The ground shook beneath the manor as flashing lights danced in the courtyard. "Apologize!" A young woman shouted as flames shot from her arms. Her feet danced elegantly on the decorative stone as she was pushed back by her attack.
A young man with black hair planted his feet and waved his arms in front of him. A blast of water poured over the flaming attack, causing the area to explode in steam.
Inside the manor, a boy woke up from a deep sleep and scrambled off his bed. The sounds of explosions had put his body in fight or flight, as he panickedly pulled a short sword from beneath his bed. He quickly rose to his feet his eyes darting back and forth. As he looked out the window he relaxed.
His siblings fight often and would cause scenes on the property. Most of the time it was the weaker siblings who would clash, because if the stronger ones fought on the property, there'd be no more manor. He looked out the window and watched them clash in a test of eachothers powers.
Jasper sighed as he pushed the short sword under the bed. "Who can fight this early in the morning." He rubbed his eyes and sat down.
Jasper was the youngest of 11 who grew up on this property. His family was quite elite in this world and commanded a respectable amount of power. His father and mother were Lord and Lady of Fetherland in the province of Prilith.
The country he called home was called Fartha. Here a King and Queen reign over the 7 provinces that make up the land. Each province is led by a governor who's the oldest male in the assigned family. Under a governor are 7 lords/ladys who rule over one of seven territories of the Governors province.
So overall there's 49 lords, 7 Governors, and 1 king. Jasper belonged to the West family, who rule over the territory Fetherland. He'd been raised with high quality teachings and an intense curriculum meant to weed out weakness. There was immense status to uphold everyday.
A gentle knock resounded from his thick wooden door. "Come in." He called out. The door slowly pushed open revealing a very proper man dressed in expensive butler clothing.
Jaspers eyes watched the man enter steadily. There was a time where he would greet his butler happily. But a year or so ago his parents had removed his longtime butler who had served him since birth. Jasper's nose twitched just thinking about them. There wasn't much time to raise children in this house.
Each of his siblings had also been raised by butlers or maids. Some got more attention from Mother and Father than others, but the average times they would talk to each child was about once a week. Jasper fell far below the average and only spoke to his parents about once a month.
Regardless, he hadn't taken to his new butler well. "It's about time sir gets prepared for the ceremony." The straight faced man said. His eyes were cold and his eyebrows were hard set.
He set some clothes on Jaspers bed. "You know I don't wanna wear that." Jasper said, gesturing to the ornate robes.
The butler shook his head. "Direct orders from your father. Today, he doesn't want to see any of your 'rebellious style'."
There was a pause as Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Lovely." He said before ushering the butler out. Quickly, he took a shower and put on his outfit. It was a collection of blue and teal silks and had golden speckles throughout.
He inspected himself in the mirror before leaving his room. It was a big day. He'd been trying to push it out of his mind, but today was the Ceremony. His hand ran though his forest green hair and traced his scar. It ran from the bottom of his jaw, down to his clavicle.
It was thick and the first question people think when they see it is, 'how did he survive?' His olive skin shone in the rising sun as his golden eyes reflected the light. His eyebrows were dark and set on a gentle angle. He had full lips and a few freckles. Many girls in the city liked how he looked.
Today was the day he'd get his spirit affinity, also know as his 18th birthday. In this world, humans reach full spirit maturity and develop a spirit affinity when they turn 18.
Spirits roam the world as creatures that can be friendly or very aggressive. Spirit energy powers all beings and exists in the atmosphere, like air. Spirits condense from dense pockets of specific elemental spirit energy.
They tend to have forms that appear depending on the environment and are well documented. But spirits are a little like snowflakes in the way there's no exactly alike spirit.
They can be as small as a mouse or as big as a hurricane. Spirits are the physical embodiment of elemental spirit energy and can have complex personalities and even have greater than human intelligence in later stages.
They have life cycles like biological creatures as in they tend to be born as small Pygmy stage spirits and grow through absorbing environmental spirit energy or consuming other spirits.
His spirit affinity is the element his body is naturally attuned to. This makes taming a spirit of the same affinity nearly 50 times easier. It isn't impossible to tame spirits with different affinities, but it was a significant limiter for most people.
As for the Ceremony, an expensive crystal is used to detect a persons affinity. Jaspers father had created a territory wide celebration for his Ceremony and has invited many to a large venue where Jasper would be scanned.
He was nervous beyond belief. There wasn't anything he could control other than smiling and waving. Of all his siblings he was the worst at that.
His siblings and him were to become a Spirit Knight. Spirit Knights are an elite force of spirit wielding warriors who work directly under the king. It's an incredibly prestigious honor and brings glory to the family.
His oldest brother was already a Spirit Knight with the rest of his siblings chasing it as well. Jasper doubted most of them would make it. They would probably fall short and just remain strong Spirit Tamers. It was tradition in this country for 18 year olds to set out on a Spirit Taming journey after their Ceremony. Most people end their journeys in 1-3 years, but many go on and make careers out of Spirit Taming.
There's many other ways to make a living through spirit taming other than becoming a Spirit Knight. Jasper's been raised to become a great spirit tamer just like his mother and father were. It's also custom for the parents to purchase a beginning spirit for the spirit tamer.
They might be awful parents, but he knew that they'd get him a nice first spirit. There was a knocking on the door as Jasper was shook out of his thoughts. "Yeah?!" He yelled through the door.
"It's time for sir to go." The butler said simply. Jasper sighed and reached for his notebook. He tucked the small book into his robes and exited his room. The large wooden halls of the manor echoed as Jasper followed behind his butler. They exchanged no words as he was led to a black vehicle out in the front yard.
A black truck like vehicle rolled infront of Jasper before the door popped open. The rumbling of the spirit within was a constant noise. He knew this to be his fathers personal spirit he had tamed long ago. It was an explosive spirit that could power some really powerful equipment.
He had heard his siblings talk about it when he was younger. It was about a 15 minute drive to a large stadium that his father had rented. The city had ribbons and signs celebrating his Ceremony. A feeling of dread began building in the back of his head. The driver stared forward despite the look of growing concern on Jaspers face.
The door was pulled open as a large crowd parted for him. He stepped out with a smile and a wave and quickly walked inside. However the people didn't stop there as he had to walk through more and more crowds. This was his nightmare. A few minutes later he burst into the skybox of the stadium. Inside his whole family was lined up.
All 10 of his siblings and both of his parents stood in front of him. The only time he got to see them all together like this was at each child's ceremony. It was finally his turn. There was a silence as Jasper entered. "You're late." His father said simply. His voice was stern as always but not in a lecturing way.
"The driver missed a turn." Jasper shrugged.
His father quickly ignored him and turned to the family. "Remember the procedure. This is the last time we'll have to do this so be grateful." He paused to look at his watch. "Let's go." He said.