Vertas yawned as he stretched. The sun shone bright, making him squint as he drowsily went through the motions of his morning routine.
He took a shower, had some breakfast, and spent the rest of the early morning hours doing some light exercises: jogging, push ups, and sit ups. He saw some other kids doing the same as him, with a single minded drive.
Tia called it sad that they were even doing it in the first place. He thought it was commendable.
The morning went by without much issue. It had been like this for two years, at this point. He was fourteen years old, and he wanted to believe he was at peak physical form, even if looking at the other boys that were exercising with him discouraged him so.
His black hair was combed to the side of his head, because he thought it looked cool. He wore a simple blue shirt that didn’t do much to hide his developing muscles, and some simple shorts.
He sighed as he rested underneath a tree, leaning on its trunk and hiding under its shade. He watched the other kids mingle in their small groups and saw curious adults observing them from the outside of their little backyard. He knew that some of the kids here were going to be adopted soon, but he also knew that he wasn’t going to be one of them.
He and Tia were not the first to come to this orphanage due to a destroyed city. That type of event happened many times over the course of a decade; due to either a massive monster that just so decided the city looked too nice, or due to a skirmish from one of the nation’s enemies.
Even Vertas’s drive to get stronger wasn’t anything new to this orphanage. There were many kids with similar drive to get stronger; for revenge, or for some other noble reason that they won’t share. The matrons actively encourage this behavior, and it shows with the training equipment they gift to the more outstanding kids.
The most promising candidates are taken by some important looking men, and he would never see them again.
He knew that they were just being recruited into a school that would teach them magic, but he couldn’t help but think about the weird rumors that were floating around, like the theory that the men were actually secret government agents meant to induct the promising into a super soldier program.
He shared this with Tia, and she told him he was being dumb. “Where did you hear about that? They just invite us to a really good school for magic. It’s not that deep, Vertas.”
It’s probably the truth, but compared to what the rumors said, they weren’t as cool, so he just kept hoping that maybe it was some government conspiracy.
While he was entertaining these odd thoughts, he didn’t fail to notice that the exercising kids had stopped what they were doing. He saw them look beyond the wooden fence and look at a pair of men and a woman in black two piece suits. They had gotten off a really sketchy white van that had no markers and were now heading inside the orphanage proper.
Some kids stopped exercising and excitedly headed inside the building. Others stayed to keep working out. Vertas was of the former, as he was really curious as to who would go with them this time.
And, if he was being honest with himself, he was curious about where he himself stood.
He walked through the doorway and turned a corner to go into the orphanage’s lobby, spotting a lot of his fellow orphans already crowding around the two men and chatting to each other excitedly. The two men looked very uncomfortable, as if they were out of their element, as they setup their small machines on top of a table.
“Hey, quiet down!” One of the matrons scolded the kids around the men. The crowd quieted down a bit, resorting to whispering to each other instead of talking full volume.
“Hey, do you think they’re gonna invite me next?” he heard a girl whisper excitedly to her friends.
“I’m definitely going to get an invite,” he heard a boy confidently say to his followers.
“Vertas?” He glanced behind him and smiled broadly.
“Hey, Tia,” he whispered, “They’re here!”
“Wow, I couldn’t have guessed,” she teased him, smiling. “Still thinking about those wacky theories of yours?”
“It’s way more exciting than just being invited to some sort of school,” he stuck his tongue out. “I’ve already had enough of that from here,” The matrons had been teaching all the kids in the orphanage some basic knowledge, like math, simple science, and some history, since even before Vertas and Tia arrived. He didn’t mean anything malicious from it, but he found sitting in front of a teacher explaining some stuff he couldn’t care less about to be incredibly boring.
Tia tilted her head. “I don’t know, I think it would be pretty fun,” she smiled. “I heard from the matrons that they come from a really good school.”
“It’s still a school, though,” Vertas pointed out. “Honestly, they look very sketchy, so I’m thinking my theories are right.”
“Even though they aren’t,” Tia rolled her eyes. “Just because they look sketchy doesn’t mean they are. They probably made those vans in their school. They don’t need to get it marked for that.”
“Well, yeah, but…” He smirked. “That’s boring.”
Tia just slapped the side of his arm, making him laugh a bit before the men finally started to talk.
“Alright,” One of the men said. “Line up, kiddies. You should know what to do right now, and if you don’t, just ask your seniors.”
His partner elbowed him and hissed something to him. Vertas couldn’t hear it all the way from the back, but he reckoned it had something to do with actually explaining what to do.
He sighed loudly as he rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. These things here,” he pointed to an orb connected to a tablet in front of them. “They measure your mana as long as you can connect to it. Should be easy enough for most of you. Then, you have to go to the backyard, I think, and meet another colleague of mine for the physical exam. If you need any more help, ask my friend here. Now, line up and hurry the pace, I ain’t got all day.”
His friend simply sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, please line up properly so we don’t get swarmed.”
Everyone lined up obediently. Vertas, in particular, was a bit excited, as this would be the first time he would be able to do this. He couldn’t do it before as he wasn’t of age, but the moment he saw this happen, he knew that this was an opportunity he couldn’t just pass up.
This was the main reason he trained. However, despite the fact that he trained almost 2 years for this, he felt lacking. He glanced behind him and saw Tia talking to her friends-- a blonde boy he recognized as Hamilton, and a brown haired girl he knew as Ya-- about what he thought to be about the test.
Tia was what anyone on the orphanage would consider to be a prodigy. She had unrivaled control over her mana, able to effortlessly externalize it and do some basic magic, like lighting a small candle or speeding up a flower’s growth. She also beat him in the physical department, already able to make her mana flow to her muscles and enhance them somehow.
He tried to emulate the things she does, but to no avail. Every time he tried to light a candle, it just melted and did nothing. Every time he tried to grow a flower, it just wilted and died. He made mana flow to his muscles, but nothing showed for it.
It was awfully frustrating for Vertas. It made him feel as if he wouldn’t be needed anymore. As people had assumed they were siblings due to their similar looks, some of the meaner kids took this as Vertas being ‘the inferior twin’. When he had tried to defend himself, Tia herself came and berated his bullies.
It was both relieving and frustrating. Relieving, as Tia saw him as he saw her, a sibling. Frustrating, because he was saved by the person he swore to protect. Shouldn’t he be the one protecting her instead of the other way around? He didn’t say this however, and only smiled and thanked Tia when she turned around to ask him if he was okay.
He promised to himself that he would be stronger. That he would be better. He threw himself into training, but despite his fervor, he saw a lot of people getting stronger than him faster, despite the fact that he had been training alongside them for as well. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong. His body was growing fine, his mana reserves were okay, but why was his magic messed up? What was he doing wrong?
These insecurities, however, should be put aside, he thought. This test would determine if his training paid off. His skills could come at another time. For now, his foundation will be the one that decides whether he would be able to start training in this magic school early, or if he would be starting late.
The line moved forward. He grew more and more nervous as each person in front of him either passed or failed. He felt Tia’s hand on his shoulder, and he heard her whispering that it was going to be fine. It didn’t really reassure him, since it was coming from her. He knew that was just his envy talking, but how could he help it?
“Yeah,” He replied, his nervousness not at all reduced. “I’m fine.”
Tia retracted her hand and frowned, noticing that what she said didn’t help him at all. He heard her friends just whisper things to her, and he heard her whisper back. Whatever they were talking about, he just hoped it wouldn’t be something bad about him.
He finally got to the front of the line, and the proctor simply looked at him and nodded, gesturing towards the orb. Vertas touched the orb, sending his mana towards it, then--
It shone white, like a light bulb. The man hummed and then nodded. “Alright,” he said. “You passed on the mana front. Now, fu-- shoo, get to the back. I have a bunch more kids to attend to.”
Vertas nodded and, with great relief, turned and headed towards the backyard. He saw Tia mouth ‘I told you so!’ to him, and he just smiled at her, trying to hide his weariness. He didn’t know if it worked, as he had quickly looked away to look for the person he was supposed to be tested by.
He didn’t have to look far, considering the backyard wasn’t that far anyway, but it surprised him to see it changed so quickly, considering he was probably only watching the proctors set up for 2 minutes and waited in line for a good 10 minutes, but this was the power of the application of mana, he supposed.
Within the span of the 12 minutes, probably even less considering people were already heading here before he even was, the backyard had a pseudo obstacle course made out of rock. He didn’t mean that it was like a few pebbles stacked on top of each other-- but rocks jutting out of the ground in unnatural ways type of obstacles.
A section of the fence surrounding the yard had been removed to make space for a circular running track. The track had stone hurdles jutting out of it to act as basic obstacles, and some small pitfalls. He also saw some kids sitting on the grass to its sides, mostly some boys watching girls run around, which he personally thought as kind of weird, though he didn’t voice it.
He found the proctor, a woman wearing the same kind of suit as the men before. She was tapping something on her tablet, presumably recording the results of the passers. Vertas headed over to her to ask what he needed to do.
“Hm?” Her eyes flicked over to him. “Oh. Well, run three laps and come back to me. Don’t worry if I’m not watching, as long as you run three the data will update,” she tapped at her tablet. “Start over there,” she pointed towards a particularly long pillar of rock. “That’s where the sensor is. It shouldn’t be too bad, it’s more an endurance test than it is for speed, so just pace yourself and you’ll be fine.”
Vertas nodded and headed for the start of the track. A few people he recognized passed him, but they all paid him no heed and kept jogging. Vertas started to--
He heard people scream inside the orphanage, and his eyes whipped towards it. He saw the other people with him stop running and glance towards the building, obviously curious. The woman who had been proctoring them had stopped tapping on her tablet and looked at the building suspiciously.
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The woman was about to head inside the building when she looked into her tablet again and raised a brow. Vertas was about to ask what was going on until she answered the unasked question hanging in the air.
“Don’t worry about it. Just an equipment malfunction,” the other kids seemed to have been satisfied with the answer and gone back to their previous activities. Vertas was curious, however, why would their equipment malfunction now, of all times, when it didn’t during the previous years? As he ran the laps required for the test, he saw Tia coming out of the building with her two friends chatting with her excitedly.
He saw her be approached by the woman, and saw her friends moving to the track without her, but failed to see more as he couldn’t turn his head anymore.
By the time he finished his last lap, he was a little winded and breathing deeply. He walked to the instructor, sneaking a look at the track to see where Tia was while he was at it.
Since he didn’t pass her, he didn’t expect her to be at her second lap. So, he looked at the middle of the track. There she was, with her two friends, face blank as she ran the lap. That expression, or rather, the lack of it, bothered him.
The last time she had an expression like that, it was during their escape from their home city, Biura. When they got past the city’s walls, he didn’t tell her, but her face was completely blank. When they got rescued and people were trying to comfort them, she didn’t react at all.
He didn’t want that. Even during then, even if he was as dense as steel, he knew that people shouldn’t be like that. So he tried his hardest to make her emote during their time in this new orphanage. He tried to make her smile, make her angry, make her annoyed. It worked, somewhat, and she made some good friends that did what he wanted to do better than he could hope.
He might have been envious before, but he convinced himself he shouldn’t be. Why should he be annoyed that her friends are good for her? Isn’t her showing more emotion good regardless of who does it? There’s no reason for him to be jealous.
But even with those friends of hers by her side, her face was blank. He saw them trying to talk to her, to start any conversation, but they were brushed off. He was worried, and the last person she talked to was the instructor. Maybe she knew what happened?
So, when he got to her, he decided to try and ask her what happened. The woman saw him coming and was already instructing him about what to do.
“Vertas Nil, right?” She started. He stood a few feet away from her and nodded. He waited a bit more, before he realized the woman probably didn’t see him nod his head, as she was looking at her tablet.
“Um, yeah,” He answered awkwardly. His full legal name was Vertas Nil, though he didn’t know why that had to be mentioned now. Nil was probably not his last birth name, but it was the last name given to all orphans, presumably to make things easier for administration. “What’s up?”
She stopped looking at her tablet and studied him. He leaned back a bit as she got closer, frowning as he did so. “Woah, lady, back off.”
“Mmm,” She hummed noncommittally. “You don’t look all that impressive.”
“Uh,” He frowned. “What’s this about?”
She backed off and tapped at her tablet. He watched as she tapped as quickly as she could with only one hand, completely uncaring about what he was thinking.
“Hey,” he tried to put more force in his voice. “Lady, what was that about?”
She glanced at him. “It was just a test,” she replied with a bored tone. “Your mana is standard, and so is your physical ability. I don’t know what that girl thinks you have, but you don’t have it right now.”
“That girl..?” He tilted his head, before he realized who she meant. “You mean Tia?”
“Mhm,” She nodded. “She overloaded the mana sensor, you know? A massive amount of mana, even for adults. Good magical potential, and if I’m seeing this right,” she glanced at the track, more specifically, at Tia, who was on reaching her second lap at this point. “Good physical potential too.”
“How do you see that from running around a track?” He asked, doubt filling his voice. If he was being honest, he didn’t see the need to run around a track three times, as it was hardly a good test of physical ability.
“I don’t,” she answered bluntly. “I see it in how you circulate your mana around your body when you run,” she tapped her eyes. “I can see your mana circulation since none of you know how to hide it yet. We are a magic school, after all, and magic is a bit more important than raw physical ability for us.”
Well, the logic seemed sound enough for him. Wait, didn’t he mean to ask something else? Right, he should do that. “Hold on, what did you mean earlier? What she sees in me?”
“Mhm,” She rolled her neck and buried her face at her tablet again. “We offered her a spot at the pilot class, but she said she’s only joining if you did so too. Unfortunately, we can’t bend the rules enough for that, especially for a,” she peered at him. “Very standard student.”
“I haven’t even agreed to join yet,” he said halfheartedly. He didn’t intend on declining their invitation if they gave it to him, but he wanted to at least project that he had control over his future.
She shrugged. “You won’t be able to say no anyway. You kids are obligated to join the school if you meet the standard requirements.”
“Really?” He blinked. “That sounds… awfully sketchy.”
“It is what it is,” she rolled her shoulders. “Anyway, you go and sit with the other kids. You’re pretty much part of the school now, whether you like it or not.”
Frowning, he walked towards the group of kids watching the runners. He heard them chat excitedly, talking about what they wanted to do at this mystery school. He wondered if they knew they would’ve been forced into the school regardless of their choice, as he had never heard of anyone declining the invitation.
He wondered what they would think if they knew, but he decided to keep it to himself, since saying it right now wouldn’t really do much for him. He watched as Tia ran her last lap, talked to the instructor, and then walked towards him. Her friends were still running the track, since they had to jog a bit slower to not tire themselves out.
She sat beside him, her expression still blank. He debated whether or not he should ask her what was bothering her, and then just decided to ask anyway. Since when did he care about the consequences of his questions? It’ll probably bite him in the future, but that’s not a problem for current him. And, it looks like she needs help, and who was he to ignore that?
“Hey,” He nudged her. “I heard you got an offer to join the pilot section.”
She hummed, but didn’t answer more than that.
“Funny thing, though. I don’t know what that is, I just rolled with it. I’m thinking it’s the type of class that doesn’t let guys like me in, that’s what the instructor lady said.”
He saw her scowl. “They should let you in. You’re good enough.”
“I’m not, though,” he said. “I’m average at best. You’re the one that deserves to be in there,” he was glad that she had faith in him, but he knew his limits. He wasn’t going to have be a top scorer in anything if his marks in the orphanage’s class was anything to go by. He wasn’t going to be absurdly good in the mana department either, and his physical ability wasn’t anything to write home about.
Sure, these things could be changed, but that’s probably going to happen in the future, not in the now. This was the reason he wanted to join the school anyway: for a chance to improve himself.
“You’re not average at all,” she protested. “You’re just as good as Hamilton and Ya!”
“Now that’s a lie,” He snorted, a bit of self-deprecation leaking into his tone. “Hamilton can literally punch waves into the ground and Ya can probably just use her wind to knock me down. They’re really talented.”
In contrast, all he’s been able to do was kill a flower and melt a candlestick. And even that is inconsistent. Sometimes the flower doesn’t die, or sometimes the candlestick just falls over. Not to mention, the woman was right about his physical ability. He could move around mana inside his body, but it doesn’t do much besides make him feel funny.
“You’re talented too,” she murmured.
“You can’t make that excuse for me just because I’m your friend,” He gently told her. “I know my limits, Tia. You need to join this pilot class of theirs, ‘cause I’m sure it’d be good for you. Hey, I’m betting they invited your friends too, right? You won’t be lonely there.”
“You will, though,” she pointed out.“Nah, they won’t stop us from meeting each other, right?” He shrugged. He didn’t care much if he was lonely. He just wanted the best for her, even if it meant letting her friends get more time with her. “You’re pretty much my sister. If they tried, they won’t keep me for long,” that was bravado, but he tried to put on a face of confidence.
She looked like she still doubted him, but she didn’t say anymore complaints and agreed to join this pilot class.
“Tia!” He saw Hamilton bounding over, sweating a bit and taking gulps of air. “I passed!”
“Of course you did,” She smiled a bit. Hamilton noticed it and glanced at Vertas.
“Hey, you finally got her out of it,” he grinned. “Thanks for that! It was pretty weird to have a quiet Tia, you know?”
“I know what you mean,” Vertas smirked. “She was just thinking weird stuff, so I knocked it out of her head. The usual.”
“I’m right here,” Tia pinched the side of Vertas’s stomach, making him yelp in surprise. “And don’t talk as if it had nothing to do with you.”
While Hamilton was laughing, Vertas noticed that Ya was also heading their way already. He raised his hand in greeting and she lazily nodded his way. A light sheen of sweat coated her forehead and it was obvious she was also taking deep breaths. “Hey, Vertas. It’s good to see you got her out of her funk.”
“That’s one of the few things I’m good at,” he gave a lopsided grin. Really, compared to these two, he was just here as a backup. They were good friends of Tia, and they would be far better than him at protecting her. He would be okay to leave her in their protection, even if he was a bit envious of their ability.
“Right,” Ya drawled as she sat next to Hamilton. “Move over, meathead. It’s hot and I need space.”
“There’s plenty of space! You don’t have to make me move,” Hamilton protested, but moved over anyway. This was the type of interaction these two shared. Vertas wasn’t sure what type of relationship these two had before meeting Tia, but he reckoned it was similar to the one he currently had with her.
“Since both of you guys are here, and I’m sure you guys were curious on why she was being weird,” Vertas started to explain to them. “I think I should let you guys know that Tia was invited to their pilot class thingie.”
“That’s awesome!” Hamilton cheered, then paused. “Wait, that’s not a bad thing. What’s the other thing?”
“The other thing, I’m guessing, is that you weren’t invited, right?” Ya rolled her eyes. Vertas looked surprised.
“How’d you know that?” He asked, curious. Maybe she was a mind reader too, besides having a talent for wind.
“Please, Tia doesn’t like going where you aren’t. We can’t even get her to go out with us without you,” Ya snickered. “It’s like she’s a little kid.”
“That’s not true!” Tia protested hotly, a blush on her face. “I just want more friends with me, is all.”
“Well, regardless of the truth of that statement,” Vertas interrupted, not really wanting to explore that topic any time soon. “I managed to convince her to go anyway, right?”
“Yeah,” Tia murmured. “I’m going to join the pilot class,” she sounded like it was a punishment instead of a golden opportunity for her. Vertas was about to scold her, but Hamilton beat him to the punch.
“Hey, don’t sound so down!” Hamilton encouraged her. “It’s not like you’re alone. I was invited to the pilot class too!”
“And so was I,” Ya smiled at her. “We’ll all be there. Except Vertas. But he’ll be there too, in spirit.”
“He deserves to be in the class too,” Tia mumbled. Vertas frowned.
“No, I don’t,” Vertas sighed. “It’s just a fact that I didn’t meet their standards for that. I should be glad I met the initial standards anyway, at least I got into the school.”
“Mhm,” Hamilton nodded. “Vertas isn’t as strong as I am, or as good at magic as you are. It’s just fair that he didn’t make it.”
Ya elbowed his side and hissed at him. “Don’t you know anything about tact? Idiot,” she glanced at Tia, who had lowered her head.
“Hey, it’s fine,” Vertas waved it off and poked Tia’s side, making her jolt in surprise. “It’s a fair judgment. The truth always hurts, you know?”
“The truth doesn’t have to be as rough, though,” Ya scoffed as Hamilton looked down, guilty. “Just take the apology, Vertas.”
“Alright,” He capitulated. “I guess I can do that, at least.”
As they talked a bit more, the amount of kids coming to their group lessened and lessened, until eventually, none came anymore. The remaining ones-- rejects or younger kids-- stayed inside the orphanage, curiously watching to see what was about to happen. As Vertas had been one of those kids before, he already knew what was gonna happen.
The female instructor breathed out, and he felt something he didn’t feel inside the building-- a pulse of mana. He attributed it to being close to ground zero. The running track and all its hurdles suddenly started sinking into the ground. It took the track a second to sink into the ground, and a few more for the obstacles to stop jutting out of the ground obviously. The only evidence that they were there in the first place was the missing fence, but even that was about to be replaced soon.
“Wow,” Tia murmured in amazement. Vertas couldn’t help but agree. It was impressive to him. The control and the power this woman had was amazing.
And then it was done. The fences were replaced with the ground raised up as a wall. The pulses of mana stopped, and the woman smiled, satisfied. She glanced back, and smirked at the kids.“Wow,” a kid said, starstruck.
“That was cool,” someone else murmured.
“Really, Jean? Showing off to the kids? Really?” A man drawled. Vertas looked towards the orphanage and saw one of the mana testers leaning on the doorway. The woman-- Jean-- blushed and sniffed.
“Oh, spare me,” she rolled her eyes and turned to the ‘successes’. “Alright, kiddies. You’re all officially inducted in to Seltha’s School of Magic. Don’t want to go? Too bad. You have to go anyway. Now, stand up and pack your stuff. You all have an hour.”
Most of the kids were frozen, expecting a bigger kind of welcome, more of an introduction, or just anything, really. Jean simply raised her brow at them. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go!”
The kids immediately stood and rushed into the building. The kids who weren’t going to join them parted and then left, told by the matrons to leave for the moment. Vertas himself had gone upstairs into a male dormitory.
He saw other kids already in, packing their stuff into small bags. Vertas didn’t have much stuff to pack, so he quickly stuffed some clothes and a small journal into his backpack, not wanting to stay in the room for too long.
There was chatter around him while he was packing, boys talking about the display below or talking about their future prospects. When he slung his backpack over his shoulder, he heard a voice he didn’t particularly want to hear.
“Oh wow,” A voice loudly said. “He actually made it.”
It was Klein. A big guy who had a loud voice, a large mana reserve, and is just generally strong. His personality needed work, if Vertas had any say about it, but he couldn’t deny the guy’s confidence was backed by his competence.
Klein clapped Vertas’ shoulder. “Good job. You hadn’t relied on your twin this time,” he laughed boisterously. “Me, I just blitzed through the whole thing. They even invited me to their pilot class.”
“Wow, that’s great,” Vertas grit his teeth. Great for you. I didn’t ask. “I wasn’t invited to that class at all. I heard it’s supposed to be for the promising candidates.”
“It’s for the best of the best,” The orange haired boy grinned. “I’ve been training non-stop for this. I wouldn’t accept any less.”
Suddenly, the boy lost his grin and then whispered to Vertas. “Will you?”
Vertas was quiet. Klein looked into Vertas’s eyes, looking for an answer, but Vertas looked away and shrugged his hand off. “I always do my best,” Vertas hid his scowl. “That’s the only thing I’ve been doing.”
Vertas knew that Klein wouldn’t believe him. Klein was insanely talented. He was the same age as Vertas, but he was already leagues better than even Hamilton. He innately knew how to use his mana properly, and he was already strong physically.
He wouldn’t get it, Vertas thought as he got out of the dormitory and lined up with around 15 other orphans, standing behind Tia and her friends. He was born like that. Born strong and talented.
I’m doing my best. He wouldn’t know. I do it.
I just met my limit. This is the best I can do.
I’m doing it right. This is the right way.
… Right?