The First Mage

Gean’s family lived a few houses up the street and Mother had left early to talk to him as soon as he came home. In the meantime, I was still sitting at the table, staring at several pieces of paper that were now filled with numbers, tables, and calculations. Miles had said he needed to get used to this number system, but I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. As I started to relax ever so slightly, I finally decided to ask him. “Miles, what is octal?”

‘Not-decimal,’ he responded curtly, before returning to whatever he was doing in my head. Occasionally he would mumble something, or repeat number sequences like a mantra.

‘11467, 11470, 61, 4012—’

“Will this really work?” I asked.

Miles let out an audible sigh. ‘Listen, I’m not used to calculating in octal. I can do it if you let me practice, and your mother is optimistic that it will be enough. But I need some time.’

I stopped and let him continue until I heard the front door open just a few minutes later and my mother came walking into the kitchen. Right behind her was our neighbor Gean.

“Hello, Tomar! It’s good to see you,” he said in an excited voice.

Mother had told us that he was obsessed with his job, and that he didn’t have anyone to talk shop to, to the dismay of his wife. When my mother went over there, all she had wanted was information. However, with how Gean acted, I guessed he wanted to see me for himself. Maybe hoping to have found a kindred spirit.

‘Too early... This was not the plan, Tomar’s mom...’

She looked at me with an apologetic face, accompanied with a hint of worry in her eyes. Miles had mentioned needing several hours for preparation, but it had barely been one.

Gean sat down on the chair to my left and looked at me. “Another statistician. You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve waited for this day, Tomar. Did you know I’ve been the only one in this town for the past twenty years?”

“No, sir,” I said. Gean and his wife didn’t have any kids, so I hadn’t interacted much with him. At least outside of greeting him in passing.

“Alright, let’s get right down to business!” he exclaimed and his expression shifted. He had a sharp glint in his eyes. “What’s 42776 divided by 32?”

‘Something isn’t right,’ Miles said, sounding alarmed.

I looked from Gean to the papers still on the table. Am I supposed to—

‘No, look him straight in the eyes. Don’t waver, act normal.’

I didn’t understand what was going on. Miles was worried about something, and I couldn’t see my mother behind me, but she was squeezing my shoulders with her hands.

‘Say “1261.”’

Gean’s brow twitched at my response, barely noticeable. “Accuracy is important. Another try?”

‘Oh, come on! Stupid little...’ Mileys said exasperated. ‘Okay, “1261.11.” No, wait! “1261.12,” go.’

I repeated the last number Miles had told me and Gean gave me a nod. “Acceptable.” He then took one of the pieces of paper that Miles and I had written out calculations on and added several formulas similar to the ones that were already there. Then he put the paper down in front of me and asked me to solve them.

The answers appeared to come relatively easily to Miles and I wrote them down one after the other. Gean took the sheet back and looked it over. Apparently satisfied, he then grabbed the quill once more, to write down a formula that included characters I had never seen before.

“Please solve this for me and you pass.”

‘Is this the test...?’ Miles asked in surprise.

I stared at the formula and waited for him to tell me what to do. As I looked at it, I did recognize some of the characters after all. The scripture. What does this have to do with math?

Furrowing my brows despite me, I sat in silence for several seconds, before Miles spoke up again.

‘Tell him you don’t know how to solve it.’

My eyes widened. What? Gean said I have to solve this to pass. Unable to speak up, to ask Miles if he was serious, I kept staring at the paper withouting moving a muscle.

‘Trust me. Tell him, Tomar,’ Miles said.

“I... I don’t know how to solve this.” I said finally, without taking my eyes off the formula. I didn’t dare look at Gean until my mother let go of my shoulders and I felt another hand slap me on the back. I looked up at Gean's face. There was a friendly smile on it.

“Very good, boy,” Gean said. He stood up and looked down at me. “You will make a fine statistician. I’m looking forward to working with you. Come to the office next week.” He gave my mother a paper slip, said his goodbye, and left our home as quickly as he had entered it.

I got up and turned to my mother, who embraced me in a hug. “Mom, Miles. What just happened?”

***

Mother and I were standing in front of an office building that we had just exited, close to the temple in the town’s main square. After Gean had left the house, my mother had hurried me to the Registration Agency to update my citizen information. My new Calling had been added, and I was now officially a Researcher.

My mother hadn’t known this, but apparently Gean was not only a statistician, but also the town’s Determiner. The person responsible for resolving any issues with the records, particularly issues related to Callings, rare as these issues might be.

When she told him about the supposed failed ritual and her suspicion that I had become a statistician, she had effectively expedited the test that would’ve otherwise come in a day or two, after the rituals were over and we had announced our suspicion to the authorities.

He had told my mother in no uncertain terms that he would administer a test immediately, to confirm her claims that me having received a Researcher Calling had slipped past the priest. She would also not be allowed to interfere or inform me about what was to happen. But Miles had picked up on something being off about Gean and the way he carried himself. It appeared that I had passed the test.

As we made our way across the main square, my mother spoke up with sadness in her voice. “I’m sorry, Tomar. I didn’t know,” she said, followed by a hushed “You too, Miles.”

She must’ve been just as scared as I had been, and she jumped at the first chance that presented itself. She had done her best to help me. I could hardly blame her for that.

“It’s fine, mom. I’m just glad it worked out.”

My calling had been registered, by the authority of the Determiner, who had administered the test. The paper slip he had given my mother had been the written confirmation of our claims. With this done, I would be fine for the moment.

Citizens were expected to start working within two weeks of receiving their Calling, and Gean had invited me to work with him, but I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

It was getting late by this point and my mother stopped, to look in the direction of the market, situated in the streets west of the main square.

“I will buy a few things for dinner, you go on ahead and relax,” she said. “We have a few days to decide our next steps now.”

I nodded and watched her walk off before making my way to the main street, once again heading back home. There were a lot of people bustling around at this time of day. Closing up shops, going home from work, or heading out for night shifts.

“Hey, Miles,” I said under my breath, so nobody would hear me talking to myself. “Where did you learn all that?”

‘Let’s just say I have a Researcher Calling myself.’

“My Calling has a Calling?”

‘Heh, something like that.’

Slendering down the street, I finally had the peace of mind to ask Miles about the test. I had learned some basic math, and sometimes I saw Mother calculate things, but that last formula had looked weird. I was admittedly curious how that scribbling related to math.

“What was that last formula Gean gave me? Why were there scripture sigils in it?”

‘What? You know what that was?’

“Well, kind of. You don’t? Did you truly not know how to solve it?”

Miles was silent for a moment. It appeared that I hadn’t been supposed to solve it, but I assumed Miles would’ve been able to. Was it just dumb luck that I passed the test?

‘That’s not it. I could’ve solved it, but—’ He paused before continuing. ‘Shit, we got lucky there. How do you know these “sigils?”’

“They’re on the water sources. Oh, and on the ritual platform. That’s the only places I’ve ever seen them.”

‘Water source? Like a well?’

“No, a water source.”

‘...’

“...”

‘Can you show me?’

“Can’t I go home for now? I’m really tired. I have to get water in the morning anyway. I’ll show you then, okay?”

‘Hm. Alright.’

Miles seemed a little disappointed, but I was truly exhausted. I had gotten up at the break of dawn, did most of my chores, and hurried to receive my Calling, just to end up fearing for my life and being tense all afternoon. Not to mention having walked across town four times.

Still, I was looking forward to tomorrow morning. Miles clearly knew something about the sigils. Everyone knew of them, but I had never assumed that they meant anything. That’s also what my mother had said. They looked like glorified scribbling to me, like decoration. But before today I had only ever seen them on water sources. They were on the ritual platform though... Did they have a meaning?

***

A priest in white robes was standing in front of a desk inside an office. Across the desk sat a man in his early fifties. He wore a stern expression, as he updated files of citizens after today’s Calling rituals.

The man paused and put down his quill. “There was no sign at all?”

“No, sir. I am certain,” the priest said.

The man furrowed his brows as he looked down at one particular piece of paper.

Name: Tomar Remor

Parents: Leander and Phiona Remor

Birth: Spring 3006

Calling: Researcher (Determined)

“Was I mistaken, sir?” the priest asked carefully.

“It appears so, but the matter has been resolved. There won’t be any repercussions. You may leave.”

The priest let out a sigh of relief and relaxed at the man’s words. “Thank you, sir.” He bowed slightly and left the office.

Now alone in the room, the man picked his quill back up and added more notes to the record, about a failed ritual that had resolved itself. “Interesting,” he murmured.