My boots slapped against the stone pathway as I strode away from the main square of Volaris, where I had spent the previous night. As I walked, I stuck to one side of the broad street, feeling the sun hotly beat down on my neck. I knew from experience that my pale skin would quickly burn, turning bright pink and sensitive to the touch, which only drove me to move faster.

My destination was an hour walk away, and I could not afford the cost of a carriage ride there, which left me forced to wake at sunrise to make it in time. Around me were the loud sounds of a city that never truly slept even in the dead of night, slowly preparing for the day ahead.

Stores lined the cobblestone streets, dedicated to everything you could imagine, and I could see owners and shopkeepers already open for the day’s business. Only a few others walked the streets, which was fine by me. I would rather not fight my way through the dense crowds that would form by midday.

In the summer, especially, thousands of travelers would pack into the main streets, making travel slow and painful for a large adult. I was neither and, in a crowd, I was more likely to be pushed than do the pushing.

Such was the price of living in Ferris, the largest and most populated country of the continent. I stopped by a particularly impressive building, a bar judging by the hanging sign with a bottle burnt into the wood, and reached into the pouch on my belt, checking my map to make sure I was going the right way. The vast tangle of streets was a nightmare to navigate for the unfamiliar, and I could scarcely afford to get lost.

Putting the parchment away, I continued walking and swore at myself for not bringing along some sort of guide. This city, well designed and relatively simple to navigate, still left me confused. I was far more used to open plains than enclosed stone structures. I had set off from my home, a vast noble estate near the eastern border, a few weeks ago with a small party of family guards in tow, but two days here was not enough to undo a decade of unfamiliarity.

Of course, I also lacked the funds to hire a guide as well and had to ask the barkeep to draw a simple map politely, but that did not damper my annoyance. Girem would never have sprung for the cost of having someone walk me around the city like a glorified babysitter, and felt learning to find my way was the better lesson. The fact that I was a kid more used to studying in libraries alone or listening to tutors drone on only made the experience even more essential in his eyes.

I snapped out of my thoughts and came to a halt when I realized I had reached my destination. I found myself outside a large rectangular wooden and stone building similar in construction to the inn where I had spent the last two nights.

The structure, standing three stories tall and towering above the surroundings, was one of several similar buildings scattered throughout the kingdom and built for one purpose, to create mages. While it appeared nondescript from outside, the walls were crafted with the finest materials and, according to rumors, reinforced with powerful magic to increase their durability.

As I walked closer, I could see tiny unfamiliar letters carved into the walls, which looked strangely unworn by weather or time. The closest analog was Old Ferren, a language not spoken in over a thousand years, but they still differed noticeably. Maybe the rumors about these buildings had some truth to them, though I could not say for sure without any formal training in magic.

Approaching the front steps after a bit of hesitation, I pushed open the door, feeling it swing easily on oiled hinges and entered the building. In the main lobby of the building, I saw a small wooden desk with a robed man sitting behind it.

The man was young, probably no older than thirty, with the markings of what I believed to be an adept on his robes and seemed deeply engrossed in studying a small tome in front of him. I stood somewhat awkwardly, waiting for him to notice my presence. Looking up from his reading after a good thirty seconds, he gave a jump before hastily closing his book and giving me a small chuckle.

“Sorry about that, I tend to get a bit wrapped up in my reading! Good morning applicant, and let me welcome to your Awakening. While I’m sure you are eager to get started and see what the future holds for you, I have a few questions to get out of the way. First off, what is your name? Family name included, please, I need to note down who visited for Awakening for record-keeping purposes.” He said, flipping open a ledger on the desk and holding a pen in one hand while looking at me patiently.

I grimaced a little at the question, but managed to push down my initial reaction quickly. As a sponsored commoner, I did not have any family name, at least not yet. Most commoners used the name of an ancestor’s profession, but my adoption while still a child left me unable to use the surname Shepherd. I had learned to suppress the sting of shame, but I typically preferred not to advertise that I was not a noble.

“My name is Vayne, a sponsored applicant of Duke Rufus Estton of the Eastern Plains.”

The mage regarded me with slightly widened eyes and raised brows, and he nodded before looking down at the ledger on the desk in front of him. “A sponsor? That’s a new one. We don’t hear about too many of you around here. As far as I know, you’re the only one starting this year, though I’ve heard there are a few older ones at the Academy. I’m happy to hear it though, that means you’ll be a little less stuffy than the noble brats that I usually Awaken. You can’t imagine how annoying it gets hearing some kid whine about how it’s unfair they have to come here instead of us serving them in their estate.”

I held my laughter even though I wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment and instead gave a polite smile at his jokes. Duke Estton was a powerful man, the head of a medium-sized family with several hundred square miles of land and thousands under his direct control. With that power came plenty of friends and more dangerously sycophants in the capital who would love to get into his good graces.

While the duke was far from cruel, it would be idiotic for me to appear anything less than abundantly grateful for the opportunity granted to me. He had selected me as a child, hoping that I would serve as an advisor to his family for decades to come, in particular his two oldest children who would also be entering the Academy this year.

And more than that, it was an opportunity few commoners could hope to receive. I doubted this man was some spy for the Duke Estton, but I knew better than to take that sort of risk.

Mages were still nobles and almost universally loved to gossip, particularly over the sort of fine wine most tended to drink in bulk. The last thing I wanted was some drunken fool letting it slip that I had been busy mocking my liege lord while attending my Awakening at that same lord’s expense.

The duke had given me a higher degree of freedom than most men in his office would allow, and I knew if I were openly disrespectful, that privilege would disappear. The appearance of strength supported his position and reputation, and he could not afford to look weak publicly, particularly not in regards to his servants.

Taking a few moments, he noted my name in the ledger as well as my sponsor with his pen. He likely knew I was telling the truth, as it would be suicidal to use a duke’s name to undergo Awakening fraudulently. Occasionally commoners would use fake names to awaken, but it always ended with lengthy sentences spent mining stone and ore to repay the cost at best. At worst, the offender was left a head shorter.

Despite that, I suspected he would prefer to be careful rather than have the mistake fall on his shoulders. This man looked young and was probably stuck here as a first job to prove himself competent and trustworthy, but if he made a mistake like allowing some unknown commoner to become a mage, he would spend the rest of his life behind a desk like this one. No one would put themselves at risk like that for someone else.

Without looking back up, he spoke again. “Any valuables you want me to hold onto while you’re out? Jewelry, money, anything like that? The process sometimes gets a bit chaotic, and it’s better if you left anything important down here, so they won’t be damaged. Oh, and any medical concerns, seizures, breathing difficulties, and so on that I should note? I have a few things I can provide to help ease the Awakening and minimize complications.”

This time I did laugh at his words, though he was not joking. I was as impoverished as a beggar, and the most expensive thing I had on me was likely the traveling boots I was wearing. In truth, I had no personal possessions, and everything I “owned” was on loan from my lord.

“No sir, the only things I have on me are my clothes and a map to this building. Anything valuable I left behind in my room. And as far as I know, I have no serious medical problems.”

Nodding several times, the adept scribbled down a few more notes as I began gnawing at the inside of my cheek impatiently. After a minute of near-silence broken only by the scratching of a pen on paper, he closed the ledger and stood up with a muffled grunt before walking around the desk to join me.

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll lead you to your room. I put you far out of the way. Some of the noble applicants don’t take kindly to sponsored applicants, and hopefully, this will let you avoid any trouble from them.”

Smiling, I fell into step beside him, and we walked in silence up to the third floor. Continuing down a long corridor lined with doors, we eventually came to a stop near the end of the hallway at a small door. The wooden surface had symbols carved into it similar to the ones on the outside of the building, and I noticed with interest that they too faintly resembled Old Ferren.

As he reached towards the door, the mage turned the bright golden knob before pushing it open and walking into the room. After a brief moment, I took a steadying breath to suppress my nerves and entered the room after the man.

The space we entered was tiny, filled only by a bed in the corner with a small table next to it. I assumed the architects designed these rooms for function and little else, a place for a candidate to undergo their visions in peace. I loudly sneezed as I walked forward, the dust floating through the air aggravating my allergies.

Turning towards me, the adept smiled warmly. “This is where you will undergo the Awakening. I have some instructions to follow during the process, if you will listen carefully. First off, after you drink the Draught, you should immediately lie down on the bed and try to relax. The process can be uncomfortable, but if you are in a calm state of mind, you should slip into the Astral Plane more easily.”

Pausing in his explanations, he looked at me until I nodded in confirmation. “After you enter the Astral, I would recommend not focusing too closely onto any single vision, but instead try and keep your mind clear. It is usually better to receive as many visions of your future as possible, rather than delve too deeply into one specific moment. The future is mutable, and often, not set in stone. Do you have any questions before we begin?”

I shook my head after thinking over his words for a few seconds. “No sir, I think I understand. Thank you.”

Nodding, the adept reached into a pouch by his side and pulled out a small vial pulsing with a soft blue light, before carefully handing it to me. I gave the glass bottle in my hands a cursory examination as it seemed to vibrate in my hands gently.

The potion’s exact makeup was a closely guarded secret kept hidden to protect the strength of the mages. I suspected it was some form of mana meant to kickstart the process, but it must have additional components to function as efficiently as it did. If it were as simple as taking mana into the body, there would be more rogue mages not under the control of the crown.

A soft cough broke my concentration, and I looked over at the mage wearing an amused expression. The man mimed drinking with one hand, before gesturing at the vial I was holding.

Taking a deep breath, I did my best to suppress my nerves and uncorked the vial. The smell was unfamiliar, but reminded me of the herbal teas I was once given as a child to cure a nasty fever. With a single motion, I tilted the glass and drank the potion in one gulp before I could convince myself otherwise.

A harsh burning feeling immediately shot through my mouth and down my throat before settling in my stomach, similar to the cheap liquor the Estton family guards would share with me on occasion.

I replaced the cork into the vial and set it down on the desk next to the bed before laying down onto the stiff mattress. Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths and did my best to relax as the mage had advised. The sound of an opening door indicated that the other man had left me alone in this room.

What little information about magic I had managed to scrape together over the years told me the mana core sat in the center of the chest, close to the heart. The potion I had just drank would quickly be absorbed by the walls of my mouth, throat, and stomach, before spreading throughout my body. I was not sure how exactly it would work from there, but I was about to find out.

As the minutes passed, I could feel the heat in my stomach begin to spread out, warming my entire body gradually. While it had felt somewhat soothing at first, it was rapidly becoming uncomfortable. The sensation was like sitting a few feet too close to a fire, unpleasant but not painful yet.

Suddenly, a jolt of energy shot through my body, surging down my limbs and causing them to seize. I let out an involuntary scream, which I managed to stifle partially. A second surge ran through my body, more forceful this time, and I could feel it emanating from close to where I knew the mana core lay. A shooting pain seared throughout my body, increasing by the moment. Deeply inhaling, I tried to relax my body despite the mounting agony I felt.

As waves of pain pulsed through my body, I felt a bizarre sensation, similar to the feeling I would have when falling in a dream. When this stopped, I opened my eyes and sat up, finding myself in a strange world that was utterly different from where I had been moments earlier. The room I had been in had disappeared, and I was lying on what seemed to be an endless expanse of white. It seemed I had entered the Astral Plane.