Titans - March of Progress

Sain blinked sleepily as he looked straight into the dirty mirror situated in his home's bathroom. It was covered in grime and distorted his reflection. Pretty much all he could see was a faint outline of his face and some distortions of his dirty blonde hair. Letting out a deep yawn, he pulled his gaze away from the mirror and instead looked down to the sink that was currently littered with hair shavings. Or more likely beard trimmings. Dad must have been running late this morning. He usually cleans up after himself otherwise.

With a sigh, Sain ran the sink, and scooped water to splash his face to wake up a bit, before swirling more around the basin, washing the trimmed hair down the drain. He turned off the tap once done and took a moment to wipe his hands on a hand towel by the sink. Then he turned away, yawning once more, this time a hand going to cover his mouth. Stepping out of the bathroom he made his way to the couch in the living room, and scooped up his shoulder bag, hitching it over his shoulder. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Sain exited his shanty house, pulling the door shut and then keying the deadlock into place.

Then he sluggishly made his way out of the narrow alley that his home exited into, the morning sun hitting him square in the face as he stepped into the main street, eliciting a pained groan from him causing him to lift his hands to shield his eyes from the glare. Muttering to himself, Sain left the alley behind and started meandering down the main street, coming into step with a few other people as they made their way to work for the day. Just like him.

Sain simply walked in silence not really thinking about anything. He had not slept well due to rampant thoughts of yesterday, and the violence he had witnessed. Just recalling the events made him feel sick and he really didn’t want to go to work today. But the bills didn’t pay themselves as his dad repeatedly told him.

Before long, Sain came to an intersection in the cobble stone streets, and he looked up, seeing the road starting to rise sharply uphill. He cast his gaze at the buildings either side of him as he came to a stop at the corner with a half dozen other people, all looking to the left and right for wagons and carriages. It was still early, and the roads were relatively empty of such things. That was no surprise though, as most people living in the area were too poor to afford such modes of transport.

As a small milk wagon lumbered past, however, a few of the people waved at the driver while the rest of the group of people that were waiting started moving across the road, Sain among them. His eyes turned upwards once more, and looking to the hilltop, he started to climb, the rows of dirty brick buildings flanking the road indicating that he was entering the industrial district and leaving the main area of shanty homes behind. If it could be called that. It was a place where houses mixed with factories and warehouses in quite a jumbled mess after all.

It didn’t take long for Sain to start puffing from the steep climb and he felt himself warming up from the exertion. Not to mention there was the morning sun heavy on his back. Thankfully, Sain reached the top of the hill, now the only person from his group there. No surprise considering the building sitting before him at the head of a T intersection. He stood on the left arm of the T, staring across the road at a dirty brick wall that extended in both directions for a good five hundred meters by his best estimate. There was a solid metal gate left slightly ajar at the main entrance and a stained, old and rusted sign poorly attached to one of the gates' metal bars. The sign read ‘Hart and Sedious Industries’ and was his workplace. It was a factory and not exactly the nicest place to work at.

Sain sighed and stood up completely, straightening his posture and grimacing as he stretched arms and back, a satisfying crack coming from his joints. He gave a final look up, seeing the factory towers inside the complex, puffing their billows of black smoke into the smog rich sky of the city. Shrugging his shoulders, Sain finally crossed the street and approached the iron gate flanked by tall brick walls. The gate hung open, swaying in a gentle wind and letting out a soft creak on hinges that obviously could use a bit of an oil.

Sain stepped around and past the gate, letting it continue to sway eerily in a soft breeze, as he moved further inside and looked about, his eyes flicking around the factory entrance as he searched for the guard that was supposed be watching the place and stopping unwanted guests from entering. Not seeing the guard, Sain just snorted and kept walking, not having a high opinion of the lazy guards that worked here anyway. He would be surprised if they even turned up for work. And if they did, the guard would probably end up sleeping somewhere.

Walking down the main thoroughfare of the complex, Sain veered off towards a two-story building that had no signage. It was a poor excuse for a building really, with a dirty brick base, and a wooden upper-level extension. But that was where he was supposed to go for work.

He pushed open the door to the lower ground, coming into a dirty kitchen and lounge area. The place smelled dank and uncared for, and the floor was littered with rat shit. Sain covered his mouth and moved on, aiming for a rickety staircase placed against the right wall. He slowly plodded up one step at a time, each bending and creaking dangerously, convincing him the whole thing could come crashing down any moment. Reaching the second floor, he sighed, realizing how tense he was.

Sain stood on the landing and lifted a hand to rub at his eyes before drawing in a deep breath and then exhaling slowly as he forced his posture to relax. He felt more tired than he should have been for a spritely fourteen-year-old, no doubt due to the events yesterday. Turning to look at a door immediately to his left, he squared his shoulders and with a nod to himself, raised a hand and knocked twice before pushing the door open and shuffling inside.

Sain was immediately met by a cloud of dust that puffed up from the carpeted floor as the door swept out over it and he raised a hand to his nose to stop a sneeze, pinching his nostrils. Casting his gaze about, Sain found as he had expected, his master huddled in the corner of the small room, back turned to the entrance and his nose buried in a stack of papers on a desk while he quietly muttered to himself. Sain dropped his hand from his nose as the dust settled and cleared his throat noisily, waiting patiently for acknowledgement of his presence.

One of Sain’s first ever lessons from his master Clyde Sedious had been in patience, and it was put to the test as Sain stood there waiting to be noticed. As a minute or so went by, Sain shuffled from foot to foot, patience starting to erode. Finally, after what seemed like a few minutes, Sain lifted a hand to cover his mouth and coughed politely into it.

The old man in front of Sain shifted suddenly, sensing he was not alone anymore and looked up as he turned around, squinting through the spectacles he wore on his old, weathered face. He turned and after a moment saw Sain patiently standing a few meters away. As recognition dawned on the old man, he spluttered and flapped his hands in panic before turning back to his desk and hastily put some of his papers into a drawer before locking it.

“Oh hello, Sain, I didn’t see you there, oh dear what time is it, have you been here a while?” stammered Clyde in a rush, no doubt trying to make conversation to hide whatever illegal or less than ethical research that Sain had once again interrupted.

“No sir, I only just arrived, I have only been here a few moments” Sain replied, rolling his eyes as the old man fumbled around.

“Hmm, that’s good, very good” replied Clyde as he turned back to his desk, seemingly not really paying attention to what Sain was saying. Not that that was unusual.

Sain just looked over the man, wondering about him as usual. He still didn’t know how old the ancient bastard was. Clyde was a short man, bent over by age and always seemed to walk with a stoop. He had long thin hair, tied back and gathered in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was thin and his hands resembled claws more than anything else. His face was a mass of wrinkles, and his eyes were mere slits. Only dual flashes of a brilliant green could be seen, revealing that he did indeed have eyes. And then there was his perpetual expression, one that was continually changing between irritation and confusion, depending on what time of day it was.

Tearing his eyes from inspecting his master for possibly the hundredth time, Sain puffed out some air then and stood straight, his shoulders squared as he dredged up some courage to speak, to ask a request of Clyde.

“Excuse me sir. I was sort of wondering if you would perhaps, maybe, be able to teach me some more about magic maybe. Because you haven’t had me doing much lately really and I’ve finished all the tasks that you gave me in the factory as well sir” Sain stammered out in a nervous rush of words, expecting to be shot down as usual. Clyde only really taught him anything about magic when it was time for some sort of crazy half assed experiment and really seemed to resent that too, as if it was all Sain’s fault.

Clyde turned completely to face Sain, bent almost double, his hands snaking around to clasp behind the small of his back. His gaze wandered up and down Sain’s figure, seemingly inspecting him. After a moment he frowned and spoke.

“Ah yes, as Dowell told me yesterday, you did a good job with the crystal binding a few days ago. He was quite happy with you. He has a new batch that arrived early this morning. If you would like to help him with that today, he would be quite appreciative” came Clyde’s response. The old man spoke firmly and with dignity, seemingly being overcome by one of his rare moments of clarity.

Slumping his shoulders, Sain released a disappointed sigh and cast his gaze at the floor muttering under his breath before looking up and watching as Clyde turned away from him and shuffled over to a cupboard on the far wall.

“Yes sir, I suppose I can do that, it’s no trouble at all” Sain muttered, his tone hinting at his disappointment.

Clyde nodded as he plucked a book from the shelf and turned it, blowing a line of dust from the book’s spine. He either completely missed or ignored the disappointment in Sain’s voice, and instead lifted the book to wave it over his shoulder.

“Do you know this book boy?” Clyde asked of Sain, waving it again at the youth from over his shoulder. Sain frowned and stepped forward, his hand reaching out to grab it. He looked it over and swept a hand over the dusty cover so he could see the letters that made up the book's name. He stared at it a few moments and frowned further as he tried to decipher the strange font of the letters.

“Uh, ‘The History of Power’. It is a history of energy sources, I think” Sain stated as he flipped the book over, and then opened the cover, and tried to read the blurb for more information, but the lettering seemed to be significantly faded.

“Yes boy. That is correct. It covers all the significant breakthroughs in power generation in the last one hundred years. Read chapters fifteen through eighteen. I’ll be asking you questions tomorrow about them” Clyde stated as he started shuffling papers around his desk once more. Sain groaned inwardly. He hated homework.

Clyde seemed to pick up on it and sighed dramatically before lifting a hand and making a shooing gesture with it in a form of dismissal. Sain snorted, familiar with the gesture and started to move towards the door with the intention of leaving but stopped as Clyde spoke out with his back turned.

“Oh, and that other book I gave you some days ago, did you read the assigned chapters?” Clyde asked and Sain felt his heart leap a moment as the memory of practicing with Ricky flashed before his eyes, still fresh. He looked down at his bag and then opened it and pulled out the book, replacing it with his new homework book.

“Um yes, I did. It was the basics on forming and maintaining magical barriers for protection. And a basic concept of attacking with it too” Sain replied as he awkwardly held out the book for his master who turned back to face him and shuffled over to collect the book. As he took it in his weathered hands, Clyde turned it over, inspecting it for damage.

“Good. Make sure you practice the concepts whenever you get the chance. They are something that every caster should know, even if they do not have to defend themselves. You can go now” Clyde stated and then shuffled back over to his bookcase to put the book back on its allocated shelf.

Sain just exhaled softly, having expected Clyde to interrogate him on the contents of the chapters far more thoroughly. Perhaps he had gotten lucky. So, he just nodded and turned around to go for the door, and as he rested his hand on the doorknob, once again Clyde spoke from behind him, his voice somewhat muffled.

“And be here bright and early tomorrow morning my boy, I’ll be needing your help for some magical experiments. That new book is relevant to what we will be doing, and I will be very annoyed if you haven’t read what I told you too. Now, go help Dowell” Clyde stated before focusing his full attention back onto his desk, finally dismissing Sain completely.

Sain let out a sort of strangled grunt right as he exited the room and made his way downstairs to the lower level of the building amid mixed feelings of guilt and excitement. Guilt at the realization that Clyde wasn’t as senile as Sain had thought, and excitement at the prospect of a future experiment. They were always fun.

Reaching the bottom floor, Sain immediately headed outside into the complex and started looking for Dowell, and that work Clyde wanted done.