I had time to myself after the old biddy left the bathroom once she was done. I decided to go for a walk to the courtyard once again as I started to have some nerves but who I was going to meet and what was going to happen to me.
My whole life had been changed. I had no relatives in town, I was officially an orphan now with no one to take me in. Mrs. Flitcroft and I had talked about this briefly on the second day I woke up fully. she told me that I wouldn't be abandoned by the village or her own family for that matter. I was an awakened mage so I had some options that were previously impossible for me, like going to the mage academy in the capital, or I could skip that and go directly into military service as a mage trainee.
Both options had advantages, Mrs. Flitcroft informed me that she when to the academy and they had trained her in the basics of light magic so that she could use her magic for the good of the people without fear of extensive harm to the public. Only those sworn to serve in the kingdom were afforded advanced magical learning I was told.
The state had an obligation to see that I was trained to control the magic so that I wouldn't cause harm to the people of the land, but that wasn't what I wanted. during our conversation, Mrs. Flitcroft had let slip that most fire mages were trained in the military alongside the most gifted of healers. The military would never turn down more destructive potential in the army, to that end they would seek out any fire mage and many of the noble houses that had Light magic would ultimately send their most gifted to the military as they were also another tactical asset that could change the course of a war.
Fire mages were especially sought after. The mass amounts of destruction that they could hurl at range was vastly superior to every other mage. This wasn't the only thing fire mages were good at, Fire mana could also enhance a user's strength, agility, and even cognitive reaction speed. not every fire mage could do body enhancement, as some people just didn't have it in them to get up close to an enemy and kill with grim efficiency. the common soldier couldn't keep up with a mage that was moving at 1 and a half times faster than normal with twice the strength and with lightning-quick reaction speed.
so Mrs. Flitcroft told me how all military trainees went to a separate academy called Mount Spire. it was located south of the capital and was a week's ride by fast carriage. it was so-called as it was on the border of the kingdom of Entaf with the southern kingdom. It was in a mountain pass that separated the two kingdoms from one another and was the only access point for over 100 leagues in both directions so it was a fairly important military outpost.
I had asked why a military school would be at the border with another country. I answer I got astounded me a bit. "Well, the savage lands are wild and untamed. we call it a kingdom but it is a collection of warring states, so it offers lots of practice to fledgling mages to gain real-world training and teach them in the application of how to use mana to kill. It was the whetstone that was used to sharpen the magical blades of the kingdom so that they could be used more effectively against the true threats to the kingdom.
Mrs. Flitcroft had given me a lot to think about from our short conversation and so I just wanted the meeting to happen already than I could have more information to make an informed decision on what my future would hold.
In my contemplations, I hadn't noticed a figure walk up behind me and start to inspect me. she was in her mid-thirties with an embroidered red robe that was beautifully made and went down to her feet. white hair framed the breathtakingly beautiful women's face. "So you are the young boy who killed a captain from the Order of The Grim with fire magic." came a soft voice from behind.
I looked over my shoulder in irritation as I was startled suddenly from my musings. Orange had begun to creep in from my scalp and orange started to take over my right eye before I could reign in my emotions enough to have the mana recede. "sorry about that, it's hard for me to control." I said softly as I tried to look away and get my heart under control.
The women hadn't even flinched when the mana had started to flow from me, all she did was stare at me in fascination for she had never seen mana so potent and wild that even being startled could cause it to flare up. Most mages had to focus to get the mana to flow so freely as to change the color of one's hair. It was no easy feat to have that much of an external manifestation of mana! "Oh you do have quite the talent!" she said with a deadly glint in her eyes as flame started to come from her palm to form a sphere, "Let us see how much talent you have boy!" she said as she started to walk towards me slowly.