Chapter Four
The Laughter of Fate
Through the enormous cave entrance, the crowds of students emerged in silence, as if in a mourning procession.
Leading the crowd were a few hundred guards clad in metal armor and wielding wooden spears since being pathless individuals unable to use magic meant they had to rely on old methods for fighting and defending.
Yet in all honesty, they served nothing but a meat shield for the many male and female mages distinguished by their luxurious robes.
Following them, three lines of children represented the three families.
In the center was a massive gray creature, looking like a fusion between a bear and a wolf, as tall as a three-story house and as long as a bus, and upon it were three thrones occupied by the three high clan elders.
The remaining clan leaders were either floating on magical carpets or walking with indifference.
And at the end of the procession were orphans, who had been given respectable clothing.
Sero had transformed from a dirty orphan into what seemed like a merchant's son. His long black hair was cut, and he wore a headband while his bare body was covered with a simple long robe.
This time, however, he walked alone, as both Li Xian and Risa, who had previously clung to him, were now engaged in conversation with various clan elders.
Originally, his clothes were a gift his sister received from some mages who attended the ceremony.
"A six-candle talent like you doesn't deserve to live in an orphanage! As a mage of the first path, I offer you a place in my home!"
"Who are you trying to fool? A talent like hers deserves to live in the mansion of a second-rank mage like me!"
"Both of you, be silent! The decision rests with the supervisors of the families. Since the orphanage is under the supervision of Lady Alice, she will decide where the orphans go!"
"Impossible! The child with the six-candle talent is a member of the Geist family! How can we let a teacher of the Anira family students handle it?"
The conflict among the mages in the crowd intensified, with Risa caught in the middle as one of the few high talents.
Li Xian, on the other hand, was an enchanting beauty, attracting many boys trying to approach her while a few girls felt jealous.
"This is very strange. How did their attitude change from disgust to trying to get close to me like this," Li Xian thought quietly, ignoring the commotion around her.
But suddenly, she stumbled and fell hard, injuring one of her ribs.
She didn't realize it was because one of the girls had secretly put her foot in her way.
"Are you okay?" a sharp voice asked as he looked at her. Her reaction made her stare at him, shocked to recognize him as Drada Hervolt.
"Yes, I'm fine!" Li Xian replied quickly and nervously while trying to stand up, amid mocking whispers from the girls around her.
"Come on then, my teacher wants to see you," Drada said with boredom, his red eyes surveying the crowd. Realizing the situation, he took quick action and claimed that the old teacher of the hervolt family, Jokai, had requested her.
Those without a strong background are devoured by the powerful ones who have it. After all, no one would go out of their way to protect Li Xian, as she wasn't like Sero or Jinta who both looked experienced in street fighting.
So naturally, she decided to follow Drada, leaving her bullies with jealous expressions.
Meanwhile, Sero walked calmly as if he had been rated ten candles instead of one, indifferent to what was said about him in the cave and everyone's reaction.
It was true that his current plans of climbing the ranks of the clan using his talent were ruined, but his wisdom showed him it was fate's will. His sharp eyes had already assessed his strength before the ceremony.
"It seems the nine Rins threw my soul into this filthy body to protect its owner from dying due to being an orphan. But getting only one candle while my sister and the brat I taught received higher talents is such a big mockery. Fortunately, I have my own ways to elevate my level," Sero thought calmly, following and ignoring all the events that happened in the crowd while delving into his mind, reflecting on his past.
He had held a faint hope for the ceremony, but that hope had now vanished.
Luck and hope were just words; their presence or absence didn't negate the fact that hard work remained a requirement for a decent life.
Sero realized this since emerging from the pool of blood and receiving condescending looks from everyone around him.
Even his sister looked at him with slight disappointment in her eyes.
......
Inside the village, the residents both mahes and pathless gathered along the road leading to the center, waiting with fear and anticipation for their youth to bring the good news.
The village was divided into three areas: the inner area, which contained the mansions of the clan elders, the temple of the clan founders, and the academy. The middle area, housed the clan mages' residences, a trade district, and a red-light district; and the outer area, consisted of small villages for the pathless and slaves bought by the clan mages.
Passing through the outer area, the pathless gathered along the road leading to the center, waiting for their children with hopes that they had gained talent.
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Some fell to the ground, crying with joy when they saw their children walking with the clan mages' children, while others turned pale, not seeing their children among the crowd, which meant they had been left in the cave.
Those left behind were thrown into its depths, and to earn the right to live with the clan, they had to emerge on their own within a day. Those who failed either died of starvation or were sold as slaves.
The outer area was extremely shabby, consisting of dirt roads with haphazardly built old gray wooden buildings and roofs of straw and grass.
Just the presence of the mages in that area made them feel disgusted emotions, which continued until they reached one of the gates leading to the middle area.
The middle area was crowded with merchants promoting their goods and attractive women trying to entice the mages in hopes of getting some good wine or even a potential husband.
However, years of experience among the mages prevented this, and those who fell for such tricks were either fools or worthless perverts.
For the mages' children, the middle area was boring as they were used to living there. But for the pathless children, their faces lit up with astonishment and happiness.
Attractive black wooden and bamboo buildings rose two to three stories high, with roads paved with ironstone extracted from the nearby mountain. The smell of roasted meat filled the air, making them feel like they were in a dream.
But the inner area was about to shatter those expectations.
Upon reaching the great gate, which exceeded twenty meters in height, the expressions of astonishment turned into shock.
The inner area was carpeted with a sea of thorny red roses, with three palaces of the great families situated in the north, east, and west, the academy to the south, and the temple in the center.
They were all connected by a road paved with black rock, flanked by blood trees with orange leaves and dark pink trunks.
"Children of the three families, follow your instructors. Those not belonging to the three families, follow Elder Senbo to the temple. You will be taught the basics of being mages for now," said the old lady Jokai calmly.
The crowd dispersed quietly, with Sero, Risa, Jinta, and Li Xian joining the group that accompanied Senbo to the sacred Temple of the clan founders.
......
Inside the grand hall of the temple, built from luxurious brown wood, approximately thirty students sat on a red mat, most of them children of the pathless, following orders with strict discipline.
All except Sero, who strolled lazily with eyes dead from boredom.
"Hey, kid, why do you look like a fish out of water? Got something on your mind?" a mocking voice spoke from behind Sero, who didn't care and sat down quietly.
The voice belonged to Jinta, who sat cross-legged, staring at the statues of the clan founders with their intimidating and unsettling forms.
"Silence, all of you," a powerful echo resonated in the hall, causing many of the students to be startled.
They looked directly at the source, which was the old Senbo, walking calmly toward a chair placed at a height that allowed him to see all the students.
"Before we begin your first lesson, you must know that you are all now mages of the first path. You have proven your worth and earned the right to stay in the clan, honoring your families and ancestors by showing that even with weak backgrounds, you have become mages. Thank the Nine Rins for that," Senbo spoke calmly, playing with his long white beard, and then he continued.
"Of course, many of you might wonder who the Rins are, and I don't blame you for that, as you haven't received a proper education. So, we'll start from the beginning,"
"As you know, the will is the foundation of all beings, while mana is the power of those beings. That great will formed the eleven races that ruled the world, while mana formed ten paths those races walked on, and both shattered the world into shards that allowed us mages to use the power of the world for ourselves," Senbo continued, capturing the attention of all the students with his captivating story, all except Sero.
In his previous life, Sero had heard that story countless times as it was the cornerstone of everything in the world.
Mana wasn't just a force but a fundamental determinant of who was considered a civilized being.
The difference between mages and the pathless was so vast that they were almost like different species.
Simply put, If a mage decided to kill a pathless person, no one could stop him except another mage, and even in such a scenario they would stop him only for their own benefit.
"The paths were a means of distinguishing between powerful and weak mages. The difference between a first-path mage and a second-path mage is like the difference between earth and heavens. That's why we submit to the Nine Rins, for they are the only entities that have reached the tenth path," Senbo spoke calmly, with a slight nostalgia for his past.
"Tch, at least introduce them to the Rins one by one. This withholding of information is typical of all clans, and it annoys me," Sero thought with boredom as he looked at Senbo.
He then decided to invest his time in meditating on his memories, after all, what would interest an immortal in the affairs of mortals?
"There is also the seventh path, where those who reach it become immortals and abandon their names for a specific title. The most famous of them is the Immortal of Hardened Blood, who was one of the mages who founded the Geist Village many generations ago. Unfortunately, he was killed by an incident. After all, immortals don't die, but they can still be killed," Senbo muttered sadly, then breathed calmly.
"Are there any questions?" Senbo asked, his gaze briefly settling on Sero, who seemed to be sleeping. He didn't pay much attention, thinking Sero, being just a one-candle talent, wasn't worth his time.
"What’s the point of ranking our talents by the number of candles?" Jinta asked rudely without raising his hand, leaving a bad impression on many of the students.
To them breathing the same air as Sinbo was something to beg for, yet a dirty child dares to talk without permission.
Yet Jinta didn't care, he used to break rules to live anyway so why he should follow them now? And out of spite, he put his pinky in his noes.
"Sigh. Alright, the mage's talent is about the amount of mana that flows in and out of one's body. But the answer you want is that those with higher candle talents will grow faster and reach higher paths more quickly. For example, all of you are on the first path, so reaching the second path will take time. Someone with a two-candle talent will reach it faster than someone with a one-candle talent, and this is why having a higher talent level is preferred," Senbo replied calmly.
"I get that, but is there a reason to advance to higher paths?" Risa asked shyly. Senbo smiled and stroked his beard.
"Hehe, I suppose that’s my fault, young lady. I started talking about the importance of paths and mana without mentioning their uses," Senbo said with a laugh. He then pulled a small twig, the size of a finger, from his robe pocket.
"This thing is what we call a shard, a part of the world that holds its stored power and just like mages ranked from first to the tenth path. To the pathless, it might look like a dry twig, but to mages, it’s a crucial part of what makes them mages," Senbo explained quietly. He then held the twig and absorbed it into his body, making it disappear from the students’ sight.
"Now that shard has entered my magic realm, which resides in my heart, I can use the stored power from it," Senbo spoke confidently, then snapped his fingers, producing a small spark of flame.
To demonstrate its effect, he pulled out a candle from his pocket and lit it with the flying spark.
Such a display captivated many of the students with admiration and excitement, as they realized they would eventually be able to do that too.
However, Sero remained oblivious to the trivial display in front of him.
In his previous life, his mere presence was enough to make large clans tremble with fear, and now he was in a state where he barely had control over his own life, and caring about a candle was a joke he didn't find funny.
"So, these are the ones who don't belong to a family? Truly unfortunate!" a mocking voice came from outside.
Everyone turned to look, only to be surprised by the presence of the three clan instructors: the old Jokai, Lady Alice, and Miss Stolz.
"Apologies for the interruption, Elder Senbo, but the situation has changed. Instead of forming a new class now, your class will be merged with the classes of the three families in the academy, and these kids will have to join the three families," Alice spoke in a gentle voice, changing the expression of Sinbo immediately.