William opened his eyes, well he tried to but they were already open, it was more so that he became aware of what was around him, or more so what wasn’t. He was floating within a black void, in an infinite vast expansiveness of nothing. It really was just him, turning his head he glanced around only to be assaulted with a throbbing pain in his temple.

What the fuck just happened; he had tried to awaken just earlier. It was going fine and then, and then what? All he remembered was pain, like his head was going to explode from extreme pressure. Like a balloon filled to bursting, but by what?

[William you have awoken.] A disembodied voice rang out through the void.

“Hello? Who’s there?” William frantically looked around the empty space, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

[William if you are hearing this then you have successfully awoken into the beginning of your destined path.]

“Where are you hiding? Who are you damn it!” The voice sounded familiar, like something from his distant past, a memory flickered on the brim of his mind, but he was unable to grasp it.

[You must look beyond time to find the key to your inheritance William.] The voice continued taking no heed to William's plight.

Then it hit him, like a leviathan to a seaside city metropolis. He remembered this voice. This voice left his life when he was five, ten years ago. It was a voice he thought he’d never hear again.

“..Father?” William asked hesitantly into emptiness.

[Only with the key William can you unlock your destiny. Find the key William. Find the key..]

The voice faded as the empty blackness transitioned into bright light as William awoke to find himself in an infirmary bed. Glancing around he was in a sterile white room with bright lumen tube-lights along the ceiling, there was a door in front of him and a window to his left. It appeared that from the window he was a few floors up. Feeling a slight draft, he glanced down, William then realized he was in a gown. Looking around he found his clothes were stacked neatly on a side table near his bed. Steph probably brought those, that was nice of her. Raising a hand to his temple he no longer felt that throbbing pain from before. He went to rub the crust from his eyes and then slid his hand down his face, freezing in motion. Was that fuzz? Didn’t he just shave this morning? At that moment, the door to his infirmary room opened.

“Ah, Mr. Godwine, it seems that you have finally woken up. Julia, please inform the next of kin that our patient has woken from their coma.” A middle-aged cleric with greying hair entered William’s room, stopping at the foot of his bed to grab a data slate.

“C-Coma..? Wait.. how long was I unconscious for?!” William asked worriedly, a hint of hysteria creeping into his voice.

“Hmm..” The cleric’s brows knitted before looking up from his data slate. “You have been out for a week. We are still not sure how, but you managed to severely injure your mana conduits from over channeling, followed by moderate mana burnout. How is your head? Do you feel any throbbing, stabbing, or dizziness?”

“A week..? N-No my, my head is fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore, though at the beginning it felt like it was going to burst.” He answered shakily, taking in the fact that a whole week had just passed by in what felt like a few seconds for him. Thinking more about what the cleric just said he sharply looked up at the man. “Will I be able to channel mana still?” He asked, almost afraid of the answer he would hear.

“That is difficult to answer.. We managed to heal your physical body and mana conduits, but as for your mana channels and astral soul, well, we needed you conscious before we could put you in a cog-chamber.” He would answer, and began casting a few diagnostic spells over William, then entered their results into his data slate. “Try standing, if you are feeling hail enough we can get you into the cognisant chamber and run some diagnostics. Your headmaster also requested a copy of the diagnostic tests as your awakening test was deemed unreliable due to the circumstances.”

William sat up, pulling back the sheets, he turned his body and slung his legs over the bed, they were stiff as hell. That’s to be expected though, lying unmoving for a week is sure to do that. Standing up, he gently stretched out his stiff limbs and body before walking around the room a bit. “Yeah, I feel fine, just a bit stiff.”

The cleric nodded. “Yes, I can see that. Just the slight stiffness?” He queried, punching things into his data slate.

“Yup, just the stiffness, nothing else.” He replied assuredly, doing a few jumping jacks to show his point.

“Well then, let us get you off to the cog-chamber then, I am curious to see if there are any anomalies. I will give you a few minutes to get changed and gather your things. After the cognisant exam, you’ll be discharged.” With this, the cleric left the room, closing the door behind him.

William walked over to where his clothes were stacked, slipping off the hospital gown as he put on his tan pants and black white flannel shirt before slipping into his white vans. Picking up his message device he noticed it was indeed Friday the 28th, a week really did pass by like a fleeting breeze. Opening his inbox, he also saw a great deal of missed messages from family and friends that he’d need to reply to later. Sighing William put away his message device before turning around for the door and leaving the room.

Stepping out into a hallway William looked around for the cleric that was previously attending him but had no luck. He saw an administration desk at the end of the hallway with a busy nurse managing data slates and handing them out to various doctors that stopped by and other nurses. That’s probably the best place to start. With that in mind, William made his way over to the desk. At his arrival, the busy nurse looked up at him.

“Are you visiting? Visitors need to check-in at the front desk.” She quickly informed him.

“Um.. No, I’m a patient. I was told I needed to go for a cognisant exam?” William replied, glancing around the ward lobby for his cleric.

The nurse narrowed her eyes. “If you’re a patient why are you not in a gown? ”

“Well, my cleric said I’d be discharged after the examination and that I should get changed into my clothes.” William tried to explain in earnest.

“Right, and your cleric’s name?” The nurse asked, ready to check her files.

“He.. never specified.. exactly..” William spluttered out.

“What do you mean he never specified?”

“Well I just woke up from a coma and he never really introduced himself, and now I’m here.”

Sighing, the nurse shook her head. “Fine, just pass me your data slate then and I’ll check you in.”

“… He uh, took the data slate with him as well..”

“…”

“…”

“Name then. I’ll check the ward’s database.” The nurse said with a twitching eye.

“William Godwine.”

“Date of birth?”

“July 7, 1986.”

“One moment.” The nurse tapped away on a larger data terminal mounted to the desk, scrolling a bit she tapped a file before skimming through it. “Ah. That makes sense if it’s him..” She rolled her eyes seeing the stationed doctor. Picking up a message device, she tapped on the cleric’s glyph.

“Dr. Cromwell your patient is ready for their CE, they’re currently at the ward administration desk.”

“Ah wonderful, thank you Stacy. I will send Julia over to get him, I’m just setting up the cog-chamber right now.”

“Alright, then doctor I’ll inform the patient. Oh, and doctor?”

“Yes Stacy?”

“Try not to run off with the patient’s data slates, we need those for filing.”

“Oh, did I do that again? Haha, my bad.” Click The nurse stared at the message device for a moment with an exasperated look before shaking it off and looking back to William.

“A nurse will be arriving shortly to direct you to the examination room.” She informed him before diving back into her pile of data slates.

“Ah, thank you.” William replied, putting his hands in his pockets and wandering off to find a seat. His left hand brushed up against something as he slipped it in, pulling it out he found a paper note.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Will,

You better heal up really quick so I can kill you good and proper for worrying mum and I so much.

Xoxo

Steph~”

William sighed, it seems he was owed a drowning and a killing at this point. Steph better had learned necromancy otherwise she’s going to have a tough time. Stowing the note away he looked around, spotting a nurse approaching him from an adjacent hallway.

“Mr. Godwine? I’m nurse Julia, please follow me, Dr. Cromwell is waiting.” Just as quickly as she arrived Julia spun on her heel and started back down the hallway she just came from. William quickly followed her as they briskly walked along the hallway towards the exam room.

They arrived shortly at a set of double swing doors, above a large placard read, COGNISANT CHAMBERS, nurse Julia pushed them open, walking in with William in toe. The two entered an anti-chamber area with a few chairs against one of the walls. There was a door leading to what looked like an operations office, and three doors leading to cognisant chambers. William stood awkwardly waiting, unsure whether to sit or not as nurse Julia walked into the operations office. After a few minutes, the cleric from earlier walked out, who William now knew was Dr. Cromwell.

“I hope you didn’t wait too long Mr. Godwine, are you ready to proceed with the diagnostics?”

“Yes doctor, I’m ready.” William replied while nodding. Well, as ready as he’d ever be.

“Wonderful, I’ll be joining you in the chamber while Julia monitors us, are you comfortable with that?”

“I don’t mind sir.” William assured the man. I mean he was a medical professional after all.

“Great, well then let us get in then.” With that, Dr. Cromwell walked up to chamber three, opened the door, and went in. William followed suit, walking into the cognisant chamber, inside it was all white. Just white smooth panels. As William stood there gawking at the chamber Dr. Cromwell closed the door behind him.

“All right Julia, activate the chamber.” Dr. Cromwell called out before closing his eyes.

[Understood doctor, now activating the cognisant chamber.]

“Wait wh-” William’s query was cut short as they fell into darkness. It was like the dream all over again, just an empty desolate void of absolute nothingness. He felt a bit dizzy from the sudden transition, it was quite jarring.

“Over here Mr. Godwine.” Dr. Cromwell’s voice rang out from behind him. Turning around William saw him; well, it was more like an ethereal silhouette of a body. Within that body, swirled bright white energy, spreading outwards from an epicenter.

“Now then William, as a cleric I am attuned with the positive plane. This swirling mass here is positive mana, and the epicenter there where it’s pouring out is my elemental gate linking my astral soul to the positive plane.” Dr. Cromwell said while gesturing an ethereal limb towards his chest. “Now around you somewhere you should also see a bright glowing sigil for which school of magic you’ve awakened into. Only you can see this, just as you cannot see mine. Though, that being said, Julia can see both while in the operations room as the cognisant chamber records the diagnostics. Now then, take a look for yourself.” The cleric folded his ethereal limbs as he waited.

William looked around in search of these sigils, yet he could not see any. The fuck? They’re supposed to be here right? Swiveling his head, he looked all around and then he caught a glimmer in the corner of his eye. Cocking his neck so that he could over his shoulder he saw.. sigils. Ten sigils, slowly rotating in a large circle behind him, centered on his back. It was about a meter in diameter with all the sigils a dull grey except for four. One was what looked like the glyph for enchantment, the other was transmutation if he remembered correctly. These two were glowing brightly, the third was conjuration he thought, though it was only glowing oh so slightly, like a small candle flickering in the wind. The fourth was something William didn’t recognize, and it was glowing in weird dark energy with motes of purple and gold rising from it. There was nothing about this in the primers, this is weird. Though a bit weirded out, he was elated. Finally, he could begin his path as a legendary enchanter! That transmutation was just an added boon as well; why, enchantment and transmutation went hand in hand, like bread and butter.

“Well? What did you get? It should be glowing exceptionally bright.” Dr. Cromwell asked, snapping William from his stunned observations.

“Bright? Well, I have two that are shining brightly, doctor.” William replied, still filled with wonder over the unfamiliar glyph.

“Two?! Well, you truly are lucky. A prime mage and two schools of magic right off the bat.” He would exclaim, shaking his ethereal head. “Well, which ones?” He prompted William to answer,

“Enchantment and Transmutation sir, and what do you mean by a prime mage?” William asked, looking back towards the cleric. He remembered his friend Alex had awoken into one as well during the PMAE. That doesn’t make sense though, there’s only supposed to be a few every generation as they’re so rare.

“Well congratulations Mr. Godwine, that is quite the combination there. Expensive to train in mind you, but quite a good combination.” Dr. Cromwell said while nodding in approval. “As for being a prime mage, simply look down at your elemental gate.” Replying, Dr. Cromwell gestured with his ethereal limb at his chest once more. “Just like mine, your astral body is filled with mana, swirling out from your elemental gate.”

William nodded, then looked down through his ethereal chest, his breath catching in shock from what he saw. There was a latticework of interconnecting spheres, each sphere housing a dark gate-like mandala. It looked like a crystalline structure almost, and in the very center was a bright olive-green sphere with a wide-open gate. This center most sphere was connected only to four other spheres in the middle of the latticework. Looking closely, he saw the glyphs for earth, water, fire, and air at the center of each sphere’s gate respectfully. The latticework connecting to these four spheres from the center most prime gate glowed that same olive-green, whereas the spheres themselves glowed softly in their own colours, though their gates were still closed. This again was quite different from Dr. Cromwell’s astral soul, though he had not mentioned this to William, maybe he only saw the open gates.

“Doctor you can see my prime elemental gate right, and this swirling primal mana?” William asked hesitantly.

“Indeed, I can. Just as you can see mine.” Dr. Cromwell confirmed. “Do not worry, your astral soul looks fine, you should be able to channel mana without worry.”

“Ah good, and you don’t see anything else? Just the gate and mana?” William asked, testing his theory.

“Yes, only the gate Mr. Godwine. I assure you there was no damage sustained to your astral soul or mana channels, everything looks nominal.” The doctor replied. “Julia, have you finished the diagnostics?”

[Yes Dr. Cromwell. The diagnostics are complete, are you ready to leave?]

“Yes, we are all done here, you may deactivate the cog-chamber now.” He then closed his eyes once more in preparation.

[Understood doctor, now deactivating the cognisant chamber.]

“Hey, wait a min-” Again, William’s plea was cut short as the black empty void of space around them instantly transitioned into a sterile white paneled super bright room, blinding William in the process. He fought off the disorientation once more, shaking off the dizziness, and allowing his eyes to readjust to the room. It seems his theory was right, only he could the latticework of yet opened gates. What could this mean? Did it have something to with the dream he had while unconscious?

“It helps to close your eyes before the transition, it negates a lot of the disorientation.” Dr. Cromwell commented before opening the door and exiting the cognisant chamber.

Well thanks doctor hindsight, really could have used that earlier. William shook his head. “Thank you, doctor. I’ll be sure to remember that for the future.” Best to be diplomatic, he thought.

“Well then let us get those test results, shall we? Julia!” The cleric walked off towards the operations office. William followed him, wondering if the weird things he saw would show up on the test or not. Entering the office Julia handed a data slate over to Dr. Cromwell, after receiving it he scrolled through its contents nodding to himself with a grin. before passing it to William.

“Julia be sure to forward the results to Headmaster Campbell. Oh, and prepare the discharge papers for Mr. Godwine as well as a copy of the test results.” The cleric instructed before briskly leaving the office and exiting into the hallway with a bemused expression.

“Understood Dr. Crom-” Julia stopped mid-sentence, realizing she was now talking to air as the slippery cleric was quick to retreat. Sighing, she instead busied herself with the paperwork.

Meanwhile, William stared at the data slate that was handed to him, a large smile blooming on his face.

[Vancouver General Hospital      ]

[Patient:    Godwine, William J.  ]

[DOB:     1986-07-07       ]

[Examination:  Cognisant ]

[Date: 2001-09-28 ]

[Results: -----------------------------------------]

[Element: Prime (4.03) ]

[SoM: Enchantment (2.98) ]

[ Transmutation (1.7) ]

[ Unknown (Undefined) ]

[----------------------------------------------------]

For his elements, it seemed the dull gates didn’t show up on his report. As for his schools of magic, conjuration didn’t show up on the report even though it was glowing slightly. He probably needed to raise his affinity with it more before it even registered, though how he’d do that exactly was beyond him at the moment. Just like the elemental gates, none of the dull sigils showed up either, and the one weird sigil that was glowing eerily was apparently at tier nine. That’s insane, but how was he even supposed to use it if he didn’t know what it was? It wasn’t even in the hospital’s database since it came up as unknown too, why hadn’t the cleric said anything?

“Mr. Godwine your discharge papers are ready, just sign here, and here please. You can use this envelope after to store it, a copy of your results are already inside.” The voice of nurse Julia stirred William from his thoughts as he was handed his discharge papers.

“Thank you mam, um where should I put this data slate?” William spoke while still holding the data slate the cleric left him before dashing out.

“Ah, I’ll take that, here I’ll trade you for a pen since you’ll probably need that to sign.” The nurse said with a smile, taking the data slate from William and offering him a pen in exchange.

“Ah, thank you.” William replied before signing the documents where shown and passing back the pen and attached copy.

“Well, you are free to go Mr. Godwine, your family is probably waiting for you in the visitor’s area.” The nurse said before storing her copy of the documents.

“Oh. I probably shouldn’t have signed those discharge papers then, after my sister sees me I may need to stay here longer.” William half-jokingly said before leaving the office and making his way to the visitor’s lobby. Well if he was to be drowned at least he was in a hospital already.

----------------------------------------

“Didn’t you say he’d be here by now?” An annoyed teenage voice rang out at the visitor’s reception desk as a young woman with chest-length golden locks that hung down over her shoulders antagonized the poor receptionist. Her ocean-blue eyes staring daggers and her milky pale face now wrinkled in frustration.

“Stephanie, that isn’t proper, behave yourself.” The calm voice of a woman rang out as she berated her daughter. Almost the spitting image of her child, but her hair was done in a bun while her bangs hung loose, and she was a bit taller. Her daughter stood at 155cm while she was 165cm. “I’m sure William will be here soon, there’s no need to pester the receptionist.” She gave the receptionist an apologetic look before smacking her daughter lightly on the head.

“Hey! Ow, okay.. Jez mum I get it.” Stephanie rubbed her head and backed off, the receptionist letting out a sigh of relief.

“Hmph.” Her mother let out a little snort, when would this kid learn, she was already seventeen. “Oh look, here he comes now. Oh, and do not even THINK about casting a spell here young lady.” She warned before breaking out into a smile as her son approached.

Turning the corner of a hallway leading to the reception area, William was greeted with a scene of his mother smacking his sister on the head and delivering what he assumed was a small lecture. He smiled to himself at his sister’s chagrin, shaking his head. He was soon greeted by his smiling mother and disgruntled sister, embracing them both.

“Sorry for worrying you both.” William apologized, squeezing his loved ones tightly.

“That’s alright dear, it’s a mother’s job to worry, just try not to give me extra work. I’m just glad you are okay.” His mother replied affectionately while stroking his back. “Did the clerics say if you’re able to channel dear?” She hesitantly.

Pulling away William looked at his mother with an excited grin. “Yeah they said I should be fine, even better I'm a prime mage like Alex!” He declared with bravado.

“A prime mage?!” His mother blinked a few times before bursting into a huge smile. “Oh, that’s wonderful dear! I’m so proud of you! Did you hear that Stephanie? Your brother is a prime mage!”

“Hmph. Why couldn’t you have been a water mage like mum and I Will? Well, I suppose we won’t run out of wood for the fireplace now.” Stephanie said teasingly, then stuck out her tongue. Prompting another head smacking.

“Well I’m not too sure about unlimited firewood Steph, I didn’t awaken in conjuration.” William shot back with a cheesy grin.

“Oh? What did you get then dear? Was it enchantment? I know you were studying so hard for it.” His mother asked with curiosity.

“I bet it was evocation like his awesome big sis.” Stephanie pitched in her two sense.

“Nope, mum was right. I got enchantment and transmutation.” William replied with a wide grin. “You sure you’re not an air mage Steph?” William teased.

“What’s that supposed to mean, you saying my head’s empty? You little sh-” Stephanie’s choice words were cut short by her mother’s sudden outburst.

“TWO SCHOOLS?!” William’s mother was quite flustered. “Two schools and a prime mage?! We definitely have to celebrate tonight. Oh, we should invite Alex too! Why don’t you message him dear.”

“Alright mum, I’ll let him know.” William replied excitedly.

“Why do we need that muscle head over for dinner.” Stephanie grumbled.

“Hmph. Well, when you get two schools of magic you can certainly have your friends over for dinner Stephanie.” Her mother quipped back with a teasing smile. “Well then, let's head home shall we?”

With that, the Godwines left the VGH reception area and navigated through the parking lot. Arriving at their car they hopped into their black sedan, the mana engines roaring to life as they motored home.