He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Eight - All The More Reason To Leave

Before Elyas had become Elyas Sigmis, he had been known as Elyas Knight, the son of a low ranking official and his wife.  He had been marked at the age of five and not long after this had been enrolled into the middle classes of the mage halls.  He didn't recall much else in regards to his parents, except that they were proud of him.  He had not seen them since, the mage halls taught the children that their first and only duty was no longer filial, but to the King and Kingdom.

Still, he had thought, being born to some status, that he knew what was expected of an elite mage, but he came to realise that he was sorely mistaken.

As he had been in education for ten years, his new classes, while intense, were not otherwise much different than what he had learnt before.  There was more emphasis on duty to the King and less for the Kingdom and his abilities were examined more finely.  His abundant magic meant that he could sustain a flame for hours, perhaps even days did he not require sleep.  It also came clear that he had much finer control than he had ever revealed before and as Teacher Vitalous kept watch on him for every lesson, every day for the first couple of weeks, he could no longer blend into the background and perform lazily.

The only benefits that he had discovered so far being forced into the S-class were the single room that he had all to himself and that he no longer had any chores. The former was actually not so great as the room was not exactly what he could consider spacious and he missed his friends and the time that was gained from the latter, he was expected to fill with self study. He managed to appear to fulfil this requirement by visiting the library every two days, signing out a few books to read and taking them to his bedroom, where they mostly lay forgotten upon his bed, while he took to exercising his body. He didn't want to look so lame next to Five when he met Seven again.

It was difficult to do sit ups, press ups and the like in the small space, especially as his weak, physical body protested after a really short period and he ached horribly the following day. However, after learning that he could use his magic to warm his muscles and ease the pain, he pressed on, sweaty and tired by the end of each day and barely able to pick up one of the ignored books until lights out. Why did he think this was a good idea again?

On learning that his magic was good for something other than just burning things, he came up with a theory. Fire, Water, Air and Earth were the source magics, other types were derived from these four, such as Sand deriving from Earth and Ice from Water. There were many types that came from Fire such as Light or Sun, even Darkness or Shadow for it was the absence of Light. Therefore, could he not use magics that were attributed just to these talents? He tested several theories only to find that he was correct. The only stumbling block came if he tried to use magic that seemed to be derived from two elements such as Lightning, which he believed was not just rooted to Fire, like the books suggested, but Air as well. This would also make it more understandable why it was considered rare.

As he was playing around creating heatless light in varying colours during the rest day there came a knock at his door. Elyas quickly dismissed the spell, he wasn't willing to share his newfound abilities when he had already revealed more than he had ever wanted to, before moving towards the door to open it. It was Teacher Vitalous.

"Greetings, Student Sigmis," the Teacher offered him a small, amicable smile. "I am due to visit my clinic within the upper levels and would like your company as the newest student of s-class."

"Your clinic?" Elyas asked.

"Yes," the Teacher said. "As well as being a Teacher within the mage halls, I am also a Healer. I try to attend to my Clinic at least twice a week, unless there is an emergency to which I would attend to immediately of course. I usually ask one of s-class students to accompany me. There is a lot to learn outside of the classroom after all."