd ambitions and knew better than to chase pipe dreams like that, he was quite content to learn blacksmithing from his father, a Magic Talent would only be the cherry on top.

From the snippets of conversations, he picked up so far, he knew that the chance to get a specific element and the degree of Affinity for it were mostly hereditary; with the occasional pinch of randomness mixed in.

So obviously Teo had been pestering his parents with questions about his ancestry for weeks, with mixed results.

His mother told him, that a distant cousin of hers had a considerable gift for the Air Element, so that was probably her family's main attribute, but his father always dodged any questions regarding this topic.

Maybe he was from an exceptionally untalented family and he did not want to get his hopes up? Whatever the case, Teo could barely wait for tomorrow to finally uncover his destiny, even when he knew, that he should not expect too much.

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