The Grand Capital, Kysora

One Month Later | November 24, Year 110

13:45

My journey to Kysora had neared its end. I treated my injuries as much as possible with the first aid kit I packed and traveled the rest of the distance. As I passed through the hills, I could see the enormous city. Its walls were in the middle of reconstruction; as it continued its expansion along the coast. I watched workers gathered around the neighboring lands as they marked off plots for construction. When I neared the city, the air grew fuller, carried by the ocean's breeze.

I approached the heavily armored sentries that guarded the city gates – my eyes fixed on their imposing steel swords. They inspected the passing citizens, making sure they weren't carrying any contraband or anything that would be remotely suspicious. A guard stood in front of a small woman in a green hood carrying a little basket, his stature towering over hers. He smirked at the woman, and I could only assume the man said something outrageous since the lady started to shout at him. The guards surrounded the woman and demanded her belongings, pulling her away from her basket.

I moved closer to the gates, close enough to watch the guards harassing the woman. I was stuck thinking that; I needed to help, but doing so would result in my death. Thinking won't help her, so I put on a mask that covered my mouth and pulled over my hood.

"Hey, lay off her," I said.

The guards turned their attention in my direction, and the one who started the situation spoke, "This is none of your business, tough guy. I suggest you go on ahead before we slice your head off." His hand was on top of his sword's hilt, ready to strike. The other guards continued taking the woman's items.

I stepped forward without a thought and drew my sword. I took a deep breath and charged at the guard; the hilt of my sword knocked the wind out of him. He fell to the floor, gasping for air as I hit him unconscious with a heavy kick into his jaw. My previous wounds were stifling my movements. It was proving necessary to finish healing up at a clinic or hospital after this battle.

The other guards let go of the woman and began their charge toward me. I needed to move quickly to avoid all of their attacks at once. An axe headed for my legs, and I jumped up and kicked the man wielding it. Two of them attempted with their swords, but I backed away from them, making them clash blades, allowing me to kick one into the other. The last one stayed away with his bow aimed at me; he shot an arrow toward my face. I quickly used my sword to deflect it and threw a rock at the guard, knocking him out. Now that the woman had escaped with her belongings, I ran into the city.

I walked through the city, holding my reopened injuries. They caused me to wince with pain, so finding a hospital became my top priority. I was incredibly worried about permanent damage or bleeding out if that was the case.

After removing my mask and pulling off my hood, I spoke to someone along the road, "Excuse me, would you happen to know where I could find a hospital or a clinic," I asked, holding my side.

A teenage-looking boy answered, "It's just around the corner; it's to the right of a big sign that reads 'Tafflegar's Forge,"

I thanked the boy and followed the brick-laid road until I turned the corner. The city felt quiet, as many just wandered the streets in rags and avoided conversation; the only activity was the noises of children playing. Merchants traveled in their wagons full of goods; they wore a vibrant green with hints of purple compared to the gray rags worn by ordinary people. Guards could be seen almost anywhere in the city, always watching the people. The air of fear was everywhere I looked.

"What was going on in this city?" I thought to myself, "It seems like racial treatment isn't the only issue within the country."

I stood outside the clinic, observing the most modernized building I had seen. As I opened the door, I felt pain spreading from my side to the rest of my body. I couldn't bear to move any longer, my legs gave out, and I fell to the ground. It was like reaching the end of the trip caused my body to finally give out. Shortly after, a doctor put me on a gurney, and I closed my eyes to rest up.

Six Hours Later | 20:19

I woke up in a white room; my shirt was not on, folded on a table next to me. I saw a woman across the room; with deep red hair and a white dress.

My voice rose, "Hey lady, who are you?"

She turned her attention to me and smiled, "I'm your doctor, Raya Kazui. Call me 'Dr. Kazui," she then asked, "So who'd you fight to end up like that? Um, what was your name?"

"I'm Lux. I exchanged a few blows with a band of bandits in their hideout with a good man I met. Then, I had a few more encounters that left me fatigued and injured," I answered.

She looked at me in awe. She said, "Are you the man that was in the newspaper a few weeks ago??"

My eyebrows raised, "What man in the newspaper?"

She showed me a newspaper with the tale of a warrior named Lux who rescued a bunch of people in a bandit cave near Arlis.

My eyes widened with excitement, "I'm in the newspaper, woohoo! Ow…," my stomach pinched from moving too quickly.

"Looks like you need some more healing," she had me lay back down on the hospital bed. "Alright, let's see what more you have done to yourself, Lux," she smiled and checked my injuries. "You seem to be doing okay. No major organs are damaged, and no signs of infection. You have bruises around your torso, especially your abdominals. I would have to say that you are suffering from abdominal trauma judging by these marks, and your ribs are fractured," She looked at me with a smirk and asked, "You want to get a new special treatment I've been working on?"

I looked at her face and reluctantly said yes. She smiled and placed her hands on the injuries. A magical greenish-red aura rose from her hands, and my injuries vanished into thin air. Dumbfounded by what happened, I looked at her cluelessly.

"It's just a little healing magic, but don't go telling anyone since I am one of very few who know healing magic," she explained.

"Magic? You must be one of those super-charged humans I've heard about!" I replied.

She tilted her head, then chuckled to herself, covering her face with a hand, "Super-charged? That's a funny way to put it." She straightened up, describing it, "Well, in Kysora, or at least areas close to the capital, we were more exposed to the manalite leak, which led to people developing magical abilities. Depending on where you lived and what your town contributed to the nation, you gained higher access to information and would take a magical affinity test at a certain age."

Dr. Kazui's information left me surprised, which was an increasingly common feeling since traveling. I now understood that my village was left without resources because it wasn't valuable to the rest of the nation. There was a lot more to the treatment of people than I had previously thought. Not only were resources distributed irrationally, but education, health, wealth, and rights were distributed unfairly too.

I still had a question for the redheaded doctor, "Is there a possibility that I can take this affinity test?"

She looked at the clock, "I can take you there tomorrow, but you can't exactly leave here tonight since you have nowhere else to stay. There's a curfew set for nine o'clock at night. The place is relatively far from here, so get some rest now." She ruffled through a basket and handed me a blanket to sleep.

"Why is there a curfew?" I asked, confused.

"There have been a couple of attacks against the nobles recently, so security has increased to maintain their safety. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get you some food." Her reply was snippy, seemingly annoyed with something. She left the room, brushing her right arm.

She was hiding something regarding the curfew. I knew there was something to her. I laid on the bed, staring at the blank ceiling. What a pain this day had been. I fought with the guards and spent the day in the clinic. It could've been worse.

She returned after a few minutes with a tray of food and drink. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to brush off her cold response from earlier.

I spoke up, "I have to ask, but why are you so nervous?"

She opened her pale hands and sat up straight in the metal chair, "How do you feel about the rebellion in Kryos?" she asked.

The question surprised me, but I figured a rebellion would occur, although I had no clue it already had. I may have only been here for a bit, but it was bright as day that these citizens faced inhumane treatment – treated as animals herded by their handlers.

I replied, "It was bound to happen based on what I have seen. I don't want to alarm you, but I'd honestly join the rebellion if I could. I don't understand the King's decision to deprive the people of basic rights and needs."

She sighed in relief, "Oh, no worries, I have a hatred for the King." Her now laid-back posture put me at ease. She rested her arms on the table by the rustic bed. Her radiant complexion enchanted me – coming from the moon shining through the curtains.

Slightly distracted by her allure, she snapped her fingers, which pulled me out of my trance, "Are you okay? You spaced out for a bit."

I returned to my wits, "Oh, yeah, sorry, I was just in deep thought."

Raya's amber eyes squinted, not because it was too bright; it seemed more like she was trying to make a decision.

"Come with me," she demanded, jumping out of her chair. She pulled me from the bed, and I followed her lead through the darkened hallway.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

We left through the backdoor of the clinic, and outside there was a fenced-off section around the back. There was a rusted cellar hatch with a staircase leading to a dark room, we went in, and Raya closed the hatch behind us. The stone walls and cement flooring covered the room. A light emerged from the doctor's hand; she conjured a warm ember, softly lighting the dark room. She wielded both fire and healing magic, surprising me once more.

"Just wait for a moment," she whispered.

The flame grew brighter; its intensity illuminated the entire room. Papers lay scattered throughout the room; the wooden furniture had drily rotted. A wardrobe remained knocked over, dropping books all over the cement.

Dr. Kazui stepped further into what looked like a study. Papers crinkled under her feet. Her hand reached for a leather-back book on a desk by a bloodied chair, titled, The Corrupted City, and then she handed it to me reluctantly, "This was the diary of a wealthy merchant named Ezekial Corathe. The book tells of his work under the current government of Kryos, the things he did, things he'd seen, and things done to him and his family. You should read it to understand what happens in this city." Her eyes resembled repulsion and sorrow.

I opened the torn-up diary to a random page. On the paper was a bloodstain. The entry read:

November 22nd of the 102nd Mana Year,

My body fell ill to poison, for I had disobeyed the Crown. I failed my mission. I couldn't bring myself to kill a mother and her child. Their cries for help and pleading turned my stomach. The King himself had told me to kill them for stealing meat.

November 23rd of the 102nd Mana Year,

A blow more damaging than I would have ever thought possible. This day will be the most painful as I write my final entry today. My wife and children lay slaughtered like pigs, as ordered by the king are what they had said. I only did the unspeakable things I did to protect my family, but ever since yesterday's failure, I never imagined this outcome – I should have never agreed to work with that awful excuse of a human; that monster took everything from me.

The page contained several blots of blood, apparent what had happened to him. I was lost, my head spinning from the unfathomable. The one page was enough for me to understand what strings the king pulled on all of these people. I looked to the doctor for an explanation.

Raya spoke, "I wanted to show you what type of monster is behind the curtain. The king is a heartless man who knows how to get whatever he wants. That's why I'm a part of a special group that works to help the rebellion succeed." She paused, looking uneasy, "The man's body was still in here when I first started my mission of working in the clinic. He had slit open his throat and rested in that chair, holding his diary close to him. I already knew of the ill-treatment of people in Kysora, but – this was beyond sickening."

Her body trembled thinking of those atrocities. I comforted her by placing my hand on her shoulder and hugging her. She started crying in my arms; it was clear that she wasn't unaffected by the manipulative grasp of the king.

I asked, changing the topic, "How about we get some rest; I can take you to your room or something?"

She relaxed a little more and sniffled, wiping her tears, "That sounds like a great idea. You can call me Raya, if you want to."

We headed back up, I took her to her room, and then I headed back to mine. I laid in my bed, staring up at the white ceiling. As I drifted off, I thought about what could've happened to Raya in her younger years and what might've led to her becoming a member of the revolt.

The Next Day | 07:06, November 25, Year 110

Sleeping in bed again was refreshing. I put on my clothes and armor, then checked up on Raya to see what magical attributes I may have.

I walked down to the entrance to see if Raya was there. As I turned the corner at the end of the hall, I could see her at the front desk, tending to some patients. I'd have to leave her be for a while. I decided to check around the city for a bit.

I waved, speaking as I exited through the entrance, "I'll return in a bit. Thanks again, Raya." She waved back and smiled.

The streets of the populated city greeted me. I stepped out and decided to check out the area for a while. I couldn't wait to take the magic affinity test.