Brennan and the Ring
"Principal Leonardo, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure. Also Uncle Leonardo or just Leonardo is fine. What do you need?"
"Has there ever been a magician who could not use any affinities?"
"I…don't think so, no."
"Can I become a magician even if I don't have an affinity?"
"Um...It'll be hard, but I don't think it's impossible…" Uncle Leonardo let out a deep breath. His deep voice resonated throughout the hallway as he led Brennan into his room. His wide shoulders and buff arms easily opened the door, and he sat down at his desk. It was not a big room, with only a small desk with a few drawers behind him. There was a bit of space in front of the desk, but barely enough for 4 people to stand comfortably.
"But are you aware of what you're trying to do? You do know about the rest of your family right?"
"Yes, but I am determined to do this no matter what."
"Like father like son, huh. Alright. I will help you. Your father helped me become principal of this school, so it's about time I repaid the favor. Since this is the biggest magic high school in the world I do hold considerable power, except there are some things that I will not be able to help you with. That's where this comes in." Leonardo turned around and opened a drawer behind him. He took out a velvet red ring box with a golden trim.
"This is a family treasure your family has passed on for generations. Although you did not inherit either of their last names, you certainly inherited their will. I do not know what this ring does, but your parents had confidence you would figure it out. I trust that you will fulfill their dreams of becoming a fabulous magician."
"Thank you, very much." Brennan reached out and took the ring. Leonardo told him he would do his best to get him enrolled and to make his school experience the best he can.
"One more thing before you can go. You can't use anything other than basic fire magic so I will put you in a group of strong individuals from influential families. I trust that you will be able to bring them together into an amazing team."
After the meeting with Principal Leonardo, Brennan went home. He lived on the outskirts of the city, where magicians often came back after killing demonic beasts. He worked part time in a shop called "Jake and Callie's Demonic Dissection." Old man Jake was in his 70s now and needed help running the shop more and more. His daughter Callie was studying government and politics in college, and would probably end up working in the government. They were friends of Brennan's mother so they had raised him since birth. Brennan had taken apart thousands of demonic beasts and worked very hard everyday to help the shop, but he would not be able to now that he was in high school. At Brennan's request Jake and Callie had bought him a house and let him live by himself. They paid him only for how much he worked, which added up to 3 gold coins every year. Jake had lived a happy and successful life after inheriting his father's shop, one of the most famous beast dissection shops.
The average citizen earned 1 gold coin every year, while the average magician earns 6. Most people in the lower class try to enroll their children in a magic high school, but without connections like Leonardo or a noble family behind your back it is very difficult. Without Uncle Leonardo helping him Brennan couldn't even dream of attending a magic high school with no affinity.
After working in the shop for 10 years Brennan had obtained a hefty 30 gold coins, or 3,000 silver coins, or 300,000 copper coins. To put into perspective how much that is, the house that Brennan lived in, with 2 bedrooms, and kitchen, one bathroom, and a small backyard costed 100,000 coins. An average meal for one costs 15 coins. He had more than enough money to sustain himself. This was because beast dissection is a very difficult job, involving removing bones, core, scales, flesh, teeth, and all other parts of the beasts. With the amount of people aiming to become magicians there is a high demand for people to take care of the prey they hunt.
On top of the price given by Jake, the butcher is able to take what is called the butcher's cut. Where the cut is depends on the type of beast, but it is usually enough to sustain one person for a meal. Brennan was able to work quite quickly, and usually had enough meat for 2 meals from working part-time.
Depending on what type of magic the beast uses Brennan is also able to save on electricity or water costs. 200 years ago the beast engineer Joseph O'Reilly created a prototype using his nature magic of a system that allows the essence of magic beasts to be absorbed and used. A water type beast can be used to create water, a lightning type to create electricity, and so on.
From where his house stood, Brennan could see the entirety of the city. Mansions stood at the center of the city, where the nobles lived. Across the city laid buildings belonging to companies and citizens. With the use of magic beast technology the country flourished, the average wealth of citizens was very high. There were beast outbreaks, but the city was fairly safe. For the thousandth time, Brennan sat on his roof and appreciated the fact that he lived in such a blessed time.
He took out the velvet ring box out of his pocket and opened it. The ring was a golden color, with a white gem on it that was almost snowy. Brennan took out the ring and placed it on his left middle finger.
There were only 3 days left of summer break, so it was time for Brennan to see his roommates. He went to his school door where he would be staying for the rest of high school. The school dorm was huge, since it was the place where all students in the school stayed. It was over 5 stories tall with 200 rooms on every floor. Each dorm could have 6 students, which meant Brennan would have 5 roommates. He went to the 9th grade section of the dorm and went to his room, which was on the 3rd floor. After going through the elevator he went left, past the common area, and to the very end of the hallway. He was in the "3 - 1-50" area, which meant floor 3 and rooms 1-50. His room was 50, hence why it was at the very end of the first of 4 hallways. He opened the door with a huge smile, excited to see who his roommates would be.
His room was a mess, pillows and beds flung to the side. There were scorch marks on the carpet floor, leading up to the door. The room was fairly big, with 6 used-to-be bunk beds. There were 3 cabinets stacked in the corner of the room next to the window, and a bathroom near the door.
"DIE LAWRENCE!" Angela aimed a bow made of fire at a blue haired boy.
"We'll see about that." Lawrence held a sword made of lightning in one hand, the other a shield made of dirt. He dodged and parried Angela's bowshots, one of which almost sniped Brennan. When Lawrence was a only few feet away from her, sparks appeared under his feet and he dashed at an inhuman speed towards her.
"You can do it my beautiful Angela!" a sleek, black haired boy standing in the corner said. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the wall. His toned muscles showed through his black t-shirt and pants. His hair was gelled in an undercut hairstyle, and upon further inspection Brennan noticed a dagger latched on the right side of his pants. As he encouraged Angela she aimed and fired a bowshot that barely scratched his cheek.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT PLAYBOY." She then turned to counter Lawrence, the bow in her hands disappearing and her hands going to her left side to taking out a short sword. She parried his attack, but was not fast enough to block his second one. Just as the sword was about to touch her neck the shield that Lawrence was holding morphed into a thick, condensed piece of brick that blocked his attack.
"That's enough." A tall and buff boy came out of the bathroom with a smaller boy hiding behind him. The younger boy was average height but next to the towering Oliver he looked tiny. Finally, someone sensible to stop them. Brennan thought to himself.
"Stop making so much noise when you fight. I can't concentrate on practicing my earth magic if you guys are at each other's throats and I have to save one of you every other second." Brennan proceeded to close the door and decided to sleep at home for the day. He realized that when Leonardo said "strong individuals from influential families." He meant the nobles. Noble families were in constant conflict over deciding who was the highest ranked family, and so their children were very competitive.
"Was there someone there just now?" Lawrence asked.
"I don't think so, no. " Oliver went back into the bathroom to practice his earth magic using bricks he had brought.