Ruen sat on top of the apartment building, looking at the golden rays of the last sunlight of the day. He looked at the jungle of steel and steam beneath him that continued for miles and miles ahead of him. From the roof of his home, he could barely make out the edge of the city. A large Magisteel wall with glowing crystals embedded in it. A sort of invisible barrier seemed to extend into the sky from the top of the wall, forming a dome around the city. Ruen had never been outside of those walls.
As a matter of fact, that faithful trip to the City Market 5 years ago was the furthest he had ever been from home. The Market sat high up in the city, amongst the Middle-class homes and factories. Ruen rarely left the slums he lived in. He neither had the money nor the means to leave them on his own.
Despite being 10 years of age, Ruen had never attended even a single day of school. His parents just couldn’t afford it. Schooling was reserved for the well-off, those in the slums couldn’t even dream of attaining any sort of education. Most children in the slums ended up in the factories when they grew up. The lucky few could take over their father’s trade, becoming blacksmiths or clothiers.
Ruen didn’t have this luxury, his father had no trade for him to take over. So unless he got a scholarship for the Academy, he had no hopes of ever making it out of the slums. The problem with getting a scholarship was that the aspiring pupil should be able to display some base level of magical abilities to even have a chance of being awarded a scholarship. Since Ruen’s family couldn’t afford a mentor or even just instructional books, the chances of Ruen being able to learn the basics of magic were as slim as they could possibly be.
Ruen climbed down from the roof and went back into the building, navigating the narrow hallways carefully. The hallways were riddled with leaky pipes and they were always filled with a slight bit of steam from the building’s central heating system. If you weren’t careful you could easily burn your arm on one of the steaming hot pipes.
After about 5 minutes of traversing the maze of a building, Ruen made it back to his own apartment. As he opened the door the warm smell of soup entered his nostrils. “Welcome home Ruen.”, Elina said while stirring her pan. Marvick mumbled something from his chair, but Ruen couldn’t quite make out what he said. His father had just returned from a long day of work so he was understandably tired.
“Diner’s ready!” Elina announced. Marvick got up from his chair and sat down at the dinner table. Ruen sat down next to his father. “How was work today father?” He asked. “Tiring as always. The city council has upped our production quota again, we barely made it before they increased it!”, Marvick sighed.
“I’m sorry for the meager meal, we’ve run out of bread and I haven’t had time to pick up more at the bakery.”, Elina exclaimed apologetically. Ruen shot up from his chair. “Don’t worry Mother, I'll go to the bakery to get some.”, He said. “Sit down and finish your soup first, then you can go.” Elina smiled.
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Ruen quickly finished his soup, savoring every last bite in the hopes of delaying the inevitable hunger that would come from a meal without bread. He grabbed a small bag and a purse filled with copper coins as he headed out of the apartments bidding farewell to his parents.
The streets outside were dimly lit. The cobbled worn down roads were only illuminated by the soft light emanating from the magic crystals in the lamp posts lining the sidewalks. The roads were very quiet this time of day. Most people steered clear of this area of the slums in the evening, out of fear of being mugged.
Ruen knew the streets like the back of his hand though, and knew which streets to avoid. He took some shortcuts through narrow passageways only he knew, carefully maneuvering his small body around all the pipes and valves.
The bakery was in a more well-off part of the slums. The buildings here weren’t nearly as dilapidated as where he lived and the streets were better maintained. As he came closer to the bakery the streets became busier and busier, as this area was relatively safe. The scent of freshly baked wafted through the air, guiding Ruen to the bakery.
When he arrived, he stood outside the bakery, the plethora of different kinds of bread and pastries made his stomach growl. Ruen entered the small shop, the jingling of the bell above the door announcing his arrival.
Behind the counter stood an elderly woman with a kind smell. She wore a black apron and was just taking some freshly baked loaves of bread out of the large stone oven in the back. “Good evening young lad.” The lady greeted him. “What can I get for you today?”
Ruen took a look at the various loaves of bread on display and eventually picked up a large, brown loave. He knew from experience that the taste of the bread wasn’t great, but it filled your stomach and was dirt cheap. “I’ll take this”, He said. As the baker was packaging his bread, Ruen’s eyes wandered outside, where a small crowd had gathered.
His curiosity peaked. He quickly tossed the baker some coins, put the bread in his bag, and rushed outside of the store.
Ruen felt as though something was drawing him to the center of the crowd. As he approached the crowd, the pull only increased in magnitude. Ruen sensed the same energy he felt whenever he came close to magic toys, though much stronger.
If the energy he sensed within toys were to be compared to a droplet of water, the energy at the center would be more akin to a summer rainstorm. Large in volume but soft and pleasant to the touch.
When he got close enough to see who stood at the center, he saw a man that looked to be in his early 30s. The man wore clothes that could’ve once been considered high-class, but have long since been worn down. He wore a top hat and a monocle on his head.
The man moved his arms around. Every swing of his arm left a colorful streak of bright flames behind them. The streaks of fire moved together to form the shapes of all sorts of animals in the air. The shapes started moving even more to mimic the movements of these animals. It truly was a beautiful sight to behold.
Ruen’s mouth fell open in sheer awe. He was completely taken away by the display of wonder. But more importantly than that, The man in front of him was a Mage!