Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Every child looked at the murals with awe and adoration but were still respectful enough to not make a fuss around it. Even children knew of the man's feats enough to show respect to him. This showed how deep of an impression the late king left in everyone's hearts.

"We all heard of a time when the title of a mage was something exclusive to the nobles and the wealthy. The only way for 2nd grades and below to find out that they were a mage oneself was through luck and bravery. They needed luck to find a World Shard, and they also needed luck to survive its powers. And of course, even then, they were never accepted as mage by the rest."

Everyone knew of the story that was about to come. Most probably, everyone in the kingdom listened to at least once in their life. And of course, a story that Evin would listen to a hundred more times if he could.

"But all this changed with King Roland's new decree. Suddenly, everyone in the kingdom received a chance of being accepted as a mage," Leanne exclaimed proudly, gesturing at the murals.

The change was so revolutionary that 10-year-olds like Evin knew about it. He could also confidently say that out of all the 10-year-olds in the kingdom, no, in the whole Empire itself, he probably had the most knowledge about Roland Arcwall's epic history.

Granted, he learned most of it due to the voice in his head, who somehow knew of the situation and narrated everything to him. Evin hated listening to the voice and its pretentious 'life lessons', but secretly, he loved listening to the voice speaking of the previous King.

"But of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Due to this new Law of accepting every mage, the late king received heavy backlash from the corrupt and evil nobles under his control. The situation even reached a point where the people were even considering the possibility of a civil war. But since Roland himself was one of the most powerful mages at the time, the opposing nobles couldn't just mount an attack on the capital.

"They knew that if the King wished to, he could easily wipe them off the face of the world. He just didn't have a good enough reason to do that. And obviously, the nobles weren't willing to give the man that excuse with the revolution."

'It must be so awesome to single-handedly still an entire revolution just by existing,' Evin thought wistfully.

"But of course, things didn't end there. The evil nobles hired a group of the most powerful mages at the time hoping to assassinate the king while he was alone. They sent six mages of similar power towards his way, but not only king Roland manage to fight them to a tie, he even convinced one of them to switch sides and fight alongside him. A young prodigy by the name of Urven. With the six on one fight turning into a two against five, the tides of the battle quickly turned towards the king's side.

"After this incident, King Roland executed the heads of the noble families responsible for this treachery, though he couldn't make himself kill their children, as he was a righteous person who understood that the children didn't bear the sins of their parents. He only stripped the surviving offspring of their noble titles, but aside from that, they were free to do whatever they wanted. King Roland wasn't afraid of another revolution staged by these remnant children. The people of the kingdom loved him to the core, so any kind of rebellion was practically impossible to mount."

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Evin remembered the voice saying something similar, about how the correct move was to execute the children as well, so there was no chance of a rebellion down the line. The voice also explained that if King Roland was ruthless in his conduct against radical nobles, then the other, more neutral nobles would feel more afraid of trying something similar in the future.

Evin didn't know how to feel about this view. Logically, he found himself agreeing with it, but he couldn't quite accept it wholly with his heart. In his heart, the late King's method was the righteous and correct way.

"Next, king Roland consolidated his rule even stronger, and introduced many policies that helped the kingdom's people. The 21 years he ruled were definitely the most prosperous in the kingdom's entire history. During this time, life inside the kingdom became easier for everyone, and finally, after 50 years of a stalemate, we've started seeing signs of the Southern front being pushed back against the enemies.

"But unfortunately, as the natural law of the world dictated, in the year 1486, King Roland Arcwall met his end at the age of 130. He prolonged his mortal life to almost double the amount of normal people, both through magic and his own hard work, but in the end, the Empress's arrangements put an end to his glorious life."

<The king died when you were three years old. I'm not sure if you remember it still, but you joined a huge row of mourning people with your father and mother. It was an impressive sight...> The voice said, weirdly nostalgically, <Such a universally loved ruler is a rare sight in the rivers of history…>

Of course, Evin still possessed bits and pieces of those memories. Blurry visions of his father and mother's loving smile, his own joyful laughs as he climbed atop their shoulders… visions that Evin sometimes didn't dare believe in.

"Though we will forever miss the King, his legacy still lives on. The number of mages in the Western Kingdom soaring to a number so high, that even those dreadful Southerners have started to implement some of the late King's rules. Perhaps finally, the sign of the Empire's unification is showing itself," Leanne reached the last mural.

It depicted a drawing of the now old king, kneeling in front of a tall, unfathomable woman, who was wearing a loosely fitting black robe, decorated with dark gold accessories. She wore a veil across her face, so the only thing the onlooker could see from above her neck was her silky black hair. It shined with tiny white lights, representing the starry night sky.

The One above the Twelve Races and the Four Nations. The Immortal Goddess of the world of Alvox.

The Final Empress.

Everyone around, even the adults sighed as they stared at her depiction, their eyes filled with fear and awe.

<Heh, bunch of weaklings who can only rely on the kings and queens above to help them out,> except, of course, the ever-cynical voice in Evin's head.

'Says the voice who can only depend on me to survive…' Evin thought smugly, before focusing on Leanne.

The woman smiled at the sight and continued.

"His successor and son, Seth Arcwall, took on the crown with a vow to never change his father's arrangements, only to build on them. Saying that King Roland's vision was the path to Western prosperity, he introduced the Mage Academies. Its purpose was so that mages between the ages of 10 and 15 could receive guidance en masse, instead of just learning under a single master like before... Perhaps some of you here will receive that chance to enroll in one such Academy too?" she smiled alluringly.

These words sent a pang of excitement through his brain, but it was quickly shut off by a glare from his father.

"Well, that's enough history for today. Let's reveal what everyone here is waiting for."

'We're finally going to take the test…' Evin thought with excitement.

But the woman didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, as she walked towards a young girl dressed in a 4th grades' clothing and simply declared, "One mage here."

The little girl seemed a bit shocked, before looking at the scrawny woman that was holding her hands. The two looked at each other for a moment, before bursting out in tears.

"There, there," Leanne comforted the two smilingly.

<Ah, that must be the mage among us all,> the voice said dejectedly, <It's a bit unfortunate, but guess we'll be dying as poor little peasants… Oh, the tragedy! Seriously, just kill yourself! I can't bear it anymore!>

Evin really wanted to say 'Shut up,' but considering the place and company he was in, he could only curse inside his heart. He was sad as well, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He'd accepted the possibility of this outcome long ago.

One in sixty, those were the odds of a mage being born from two non-mages. It could be said that it was a miracle for this room of 21 kids to have one mage among them.

But just as he was wallowing in despair, Leanne looked at him straight in the eye and said.

"And also, that well-washed and well-dressed young boy over there. Please come over."

'Does she mean me? But I'm definitely not well-dressed and the least of all, well-washed…' a random thought appeared in Evin's head, 'But I'm the only one around here, since everyone else is keeping their distance from me.'

<She's being sarcastic, dumbass. Go over there already,> the voice said with a sigh of relief. Evin felt that the voice was more worried with the developments than he was.

Evin wanted to be more excited, but as he looked at his father, he saw the latter making a complicated face, wanting to say something, maybe even protest. With difficulty, Evin shoved his emotions down.

'Calm thoughts, sad thoughts. You can't show a tear in front of all these people, now, can you?' he thought to himself, gradually calming his uneven breathing.

"Come on, now," Leanne urged, and his father walked over to the mage as she had asked, dragging Evin along with him.