"Filthy commoners!" "They have no right to be here!" "Ew! I think they touched me! Get them away!"

Comments like these were common from the nobility of the Clover Kingdom. And they made Hal's blood boil!! As a farmer from the outskirts of the capital city of the Clover Kingdom, Hal was often times considered the lowest of the low by the nobility because his drab and worn clothes often had dirt on them. But, behind his ratty clothes and that of his neighbors was much happiness in their homes. Hal could remember many nights spent celebrating a successful harvest or the birth of a new riding horse!

Outside the home, Hal saw many of his friends belittled and beat up on by arrogant nobles and middle class merchants alike. He himself had been on the recieving end of that treatment more than once. Hal wanted to change that! But first things first, Hal needed a grimoire. Every year there was an Awarding Ceremony for all the 15 year olds where people celebrated their coming of age by having a grimoire choose them. Today was the day for the Awarding Ceremony and it was also coincidentally Hal's birthday!

"Rise and shine, kiddo! Today is a big day but chores still need to be done!" That was Hal's father, James. A plain, well built man with a black goatee that he always kept well trimmed and with no hair on the top of his head to speak of, James was a great father who had taught his son good work ethic and how he should treat others.

"Oh James! Let the boy have a bit of a late start. It's his birthday after all." Hal's mother, Shawnti, was a stunning sight to look at with golden blond hair that she kept up in a bun when she worked. When she wasn't working though, her golden hair was let down in waves until it reached the middle of her back. She had been responsible for teaching Hal to read and write as well as basic math.

"It's alright, Mom. I would feel useless if I slept in anyway." Hal was the perfect mix of his parents. He had a decent build and a rats nest of blond hair on his head. Hal loved his family and wouldn't trade them for all the magic power in the world. After he scarfed down his breakfast, with his mom scolding him the whole time to chew, Hal raced through his chores and was able to finish just in time to make it to the awarding ceremony. Hal dashed through the doors just in time for the head mage to finish some grand speech about magic and grimoires. As the head mage finished, grimoires started randomly coming off the bookshelves that covered the whole room.

"Awesome!" Hal's eyes were sparkling. He watched as one of his friends recieved a grimoire whose cover had very ornate wood carvings covering the face. Hal began looking around for his own grimoire to come flying to his hand. Suddenly, terror filled Hal's body! It felt as though all the warmth and hope had been sucked out of the air around him. Teeth chattering, the rest of the world fell away as Hal slowly turned around to find a grimoire hovering in front of him. Its cover was the black of midnight and the pages were the same color. Hal almost didn't want to touch this grimoire but he found his hand moving toward it just the same. The instant Hal's fingers closed around his grimoire, the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come and the world around him came back into focus. When it did everyone was looking at Hal in disbelief and no small amount of fear. With the eyes of the whole room locked onto him, Hal quickly became embarassed and made to walk out of the room. As he did, whispers filled the room like an angry buzzing.

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah! He must have some sort of evil magic!"

"Well, what would expect from a dirty commoner!"

"I was so scared! What was that cold feeling?"

A cold fire of anger burned in Hal's chest at those words but instead of reacting, Hal buried it deep, walked out the doors, and turned towards home. During the long walk home, Hal turned his grimoire over and over in his hands. He was super excited that he had his very own grimoire! The excitement however was tampered down by his memory of the reaction he got at the library. Before he knew it, Hal stood outside his house. Before he could even knock on it, Hal's father threw open the door and wrapped up his son in a bear hug! Hal felt his ribs start to crack under the pressure!

"Dad... Could you... maybe... let go? I'm dying... here!" The arms crushing his body tightened for one more brief moment before Hal was released and much needed air flooded into his lungs! While Hal recovered from his near strangulation his father stood there with a goofy grin on his face.

"Well son, what's your grimoire look like?"

Hal pulled it out and showed his father the pitch black tome. "Woah! I've never seen a grimoire like that. What kind of spells have you got?"

Hal shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't try it out on the way home."

"Well, we've got to fix that! Shawnti, Hal and I are going to the woods!"

30 minutes later, Hal and his dad stood in a clearing in the woods not too far from the farm. Hal opened up his grimoire and prepared the first spell he opened up to.

"ABYSS MAGIC: MALEVOLENT CLAW!"

A 3 fingered claw hand shot from Hal's grimoire and stabbed it's claws into the tree he was using as target practice. The tree shriveled up and Hal felt a rush of euphoria and it wasn't just because he cast his first spell. The mana and life force that exists within all living things had been taken from the tree and given to Hal. It scared him. Hal looked at his dad. James had an unreadable expression on his face. When he noticed Hal looking at him, his dad's face broke into a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"That's some impressive magic you have there, Hal."

Hal looked down at the ground and at the grimoire in his hand. "It scares me Dad. That claw cost me a lot of magic power and it abosrbed all the mana of that tree." Hal hugged himself and shivered, "It made me feel powerful and that scared me."

Hal's Dad grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, "You listen to me, Son." Hal was surpised at his Dad's unexpected serious tone and the firm look in his eyes. "You're magic doesn't make you evil. I know you. You are a good kid and you don't want to be a bad person. That is already a great protection against falling to evil. Keeping that desire firm in your mind will help as well as the reason you use your magic."

"The reason I use my magic?" Hal had never thought of why and what he would use his magic for after he got his grimoire.

Later that night, Hal sat up in bed thinking. What was the reason that he would use his magic for? He thought about how he and the rest of the commoners were looked down on by those of noble status. It made him angry! The nobles were just as human as the everyone else. Having a little extra money and social status didn't mean they were automatically better than anyone else. "We all bleed the same.", Hal thought angrily. In that instant, it felt like a lightning bolt had struck! Hal knew what his reason was.

--

The next day at breakfast Hal and his parents were seated around the table. Hal pushed his oatmeal around in his bowl wondering how to bring up the topic of what he wanted to discuss. James and Shawnti kept throwing glances at their son. They knew Hal had something on his mind but wanted him to bring it up. Finally, Hal put his spoon down and looked up at his parents.

"I want to change the way the nobles look at us. They look down on us because we are supposedly lower than them. I want to change that. But in order to change it, I need power so they will listen to me. I want to become the Wizard King!" Hal's simple declaration left his parents stunned. James recovered first and looked at his son. Hal had a determined look in his eyes. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and James saw a fire burning in Hal's soul that wasn't there before. James was about to voice his approval when Shawnti burst out, "NO! DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT COULD BE, HAL? YOU HAVE TO PASS THE MAGIC KNIGHTS ENTRANCE EXAM! THEN YOU WOULD GET SENT ON EXTREMELY DANGEROUS MISSIONS! I WON'T ALLOW IT!", Shawnti put her face into her hands and started crying, "What if you never come back? I can't stand to allow my only child to risk his life like that!"

Hal's heart nearly broke. He hated to do this to his mom but he had to. Walking over, he crouched down next to his mom's chair so that he could look into her eyes. "Mom, I have every intention of coming back. I promise to send letters every week and I will visit as often as I can. That way you'll know that I'm ok.", Hal took his mother's hands into his. "Please mom. Let me do this." As Shawnti looked into Hal's eyes, she also saw the fire that now burned in Hal's soul. She knew that he meant what he had said about coming back. Struggling to hold back more tears, she hung her head, "Fine! But if you don't come back I will personally find your ghost and strangle you myself, young man!"

Hal and his dad both burst out laughing and Shawnti cracked a watery smile herself. After a few seconds the laughter died down, mostly. "I guess I had better do my best to avoid that then.", Hal chuckled.

James put his hands on Hal's shoulders, "If you're going to pass the Magic Knights Exam in a few weeks then you need to train up your magic!" He dramatically pointed a finger up to the sky, "I will make you a training course that will set you on the path of a Magic Knight!" And with that, he was gone. Hal just stood there dumb founded for a moment. That outburst was very unlike his father. "He just needs to work it out of his system, Hal. Why don't you help me with the rest of today's chores while James does... whatever it is he's doing?"

A few hours later, Hal was bushing down one of their prize horses when his dad threw open the barn's side door. "HAL! I DID IT! IT'S READY!" James was covered in more dirt than usual and his usually well kept beard was a wild mess. He looked actually pretty terrifying. Before Hal could even ask his Dad why he looked liked a crazed wildman, he was dragged out of the barn and towards the back of the house.

"Wood Creation Magic: Combat Training Course!"

What formed before Hal's eyes was an obstacle course. The obstacle course had several rotating posts with wooden rods that Hal guessed were supposed to imitate melee attacks. There were also several large fort-like constructions with thin view ports. In the few seconds it took for Hal to observe all this James had somehow acquired a whistle and a drill instructor's riding crop. "Son, it took me forever to get this spell right. But I believe that this will give you the best start possible into being a Magic Knight and, eventually, the Wizard King. There are several targets hidden throughout the course. Some are more obvious than others. Your goal is to hit at least 80% of them without getting hit yourself."