Jason sat under the narrowed eyes of the Arch Mage and the six other Mages sitting in a semicircle around him. Their chairs were raised higher than him own, to make sure he knew their rank. Jason gulped as the Arch Mage leaned forward to speak

‘is that all?’ he asked, still not sure Jason had told him everything.

Jason nodded, ‘I put my hand on it and the glass lit up’. The surrounding Mages muttered among themselves. The Arch Mage turned to the Mage that had tested Jason and had also been summoned. She looked pale at the attention of the more powerful Mages

Jason tuned out still tired from his sparing with the instructors. The Mages talking was hard to listen to, full of words he did not know or understand.

He blinked as they called his name. ‘boy…boy!’ the Mage talking muttered to the Mage of his right ‘is he dumb as well?’ they snickered.

Jason shook his head ‘no I’m not!’ he yelled; the talking stopped as they turned their attention to him.

‘you should learn to have some respect for your better’s boy’ One of the Mages to the far left shrieked. He looked like he was going to rant but was cut off by the Arch Mage.

‘what tier was the stone that tested him?’ He asked ‘first tier, like we normally use’ the testing Mage told him with a little hesitation.

The Arch Mage smiled, ‘well, I just happen to have a second-tier stone on me so we could see what it shows’ The Mages all grumbled their agreement. Jason looked closely at the man to see his first glimpse at real magic. But the Arch Mage simply waved his hand and a table with another glass ball sat. Jason blinked; would he be able to do that?

The Mage that had shrieked at him pounced on his hesitation ‘I knew it, he cheated’ The mage shook his head in disgust.

Anger filled Jason at the thought of cheating, which was brought on by his father’s teaching.

‘I didn’t cheat’ Jason jumped up from his seat and pressed both hands on the ball. The lit up again. The light was not as bright. It was as bright as a great bonfire. Jason took his hands of and sat down with a smile on his face. That would show them.

What he did not expect was the silence. The Mages neither said nor did anything. They just sat there.

The Arch Mage broke the silence with a question, ‘who’s your father?’ The still faces of the other Mages grew interested.

Jason was unsure why they would want to know but answered all the same. ‘my father is Leon Blackwood, the captain of the guard’.

He sighed, ‘what about your mother, or anyone of interest’. Jason’s eyebrows raised; my father is not worth the interest of Mages. He ran his hand throw his hair, thinking. ‘I don’t know about my mother, but my grandfather was a Dungeon diver’. Why are they asking about my family?

‘maybe got a treasure’ the Arch Mage spoke to himself. ‘Anyway, I think it’s decided’ he stood up and cleared his throat. ‘As Arch Mage I hereby accept you into the Mage Academy, do any disagree?’. Even the one who had yelled at Jason was silent.

The Arch Mage nodded, ‘well then, classes begin on the 1st of Spring, which I believe is in three days, dorms will be assigned when you get there, do you best, I think I speak for most of us, we expect good things, yes’ He was turning away when Jason called out

‘wait’. seeing him turn back Jason was unsure what to say. ‘I’m becoming a Knight, why do I have to be a Mage?’ he clenched his fists. His father was someone he looked up too, to disappoint him, was to fail himself. Not to mention his father was going to tell him who his mother was when he finished the first year of training.

The Arch Mage rubbed his chin, ‘no, not only is it against the law, to leave someone with your level of Mana untrained would be dangerous not just you but anyone near’. Jason gulped ‘dangerous?’. He didn’t know about this.

‘yes, which is why you must be a Mage’ The Arch Mage put a hand on Jason and made him look him in the eyes. Jason tensed up as he looked into the Mage’s eyes.

The Mage’s brown eyes looked into his, staring deep into him. Jason was drawn into them, seeing the brown lit up with dark flames. Then a stirring in Jason woke him from the trance. And the Arch Mage smiled and whispered in his ear, ‘interesting Jason, very interesting’.

The Arch Mage simply drifted away leaving Jason puzzled. Jason clutched his hand, the ring his father gave him flaring up with an intense heat, but after taking it off he found no burns.

The Mage Academy was built from mostly white marble, giving it a sense of grandeur. The main building was tall tower that stood out from the rest of the city. The main tower was for residents, including the masters. There were five other towers that were used to teach students. The grounds were dotted with trees, they also had a small Colosseum and the largest magical library in the city. The whole complex was surrounded by a marble wall.

As Jason approached the main tower, he noticed the many people still coming and going, even late in the afternoon. He came to a stop outside the tower and looked up. He had seen it before, but not from so close.

He jumped as someone brushed past him and into the tower. Shaking his head, he slung his bag over his shoulders and followed.

The first floor was a large open room with two fountains either side and a stone desk in the middle. He went over. Occupying the desk was several people who were dressed in plain robes. As he approached, one woman came to meet him.

‘hello sir, what can I do for you?’ she asked. Jason, still taking in the surroundings jerked.

He stammered, ‘I was just accepted and told to come here’ the woman nodded ‘yes we were informed’ she walked out and beckoned him ‘I’ll take you to your room’.

Having no other option but to follow he hurried after her as she began speaking. ‘the main tower is separated into seven floors, the bottom is for administrative people, as a year one you will be staying on the second, each year you move up, the final floor is for the masters, each floor is separated by gender and all have a monitor ’ she rattled the speech of like she had said it many times before which, Jason guessed, she had.

Jason was just grateful that he now knew that there is only five years of learning similar to the Knights school. The woman paused on the second floor and pointed down the long hall at a door.

‘go in there, the floor monitor will speak to you’. She then vanished before Jason could say a word. Jason shrugged and went down the hallway studied with doors.

The room was a small office with another door, presumably leading into a sleeping area. The man sitting at the desk was old and had a thick beard. Who looked up at Jason as he entered.

‘you the new one’ he grunted. Jason nodded.

He looked down at a list and rubbed his chin. ‘Jason Blackwood aspiring knight I hear’. Jason frowned. ‘how do you know about that?’. the man took a sip of water before answering. ‘some bold enough to talk back to the Arch Mage get spread around here quick’

Jason was takin back, ‘but no matter, follow me’. The Man got up and strode out. Jason found it hard to keep up with the man’s long strides.

He stopped suddenly at a door, ‘this is yours, your sharing with another boy’. Jason moved to open the door but was stopped by an arm.

The man squinted at him, ‘there are some rules here, listen, there will be no parties, no fights’ he leaned closer ‘no magic in the hall and there’s a curfew at ten’. He opened the door for Jason, ‘go greet your bunk mate’ and pushed him in.

Off balance by the push Jason fell over and hit the floor, hard. Cursing the old man, he pushed himself up and was met with an open hand. At the of the hand was a boy who looked the same age as him. He had red hair and an open face.

The boy spoke with a smile ‘quite a way to introduce yourself, I’d say’. The boys smile was contagious.

Jason grinned, ‘that bloody old man is a going to be a pain’. The other boy nodded ‘met King already?’

Jason tilted his head ‘King?’ the beamed ‘from how he rules this floor, by the way, I’m Alex Flameweaver’ he bowed, ‘at your service’. Jason shook his hand, ‘Jason Blackwood’

He looked at Alex’s deep red hair, the boy placed a hand on it. ‘my grandfather was a great fire user’.

Jason frowned, ‘could I ask about that, I’m new to all this magic stuff’. Alex widened face made him scared he had asked too much. ‘not like you have to tell me or anything’ Jason stammered and waved his hands.

Alex laughed at this ‘no no, I was just surprised that someone came here with so little knowledge’ Jason stiffened, ‘I didn’t mean to come here, I was going to be a knight, then the damm ball lit up’ he kicked the door for good measure.

Alex scratched his head, ‘a knight’ he then noticed the long case on Jason’s back. He licked his lips, ‘well better coming in and put your stuff down, then we can go have dinner and talk, if you want?’. Jason, realised he had been rudely standing in the doorway and hurried in

‘yeah that would be great’. He looked around the dorm. The central room had a table and chairs with a fireplace to warm them and provide light. Then off to the side two doors led off. He made his way there. His sleeping room was simple, a bed, one chest, one closet for clothes and a small window. Jason quickly placed down his bag and unslung his sword. He left with only his knife. Just in case.

The sun had fallen beyond the horizon by the time Jason and Alex came to the eating hall. They had made small talk. Mainly Alex telling him about his large family.

Despite the school not starting for another couple of days, many students had returned earlier, making the hall half full. So, Jason and Alex found a spot quickly and started eating.

After starting to eat, Alex turned to Jason. ’so, what do you want to know?’ he didn’t know how much Jason new and thought it better to ask first.

Jason ran his hand throw his hair. ‘nothing, I know nothing about magic’. Alex was shocked but continued. ‘well to answer your question, let’s start at the beginning’ Alex clasped his hands together and composed himself.

‘well, there are seven elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning, Darkness and Light. Every mage is born attuned to one, but in some cases more. Mages use incantations, called spells to use their element. There are also some spells called, colourless spells, which anyone can use, because they aren’t element based’ he placed for Jason to catch up.

‘there is also enchanting with is like writing with spells, to finish, in this school five years are compulsory and also free, but after that you can stay for a mastery which you have to pay for’ Alex took a big sip of water.

Jason sat and thought, he hadn’t considered that he might have to pay, so that was a relief. His lack of basic knowledge was concerning.

‘do we need stuff for class?’ he was unsure if they would.

Alex snorted, spilling water. ‘yes, you need to buy stuff from the shops just outside’. He grinned, ‘if you showed up to class without books and things, they might punish you’. Jason sighed, he needed to get the books, and looked up at Alex, with pleading in his eyes.

He rolled his eyes ‘yes I’ll come and help you’. With that sorted Jason had one final question, ‘how do they find out what element you have’. Alex finished eating and answered ‘same way they find you are a mage, glass ball, they will probably do it in the first lesson’ Jason finished eating, most of his questions answered and also being overwhelmed by the new information. After eating they went back to their rooms for sleep.

The next day as Alex promised, they both went to the shops and brought books notebooks and other supplies. Jason also got his class schedule. It was from First day to Fifth day, first he had Into to Magic, Basic Magic, Magical Theory, Basic Enchanting and Elemental Magic. Alex told him that was all normal for a first year. Next term they could switch some subjects or get some more like Combat.

Realising that he had two days off per week. Jason made sure he had time to train with his sword, les he become worse.

The night before first classes he staggered into his room. After collapsing onto his bed. His ring feeling warm. Just before he fell into sleep, he heard a whisper.

‘I’ll give you a gift, use it well’.