Derek ran into the practice yard of Redwyrm Castle. When he arrived he saw that many of his clansmen had already arrived. Of the five participating in the coming of age ceremony, he was the last to arrive. Belany and Hector waved when they saw him and their father smiled upon seeing him. As the next clan Patriarch, Richard Thorne kept track of the promising youngsters and Derek’s performance was considered outstanding among his age group.

From the other side Derek saw Elton, Feros, and their father, Jacob. Jacob had a vendetta against Derek’s grandmother, though he didn’t know why. He just knew that Jacob would take every opportunity to obstruct him. This included denying them food and supplies during the harsh winters, which would aggravate Eona’s condition. Each instance of this was a crime Derek would not forgive. It is enough to act against him but to play games with his mother’s health? Derek would never forgive that.

As he arrived he heard his mother’s voice from the back of the crowd near Belany and Hector’s family. Eona had a really low place within the clan. Not only was she part of a branch, but her husband was dead. Even worse, years ago the Patriarch thought to raise her status by allowing her to study the seal on the Sword and instead of affirming the clan’s convictions, heresy of heresies, she claimed that the seal had nothing to do with the Demon Lord’s Seal but was merely intended to preserve the schema on the Sword and prevent the unworthy from seizing the Sword.

Ever since that day most of the clan shunned her. It took a great deal of effort for the Patriarch to preserve her life and merely order her to live on the mountain away from the clan so that she would not be at risk of reprisals.

Today she was allowed inside the castle only because her son would be participating in the trials. Ovid stood next to her, one look from him and any troublemaker knew to stay away. Alicia was not there. She was probably up front with Belany and Hector, the only friends she had made in her three years in Redwyrm.

Derek ran up and hugged his mother. He handed her the potion he had just received from Ander and said, “Mother, look what master just gave me! Quick, drink it. It will cure you illness.”

She laughed at his excited babble, “Silly boy! This potion is for your personal growth. How can I take it from you?”

Tears started to form in his eyes again and he said, “But mother, you have been ill every day since I can remember. My greatest wish is to see you well. If you can drink this and heal your illness then that would really be the best gift I can have for my birthday.”

Hearing this, she also teared up and wiped away those that appeared on his face. The illness was a constant physical reminder of her loss that day. If her husband was alive she would not have this near crippling illness. If he was alive his clansmen would have never dared to disrespect her and her son as they have. If he was alive they would never have to worry that they might not have enough to make it through the month.

Even closer to her heart, if he was alive Ovid and Ander would have never had to play the part of father to her son. She never felt lonely as her husband had not been particularly loving to begin with but all of these other reasons were quite the burden to carry and every day of illness was a reminder of all that she lost. Yet here was her son offering her his birthday present to cure that illness.

She hugged him tightly and whispered, “OK, I will take this. I will wait until tomorrow and take it under you grandmother’s supervision so that she will be there if there are any side effects. Is that fine? Good. Now run up front to join Belany and Hector, the trials will begin soon.”

“OK, mom! Just you watch. I will surely do the best out of all of them!”

He ran up to the front to join Belany and Hector. Alicia was standing behind them and had just finished chatting with Belany when he arrived. The three of them all smiled in greetings. Richard even spoke up from the side, “Good timing Derek, the Patriarch is about to arrive. I expect a good showing from you today.”

Derek smiled at Richard and turned to look at the dais that had been erected up front. There, Rebekah was already seated in her test administrator’s chair. It would be up to her to cast the Status magic and project it so that the clansmen could see the Status of each of the youths participating in the coming of age ceremony.

Soon the Patriarch walked up to his chair on the dais. From where he was seated he could see all of the proceedings and judge appropriately the results of the trials. He looked down at the five youths standing below him and called out in a commanding voice, “Children of the Thorne clan. Today you are about to commence the trials that youth of our clan have participated in for five thousand years. The trials today are to determine eligibility for the later trials and to determine who will have the opportunity to compete in the third trial for the right to lead you in the final trial of these Coming of Age Trials.

“The first trial is to determine eligibility to even participate in the rest. The original purpose was to weed out those who had not reached level five yet. It has been centuries since we have had a cripple who hasn’t reached level five so do not be concerned about this trial, it will merely serve to satisfy the clan’s desire to see how strong you have all become.

“The elders discussed this morning how we should handle the second and third trial and after the fine suggestion of Elder Jacob we have determined that the four strongest results in the second trial will get to compete in the third trial. Holy magic is the greatest tool for our clan and it only makes sense that the strongest users of Holy magic get to lead when hunting demons. There will be no appeal to the results of this test.”

When he finished the Patriarch looked meaningfully at Elton and Feros. Derek heard a snicker from Hector. These two definitely had a bad reputation in the clan. After a brief pause the Patriarch raised his hand, “Without further ado, let the five thousand and twelfth Thorne Clan Coming of Age Trials begin.”

The first trial was a simple Status check. First up was Elton, who whispered to Derek on his way up to the stage, “Today you will learn your place trash. Don’t think you will get to participate in the third trial.”

Derek ignored it, after today how could Elton and Feros’ taunts mean anything to him? Elton walked up to Rebekah and said, “You better not alter it you hag. Everyone is watching.”

Rebekah blanched at this and recoiled slightly. There were gasps from the crowd. The Patriarch stood from his chair and shouted angrily, “Jacob, you will silence your sons. If I hear another word out of either of them today I will have them whipped in the town square until neither can walk!”

Elder Jacob was also furious. His son’s hatred for Rebekah came from him but he knew damned well where the line was and Elton had just sprinted across it. “Don’t worry Patriarch. Neither of them will dare to speak in front of you again today and I assure you I will instill better discretion into Elton this afternoon. No need to air this laundry in front of the whole village.”

Elton’s face drained of color from his father's tone. He knew that he had gone too far so he stood there quietly while Rebekah cast the Status spell on him.

An image appeared before the crowd with a list of attributes and numbers. Next to the list of attributes was a wheel showing his magical affinities. The status revealed that he was level nine with a strength nine, body of eight, an agility and mind of seven. His affinities showed supreme in order and light and a varied array for the rest. His elemental attributes showed nine for light and order and six to seven for the rest. His essentia pool was large for a typical warrior but not particularly high. Other than being level nine his attributes were fairly standard for a Thorne clan warrior coming into his coming of age trials.

The clansmen were fairly pleased to see this. Level nine of tier zero at the age of sixteen was a pretty big deal. It must be said that to progress out of tier zero was one of the greatest roadblocks in life. Fully seventy percent of people will never progress out of tier zero. This is for two reasons.

One, they must reach level ten of tier zero before the age of magical maturity at twenty five. If they miss this opportunity it takes nothing short of divine intervention for someone to progress out of tier zero at that point. Two, once they reach level ten they must advance through the bottleneck into tier one before turning twenty five. This advancement is called class or tier up and requires special training, spells, and or magical components determined by what specialization they wish to take at that point.

This is part of the reason for the Thorne clan’s Coming of Age Trials requiring the youth to gather a demon heart. The ritual to become a Demon Warrior at tier one requires a demon heart as its base.

The reason the clansmen were pleased was because if Elton was already level nine, he could very well be ready to tier up at the end of the Coming of Age Ceremony. As a sixteen year old tier one, he would be considered an up and coming talent in the clan with a bright future ahead of him.

Elton glowered first at Rebekah then Derek on his way down from the dais but didn’t dare to say anything. He still received a swat to the back of his head from his father once he got within arms reach. After him was his twin who sneered at Derek and Rebekah before having his Status revealed. It mimicked his brothers, only level eight instead of level nine and some of his attributes were one lower.

After them were Hector and Belany who's uncanny similarity appeared once more in their Status. In every way they were equal. Both level nine with seven body and strength, eight agility, and nine mind. Their affinities were all excellent or better with supreme in light and order. Their elemental attributes were all over six with nine in light and order and their essentia pool was quite robust, equal or better than most mages of their level.

If the reaction to Elton was good, the reaction to these two was ecstatic. It is harder and slower to develop as mages so very few appear in the clan each generation. These two are likely to be the only ones for this generation and yet in spite of the slower rate of growth and greater difficulty, these two were even closer to tiering up than Elton.

Next was Derek’s turn. As he approached the stage he could see his grandmother's reassuring gaze and for that moment that is all he focused on. He stood before his grandmother and waited for the comfortable wash of order and air magic she used to cast her Status spell. Once it was cast he couldn’t help but smile as heard the gasps of the clansmen in the crowd. Even his grandmother's eyes widened in surprise and he could see the Patriarch sit forward in his chair.

Derek looked up at his Status and smiled. Level ten, strength ten, body ten, agility ten, mind ten, affinities all supreme except for chaos and shadow which were both outstanding, all elemental attributes ten, and an essence pool that surpassed most tier one and some tier two mages.

Why was he confident coming in today? Because he had worked hard to achieve this Status. He started work each morning before most of his clansmen were even awake and he trained long after most of them stopped every day. He also knew the painstaking care his mother had put into his schema and he knew that if he didn’t put forth his utmost his mother’s efforts would be squandered.

Derek Thorne-

Class

Magic Warrior

Elemental Attribute

Elemental Affinity

Point Value

Spell Level

Tier

0

Order

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Level

10

Water

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Light

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Basic Attribute

Point Value

Wind

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Strength

10

Chaos

Outstanding

10

Low 4 (30)

Body

10

Fire

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Agility

10

Dark

Outstanding

10

Low 4 (30)

Mind

10

Earth

Supreme

10

Mid 4 (35)

Essentia Pool

Mid t2 Mage

Previous Classes-

None

Permanent Enhancements-

None

Equipment-

None