1 A New Beginning

Jason Smith was the son of a renowned blacksmith, Gerald Smith. Gerald had been taught hundreds of years of blacksmithing techniques, and when he paired it with his fire magic, the products were of the utmost quality. As Jason grew up in the shadow of his father, most people wouldn't call him normal. While having no formal education, he trained himself to read and write by the age of eight. He was an incredibly bright child, always being fascinated with books. While learning the way of the forge was his main priority, reading was his real favorite thing. While most children were out playing in the fields and meadows, Jason was inside reading or watching his father. Books were hard to come by in his home town of Lyme, so the ones he had been read over ten times. His inate interest in reading soon developed his interests in magic. He had always been enthralled with the concept of magic, mainly dirived by seeing his father's use of it. While his father was an intermediate at best with it, it still always excited Jason when he saw him use it. So when. Jason turned sixteen, he had many ideas of what he wanted to do. He had saved up enough money to travel to any city in the country he wanted, so his options were quite vast. He could go learn from another blacksmith, hoping to expand his knowledge in the subject. He could stay and help his father, aiding in his daily works. But Jason was not interested in blacksmithing, as his true goal was to go to the capital and get magically tested. The test would be given to see a person's magical apptitude and affinity. Most people that had magic had one type, and we're given a level. There were three levels: Normal, Natural, and Arcane. People with a magical lineage were much more likely to come out with magic, as his father was a normal fire mage. He had hoped for a long time that he may have a better affinity than his father, as his mother was a native Alstenzian. Alstenzians were known for having high magical apptitude, so maybe the two mixing would give him a natural aptitude for magic. After deciding to go to the capital city of Ostia, he said goodbye to his family. He had a relatively small family, only having four siblings. Twin sister's Lucie and Harriett, a younger sister Josie, and a little brother Mark. They all were quite discouraged to see him go, but no one more than his mother. He was her first born, and was taking his leaving very poorly. She was the one to teach him the ways of the old tounge, along with how to read normal Alstenzian. As he left for the city, he could hear his mother yelling out in the old tounge "May the light of day guide your way, as your sight from me fades away."

After three days ride, he made it to the outskirts of the city. He had taken the oldest horse they had, and quickly sold it once he got their. The city was built on top of a large hill, where the plebians were in the bottom and the nobles on top. At the top of the hill, was the large castle where the royal family lived. From what he could see, it was made from a mixture of marble and dorite. In the sunlight, it glistened like the ocean, giving it it's nickname "The Shining Tower."

The city was quite busy, as the wide streets were seemingly packed full. Many of the buildings at the bottom were made from woods and concrete. The higher in the city you went, the nicer the homes because. The woods began to fade away into granite and marble. Even the streets were much cleaner, and the houses were many floors tall. Though it took him a while in the large city, he found the magic orders headquarters. The building was made from grey and white stone, held together by concrete. As he entered the building, he saw many different magicians practicing basic spells. He saw air mages lifting up papers, fire mages lighting woods on fire, and Earth mages lifting the floor stones. He made his way over to the main desk, asking to take the apptitude test. He was then asked a few questions: "Do you have any magical relatives?"

"Yes, my father."

"And what kind of mage is he?"

"A normal fire mage."

After a few other mundane questions, she pulled out was looked to be a crystal ball. The woman then added "Place your hand on the crystal. If it shows any colors, then we'll proceed to the next test."

As he placed his hands on the crystal, he felt a sudden rush of power. But as he likes down, the crystal showed no change. He waited another few seconds, but still nothing. She the said "Sorry kid, but you got nothing."

Jason felt utterly stupid, as he wastes a large sum of time and money with nothing to show for it. As he walked out of the building, he was mocked by a variety of the young mages. Empty, Dull, and farmboy were the nicer things they called him, as his already low feelings seem to drop to an all time low. To make matters worse, he was almost out of money. The cost of the test had cost him 1/3 of what he had saved up, while a room and food had cost him what he had left. He knew he needed to find work, so he tried to apply for four different smith shops. But he feel short at every application, as everyone else was much older and experienced than he was. But at the fourth application, the owner, Mr. Bicard, gave him a proposition. "Because if the recent passing of a few of our smiths, we are short handed. While I can't offer you a blacksmith position, I can give you a job doing prepwork. But if I see you slacking off, even for a second, your done."

Jason couldn't be happier to even get a chance. "Thank you sir. I won't let you down."

Unbeknownst to him, the job also came with a free room. While it was just a large closet with a cot and chest, it was more than enough for him. The first few weeks were quite hard, as he would have to prepare everything for the Smith's: Prepare materials, clean materials, prepare quences, clean the forges, keep the forges running, and cleaning the shop. Even after his eight hour days, he had just enough money to buy food and save a little extra. While the life he had was not as nice as staying at home, it certainly wasn't boring.