Elias Thorne loved to be still. He was eighteen.
He was from a famous family of magic users called Wardens. But Elias was not famous for magic.
He was famous for being the most lazy person alive.
He was in the garden, doing his most important job: resting. He lay on a stone bench.
He had used a very small wind spell to make the bench rock gently. This way, he rested but felt like he was moving. He thought this was very smart.
He had set a cleaning robot to pull the weeds. Elias just watched it. He was supervising.
"Ten minutes of work saved," Elias thought. More energy for breathing.
Then, his quiet time ended.
"Elias! Get up! We need help!"
This was Caius Thorne, his older brother. Caius was a Warden soldier. He always wore a neat uniform and always looked angry.
Caius walked right up to the bench.
Elias opened only one eye. "You sound stressed, Caius. Talking takes energy. What's the big problem?"
"The magic water pipe is broken! No water comes to the house! You need to fix the rune!" Caius shouted.
Elias sighed, a sound of deep pain. "A broken water pipe? That means moving. That means thinking.
That means magic work. That is three hard things. I am too relaxed to do three hard things. I must stay still. It is safer."
"You are making me carry twenty big buckets of water! Get up and help!"
"No," Elias said. "Look at the robot. It is free. It can carry water."
"The robot is for weeds!"
"Water is just a big, wet weed," Elias argued.
Caius was too mad to fight anymore. He walked away, muttering about how useless Elias was.
Later, Elias's sister, Anya, came. She was smart about magic. She smelled like burnt things from her workshop.
She showed Elias a thick paper with a royal seal. "I have a way to make Father stop yelling at you," she said calmly.
Elias lifted his head a little bit. "A way out of what? The need to be awake?
"No, out of Father bothering you about your future," Anya said. "He wants you to sign up for the Pinnacle Academy test.
Elias groaned. "The Academy? That place has stairs. And sitting up. It's evil.
"Just sign the paper," Anya said nicely. "Just sign up. Go the first day. Then you can quit. You did the minimum work. Father will leave you alone for one whole year. It's the best plan for resting.
Elias thought hard. One quick sign was better than one year of talking. He took the pen.
He signed his name very fast and pushed the paper back to Anya. "Done. I won't pass the test anyway. No big deal.
Anya smiled, her eyes sharp. "You are so smart, Elias! Good job!
"Just one thing," Elias said. "I can't promise my arms and legs will stay safe during this test. Anyway, I must rest now. Signing took a lot out of me.
He walked away to his room. Anya took the paper and found Caius.
"He signed it," Anya whispered. "I put him on the Gladiatorial Trials track. The fighting one.
Caius looked scared. "But that is very dangerous! He will get hurt!
"Good," Anya said. "He needs a shock. He will either wake up and work, or he will fail badly and learn his lesson. Either way, we win.
Elias went to his soft bed and felt proud of himself.
He had won the argument.
But then, a strange, tense feeling started deep inside his chest. It was a strong, buzzing feeling he didn't know.
It was the Void Rune, the hidden magic in his blood. It was waking up. It knew Elias was in huge danger. And it was very angry about the need to start moving and working.
Great, Elias thought, rubbing his chest. Now even my own magic is complaining about having to try.