He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven - The Magi of the Kingdom

Author's note; I'm back!  I took a little break partially as I wasn't sure what to do for this arc, but within a day of deciding to chill for a week, I had created the world, characters and wrote three chapters!  Still I did need to step away for a bit before the reveal.  It is probably going to be a little darker than previous arc's and the world is a little crueller.  Here is the first chapter;

When Elyas Sigmis awoke during the first hour, he was feeling somewhat out of sorts.  He could not explain why, exactly, it just felt as if there was something missing.  He sighed.  This would not be the first time his heart ached this way, as if there were a hole in it demanding to be filled.  He would reach the age of sixteen soon and likely become engaged to some girl for the sake of the kingdom.  Perhaps she would be able to heal him.

Elyas rose from his cot and moved amongst the other small beds to wake his fellow apprentices.  They would be expected to perform their chores before attending the classroom to learn.  Better they rise now than risk the Elders wrath. 

"What time is it?" grumbled a sleepy Herebert.

"First hour," Elyas advised, quietly, as he moved to the next bed to shake the lounging body there in.

"By all that is holy," he continued to complain, "such an ungodly hour!"

"Complain for all you are worth," Elyas allowed, "but recall that we are to be in class by the third hour."

"Yes, yes," Herebert replied.

There were a total of eight boys within their room, all apprentices within the mage guild, all gifted in the way of magic.  One day, they would stand amongst the most respected men and women of the kingdom and were they to prove worthy enough, even the King, himself, would give them face.  But that day was not today.  Today, they were but mice and mice that need sweep the corridors and prepare the breakfasts.

Mage apprentices tended to be a slender and small lot, lacking the developed muscles of warriors or labourers.  Elyas had some height compared to his fellows, but he could not be considered tall, just as his friend, Lewin could be considered thick of waist, but not fat.  The meals of an apprentice were good, but did not contain the nutrition required to develop their bodies fully nor were it plentiful to layer them round.  However, they did not go hungry.

As they were the first to rise amongst the apprentice groups, they were also the first to complete their designated chores.  The remnant grime caused Elyas a little discomfort, so he quickly returned to his shared room with a couple of others that also took some care in their hygiene to wash in a little water.  Elyas draped the rag over his slender body, wiping away the sweat and dust, when a fellow apprentice snuck up behind him and prodded the mark trailing down his back.

"Has this not grown once more?" Lewin commented, glancing over it.  The mark was the sign of magic.  Originally placed beneath the skin of the wrist, it would swirl and shape about the arm to indicate the strength and ability of the person it decorated.  Elyas had quite the eye catching mix of tattoos, though at first they had barely reached his shoulder, indicating he had the qualities of a mage, they now poured down his shoulder and reached into the curve of his spine.  The patterns seemed mostly random at first, but Elyas had noticed that parts of his had a strange linear quality to them.  Other patterns seemed to form a mass of swirling flames, which was where his talent truly lie.

It was not the only thing upon his person to declare his talent for his hair contained striking orange streaks, where once it had been mostly brown.  Lewis's hair had vivid patches of yellow, while Herebert had developed soft waves of blue-green.

The boy shrugged and put on a clean tunic, before heading to the classroom.  There were different levels of apprentices, the most talented were tucked away into an inner classroom for they would receive intense training in order that they graduate that much sooner.  And there was also the lowest of the apprentices, those who were unlikely to ever graduate and would remain as servants within the mage halls for most of their natural lives.  Elyas did not belong in either of these groups.  His was an average class, somewhere in the middle. 

"You know," Lewin whispered as they sat down beside Herebert, who was waiting for them there.  "If the Elders knew the sheer size of your mark, you would likely be moved to the S class."

"Which is why I do not wish them to know," Elyas murmured back.  This class with his friends and its paced learning suited him better.  If he were found out, not only would he not be able to quietly study as he felt like, he would not be able to join excursions to the surface.  He would not be able to leave the city walls at all!  He would be wedded sooner to a woman of equal talent in order to produce offspring with great magical abilities to further strengthen the kingdom.  He would be assigned to protect the king or some other elite personage or simply become an object of display to show the impressive might of the guild.  How boring.

"If I were you," Herebert said, with a sigh, "I would jump at such a chance.  Imagine graduating early with a beauty at your side and nothing to do but watch her get fat and plump and enjoy life."

"I feel that your view is quite askew," Lewin told him.  "We are not the elite, how can we say what sort of lives they might live."

"Better than toiling the dirt," Herebert had been a farmer's child, his surname Field before he had enrolled in the guild and it changed to Vape in recognition of his talent.

"Your talent lies in water," Lewin scoffed, his surname was Ohm, a rare lightning mage. "How much easier a life do you seek than purifying the supplies once a day and watering the crops?"  As respected as a mage was, most of their duties upon graduation were mundane, life sustaining tasks.

"Doing less than that?" Herebert suggested and Lewin shook his head, a frown upon his brow as their roommates shared mirth.

They ended their conversation as other apprentices poured into the class.  They were a loyal group, if Elyas did not wish his secret to be learned, then it would not be so.  It was awfully rare for a mark to alter or grow and so their teachers never would think to check such a thing.  However, they did not mean there might not be another who would sell him out in order to brown nose a particular professor.  If a professor had a favourite student, that person could be apprenticed personally and eventually gain more benefits for themselves.  Most of the S class were thought to be under single apprenticeship as well as learn in their classroom.

Teacher Exalos entered the room and waited for the stragglers that attempted futily to creep in after him.  These students would gain extra chores within the mage guild, usually some hated task such as the removal and emptying of the Elders chamber pots.  Three were caught this time, including Patrick Igneos, another fire mage apprentice.  For some reason he had chosen to place Elyas as his rival and thus always sought to cause trouble for him.  He believed Elyas thought the same of him, however Elyas was far too lazy to consider such things as competition amongst peers.

The teacher did not voice a roll call, he knew who ought to be in his class and knew already who should and should not be in attendance.  Instead, he called out a few names.  These individuals were fire and sand talents.  Sand was a very rare ability, so there was only one in their class, a girl named Lina Dustin.  It could not be said to be a powerful ability, it was not considered as high a rank as earth, but it had a particularly favoured use in the kingdom.  Elyas was one of the three fire users to be called as was Patrick.  The other was a girl named Jenefer Scorch.  "You four will join the expedition to remove the foliage from the surface surrounding our home."  The four students acknowledged the task.

The kingdom had been formed a few centuries ago when the world had turned upside down and plants had risen to top the food chain.  The humans and beasts upon the surface had been unable to stop the green spread of that which saw them only as nutrients.  Thus the humans could only seek survival in a place where the plants could not easily follow.  They chose the heart of an extinct volcano.  The rocky surface would not easily allow the verdant life forms to take root and it was also discovered that so long as greenery was grown without the light of the sun, it would not mutate into one of these meat eating, poisonous things.  However, humans still required some light, hence the crevice of the volcano's high opening would allow this, but also needed to be kept clear of foliage.  Burning the deadly plants were the best way to deal with them. 

Still it was a dangerous task, to rise to the surface, thus there would be warriors to protect them as they worked.  However, they were mere mage apprentices.  Should they be lost, it was not as concerning as losing a fully fledged mage, who would be needed if the plants actually managed to invade.  Elyas did not mind going to the surface, though, in fact he was looking forward to it.