Fortunately, the hand-box device turned out to rather painless. It sat on a table and thrummed with power, lighting up with the occasional colorful rune, while holding Eleazar’s hand fast. He had wanted to study it a bit, but the crazy lady (that he was completely at the mercy of) flicked his sore nose again to gain his attention. After the tears stopped flowing, he wasn’t too surprised to see that she was standing over him with a blindfold and a helmet. Because, why not?

“The little lord will not open his eyes if he wants to use them again,” she stated.

They looked at each other for a second.

“Oka-” he began, but she interrupted his response by closing the helmet thing tightly over his face. It hurt his nose quite a bit at first, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Lights started flashing inside of the device, prompting Eleazar to squeeze his eyes shut as tight as he possibly could. He was certain her warning about his eyes had to do with these uncomfortably bright lights.

When he’d gotten his helmet-light-blindness anxiety under control with controlled breathing, a sharp pain broke through the skin of his left hand. Reflexively, he tried to yank it back, but he discovered it was fastened down.

Rage bloomed in Eleazar’s chest. He’d had enough.

“Listen here motherfucker! I want some fucking answers!” he yelled, voice sounding all muffled from the helmet. To accentuate his point, he began violently thrashing.

The Lady’s voice sounded far away, but he was able to make out her words. “Very well. I suppose this must all be very confusing. I will explain. But first,” then she stabbed him in the arm with something very sharp. Eleazar screamed and thrashed some more, but he was held fast.

Without preamble she spoke, while continuing to carve deeply into his arm, “I am writing runes into your flesh. It is my gift to you. The inscriber on your head will teach you to read and speak Trovian, as well as other Imperial languages. Lastly, the locus calibrator is attempting to determine your ether affinity.”

“My ether affinity?” he asked, grasping on to the last thing he heard her say, desperately wanting to keep her talking.

“Well of course! You, it seems, are a class three! I think you might be a first, this far from the Empire. A wild strain like yours hasn’t been seen in centuries. I mean, there are always class ones and twos in vassalhood, even the occasional three-- but those are always nearer to the empire. For you to be a three this far from ether concentration is remarkable. Anyways, I want to see what your locus is. It’s all very exciting.” She concluded.

“What’s a locus?” he asked.

“Hmmm, this is not an easy question little lord, and I am no instructor given to whims of elucidation. Suffice it to say, you might think of it as a natural talent. Imagine if you will a device that could tell you if you would be a good farmer, or shepherd, or blacksmith. Only, your Locus is what type ether you will be able to manipulate.” she said.

“When you say Ether, do you mean… magic?” he asked.

“Peasant word, not befitting of a lord of the empire. Which, by the way, you are now. That will come with its own set of challenges, and a different conversation.

There are three classes of ether manipulation. Class one is the lowest. Anyone one with a class one is taught to be an Arcanist. They are the engineers, weapons crafters, and pilots of the Empire. It confers an automatic status of citizen and membership in the House Arcane. It is by far the most common.

Class two is next strongest, obviously. A person with class two is taught to be a Runist. Runists create essence enhancement magic and maintain the Imperial Codex. You will learn more about that shortly. I fall under this category. We are granted the status of minor nobility and membership in the House of Runes.

Finally, there is class three-- your class. It means you can absorb and channel a tremendous amount of ether. Class threes are extremely rare, and more famously known as Archons. Archons are the knights, heroes, and rulers of the Empire. The emperor himself is always an Archon by law. It confers the status of major nobility and membership in one of the seven ruling houses. If you’d gone through your ascension ritual, you’d quite literally be the most highest-ranking person in this entire region.” she finished.

Eleazar was stunned. She’d continued carving runes into his arm with some sharp tool, but he barely noticed.

When he finally spoke, it was in a quiet voice. He said, “You are telling me I will be some kind of lord, right? Well… when I came here to, uh, volunteer or whatever, I was seeking someone that is very important to me. She was here about three weeks ago. Will I be able to see her?”

“My dear sweet boy, once you are an Archon you will be able to do just about anything you want! But! That is a long, long, long way off! Whoever your friend is, she has been resettled somewhere for the needs of the empire. We ship out the child inductees every week. You will not get that luxury, however. I am having you sent to Blackstone, immediately on my personal vessel.” she said.

“What! No, you can’t do that!” he cried. “You don’t understand, I need to see her. She is everything to me!” He felt a sudden need to tear off the constricting helmet. But he still had both of his arms pinned down.

The lady was silent for a moment. In a heartfelt voice she said, “I am sorry. There is no choice in the matter for you or for me. You are simply too important to the empire. However, I will make you a promise here and now little lord. If you go to Blackstone without any fuss, and do your best to finish the training there, I will do everything in my power to find out where your friend is. In a few years, you will not only be able to be with your friend again but will be able to give her a rich life. This so I swear.” she said.

Eleazar felt the rage building up in him dissipate from the empathy of her words, if not the content. Few adults had been kind to him in his life. Even still, he was good at detecting insincerity. Her words rang true. He’d considered that reuniting with Lilion would be difficult, but he also knew he’d do whatever it took. Besides, knowing Lilion she’d think it worth a few years of separation if she got to be rich lady. Li was always the practical sort.

“C-can you, get her a letter or something then?” he asked, feeling a mix of emotions.

“I will try, but the empire is a large place and it may take a while. A vassal inductee must serve 12 years before they are granted citizenship. Wherever she was sent, she will not be going anywhere for a while. Now hold still.” the Lady ordered.

Eleazar felt her jostling his helmet only briefly before it was ripped away. The world was suddenly a very different place than it had been a few minutes ago. Above the lady the words, “Lady Amatia” appeared in the air. He was amazed. Eleazar could read! He’d never been able to do that before!

“By your look, I can only deduce that your connection to the imperial codex was successful. Good to know that I still can draw a rune straight” she said with a wink. With a wave of her hand a large translucent book appeared from the air. “We must now update your status.”

Almost absently she flipped through the pages of the floating book. After a moment, she stopped on a page then said, “I need you to think the words: Personal Codex.”

Eleazar followed her instructions, then words popped across the lower left-hand corner of his vision.

Sir Gavrus the 32nd

Class:

(3) Unascended Archon

Locus:

Unknown

Rank:

Knight Errant Squire

Attributes:

Strength: 2

Agility: 4

Endurance: 3

Intelligence: 4

Perception: 6

Willpower: 7

Disciplines:

Locked

Inscriptions:

Basic Language

Imperial Codex Standard

Imperial Account

Currency:

Az: 0

“Now if you will, please read to me what it states on your page,” she ordered.

“Uh, it says my name is Gavrus the 32nd?” he said uncertainty.

“Correct. You are no longer Eleazar Hern. You are a lord of the empire now and can’t run around with some peasant name. As such, the codex has assigned you a name. You are the thirty-second Gavrus to carry that name in the rich history of the empire. Be proud of it. It means something.” she said.

“Okay…” Gavrus stated lamely, a bit put-off. “Well what do these numbers mean?”

“The six attribute numbers are measurements associated with ether manipulation. As you increase your ability to do certain tasks, that I will not get into now, they will increase. Also, they naturally increase as you get older in some areas (such as strength) or with training. The average attribute for an imperial man is a 5 in every category. For an imperial woman it is a 3 in strength and a 7 in perception, but otherwise the same as a man. Anything above a 10 is superhuman.”

After he read her the numbers Gavrus asked, “So you’re saying I’m weaker than a girl?”

“You are a runty sweet boy that has probably never had a balanced meal in his entire life. That being said, you have an unusually high willpower and should be proud of that.” she answered.

“Alright, for disciplines it says ‘locked’, whatever that means.” Gavrus stated.

“There are six disciplines, each associated with an attribute. You will open them when you open your chakras at the ascension ceremony, if you are able. Dwell no further on it. Now, read me the rest.” she ordered.

Gavrus finished reading the rest of status to her but didn’t have any other questions. It seemed self-explanatory for the most part. He was already aware of the inscriptions he’d received, and “Az” was apparently the currency that was used in the empire. Which, not too shockingly, he had none of.

“Excellent! Now, let us input your Locus! The ether calibrator should be done with its work.” she stated.

Gavrus had forgotten about the box entirely. Lady Amatia stepped over toward it, then waved her hand in the air again. Another translucent book appeared in the air, but this time floating over the device. She opened it and began reading.

A minute or so later she gasped, “Incredible! You have an eldritch affinity. You will be a void user!”

His personal codex updated at her declaration. The Locus part now said: “Locus: Void”.

Just as he was about to ask what the hell that meant, the guard Rix entered back into the chamber.

“Lady,” he said kneeling. “Pardon the interruption, but the Winder City watch Captain is here with a royal warrant for...” he looked at Gavrus for a second, “Sir Gavrus. He stands accused of attempted murder.”