With his third step, the room’s blinding light flooded him, and his body disappeared. Only his mind remained. He could not see, smell, feel, nor hear anything. He was in the darkest dark. But suddenly, weight returned to him, and he crumbled on slick wood. His stomach churned and he gagged. Acid burned his mouth, but nothing came out.

“I should have told you to brace yourself. I keep forgetting you aren’t even a beginner mage.”

Although Nathan was glad he had the air of a mage, he needed something else right now. “Water,” he croaked out.

Julia took a glass from her counter and filled it with water before handing it to him.

He downed it and asked for more. After his third drink, his throat recovered, and he sat up. He was still too dizzy to stand, but Julia didn’t seem to care and already started to leave. “Feel free to sleep wherever you want. There’s a couch and a bed over there.” She pointed to a door behind her. “And you can scavenge the kitchen for food. Eat and sleep. After that, step into the elevator, and it’ll spit you out near the Tower’s entrance. There, ask to take the entrance exam for the holders of emblems. Unfortunately, I can’t help you anymore. I have to go and report what happened to Mage Kregrack. I’ll come and get you when the courts call on you.” And without another word she opened a door, stepped into the bright light, and disappeared.

Tired and confused, Nathan let himself fall on his back; his arms spread wide, he closed his eyes.

#

The night was cold and the wind strong. He was lying in a snowbank next to a pine tree. Wind pushed snow crystals up his pants and down his coat, embalming him in a thin layer of ice. He had given up. He had followed the trees with two strike marks, yet they went round and round to no end. Without food nor the strength to build a shelter, he had all but given up.

He would remove his clothes and close his eyes to make things quicker. But then he heard his name.

“Nathan, Nathan!”

He sat up and looked around. The voice seemed familiar yet unknown.

“Over here, over here!” It came from above.

Nathan looked up and found not a person but a wisp of ice. It took the form of a woman with long blue trails of cold breaths as hair and beautiful azure crystals for eyes.

“Oh, good, you’re alive. I’d thought you’d died.” She let out a sigh and rested a hand on her chest. “I am Yilgadef, the Spirit of the North,” she proclaimed. “And I am on the search for one to restore the North.”

Nathan did not blink. Memories were flooding back into his mid, and the sight of a Tower flashed in front of the Spirit.

“Hey! Are you okay!” It yelled.

But Nathan couldn’t respond. His vision grew tired and strained until the world went black and all he could hear was a few of the Spirit’s words. “Find a place rich in crystals. I need to speak to you, it is urgent, I will give you power in exchange for your cooperation! Remember… anywhere rich in crystals! Only you can help!”

And asleep he was again.

He would not remember this dream.

#

Nathan sat up and rubbed his head. He’d fallen asleep on the warm wooden floor, and from a window to his right he could see that night blanketed the sky.

From where he sat in the middle of the room, he had a good view of the moon and its crown of dazzling stars.

But before he could fully admire the sight, something growled, and a raging fire spread through his stomach.

The pain forced him to get up and rush to the kitchen. There weren’t any pots, so he raided the pantry, where he found no salted fish, but he did find jerky.

Opening the pot, he drooled. He’d never smelled jerky so strong. It smelled not of salt or old age, but something else he’d never had the luck to experience. Grabbing one, he took a bite and felt something wet slobber over his hand. It was his saliva, he wiped it away. The jerky wasn’t too salty, and it had this other strong taste which left a tingle in his mouth. He quickly took another bite, then another piece, until he had finished the jar.

In horror of his greed, he dropped the pot, which shattered on the floor. Shit. He didn’t know what to do. Looking around, he saw a small jar filled with little golden things. He emptied its contents on a table before picking up the shards of glass and putting them into the jar.

Having cleaned the mess, he looked at the bits of golden bites on the table. He grabbed one in his fingers. It was soft and squishy, so he threw it in his mouth and chewed. His eyes shot open and once again he couldn’t control his saliva, which he wiped away with the inside of his elbow.

The golden food had a bright and fluffy white interior which seemed as soft as the clouds and had a sweet and buttery taste. He couldn’t have enough of them and after a few minutes he’d already finished the twenty or so pieces, yet his hunger wasn’t satisfied. He’d transcended earth and had found himself in the heavens. Who would have thought that the greatness of the Tower spread to its food? He’d never imagined that there was anything more to life than salted jerky, dried sardines, and watery stews. He’d heard his father talk about the food of the Southern Tower a few times, but he didn’t know tastes like these existed. How many years of good food had he missed?

Nathan returned to Julia’s pantry and scoured for his next meal. And this time he found another jar filled with golden food. Quickly grabbing it, he popped it open and grabbed a handful of its contents. These snacks were soft but hard and had visible salt crystals encrusted on their surfaces. He tried to squish them, but it didn’t even leave a dent. This was the hardest food he’d ever felt. But if it was in this pantry, it was no doubt good. Still cautious, he bit down on the square’s side with two of his canines and the food easily broke apart revealing a white interior not too dissimilar in appearance to the previous food.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He threw the food in his mouth and chewed. This one was just salty but had a satisfying crunch. Still, he’d eaten enough salt throughout his life. He wanted something sweet. And so, for the next half an hour Nathan went through all of Julia’s pantry, trying each of her snacks and finishing all the sweet ones, leaving the salty ones aside.

Unfortunately, there were more salty snacks than sweet, but he had eaten enough and felt tired. This time he made his way to the sofa and laid down, where he fell asleep.

#

The soft glow of the morning sun woke Nathan up, its warm rays drenching his face in a golden hue. His body was stiff, and he was covered in a cold sweat. Getting up, he stretched out his arms and out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted the mess he’d made in the kitchen. There were crumbs of food everywhere and empty jars on the table, ground, and the cabinet’s doors were still half open. He quickly ran over, afraid Julia might return anytime and put everything back in place and picked up all the crumbs, putting them in a small jar since he didn’t know where to throw out things here. Still, even now the place didn’t look too clean, but he didn’t know what he missed, so he decided to just not look at it anymore. This led him to look out the window. He could see nothing say for the blue of the sky. There were no clouds today. Wondering what the world may look like from up here, he approached the window, afraid to get too close and falling out. Yet, the next thing he knew, his face was plastered on the glass, and he was staring down onto the city which surrounded the Tower. It was enormous. The city sprawled out like the sea or the white plains. It was a sea of wood and stone. The houses were no bigger than grains of dust and the roads no more than fissures on the ground, but it was nonetheless the most impressive thing he’d ever seen, even more than the Tower. He didn’t know why but seeing that so many humans could congregate and build such a massive settlement was insane. He could only imagine the number of people living down there.

He wanted to go and explore and so, he decided to open Julia’s cabinet for one last snack before heading to the bright room.

Opening the door, he took three deep breaths to prepare himself and jumped into the light’s embrace. He felt his body disappear and his conscious float in emptiness. And then a strong pressure pushed him down, and he was back in his body.

His first sense to return was his hearing. He heard the voice of men, women, and kids. The rolling of carts on stones … the bustle of life. Then his sight came, and he found himself in a dark path. To his right, to his left, and behind him were tall walls of beige painted wood. The only exit was a slip of light in front of him, from where all the sound and life came from. Dozens of carts filled with wooden crates and hundreds of people dressed in long clothes and brown leather shoes passed in front of where Nathan stood.

Nathan took a few steps, and then a few more, until he found himself in the main street and was swept away by the crowd. He couldn’t even see where they were heading as in front, behind, and to his sides people much taller than himself flanked him and obstructed his view.

He couldn’t do anything but match their pace and hope they’d stop and let him get his bearings. But for five minutes he was forced to keep up if he didn’t want to be walked over and crushed by the stampede.

Thankfully, the crowd eventually stopped and as the men who had blocked his sight dispersed, he saw what he could best call the humongous monstrosity of the Tower. It was so tall, he could not see the top as it faded into the sky and seemed to curve back, threatening to fall on him.

It made his stomach turn. To think he had been so high up…

He looked back down… Yes, what was everyone doing here? He looked behind, and the stream of people who had pushed him here was still flowing. However, they were parting to the right and left, leaving him with room to breathe. He followed them with his eyes to stalls set up in front of storefronts. They were buying all manner of things he could not get a good look at.

He proceeded forwards, and yes, there were more stalls, but not fewer people. They were fighting like rabid beasts over food, tools, and potions he didn’t know.

It took him a whole fifteen minutes to find a stall lightly populated enough for him to walk up to it.

The stall’s sign was written in Marian and manning the counter were two women with short brown hair haggling with a group of beasts, and on the side, there stood a boy perhaps two years his senior. The boy was tall, skinny, and had shy eyes. He did not have the air of someone who could deal with those beasts.

“Hi!” Nathan said, walking up to him.

The boy’s eyes snapped to Nathan, surprised he was called out. His back straight and his gaze expectant.

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to buy anything,” reassured Nathan, waving his hand.

The boys back immediately settled, sighing, and looking down. “So, what do you…” as the boy was going to address Nathan, his eyes set on the fine grey robes and the three rays of Nathan’s emblem. “A noble mage!” He exclaimed, and once again regained his rigid look. “How may I serve you?” He asked.

Nathan was taken aback by the reaction. He knew that mages were well respected, and he had seen how the people of Vilnus acted towards Julia, but experiencing something directly was different from sight. Well, this was the treatment he had worked so hard for, so he didn’t mind it, if not wanted it. “I was wondering why there are so many people rushing here.”

The boy looked down to Nathan’s emblem once again. “Oh! New to the North. Well, this Sir is the Fair of New Beginnings. It’s to celebrate the mages that come for the year’s first enrolment ceremony.”

Nathan didn’t know it was the enrolments season, but it made sense that Julia or whatever faction was behind her would want him to join at the same time as the others. But it still didn’t explain everything. “But aren’t there only one hundred or so new admittances? Why would there be so many people?”

“One hundred and eighty-three this half-year to be precise, and yes, but everyone wants to try, no? At least here, trying to enter the tower is a rite of passage. Do they not do so in the south?”

Seeing how enthusiastic the boy was, Nathan asked, “Are you going to take the exam this year?”

The boy smiled with such a bright smile it nearly blinded Nathan. “Sure am. My mother’s uncle was even a second-ranked mage, so who knows. Maybe I really have a chance.”

“That’s not…” Nathan cut himself off. Telling him that blind optimism wasn’t the trait of mages wouldn’t do any good. “Then what beast have you consumed?” He asked.

“I haven’t done that, I’ll put my luck in the beast the Tower decides is best for me.”

Now Nathan was more than confused. But before he could ask any more questions, the boy continued to speak.

“I can’t wait for the general admittance to open. Two days! Two days! If you have a robe, that means you have a mana heart, right? Do you have any tips?”

Nathan was taken aback by the boy’s sudden change in attitude, so he just said, “Accept the pain…” And then he was pushed aside by someone who had come from the crowd he’d left. And so, before the mass of people pushed him away, he asked the boy, “What’s your name?” Although the interaction was odd, he wanted to know more about how the people of the city lived. He was tired of the small feel of everything. He had lived in his small shack, he had lived in a small house in the middle of nowhere, he had visited his small village, he had met a small family, he had suffered in a small mining compound. And he had sensed the same small feel in Julia’s home. Now he wanted to feel lost in the crowd, he wanted to admire its everything. There was so much, and he wanted to experience it a little at a time, saving some for ever later.

“It’s Henry, little nephew of Joseph,” the boy answered.

“Joseph was your mother’s uncle?” Nathan asked.

The boy grinned.

And so, it was his turn. “Me it’s Nathan… Nathan de la Cortella.”