The first day of being a receptionist at the infirmary had been okay, whereas the second one had turned boring quickly. The third day, however…

  “Escort the patient to room 17!” Eva yelled over the panicked screams of the patient’s family.

  “Yes ma’am!” Valar obeyed the healer's orders without question. There was no time for that.

  He pushed the patient on a gurney across the sanitary white corridors. Admittedly, the hall wasn’t turning any whiter at the moment, as the patient was gushing blood like a geyser. The boy almost ran past the right room but managed to stop just in time. The door was already open so he could push the gurney straight into the room for patients in a critical state.

  Valar had suspected that the 3rd day at the infirmary would be just as boring as the last. That had rung true for the first couple of hours. Just those two hours.

  Then everything had turned to chaos.

  The beautiful 3rd day had turned to a day of accidents, tragedies and everything in between. The man in his 40s that Valar had just pushed into the operating room was missing his leg, and funnily enough he wasn’t even the first amputation of the day!

  Practically every life mage at the northern Rhondell infirmary was hard at work healing the wounded. The situation had turned so dire that the infirmary had called on the western infirmary, where the day was much more peaceful, to send in reinforcements!

  This chaos was due to a riot on the streets, or so Valar was told. Just about ten thousand people had walked in front of the gates of the royal palace and demanded all sorts of things like improvements to the city, increased pay and less guards in their neighborhoods. If this riot had formed out of iron rankers, everything could’ve been relatively fine. Unfortunately, bronze and silver rankers had joined in too.

  Admittedly, the flow of injured citizens was finally turning into a trickle. The riot had been broken up about an hour ago by the guard, but the broken up groups had still fought with them or between themselves. This particular man had been brought in by the guard, and Valar suspected that he would be going straight to prison after his healing.

  Eva was waiting inside the operating room, and let Valar go relatively quickly after he brought the man in. He had seen a lot of healing magic already, so spectating the operation was secondary compared to manning the desk. There could always be more patients coming, and Valar needed to get back to work.

  Just an hour more… I didn’t like the job because it was boring. Now I enjoy it even less! I’m becoming an adventurer, damn it all!

  Valar walked back to the front desk through the bloody hallway. He suspected that he would need to clean it soon, but that was after he dealt with the group of guards pacing around the entrance hall.

  “Hello again,” Valar said nervously. “Since you’re still here, you probably want something from me?”

  “Are you an intern?” one of the guards asked. “You’re supposed to know this…”

  “Third and second to last day here, sorry. What do we need to do?”

  The guard chuckled. “Not enjoying the job, kid?”

  “No, I’m not...”

  “We’ll get this over with quickly then. You should have a form for the guard somewhere in that desk of yours. I need to fill it and one at the guard barracks so that we know to come pick up the criminal when he wakes up.”

  “What if he wakes up before you think? Couldn’t he try to escape?” Valar asked.

  The burly guardsman grinned. “That would be very very stupid of him… You have silver rankers on your staff, and his sentence wouldn’t get any lighter.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Valar started rummaging around the various drawers of the front desk. The amount of different forms for patients, healers, officials, companies and everyone else was staggering, but he eventually found the right one. It would've been nice if someone told me about this beforehand. They didn’t expect a riot though, so I kind of understand why this would’ve been left out.

  “Here, I finally found it!” Valar held out the form like a trophy and handed it to the guard. They proceeded to fill it in about ten seconds, while Valar’s search had taken almost five minutes.

  “Hey kid, the guard is always hiring if infirmary work doesn’t interest you,” the burly man threw him a smile. “We pay life mages well—even at iron rank!”

  “I’lll… I’ll think about it.”

  As the guards left, Valar was left with his thoughts. A job at the guard? I hadn’t even thought of the possibility. Adventuring still seems a lot more interesting, but it’s an option.

  The rest of his workday was spent cleaning the hallway of blood and guts. If something could’ve convinced him of not joining the ranks of infirmary healers, this was it. After tomorrow, I’m never coming back!

  When the 4th and last day of his internship turned to be as boring as the 2nd, Valar couldn’t have been happier. He could’ve almost cried tears of joy when his shift ended and there were no bloody hallways, screams of the injured or dismembered limbs. Eva noticed that and tossed the proverbial towel of recruitment into the ring.

  “I’m guessing we’ll not be seeing each other as colleagues?” the silver rank healer sighed.

  “I don’t think we will,” Valar muttered. “I think adventuring will suit me better.”

  “Those are words that we at the infirmary don’t like hearing, but I understand. You’re young, even younger than most, and you have an actual drive to ascend through the ranks. Still, do me a favor please?”

  “What favor?”

  “Don’t end up as my patient.”

  The weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. Valar was exhausted from the week of work, both mentally and physically, and he needed rest. Even Valar, who was obsessed with training, could realize that he needed to take a small break. Besides, he was so much ahead of the other students that the whole situation was becoming funny.

  The week-long internship would have normally happened after multiple months of study. It was situated in a place and time where the student couldn’t cast spells just yet, but was close enough to gain some useful knowledge from the life mages at the infirmary. To be fair, Valar was extremely close to casting his first spell, so his internship should have been a touch sooner.

  The infirmary staff had been surprised when Valar had been brought in at the start of the week. They hadn’t been expecting a student intern for a month or two at the earliest, but Valar had been accepted readily by Eva and the others. His youth had garnered some questions, but those hadn’t been too much of a bother.

  Still, even though the staff was nice, Valar was not going back. The work simply didn’t suit him and everyone at the infirmary knew it. They would be trying to recruit someone like Julie instead, as she had an actual interest in working there. Why try for Valar when he was an iron ranker just like her?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Admittedly, Valar was a peculiar iron rank student. He was young, a fast learner, but had his problems. Having grown up in an orphanage, his social skills were less than stellar to say the least. His interactions with others weren’t horrible, but he didn’t really build connections like the nobles of the academy. In short, he was the wrong person for the infirmary, and they knew it.

  As for his studies, Valar suspected that he would be casting his first spell, Lesser restoration, in only a couple of days. The spell was the simplest healing spell around, and could only be used to heal himself, but it was still a spell like any other! He would be casting his first spell! The only thing that prevented him from casting it right now was that he hadn’t bothered to learn connection, the most basic affinityless rune out there, just yet. Sure, he had started learning it a week ago, but it had been a secondary concern compared to protection.

  Stop thinking about training! It’s the weekend! Luckily, Valar’s weekend was packed with activities, so his thoughts wouldn’t be totally consumed by training. Today he would go get his new necklace from Gloria, and tomorrow he would finally hear something from Viktor’s analysis of his magic. Just dumping his fire in the mage’s weird box was becoming tiresome and it would be nice to hear something new from that front.

  First, his necklace. Today’s plan was to go visit Gloria’s jewelry shop, eat lunch in the merchant district and head back to his dorm. Then he could train connection and hopefully finish it by the start of next week.

  Zeke wasn’t available this weekend since his parents wanted their boy home for family matters. That meant that Valar would be visiting the city on his own. I won’t be taking any shortcuts this time, that’s for sure. Although I could, since I have the emblem…. No, even getting threatened like that would be horrible, regardless of Viktor’s ability to stop the attacker. Better just use the roads. I’m not in a rush.

  Valar had already gotten breakfast so he left for the city straight away. It was a nice and sunny day so he didn’t rush to the merchant's district. A leisurely walk was much nicer anyway.

  “Hey kid! Are you lost?” Valar heard a voice coming from his side.

  “I’m an adult,” he muttered. “Check the aura before you start yelling…”

  “Huh? What in the abyss?”

  These kinds of comments were becoming a near daily occurrence in the city. Valar had had to walk to the infirmary every day, and someone took it upon themselves to comment about his age nearly every time he went to the city. It hadn’t happened that much when he was with Viktor, Elaine or Zeke, but people seemed to notice him from the crowd more readily when he was alone. Valar didn’t enjoy that at all…

  Walking through the city streets, Valar felt like a similar situation to the academy was building, just way slower. In the academy, everyone had noticed his young age of awakening at the same time, and that had led to too much attention. The same thing was happening in the city, but not in large bursts. He just received way more comments from passerbys than anyone else. Anyone else is an overstatement… I’m not a celebrity, just a peculiar sight on the street. Even someone like Elizabeth would probably get nearly as many comments as me, and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t enjoy it either. The only difference is that I haven’t been trained to ignore those comments—I just need to train myself.

  To be completely honest, Valar was probably overexaggerating the amount of comments in his own head. Walking all the way from the academy to Gloria’s shop, the boy only got three or four people shouting at him. Compared to actual famous people, that was nothing. It was just way more than what he was used to.

  Enough thinking about people noticing my age! It’s time to get my necklace! And pay for it… 10 silver seems like such a steep price. Still, it’s a custom job and made from materials that aren't cheap. Hopefully it will look good!

  Fortunately, the tiny shop didn’t have any other customers. Valar wasn’t sure if he’d have even fit inside if there had…

  Gloria was sitting at the register, digging at her fingernails. “Welcome to Glori- Oh, It’s you, Valar! Have you come to pick up the necklace I’ve made?”

  “Good 5th day to you too, Gloria! Is my lucky necklace ready?” Valar asked excitedly. He’d never bought something so expensive. In addition to that, it was a custom job—something made specifically for him and no one else."

  “I should have it stored in the back. Let me bring it for you.”

  The following minutes were filled with Gloria trying to find where she had put Valar’s necklace. The biggest downside of having a tiny shop like hers was that things got lost, but at least they couldn’t be too far away.

  “Why don’t you get a bigger shop?” Valar asked. “You seem wealthy enough to get a bigger space.”

  “I’ve gotten attached to this small sanctuary, and moving would be too much of a hassle anyways!” Gloria yelled from the back. “Getting the right anti-theft runic enchantments would cost tens, if not hundreds, of gold depending on the space anyway! This shop does everything I want it to do. Oh, I finally found it!”

  Gloria brought out a sleek box made out of dark wood. The hinges and lock were made out of silver, adding to the refined look.

  “I didn’t know that I would get a box too,” Valar admitted. “I just kind of assumed that you would hand me the amulet.”

  “Necklace. That’s not an amulet.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  Gloria pointed at the box. “The necklace in there doesn’t have runic enchantments or any magic whatsoever. The material of the chain may be from another realm, but it isn’t magical either. Amulets always have magical properties, and this doesn’t have them.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Valar smiled. “Can I see the necklace then?”

  Gloria smiled back at Valar when she handed him the box. “You’ll have to pay before leaving, but you can look at it as much as you want.”

  Valar opened the hardwood box carefully. To be completely honest, he was really excited to see what the jeweler had made for him. Still, even though his expectations were high, he could not have expected such a sight.

  It was beautiful.

  The coin in the center of the necklace hadn’t been changed drastically. Gloria had cleaned it and polished it, but she had wanted to keep its original shape without drilling holes or anything like that. The coin’s current shape told a story, and she didn’t want to alter it in the slightest. She had instead opted to create something that closely resembled a prong setting. The chain’s ends met behind the coin and spread out in thin prongs that grabbed the copper on all sides. It was an elegant solution, creating an illusion of the coin hanging by no support whatsoever.

  The chain itself was quite strange by the standards of nobility. Gloria had consulted Elaine with Valar’s history on the past weekend, as she wanted to create something that matched his story uniquely. When she had discovered that he had escaped from his orphanage, a normal chain had become a no-go. The jeweler didn’t want to remind Valar of being stuck, chained and unable to leave.

  Thus, she opted for a design that more closely resembled a broken chain, symbolising Valar’s escape from his personal prison. She had initially told Valar that she would be using only abyssal iron, but the idea of a broken chain had made her add a little bit of silver to finish her vision.

  Essentially, the chain was made out of silver links with frequent ‘broken’ parts made out of the abyssal iron. From afar, the chain truly looked like it was broken, but it held together as strongly as any normal design.

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” Valar muttered. “It’s beautiful!”

  “Come on, come on,” Gloria urged. “Put it on so that I can see it on you!”

  Valar grabbed the necklace by the chain with extreme care. Gloria snorted and came over to help Valar put the necklace on. “Even though it looks like that, it’s as strong as any other jewelry. No need to treat it like the touch of a feather might break it.”

  As Valar put it on, Gloria went to the back and retrieved a mirror. He looked at his own reflection and couldn’t help but gasp.

  Against his clothing, the illusion created by the chain became even more real. It was perfect!

  Viktor was spending his evening like he had spent every single one of them for nearly a month: Analysing his student’s magic.

  He had initially thought that the endeavour would be a relatively easy one. Not completely effortless—as using an ancient artifact was always hard—but something that he could achieve in a week or less. Oh, how wrong he had been…

  The analysis had become so hard that he had even considered bringing in reinforcements. Father or Annabelle, maybe even Revan, could help him. No… They’d probably want to take Valar in. That would be less than ideal to the extreme.

  So, he had bashed his head against the artifact week after week without any good results. The core of the problem wasn’t the power of Valar’s flames, but their unusual nature. They resembled mundane flames more closely than they did iron rank fire magic, but neither mould fit perfectly. There was too much intensity, too much power packed into a small quantity. They were pure, but he hadn’t had any idea what that meant. That was until he visited his father’s library.

  Viktor took a deep swig of the amber liquid at the bottom of his glass. This isn’t helping the headache in the slightest! I need something better…

  He meandered to his coat—tossed on his opulent bed with seemingly no care—and rummaged around his pocket. Eventually, he found one of the last cookie sandwiches in his dwindling collection and started chewing on the cold sweet treat. That helped much more than the booze.

  He just sat there, looking out at the sprawling city just outside of his large window. He sat there, looked at the capital and ate ice cream.

  “Seriously, why does it have to resemble them so closely,” the silver haired man eventually broke the silence in his room. “Anything else would have been much easier to deal with! High ranked fire magic, abyssal light, phoenix flames, djinns, anything else… Why them?”

  Viktor slammed the table to his side and the glass of expensive alcohol dropped down and smashed to hundreds of little pieces. That kind of fit of rage was uncharacteristic to the mage, as were the following curses.

  Eventually, he buried his face in his hands and sighed. The following words were as quiet as the night sky, unheard by all but himself.

  “Dragons… Anything else but the dragons.”