Some say he is a genius, others simply regard him as a pest. When Viktor first came to the Magic Bureau in the royal capital at the age of six he had already shown great potential in advancing as a mage. 

The bureau's selection exam is not only taxing. It was downright brutal. During his exam days where he scraped off just enough coins for tuition he was led to think that every suffering will be exchanged with good fortune in the end as long as he persevered and showed enthusiasm. 

At the foot of the Tower where the exam was held many magic practitioners gathered mostly children from noble families with good elemental attributes. 

"Even if you do not pass the exam here, there is still the Royal Academy."

That was the commonly spoken encouraging words by parents. For Viktor who had no other choice to advance except enter the bureau those words are acid thrown at his flimsy pride. His road is narrow, only one way out while others were born with too much reviledge yet disregard it, it was simply unfair.

Moreover, it felt like a waste to contend with these people having no real motivation. That's what he thought. Who would have guessed that they were far more driven to pass in order to please their parents' vanity?

The condition for the exam is to escort an elderly above three thousand steps before the sun sets. Unbelievable. 

None even suspected this outrageous condition. How can those old bags of bones climb too many steps? It will be a miracle if they don't suffer a stroke in the first hundred steps.

Viktor thought, either the elders are mages themselves or they have to completely utilize every skill they got.

Outside the tower where they were all gathered other enrollees have already picked their partner from the selection of civilian seniors. He was almost out of person! So, he ran to the corner of the walls and grabbed the frail looking old man who was lolling his head to dreamland. 

The person he picked was empty handed. Unlike the others carrying things, climbing would not be so difficult. 

"Huh… what is it?" Gramps asked him grumpily. 

"They said we have to pick an elder to--"

"Is that so?" He snorted. "Well what are you waiting for? Help me up, you runt!" 

Viktor scrambled to pull the old man back to his feet. He stank of a week-long stench without a bath and his eyes move about shiftily before settling down on him with a disappointed sneer.

At this very moment, Viktor very much wanted to slap himself for thinking positive thoughts. The chances of this old man being a mage is thinner than paper.

"Bah, just my luck. To be picked by a greenhorn of all people."

Timidly, Viktor bowed his small head. It was true anyway, all the young masters and miss already have their respective elderly partners. What's more they were chatting avidly already while he got a few more scoldings. 

"So? What are ye waitin' for ya runt? The door ain't gonna move near here." Gramps shouted. "The exam's started or ya wanna stay here and grow moss to yerself? Up to you."

"C-Coming… "

Gramps was mean mouthed but even so he was his only hope to pass. Just as they were about to step in the doors of the Tower slammed shut inches from his face. 

"Wait, I'm still out here! Open up!" Small knuckles rapped at the door repeatedly. After five long minutes the guard's head poked out. There was unconcealed glee in his eyes. 

He did that on purpose!  

Gramps sighed exasperated at his pitiful self. 

"Hurry up will you? Everyone has already started!" 

Gingerly walking in, Viktor had an old man in tow while lowering his head like a turtle. 

"This is why I hate brats." He heard gramps mutter. "Doesn't even have a smidgeon of confidence. Too thin and shabby."

Who's shabby? You're the one who's shabby!

But no matter how bitter he felt, Viktor could only swallow his resentment.

Everyone who gathered at the center quickly dispersed like stirred ants as soon as they walked in. Sleeves, handkerchiefs covered their faces quickly, the stench from the old man was too unbearable; it devastated many, turning their complexion green. 

"Smells like a hundred-year dead rat."

"Can't you just return that beggar from the sewers he crawled out from?"

"Who allowed a beggar here?"

He was glared at resentfully. Their stares could peel off skin that Viktor shrunk even smaller. 

"I'm sorry, gramps. I dragged you into this. If I had known sooner I shouldn't have--"

"Picked me?" The old guy interrupted. He didn't look mad, just slightly irritated. "It could have turned out better or worse, who knows really. But since the both of us are in here you have no other choice but to push through, or are you scared?"

Viktor held his breath. "I'm not."

"Good then. A little embarrassment will not kill you but the lack of confidence will."

Upon hearing that, he straightened his back.

The child was small, younger even. His bones are frail due to malnutrition yet those crimson eyes above sunken cheeks glowed with so much vigor. The old man rubbed his bearded face and hid his sly smile.

Thousands of steps with an elder to drag. How will his enthusiasm fair? More importantly, what sort of magic does he possess to aid him from here on?

"Colorless." Viktor said as quietly as he could. 

"Say what!?"

"I, I am Colorless. L-Light Magic… I think?"

In some great stories Light Mages are considered kingdom treasures. It is to say they do not need to undergo trifling examinations for they are easily absorbed and pampered by magic institutions. The ability is a rare one. 

But today's circumstances are different, the current Archmage along with his subordinates specializes in Light Magic. Due to the lack of advancement in recent years the mages' reputation has taken a nosedive from the tallest peak to the ground.

Why, this kid's luck is rotten. Gotta beat that goddess who blessed him! 

"Kid, what is your name?"

"V-Viktor."

"An auspicious name, sounds imposing." Gramps smiled wryly. 

"What about gramps?"

"You can call me Gramps." 

"..." 

Viktor's face turned even more gloomy. Even a beggar wasn't willing to give his name to the likes of him. From what he heard, it seems that his ability is not something urgently needed, even gramps quickly lost interest in him.  

Now then, as the final instructions are said and the signal to start is given everyone scrambled to the stairs like mice. 

The elderly each of them picked will give them some sort of an aid. Depending on what kind it was and how they handle it, the enrollees would succeed. 

Mustering his courage, Viktor asked, "So gramps, what do you have for me?"

Looking around, he saw his fellows being handed ropes, food, potion supplements, and many other things useful for a long arduous climb. Just where did all of those come from?

He saw one enrollee given magical vaulting boots from an old lady he picked. The others looked at him with eyes crying with envy.

"I got you…" Gramps pretended to rummage through his pockets but found nothing. "Bah, where did I place that useless thing?"

Viktor's heart sank. There is no way he could expect any more amazing things based on how he patted himself desperately. Weapons are prohibited upon entering the Tower, the ones allowed to carry things are the elders. 

No wonder they each have satchels! 

"Oh, found it!" 

Gramps presented a small seed on his palm. It was shiny, green and full of vitality. 

"It's a bean." Viktor very much wanted to cry now. 

Small hands plucked it from the old man, briefly inspecting it. After a long sigh, Viktor slapped himself, this is no time to brood. There were only the two of them left at the bottom of the stairs. Hundreds have ascended! 

Gramps thought it was futile to show him this now. He looked very much heartbroken as his eyes clung on the seed. 

Sorry, this thing is useless. Won't even make a decent soup if you boil it. 

The old man admits it was his fault, the seed he had was originally a normal one that will germinate with a small amount of magical energy yet for some reason he lost it and got this abominable Jade Vine instead. Of all the rotten luck…  

The seed eats up magical energy like a starving beggar then it depends whether it wants to sprout or not.

This is hopeless. 

Viktor resolved himself to climb the next thousand steps along with the old man. The sun is at its peak now, there is only half a day before the sun disappears. 

He saw others resting along the way, some eating their provisions. Viktor peeled his eyes away and forced the rumbling of his stomach to behave. He gazed longingly at the seed.

Nope, can't be eaten either. He thought with a helpless smile tugging at his lips.

They walked upwards with minimal rest or when gramps complained of his sore feet. Despite his ramblings, the little boy just timidly lets out a smile and helped him up. 

On their five hundred steps, Viktor clenched the seed on his hand.

"We should stop now, gramps."

Old man was astonished. After walking several hundreds of feet he finally gave in. He felt a bite of disappointment deep in his heart. The resolve of a six year old was commendable but he was tired.

Viktor sat on the steps and took out a broken chalk from his pocket. Curious, the old man said nothing and just observed him. In the next moment his eyeballs almost jumped out of their sockets when he saw what the boy was scribbling on the stone floor.

"Oi, little runt isn't that a magic circle?" 

"It is." He replied simply. 

"How are you able to… to memorize that kind of incantation script?"

Viktor scratched his cheeks shyly. "Err, I don't really know. I just remembered them after seeing it once or twice."

What in the world is this child?

Viktor placed the Jade Vine seed in between the circle and activated magic repeatedly until he succeeded.

Gramps was taken aback as a thick, twisted branch rich in green color shot up to the center of the tower. The little runt did something outrageous! The old man's mouth hung loosely as he gaped at the swinging vine in front of them.

"This…"

"Let's go?" The boy prompted with a bright smile. 

With the vine's help the two of them managed to climb the topmost tower three hours before the sun set, much to the other competitor's horror. Along the way Viktor told gramps that he had been thinking of what to do with the seed since early this morning. 

Gramps thought he was contemplating on how to make a meal out of it. "You looked rather famished earlier." 

"I was. But a single bean would not suffice as a meal so I thought of another way."

He had been thinking about a solution for that long?! He was simply speechless. The skinny boy did not give up. It seems that he had memorized quite a few magic texts and formations that he had a hard time finding an accurate one to grow the seed.

"It's a seed right? There is only one answer when thinking of a way to use it in this kind of place and since I don't have a Wood element I can only think of one thing, magic circle. Gramps, I think picking you was my biggest luck."

Him? Luck? He very much guffawed after that.

Viktor's ability is not simple. He used a magic circle to grow a seed different from his attribute and suffered only little backlash! Malaise to be precise. The boy is clever. Just when he thought he would end up weeping running back home he surprised him with this extraordinary shot.

When the child was admitted to the bureau his talent was assessed mediocre so he was put with the fifty other students who more or less possessed 'clear' attributes. Elementals were given highest priority, but even so Viktor proved himself multiple times by being able to utilize complex magic arrays he learned. 

Adults began to pay heed to his smarts and talent. He scraped from the bottom to the middle layer but just as he was about to reach peak at the age of eleven talks of him becoming a candidate for the grandmaster position in the future alarmed many. Including the current grandmaster, Xanthous.

It was supposed to be just a harmless speculation. The issue dragged on causing other factions to directly attack him. What can a boy do? With few people to back him up he could only fall down the trap.

In the end he was sent to Nachtwald, the council decided to place him in the frontlines to utilize his ability further and prevent him from ascending at the same time. 

He was an abandoned child, the people he cared about were only Gramps and the old grandma who managed the orphanage he grew up with. Right then, he only knew that he was taken as an eyesore but he still had hoped of coming back to continue his dream. When months passed without a single message from the bureau he finally accepted reality. 

It was exile. 

What did they do wrong to deserve such treatment? They studied hard. Why of all places there? He heard many tales about the southern duchy near the Sleeping Forest and the tragedies it brought to its people. Only that he did not expect that this harsh incident would become a great turning point for him and his companions.

Mordered. Gramps as Viktor would call him had his doubts. He knew the bureau wasn't so generous to send students they deem hindrance just like that. With his help, the twenty one junior mages were safely delivered to Nachtwald to seek for Duke Aldebrand's protection. In turn, they also managed to avoid pushing the blame to Obsidian in the event those boys met a mishap on the road. 

With the Wargod now as their shield, the claws of the Magic Bureau will be nipped before it could touch them. 

Mordred's only regret is not having the chance to see how the prodigy he took under his wing blossoms. 

A year later, the latest news of those tragic twenty one children shocked the old bag of bones. 

With tears streaming down his aged face, the retired Grandmaster gripped the letter Lord Commander sent him. Who would have known that children barely twelve years old would survive and even make progress in the most desolate place?

Heaven is not blind! 

Someday, there will come a time when those boys return to the capital and claim their rightful place.