3 A New Day

Teo woke up late this day. The combination of the tickling ray of sunshine that somehow always found its way through the cracks of the window shutters and his mother's energetic voice, calling him for breakfast, finally managed to rouse him from his way-too-short period of rest.

Wafting from the small kitchen their house was equipped with, he could already smell his favorite food in the whole world: Blueberry Pancakes!

"It's morning already! Today is my birthday!" Teo called out suddenly after rubbing his tired eyes for a while.

Teo had been so excited that he could not fall asleep for what felt like ages, and now he was so tired that he almost overslept on the most important day of his life, even though he had been determined to get up early and prepare himself properly.

Like a tiny, groggy whirlwind, he put on his best clothes and rushed into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buttercup!"

his mother, Elisa, gave him a brilliant smile and brushed a strand of chestnut-brown hair from his face.

"Go wash up quickly, before the food gets all cold," she said.

"Good morning, mom. Is it pancakes today?" he excitedly asked the obvious, just to make sure.

"No, Sweetie, today is your birthday… But yes, I made pancakes; your favorite," she threw him a teasing gaze as he hurriedly disappeared behind a corner to get ready for breakfast. After barely a moment, he returned, his fatigue mostly washed away and sat at the table with renewed vigor.

"It's finally your big day. I hope you're not too nervous," his mother joked while heaping a steaming-hot pancake onto his plate. Teo really did not want to admit that he had failed to fall asleep last night for precisely that reason, but the dark circles under his eyes probably gave him away long ago.

The breakfast continued as usual, with some light conversation and the occasional remark about how cool Fire Magic is until Teo was completely and utterly stuffed.

His father usually started work at sunrise or at least the preparations for it. He would not actually begin forging anything until later in the morning so as not to disturb the neighbors with the constant hammering.

Getting the forge up to just the right temperature, sorting out the errands for the day, and checking the quality of raw material deliveries were just as crucial as time-consuming, and he always took it very seriously.

The workshop was situated on one of the main streets, just outside the village center, with the living area and a sizeable garden, where his mother tended to a small collection of herbs and vegetables, in the back.

After a short visit to the workshop, he finally joined his mother on their way to the very edge of the village, just outside the Great Thorn Forest, where the local Magician's Office was situated.

The warm late-summer breeze was rather stiff this day, signaling the nearing transition to fall. Summer was a short-lived pleasure this far in the north, making every part of it only more precious.

The village was unusually lively at this time of the year. People could be seen shuffling along the streets, carrying freshly plucked berries and early mushrooms, neatly packed in flaxen baskets. Hunters went to check on their primed traps in hopes of easy prey; everyone wanted to be optimally prepared for the upcoming harvest season and the long winter that was sure to follow.

After a short walk, they could already see the grey single-story building in the twilight of the adjacent forest, right beside a small trail that led farther north.

It was not exactly a magnificent building, but unlike most of Ritark, it was made from solid stone instead of wood, while simultaneously being more extensive than their own house, even including the workshop of his father. Thus, it made quite an impression on the young boy.

The large, dark-oaken door, adorned with tiny runes, seemingly wiggling about like small worms, also gave him a slightly disturbing feeling.

Before he could sort out his emotions and recover his courage, that had just slipped away from his grasp, his mother had already knocked on the towering door, "Mr. Atkins, we are here for Teo's Affinity Test!"

The unpleasant atmosphere did not seem to discourage her at all, as Elisa's clear voice rang through the air; Teo, however, had already taken shelter behind his mother's back.

"Come in!" a crisp, low voice boomed from the other side of the door, which simultaneously started to open before anyone could even touch it. Teo clasped his mothers' hand with as much strength as his little hands could muster and followed her into the hazily lit building.

"Elisa! It's been a while, how have you been?" a thin-lipped, middle-aged man covered in a dark blue robe said.

"We are doing quite well for ourselves lately. Thank you again for your help two years ago, Mr. Atkins," his mother chirped in response with a slight bow.

"You know each other?!" Teo observed, shocked by the revelation.

"Mr. Atkins helped to treat your grandfather two years ago when he caught the flu..." his mother explained while turning her head to look at him.

"Unfortunately, I am not a specialized healer and was not of much help… I'm sorry, I wish I could have done more. As you know, low-rank healing potions can only treat the symptoms and not the underlying disease," the man interrupted with an apologetic look.

Teo's maternal grandfather died two years ago in the second half of winter. He could not remember much about him, except that he was a kindly man and a loving grandfather.

"It's fine. You did everything you could," Teo's mother gave the man an understanding smile while trying to hide the sadness on her face.

"Well, we should get down to business then," the robed man said, trying to clear the awkwardness in the air.

"My name is Edgar Atkins, and I am the Senior Rank Apprentice Magician in charge of this area, as well as the supervisor for your Affinity check today."

Teo gave him a slight nod while wearing a puzzled look. Did he just call himself an Apprentice Magician? The man before him looked well over thirty years old, forty probably; if he was still an Apprentice, how old must a real Magician be? Mr. Atkins smiled at him, but chose to ignore his questioning look, after a short pause he continued,

"You don't need to be so nervous, young man, the test will be over quickly and doesn't hurt one bit; also, I don't bite."

Teo couldn't suppress a small smile.

"But first, let me explain what we will be doing here today,"

his slender hand sunk into one of the abyssal pockets of his loose robe and pulled out a fist-sized, opaque crystal ball seemingly made from smoked glass.

"This is a useful little Artifact, graciously provided by the Mage Association, that makes measuring the elemental Affinity a person carries into an easy and fast procedure. Not only can it detect the Element one is most attuned to and react to it by changing its color, it even gives us an indicator of how strong the Affinity is, depending on the brightness of the light it emits."

Teo stared at the crystal ball in the Magician's hand with round eyes, fascinated by what sophisticated machinery must be hidden in that small orb of glass.

"Using it is also very simple: You just have to touch it for a few moments and try to guide the energy from the center of your body to your hand and finally into the Artifact. You don't need any special technique or incantation, as it is very sensitive, and the ambient Mana in your body, unconsciously following your thoughts, will be enough," explained the middle-aged Magician with his raspy voice. At the same time, he carefully put the smoky orb into a unique wooden mount, already prepared on the spacious table at the right side of the room.

As the name 'Magician's Office' implied, they were standing in a dimly lit chamber, containing little more than an old rug, a few bookshelf's, and an aged table made from dark hardwood, with a few disorderly documents lying on top. The living quarters seemed to be hidden from sight behind another door to the left.

After looking around for a second, Teo focused his attention on the Apprentice Magician in front of him again, who appeared to have waited for this.

"If you are wondering, what a successful result looks like, it would be something similar to this," he said while leaving only his long index finger on the surface of the crystal ball.

Suddenly the small sphere turned dark blue, like the deepest reaches of the ocean and erupted in a flash of soothing blue light that slowly faded a few seconds after the man had retracted his finger. Teo couldn't take his eyes off the small contraption, eager to try it himself.

"What you just saw was the Artifact's reaction to a strong Water Element Affinity. Of course, it's unheard of for an untrained child to come close to a proper practitioner of magic, so you should not expect any blinding flashes of light," he threw Teo a lecturing gaze.

"Basic attunement to an Element is signaled by the Artifact simply changing color; a dim glow signifies the potential to influence the Elements in one's surroundings. This would be the minimum level of Affinity required to summon perceivable effects, apart from having a slightly increased resistance to one's Element, of course. The brightness of the glow just represents the extent to which one can control said Element."

He paused and spread a paper diagram on the table, depicting what looked like a colorful hexagon, while beckoning for Teo to come closer. Teo looked towards his mother, and seeing her smile in response, strode towards the table.

"This is the basic Constellation of Magic that depicts all six Elements and their relation to each other. Red, dark blue, light blue, and brown represent the four major Elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth that roughly one in ten has an Affinity for.

The complementary colors of black and white represent the Elements of Light and Darkness, which are also referred to as the rare Elements since they are not very common in nature and not even one in a hundred people possesses an Affinity for them," the Apprentice Magician traced his finger along the lines of the diagram.

"Luckily the Affinities for the rare Elements tend to be quite strong, when they do appear in someone, balancing out the number of Magicians majoring in any of the six Elements," he added, as he continued to run his finger in a full circle around the diagram.

"Well, apart from a few oddities, this is about it. We'll just have to see for ourselves what kind of Affinity you possess… if your lucky enough to have one at all, that is," the old man finished his speech and retracted his bony arms, expertly folding them behind his robed back.

Edgar was always expectant of someone from his district achieving extraordinary results against all the odds. Still, he knew better than to get attached from his long years of experience: The results were most often sobering.

Teo struggled to take up all the new information when he met Mr. Atkins's expectant gaze as if beckoning him to stride forth and grasp his destiny — something he gladly complied with.

After a short step, he was already in reach of the crystal device and looked at the Senior Apprentice Magician while slowly extending his right arm. The slight nod from Mr. Atkins was all the confirmation he needed for his curiosity to fully take over.

From up close, Teo could swear that the hazy clouds of smoke inside the crystal ball were continuously moving around while staying motionless near whatever point he tried to focus his attention on.

This small Artifact in front of him exuded a similar feeling of endless depth he had only ever felt from staring into the vast North Sea or the darkness, lurking between distant shrubs in Thorn Forest.

Taking a deep breath, Teo finally put his small hand on the Artifact… with little to no effect. It was cold and very smooth, but nothing else happened.

Then he remembered how Mr. Atkins had explained that he needed to channel his thoughts and energy through his hand and into the orb on the table.

After trying precisely that, Teo quickly noticed how hard it was to focus his thoughts on a task so ephemeral, but before he could even ask if he was doing it right, the orb already showed a reaction.

The clouds hovering behind the glassy surface began to swirl violently, visibly forming a vortex, before rapidly turning completely translucent.