The Reject Divided Between Worlds

”Look…look at this ”

Two middle-aged men were sitting on a couch while the one with silver hair said touched the elbow of the other man and pointed towards across the room. A young boy about four years of age was standing there, looking around with his big brown eyes.

”He already knows how to manifest a flame. ”

The expression of the boy grew animated, and a toothy smile broke on his face.

”Son, show uncle the different types of flames you know. ”

”Oh, he knows more than one? ”

”Yeah, just watch. ”

The boy puffed out his chest with pride as he concentrated on his small hands.

..

”And this is the emald geen ”

A bead of sweat trickled down the young boys face as he once again concentrated on his palm and manifested a beautiful emerald-green flame, albeit a little small in size.

The boy smiled in satisfaction as he looked at the silver-haired man.

”You
e not worried hes gonna rebel, Jarnus? ”

”Haah ha. That puny little flame? He only knows how to manifest it. I haven taught him the code. Im not even planning on teaching him how to read. ”

”Come, son. Light this chillum here. ”

***

”Gah, what a bad dream. ”

I woke up and checked the time on my mini portal. It was two minutes to 6 AM, the time I had set the alarm for. I washed my face and tried to forget the dream.

I thought I had forgotten my childhood memories, especially the ones from before I came here with uncle Hess. But it just made me realize that I quite liked being popular, and I how much I loved magic. Even though my father/owner would show me off to his friends like one shows his newly acquired mana stone guzzler (Let her rip..).

Well, at some point I realized that I was the clown performing tricks, the court jester. But I didn really mind being the center of attention. Ah, what I wouldn give now to be utterly ignored when I walk on the street..

Still love magic though, probably because my magic was never my fathers. It was always mine.

I picked up my bag and looked around my room once to check if I forgot something. This was the place where I had lived for the past one year, since uncles death. Today was my last day here. I could not afford to pay the rent for the next month. I would have to seek shelter in a temple for the remaining 30 days.

I had been working on the magic blocker devices for the past two weeks and by now, I knew that it was a dead end. For the last three years, I was searching for a way to increase my magic power. This was already grasping at straws. I had pored through university level books, forbidden threads on boards, even had discussions with professors. Now I could only leave it upto fate.

Because I didn know what Id do if I didn pass this time around. Magic was the only thing I knew, only thing I wanted. Why did it have to be so hard? My theory examination scores were in the top 1% percentile in the whole country. My magic speed was in the top 10 percentile. Just because I couldn cross the dreaded 4 MCass barrier consistently enough, I failed to qualify – two times.

”But this time around, I would qualify. I had been working on stabilizing the output from my magic core for so long. I was already able to touch 4 MCass 8 out of 10 times. Everything would depend on my mental and physical state on the day of the exam. ”

This is how I would have convinced myself if it were not my last attempt. I knew I could not afford to fail. I needed something more.

I returned my key to the guard at the ground floor and started walking towards the nearest temple, which was about 4 Km away. I did not want to spend any money on transportation, so it would take me about an hour, I would reach on time for breakfast.

It was nice out there. Slightly cold but I had always liked that. One benefit about living in Nico Islands was that you were rarely subjected to extreme temperatures. Of course, as a group of islands that was disconnected from the mainland Mythilia, technological advancement was not as great as say, the big cities, but it was a great place for tourists and merchants.

And it was also the closest region to Xenria where skirmishes rarely broke. Even though the two countries had a treaty now, magicians were hot-headed people. That is why uncle Hess and me had migrated during the war to Umria, the capital of Nico Islands. The amount of looks I got here as a foreigner were already enough – I didn know what would happen to me if I ever went to a larger province.

I did not believe in religion – I was never taught to. But the temples here were very kind. They provided food and shelter for free to the poor and the homeless – sometimes in exchange for a little service – you know, cleaning, cooking, preaching, etc. Such a thing, you could never imagine in Xenria. Of course, the government strictly controlled the activities, lest any powerful rose among the fanatics.

As the I reached the beautiful yellow colored temple, I could hear the morning hymns playing. I saw a person sweeping the floor outside the entrance.

”Sir, I am here to seek shelter ”

I pulled my hoodie down.

He looked at me for a moment, then he nodded as if he understood something.

”Come brother, the lord doesn care about your appearance. Only what is inside the heart. ”

He put a hand on my shoulder as he led me inside. It was a large praying hall with a huge statue of Lord Shvek. Some kind of incense was burning there.

”Wait here, brother. Food will be served soon. Ill make the arrangements ”

I sat on one of the chairs. I didn know if it was the music or the incense, I just got very emotional. I had never prayed before but I had seen people do it in videos. I was about do to something very drastic today. This was the last option I had and I knew there were immense risks in it. I might lose my magic, might even die. But I did not want to live a life without magic – real magic. Not daily wage worker or some magic technician, like the offer I got from Nico Islands University.

And as I was about to put my life on line, it somehow felt apt to pray. I remembered uncle Hess and asked him to wish me luck. I held the wooden box – the only thing I had of my mother – and asked her to bless me.