“Congratulations, Valar, iron rank life mage of Leoria,” Elaine’s voice snapped Valar out of his state of focus after his spell ended. “Be proud, for you have stepped on the path of greatness!”

  Applause rang out in the small room. Some of it was enthusiastic, Elaine’s and Julie’s claps dominating the space. Most of it was politely reserved, its origins clearly in the other corner of the room. Valar did not care.

  I’m a mage! I cast a spell, and I’m a mage! The spell itself wasn’t even half-bad!

  “Can you stay for some time after the class ends?” Elaine asked with a smile on her face. “We’ll talk about your first spell and head to get you a mage’s robe. Again, congratulations!”

  In Valar’s mind, the rest of the class was a complete blur. Julie’s congratulations and accompanying hug were memorable enough to store in his mind, but the rest of the students’ polite words of encouragement were tossed to the wayside in the face of Valar’s feeling of success and euphoria. It felt like this had been a culmination of the almost two months of work, and he could finally rest easy. His remaining weeks at the academy would be a breeze after what he had just managed to achieve.

  Among these thoughts of the past, present and future, one thing was clear: Valar was and would be a mage for the rest of his life. Nobody could take that away from him.

  Soon, the class reached its end. As the other students left the class, Julie shouting her last congratulations as she walked through the door, Elaine sat on the floor opposite Valar. He had not yet moved from his cross legged position in fear of losing the feeling he was experiencing.

  “That was a magnificent first spell, Valar,” Elaine started. “Seriously, I have only seen savants perform at the level you have performed today. Other than the speed of casting, which will improve with time anyway, I have nothing bad to say about your first Lesser Restoration. I did really mean that you have taken a step on the path of greatness, I truly did. But my words contained one falsehood. Do you know what it was?”

  Valar thought back to the professor’s congratulations and pondered her question seriously. She was getting at something, but he didn’t see what she did.

  “I don’t think I do, sorry,” Valar muttered, a small frown forming on his lips.

  “My words suggested that your step on the path of greatness was the first one. That you had just started your climb to the top of the world. But it wasn’t the first significant step, was it?” Elaine grabbed Valar’s shoulders with a tight grip. “Unlike most, you have been treading that path for longer than you can probably remember. Every painful step, every day of torment… They are not a hindrance as long as you don’t let them be one. You just proved that they were steps all along; You just didn’t know it yet.”

  Valar didn’t answer for a long time. His mind was simply too overwhelmed to think up something smart to say. So he just sat there and looked his teacher in the eyes. After a moment, he felt tears running down his face.

  Without even thinking about it, Valar hugged Elaine. She responded with an embrace that resembled one that the boy had almost forgotten. In the last ten years, he had not been hugged once like that.

  The hug was eerily close to what he remembered of his mother.

  Elaine didn’t say anything. She had already said enough, and any more words would have been unnecessary. Instead she just held him in a comforting embrace, for she knew that it held way more value for Valar than anything she could ever say.

  The simple hug had a very basic meaning. No matter how similar it was to Valar’s mother’s, the hug was not from her. She was dead, and could no longer hug her son regardless of what her soul desired. Its meaning was no less important though, as it symbolised a very important concept.

  The embrace meant that Elaine cared.

  Her care for Valar had not appeared instantly when they met. Quite like many people at her rank, Elaine had thought of her own benefit when she looked at Valar’s prone form after his entrance interview to the academy. This attitude towards the boy had continued for some time, but eventually something had changed.

  Her care wasn’t like that of a mother. She knew that she could not fulfill that role, but she didn’t need to. Her care was of an aunt, comparable to her relationship with her niece. She cared about what happened to Valar and did her best to help him along, but she didn’t need to take the responsibility of a mother.

  She was an aunt that cared and a shoulder to cry on. That was quite a bit more than Valar had experienced for the past 10 years. She would look out for him, and he did not need to give anything in return.

  “Thank you,” Valar mumbled against Elaine’s robed shoulder.

  “No need to thank me for speaking the truth,” the brown haired woman responded. “It’s the least I could ever say.”

  A small sob escaped Valar. And yet still more than most will ever do.

  One of the advantages of studying at the royal academy was that even the iron rank mage’s robes that the academy gave out to new mages were of extremely high quality. They were still made for iron rankers, so the craftsmen who made them couldn’t use higher grade materials or enchantments, opting for high quality iron rank variants instead.

  Technically, nothing was stopping the craftsmen using diamond rank materials to craft mage’s robes. The major issue with that was that the materials wouldn’t exhibit any powerful qualities without a constant source of mana. Needless to say, iron rank mages couldn’t supply enough mana to use even bronze rank equipment. Maybe a single bronze rank piece if they were at peak iron rank, but anything else would be too much of a drain on the mana flowing from their gate.

  The upkeep of these pieces of equipment was a source of debate between many adventurers. Mages especially didn’t like their mana being drained by their equipment, so they tended to use less enchantments than physical fighters. Wearing enough equipment could cut off their mana regeneration entirely, and that was no good if they wanted to cast any spells.

  The mage’s robe was widely considered to be one of the only pieces of equipment a mage should use. Enchanted amulets, weaponry or armor would be too much of a drain for what they gave in return, so they were given to the affinityless instead.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  The robe was usually built from light and flowing materials ranging from spider silk to the wool of awakened sheep. That didn’t give them a lot of defensive utility, but they were still significantly better than normal clothing. That was not the reason mages utilised the equipment so often, however.

  The enchantment that prevented the clothing from coming into full contact with the user's skin gave mages a simple way to cover themselves without inhibiting their ability to cast spells. As even the slightest contact with an active spellform could disrupt their spellframes, mages of the past had been known to wear little to no clothing to keep as much of their skin available as they could. That had led to some less than friendly stereotypes associated with mages—especially female ones—that the community had wanted to get rid of.

  Professor Brynn’s words on the topic when she had held a lecture about the robes had been enlightening to say the least. “Personally, I couldn’t give a crap about some ogling iron rank slobs, but each to their own. They can look as much and as long as they want, but if they try to touch, they die.”

  The wind magic professor still wore a mage’s robe, but some opted to not wear it at all. Especially those that tried to blend martial combat with magic tended to wear very light armor instead, leaving most of their skin free for spellcasting.

  A good example of this was Ciel from team Cookie Sandwich. She often wore a cloak with the same enchantments as a mage’s robe, but discarded the garment when entering combat. That left her with her weak spots protected by armor all while retaining all of her mobility and free skin for spellcasting.

  Valar did not need to worry about the mage’s robe obstructing his movements like Ciel did. He was not a martial fighter and wouldn't be participating in active combat for most of the time. The healer was in the backline with long range fighters and offensive mages, not amidst the horde of enemies.

  Of course, there were exceptions to that rule. Some rare life mages chose to prioritise body enhancement spells over healing. They turned themselves into martial fighters at will, fighting much like Ciel did. Valar did not have that training though, so that wouldn’t be a worry for a long time.

  The robes were stored in the cellar of the central tower, as were many other things. As Valar discovered, the academy was in possession of quite a large amount of artifacts.

  “And we’re just… allowed to wander around without supervision?” Valar asked for the tenth time.

  “I’m a professor, Valar,” Elaine said, her tone flat. “I am the supervisor. Besides, the most valuable artifacts and pieces of enchanted equipment aren't here. The royal palace's vault holds all the really important stuff.”

  Elaine’s words got Valar thinking. “You spoke of enchanted items and artifacts like they were different things entirely. Is there that much of a difference?”

  “Of course there is,” the professor scoffed. “And it’s quite a simple one, really. Enchanted items are manmade items with runic enchantments while artifacts are magical without runes. Be it with centuries old techniques or natural magic, the objects are magical to their very core, whereas enchanted items rely wholly on their etched runes.”

  “I’m guessing that artifacts are more valuable.” Valar mused. “Am I right?"

  “Not necessarily, although your words ring true more often than not. Enchanted items truly only become expensive when you get to the higher ranks. I can guarantee you that a diamond rank enchanted item would be just as valuable and powerful as an artifact of the same rank. It's just that the lower ranks are filled with enchanted items that are comparable to trash. Luckily, your robe will be much better!”

  They were walking in a large hall that was segmented into smaller rooms with temporary walls and enchanted locks. All kinds of weaponry, armor, clothing, restricted books and jewelry were stored in the vault, but the pair was heading for one area in particular.

  The space filled with rows and rows of mage’s robes dominated the back of the vault, as a mage’s robe was one of the only items every student and member of faculty would receive. The robes were divided by rank and affinity, hung up from clothing racks mounted onto long poles between the walls of the vault.

  The most prevalent icons appearing among the mage’s robes were those of the basic elements: water, earth, fire and wind. They took up most of the area, the rarer affinities relegated to the side.

  Luckily for Valar, life magic was rare but not exceedingly so. The much worse issue was the boy’s size.

  “If we go to the women’s sizes, we might be able to find a robe small enough for you,” Elaine said. “Maybe women’s small… extra small?”

  “I’m not that small,” Valar muttered in response.

  “Really? You’re thirteen, Valar. Everyone else is an actual adult, of course you’re smaller.”

  In spite of Valar’s vocal disagreement, the right size robe was found in the extra small section of the women’s section. That wasn’t a surprise, considering that he was a thirteen year old boy whose growth had been stunted by a decade of malnutrition. The mere fact that the clothing was small enough for him was surprising in Elaine's opinion.

  Regardless of the apparel’s size, it was a beautiful piece of clothing. The plain cream coloured robe had been built to last, as the cloth had been woven from iron rank spider silk, each seam sown by hand. It was clearly a labor of love, and Valar shuddered to even imagine the price. Honestly, it was probably significantly more expensive than even his necklace, which had been an expensive piece of jewelry on its own.

  The cream colored mage’s robe did have a couple of decorations on it. Any passerby could check a mage’s affinity by inspecting their aura, but sigils were much more cool. The fire affinity mages had, well, fire as their sigil, water mages had a wave, earth mages a mountain and life mages…

  The life mage sigil was undoubtedly the coolest looking tree Valar had ever seen. It was depicted as being a world-spanning tree that gave life to everything around it, and Valar couldn’t have been happier with it.

  “It depicts the world tree of the wildwood,” Elaine explained. “Although there are no witness accounts, old stories tell of a giant tree that gives life to the whole wildwood. A single drop of its dew can cure the worst diseases, its leaves heal anything they touch and its roots… The world tree’s roots give life itself to every single fae that is ever born.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Valar’s tone was filled with awe. “Do you think it’s real?”

  “No idea, but I’d like to believe it exists. Seeing it was my dream as a child…”

  “Why isn’t it your dream anymore? You have a long life ahead of you. It’s no good to let go of wondrous dreams,” Valar smiled wistfully. “A wish never truly fails to come true until you yourself let go of it.”

  The professor looked at him for a while, a thoughtful look coloring her face. It slowly shifted to a sad smile as she spoke. “Thank you, Valar. Your words have helped me realize something I want to do. Thank you,” After standing still for only a moment, her expression shifted back to her energetic self. “Now go put it on! I want to see how the robe fits you!”

  Considering they were quite deep underground, it was good that a dressing room had been built next to the racks and racks of mage’s robes. That way the student could actually fit on the robe before choosing it, and shouldn’t need to return anytime soon. After all, every time a student came down to the vault, a faculty member needed to come down too. The staff didn’t tend to like extra work.

  Although mages generally wore only underwear under their robe, Valar didn’t need to undress to test his new robe. He wasn’t about to cast any spells, and iron rankers didn’t need that much free skin available anyway. It was not like iron rank mages casted spells that had runes spanning their whole bodies. The robe was more of a status symbol and something to get used to at his rank.

  When he came out of the dressing booth, Elaine looked at the garment critically. She had him doing spins and checked multiple times if the seams landed in good places, the robe fit tightly enough and that the slightly different design of the women’s robe didn’t cause any problems. As it turned out, the default variation of the robe, especially at smaller sizes, didn’t differ from the men’s version in any major way. Luckily, the differences in seam placements and free hanging fabric were only really present at larger sizes. They had gotten the fit right with their first attempt.

  “Congratulations, Valar,” Elaine hugged his robed form. “You can call yourself a mage with pride. I know that you’ll still study here for a couple weeks, but I can’t shake the feeling that I won’t be able to congratulate you well enough until you leave for your iron rank internship. So, for one last time, congratulations! I’m proud of what you have managed in this short time!”

  Most words would have been meaningless, so Valar didn’t use them. He hugged the woman back and spoke the only ones that truly mattered.

  “Thank you.”

  both, although the order will be a bit wonky.

  Ciel's solo hunt will roll out first. Her story will be posted during book 1. I already know where the chapters will go, and it's around chapter 55.

  Arthur's day off is a really interesting set of chapters for me. I already realized that I want it to reveal some juicy tidbits of knowledge, but those tidbits will only really make sense if the chapters are situated in book 2. These chapters wil also introduce a certain favorite character of mine...