Reborn With a Magic System

"Mage Wells, isn't it?" Axton Veers said as Damion approached the Mage Association booth. Mage Veers had dark hair and oddly dark eyes, but what surprised him the most, was that the Association mage had an affinity he had never seen before, Void.

The man knowing his name was not a surprise to Damion. Nearly every group here had been given information on the top students. If there was one organization that stood above the nobles and the White Zones, it was the Mage Association. Technically, every mage that reached C Rank was a member, which meant he was already a member, but if a member wanted to actually have a say in the Association, they had to work their way up through its hierarchy. Even if an S Rank mage had to work their way up to a leadership position.

If Damion took a job in the Mage Association, he could work his way up to a leadership position overtime and the Association was sure to shield him from nobles seeking to control him. The downside was just like every other job, lots of work and little time to practice. The earlier he participated in the Association the sooner he could attain a higher position, but to Damion, advancing in the Mage Association was less important than advancing his own Rank.

"What can the Mage Association offer me?" Damion asked the A Rank Mage Veers.

"As I am sure you are aware Mage Wells, all mages C Rank and above are required to mobilize when called for beast waves near them. Answering such calls help promote mages in the Association, but relying on such methods to rise in the organization is time consuming. By accepting a fulltime position with the Association, you can accelerate your rise, and you may even find yourself ordering S Ranks around during beast waves if you work hard."

"I'd rather work on increasing my magic power."

"Exactly like most young mages. What you may not be aware of, is that instead of a fulltime position you have the option of taking missions for the Mage Association. Each mission you take is based on your Rank and proven capabilities. The more missions you take, the faster you can advance in the Association, or you can sacrifice credit from your missions to avoid being called up to respond to beast waves."

"Which do most young mages in my position do?" Damion asked.

"Most young mages tend to take missions. Unless you are a fulltime employee, missions don't pay anything, but mages take them on the side of their regular jobs to slowly increase their position in the Association. This lets them make money in their preferred career while advancing in standing with the Association."

"What type of missions does the Mage Association give out?"

"Most missions are support missions for the Adventurer Association or the various Orders. It could be to search for and clear a Realm Breach or even missions to assist the apprehension of a criminal. Often times, the same missions you will have access to from the Adventurer Association will be offered by the Mage Association as well."

"But not for pay."

"Correct. Your compensation is in increasing your standing with the Mage Association."

"What do fulltime employees do for the Mage Association?"

"Fulltime employees can work as researchers, clerks, spellsmiths, artificers, alchemists, or join the fast response teams who are the first responders to beast waves."

"Are nobles usually high ranked in the Mage Association?"

"Nobles tend to prioritize the growth of their families. Aside from doing missions occasionally to bank credits to avoid being called up for beast waves, they don't do much for the Mage Association."

"So, they tend to be lower in standing in the Association than commoner mages?"

"Oh, yes. Most of the high-ranking members of the Mage Association are commoner born mages, like me."

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"You were a commoner? Now that you are an A Rank mage are you going to start your own noble family?"

"Why would I want to be considered one of those prats?" Mage Veers laughed. "There are plenty of A Rank mages from commoner families. While some may want to take up the title, most do not. Despite what nobles think, they don't actually have much power. White Zones may be the greatest in population and have the highest concentration of mages, but the strongest and most experienced fighters are in the outer Zones."

"Sounds like you had a similar experience to me when you were in school, rare affinity?"

"You've got some guts kid. Trying to weasel information from an Association member and an A Rank mage at that."

"Sorry, I'm a naturally curious person and I've never seen someone with a Void affinity before. I figured the noble families would have done anything to get you to join them."

"Ha! You can tell my affinity. You are special aren't you," Mage Veers said with a laugh. "This might surprise you, but most young mages the noble families try to rope in don't actually join them."

"Really?" Damion blurted. His experience with nobles made it seem like it was either join them or be forced to run and hide for the rest of his life.

"Noble families can make things difficult for you. And make no mistake, if they can get you to join them, they will, but they are also mostly bark, very little bite."

"Little? They did try and kill me."

"The younger generation tried to kill you. Just like the younger generation gave you a bit of hard time when you started school."

Damion was not surprised to find Mage Veers knew about Thomas Sorin trying his best to bully him. Most of the organizations that had hopes of recruiting him were sure to have researched everything about him.

"Wasn't Mage Blanche in his thirties?"

"To high Rankers, everyone under 100 is a member of the younger generation, at least as far as mages are concerned."

"So how did you avoid getting recruited?"

"I told them if they wanted donations to their bloodlines, I'd oblige, but they had to leave me alone after graduation."

"And you don't mind leaving your kids to be raised by strangers?"

"Not my concern. The nobles take full responsibility for them. Most of the time, nobles don't even tell such kids who their other parent is."

Damion thought the man's attitude towards fatherhood was a bit callous. Sure, the nobles seemed to have left Mage Veers alone in exchange, but Damion was certain he could not follow such an example. He might not be ready to start a family, but he certainly did not want to just abandon his offspring to be raised in the environment Elicia had been. A place where duty to the family meant more than your own happiness.

"Thank you for your time, Mage Veers. I'll be sure to keep in mind the Mage Association," Damion said politely as he moved on to the next booth.

The next booth happened to belong to the Dawn Guild. The guild did not accept members below B Rank, which was an astounding requirement, but when you considered they were one of the top guilds in the world, it became understandable. Even with that high bar, they still had several hundred members. From what Damion knew, guilds like the Dawn Guild operated smaller feeder guilds. If you wanted to join the Dawn Guild, you first had to work your way up through their feeder guilds and once you reached B Rank you could be considered for membership into the main guild.

"Mage Wells," the booth attendant greeted. "The Dawn Guild has prepared a special offer for you, should you achieve B Rank before graduating, you will be automatically accepted into the main guild. Otherwise, we have an opening in the Rising Sun Guild for you and as soon as you reach B Rank you will move into the Dawn Guild."

"That is very flattering," Damion said to the attendant who was just a normal person.

Most likely he was a professional recruiter the Dawn Guild hired specifically for this occasion. The Dawn Guild had plenty of power and money, but all of their members were strong fighters, those skillsets did not usually translate well to nonphysical persuasion. In fact, most of the guilds Damion had stopped by so far had ordinary people manning their booths.

"No less than a talent of your caliber deserves."

"What would life be like as a member of the Dawn Guild?"

"The Dawn Guild focuses almost exclusively on clearing the highest floors of the Argentum labyrinth. Should you join, you would immediately join a team that clears the B Rank floors. Once you are experienced there, you will likely be promoted to a team that clears the A Rank floors."

The B Rank floors in the labyrinth were the floors with the goblins. Damion very much wanted to go back to those floors to speak with the goblins, but he knew he would have other opportunities in the future. Joining a guild just to get access to the labyrinth was not worth it.

"How long are the contracts for the Dawn Guild?"

"The standard member contract is for five years. Though you can negotiate for a ten year or longer contract if you wish."

Five years working for a guild, most of which would be spent on the same few floors of the labyrinth. As much as Damion wanted to get stronger, he also wanted to explore. Doing the same thing day after day would become tedious and he was not sure if he could actually manage doing that. Just sitting in classes day after day at Silver Spire was beginning to wear on him.

"Thank you for the information. I'll keep the Dawn Guild in mind," Damion told the attendant as he moved on to the next booth.