Chapter 24

Platinum

“Captain, we have an urgent magical aptitude request from the capitol,” Welkins, the communications lead for the Eastern Garrison forces, said. His crisp tone denoted that this was apparently a top priority from the council.

“The Council is up to it again, I see. Always looking for new recruits,” Captain Jorden said as he mulled over the request. “Where is it?”

“North-eastern region. One of the last border plantations.”

Sigh.

“Let me guess, you confirmed receipt?” Captain Jorden asked, already knowing the answer. Welkins was thorough, following military protocols to a ‘T.’ This was often a good thing as it made Captain Jordan’s paperwork run smoothly. The only problem was that sometimes he was too good, like times like this where his efficiency meant extra work.

The Sidherthan military was a joint military, meaning they tried to join industrial revolutions with Magical Abilities. This meant that they could field the best trained and equipped military on the continent. The only downside to this program meant that they needed to constantly be on the lookout for new magical candidates, especially at the borderlands, who were more likely to be abducted by enemy forces than to be let free. Knowing this, Captain Jorden had by all accounts an easy job. His Magical Abilities at identifying magical potential were extraordinary, while his Ability with destructive magics was sub-optimal on the best of days. This meant that he filled his role as magical field tester quite well. It was he and his crew’s job to hunt down leads of potential magic and recruit them to the military where they would be trained and pledged to serve the Sidhertha military for a period of time equal to double their time spent training.

Captain Jorden’s role did come with a few drawbacks, as he had to meet an enlistment quota. Meaning he had to find people with the minimum standard of magical aptitude and get them to sign over their freedoms for the chance at a better life.

Normally the job was simple, only needing to field two valid candidates a month the job normally fulfilled itself. Who didn’t want to become a member of the mage-corps where only the toughest and brightest were able to join. Children from all over the countryside used to swarm his desks for tryouts, that was until the possibility of war on not just one but two fronts, along with the constant threat of being sent on dragon hunts, meant recruitment had been down. It was already nearing the end of the month, and he still had to find two candidates.

Worse, the location where he was asked to go was way out in the middle of nowhere, right at the border between the Great Forest and open fields. Even seeing the blimp, few kids would likely come out to get tested.

“Make course for the location,” Captain Jorden said reluctantly. He had no better option at the time. His crew realized that if they didn’t find two recruits this month, they would likely be demoted. Demotions in the imperial navy were tough. They might lose their ship to someone completing their quotas, or their ship might be given over completely to the war efforts. If they were on desk duty, the chances of having a favorable outcome would be small at best. By at least going to the location given, Jorden figured he could have an excuse of chasing down a bad lead from central.

“Headwinds, Captain,” Lt. Flaken called out.

Part of why Jorden preferred the smaller build of the interceptors for his recruitment drives is that it was perfect for his magical aptitude. Air was one of the few elements that Jorden could control consistently. He found that his level of control was perfect for flight. While using air magic to help larger vessels go quickly was impractical even for the most adept of Mage-knights. The Interceptor was the perfect size for his middling Air Abilities to come into use.

Using his innate control over the wind, Jorden created pockets of resistance that shot out in front of the small blimp, allowing the ship to move forward in a nearly perfect state of motion. No errant gusts of winds would come and knock the tiny ship off course. No headlong winds would force the small ship to slow down or change trajectories while Jorden was on watch.

The whole process was taxing but often rewarding. The crew could make a trip in a few hours that would take larger, more cumbersome ships two to three times as long. This was why Jorden was shocked to see a rather large freighter leaving the area they had been directed to.

“Hail the ship,” Jorden said.

“No need. That is Du Pris’ freighter,” Welkins said with disdain.

Hearing the name, Jorden realized that if the scavenger had already been here, then his job just got a whole lot tougher. If there were Mage candidates and they just got shaken down for money, then they would be less likely to want to join the same service where they could join and find such a person to be placed in charge of them.

“That snake,” Jorden hissed. “Well, there is nothing to do. Any description on who we are to recruit?”

Welkins read the missive word for word. Given that it was a burst communication from central, each word had to be concise.

“Suspected World Law Invoker present at Location…” He trailed off, reading through the coordinates. Then scanned for anything else. “All scanners make haste toward Location.”

“A World Law Invoker?” Jorden asked with a mocking tone.

“Yes.”

“And you said we were on our way?” Jorden asked.

“Yes.”

“You know that is a joke, right?”

Welkins paused as he looked at the message. “No, it came from the Commander himself. Or at least someone acting on his behalf. Look. They used his designation at the end,” Welkins said, taking the crystal ball over so that Jorden could read the missive himself.

He held the ball in his hand and filled the ball with a touch of his own spark. As he watched, he read the entire thing. Then saw the Commander-in-Chief’s designation at the end ‘CiC.’

“Well, you sold me, Welkins. Looks real enough for me. This way, when we don’t get our quota for the month, we blame it on following the Chief’s urgent orders.”

With that, the crew was set, and they made haste toward the settlement that had been highlighted by the coordinates.

Looking at the area, Jorden’s vision began to swim as he suddenly felt sick.

“Captain?” Welkins yelled as he reached out to brace the Captain.

Jorden, for his part, felt his entire vision twist and spin on itself as he looked at what had to be high-level magic that had been recently performed.

Everywhere he looked, the all too subtle signs of magic were being used. For a Magic Sensor like himself, the signs of high-level magic in use were apparent. If this was world magic? He trailed off in his thoughts as he braced himself and tried once again to look at the magical landscape below him.

The closer Jorden’s ship got to the farmhouse on the small hill, the denser the feel of magic around him became until finally, he could take no more.

“Stop us. NOW!” Jorden called out.

Lt. Flaken slammed on the brakes immediately.

“Take us down,” Jorden said.

“Sir, we can’t take off from here,” Lt. Flaken said. He was correct. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be able to take off under such conditions. Yet this was a slightly different task. With Jorden’s Skills at air manipulation, he was certain he could get them up in the air if they needed to leave in a hurry. Still, he needed to be down on the ground. His legs were wobbly as he could barely protect himself from how intense the flow of mana was in front of him. It was as if the entire land was alive with magical essence.

“Just land,” Jorden said. He needed the feel of the earth beneath his feet right now. While he had the most success utilizing air magic, the earth was what kept him grounded. Right now, he felt that being out of the air and on stable ground would be important to keep his equilibrium.

***

Lykan, who watched the third different airship come to the property this morning, watched as the new ship glowed with a deeper color than he had ever seen before. Instantly his mind told him the lustrous color was one step beyond gold but still a similar shade to silver. Platinum? That was the color that came to mind when he saw the new ship arrive.

“What do you think they want now?” Davison asked as he too looked on in the distance at the third ship arriving.

“I think this one is for me,” Lykan said. He saw the way the others all seemed to glow with different varying shades of intensity. Yet, this one seemed to offer something deeper than the previous two ships. He didn’t know how he knew, but somehow he felt the chance offered before him was something he should at least pay attention to.

Some of the others also came out of the house to witness the new ship's arrival as well.

Liana was the first to notice the brand of the Imperial Recruiter.

“A Magic Corps recruiter,” Liana exclaimed as she went out of the house.

Hearing that Hanna and Illia, her two conspirators gathered close by. One dream held by most was to be scouted by a magic corps recruiter and be allowed to be whisked off to exciting new heights where you would forever be elevated in your social status. The only problem was that getting a magic corps recruiter to evaluate your potential was tough. Unless you were awarded a Class that had a high Power rating, to begin with, the odds of getting a royal recruiter to scan you for potential was low. The reason being that most would never have the initial magic necessary to undertake such training.

The minimum standard for even basic magic corps training was a Power rating of three. This might not seem like a whole lot when the human maximum is ten, but most people never unlock the Power Attribute until their sixteenth birthday, when their Class is awarded. Power allegedly can only grow, like all Attributes, through constant and repetitive usage. So with most humans only awakening their Power potential later in life, and most non-magical families having no clue on how to foster the Power Attribute in their un-awakened children and it is easy to see how obtaining such a minor Power score of three would be tougher than one might assume.

Yet the women who had been captured by the Azani had a multitude of things going for them. First, everyone started off with one point of Power, to begin with, as that was the minimum. Then added to this base score of one is the fact that exposure to high levels of magic can easily increase that rating. With the number of old-world laws invoked by Lykan, along with the exposure to the Powers being unleashed by Jarilos, the odds of the former slaves having a Power rating less than three was low to begin with. Then add in the fact that everyone not named Lykan, Enora, or Davison took an active part in slaying the disabled Psychic Dragon, and it was clear that everyone who had recently been freed would have a base Power Attribute of at least three, with a maximum threshold of eleven.

So while everyone knew how to feel the waves of energy being wielded by Lykan, no one truly knew what that meant for them or their futures. Until Captain Jorden arrived with his testing equipment.

There was a bit of confusion at first as the girls who wanted to test for the entrance exam to the Magic Corps had to be tested twice. At first, when just Jema passed, everything was okay. But when Illia and Hanna also passed, the crew became suspicious of the readings.

The test was conducted a second time off the property. While the overall scores were lower, each girl tested possessed enough Power to easily be accepted into the Magic Corps as at least an enlisted. The way it worked for the Magic Corps is everyone with a Power rating of three or more was able to join the enlisted ranks. Then after a few basic classes and field assessments, if the candidate was able to get their Power Attribute above a five, they would be allowed to attend the Magic Corps Officer candidate courses. These were further tests that were designed to push Officers even further down their path for personal improvement.

While it was rare, it was not unheard of for a promising cadet who dedicated themselves fully to their studies to rise from a Power Attribute rating of three to rise by four steps to a Power Attribute rating of seven. Such cases were rare, as it often meant that someone went from being at the lower end of society all the way to the tip of the upper echelon of society. Anything beyond a Power Attribute rating of seven was considered royalty, at least as far as the magic corps was concerned. Anything with a Power rating of seven or higher could wield the greatest spells and attack formations that were utilized by the magic-corps fleet.

Jorden himself only had a Power Attribute rating of six, but with his focus on sensing, he was uniquely perfect for these types of recruitment drives. He found it odd that everyone he tested turned out to be powerful enough to be a Magic Corps cadet. That was until he saw the plot of land everyone had come from. The plot of land felt like white-hot magma to Jorden’s senses. Just being this close to the field made him feel like his own personal Power rating was being pushed farther than it had in a long time.

When the first boy Davison came to get his level tested, Jorden already had the words of apology ready to go.

Four.

“Sorry, males have a tougher time…” Jorden trailed off as he looked at the number. It wasn’t high, not by any standard, but males tended to be late bloomers when it came to the Power Attribute. For a male such as him to have a four going in meant that his potential ceiling was at least a seven, if not an eight. Males with affinity were rare, but they were almost guaranteed an increase of three Power Attribute points after training. Seeing the reading, Jorden’s jaw dropped. So far, he had over five potential recruits in Jema, Hanna, Liana, Illia, and now the boy Javison. This didn’t include the two Elves and the weird-looking boy.

He liked Elves. They were worth a recruitment bonus themselves to recruiters as they counted twice due to their exceptionally long life spans and higher overall magic potential. The odds of an Elf not making the minimum standard were low, especially as they all seemed to begin with at least a four in Power. At least Jorden had never seen an Elf have less than a four in Power. Five recruits, and he was just getting started.

“Name?” Jorden asked the first Elf to come.

“Kalana.”

“Do you wish to sign up to be a Magic Corps officer where you would forsake your tribe for training?” Jorden asked. He had to be blunt with Wood Elves. Some had a weird pact with their tribe. The woman just looked back at the young boy. Jorden thought this was odd, especially as she hesitated until the boy gave the slightest of nods.

Seeing the gesture, Kalana turned forward and answered, “Yes.”

“Very well then. Place your hand on the sphere, and we will tell you where you place,” Jorden said, pointing to the sphere that Lt. Flaken was holding. The girl went forward, and the sphere glowed a deep blue.

“Eight,” Lt. Flaken said.

“Eight?” Welkins repeated, a note of confusion in his voice.

“Yes, eight.”

“It’s okay private. Elves have a higher magical capacity,” Jorden said reassuringly. Though with so many recruits, it was clear that they were going to need to have them all retested. Even though Jorden could swear they were all extremely powerful, to have so many in one recruitment drive would be a recruiter’s miracle. Idly Jorden wondered if there was a way he could have a few wait a few days to sign up, so he met both this month and next month’s quotas, but he quickly dismissed that idea. He wanted to make sure he sealed the deal here today before someone else pulled any of these recruits in.

“Next,” Jorden said, gesturing for the dark-skinned Elf and the boy to come forward. He almost wanted to tell the boy to leave, but there was an air of power that surrounded the boy even after he left the charged field. Could he be the one who invoked the old world laws?

Then Jorden dismissed such a crazy thought. There is no way a male could have done that. Captain Jorden and Delegate Fabian Du Pris were anomalies for males. Not only were they both powerful, but they gained high positions due to their Abilities to wield their Powers. Though if it came down to it, more than a few officers would say that the real reason Delegate Fabian Du Pris was so highly regarded was due to his family heritage. While there was no true way to determine how well someone would be able to adapt to the magical aspects of the world, there were ways that a strong magical family could encourage even a male to succeed in this world. Thus Jorden and Du Pris were the exception to the rules and not the standard. The fact that both officers managed to find the same spot of highly charged land first was sheer coincidence.

Singing.

The boy sang a few words in a language Jorden had never heard before. After hearing the sound, the woman responded back in the same sing-song language before going forward.

When Jorden locked eyes with the boy, he spoke, “She needs an interpreter.”

Hearing that, Jorden turned back to Kalana, “Can you speak to her?”

At that question, Kalana just lowered her head in shame. “No, the boy truly is blessed,” was all Kalana said to the request.

Jorden opted to wait to unpack that statement.

“Ten…Oh, it is glowing hot,” Lt. Flaken said.

“Ten?” Welkins again asked incredulously.

“Yes, ten!” Flaken shouted.

Crack!

The glowing white-hot sphere shattered just as the boy got close to the sphere.

“Yeah, ten is the maximum. Well human maximum,” Jorden said to his two subordinates. Then turning to the Elf, he said, “You pass.”

Only once the boy sang in that weird vocal language did the girl turn her head. Then Lykan pointed at the Commander.

“Well, looks like we can’t test you. But we need you at least as an interpreter. So how about this. You come with us, and you can either be assigned as her personal guard. Or you can attempt to take the test and see if your Power Attribute is a three or more,” Jorden said.

The boy repeated the words in that weird sing-songy language. Then finally, the girl all but tackled the boy to the ground in excitement.

“So you two will both be needing to go?” Jorden asked.

“Looks like it,” Lykan said.

“Fine. Let's get on the plane. It will be a tight fit, but hopefully, it will be a quick trip. Everyone that passed the test can come with us to the capital to be re-tested. Then if the findings are the same, you all can enlist to be magic-corp soldiers,” Jorden said, somewhat hoping that a few would stay behind. But in the end, everyone went. He was relieved that the boy interpreter chose to stay. Losing a potential ten would be devastating. Even if it was only a nine, the power she possessed was incredible. As for the boy, well, he couldn’t get a reading from him. But if they had to sign him on as an interpreter to keep his girlfriend happy, then Jorden was happy to make that accommodation.

Jorden was the last person on the ship. He took in a few deep breaths as he focused on channeling enough air energy to lift the interceptor straight up.

He tried and failed once, then twice. Sweating, he focused. By now, everyone was looking at him. Feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on him, he felt obliged to answer. “Sorry, there is a slight lift issue. In our landing, we were a little rougher and lost a lot of our advantage.”

“So you just need to lift it?” the second boy, Lykan, asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, don’t worry about it,” the boy said. Jorden, for his part, just shook his head as he focused his mind for one last try. This time, when he focused on the wind, he held the power for a second, but a moment later, it felt like the spell he had been crafting was ripped from his fingers. By the time Jorden began looking around for what happened to his spell, the ship was already up and rising.

“Oh!”

Everyone let out a shocked expression as the ship began to rise up in a perfectly straight line. Then they were up.

Jorden didn’t know how or why, but suddenly his spells were easier to control and create. He commanded wind torrents that gently pushed them forward and around in a quick wide arc until they were facing the capital. Then It was a long smooth ride out.

Enora and Davison watched as the family they had recently found left.

Jorden said, “Should you all be accepted into the Magic corpse, then people would come by later on to collect your personal effects that are left behind. As you can see, we have a relatively small ship, and there are a lot of you.”

Hearing that most grabbed their portion of the money, while a few others grabbed items that they had grown attached to during their journey. In the end, only a nearly empty wagon and a few meager effects lay behind, denoting that anything had happened to the sleepy little farmhouse that was now down a key family member.