At the crack of dawn

“Now Ark, take this. And then use this to activate.” Roland hands Ark the quartz that now had red reflections in it and a skinny wand with crystals on the tip.

Ark takes them both and gently touches the quartz with the tip of the wand. He holds it like that for ten seconds and the red reflections glow and immediately the magical imprints from before appear above Ark's head.

From the middle, four lines grow toward the four ends of the pattern. It starts fast but slows once it is close to the end. The lines touch the four ends. At first it looks like it all stops there, but suddenly, the four ends connect to each other and form a complete square.

“Oh my! Ark, this is amazing! I knew that Ruheist is known to have great aptitude, but this! This is supposed to only exist in stories and legends. Grade five! Hahahaha I never thought that I could witness this with my own eyes.” Roland exclaims ecstatically.

“Oh really? So, what will this tell me about the vision?”

“Hmm? You don’t seem to be surprised.”

“Ah. no no, I am also excited," Ark responds nervously, “it’s just uhh, I was more excited about the visions, I guess. You say this is grade five? Wow so I must be awesome!”

“You think so? Why is that huh?” Roland asks with a smirk. But before Ark gives some other excuses, he continues, “I also never told you how to use the wand to activate the magic crystal. You knew right, Ark?”

Ark looks at the ground and can’t escape Roland’s question. He can’t think of a good answer.

“Hahaha you should see your face, Ark. Honestly, I don't care about your secrets,” Roland wipes away his tears of laughter, “But it’s really amazing, that is true. I am honored to witness it. I don’t like to meddle in someone else’s shoe, but if you ever decide to hone it, use it wisely.”

“I will try Roland.” Ark looks a lot relieved now. He gives a bittersweet smile.

“Alright, now let's continue. Hmm… for grade 5, we will need at least this much. And this one should be around this much.” Roland gets busy, clearing the table to prepare the next magic.

The next pattern is simpler. Although the quartz in the middle is about the same size, the pattern is so much bigger than before. Roland performs the magic again and the crystal lands on his hand.

“Now Ark, activate this one. This will tell us your mana level.”

Ark, takes the crystal, and activate it again with the same wand.

“I see, your mana level is still 1.”

“Of course it is, you have not yet agreed to teach me.”

“Well, I am just checking, in case you find a way to accidentally do it yourself. Anyway, that creature is likely the one that actually did it. Are you sure it is not just an illusion?”

“I can’t say why, but I'm pretty sure.”

Ark may not be familiar with what is called an illusion, but he can feel it. That vision was indeed a memory. Even though it was quite vague, he will try as hard as he can to remember it.

“Well, I guess that’s all I can do. Now let's talk about payment. If you were to show a grade 3 aptitude, I was gonna let it go. But to make a crystal that can check a grade 5 mana level needs a lot of ingredients, and I can't resell it since nobody but you have grade 5 aptitude. The total should be 10 silver and 2 copper but for you I will make it 8 silver only.”

Ark for a moment forgets what kind of person Roland is, if it comes to money. Now that the excitement of the vision fades away, Ark can’t help but regret how stupid he was not to say no when Roland offers to take a look.

“Can’t you make it cheaper? I was going to buy some potions, so how about I pay 10 silver and you give me 2 potions with that?” Ark tries his luck, so he looks at Roland with eyes full of hope.

“Oho? You want to bargain with me? Okay, if that is your wish-”

“-only one! I will pay 10 and give me one potion.” Ark cut him off before he can continue with a never ending bargain.

“Well, good choice.”

Ark then gets a potion to recover his stamina, quite the common potion to get. He is planning to not rest on this journey so the potion is quite important to him. After putting the potion carefully in his bag, Ark says thank you to Roland and heads out to the city outer gate. But before leaving, Ark says one more thing to Roland.

“When I come back, I will work harder, and take even more jobs. I will make sure to pay you the two gold coins.”

***

Roland sees Ark’s lantern light disappear in the corner. He is gone now.

Who would think in my lifetime I will witness a grade 5. My past self surely will hate that boy just for having that aptitude.

For Roland, who has only grade 1 aptitude, learning magic demands far more effort than for those with higher aptitude. Roland was an optimist who thinks diligent will be his key to fight what so called fate. Although in the academy, he was regarded as one of the best students in theoretical magic, he still couldn’t finish the practical exam to be qualified as an official mage.

What was worse was he had an accident on his last exam, it happened when he forced himself to craft a brand new magic pattern for a new magic he proposed as a substitute for the practical exam.

The magic crystal was perfect, his own original magic actually worked. But of what cost? His soul was fracture—which would drains what little mana he ha— faster. The core of his magic is damaged permanently. And he is now living in the slum, not because he has no choice, but because he has given up on trying. He only does magic on the side while selling stamina potions as a way of living.

Ark, this world has changed for better or worse. Maybe I should also pass it forward. My dream is not for me to fulfill, but with your aptitude, maybe you can. Or maybe you are the only one who can.

Roland goes back to his house and closes the door behind him. The darkness is slowly filled in as the light of dawn slips in between the tightly packed wall of houses.