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The Chaos King: The House of Xersin |
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"... and that leads us out of Imperial History and into the modern age." The instructor droned on as he paced about the classroom. All the students appeared to be attentive, however only a small selection were actually paying any attention. However the next sentence gained the attention of the entire class. "The committee has reviewed the applications for graduation. Fifth year students are reminded that if they do not at the very least find a Meister for the Sword Magi certification, they will be returned to the city at the end of this year."
It had been a class announcement, but the barb had been directed to only a single individual. The eyes of the class focused on him, making him bury his head into his arms to escape their gazes.
Eryan Xersin had applied for a Sky Magi research certification for three years in a row. He had passed every exam, exceeded every test placed on him, but every time he had applied he'd been turned down, and told to try again the next year. The last rejection had been due to 'low mana content'. The message had been utterly annihilated by the incinerator he'd sent in with his application- a last ditch attempt to show them that he was both capable and had the desire to do the work.
In all honesty, he knew why they continued to reject him. It was the same reason that the students around him knew exactly who he was, despite the fact that he'd not spoken even a single time in the entirety of the three years he'd been part of this particular class. He was less than wanted.
He was hated.
He hadnt done anything, no he would've been better off having done something- you could fix something you had done. Not easily, not quickly, but he'd have been able to at the very least become more than the despised thing he was now. Instead, only by way of his birth was he reviled. In his veins did the blood of the Chaos King flow- a person that was praised and bedeviled by the very country he created. Hailed as both a hero and a demon- a man who had died only to swear eternal vengeance on his betrayers. His untold cruelty was legendary, and his power had him compared to the Spirit of Evil itself.
Due to this ancestor of his, his choices for leaving this city had been compressed into the only path he'd never even cared to attempt- the simplest, most dangerous path. The only one that he'd be allowed down, the only way for him to survive, was to become like his mother, like the rest of the family he'd known- a Sword Magi.
To her eyes, it was more of a hovel than a home. It was clean, but it lacked all but the most basic amenities, and the amount of damages on the walls and ceiling made seem more likely to be condemned than lived in.
If she'd had to live there, she'd have gone crazy long ago.
"I know it isnt much... but its all he's had since the city repossessed his mother's house." the man who'd let her in said.
"Repossessed? How?" She'd been there when the house had been purchased. It had been paid in full- and she herself had been paying for the upkeep.
The man made a face. "The usual- with her death, supposedly her land was returned to the city- since her will was that you became his guardian in the event of her death, her items were moved to your vault. Sorry, I tried, but that's the best I could pull off without using him as a bargaining chip."
She looked at the Dwarf- one of the hidden few still supporting the descendants of that idiot conqueror. "I know Terrence, and thank you."
It was his fifth year at the academy, and thus she knew that he'd be sending her a letter soon- this was just to head it off. He needed to be out of the city before...
She shook her head. That was months, if not years off. and he still had a few months before she really became his last option. He was a smart kid.
He knew his limitations, even better than she did.
"...grind my enemy to dust!" Eryan intoned, casting one of his newly tested spells at the practice grounds. Electricity flew from his hand and obliterated the similicrum, cheaply made dirt golems using mud made from blood of a caster, before him. It was midnight- as a fifth year student, he was well within his rights to use the more expensive equipment, but as a descendant of the former king, using such things would have his spell practice be watched with a harder eye.
Since he'd used his status as a fifth year to gain entry, it wouldnt be overtly recorded, and as the only fifth year student, he knew noone short of an instructor could gain entry during his practice.
Absently he calculated that his spell had only done 80% of the calculated damage he'd expected.
"Pause, reset." he ordered, cutting his palm and letting his blood flow onto the ground. With only a few drops, the destroyed golems regained their forms.
He pulled out a small notebook, and redid the spell's equation. The projected output had been equal to the grand Energy element spell Heavenly Judgement- to be honest, the casting speed and energy consumption being so much less than the original, with keeping even 80% was greater than most would believe- Heavenly Judgement was a Artillery class energy spell, and thus was used generally on Colossal Creatures and Military Legions, so 80% would be lethal to most enemies.
However this rather destructive hobby had started at a young age.
His mana had been a obscenely low amount since he was small- especially seeing as his capacity was, as told by his mother, greater than even his father's at full strength. However he felt the unfairness of being born so weak with such a potential there was little he could do about his mana- the usage of it however he could work on. It had started with the most basic spell that a child learns: "Nightlight", a simple light spell used to generate a two hour orb. The incantation forced children to expend roughly two Xion of magic (1Xi= 3 hertz). Keeping her son's restrictions in mind, his mother had taught him a trick to cut down on the magic consumption.
This had sparked an idea in his young mind- one that had taken three years for him to complete, but had succeeded admirably beyond his wildest dreams.
He'd reduced the spell to almost nothing, but kept the output. Over the years, he'd done this hundreds of times- some to pass tests, more- like the current spell- out of the thrill of the experiment.
In this tiny book that could fit in his palm were recorded spells that broke the currently understood rules of magic, and despite this they still...
he lashed out in irritation with the spell again- doubling the magic he'd input into the previous casting. The lightning crackled out once more, but bathed the field in a bright purple light, obliterating the golems in a scorching blast and tearing through the protective barrier.
The output, which should've been only a few degrees greater than the last, had- if his estimation (using the base power of the previous casting divided by the strength of the barrier) at the very least tripled.
"Wow- the hell did you do to get that kind of output Ery?" a familiar voice asked.
"I-Im not sure Aunt Lian. I push it a bit more and-"
The destructive power of her Ward was a shock- that was quite easily equal to Titan's Hammer, an Anti Material class Energy Spell. For Eryan to pull off something of that level would be... impossible. Well, if not for his bad habit of messing with established spells.
But this makes it so that she'd have to work a bit faster.
"Never mind that." she, Lian, said to cut him off. "I got a note from the academy that you've been rejected again."
"That's odd, I havent-" he started, but silenced himself. The look on his face said that he understood the reason that she'd been contacted. "I see."
He looked so much like his mother that it hurt her heart to see that look of dejection- the look that she'd seen when his father had disappeared. That look when she'd been forced to leave her son behind without an explanation.
Still, Lian had played the Ice Queen much longer than her ward had been alive. She could make the hard decisions and tell the lies needed to do the right thing. The school hadn't contacted her- not that they'd needed to. The city had said that they would not accept him as a resident, they would not tolerate being a city that counted one of 'that man's' progeny to be one of their number. So she would lie to get him out of here before he could be used. By any of them. Because she had promised.
"So, are you going to waste these last five years, or what?" she asked, using a bored tone she didnt feel.
"I never wanted to be a Sword Magi." he responded. He'd always been smarter than anyone had given him credit for. Seen deeper than any besides she and his parents had realized.
"We dont always get what we wanted. You think I wanted to live the last few years as I have been? The question is if you're going to give up here, or if you're going to push through." Perhaps it was just the light of this place rebounding against his eyes, but they seemed to flash at her.
"I dont know what you're talking about." he replied pleasantly. "Im sure you know that I was going to contact you soon."
Oh, he was maaaaad. She grinned a bit- that look meant he had already planned for this eventuality. "Well, Im here. Do I need to do paperwork?"
"Its already filed."
"I packed your things." she offered. "Even the loose board."
"And behind the mirror?" Why hadn't she looked there?
"No."
"That's alright, I have it here." He was a little a**.
That evening they left the walls of the Academy, the barrier of the Capital.
Leaving in the dead of night, he ceased to be a fifth year, and began life as a Magi of the blade. She ceased to be his Aunt, and became his 'Meister', his teacher that allowed him to move between cities.
 Azzy Rael · Tue Mar 12, 2013 @ 06:51am · 0 Comments |
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