An Anti-Hero's Origin

A Hero is Born

^^ Serene Fontaine ^^

For humans, Magical Gifts manifested around the age of twelve, during the process of puberty, and their bodies maturing towards their fully-grown forms. It was a time of uncertainty and growth, which nevertheless shaped them into adulthood.

For Elves, (and especially Pure-Bred High Elves, such as myself, with two ArchMages for parents,) we were born with Magical Gifts, and thus we had more time to master them, giving people the mistaken belief that we were naturally more skilled in magic than others; the truth of the matter was it was just a case of a longer life and greater Mana Capacity giving the illusion of Easy Mastery, or that's how my father explained it.

Still, Elemental Affinity affected even us, and there was bound to be a Dud someday; that happened to be me. I had double the amount of Mana as my elder sister had as an adult, and she is an ArchMage of Illusory Magic, whereas my Affinity was Conjuration, also called 'Transportation', because it was primarily used by traveling merchants who visited the various City-States with their magic bags of goods, evading the Monsters along the way with their Alchemy to throw the monsters off their scents. It sounded cool, but it was also the only magic that didn't have any combat capabilities whatsoever; there was no War Magic or Defensive Magic for Conjuration, not even a simple Flash, the simplest defense magic of all. As such, I was pretty much useless, as a War Mage, and I didn't even know how to summon anything yet; without a teacher, I was shooting in the dark.

But all was not lost; for people whose Mana was too weak to have an Affinity, there existed the option to fight with weapons imbued with their weak magical abilities, and this made them stronger than the average human, at least on par with smaller monsters like dire-wolves.

I tucked my ears deeper into the bandanna I wore to cover them, straightening my simple leather armor and my sword belt, where there hung a long dagger made of silver, (the best metal for Magic Swordsmanship,) then took a deep breath and entered the courtyard where the militia trained their new recruits; I'd observed several people walking in to join, and I'd seen the parameters by which they were allowed entry. The ones who brought a Bribe of at least one chicken, rabbit, or a fat enough partridge were accepted if they could exhibit a little Mana. If they couldn't do either, the bribe or the Mana, or if they could only do one of those, they were sent away. I was aware of the unfair, corrupt sense of conscience that was clearly visible here, but I needed a teacher, and if this was where I'd find it...

"Hey, Brat! You lost?!?" One of the leaders spotted me as I walked in, shouting to get my attention without getting up from his position lounging under a shady tree nearby.

I turned and approached him swiftly, holding out the hare I'd captured for my toll. It wiggled mightily in my grip while being presented it to him, but it wasn't going to last much longer before its heart gave out. "I'd like to join, and train with you all. I've brought the Training Fee, as requested."

He sat up as I approached, examining my clothes and face with a sharp gaze, then looked at the hare; plump and juicy, enough for four men to eat for dinner, or a stew for at least twenty people, if it was shared properly. After a few seconds, he sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know who told you that our Training Fee could be covered by a rabbit, brat, but they lied; the Fee is 50 Silver, not a barely 4 Silver rabbit. Pay that, and we can begin your training."

I frowned, shaking my head. "I've watched the camp for two weeks, and you've accepted seven recruits, each who brought a rabbit, chicken, or partridge, and then passed a Mana Test. There has never been money exchanged, and rightfully so, because that would be illegal; considering Militias are Non-Profit, if you charged money the Hall would no longer Fund you, nor would you be allowed to use this City as your base."