"And now, repeat after me."
Ragryno listened intently, his determination unwavering as he echoed the words spoken by the elemental. As he recited them, he felt his body grow lighter. With his eyes closed, it was as if a heavy burden was lifting from him. Yet, amidst this sensation, he also felt an odd gaze upon him.
He opened his eyes, continuing to repeat after the elemental. The mark on his hand glowed brightly. He was anxious, fearing that something might go wrong.
Once he had fully repeated the elemental's speech, to everyone's surprise, nothing happened. The slab dimmed, and Ragryno stood there, bewildered.
'Hey, hey, hey! No, don't tell me I won't get any magic at all!'
His heart pounded wildly, his legs felt weak. Everyone in the hall silently stared at him. The mark on his hand still glowed, but he felt absolutely nothing.
"This… has never happened before," the elemental murmured in shock as he began to approach the elf.
Panic set in for Ragryno. Could it be that he was so talentless that even mana refused to grant him anything?
"No, no, no! Please, can we try again?! I beg you!" the elf pleaded hastily, looking at the elemental, whose face reflected only regret. That look made Ragryno freeze.
The hall erupted in murmurs. Everyone was talking about him, all eyes were on the boy.
'Stop looking…'
He wished he could disappear. Everyone had received their magic, every single one. So why was he the only one in the world who couldn't? What was his problem? Had he been cursed?
Or was it because he was an elf?
"Please, I ask for silence," the elemental suddenly spoke, noticing the despair on the boy's face.
Ragryno slowly lifted his gaze, looking directly at the elemental. In his green eyes, he could see regret and pity—feelings he despised the most. He didn't want to be pitied; even if he didn't receive magic, it didn't mean he deserved to be humiliated to the point of pity.
'To hell with all of this, I said I'd get magic, and I will!'
He clenched his fist tightly and raised his head, staring at the ceiling. His gaze filled with the determination he had nearly lost. He raised his fist and, with a fierce grin, began his own speech, not the one dictated by the elemental.
"Mana! I refuse to be rejected!" he shouted, anger and resolve ringing in his voice.
The room fell silent, and the elemental looked utterly stunned.
"I am not just any ordinary soul you can pass by without a glance!"
Though Ragryno couldn't see it, the slab beneath him began to glow. All attention was now focused on the boy standing in the center of the hall.
"If you won't give me power, I'll take it myself!"
Suddenly, a strange presence filled the hall, and everyone could feel the pressure weighing down on them. Ragryno felt an invisible force pressing against him, as if responding to his bold challenge. Four adventurers at the back of the hall tensed.
"Hear me, right now! I choose my own fate! I've fought for survival, battling for the last piece of bread and drop of water! I've bled, fighting for them against others! And this time, I won't leave empty-handed!"
At this moment, every gaze was fixed on him. A silver-haired girl stood, watching the scene with a frown, while a boy who had received time manipulation magic stared with wide eyes, filled with incredible interest.
The slab beneath him was now fully aglow with a bright turquoise light, illuminating the entire hall. Ragryno felt the pressure on him become overwhelming. Yet he remained standing, despite the excruciating pain coursing through his body, pain that had begun the moment he started speaking. He stood his ground, unwilling to give up.
"Boy! Stop! You're challenging forces beyond your comprehension!" a woman with a staff suddenly shouted.
In that instant, only five beings in the hall could fully feel the wrath and fury of the mana directed at the small elf. Each of them understood that if this went any further, something irreversible might happen. Some of the children in the hall even fainted from the immense pressure.
But Ragryno couldn't hear her. The only sound in his ears was the frantic pounding of his heart. His eyes burned with unyielding determination. He knew the situation he was in. But even so.
Even a rat from the slums wanted to be something greater. And if he was denied, he would take it with his own worthless strength. He was ready to fight against what was beyond his power, just to avoid suffering any longer. He couldn't falter and accept defeat now. For to become stronger, one must first change oneself.
Even if he was judged, unsupported, he would continue to the end.
"I'll carve my path through you! Even if I lose an arm, a leg, my entire body, I'll keep fighting until I die completely! That's how it's always been, that's how it always will be, so give me power, or watch as I take it myself!"
At that moment, Ragryno felt the slab beneath him crack, but the pressure on him eased. It could only mean one thing—victory.
He watched as a sphere slowly formed in his hands, a turquoise orb from which mana flowed, pure and untainted. The elf's heart finally filled with joy as he realized it had happened. He slowly lowered his hand, staring at the orb. It was larger than anything the others had summoned so far.
It emitted a turquoise glow, captivating both the elf and everyone else. But as if coming to their senses, the hall was suddenly filled with whispers and conversation. Ragryno was still overwhelmed with joy, knowing that he had succeeded, and now he too had magic. He was absolutely certain it was extraordinary, just like his entire ceremony had been.
"You… Do you realize what you've done?" the elemental's voice suddenly broke the silence beside him.
Ragryno shifted his gaze from the orb to the elemental, seeing anger on his face, which instantly brought the boy back down to earth, making him realize what had just happened. He had dared to challenge something far beyond his ability to oppose. The elemental's hands trembled slightly, and the whirlwind within him was far more furious than before.
Moreover, he had done this during a sacred ritual.
In the slums, such confidence was utter foolishness, and it was because of thoughts like these that many ended their lives bleeding out in some alleyway.
"I'm sorry… I…" Ragryno began, but the elemental only sighed heavily.
Just then, the guards burst into the hall, drawing everyone's attention away from the boy. Each guard was clad in plate armor, their faces hidden behind masks. They held swords and shields. Ragryno had never seen them before, but now he could faintly sense that he stood no chance against them, none at all. It was a vague and strange feeling emanating from them. They were incredibly powerful.
"What is going on here?!" demanded one of the knights, stepping forward. He stood out because he had no mask covering his face. Ignoring the elf, the elemental approached them.
What happened next was entirely predictable. The ceremony was temporarily halted, and Ragryno was escorted out of the hall. He tried to ask what was going on, but no one responded. It wasn't hard to guess—he had messed up something terribly. He recalled the slab cracking beneath him and feared they might make him pay for it.
He had no doubt it was worth an enormous amount of money, as it was thanks to it that such ceremonies could take place. The thought scalded the boy like boiling water, knowing he had no money and could easily be made into a debt slave.
Slavery was outlawed in the kingdom, but there were other ways to make you one on a more legal level. Debt slavery was one such way—they would place an overwhelming debt on you and give you false hope of freedom. In the end, you would spend your life working for the church, fulfilling any of their tasks, all for the phantom hope of becoming free.
This prospect terrified the boy, and he panicked. He had already begun to regret the foolish decision he had made, but there was no escaping it now.
They led him to a solitary cell and locked him inside. The cell was completely empty. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of smooth stone, pressing down on the boy. The cell was barred by a metal gate, behind which a torch illuminated the long stone corridor they had led him down. There was no one else in the other cells, which, for Ragryno, was a relief, as it allowed him to finally be alone with his thoughts.
He also felt that the cage of the cell had a strange effect on him, making him feel weaker. Perhaps it absorbed his mana, or perhaps it simply drained his strength.
He didn't know.
'What am I supposed to do now? Am I really going to become a slave to the church?'
Ragryno brought his nail to his mouth and began to nervously bite it, a bad habit he had picked up in the slums. Were his struggles really not going to pay off? Had he put himself in an even worse situation than before?
His thoughts were a jumbled mess. To calm himself, he wanted to summon the blue orb again, but as soon as it appeared, its energy was immediately drained by the bars. Now he was certain that the bars were an insurmountable obstacle. What kind of magic had he received?
The blue orb might have made him think it was water, but it was something entirely different. During the ceremony, the other children had also received various basic elemental magics—fire, water, wind, and earth. Water, too, manifested as an orb, but it was entirely different from the one the elf received. His was a turquoise orb, swirling at an incredible speed.
He had never heard of such magic before, so he was slightly pleased to have something unique.
He sat in his solitary cell for several hours until he finally heard footsteps echoing through the corridor. The clattering of heels was like thunder in the prison's long hallways, and soon the sound stopped right in front of his cell. The first thing that caught the boy's eye was the staff, which he almost immediately recognized. It was the staff of one of the adventurers who had been in the hall during the ceremony.
Ragryno quickly jumped up from the cold floor and approached the bars, speaking urgently.
"I'm not guilty! Please, don't send me into slavery! I made a mistake and was completely wrong!" He started with a pre-prepared apology. He knew it sounded utterly unconvincing, which was confirmed by the woman's reaction.
She looked at him. As before, he couldn't see her face under the hood, but he could feel her gaze on him.
"Yes, yes, and you didn't even violate the sacred ritual that's been happening for thousands of years," she responded irritably, making Ragryno force a sheepish smile.
"Please, if there's anything I can do to make up for it!" The elf quickly said, stepping back from the bars and bowing respectfully, directing his gaze to the stone floor.
The woman remained silent for a while, studying him with her gaze, but soon she just sighed and... giggled?
Ragryno raised his eyes and looked into the darkness hiding the woman's face.
"Then I have good news for you, slum boy. You won't be a slave."
Ragryno stood frozen for a few seconds, but then he relaxed as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The metal gate of his cell soon swung open as the woman touched it, and now he was free. But he hesitated to leave just yet since the woman hadn't stepped away from the door. Instead, she entered the cell and stood right in front of him.
"But something will happen. I don't know how you'll feel about it, but be prepared to accept it as it is."
The elf's joy quickly faded, and he frowned. Of course—there's no good without the bad, but what could he do? He was the one who caused this mess, and now he had to deal with it. The woman remained silent for a few moments before continuing.
"First, your evaluation, young mage." After saying this, the woman struck her staff on the stone floor, and a wooden chair appeared behind her with a small flash of light, causing Ragryno to be slightly taken aback.
"I only have one chair, sorry about that. But oh well," she said in a relaxed tone, laying her staff across her legs.
Ragryno remained frowning, feeling a bit uneasy. What kind of punishment would he have to face because of his actions? Perhaps they wouldn't make him a slave, but would they make him work for the church? He couldn't think of any other options since it all seemed to lead to him becoming a slave to the church. At least, that's what he thought. But right now, a completely different question was being discussed.
The evaluation. Even after everything that happened, they still decided to evaluate him? He wasn't upset about it; he was actually quite curious to hear it. Noticing the curiosity on the elf's face, the woman finally spoke.
"So... as you already understood, what you did was completely foreign to what has happened so far. In all the time since the creation of this ritual, such an incident has never occurred in history. The most similar case was when the slab broke, just as it did with you, during the emergence of one of the strongest mages in history, who almost reached the 5th rank."
"5th rank?! Incredible!" Ragryno's face showed great astonishment. Every magic had its rank and its rank's limit. One thing united them all—everyone started at the first rank.
There were a total of 10 ranks. A person could only reach the fifth, and anything beyond that was considered a divine being or even a god.
Ragryno knew such simple information only because he had the foresight to be curious about it right before the ceremony.
"But unfortunately, that's where the similarity ends because he didn't say what you said. He went through a completely ordinary procedure, as I mentioned earlier—the only similarity is that your slab also broke. I don't know what others think, but my personal hypothesis is that mana itself broke the slab."
Ragryno raised an eyebrow at her, and the woman just sighed and waved her hand dismissively.
"Never mind, this information won't help you now anyway. Maybe in the future, when you grow stronger, we can discuss it. Now, where was I... Ah yes! Your magic—it's incredibly contradictory. It's simultaneously unique and... mundane?"
The boy was even more confused than before. How could it be both unique and mundane?
"Your mana level in your body is enormous. No, not just enormous—it's incomparable. It's akin to an average 2nd rank, even though you've only just received your magic, which is absolutely incredible!"
Ragryno smiled at this information and internally celebrated with joy. At least he was good at something. Unfortunately, the woman decided to shatter his joy completely.
"But there's a problem... Yes, your magic may have the highest purity I've ever seen, which leads me to certain thoughts, but that's not the point now. You have a significant drawback in all of this—stability and control. The orb you summoned earlier is so unstable that it's a miracle you even managed to conjure it. This is a major problem for you."
The elf sat silently, listening, slightly bewildered by this sudden flaw. But he also didn't fully understand what the woman was talking about. All he grasped was that if she said it was bad, then it was bad.
Noticing the confusion and bewilderment on the boy's face, the woman decided to explain in more detail.
"The thing is, everyone who summoned their magic for the first time today did so in its most stable state. That was the essence of the ritual. It helps a person, or any other humanoid race, to reach the most stable stage in which they can summon their magic. By addressing the mana, it helps you, but for some reason, it decisively rejected you, causing the ritual... to fail."
The boy didn't fully grasp the entire concept, but he understood the main point. Now he understood why everyone was so surprised at first.
"We immediately thought that mana might have decided to give you more time to grow stronger, or who knows what could be in the mind of such a powerful force? But you did the impossible—something that others tried to do before, judging by what's written in history books, but you... I'm extremely curious about how you managed to force the mana to obey you, but I'm afraid, judging by your face, you don't even know that yourself," the woman said, nodding slightly.
Ragryno understood that he had done something when he addressed it. He didn't know what exactly, but it felt like he had forcibly ripped his magic, which was rightfully his. But why and how it happened, he had no idea.
"Well, never mind, I don't want to overwhelm you with information that's based on conjecture or something similar. Instead, tell me, what do you want to do now that you have something so unique?"
Ragryno already knew the answer to this question. He had long since decided on this, and it was this decision that helped him achieve what he desired.
"I want to get out of the slums and start living normally. If my magic is so powerful, then I'm sure I'll be useful somewhere," the boy said with a confident smile.
The woman was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter, leaving Ragryno stunned and slightly embarrassed.
"Well, I didn't expect anything else from someone living in the slums. Believe me, I understand you perfectly, but you won't get far with such an approach. I asked you what specifically you want to do."
And then the boy finally realized something. Yes, he wanted to get out of the slums, live the life of a wealthy person, and enjoy every day. But that was just a dream, not a goal. This question really stumped him, forcing him to seriously think about it. However, his thoughts were interrupted by the woman's voice, who noticed that he hadn't thought about it before.
"You can think about it later. Now it's time for me to tell you something very important, as before, just accept it as it is," the woman said, making the boy more alert.
Of course, he still had to face punishment. This time the woman didn't delay and finally said what Ragryno was most worried about.
"I understand that you don't have a specific goal right now since you've been living in the slums, only caring about survival. But I know a place where you'll have time to think about it... And that place is..."
The woman decided to take a theatrical pause, making Ragryno even more anxious. She clearly just wanted to tease him, but he didn't know that.
"The Royal Academy of Magic. There you have it. Take this news however you like, but if I were you, I'd be jumping for joy." She spoke with a slightly teasing tone.
For a few moments, Ragryno just stood there, his mouth agape in shock. Then he slowly lowered himself to the floor, sitting down. A broad smile spread across his face, and the joy within his chest swelled. He didn't even try to hide it. At last, he had a chance to reach his dream, even if it wasn't exactly how he had envisioned it.
Soon, the woman led him out of the prison cell, instructing him to come to the church the next day to depart for the academy. As she mentioned, he was lucky to be going there so soon, which made Ragryno incredibly happy.
Tomorrow, his life would start anew, and he was thrilled by the prospect.
Little did he know that this journey would soon turn into a living nightmare, making him long for the days back in the slums.