“You’re late.” A silky voice echoed through a barred window.

Wayne hadn’t even made it down the hallway before the large Draconian man started talking to him.

“I’m sorry, you aren’t exactly in the most easily accessible spot in Light’s Reach.” Wayne replied back to Klaw.

He had finally managed to navigate his way through the maze of corridors, but only after getting lost multiple times in transit. Frankly, Wayne was annoyed.

“If you do not respect my time, I take it to mean you do not respect my council?” Klaw asked, low and dangerous.

Wayne wanted to respond, but he stopped and forced himself to take a breath. Then another. Only then, did he answer the Draconian.

“I apologize for that, it is no excuse but I have had a very long week, and today was the busiest day of them all. Enough so that I almost forgot about this meeting, and didn’t leave myself enough time to make my way back here. It won’t happen again.”

Silence was his answer for quite some time. Wayne couldn’t see his potential mentor at this angle through the bars of the small window on the steel door, just chains leading into the shadows. It was unnerving, how someone so big could be so silent even when shackled.

Finally, a response came from the dark recesses of the cell.

“Tell me about your arrival here, Wayne.”

Wayne wasn’t sure what purpose that would serve, but he still gave him a brief rundown of this week's events, and his journey to Light’s Reach. Relationships were give and take, after all. But when Wayne described what had felt like a lifetime’s worth of wonders were quickly deemed uninteresting, and conversations that he could only half remember were seemingly all the other man cared about.

“I don’t remember the exact wording he used then. I had just come out from my Awakening, and I was still dealing with the fact I was Mortal.”

“Try harder Human. Remember better.”

“That’s… not how that works. How about this? I’ll promise to try to pay closer attention to what words people are using in the future. For now, I need you to teach me how to improve my shaping as fast as possible.”

A reptilian eye peaked into the window, almost startling Wayne. He managed to keep his cool, but it was a close thing.

“Mmm, I suppose such a promise could be agreeable. Otherwise, you will surely die during the Assessment out in the Wildes. You are quite foolish for choosing to go there knowingly.”

“Isn’t that the truth…” Wayne muttered under his breath.

“Mhm.” Klaw almost purred. “Well, then I have no choice. I will make sure you know enough to survive in the tiered jungles, so that you can at least make it to the Rift. What you do from there will be up to your skills and stomach.”

Wayne nodded. This was his last hope.

“Take my hand, young Human.” The scaled man said as he extended his large hand through the bars.

Wayne glanced momentarily at the long talons stretching out past the Draconian fingertips before reaching out with his own much smaller hand. Klaw’s scales were surprisingly cold to the touch, and Wayne instinctively recoiled slightly but the other man caught his hand.

“Remain calm. Enter your Form Space, and do not lose your center regardless of what may happen.”

Listening to the instruction, Wayne visualized his Shaping Space and let the hazy blue rimmed circle fill his mind. It felt easier than ever, and a small notification filled the top left of Wayne’s vision.

Luminos welcomes your subservience, and graces you with his power.

Statistics:-

+1 Spirit

That felt like a good omen to Wayne, so he did his best to tune out the outside world and focus inward. Wayne was very focused, but that didn’t mean he was prepared for when something suddenly appeared inside of his Shaping Space that he didn’t visualize. Wayne only saw a small sphere before the shock sent him spiraling from his Space.

“Aaughh!”

“I thought I told you to remain calm.” Klaw stated unamused.

Wayne looked the Draconian man in the eye. “I’m sorry, it’s just- What was that?”

“A way to speed your learning along. Most Humans are not taught about it, although there are always reasons for those sorts of things. I will be passing Shapings from my Space to yours.”

“Whaaaaat. That’s a thing?!” Wayne exclaimed incredulously.

“Yes, it is ‘a thing’. Now, we will do it again.” The Draconian said.

Nodding, Wayne once again mentally staged his Shaping Space and prepared himself for what Klaw was giving him. This time, when the object suddenly phased into being he wasn’t thrown off and held his Space steady.

“Now support the Shaping.” Klaw instructed.

Wayne mentally reached out across the circle and grasped it. Instantly, he could tell what before he had only briefly seen as a small sphere was in fact, an eyeball. Actually, looking closer it was a distinctly Draconian eyeball, but with Wayne’s own cold blue iris. Wayne, being careful to maintain the Shaping, opened his eyes.

“Is this… mine?” He asked.

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

Klaw chuckled and let go of his hand.

“It is now. That Form is called the Dragon’s Eye, and is one of the Draconian birthrights. It lets the user see large concentrations of mana around them, like Monsters or Rifts you may encounter during the Assessment. It will make navigating the densest parts of the Wildes possible for you. Now use it.”

“I don’t know how to.” Wayne said.

The Draconian prisoner gave Wayne a sad look at that, then explained the process.

“Wayne, to use a Form, you must envision a separate bubble around the Form often called a Form Space, and then try and mentally overlay the Shaping with its counterpart on your real body. Try to do so.” Klaw intoned.

Wayne tried to follow his instructions, but it wasn't working completely. The eye was now surrounded by a smaller blue bubble in his Shaping Space, the creation of the Form Space having removed the need to actively sustain the Shaping.

The issue seemed to be with the second step of the process, where Wayne apparently wasn’t aligning his mental ‘eye’ with his real one. After a long minute in which Wayne grew progressively more aware of the other man’s hand, he eventually opened his eyes and looked at Klaw again.

“Maybe I should go back and practice this in my room. Tomorrow is a big-”

“You finish what you start. Complete the task, do not give up.” Klaw hissed at him, not letting go.

Closing his eyes again, Wayne thought back to Jaemeson’s words from earlier in the day, about how giving up forms habits, and grew determined to do better. Focusing again on the Form Space, tried to visualize the Shaping overlapping his own eye.

“Human, open your eyes.” The Draconian commanded.

Reacting, Wayne opened his eyes to a world awash with soft colors.

“Woahhh…” Wayne softly exclaimed.

It was hard not to watch the stones of the corridor, now each had their own internal light, creating a strange backdrop. However, it was clear that the real artistry here was the steel door that Klaw was locked behind.

The small Runes carved into its perimeter shone with a brilliance that was hard to look directly at. Wayne still did it, mesmerized by the pearlescent swirls of color he could now see in what had been nothing but an impressive door moments ago.

“It is quite a pretty prison, is it not?” Klaw asked dryly.

“I, ah…” Wayne stammered.

Only then, did he realize that he strangely couldn’t see any light coming from the Draconian’s hand, before finally dropped it. And, Wayne realized one other thing.

“Was it not working because I had my eyes closed before?” Wayne asked, hoping he was wrong.

“Yes. It was humorous to see you almost accept failure because of such a thing.”

“As I said earlier, it’s been a long week.” Wayne said sheepishly.

“It is alright, young Human. You have acclimated to the Form, and should have no problems Shaping it yourself at this point. Get your rest, be prepared for the challenges you will face from tomorrow onwards.” His mentor said, already slinking back into the deep shadows.

Wayne himself quickly slunk back to his quarters, ghosting through the corridors of the keep. It was another day of action, and another night where Wayne fell asleep almost as soon as he made contact with his mattress.

* * * * *

The next morning, Wayne jerked awake already looking around for what was coming next. It was a long moment before it was still well before dawn, and before he would need to head out into the Wildes with a group of strangers.

He had time, but Wayne felt like he couldn’t sleep. Instead, he rolled out of his amazingly comfortable bed and slowly moved to his feet. The soreness spread across everywhere in waves, even though yesterday hadn’t been the most physically taxing.

His destination decided for him, Wayne made his way to the place he knew he could find some relief, and hopefully wake up in peace. Moving through the halls in the dead of night, Wayne made his way to the healing pools.

Stumbling through the ornate dressing room he unclothed and dipped himself into the warm waters. A sigh echoed through the mist. It wasn’t Wayne’s.

Lord Johnathan Heirdt sat in a pool farther to the back of the room, before rising to his feet and abdicating now that he had Wayne’s attention.

“Hello there. I was simply enjoying one last luxury before our upcoming assessment, but I will leave it to you.”

Then, as the other boy walked past him, he added one more line.

“I’ll be seeing you, Wayne Clive Aouris.”

Shaking his head as Johnathan left the room, Wayne tried to dispel the anxiety brewing in his Wayne enjoyed the last moments of relaxation he would get for quite some time.

* * * * *

Several bells later, Wayne found himself leaving the western side of the keep and walking the streets of Light’s Reach. Once again it was strange to walk outside and still find himself under a ceiling, but the Light Runes above were more than capable of perfectly lighting his path and revealing the city below.

Which was why Wayne noticed when the crowds walking the streets started to thin, becoming increasingly glum and destitute. What were happy streets with children playing games quickly transitioned corners with beggars and scantily clad women. There wasn’t any open threat of violence because of the proximity of the Legion, but the undercurrent was there.

Although so far he had been accosted due to his white Legionnaire uniform, Wayne knew about these parts of town and had no desire to spend more time here than he had to. Hustling through, he quickly came to the western gate of Light’s reach.

There, two Legionnaires stopped him.

“Are you with the 1st Century’s Assessment?”

Only when Wayne nodded and told them his role in the event, did they let him through, and even then they gave him another warning about the dangers of the Wastes.

“Beware the wastes, Hastas. We’re due for a good cleansing soon, so in the meantime the surroundings are as untamed as they’ll ever be.” One of the guards said.

Wayne thanked them for the warning. As the gate opened, Wayne could already hear the hum of the Wildes from here. Continued out the gate, Wayne saw what looked like his Century a few minutes away in the clearing around the city. Walking the small distance over to the group, Wayne quickly found his friends and saddled up to them.

“Good morning guys.”

“Good morning, Wayne.” Makelian replied.

“Hey.” Yvonne added.

Ivan grunted his own grumpy greeting. The twins were clearly unhappy to be awake this early, while Makelian appeared exactly the same as he always did, unnatural smile included. Wayne looked around a bit more, and saw that almost the entire Century was here, and he was one of the last to arrive.

Amelia and Jayna were together again, with Avery chatting alongside the other Affinity prodigies of Water and Stone, Brent and Marilyn. Cleft was casting angry glances his way now that Wayne had arrived, while whispering animatedly with August and another boy. Behind them, Johnathan stood perfectly still with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

Jaemeson was at the front of the grouping, standing between them and the Wildes along with Praetor Julia and a few Legionnaires Wayne didn’t know. The man was stewing over a warm cup of joe, the potent scent distinct enough to place as if wafted even in the soft wind.

After a couple minutes and a couple of people arriving, the Praetor quickly downed the rest of his coffee and got the attention of the group.

“First Century, at attention!” Jaemeson ordered.

At his words, everyone snapped into a salute that Wayne had only heard about before. He quickly copied the motion, and thankfully no one called him out on his half a second delay.

“Alright Hastas, you know the meaning of today’s Assessment. Succeed, and you graduate to Grand Hastas. The first rank we allow into active duty, although your Century will of course be accelerated towards Princep over the following half a calendar.”

Jaemeson cast a glance around the collected group.

“This will be the first real obstacle many of you have faced up until this point. Even those of you who attended the Academy will not have been put through a test like this. Because there is one thing that will always be present in Legion Assessments that you won’t find elsewhere in the Empire.”

“That is life threatening danger. You will go out there, and you may die over the course of the next few days. And that’s the reason the rest of the Empire will never know danger, never have to fear for their lives. Because you volunteered to take that risk for them, to take that risk for your country.”

“So before you take that risk for the first time, and while I have all of you here for what may be the last time, I wanted to say something to all of you. Regardless of your background, or the path you took to reach this point, I’m proud of you. There are others out there that could be standing among you today, but aren’t. Not because they aren’t capable, but because they don’t have the extra fire in their gut that separates Legionnaire’s from the rest. I wish you all luck.”

Then, he cleared his throat before continuing.

“Now that I’ve said that, let me announce the groups for the Assessment.”

A small buzz rose at his words.

“First Cohort is; Johnathan Heirdt, August Banchera, Homer Urlondst, Jayna Ward and… Wayne Aouris.” Jaemeson finished out the first group.

Feeling something was off, Wayne’s first thought was the noble scion he had seen earlier that morning. When he twisted his neck, he found Johnathan staring directly at him, arms still crossed and a slight smirk on his face.

Politics and a deadly journey into the Monster infested wilderness. Just perfect. Wayne thought dryly.