The carriage was silent, It reminded the boy of when he sat served visiting families at the Ossege estate. Hours of straight posture and silence so as to not embarrass the family he worked under. In his arms sat baby Chelsea who remained asleep through the carriage rideable to ignore the occasional bump of a rock on the road. The boy had never left the manor and if he did it was only ever to visit the merchant quarter to restock the pantry. This was different, the carriage had taken them past the towering walls of his home kingdom of Vernia. The buildings of his home had been replaced by a long green pasture which was a sight to behold. It was strange to see nothing, no people, no buildings, or even have that putrid smell of urine burn his nostrils. It had been quite some time travelling as the sun now sat directly above them but he wouldn't take the trip for granted, it was his first time ever being a guest rather than the help. Although his hosts weren't exactly pleased by his presence. The two mages that, well kidnapped him sat on the opposite side of the carriage with the younger one taking an opportunity to sleep on the wall while the older one kept her air of superiority. She almost didn't move or speak the entire trip sitting there as if she was a statue.

"We are almost at the academy." Short but the first words that were spoken in the last couple of hours.

"What's the academy?" He spoke.

"It's the place all new blessed go to learn the basics of magic." That was it? The boy waited for her to elaborate further but after a few short seconds, he realised that it was all she meant to say. Instead of asking more questions, the boy pushed himself further in his seat bringing Chelsea closer to his chest not willing to let go of the only familiarity he had left.

It wasn't long before he saw it. A castle that sat on the edge of a cliff plummeted to the sea below. It was a castle that only rivalled his own king if not surpassed. It was large beyond belief with spiralling towers that reached up to the sky. It was utterly breathtaking. The stone looked as if it was marble, almost white in appearance and completely flawless, with not a single crack along with its vast expanse. There were no defences that lined its walls, perhaps it was hidden with magic or there was no need for such weaponry that would be considered primitive.

"Are there more like this? How is it possible to afford such a place?" He couldn't help the question slip out of his mouth as he marvelled at the sheer size.

"There are several academies scattered around the Northern Continent. The Golden Crown has no affiliation with anyone kingdom although it certainly does play its favourites." The mage scowled at the words when they left her mouth. "Although, this is Vernia's academy which has become an unofficial head of the other academies with the current and previous Grand Mage choosing to reside there, as you could imagine the most powerful mage in the world The other academies aren't so grandiose if that is what you were wondering."

The carriage slowly pulled up to the castle, there was no gate but there were two men in robes at the front. A quick jab woke up the apprentice from her slumber, her drool leaking from her mouth. It was hard to imagine that this was one of the women who stole a child, he couldn't forgive her for what she did but there was something so human to how exhausted she was. One of the men in robes opened the door to the carriage. The man didn't bother to inspect the carriage rather preferring to wave his hand around in the air as if trying to swat an invisible bee. As weird as it was to see the strange hand gestures the boy felt something tug at his chest towards the man. The sensation felt alien, like a deaf person hearing for the first time.

"Name and reason for entre."

"Nomika, the discovery of new blessed."

"Sorel, apprentice of Mage Nomika." The man looked expectingly at the boy. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to speak?

"I don't have a name and I'm," His words died in his throat, he tried to say 'he was here to learn the way of magic' but the words couldn't escape from him. He tried but only sputtering and spit left his mouth as if his jaw had been welded shut with iron.

"You can't speak unless it's something you believe to be the honest truth. Surely you a peasant can understand the concept of a truth spell." The apprentice spat hatefully, he really wished she was still asleep. He missed her mild snores rather than her irritating voice.

Of course, he knew what he wanted to say. That mages were psychopaths that stole children. Of course, he didn't think that would go over well with the other mages so he chose to keep his mouth shut. Well, he would have if the older female mage looked like she was ready to turn him into ashes if she even could. So far all magic could do was touch kids and prevent lying.

"I am kidnapped." He wanted to crawl inside his tunic and die, his blush burned his cheeks. The mage who guarded the gate gave a small laugh to himself, almost amused by his reaction.

"I assure you you'll be well looked after here." The guard spoke in a kind voice. But the way that Mage Nomika looked at him with fury frightened the poor boy. She wouldn't kill him? Mages couldn't just kill people, right?

Regardless the carriage continued past the large walls till it finally come to an end in a courtyard allowing the trio to finally stretch their legs. The boy was grateful to feel the crack in his back as he stretched, but by the time he had successfully popped his joints the two female mages were already back in the carriage.

"Where are you going?"

"It's the week of discovery, we are to return to Vernia and continue looking for blessed children then return them to the academy." The boy looked at the apprentice who looked miserable at the thought of doing the same trip over and over again which made his heart sing a little admittedly. "Can you read boy?" Nomika asked.

"Yes madam." The mage glared at him as if trying to make sure he was being honest. Reading was something that servants weren't taught, but he could read as early as he could remember. Her piercing gaze sent shivers down his spine but quickly left instead shrugging.

"There are signs everywhere, find the nursery and deliver the child." She said.

"And then?"

"I don't care... If you follow the signs you'll find the dorms. They are for the novices which I suppose you are now." Before he had a chance to argue she had already made her way into the carriage.

The boy certainly didn't like the woman but being left alone in a massive castle by himself was less than ideal. Also... the main issue was that there were no signs in the courtyard, only the trees and the grass offered any sense of company.

"Well, I don't suppose you have any idea what to do?" He asked the baby sleeping in his arms. He was met only by silence. "Of course not. I suppose it would be more concerning if you did talk."

Letting out a tired sigh the boy ventured forth towards the castle doors, his only goals were to continue to adventure the vast building till he eventually hit the nursery. It couldn't be too hard right? Oh, how wrong he was. The castle's wealth was only matched by its vastness. His original plan was to wander the castle till he found a sign that pointed him to the nursery or a person who could do it for him. At this point, he wondered if it was even a good idea to hand over the child he held in his arms. Though admittedly he was unequipped to handle a baby on his own.

For a castle of such size, he could only have assumed that there were people living in it. Yet he had seen rooms of wealth with golden chandeliers and rooms that he could have only imagined in his worst nightmares with creatures that he had never seen before locked in cages. He had determined he would never go near the lower levels ever again if he valued sleeping tonight. Annoyingly he kept feeling that pull in his chest, that sign that magic was being cast but it often didn't last long and he would make it to the end of a corridor before the tug was gone.

It took some time but he eventually found a boy who couldn't have been older than twelve cleaning one of the many sets of plated metal armour that lined the halls. He didn't wear the noble robes of the mages he met before, but rather dirty rags that barely passed as the clothing of mages.

"Hello?"

"Good day sir." The kid said. "You don't look like one of the mages." The child looked at him as if it was his first time seeing someone like him. Was it his first time not seeing someone dressed in robes?

"I'm not, I was brought here by a mage with... my child." The words came off weird on his tongue. He himself was sixteen and had he been a legitimate child of his noble family it wouldn't have been uncommon for him to be married off so young. Thanks to mages and more so from their research on biology and health, the life expectancy of man had witnessed an extreme increase. Still, most men were married off before they reached their twenties so it wasn't an unbelievable lie that Chelsea was his. Although, claiming that his master's child was his own did cause him to feel guilt he wasn't ready to be separated from Chelsea yet. But, if what the fellow servants said about children taken by mages were true he was probably going to be the closest thing to a father she'd have.

"Your child and you?" The boy looked shocked, he had completely forgotten about his prior task of abandoning the rag and the armour to rather look at him in curiosity. "Were you recently discovered? Of course not you're too old. Are you a mage? I've never seen a mage that looks like you? Are you not blessed but a parent of a blessed child? No, only those who have a connection to magic in this castle."

"Woah, slow down."

"Sorry. It's just I'm not used to anything that isn't cleaning or reading. I guess I'm just excited." The boy looked confused at the young boy. Besides himself, it was unheard of for servents to read. He must have been a servant as no mage would ever be caught dead cleaning.

"It's fine. I am trying to find the nursery. Do you know where it is?"

"Do I?! I could find the nursery with my eyes closed." The child beamed. He sure was excited just to see a teenager holding a baby but if he would help him then the boy would gladly accept it. He did hope that he wouldn't actually have his eyes closed though.

"Thank you that would be appreciated." He said.

The child picked up his rag that had fallen off the floor to instead roughly shove it into his robe's pocket. The boy being a fellow servant understood how tedious it could be cleaning an entire manor which was, he could only imagine that the academy of this size that made the royal castle look like a joke was a nightmare but for a servant to disregard work so easily seemed strange. But a castle of this size the boy guessed it wouldn't be a big deal if a few sets of armour went uncleaned.

The two of them walked the halls with the boy struggling to keep pace with the younger boy. "So why are you here at the academy sir?" That might have been the first time he had ever been called sir. It was strange but a warm feeling, it was the first time anyone had called him anything besides boy.

"The mages took me and Chelsea from Vernia."

"A-are you blessed? He scowled at the child's words. He was many things but he found that the last thing he was ever since the mages was blessed.

"They called me that."

"Wow that's incredible, I've never seen someone so old go long without being discovered." The boy suddenly didn't like this annoying brat's company so much. "How are you so old?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean no disrespect. It's just that all novices that are taken in are usually infants. It's not unheard of for the mages to miss a blessed, I heard that most mages don't bother going into the slums but if a blessed is born in the slums they will probably go their whole lives without learning magic. Is that why you are so old? Were you from the slums?"

"Just how old do you think I am?"

"I think it's for the best for both of us if I don't answer that."

The boy gritted his teeth. Where were the sirs and respect that the child had demonstrated before? Hell for his entire life he had been called boy and yet now he was being teased mercilessly by a child for being older.

"I was not raised in the slums. I was taken in by a noble family as an infant and was raised as a servant by them. Since I wasn't born by them I was never reported as a newborn child. Most of the noble families didn't even know I existed till I was eight and serving them tea."

"Oh, so you're a novice like me? My name is Zerinthermore. I picked it myself at the age of four."

"You picked your name?" What the boy really wanted to say was that why did he think Zerinth- he couldn't even remember the whole thing. Surely even four-year-olds can recognise that sometimes that being diffident isn't always good. He couldn't really talk he had no name himself.

"Yup! We novices since we get to choose our name when we are old enough to speak," Having no parents must mean that mages get to choose their own names, it would certainly explain why most mages that the boy had heard of often had names that were unique if a bit slightly childish.

"I keep hearing that word but no one has actually told me what it is."

"I novice is best described as a not an apprentice. I guess. We novices are blessed who haven't been taken in by a mage and become an apprentice. We simply wait here at the academy, clean, read in the library and try to teach ourselves magic so a mage will want us. The castle doesn't allow those who aren't blessed in so we novices are in charge of the upkeep. The only way to get out of the academy is by being taken by a mage or by becoming one yourself. But just between you and me, the mages that are self-taught don't last long."

"How does a novice become a mage?"

"Well everyone who is blessed is a mage. The only requirement for mages is to be able to use magic, anyone can call themselves a mage. Apprentices and novices are mages, but apprentices generally follow an older mage to learn magic and novices like us only have what's in the library. After we get your child to the nursery I can show you to the novice dormitory."

"I don't suppose I get an introductory lesson? All I've done so far is walk from one place to another." The small child seemed to almost laugh in response.

"There is no introductory. Since almost every kid is raised in the academies we know what is expected of us by the mages. As long as the castle is clean and the occasional small monster is put back in its cage we are generally allowed to do what we want. We novices are more in charge of ourselves than anything else. We have a chart set up in the dorm room of shifts, you'll learn how everything works."

The two boys engaged in small talk walk navigating the labyrinth of a castle, mostly disguising his future at the castle that ranged from meal times to where the robes they were offered. It was all so... underwhelming. He had lived his whole life learning to clean and honestly he found no interest in cleaning the toilets of mages even if they were made of gold. Maybe it was better back with the nobles. At least with the nobles, he knew what he had to do every day, he had too much freedom. He missed the curfew he missed the orders and he missed not being responsible for himself. The boy was apparently in the epicentre of magic and yet had seen nothing that was interesting to him.

"For all the talk about how magical that place is supposed to be there doesn't seem to be a lack of it." Except for the occasional pull of magic he felt every so often, although after an hour it had started to fade into the background like white noise. "I thought this was supposed to be the most impressive academy and while everything is lined with gold and fine silk, I don't see anything besides wealth."

"Usually this place is a lot more lively. Most mages live in their own manor out of fear of stolen books or knowledge. A lot of mages spend their lives writing books on their magic or their studies so you'll be hard-pressed to find a mage who is willing to share with anyone besides their own apprentice and as such, they live in large wealthy homes away from other mages. Despite that this place is often filled with mages, the facilities are the best of the best and the library takes up basically three floors of the castle. Although this is the Vernia academy, home to the Grand Mage. Most academies are for everyone but here due to the presence of the Grand Mage the majority of mages who reside here mostly study in magical combat as he himself was a combat mage before becoming the Grand Mage. He is currently without an apprentice so everyone is fighting for the position. The Grand Mage is holding a competition for his eighth daughter, most are travelling to compete so it's as empty as it'll be. There are still plenty of mages not interested in competing but with the academy being so large it's harder to find them. You'll know where mages are if you know where to find them. For example the nursery."

The two boys arrived before a door that had the word nursery embroidered on it. He wasn't sure what to expect when walking in but he certainly didn't expect the walls to be painted bright yellow with plenty of hand marks and toys lying around on the ground. The whole room looked like the sun had thrown up on a toy factory. The only thing that held any semblance of normal was the sight of a woman who wouldn't have been older than twenty reading a children's book to a small group of kids. The small reading session was brought to an end by Zerin and the boy's own entrance much to the boy's displeasure. He was used to being looked over by nobles but to having the attention of kids and honestly a fairly attractive mage was too much. Her green robes fit her body well and her brown her flowed over her shoulders effortlessly. He had never seen hair that looked so clean and shiny, it seemed to be a mage there was a prerequisite of being gorgeous.

"Apprentice Clarisa Greenmist," Zerin introduced to him. Strange, the boy didn't think mages had family names considering they were all stolen. "This is..."

"Chelsea." The boy said.

"Is that yours or the baby's name?" Clarisa asked.

"The baby" The woman merely shrugged at his response.

"Well it doesn't matter too much, she'll lose her name anyway." The carefree attitude she had when she casually dismissed the child's name was cruel. Maybe it was the beauty of the girl but the boy didn't think she held any malice behind her words, to her it was just merely stating a fact. It didn't make the boy cringe any less though. "Mage Dominic is just through the door on the left with the other infants, I assume she's part of the discovery?"

"Yup, and you won't believe it but he is too!" Zerin said as if it was the craziest news he'd heard in months.

"Really?" She raised a brow examining the boy. Her gaze felt like it lasted an eternity, he hated this feeling of judgment. The boy didn't think he would miss being ignored but now he wouldn't mind it a little. "That would certainly explain the clothing."

The tunic suddenly felt like it was heavier under the girl's gaze. It wasn't his fault! This was the cleanest tunic he had as well, but to the two mages, it probably was nothing more than the cleaning rag that still sat in Zerin's pocket.

"I should get Chelsea to the nursery." The boy interrupted. He didn't think he could stomach any more conversation as him as the topic, he hated the attention and honestly, he was starting to hate this castle. If he had learnt one thing from today it was that he was not a mage and he could live without being one.

"Very well, I hope to see you around the castle... sorry what's your name?"

"I don't have one."

"Why don't you just give yourself one?" Because he was a servant and the only one he deemed worthy of naming him was the people that gave him a home and a roof. The Ossege was the only people he'd allow to name him.

"Maybe." The words left his mouth lazily. He didn't bother to hide the dismissiveness in his voice, maybe it would finally convince them to leave him alone. Regardless, it may have been rude but the conversation had died. Knowing Zerin he would get the conversation alive again by only being mildly hurtful and offensive towards him. Before Zerin could continue to talk about how he had no idea about anything about mages the boy went to approach the door to where the other babies were kept. Zerin didn't bother to follow, the boy was more interested in the children's book that Clarisa's went back to reading after one of the very small kids started tugging at her robe.

The nursery back at the Manor was a small room with a single crib, it was fairly bare as there wasn't much a baby needed as infants weren't really known for their ability to run around a room. Here at the castle, a nursery looked more like a factory than anything else. Row after row of cribs lined the room, he had never seen so many babies in one spot. To care for all of them would take a sizeable staff which confused the boy as there was only a man in green robes going from baby to baby, muttering under his breath. Magic, the tug at the boy's chest told him it was. The door closed behind him with an audible thud alerting the man to the boy's presence.

"Clarisa have you done reading to the kids already? Fetch another book, perhaps at a higher level it's about time they start to-, you aren't Clarisa." The boy fought the urge to give a sarcastic response but merely nodded. The man took a glance at the baby and then rolled his eyes tiredly as if he knew every line of the conversation he was about to have. "Very well give me the baby and you can be on your way."

Begrudendly the boy walked over to the mage. The man didn't look over twenty-five yet his eyes were dull as if he had lived centuries. He supposed that working in the nursery alone with all the children must have sucked the life out of any man, even mages. "Where is everyone?"

"The bloody Grand Mage had taken most of the healers and their apprentices to help in his frivolous competition. So now I'm keeping myself awake for the last week with magic to make sure that this room doesn't become a synmphany of wailing infants. That doesn't even include that healers that went off to help in the week of discovery. The better question is where is your robe?" The man said. "There are kids in here and yet you swagger in with a tunic that reaks of what I hope is sweat. Who knows what diseases you've given this poor child just touching her." The boy couldn't help this mage was as much as an arse hole as the female apprentice that he had arrived with at this stupid academy.

"I haven't been given one. I am a new novice apparently." The older mage seemed to look surprised at this. Was it really that strange for someone to be discovered older than an infant?

"I'm sorry to hear that." The mage said half-heartedly which was the most expression he had given so far. That didn't stop him from ripping Chelsea out of his hands, the loss of weight and warmth from the boy's hands felt wrong. As if he had lost the one thing that had kept him grounded and he could fly off at any moment. It was wrong.

"What do you mean your sorry to hear that?" The man ignored him choosing to rather focus on placing Chelsea in a nearby empty crib. The man looked down at the child before putting his palm only an inch away from the baby's face.

"Show me what lies beneath." Magic tugged at his chest when the words left his mouth. Being so close allowed the boy to feel the magic wrap around itself in complex shape before eventually dissipating.

"What was that?"

"A spell that tells me if it detects any pathogens are found in the child. Despite your filthy clothes best efforts, it seems the child isn't sick by some miracle." The boy had no idea what a pathogen was but from context, it had something to do with sickness. Personally, he didn't see much point in the spell as if a child is sick you won't need a spell to find out, eventually, the kid will show symptoms. Regardless it was still impressive.

"How did you do that? Will I be able to learn it?"

The man with tired eyes looked at him, his eyes dulled by sleeplessness gave him a sense of a dead man on his feet. But behind those eyes, the boy saw pity. The boy knew had made a mistake in asking a question when he looked at those eyes, all he had want to do is suck back in his words the moment they left his mouth.

"I'm sorry to say this but you will not succeed as a healer. The reason we take kids in so young is so we can teach them. Magic doesn't achieve what we desire but rather what we know. You are years behind even the kids whose balls haven't even dropped. You will never learn how to heal people, it is a disciple that takes years to learn and then decades afterwards to wield effectively. How old do you think I am?"

The boy knew this was a trap but he let the honest words leave his mouth. "twenty-five or so."

"I am eighty. Mages thanks to the magic that flows through us like blood we mages live longer than regular men. Most men die at around fifty and even then that was only thanks to advancements in knowledge by mages. Mages have a life expectancy of around a hundred and twenty, mages that learn healing magic and can use their own magic to improve their body live to around a hundred and sixty. I'll be brutally honest cause this is what you need to hear. You will not be a good mage. It takes years of study to command the weather and heal cuts as not only do you need to have the knowledge to do so but also to have the magic capability. Those kids outside spend hours trying to light a candle because weaving magic like string is a task harder than any research. You're magic is like a muscle, it requires years of constant use as a child to wear it down and build it stronger. To cast spells we have to weave magic in order to give it certain properties and commands, which takes magical stamina and weaving skill. You have neither. Being a mage is lots of studies which takes about twenty per cent of your time and then the rest is learning how to weave magic to command it in a certain way, all spells have different weaving patterns so every time you have to start from scratch. Even then weaving spells are like hitting a bullseye in archery, plenty of the time you'll mess up and miss. The more complex the spell the more wind and further the target is. I suggest after you take a few years of your life learning to build up your magic stamina you try to become a combat mage. It doesn't take too long to learn how to throw fire even being self-taught and while you won't be even an average combat mage in your life you'll still find hire. I personally would give up on any idea of being an apprentice."