James trudged up to his dorm room,
letting out a dejected sigh as he came to the door. Soon, he knew, he’d be
leaving this place, before he’d even settled in. For the past three weeks, he’d
studied at Callaxus
University, specifically
their branch of Magic Studies. In High School, James had seen several
specialists who had all told him that he had a tremendous potential for magic.
Even though his parents were not users of magic themselves, it seemed as though
the genetic code had aligned just right in his conception to allow him access
to the Mage gene which lay buried in certain human bloodlines.
It was a rare gift; in the world of
Civero, only one out of a million people had the potential to become Mages, and
only a fraction of those had enough potential to actually do anything
significant with the magic. As such, anyone with James’ supposed level of
potential was a hot commodity for future employers. Depending on the type of
magic he manifested, he could easily become a high-priced doctor, scientist,
engineer, special ops soldier, or even entertainer.
And yet, after three weeks at
Callaxus, taking a battery of tests to discover his aptitude, his would be
teachers could find nothing. He had the potential, they said, they could all
sense the mana simmering in his body, but there seemed to be no way for him to
direct it. He had tried Biomancy, the art of healing, and couldn’t even mend a
papercut. He tried Auramancy, the art of bodily enhancement, but could not lift
even an extra pound more than usual. He tried Geomany, the art of elemental
manipulation, and couldn’t even make a pile of sand move. Likewise, Kinetomancy
(energy manipulation), Shadowmancy (illusions), Ectomany (spirit manipulation),
and Summoning (calling and controlling monsters) proved fruitless.