Kael woke before the sun, bolting upright in bed from excitement and startling his brother who was fast asleep beside him.

"What is it Kael...?" Parker asked blearily, looking over at his younger brother through half lidded eyes.

"Nothing, I was just going to head over to the guild and tell them what happened. Sorry to wake you up!" Kael whispered as he pulled the rough woolen quilt off of him and slipped out of bed.

"It'ss fiinnn..." Parker mumbled incoherently, falling back asleep halfway through his reply as the warmth of the bed and the darkness of the room succesfully persuaded him into lying there for just a few more minutes.

For his part, Kael just smiled and padded across the room barefoot, taking extra care to dodge the planks he knew would creak and disturb his siblings' rest. Reaching the door, he stopped and gently tried to pry it open, wincing when the wrought iron hinges unleashed a piercing squeal, interupting Mary's rather unladylike snores from the far side of the bed. Kael cringed for a moment, but when the snores returned in full force he relaxed and snaked his way through the crack in the doorway, gently pulling the door shut behind him, thanking Enlil that it did not shriek the second time around.

The hallway was ice cold, unwarmed by the ceramic stoves that preserved some semblance of comfort in the bedrooms. For a moment, Kael shivered in his thin shift and trousers, before mustering the fortitude to move along the dark hallway. Pausing for a moment by the door to his father's room to make sure he was still fast asleep, he continued walking once he heard deep, gargling snores from the other side of the door.

As he reached the great room, he let out a gaping yawn, stretching his arms out as far as they would go and filling his lungs with the cold night air that had seeped into the house in the fire's absence. It had taken him a long time to go to bed last night and an even longer time to actually fall asleep. He'd done it! He'd recieved a message from the world! That message even came with a magical skill, one that he had never heard of before! Throughout his childhood he'd always heard stories of magic, of heros and villains who could hear the world through the blue signs. He'd always hoped that someday, maybe he could speak to it as well, and go on an adventure like Kareth the Bold or Eranth the Wise. As the years went by, he'd started to lose hope, until his sister Sorsha suddenly gained the power of aeromancy two years ago. Suddenly, when the next Testing occured she had been accepted into an academy in a nearby city and she had gone off to live a better life.

He had hoped then, but when two years went by... he'd never expected it to happen to him as well. He'd justed wanted a pet, some small beast to keep by his side like the mages in the stories did, and suddenly when he got one the world spoke! He'd spent the greater part of an hour celebrating with his siblings, ecstatically answering all their questions about the world signs and going over what each of his "stats" meant, before finally deciding that he'd be better served by going to sleep and asking for better explanations from the guild. Considering how tired they were as well, his siblings heartily agreed.

Now; however, it was morning and the sun would soon be rising. Kael grabbed his tunic from where he had left it, draped over Blaze's cage and slid it on over his shift, reveling in its warmth.

Looking down at the cage, he quickly pulled on a glove and opened it, reaching in to stroke the small fire Elemental's head.

"Good Morning Blaze!" he whispered cheerfully as the elemental shied away from his hand. He didn't much seem to appreciate petting, but Kael wasn't discouraged. Maybe he'd warm up to him once they got to know each other better. For now, he let Blaze have his way and pulled his gloved hand back out of the cage, carefully shutting and locking it.

Pausing for a moment to make sure his tunic was on straight and the guild's sigil was showing properly, Kael grabbed his thin coat from where it hung next to his brother's and slipped into on to keep him safe from the chill. Reaching down, he slipped his rough leather boots on, tieing them shut with a single lether thong. Then grabbing Blaze's cage, he pulled the door open and stepped out into the early dawn.

Thankfully, the wind that had raged throughout the night had moved on, leaving only a thin layer of snow and frost across the ground that cracked crisply under Kael's heels as he stepped outside. Shutting the door behind him, Kael took a deep breath, reveling in the crisp clear air. He could only remember smelling air this clean during winter, when the filth that coated the fifth's "streets" was frozen and the outhouses were all iced up. Every time he stepped outside during the winter, he made sure to pause for at least a moment, thanking Enlil for the small favors of life.

Now; however, excitement was spurring him forward, and he set off at a brisk walk using the light Blaze gave off to guide his way along the narrow paths that crossed the fifth. Dodging patches of ice, Kael marveled at how quite everything was. Normally, there were at least a few others awake at this hour, setting out for work in the nearby fields. Today; however, was a day of rest twice over. Not only was it Kronousalia, it was also the day after the Midwinter's Feast. Almost everyone was sleeping in, worn out from the previous day's celebrations. Thus, Kael was alone, only the sound of his footsteps echoing off of the huses and Blaze's crackling interrupting the comforting silence of the early dawn.

Soon enough; however, Kael found his way out of the fifth, reaching the city's Western gates. Even though they were by no means the city's main gates, they towered over him as looming monoliths in the dark, at least twice his height, if not more. Banded by iron, the wooden gates were carefully inscribed with glowing runes and sigils that Kael knew formed the first line of the city's defenses. They were, of course, barred shut at this hour, but there was still a much smaller door beside them that served to admit lone travelers and allow the guards to patrol without the inconvenience of opening the gates, not that the guards would ever bother going into the fifth that is.

Reaching the small side door, he quickl entered the walls, loudly knocking on the outer door as he did. There should be guards awake and manning even this door at every hour of the day, but it didn't hurt to be sure they expected him. Being mistaken for a bandit by a surprised guard generally led to a rather unpleasant fate. Fortunately; however, Kael found that there were in fact two guards awake inside the small checkpoint, huddled around a small brazier playing with cards.

"And just what do ya want Fodder?" the far guard asked, not even looking up from his cards.

"I'm headed to the Third District sir!" Kael replied, tactfully ignoring the insult.

"Really now? This early?" The guard, began, a crafty glint entering his eye, " Why that seems mighty suspicious to me. Maybe I ought to check you, make sure you don't have any contraband on ya. That little critter is looking mighty dangerous to me," he concluded, looking pointedly at Blaze.

Kael, swallowed deeply, taking a step back and moving Blaze's cage behind him. He'd heard of others having bad experiences with the guards and really didn't want have a first hand account himself.

Fortunately, the other guard chose this moment to finally look back over his shoulder and realize who had just come in.

"Lay off the kid, Arn." he began, much to the fist guard's surprise. "I know him," he continued, answering the other's questioning look," He's a runner for the Boars, comes through here every morning, Solsday through Lunaday half an hour afore Sunrise. Like clockwork's what he is."

"Don't reckon I've ever seen you on Kronousalia though," He commented towards Kael as he got up from his table by the brazier, moving towards the iron inner door.

"No sir," Kael replied, relieved to have been rescued from any sort of misunderstanding," I've just awoken Sir, and was meaning to go talk to someone in my guild about it."

"Really now?" The guard asked, his bushy eyebrows climbing up his face like they were attempting to fly away. "Congrats lad!" he continued as he knocked a certain pattern onto the door. Every day had a different pattern, decided upon randomly by the guards on duty that shift. Thus, only the guards could open the inner door into the city.

"Thank you sir." Kael acknowledged, watching as a small slit on the door opened first before the entire door swung outward, revealing two more guards. Once they ascertained everything was in order, the guards returned to their posts leaving Kael alone on the streets of the fourth quarter.

The journey through the fourth quarter was just as quiet and uneventful as the one through the fifth, as Kael easily navigated the winding cobbled streets due to years of experience running along them. Even though he was excited to get to his destination, he knew better than to take any shortcuts and risk finding himself falling vitcim to a tragicaccident. It was rare that anyone would actively target a guild's runner, but it had been known to happen as gang members were not exactly known for their intelligence or sense of self-preservation. Instead, he kept to the main roads and circled the city to get to the nearest entrance to the third quarter within fifteen minutes, just as the first rays of a rosy dawn were beginning to peak over the horizon.

"Morning Kael!" the guard manning the gate into the distrtict yelled to Kael, his booming voice shocking Kael out of the reverie he'd fallen into walking the empty streets.

"Good Morning Mr. Cragsdale!" Kael, shouted back, craning his head up to meet the guard's eyes.

"I don't suppose you'll ever start calling me Dale, will you lad?" The tall blond gaurd replied, scratching his beard covered chin, before letting out an earth-shaking yawn.

"No Mr. Cragsdale, Sir!" Kael replied cheerfully, causing the half-giant to roll his eyes and let losse a small snort of laughter.

"Whatever rolls your boulder kid," he replied casually, before scrunching his brows. "Say, what are you doing delviering a Fire Elemental here today? I thought my sister gave you the day off?"

"I'm not delivering him, I got him at my gift giving last night!" Kael repplied proudly, lifting up the cage so the friendly guardsman could get a better look at the little elemental.

Kneeling down, Dale inspected the Elemental, before giving an approving nod, seemingly satisfied. Suddenly; however, he furrowed his brows once more, this time looking directly at Kael. As he met the half-giant's eyes, Kael felt something flow through him. It was a strange feeling, almost as if he'd been splashed by a bucketful of water which then proceded to trickle down across his entire body. Surprised, Kael took a step brow, shaking his head slightly as the tingling suddenly disappeared. Just as he was about to ask Dale just what exactly happened, he felt two massive arms clamp shut around him and lift him into the air.

"AHAHAHAHA! You've finally Awoken lad! Come'ere, lemme give you a hug!" The half-giant bellowed, causing Kael's eardrums to quake, before he got enveloped in a crushing bear hug. Kael saw stars and smelled sweat as the excited giant swung him around in the air like a teddy bear.

Kael eventually did manage to muster up the strength to punch Dale in the chest, doing quite literally no damage to the guard but reminding him that not all races were as hearty as giants.

"Ahh! Sorry lad!" The half-giant replied sheepsihly as he set Kael down on the ground as gently as he could. For his part, the dazed Kael did manage to keep his footing after a few moments of swaying, if only barely. " I got a bit excited..."

"It's fine Mr. Cragsdale, I'm okay" Kael croaked out after a few moments, setting down Blaze's cage and leaning on it for a second to catch his breath.

"Are you sure lad?" Dale asks, eyeing Kael with concern, and a fair bit of regret at hurting his comparatively tiny friend.

"Yup," Kael replied more cheerfully, having regained himself. " Thanks for the congratualtions though."

"Ah, it's well deserved lad! You're the hardest working runner in all of Caerlin. It's about time you had some luck go your way," Dale replied with a genuinely friendly grin, reassured that Kael was in fact fine He'd watched the boy grow up, being his sister's runner for the past couple of years and coming through this gate every work day. It was safe to say that he was rather warm towards the boy.

"Thanks Mr. Cragsdale!" Kael replied, brightening at the words, before seeming to wilt as a new thought suddenly occured to him. "Oh... wait... Do you happen to know if anyone's actually at the guild hall today?"

" Well... they should all be there, but I don't know if anyone will be awake at this hour... or even sober..." Dale began before suddenly remembering," Actually... I heard Faye just came in late last night from that subjugation out by Pillard's crossing! I think she should be up by now..."

Kael smiled again upon hearing Dale's response, relieved that the whole walk hadn't been in vain and also glad that one of his favorite members of the Burning Boars had made it home safely from her adventures. Conciously, he knew that they would be fine each time they set out into the world, but... it was difficult to reconcile reality with his worries. Adventuring was a dangerous job after all, far more so than mercenary work or pure delving.

" Well, I guess I'll go on ahead then. Have a nice day Mr. Cragsdale," Kael concluded, picking up Blaze's cage and nodding to his massive friend.

"I'll try lad. By the way, tell Faye hello for me would ya? I wasn't on shift when she came in," Dale replied, nodding back to Kael as the boy took off at a light jog through the streets of the Third Quarter.

By now, the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, illuminating the streets with a thin orange light as Kael jogged North excitedly. Having come in from the Quarter's south entrance, he did still have a few minutes run ahead of him to make it to his destination, so he took it slow, lightly jogging across the worn stone. As he jogged, he watched the Quarter come to life around him with smiths and artificers opening their paned windows to meet the morning light. Every now and then Kael would catch a whiff of bread baking or bacon frying on the breeze as the Quarter's inns sought to prepare themselves for the ravenous hordes that would soom bust out of their rooms or guild halls and come knocking at their doors. He did his best to ignore these, knowing full and well that he couldn't afford to eat like that: his salary had to go to support his family, not to splurge on food.

Thankfully, he soon arived at the familiar building that housed the Burning Boars Adeventurers Guild. Made to accomodate members of all shapes and sizes, the hall was massive, towering over all the nearby buildings at a staggering four stories in height. In truth; however, it only actually had three stories, each was just a few meters taller to accomodate the three-meter tall half giants and minotaurs that called the place home. Thus, the windows were strangely out of place, unaligned with the remainder of the buildings on the street. Instead, it looked almost as if some divinity had reached down and stretched a warehouse out, making it span twice its normal height without taking proportions into account. The hall was painted a simple grey, with a massive ruddy brown boar's head painted across the entirity of the flat side facing the street, windows dotting its face as it seemed to be nosing around for something.

Reaching the doors, Kael set Blaze's cage down and strained to push the towering wooden slabs inward, knowing from past experience that it would take all of his strength to get the massive door to budge. Surprisingly; however, the door gave way far sooner than he remembered. Kael was surprised for a moment as he looked at the open door, but merely shrugged and picked up Blaze's cage. He wasn't one to question good fortune, and besides, someone had probably just oiled the hinges.

Entering the guild hall, he felt a wave of warmth hit him, completly contrasting the outside chill. Quickly shutting the door behind him to keep the cold out, Kael turned and stepped further into the guild's entrance hall.

Crossing the small hall in a couple of strides he walked up to a small counter manned by a golem.

"Good morning Mr. C380" Kael greeted the golem.

"Good Morning Kael Rolfe. You are currently off duty. Inquiry: how can this unit assist you?" the golem replied in a perfectly mechanical monotone, turning its white stone head downward to meet Kael's eyes with the two painted runes on its face that appeared roughly similar to eyes.

"Is Mrs. Cragsdale awake yet?" Kael asked, hopefully.

"Negative. Neera Cragsdale is currently in her quarters, she has stated that she is not to be disturbed. Exception: she stated that it was acceptable to disturb her for an Emergency. Do you have an Emergency?" The Golem asked, continung its monotone.

"No, it's not that important... How about Miss Faye? Is she awake yet?" Kael asked, slightly discouraged that Neera was asleep. She'd been the one to take him in years ago and he'd wanted her to be the first in the guild to know that he'd awakened, but it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.

" Faye Ashenwood is currently awake. She is in the cafetaria, eating Breakfast with Orlen Ironknee."

"Thanks Mr. C380! I'll be on my way there!" Kael yelled over his shoulder greatfully as he took off into the hall's depths.

"You are welcome Kael Rolfe." The Golem replied, unperturbed by the fact that the boy had already darted away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I tell you Faye... It's a right ... n in this city. I swear eve ... just gets... " Kael overheard snippets of a rough male voice speaking up ahead. Having been a runner for the guild for a few years now, he had met most of the guildmembers at least once. This voice; however, and the name attached to it by C380 were completely unfamiliar to him.

For a moment, he was tempted to pause and try to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was only for a moment though. As a runner, he'd been taught quite clearly and repeatedly of the virtues of honesty and what exactly happened to anyone who tried to use guild secrets. Thus, he quickly overcame his natural curiosity, and pointedly walked louder, scuffing his feet along the stone.

Sure enough, the male voice fell silent he soon heard footsteps stomp towards him. Slightly nervous, he watched as the door leading into the cafetaria opened and a male dwarf stepped out. A meter and a half tall, the dwarf was just a few centimeters shorter than Kael himself. Unlike Kael; however, the dwarf was swarthy, with broad shoulders and thick banded muscles straining against his thin undershirt. A full black beard covered his chest, unbraided and untamed without a hint of gray. As to his face... his face...

"What're you staring at boy?" The angry dwarf replied making eye contact with Kael. in this case, eye truly was the correct word as the dwarf did only have one. The left side of his face had four deep scars running down along it, physical craters in his face that left him without an eye or most of an ear. Instead, the dwarf's face was craggy, with carved canyons leading to a single sinkhole thankfully covered by an eyepatch.

"N-n-nnn-nothing Sir," Kael stuttered, carefully averting his eyes from the horific injury.

"Nothing eh?" The dwarf asked thoughtfully, walking up to Kael. "Then I bet you're not wondering why I haven't just healed these scars right off aren't you?"

"N-nno Sir." Kael replied, flinching as the dwarf shoved his face into Kael's.

"Take a good long look laddie. These are demon scars. You'll get some of your own if you become an adventurer worth your salt. Nothing can heal them. Not magic, not prayer, not time." The dwarf declared angrily, spittle flying from his lips and sticking in his beard.

"Yy-yes sir." Kael replied, taking a step back.

"Hmph. yuh-yuh-yuh yes, Sir!" the dwarf replied in a mocking falsetto. "Piss off kid. Go hide behind your mother's skirts and let real dwarves do the fighting."

With that, the dwarf walked by, shoving Kael into the wall with his shoulder as he passed.

Stunned, Kael sat there for a few moments, processing the naked hostility he had just faced from the dwarf. He'd never done or said anything to wrong the dwarf had he? Maybe it was because he's stared at his scars for too long? Maybe it was something else? He'd have to go and apolo...

His stream of thoughts was interrupted by a pale hand reaching into sight.

"Don't worry yourself about Orlen, he was never the cheeriest of dwarves and those scars have only worsened his disposition," a lilting voice accompanied the hand.

"Thanks Miss Faye, I was just surprised..." Kael replied, as he took the offered hand and pulled himself up with her help.

"Still making me feel a couple of centuries old aren't you Kael? At least you're almost using just my first name now." Faye replied with mock severity, her elven face settling into a fake pout.

"Sorry Miss Faye!" Kael replied with a slight grin as the elf just rolled her forest green eyes, much as Dale had beforehand. Everyone who knew Kael well enough got used to his eccentricities.

Suddenly, Faye hugged Kael, pulling him close enough to smell her flowery perfume and have her long brown ponytail whip in front of his eyes before holding him out at arms length. "Why didn't you write that you'd Awoken in your letter? I was so surprised when I walked over and saw you!" She spoke excitedly, lips curling into a wide dimpled smile.

"It actually just happened last night." Kael replied honestly.

"Really?" Faye asked, surprised," What caused it? Do you know?"

"Well, you see it happened after my Gift Giving, where my brother Parker gave me this fire elemental, " Kael began lifting the cage up and drawing Faye's attention to the Fire Elemental for a moment, before her eyes slid back to him as she nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"When I finally had a moment to name the Elemental, I called him Blaze and suddenly two of the blue signs appeared! They told me I had become a Namer and could now use something called Arcanus. Now, whenever I want to I can think of them, the signs will appear and tell me about my stats."

"Arcanus, huh..." Faye mumbled, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before turning back to Kael and breaking out into another wide grin. " That's wonderful Kael! Arcanus is a pretty uncommon approach to magic, but it is still quite powerful!" She continued joyfully.

"So you know what it is?" Kael asked, relieved that he wasn't treading some completely new path.

"Generally," Faye replied, tilting her head from side to side, "I don't personally use it, but there's at least one Arcanist who can use it in the Boars. He should be able to teach you a thing or two about how to actually use it."

"Really?" Kael asked, ecstatic. Having never even heard of the type of magic he could use, he had been very worried that nobody else would have either. That would have put him in the rather awkward position of trying to advance a magical field by himself for the first time, not something he was particularly enthusiastic about.

"Yes, but you would have to go to an academy for a few years first. I don't believe he has the to teach you all the words you need to know in your early stages," she explained, placing a damper on his joy.

"What do you mean, words?" Kael asked, curious.

"Don't yo... of course you don't." She began, but interrupted herself, remembering Kael's circumstances. All he probably knew about magic was limited to stories his sister told him and the limited tricks he had seen others perform.

"Let's head over to the practice field. It'll be easier to show you than it is to tell you." She said simply, and turned away towards the practice room. For his part, Kael simply picked Blaze up and followed her.

- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

In the Boar's case, their practice field was actually just the entirity of the first floor underground. Two stories tall, the wide open space contained everything from a long circular running track along the room's outside edge to sparring pits in the center, to halls branching off the mani room's sides that contained dozens of sealed practice rooms. The open space itself was only broken by a handful of colums, each thick enough for five fully-grown humans to just be able to wrap their arms around it. Currently, the two of them were in the center of the room, in one of the open air sparring pits, as Faye stood across from Kael, asking him some preliminary questions.

"Alright, so let's start simple. What do you know about magic?" Faye asked.

"Specifically or just..." Kael replied with his own question, confused as to what exactly she wanted him to say.

"Just anything you know that is related to magic. Anything at all." She clarified.

"Uh... alright, " Kael gathered his thoughts for a second before beginning.

"I know magic is something certain people who can speak to the world do, to do things that they normally wouldn't be able to do. Like... Kareth the Bold was able to call down Lightning from the sky and create a shield out of light to block an entire army's arrows. To do magic, you need to be have something called mana. Every race has different kinds of mana, and thus can use only certain kinds of magic. Humans are the only race that aren't born with any mana, but because of this we can use any kind of magic since we can get any kind of mana. Uhh... I think that's it?" Kael, stated finishing his explanation of magic.

"Well... At least you're not completely wrong..." Faye mumbled after a few moments of silence, before shaking her head.

"Alright, let's start at the beginning then."

"Magic, as most people understand the term, is the application of will to the world surrounding us. For instance, If I wish for a flower to grow in this arena." Faye paused for a moment to pull a seed out from a pouch on her belt and drop into the ground. Then, she waved her hand over the seed once and a green stalk burst out of the ground rapidly gaining leaves, and growing to knee height before its peak finally unfurled to form a bright red flower.

"Then a flower will grow in this arena." she finished, pausing for a moment to bask in Kael's awed look for a moment before continuing.

"It is always important to remember that everything has a cost! Each time I use my will to cause a change in the world around me, I have to channel mana to support my will. Think of it as just another limb really. Just like you can will your arm to open a door, you can will your mana to say grow a flower. But just like any limb, your mana will eventually be exhausted and you will have to rest to recover it. The more difficult or complicated the task is, the more mana it takes to perform it. That's why I dropped the seed into the ground first. It's far simpler to grow a single flower from a seed than it is to create it out of just hard packed Earth. It's also why I didn't grow an entire field of flowers around us. Even if I used enough seeds, it would cost me far more mana. You'll learn more about how exactly the amount of mana and will you need scale with the magnitude of the task you're performing, but for now its enough to just leave it at larger tasks require more mana."

"Now," she continued," the question of what mana is has always been far less clear as no race can actually see it. Only magical beasts, like your elemental there, can actually see mana and not just its effects. From what we've learned speaking to the beasts that have bothered to learn one of our languages, it seems to be a sort of energy that is tied into absolutely everything at a base level. It also seems to be corrupted by whatever it is currently merged with, changing its properties to match it. Fire mana, for instance, is wild and volatile, while earth mana is slow and steady. This tendency of mana to match the element it is connected to is why certain people start with the ability to use only certain types of magic."

"As an elf, I naturally create life mana, which has been described by magic beasts as expansive, ever shifting and slightly chaotic. Thus, when I started to perform magic, I struggled to control the earth and fire as earth's stability and fire's consumption lay directly contrary to what my mana wanted to do. In exchange, I was far more talented at life magic, or vitamancy as the blue signs call it, and slightly more talented at water magic and air magic, which both matched up fairly well with my mana. Any questions so far?" She asked, wanting to make sure he had caught all of that before she moved on to the second part of her explanation.

"So doing magic, is making what I want to happen in the world around me happen, using mana, a kind of energy I produce that is also in the world around me as a muscle to manipulate the world itself. Some forms of mana are better than others at doing certain things, but also worse than others at doing different things," Kael replied, summarizing what he had grasped of her explanation in a simpler way.

"That... is close enough for our purposes, although you will have to be able to explain it in more depth than that at the academy," she replied.

"Okay... so why can't I just make a flower grow out of the ground?" Kael asked.

"Well, that brings us to one of the great mysteries of magic: humans," Faye replied with a slight grin.

"Humans? How are we a mystery of magic?" Kael asked.

"Humans are the one race in this entire world that does not naturally produce some form of mana. As such, most humans are actually never capable of using magic, as regardless of their will and intent, they simply lack the mana to do so. This is the case for your brother Parker for instance, that was his name right?" Faye asked, pausing her explanation for a moment to satisfy her curiosity.

Kael simply nodded, and she smiled in reply, glad she had remembered correctly.

"Anyways, even though he can agree to contracts through the system, he will probably never see the signs themselves for himself and he'll never be able to propose a contract himself as he simply lacks the mana to do so. Aside from humans like Parker who do make up the vast majority of humans, there is a second group of humans who, through some method or another, manage to create elemental mana. Nobody knows exactly how this process occurs, but it does appear to run in families. There are plenty who do awaken their power randomly, though, which is why your people's version of the test requires every child to appear. These humans cast spells pretty much like any other magical race, so I won't go into any further detail on them."

Here's Kael's sister Sorsha came to the forefront of his mind. She'd suddenly gained the power to control the wind, even though nobody in their family had ever been able to use magic before so she fit this description perfectly.

"Finally, there is the third, and rarest group of humans: Arcanists. Since you can use the skill Arcanus, you would be classified as one of these. Arcanists are special because they are capable of channeling pure mana, untainted by any of the elements. I'm not exactly sure how one becomes an Arcanist, but there does seem to be some pre-existing conditions as not every human who names one of their pets suddenly awakens, even if those pets are sentient, and there are a variety of other methods that are known to awaken Arcanists powers, most of them expensive and rather difficult to perform, but enough on that. What's important is what you can do."

"As an Arcanist you can use every kind of magic perfectly, but you are severely limited by how you channel your mana. Because you start with pure mana, you can easily transform it into any other form of mana. What determines the type of Arcanist you are is how exactly you channel and thus control your mana."

"I know that Arcanus is generally bound by words, not in Common or in any language known to life on this world, but in the language of the world itself. That means that you must have clear knowledge of something in order to cast a spell with it. In order to cast a spell with water, you must know what water is, what it does, what differentiates it from other liquids. Once you know everything there is to be known about something, you will have its name in the Language of the World and can use it when casting your spells. Knowing everything, even about one thing, is simply impossible; however, so you will never be able to perfectly control your magic with just one word. If you say half of the name of water, depending on which way the mana flows you could get ice or steam that are still inside a bowl or you could get a massive jet of water erupting from your palm. Thus, you need to build sentences. You need to tell the world that there will be two liters of water at 22 degrees Celsius in this pot over this campfire and you need to explain where the water should come from as well."

"But... that sounds horrible!" Kael blurted out, shocked at how difficult magic would likely be for him.

"Yes, that is the greatest weakness of those who use Arcanus, but it is also your greatest strength. Whereas I could use my magic to create a flower in this arena, you can use your magic to create a specific flower that would reach a specific height, and be coloured exactly how you wish. A master Arcanist specializing in Arcanus is able to weave massive constructs that can perfectly manipulate the world around him with far more control than any other mage is capable of, but he will always be slower to cast spells being forced to first remember the words he is trying to use then detail his mana to form a construct that performs the task he is attempting to complete whereas a pyromancer could simply unleash a cone of fire like it was second nature. If it helps any, Eranth the Wise was an Arcanist specializing in Arcanus."

That, more than anything else did manage to relax him.

He did; however, still have some questions.

"If Parker doesn't have any mana of his own, how is he still able to sign magic contracts?"

"That one's easy. He actually uses the other person's mana, it's basically like dipping your quill into someone else's inkwell. It let's you write, but it won't last long, and it only happens if the other person allows it to." she replied with an analogy, clearing it up for him.

"Ah, that make sense, and the quill would be his will then?"

"Correct."

"You were sayi..."

Suddenly, a new voice interrupts the discussion.

"Faye! The guildmaster needs your report on the situation at Pillard's crossing," Another one of the guild's runners shouted out as he peered down into the pit.

"Ahh, I knew there was something I was forgetting!" Faye mumbled to herself before turning back to Kael. "Sorry Kael, I'm going to have to fly. I'd rather not keep the guildmaster waiting."

"It's not a problem Miss Faye! Thank you for the explanation, I'll do my best to remember it!" Kael replied, honestly grateful and hiding the slight frustration that built up within him at her sudden exit.

"I will try and see if I can find that Arcanist I mentioned earlier, he might be out on a mission though, so would you just check back in here after Midday? You are free today right?"

"Yup! I'll be sure to come back then."

"Alright, Goodbye Kael!" Faye Concluded with a wave as she turned and followed the runner away to the guildmaster's office.

"Bye Miss Faye!" Kael replied, with a wave of his own as he went the other direction, back towards the guildhall's main exit. Passing through the entrance hall, he paused for a moment. An idea had just come to him. He was 13 now, was armed with a magical pet, and could kinda use magic; surely now it couldn't hurt if he just took a look inside the dungeon. He wouldn't go deep, just enough to see what it was like, since he'd never been allowed inside because he was too young. Besides, it wasn't like he had much else to do to pass three hours till midday.

Walking up to the desk in the front lobby, he asked, " Mr. C380, would it be possible for me to borrow a sword?"

The golem seemed to pause for a moment before replying," For What Purpose?"

"I just wanted to go into the dungeon, but I don't have a sword of my own." Kael replied honestly, wondering if he was about to be told he was still too young to go into the dungeon.

A Golem; however, is an interesting creature. Excellent at processing routine, expected situations, they are far less capable at handling abnormalities in the daily routine. Fortunately, C380 had been endowed with a set of instructions on what to do when an abnormal request came in. First, it determined if the request harmed any guild member. Since kael was asking for a sword to protect himself, it would actually harm a guild member if C380 did not grant his request, and let Kael enter the dungeon without a weapon at all. Second, it determined if the request harmed the standing of the guild as a whole. Since loaning weapons was a guild policy, this was not the case. Third it determined if there was a surperior awake and capable of handling the situation. The Master Arenth and Faye Ashenwood were both currently in a discussion that was not to be disturbed, and the only other guild member senior enough to approve the request that was currently awake was Orlen Ironknee. In his defence, when C380 asked Orlen whether or not to approve the weapons request, he was by no means aware that Kael was not a young guild member trying to prove himself in the dungeon. He had never truly met the boy, having spent the past three years campaigning in the demon lands. Thus, blissfully unaware of what was truly going on, Orlen approved the request, believing that a fight in the dungeon would put some grit in the timid boy's gizzard. It might be a little iffy to go by himself, but any proper recruit should be able to take care of himself on the first floor at least.

Kael was somewhat surprised when C380 replied that his request had been approved, but took the sword nonetheless, tying its scabbard to his belt, and marching merrily towards the dungeon, blissfully unaware of the unfortunate series of events that had led to his sudden gain in equipment and of the true danger that lurked within.