Chapter one
Mark slowly woke up in a bin of trash outside the pub. He sat up slowly and stretched out his extremities. Then he saw his sword hand, his left. There was no longer flesh, but metal. Shocked, Mark shifted his weight and plummeted out of the bin. He fell ten feet from the top and landed on his dominant arm, his right. Mark heard a distinct snap and he knew instantly that it was broken. Pain racked his body and his tears flowed freely. He carefully got to his feet and shambled out of the alley, sharp pain going through his body each time his arm bounced against his body.
Dimnina, the largest city in the known world, always had streets clogged with people. Mark entered a street and people pushed him aside and knocked him to the ground, aggravating his broken arm. Sharp stabbing pains erupted as people tried to get rid of Mark, like so much trash. The poor are always mistreated like this, Mark thought, trying to reassure himself that some higher power wasn't doing this just for laughs. Eventually, Mark made it to the city center, a place so packed with people that they seemed like one massive creature. With the only magic Mark possessed, he increased his sight slightly and surveyed the buildings, finally finding a one that proclaimed, "Master healer inside!". Using his good arm, he lifted it up and charged through the crowd. However, a noble would not allow Mark to treat him like cattle and pushed him to the ground.
"Learn your position! Peasants these days... acting like they're somebody." The man sighed and kicked Mark just for stress relief. Cringing through the pain as flares of blinding pain came from his broken arm, Mark returned to his feet. He pushed the rest of the way to the healer, cursing the caste system of society. Mark was on the lowest caste, born a peasant. The second caste of society was workers, the third caste healers, priests, and all specialized workers. The fourth and final caste consisted of only The One. The One was a demi-god who controlled everything that happened in the city. He was never questioned and never seen, but his presence could be felt throughout the city.
Mark's left hand felt completely alien to him. Without any tissue around the metallic bones, he couldn't move it. He had to make due for now with it forever stuck in a position that one would hold an object, like a sword, in. He carefully knocked on the door with said hand, making sure that he didn't break the door with it.
The door swung open and a beautiful girl answered the door. She wore white silk robes of virgin girls or by healers. Her brown hair was weaved into a braid that hung down to her waist. Sparkling green eyes stared with surprise at Mark's hand glossed with a metallic shine. With soft hands, she grabbed him by the right arm. Mark squealed with pain and the girl let go quickly. "Mark, are you alright?" her voice as close to perfection as possible.
"Caroline, this is what happened to me." Mark told her the story and then realized what truly happened to him. A mage cast a memory charm on him. This charm, unfortunately, was quite advanced. Most charms just removed the unwanted event from the targets mind. However, this charm removed all traces of the event, the location of the event, the reason for the event, and any memory of the castor or any clue to the identity of said castor from Mark's mind. Even with these holes, Mark could still tell Caroline what happened to him today.
Caroline gracefully touched Mark's chest and murmured a simple chant. Her eyes flashed with white and Mark's arm became transparent. Caroline looked over the bone and found that the humerus was fractured about halfway between the shoulder and the elbow. She tenderly passed her hand through the skin and tissue. Her hand touched the bone and a flash of white appeared in her eyes again. Before Mark's eyes, the bone moved back into the correct position. The blood vessels reweaved themselves together and the bone pieces glued themselves back together. Quickly, Caroline removed her hand and Mark's flesh became its normal color.
Testing the arm carefully, he moved it in every direction and a smile played across his face. "You were always my best friend, Caroline." She nodded then gripped his left hand. White appeared in her eyes, but nothing happened. She frowned and let go of the hand.
"This wound... it's not like repairing a bone. I don't have the expertise to regrow muscle and all the tissues or remove the metal. My father maybe can do it, but he charges." Caroline glanced at Mark's pockets, empty as space. As if mystically drawn by the words, Caroline's father walked down the stairs. He approached Mark and immediately grabbed his metallic hand. White flashed in his eyes and the hand became transparent, revealing that the metal fused completely with the bones. None of the natural tissue remained.
"This will be a challenge Mark. I cannot remove the metal without completely destroying the hand. Even then, you may not ever have a hand again. I could just repair the tissues and leave the metal in, but that means that you will lose most of the flexibility in that hand." The father told Mark.
"What will this cost?" Mark asked.
"I'm afraid that it will cost more than your life." The father said plainly.
"Please dad, you must! For my sake," Caroline pleaded. Her father glared at her. After a moment, the father nodded and led Mark into the examination room. They sat at the table in the middle of the room. The rest of the room consisted of cabinets filled with mana stones and herbs consisting of natural magic power. However, on the table lay a figurine of The One, but in the form of an angel. Its eyes filled with kindness and arms depicted as helping those injured. However, its stance was defensive, making sure that one never felt like The One was just one of their friends.
The father chanted a blessing to the one. Suddenly, his body glowed with the divine glow of magic and he put his palms on the metal bones of Mark. Quickly, the father retreated his hand and the glow of magic faded. However, the glow encompassed the hand as it repaired. Ropes of muscle covered the hand, ligaments and tendons attached the muscles to the metal, and flesh wrapped it all up like a package. Mark, slightly affected by the residual magic, hugged the father affectionately. "Thank you so much!" Mark exclaimed.
"No problem," the father returned the hug. They released the embrace. Then, Caroline entered the room.
"Dad, there is a man at the door. He has something to show you." She told him. Mark and the father both got up and went to the entrance. There stood Jackson and his partner. Suddenly, Mark filled with rage, but didn't know why.