Sebastian was nervously pacing in front of the mage tower in the center of town. At sixteen everyone had to be tested for magical potential. Most of the townsfolk didn’t care about it and just saw it as a rite of passage into adulthood. Nobody had been selected to learn magic since the new wizard had moved into the tower years ago, and it had become a simple precursor to starting an apprenticeship or joining the guard. For Sebastian though, it was his last way out of joining the guard or becoming a hunter.

He had decided that he didn’t want to join either group not long after his father vanished on a scouting trip into the northern forests. His mother however, flat out refused to get him an apprenticeship, insisting that following in his father’s footsteps was the proper path for a son to walk, and considered his protests and attempts to convince her otherwise acts of cowardice. He simply didn’t want to get eaten by monsters, and figured a job that kept him in town would help him with that particular desire.

His mother refusing to arrange an apprenticeship had forced him into his current situation, if he wasn’t allowed to learn magic he would be forced to join the guard. He had tried to arrange one on his own, but without his mother’s permission none of the local townsfolk would take him in, and anyone without an apprenticeship when they came of age was required to join the guard or become a hunter.

His mood wasn’t helped in the slightest by the cold, it was early January and not yet dawn, for reasons he had never been told the testing was always done at daybreak. Shivering partly from the cold and partly from his nerves, he looked out at the town, the mage tower was on a rise in the center of town that let him see clear to the north walls from where he was. Beyond that wall was several acres of farmland that had been cut from the forest, then the forest itself. The town was quiet and still and it was one of the rare mornings when the area wasn’t blanketed in fog, other than the occasional patrol of guards he could almost imagine he was the only person in the world.

His brief moment of reverie was interrupted by a door slamming open and a gruff shout, “Get your arse in here boy, it’s bloody freezing out here!” The wizard had a long well-kept beard that was at odds with his messy hair, and while he wasn’t all that tall, and certainly not that physically imposing, the formal wizard robes and the knowledge that he could bend the world around him to his will was enough to make him considerably more intimidating than a man of his stature would normally be.

Sebastian tentatively made his way into the tower while the old wizard scowled at him and looked around. He was slightly disappointed, it looked like a normal room more or less, it was made from stone and had tapestries that were fairly interesting hanging from the walls, but he didn’t see anything that looked particularly magical.

“Hang your cloak over there boy,” The wizard pointed at a rack near the door that Sebastian had missed, “then follow me and don’t touch anything.” He tromped over to a door on the right, nestled between two tapestries that depicted images of robed men controlling the elements around them.

Sebastian followed him, halfheartedly trying to figure out what he wasn’t supposed to touch. That question was answered as soon as he followed the mage into the other room. There were small pedestals around the room with various objects on them, and one large pedestal in the middle of the room with a large crystal or glass ball nestled in a stand on top of it. It drew his gaze and he started walking towards it without realizing it.

“Boy, I said don’t touch anything. That includes the testing sphere.” The mage said dryly. “Not yet anyways.” He walked over to stand behind the orb before continuing, “Okay boy, let’s begin. My name is Owdel and I’ll be testing you for magical ability. The test is simple, you will put your hands on the testing sphere and it will draw the mana from you. When you fail to exhibit any talent for the higher arts, you will leave my tower, without touching anything else, and go off to be a guard or hunter or whatever other nonsense you want to do with your life.

“Should you, by some miracle, exhibit some talent for magic you will be inducted into the mages guild as a novice. Depending on your potential, you will have a few choices in which path you walk, but since nobody from this town ever has any bloody talent that’s a moot point. So let’s get this over with boy, place both hands on the sphere, it will draw any mana you possess from you, the sphere will light up brighter the more mana it absorbs, and the speed with which it lights up determines how fast you can channel mana.”

Sebastian just stared at him. The impact this one day was going to have on his life hitting him all over again. Owdel startled him when he continued, “Well boy? What are you waiting for?! Put your hands on the bloody sphere and get this over with!”

Sebastian jumped a bit, “But I, but you…” he shook his head and firmed his resolve before stepping up to the sphere in the center of the room. He tentatively put his hands on the sphere, and immediately felt a warmth flare up in his chest. It spread and flowed through him, before rushing up his arms and through his hands into the sphere. It started to glow, slowly growing brighter and brighter. Owdel watched, first appearing irritated, then intrigued, and finally frustrated.

When the flow of mana finally stopped, Sebastian sagged against the sphere, more exhausted than he could ever remember being. He didn’t know how long he had been standing there, it felt like it had taken an eternity and an instant all at once. The sphere was almost blindingly bright, and Sebastian promptly forgot his weariness at the sight, certain that it meant that he could be a mage. His face started to fall when he looked to Owdel for confirmation and saw his scowl.

“Everything is always so bloody disappointing in this bloody town!” Owdel exclaimed, “Don’t look too sad boy, you can be a bloody mage. No, the problem is your ability to channel mana. I’ve been searching for an apprentice, but since I specialize in combat oriented magic you are useless to me. Won’t do you much good to learn how to cast a fireball or lightning blast at someone if it takes you ten minutes to power the spell. Despite your high mana capacity, your options are limited to more support oriented roles.”

Sebastian swallowed audibly, “Like what?” He asked, not entirely certain that being told he wouldn’t be able to effectively use combat magic was a bad thing.

Owdel grunted, folding his arms across his chest before answering. “Healer. Ritual magic, assistant most likely until you are older and know enough to lead the rituals. Oh, and you could probably be an enchanter too.” Owdel’s disdain for the last option was evident in his tone.

Sebastian was confused by the clear bias against enchanters. Didn’t an enchanter have to make all this stuff in here? And this testing sphere? He was about to ask about it but Owdel apparently read the question in his face and answered before he could get a word out.

“Think about it boy! What makes mages special? What gives us the power that forces respect from kings? The answer is magic boy. So tell me, from the perspective of a mage, how would you feel about someone choosing to pursue a path of magic that either amounts to making simple tools for other mages like this,” he thumped a knuckle against the testing orb, which was starting to dim now. “or they are quite literally taking the thing that provides us our personal and political power and putting it in a form that any random moron could use? At best you have someone with limited usefulness to the Guild, at worst you have what could be perceived as a traitor to all magi.

“Now, first things first boy, before you start asking more questions. Breakfast.” Owdel motioned Sebastian towards the door. “Kitchen is across the entrance hall from here. Let’s go boy, I’m hungry and eating something will help the mana fatigue from the test.” Owdel proceeded to herd Sebastian out of the testing room and into the kitchen, where surprisingly enough he started to make breakfast for them both.

Sebastian thought over the different options Owdel had said would be possible for him. He knew, logically, that the best path for him to walk was that of a healer. He didn’t like spending huge amounts of time with other people, and particularly disliked the idea of being what amounted to a power source for other mages until he was old enough to use other mages as a power source himself. He also knew it would be foolish to pick a path ostracized by mages immediately after being told he could become one. Enchanter though… he thought, an image of himself weaving magic into powerful artifacts that forever changed the world as they knew it springing effortlessly into his mind.

He shook his head in an effort to dispel the image, choosing to instead focus on the steaming plate of sausage and eggs that Owdel had just plunked onto the table in front of him. As he ate, his mind kept drifting back to his future, and inevitably to the fantasy that he could change the world. He started to tell himself over and over in his head that becoming a healer was the smart choice. Don’t be an idiot Sebastian, a mage that specializes in healing is respected everywhere and comes with the benefit of not being automatically disliked by all the other mages.

As they finished eating Sebastian steeled himself, then looked up at Owdel, who had been masterfully ignoring his presence during the meal. He made eye contact with Owdel, “I want to be,” he hesitated as another image flashed through his mind, “an enchanter.” He finished. I’m a bloody idiot. He thought with a sigh.

Owdel’s face looked like he had bitten into something sour. “It’s your life boy. You can pick whichever room you want on the third floor except the first one on the left. Or you can keep living in whatever hovel you crawled out of. Makes no difference to me. I’ll teach you the basics of how to use magic tomorrow, now run along and tell your friends or family or whatever it is people like to do when these tests are over.” Owdel waved a hand at him dismissively and Sebastian figured it would probably be best to just do as the taciturn old mage told him.

Only two hours after leaving it that morning Sebastian found himself outside the small cottage he grew up in and he stood there a moment letting everything sink in. I’m going to be a mage. Not a hunter or guardsman, a mage! He went inside, eager to get his things and move to the tower. Maybe Owdel will start teaching me today if I move in there early?

His thoughts were interrupted by his mother. “Well, how did it go? Will you get to be a great and powerful mage? Or are you finally going to follow in your father’s footsteps?” She had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face, her disapproval of his desires evident in her tone. Sebastian was too giddy to care though, throwing his arms around her in a hug.

“Mage!” He exclaimed. “I move to the tower today and start learning magic tomorrow!” The shocked expression on her face was understandable, nobody had been selected from their town to learn magic in decades. There was no way she could continue to be disappointed in him either, becoming a mage was one of the best possible opportunities for someone from a small town like theirs. Mages were automatically treated like nobles by the vast majority of people, which made acceptance into the Guild akin to receiving a knighthood.

She smiled and hugged him back, “That’s wonderful! Let’s get you packed and ready to go, can’t have you be late, now can we? We also need to get you looking presentable for tonight’s ceremony. I won’t have my son looking like a ragamuffin on the day he is presented to the town as a future mage.”

Sebastian’s mood fell briefly at that, the town always used the tiniest excuse to have a party, festival, or ceremony. Which meant that first they would have a formal ceremony, in which the captain of the guard would strike his name from the lists that determined who could be drafted in times of peril. Then they would announce his acceptance into the Guild, which would most likely spark a festival in his honor, and all of these things would require him to be front and center in the middle of it all. The moment passed though, and he perked back up. He could handle a bit of socializing, and after that he would set himself to the task of creating wondrous artifacts of unimaginable power.

Lost in his dreams and fantasies, the rest of the day flew by in what felt like a moment and an eternity all at once. Almost before he knew it he was settling himself into a room in the tower. As he finally drifted off he thought, tomorrow I get to learn magic…