Evin scrubbed at the last bits of oil stuck inside the metal pot in his father’s workshop, sniffing occasionally. His short arms struggled to the reach the bottom of the pot, all while the cold and wet kitchen cloth would send pangs of sharp pain through his veins.

  ‘Come on! Just come off already!’ he complained in his head, as he scrubbed at the final shard of oil harder and faster. He feared his nails would fall off first, but thankfully, the shard popped off, going ting inside the pot. He did the same act once every few months, when his father decided to change the oil he used to quench his metals.

  Evin sighed, finally done with this task which ended up taking him his entire morning to finish. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and scratched his messy hair furiously refresh his head a little. But right after he was finished, his father’s voice called out to him.

  “If you’re done with that, go and wash the dishes in the kitchen.”

  It was something he did every day without complaints, but today, the order vexed him to no end. Maybe it was the cold piece of cloth in his hands, maybe it was the fact that his nose was slightly clogged, or maybe it was because was such an important day for him but his father seemed to give no care to it at all… it almost pushed Evin to snap back without regard for the consequences. But of course, he wasn’t going to actually snap back. The only thing he could do was to say nothing.

  Silence. The only form of resistance he could show towards his father. But it seemed that… that too wasn’t going to last long, as his father’s stern command echoed across the house.

  “Come over here.”

   a mocking voice appeared in his head.

  Dropping the wet cloth to the floor, Evin slowly waddled over.

  “Hurry!” his father ordered, and he walked faster.

  Evin’s father was a man with a huge, frightening appearance – legs as thick as logs, a hand the size of Evin’s torso, and a grizzled face with a burn scar under his eyes. Well, it was expected, as he was a blacksmith by profession and lifted things that Evin could barely push.

  The man looked at Evin dead in the eye and asked, ale reeking from his breath,

  “What are you supposed to say when I tell you to do something?”

  “Say ‘Yes, sir’…” Evin murmured.

  “And what did you just do now?”

  “I said nothing…” Evin whimpered.

  The next moment, Evin fell to the ground with a thud, feeling a sharp pain on his cheeks. Quickly, he grabbed at it, in hopes of reducing the pain just enough so he didn’t start crying.

  “Little shit… can’t even take a slap on his feet,” his father cursed, as he picked Evin up, “I’ll let you off with that, since we’re going to be visiting those fucking mages today. Now go and do what I told you.”

  “Yes sir…” holding the tears back from his eyes, Evin picked up the wet cloth from the floor and dragged himself towards the kitchen.

   the voice in his head said mockingly.

  “Shut up…” Evin whispered in the smallest voice he could, careful not to let his father hear the remark. But alas, it seemed that today really wasn’t his day.

  “Did you speak to that voice again, you freak?” his father shouted at him, “If I hear you talking to yourself like a lunatic again, I swear to the Empress, I’ll beat you till you’re actually insane, understand?”

  "Yes, sir!" Evin hurried towards his next task, before his father could jump off his seat.

  “I won’t let a lunatic live in my house, you get it? You either fix your head, or find yourself a new house to live in,” his father shouted from behind.

  Entering the kitchen, Evin closed the door behind him, and put the wet, oily cloth to his cheeks. The pulsating pain seemed to die out a bit, as he groaned softly and sat down on the ground.

  

  “Shut up.”

  

  “Shut up.”

   the voice cackled in delight,

  “Shut up. If you’re going crazy, do it somewhere out of my head.”

   the voice paused, its tone filled with genuine worry for a second.

   the voice quickly spewed out in a passive aggressive tone and went silent.

  Evin sighed and started scrubbing the dishes.

  ‘Thankfully, the pain on my cheek is almost gone,’ he was thinking, before the voice started ranting about a random topic again.

  

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  

  “Shut. Up.” Evin said again, not bothering to hide his annoyance and disgust at the voice.

  

  Thankfully, the voice was obedient enough to stay silent after the snark remark. A rare joy. Feeling content that the voice was listening to his words for once, Evin focused on the dishes.

  But as his hands scrubbed the grease and stains off the metal kitchenware, his mind wandered off, thinking of random things, namely the visit to the mages he had in the afternoon.

  Due to the Mage Acceptance Law of late king Roland Arcwall, after a child reached the age of 10, they needed to give a visit to the Mage Circle on the last day of a month which was today. And coincidentally, Evin’s birthday was on the last day of the month.

  This was a chance for him to change his life forever.

  ‘If I turn out to be a mage… I’m sure I’ll be able to leave my father and then find a awy to get rid of this accursed voice inside my head,’ Evin thought wistfully, ‘Then I’ll truly be free.’

  A moment later, he shook his head.

  ‘No. Although it’s nice to dream about it all, it’s best if I don’t get my hopes up…’

  The chances were simply too low.

   the voice said suddenly.

  Evin could only shake his head at the random remark. The Voice feared death more than anything else in the world. Evin felt that the worry was unfounded.

  ‘You’re not even alive in the first place…’

  He sighed and went to his room to get dressed. It wasn’t a hard task, as he had only four sets of clothes, two of them too big for him, and two of them too small for him. He picked the better of the two big ones and went to his father.

  “I’ll go wash in the river and come back.”

  His father eyed him with a mix of disappointment and displeasure, before pushing himself off the chair with a burp.

  “Don’t bother. No point in looking good in front of those freaks.”

  …

  Half an hour later, Evin and his father were walking through the better parts of the city, heading towards a tall, lavish building.

  A rectangular five-story building that was extravagantly built with polished white limestone, had a roof shaped in the form of three artistically shaped cones, and probably possessed more windows than half the town’s houses combined.

  Of course, this was the Mage Academy that was built three years ago in the city of Ankelite under the orders of the current King of the West, Seth.

  Evin remembered the city’s residents all coming over to see the new building being built by a group of mages. The authorities had allowed the peasants and even the slaves to be allowed to witness the magnificent sight. Evin also remembered joining in on the fun, dazedly looking towards the mages, imagining himself as one of them.

  Well, the fun times didn’t last long, as his father locked him inside the house when he realized what Evin was doing.

  “Fucking freaks. Taking all the good man's jobs and money. To think people actually want to become one of them is a thought I cannot comprehend,” Evin’s father commented, “Half of the country is shivering in cold, while the mages only care about their spotless towers. Tsk.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Truth be told, I’d rather you stay at home and not even bother coming to this place, but since it is the law of the kingdom, I can only comply.”

   the voice tsked,

  Evin had learned his lesson for the day and didn’t react to the voice in any way. He followed his father silently at the side, listening to the usual rant about mages.

  “You know? I’ve been like you, dumb and young, hoping to become one of the mages myself. Of course, as I was a poor peasant at the time with nothing to my name. I wasn’t allowed to take the test like you all did. Now that I think about it, at the time, the number of mages weren’t anything much, really. And that humongous building wasn’t there either.”

  Evin’s father was too old to be considered a child when King Roland had implemented the Mage Acceptance Law. Because of that, he would’ve never been allowed to take the test.

  “It was a good thing I wasn’t included. I used to idolize the mages, but since then, I’ve met and seen enough of them to make my own mind about the group,” Evin’s father cleared his voice, “Listen, boy, mages are not the glorious race of perfect humans you expect them to be. In fact, I’d say they’re much, much worse than us. Arrogant, cowardly, selfish, greedy, and so easily angered."

  He continued, his voice filled with disdain.

  "Before king Roland forced them to treat us the same as them... it was hell. You don't know it. Because they're forced to not scowl at you like they're looking at a dog. Everything shit about humanity gathers inside those precious mana-cores of theirs… It’s much better to possess a simple heart… It’s the best thing that the Empress has gifted us.”

  

  “Yes, sir.”

  Evin nodded automatically. He was more concerned about the thoughts in his head, two sides which were arguing on whether Evin would be revealed as a mage or not. Every step closer he took towards the Mage Academy, his little heart would beat one step faster. Or perhaps it was a manacore beating in his chest, and not a heart?

  “It’s a pointless thing, this trip here. Me and your mother weren’t mages, so as our son, it’s impossible for you to be one. But,” the man went silent, before sighing, “Well, let’s just get this over with.”

  The two then walked over to the giant building’s doorsteps before they were stopped by the guard. Evin’s father explained the situation and the latter let them through after taking a glance at Evin.

  Evin looked around the interior of the building, shocked by the cleanliness and hugeness of it all. The smoothly refined walls and floors, the tall and imposing pillars, and the ceilings which held the most beautiful paintings that Evin saw in his life.

  For him, who lived his entire life in a wooden house held together by mud and water, this place which was made of only the most precious of materials, was not just a building.

   the voice commented, sounding completely unimpressed by the spectacular building they’d just entered, one that dazed even his stubborn father.

  Evin then looked around and found two dozen kids were already waiting in the giant hall with their parents or guardians, all of them dressed in the fanciest way they were allowed to. Slaves wore their best knitted brown tunics, peasants wore their prettiest cotton shirts, and of course citizens wore their most eye-catching set of colors. Of course, there weren’t any nobles or knights in the mix, since they would’ve been checked for their talents without the need for the country’s help.

  Of course, the group noticed Evin’s arrival and briefly looked over… before turning away their heads with a frown. They all seemed to scoff at Evin’s untidy state, who hadn’t even washed himself after wrestling all day with an oily pot.

  ‘They must be wondering why a slave is allowed to wear the clothes of a citizen… They must think I’m a pampered slave of some sorts, the favorite of his owner…’ Evin thought in shame.

  In his mind, only the lowest of the low would dare come to the Mage Circle in such a state. Not to mention he’d come at the latest time allowed. Usually, in such a monumental day, every child would be hurrying towards the Mage Circle at the first sign of sunlight.

  But Evin didn’t have time to bury himself in shame, as a fancily dressed woman came out of somewhere and looked around the children with a nod. Her silk dress was dark-blue colored, but was loose and short enough for her to wear daily, and it was also decorated by a carefully set of picked jewelry and accessories.

  The biggest one among them was a seal of some sorts that was on her chest, which was a half-and-half mix of some silver looking metal and a light blue jewel. Evin guessed that it as her Mage Seal.

  “Twenty one kids in all. The books say that that’s all we have for this month, so let’s get this started. My name is Leanne Lanesbreau. Follow me.”

  After her brief introduction she led the children to one of the rooms inside the building, which contained a series of pictures on the walls. Most of these drawings contained a certain person inside it – a tall, old man with lustrous white hair, clad in a regal silver armor.

   the voice scoffed.

  “As you all probably know, this here is the depiction of our late king His Majesty Roland Arcwall and his legendary feats,” Leanne started.