Lightning crackled from between the mage's fingers. And his eyes blazed with an electric blue fire, burning with the power of the elemental chaos.

His dark brown hair and ice blue mage robes flew wildly behind him, freed from the shackles of gravity by the unadulterated and awe-inspiring power the mage was emitting.

He roared his defiance to the Namir hordes. Hellbeasts called forth by the southern dread king. Stones began to rise against the natural order of the world around him and the air began to burn with elemental and arcane fury as he drew in all surrounding mana. Runes flew past him in the wind, detailing forbidden arcane arts of untold power.

As the fiends came upon him and began to tear into his flesh Cozis unleashed his collected mana, and the world itself knew fear. For he was Cozis the Blue, lord of both the arcane and elemental planes, subjugator of the Namir and hero of the northern republic.

Yes, he thought. I can already hear it. They chanted for him, screaming out his name as they forgot all else in the world, he was their only constant. For what else matters when a being of such power stands before you?

"Cozis!" They chanted over and over again. "Cozis!" "Cozis!"

"Cozis! Wake up Cozis you're going to be late!" Shrieked a small girl as she shook him from his bed.

"Ugh! Mirana why? I was having a good dream." Yawned out the boy by the name of Cozis, as he pulled his felted blanket over his head, hunting for a reprieve from his sister's tickling assault.

"Big brother Cozis is going to be late for Mage school!" She whined again. Cozis froze, wait what day was it! No, no, no it can't be!

He immediately extricated himself from the straw-filled mattress he had slept in for the past 16 years and furiously began to get dressed.

How did I miss my alarm on the single most important day of my life?! He chided himself. Today is the day, today is the day I finally leave this dump.

Cozis had lived in the farming village of Orena his entire life with both his mother and sister. Orena was a village famed for its highly fertile lands, a rarity this far north, and its bountiful bronze mines. Used to create the hallowed enchanted rails. The most revolutionary invention of the millennia.

Cozis crawled slowly out of bed and placed his feet on the wooden floor of his second story room. Wincing as he felt the chill of a northern winter. He tentatively crept to the wardrobe and slipped on a pair of thick woolen socks. Ahhhhhh, sweet relief.

He then threw on his best coat and slacks before thundering into the bathroom, fighting with his unruly mop of curly dark hair. Cozis was handsome in a fashion, with the dark hair most common of the eastern lands from which his mother traced descendence. This coupled with the fair skin, bright blue eyes and strong, manly features stereotypically owned by the northern peoples he cut a rather imposing figure. A dark giant.

He reached for a razor before yelling downstairs.

"Beard or no beard?!" He called out awaiting a response. An older, more refined feminine voice responded to his plea, from below she spoke.

"Beard but trim it, otherwise you look like a savage." She said mockingly. Cozis chuckled as he trimmed the full dark beard he had accumulated in the year after finishing basic schooling.

In the northern republic, children were required to perform 10 years of mandatory schooling from the years of 5 to 15, from that point onward they were free to pursue higher education or join the workforce. Most chose the latter.

Cozis on the other hand, after you stripped away all of the dreams of grandeur was, in fact, a mage. And it had been his dream to attend the Fyr-Whir Magus Academy since he was a boy.

Sadly he would not get this honor. The mage academy was reserved for only noble-born children, and as the son of a deceased cavalry officer, Cozis could only dream of attending.

(AN: Don't worry son, I could feel as the entire audience ripped out their hair in the face of another cliche magic academy story. So don't worry, I got you fam.)

he didn't let this deter him though, his one goal in life was to do magic. It was his passion and his art. He would let nothing deter him from its practice.

He had enlisted in the Northern Republic Magus Core, or the N.R.M.C for short. They were the army's mage division and was the only way for a civilian born mage to practice magic legally.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Cozis smelt himself before recoiling in horror from the pungent odor permeating his nostrils. When was the last time I bathed! He must have once again gotten carried away reading his father's old military manuals, a pass time he had developed after leaving school.

He stripped before jumping in the shower. Pipes enchanted with elemental runes of water, and fire. Allowing for the direct application of hot water for bathing. They were truly a marvel in Cozis's eyes.

The newly washed and clothed Cozis walked down the creaky wooden stairs and into the living/dining room of his home.

His house was made of wood, like most of the village and the only luxuries it held were old. Bought before the death of Covis's father.

He walked into the kitchen and watched as his mother worked diligently over a magi-tech stove, cooking breakfast.

He lifted the trunk filled with his meager belongings over his shoulder and made quietly for the door. He didn't really have the heart to face her today.

He had nearly made it. Turning the door handle as quietly as he possibly could before it let out a loud and long squeaking noise that made him cringe internally.

"What do you think you're doing Covis?" His mother asked reproachfully with her hands firmly planted on he hips and a fake expression of outrage written all over her face.

"I sure hope you're not trying to sneak out. Because no son of mine is leaving off to mage school on an empty stomach." She came up and wrapped him in a large bear hug as she choked out the words 'leaving' and 'mage school.' There it was, the reason Covis was reluctant to see her this morning.

Truth be told he wanted to hug her and never let go. She had raised him alone from nothing, she was both his mother and father, she was his everything. And he had lied to her. It would ruin her to know her son was following in her father's footsteps. 'Going off to become cannon fodder for some high society noble twat." She would always say. So Covis had to lie to her.

He had told her that a new magic school had opened up in the capital, one where they train young civilian mages to become magi-tech engineers and healers. It killed him to tell falsehoods to her, but he would not give up on his dream, and this was the only way to achieve it.

So he endured her prideful glances and tears of joy as a larger and larger amount of guilt built up in his stomach. He would come back to her, he thought. He would become a powerful mage and then he would come back. And give her something true to be genuinely proud of.

He ate his toast as fast as was humanly possible, wolfing down the buttered bread in an attempt to beat a hastier retreat and then finally, when he was so close, just about to reach the threshold of his home he was faced with his greatest challenge yet.

His sister stood in the doorway staring at him with tears in her dark eyes and her black hair matted from crying. She broke down in tears as she ran toward him arms outstretched.

He crouched down to receive her, holding her against him for several long minutes before she was finally able to croak out a coherent sentence.

"You're going to go away. You're going to leave me and never come back just like father." She sobbed into his chest.

Another wave of guilt and regret hit him. The last time someone in her life had left they had never come back, and to her, it seemed Covis was doing the same.

He took her face in his hands and lifted her gaze to his own.

"Mirana, I'm going to come back. I promise." He then hugged her as if his life depended on it. They parted slowly, with Mirana still clutching his jacket and her eyes still wet with tears.

Covis stood and walked to the door, stepping through and feeling the biting chill of the northern winds before stopping and spinning on his heels to face his family with a mischievous smile.

"Mark this moment family, as it is the beginning of something momentous, epoch-making even!" He said throwing his arms out dramatically booming in the deep resonating voice he had inherited from his father. "But seriously, I'm going to make you proud mum." He said far more seriously and softly before turning away. Unwilling to cry in front of them.

That was the day he left that day for the train station, for the capital, for the war. For his future.