Zeke walked the hallways, lost in thought. He wandered the school for a while, still thinking about all that he had learned. The clear ringing of a bell finally managed to wake him from his thoughts.

He remembered that he still had subsequent classes. Next came Mana Manipulation. This was followed by Magical Theory, and then it was time for lunch. After hours of studying, his mind was tired. As he walked into the dining hall, he could smell the heavenly aroma of the delicacies on offer.

The Elementium had a general dining hall. Zeke was free to use it even though he was not living in the dorms. This fact didn't do Zeke any good, however. He didn't have the money to afford the lunches they served. He normally searched out a corner in a deserted hallway and nibbled on the hard rinds of bread and moldy apples that were usually all he could afford.

If he was lucky, the lunch break ended without any of the students searching him out or accidentally stumbling upon him in his hiding spot. Those encounters usually didn't go well for Zeke; today, though, he was spared.

In the afternoon, he attended his Space Magic class. Despite his interest in the subject, he counted it a blessing they had not yet begun learning any Spellforms. Apparently, Space Magic was too dangerous to start practicing actual spells just yet.

Thanks to his three affinities, he had three times the amount of specialized lessons compared to the average student. Therefore, by the end of the day, he usually felt so depleted and tired that he could barely rouse any magic at all. On top of that, he barely had any time to practice while still working odd jobs every day.

Day after day after day, he persevered, driven by a burning desire to succeed. He knew these affinities were his only hope of making a name for himself. No matter what anybody said, Zeke still believed that he would make it all work somehow.

After his last class, Zeke packed up his things and made his way out of the academy. His luck for the day had apparently run out, however. As he walked through the courtyard, he caught the attention of a group of noble students. Zeke grimaced as he recognized them.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," one of them sneered. "If it isn't the master of Blood Magic himself!"

Zeke kept his head held high and continued walking, neither slowing nor turning to face them.

Another student yelled, "No one wants you here, freak!"

Still, Zeke kept walking.

"How is your perfect affinity working out for you, Oh Genius One?" another jeered.

And before he knew it, insults were raining down on him from all sides.

"Get lost, weirdo!"

"This is a place for real Mages."

"Commoner scum!"

"It's called ELEMENT-ium for a reason!"

Zeke’s fists clenched at his sides, but still, he refused to rise to their bait. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he spotted Lilly in a doorway, but when he looked again, there was no one there.

He took a deep breath and tried to push away the anger and frustration that threatened to consume him. This was not the first time he had experienced this, worse, it wasn’t even the first time this week. He knew he would have to endure much more to reach his goal. But he refused to let them break him. He would succeed, no matter what.

After he left the academy behind, the taunting insults of his classmates also faded into the distance. He made his way to the crafter's district. The meager savings he had come to the capital with had long since dried up. Anything he needed to live now, he made running errands and helped out at different workshops. But more often than not, he had to rely on Armin to find work.

He held up his hand in greeting as he approached a woodshop where he had worked before. "Hey, Archie. Anything I can do for you today?"

But the man only shook his head. "Sorry, boy, not today. It's been slow. Come back tomorrow."

Zeke nodded and continued down the street, stopping at all the open shops to offer his services. His luck for the day had evidently run dry completely. "Not today," was all he heard wherever he went.

Eventually, he found himself standing in front of Armin’s smithy much earlier than he had planned. Hammering was coming from inside, but he hesitated out front. At that moment a man stepped out of the door.

"Hi, Armin," he managed while looking down in embarrassment.

Well, well, well, look who it is.”

Zeke twitched. For a split second, he was transported back to the scene in the courtyard of the academy. One of his bullies had used almost identical words to cajole him. But one look at Armin's welcoming smile and open face put Zeke’s nerves at ease, and he managed to return the smile.

"You're early," Armin said with a frown. "No work?"

Zeke shook his head.

"Oy, Markus! You want to take a break?" Armin called over his shoulder.

The hammering stopped, and a few seconds later, Markus appeared in the doorway, brushing sweat off his brow. "Did you say break?"

Armin gestured towards Zeke. "Let him take over for a while. His spindly mage arms need the exercise." He winked.

Markus immediately flexed his arm, which had indeed grown quite muscular over the weeks.

"You make a good point," he agreed. "I'll let Zeke have a go."

Without waiting for Zeke’s response, he handed him the hammer and plopped down on a stool behind the counter.

Zeke hesitated for a moment. But then he put down his satchel, grabbed the hammer resolutely, and went to work on the steel that Markus had been working on. Even though the muscles in his ‘spindly arms’ started burning a few minutes in, he didn't stop folding and hammering until Markus called him to eat.

Like every night, Zeke sat down to dinner with Markus and Armin. And like every night, he listened to Markus and Armin discuss business and jobs and the goings-on in the crafter's quarter. Occasionally, he chimed in with a question or responded when either of them asked him something directly. But he never brought up anything from the academy and only gave vague answers when they asked him about it.

"That guy came by today again," Markus stated with a frown. "We need to do another delivery next month."

"Fuck those army bastards and the whores that birth them!" Armin cursed. "How do they think that we will be able to manage that?"

Zeke was shocked by this level of outrage from the usually so amiable man. He had never heard Armin curse before, not even in jest. Whatever this was about seemed to have truly enraged him.

"Calm down!" Markus said, looking around nervously. "You don't want anybody to hear you talk like that. By the emperor, we both know people around here who were punished for less these days."

Armin snorted. "What else are they gonna do? Refuse to pay? They are not even paying the full cost of the materials at this point. Anything less and they might as well just break in and steal the fucking things! How are we even supposed to make rent like this?"

"Uncle, enough!" Markus said, his voice hard. Armin was taken aback by the tone and stared at Markus. Only now did he notice his nephew's frantic signaling. He looked over and found Zeke’s eyes opened wide.

Zeke had known that Armin was getting pressured by the military. They were forcing him, along with the other blacksmiths, to create weapons and armor for cheap. He had not been aware, however, of how severe the situation had become. Armin had always talked about it as if it was merely a minor inconvenience. At least, he had done so in front of Zeke.

As realization dawned on him, his face flushed in shame. Not only did he live and eat here for free, but he was even getting paid for the bit of work he provided, as he needed it for the tolls. It would have been one thing if Armin had money to spare, but now Zeke recognized the burden he had put on his friend. He was not earning enough to even pay for the food he ate. The look in his eyes changed, this could not go on.

Markus immediately noticed Zeke’s red face and gave his uncle a scolding look. The man looked embarrassed, but the damage was done. "Don't worry about it, Zeke. If things get really bad, I'll just work a little extra."

Zeke smiled. He was truly touched by the offer but didn't even consider it for a second. He nodded, agreeing on the surface. In his thoughts, however, he was already going down a road he had considered for a while now.

After dinner, Zeke went to his room. He had told the two men that he was going to practice his Magic. He didn't want them to disturb him. The moment he had closed the door behind him, he went to the other side of the room and exited through the window. It was time to put his plan into motion.

*

He walked through the streets of the capital, the setting sun bathing the scene in a gentle red. The days had started to get a little warmer lately with spring around the corner. It didn't matter to Zeke either way. He had never had a problem with the cold, and now, he was feeling it less than ever. His Blood Magic-infused body had become nearly resistant to minor inconveniences such as these.

As he walked, Zeke wondered about the other effects his affinities had on him. From his own experience, he found out that Blood Mana strengthened his body. He had also learned that Mind Mages had an increased intelligence. This came apparently at the price of a somewhat detached and cold personality. So far, he hadn’t exposed himself to Mind Mana very often. According to Gertrude, it was better to focus on one affinity at a time.

But even during the few times he had used Mind or Space Mana, he hadn’t felt any drastic changes. He didn’t feel any smarter after channeling Mind Mana, and couldn’t even begin to speculate what Space Mana was doing. From his few experiments, he couldn’t distinguish anything different about him. Did this have something to do with the grade of his affinities? Or were the effects of Blood Mana just more obvious?

He was still pondering his affinities when he arrived in front of a certain building. Zeke gulped as he heard the boisterous atmosphere from within. This was it, it was time for him to prove himself. He would not turn back now.

Zeke gathered his courage and pushed the door open. In his nervous state, he pushed too hard. The door swung open and impacted loudly against the wall. A lot of heads turned in his direction.

With a sheepish expression on his face, the boy entered the lounge. He wished he could sink into the ground, never to emerge again. This was not how he had hoped this to go. He looked around the lobby. He could see a bar in the back and tables all around. Most were packed with groups of 3-6 people. The men and women here looked dangerous. The look in their eyes let Zeke know that they were no strangers to violence.

He stepped up to the reception desk. This late in the day there was no queue, so he walked right to the front. A lone woman was manning the table. She was filling out some kind of report by the looks of it. The woman had long brown hair and was wearing a pair of glasses. She was rather plain-looking, and in her mid-twenties by Zeke’s estimate. Still, she had a friendly enough face and Ezekiel was certain she would be easy to talk to.

The receptionist looked up, as she heard the approaching footsteps. "What can I do for—" She cut herself off as she noticed Zeke’s young face and academy robes. She looked him up and down, taking his measure. "Is this your first time here, sir?"

Zeke merely nodded, he didn't trust himself to not make a fool out of himself again by speaking.

"Well, there are a lot of Elementium students who come here for a little bit of a diversion. Let me extend a formal welcome to you. May I ask your name, sir?"

"Ezekiel from Feldstadt," he replied.

"Ohhh, a commoner? That's a rarity.” The woman said, immediately relaxing her posture. “Welcome, Ezekiel from Feldstadt, to the Adventurers' Guild!"