by Roharp17
Danny decided to change tactics, if he couldn't sense everything at once, then maybe he could see more of what was in front of him. The prospect of doing anything with his eyes worried him but now that the idea got in his head, it would nag at him till he tried it. Plus he had just emptied most of his mana into his surroundings, with his failed sonar experiment. Like the rest of his body, mana was already being absorbed by his eyes. So he started by diverting more mana into them. As the total amount of his mana grew the diverted mana caused an ever increasing bright light to fill his vision. After looking around to see nothing but the light, he didn't give up. Focusing on the back of his eye he thought of how cat’s eyes look when you shine a light on them at night. He worked for a while and was able to condense an area on the back of his eye with mana.
Looking up, Danny saw dots, lots of little bright dots everywhere. Some were big and somewhere small. He looked towards the workshop and saw a really big one. Getting up, he walked to the doorway of the workshop while maintaining the mana sight. When he looked inside he saw his mother. Right above her stomach was the large dot he had seen from outside. He could see her connection to the source!
A few days later after supper, everyone was in the main room. Danny was sitting on the floor pretending to play with his toys. Looking up, he worked up the courage to activate his mana sight and looked at each of his family members. Danny wasn't sure if his eyes looked weird when he used this ability and didn't want to get caught. Looking around, he saw his mother, Barb, Sarah, and Gary all had a bright form above their stomachs. What he took as small or big dots was actually just closer or further away. Everyone's connection to the source appeared to be the same size. His father walked in to sit in his customary chair and Danny received a shock. He couldn't see his father's source connection... His father didn't have one. Did that mean his father didn't have access to his own mental sanctuary and the increased attributes? Was his father born this way?
Noticing his sons staring at him, Stan called to Danny, "Come here and sit with me Danny!"
Numbly Danny got to his feet and climbed up in his father’s lap. His father turned to him and said, "As you know, Danny, Gary will be leaving for the academy next week. Your sisters and all the other girls go to a different academy, and get the same education. Boys are special. Do you know why?"
Danny dumbly shook his head from side to side. His father took a deep breath and said, "Whenever a boy reaches the age of seven, the next spring they are all gathered together for a special test. You see, some boys have magic and others don't. We don't know which ones without testing them. I was tested after I turned seven. Unfortunately I didn't have any magic, but I got something better instead. I got your mother, Sarah, Barb, your brother and sisters, and you!"
Danny looked over at the rest of his family as his father mentioned them. They were all silently watching. Sarah was smiling softly while Barb wiped a tear from her eye. His mother was smiling, but Danny also noticed a worried look in her eyes.
Danny was excited to hear about magic as it never had come up before. He was a little concerned that his brother could lose his potential access to the sanctuary over getting magic. He waited impatiently for his father’s next words.
"Now Gary will be taking this test next week," his father continued. "He will either have magic and join the wizard’s academy, or he won't have magic and go to the men's academy. It is a great honor to do this for our country, and our people recognize this. So when your time comes I want you to stand proud and accept your fate. Either way, know your mothers and I are proud of you both and we love you."
Danny looked up at his father, “Will the test hurt Gary?”
His father shook his head, “No Danny, it is a little overpowering, but it doesn’t hurt.”
Danny thought for a bit and asked a childlike question, “Is being a wizard good?”
“Yes, being a wizard is the most important responsibility that a man can have.”
Danny asked, “Can you become a wizard without the test?”
His father shook his head, “No son, the only way one can become a wizard is through the test.”
Danny looked confused, “What if someone did become a wizard without the test?”
His father thought about this for a moment, “Well, I guess they would be taken to the wizard’s academy immediately. Young wizards are very dangerous if not guided. At least that is what your grandfather told me. He is a well-respected earth mage.”
Danny was excited about the prospect of gaining access to those with magic, but he had been playing it careful for so long it was hard for him to make the decision to expose his abilities. He also wasn’t ready to leave the relative safety of his family’s home. The outside world was a huge unknown.
Danny wanted to ask more questions, but couldn’t think of how best to word it from the perspective of someone who already knows what happens when they fail the test. So, he smiled and hugged his father. Pressed against his father's chest, Danny was frowning.
Danny wondered, *What did they do my father?*
A note from Roharp17
Edited
Chapter 12
Danny knew he had to do something for Gary but he didn't know what. Gary was his brother and he was about to be potentially cut off from his source and his own private sanctuary.
Danny questioned, *Why would they do this? Was the cost worth the reward?*
A few evenings after his conversation with his father, Danny went over to Gary while they were both playing in the backyard. "Hey Gary, you wanna play a game," Danny asked.
"Sure, let's play catch," Gary suggested.
"Let's play physician instead," Danny said with as much enthusiasm as he could.
Gary shrugged, and said, "Ok, how do we play?"
Danny explained, "Alright, you lay down and pretend to be sick and I will pretend to be the physician. Then we can switch."
Gary laid down and pretended to moan, "Oh, my head hurts."
Danny knelt down and looked over Gary with a professional air, "Why yes it appears you have bumped it. Please lie still while I do my examination."
Gary lay still and Danny got to work. Pretending to check him over, Danny wiggled his feet and tapped his knees, all while saying, "Yes, hmmm, I see."
When Danny got to above Gary stomach he stopped and said, "Hmmm what's this?"
Danny activated his mana sight and looked down at his brother. Gary's connection to the source was visible below Danny's hand. Danny had discovered shortly after using his mana sight that he could see the mana moving through the parts of his own body. He also discovered he could see any mana he released from his body. Looking again at Gary's connection, Danny tried to grasp at it with his will, like he had done his own. Nothing happened, and Danny assumed just touching Gary wasn't enough. Danny sent his mana out probing Gary's body, Danny's mana took a path that went to Gary's lungs then heart then spread to the rest of his body. It went everywhere but to the connection to the source.
Gary was starting to get impatient and Danny said, "Hang on I think I found your problem, I just need to put the medicine in your body." Then Danny pressed his finger down right above Gary's connection until he felt like he could almost touch it. Then he tried inserting the mana again. Danny's mana passed right through the source. It was like they didn't exist to each other.
"Oww, that starting to hurt," Gary complained.
"Sorry, the medicine worked and your all better now," Danny said sadly.
"This game is boring, I want to play catch instead," Gary grumbled.
"One more game and we can play catch," Danny pleaded. He quickly looked around again to see if any of his parents were nearby.
"...Fine, but hurry up, it's almost time for supper and you promised to play catch," grumbled Gary.
Danny sat down and the ground and began his instructions, "Alright, sit cross legged like this, good! Close your eyes, and focus inside yourself where I pushed in earlier. Do you remember where that was? Hey,
I said I was sorry! Look, I will give you my desert if you do this. Now close your eyes and focus on that spot... Now what do you feel?"
Danny waited and prayed to whatever the god of mana was named for an intervention, if there was one. Gary's eyes opened and as a look of surprise came over his face. Danny rose up on his knees.
"I feel, I feel... really hungry," Gary laughed and pushed Danny over.
Dejectedly Danny continued to lay on his back, before finally standing back up, saying, "I'll go get the ball, Gary."
Danny ran off towards the closet they kept toys in for the backyard. Danny couldn't fight the depression that settled in knowing there wasn't enough time or access to the problem to fix it. He looked back at his brother as Gary smiled at him while waiting to play his favorite game.
The dreaded day arrived and it was normally a day the shop was open, but everyone was at home preparing for the yearly testing ceremony. Barb's parents came and would be sitting with them at the event. Danny wondered about Stan's parents and why they seemed to disown his family.
They went further into the city than Danny had ever gone. Past the market with its stalls and vendor calling out the latest deals and specialty items. Then they crossed the river on a large stone bridge. It had been decorated with countless fish that were carved with life like detail. All the homes before the river were very large. Danny was told this was where the richest merchant families lived. Sarah's parents lived here but her elder sisters took over the family business.
On the other side of the river, the inner wall towered above everything else, and Danny couldn't picture the massive siege equipment that would be needed to either crush or scale it. The public arena used for the testing was just on the other side of the wall. In appearance, it looked similar to the coliseum of Rome.
Groups of people could be seen coming and going from the arena. His family went in and before heading up to their assigned seating area, his dad, Barb, and Gary said their goodbyes. Everyone wished Gary luck and he gave everyone hugs. He was obviously very nervous. Danny hated not being able to do something and had stayed up all last night trying to come up with something. The best he could do is figure out as much as he could about this testing process, for when it was his turn.
The seating looked more like giant steps. Actual steps were placed periodically around the stadium right next to the seats. The place was packed. Out on the stadium floor there were cots laid out in rows upon rows. All but a few of the cots were empty. The ones occupied were ether in a far corner or being carried in that direction by young men in matching vests of brown. Other young men traveled up and down the aisles, removing white sheets from the cots and adding new ones. In the corner with the occupied cots, men in black vests and dusters moved among them periodically touching the occupants.
From this distance, Danny was frustrated to not be able to see anything with his mana sight. He had never seen anyone in these vests or dusters except his grandfather. He assumed these were wizards. Do they only stay on this side of the river? He didn't remember seeing anyone the times he went to the marketplace after he learned to use his mana sight.
His contemplations were interrupted, with the entrance of thousands of boys and their parents. The noise level in the stadium quieted to a whisper. The boys and their parents flooded out onto the stadium floor and were directed by the young men in brown vests. As the boys found their perspective cots, the noise level picked up again.
His whole family was trying to locate Gary, Barb, and his father. Fortunately family members not allowed on the stadium floor were given preferential placement in the bottom level of seats. Finally Sarah excitedly spotted them not far to their right. April tried calling out to them but they were obviously too far away.
A bit more time passed before the young men in brown vests got all the boys allocated to their correct cots, then they took positions at the end of each aisle. With everyone in position trumpets were sounded from different sides of the stadium. On the other side of the stadium was a small balcony the extended lightly out over the stadium grounds. Danny could barely see numerous people sitting on and around the balcony. Someone in a long flowing duster of alternating grey, blue, and white, stood up and raised their hands. One hand came to their throat and as they spoke a wind swept across the stadium projecting a man’s voice.
"Well met brave sons of Diadem. I am Archwizard Storm, head of the academy of wizards," the man paused before continuing, "You are about to embark on one of two paths. The path of man or the path of wizard. Both are needed for our survival in this world. A member of our order will come by shortly and you will lie down on the cot behind you. He will press an object in an area below your heart and it will cause you to go to sleep. When you wake up you will then be tested to see if your magic has been unsealed." He paused again, and Danny could picture as smile on the man’s face as the Archwizard added, "Do not fear as the worst a boy had suffered during the trial is a horrible case of... bedhead. Good luck!"
The stadium erupted with applause and polite laughter. Danny clapped along with the crowd, and questioned who helped the Archwizard Storm write his jokes. Danny’s eyes were quickly focused on the new people walking out onto the stadium floor. They started near the other side of the stadium and worked their way over to where Danny's brother waited. Using his mana sight he could see a bright flash every now and then but wasn't sure what was happening. After over an hour of waiting, they made it closer to where Danny could see. Two sets of three men in dusters, alternated which aisles of boys they went down.
Of the three men, one mage used a measuring stick and pointed to a place between the boy’s chest and stomach. A second man with a long tube either placed it on the boy’s chest or suggested another location, till they agreed. To Danny it looked like they were guessing and used two people to confirm the most ideal location. To Danny's mana sight it looked like the tube flashed brightly and ejected light into the boy’s lower chest over his connection to the source. From Danny's own experience with his brother he figured this would be useless. The light surged through the boy’s body, which seemed to be wrapped in light. When the light faded, Danny could not see the boy's connection anymore. The third man was dressed in a black duster, and after they used the strange tube, he would reached forward and cast a spell over the boy. Danny assumed it was healing magic or something similar. Nodding the men went on to the next boy and repeated the process. From where Danny was sitting he could only make out a few lights, signs of boys still connected mana, out amongst those tested.
One set of the sorcerers came in front of his brother and began the process. Part of Danny wanted to yell out for them to stop, but knew they would only see a little boy going into hysterics, scared for his big brother. He definitely wanted to stop it, especially now that he saw how wizards were unlocked.
Danny couldn’t help imagining them excited at his abilities, but that dream quickly changed into a nightmare. In it they were not able to replicate his success, and they locked him away to experiment on. Looking down, fear kept Danny's mouth shut and shame washed over him.
After a few minutes Danny looked up and saw the results with his own eyes. His brother would share the same fate as his father... A normal life was nothing to complain about, but when the majority of people around you have the ability to ascend to heights no normal person would ever see... Danny couldn't help himself and started to cry.
Even amongst the noise of the crowd, Danny's mother quickly heard his sobbing and put an arm around him, "Gary is going to be alright, don't worry Danny."
After a few moments his mother shook him to get his attention and pointed to where a man rolled a cart down the aisles. As each boy woke up, they were given time to put themselves together before they were led over to the cart. Two wizards walked next to the cart and when a boy approached one would look over a list he carried. The boy was told to place a hand on a crystal nestled securely down in the cart. Those Danny could see had their mana unlocked, had their mana sucked f
rom their bodies into the stone, and the stone would then begin to glow. For some the crystal barely lit up, and for others it was like a small star. Once the crystal started to glow, the wizards would quickly pull the boys hand away. Thinking back to what happened when Danny used up all his mana for the first time, he knew why. Sure enough, those that the stone barely glowed for would act dizzy.
Fortunately no one threw up, much to Danny's chagrin. Even through the dizziness Danny could see the boy's happiness at knowing they would be wizards. They would run over to their smiling parents. Those boys that didn't make the stone glow returned to their parents and they would leave quietly.
Danny saw Gary was awake and watched him walk over to the crystal. Danny's eyes started watering again. Gary placed his hand on the crystal, and nothing happened. The wizard with the list made a note on it and looked around bored. The other mage smiled and said something to Gary. Gary nodded and walked back to his parents. His father squatted down and hugged his son. Barb ruffled his hair and joined the two. Then they walked out of the stadium together.
As Danny and his family in the stands made their way down the stairs to meet up with the rest of his family they got blocked by a wizard in a black vest talking with a family. Realizing this opportunity, Danny used his mana sight to observe the wizard. What he saw shocked and confused him. The wizard’s mana lines that ran all through his body were massive compared to his own. Unlike his the wizard's lines looked damaged somehow. There was no outline to these lines it was more like watching lights flow through transparent glass. These lights didn't move at a steady pace like Danny's, they speed-up and slowed at different points all throughout his body. As Danny's tissues stored mana they began to become more and more visible to his mana sight. This wizard looked like he was in his late teens but his body barely had as much mana saturated in it.