2 – How It All Began (1)

The long and heavy breathing was replaced by another quick and anxious one, the lost eyes alternated between despair and desolation, the arms hung limply at the side of the body while the lowered head directed its attention to the floor, or better said, to nothingness.

The coup de grace he so desperately wanted never happened. The reality he knew simply no longer made sense. No, he was the one who no longer made sense in this reality.

Ocien was the firstborn of the Debulis Family, a family influential enough to secure a place at the 3rd level Academy in Paales, his hometown. A third-level Academy only appears when the city is responsible for a Danger Area 4, but Paales has experienced something rare, the unevenness of the Coque Mountains to a Danger Area 3.

Moving the entire structure of an Academy is terribly expensive, so only its funds were partially cut, making it close to a 1st level School. This is only on paper of course, most of the instructors were natives of Paales and therefore decided to remain at the Academy. With fewer resources, the number of registrants each year decreased from 1000 to 300.

Among these 300 Ocien began his journey on the first day of the third month of 706 of the current era. Debulis was a family of Mages and when the boy awakened an aptitude for both paths on his 12th birthday, they didn't need to think twice about which path he would follow.

Ocien's enthusiasm came in the form of relief, the slightest chance of awakening just as a warrior was mortifying to him. His father, Morian, like him, was the firstborn of his generation, a Magician with average potential, but who still stood out above his brothers and cousins. The only detail that made him lose the position of Patriarch to his cousin Louie, was his choice of Ocien's mother, Vari, over her younger sister Nina.

Vari and Nina were part of the Sisco Family, another influential family from Paales, they are a mixed path family while Debulis is a single path family. Vari awakened on the Warrior path while Nina awakened on the Magical path. Vari's being chosen by Morian left the family elders discontented with him, causing him to lose his chances of becoming the Patriarch.

Some families choose patriarchs as a form of hereditary position, others choose the most competent descendant, only in the second case Morian would have the chance to be the Patriarch, but his choice ended up taking that chance away from him. His personality has soured over the years, but the moment Ocien awakened on both paths gave him hope of washing away the humiliation he suffered almost two decades ago.

Ocien, in turn, suffered from severe anxiety attacks due to his father's expectations. The relief he received on his birthday didn't last long when he found out where he was going to study.

A place at the Academy cost an exorbitant price, Families like the Debulis and the Sisco were able to send only one descendant every three years to the Academy. These Families may be influential, but they do not enjoy nearly the comfort that children of officers, instructors and military personnel receive when entering the Academy, not to mention the Families that command the four sectors of the city.

Ocien's entry into the Academy was timid, he always tried to do his best and the results soon showed themselves, he was one of the first in his class to reach the limit of the 1st Star, but it was at that moment that the rest of the illusion of comfort was gone. After an exhausting mission where all Talents advanced to 2nd Star, Ocien remained at 1st.

Morian and Vari were devastated by the news, she for not being able to provide the best training that Ocien could access, Morian for the shame and wasted resources for his son to attend the Academy. Thus his position in the Family became even more devalued.

The few colleagues he had formed some sort of relationship with began to look to him as superiors, not only could they reach new heights as Mages through hard work, the resources they received in return would accelerate their growth. He in turn would need to save resources to advance the barriers.

The transfer order didn't take long to arrive, the next day he would be sent to Hanquet 1st Level School.

Ocien gathered all the rewards he had received so far for his performance and analyzed them carefully. Overcoming Circles and Stars has a minimum and maximum amount of resources required that is already very well documented. From the 1st to the 2nd Star he needs a minimum of 50 Mana points and a Maximum of 125, for his performance he received 5 Cores with 15 points each and 2 Mana Stones that are equivalent to 30 points each.

Cores come from beasts, only one in 10 of them has a 1st Circle core, making them not very valuable. Mana Stones are rare minerals found in dangerous areas, the most common of which carries 30 points of mana inside, even though it is only twice the energy of a beast core with 15 points, they cost 5 times as much.

Mana Stones are more expensive because they are absorbed almost instantly by Warriors and Mages without needing to be processed, while Cores need to have their energy converted into mana for the Circles or Essence for the body.

Ocien decided at that moment that he would leave the Academy as a mere 1st Star.

The process of refining and converting the Cores was slow, each of them took an hour of sweat and concentration. Ocien's expectations increased from the moment he began to refine the fourth Core, but the long-awaited moment did not arrive, his nervousness grew to astronomical levels when finishing the fifth.

He tried to calm down, there were still the Mana Stones, he just needed to absorb them.

Each Core took an hour to integrate with his body, while the stones only need a few seconds. The first stone crumbled in his hands and panic took over his mind once again.

The last Mana Stone caught his eye in his peripheral vision and Ocien pondered the positive side of what was happening. The more resources a Lent needs to overcome barriers, the more solid their foundation is, making it easier to perform magic as they have more concentrated mana. It's a double-edged sword, while he will perform better than others, he will also struggle more to gather resources in the higher Circles.

New determination dawned in his eyes and he cradled the Stone between his hands as he steadied his breathing. The Mana Stone glowed briefly as energy entered the Magic Circle.

The glow increased until it began to die, in just a few seconds the Stone crumbled and nothing else happened.

No euphoria, no new Star.