The world was led by a king. Of course, the King was able to use magic. This was essential, as the idea of an ungifted - what they called people unable to use magic - becoming King was simply ridiculous. The use of magic was very regulated, however. The gifted like to boast about their own powers among themselves, and also towards the ungifted, but in a meaner way. Even while it was illegal to do so, the enforcement was unreliable at times, so some gifted did it, and enjoyed it.
The powers were not officially ranked, but it was commonly admitted that the stronger your powers were, the better you were considered in society. 'Commoners' had only access to basic magic like moving small objects, or blowing small gusts of air. Some of them had more potential, but they were not even bothered by the idea of studying it more. The simple fact that this birthright guaranteed them to feel superior to the ungifted was exhilarating to them. Strangely, they were the ones who despised the ungifted the most. Powers could get really impressive as you looked up the social ladder. From geomancy to energy conversion, you could find a great range of incredible talents. However, some of those people had a problem : they started to define themselves as their own power. Some of them were soldiers, scholars, merchants or even farmers, and their power had nothing to do with it. In fact, many ungifted were doing all those jobs, and some of the gifted didn't like that idea.
Manym was an ungifted guy. He didn't feel the gitfted's hatred all his life, mostly because a good portion of them didn't even care about sharing their country with the ungifted. Some were even fairly nice to the ungifted, even though that kind of behavior got them in trouble with some of their gifted peers. Even then, Manym felt that something was wrong.
One time, Manym went to see a duel between two high ranked gifted men. Those two were simply amazing, and also quite famous. Manym didn't know much about powers, but he was still fascinated with them, even though he knew he couldn't do it. The two contenders were Lahnz and Evan, and among gifted, those were extraordinarily gifted. Lahnz was the one with the higher power, and he was always regarded as a kind person, very inspiring to many. His fighting style wasn't very varied, but it was incredibly powerful. He always managed to cast the strongest fireball, or summon the most violent hurricane. Evan was a bit less powerful, but a very strong contender. He gained the trust of many people through his very spectacular fighting style, very beautiful and inspiring to a lot. Among gifted and ungifted alike, everyone knew whether they preferred Lahnz or Evan.
At the end of the fight, some began to notice that Manym, an ungifted person, was in the audience. This was a surprise to many, because the ungifted were really rarely interested in duels like this. Lahnz could feel that an ungifted was present as well, so he invited Manym to join him on the center of the plaza where the duel took place. The crowd was very intrigued by this sudden invitation. Lahnz smiled as the young guy arrived, because among his many powers, he could also read minds.
"I would like you to tell all those people what your biggest dream is." said Lahnz.
Manym felt a bit shy about it, and the crowd started to get a bit angry over this display. Then, with his loudest voice, Manym found the courage to declare :
"I want to be the first ungifted King of Eracima !"
The crowd was silent for a second, then started laughing at him. Manym was really embarassed, but then he felt Lahnz's hand on his shoulder, who then spoke softly to him.
"You will make it. Trust me."
Soon after, the rumor spreaded. An ungifted wanted to become King ? That was certainly unheard of. At first, this rumor was mostly used as a way to mock the ungifted and their unrealistic desires. But then, it grew up to be a serious question. What would happen to Eracima if an ungifted King was designed ? Some thought it would fall to ruin. Some thought it could finally be the change it needs.
During many years, strengthened by his interaction with Lahnz, Manym wanted to live his dream even more than before. After some time, he managed to convince all of his family and friends, gifted and ungifted alike, that he was serious. And they believed that he was right, that he could start a revolution. The idea of an ungifted King became widespread quickly. A lot of 'what if' stories became recurring debates in taverns, groups and even sometime at the Royal Castle.
About 10 years after that event, the current King's reign was about to end. As it was tradition, the King organized a massive tournament. This tournament was mostly made of duels between two contenders. And the one who won all of his matches was declared the new King. This would be open to fighters all around Eracima. This was a simple procedure, however those duels of magic were quite different from the usual fist fights that would be more likely to occur between two drunk farmers. In the end, the winner wasn't decided by who was the last standing. The winner was actually decided by a popular opinion coming from the crowd, and the King could have a final say if the crowd was unsure.
Manym, who had prepared for this moment the majority of his life, arrived at the tournament. At the entrance, where people could sign up, he went behind the queue like all candidates. He was quickly identified as an ungifted to the people around, and then it started to cause a lot of noise. "An ungifted at the tournament ?" "He is just going to be destroyed !" "Doesn't he know that he can't possibly win ?"
Eventually, early in the afternoon, the tournament began. It was held in an enormous arena where many people gathered to see it. It was an incredible show. Some duels were won in the blink of an eye by really talented fighters, some were won by long and difficult duels, but most duels ended with one fighter knocking their opponent out, despite the special rule of the popular vote.
Then came Manym's turn during the first round. He was confident, but terrified. His first opponent was Saumura, a female gifted fighter. Just like the ungifted, women who strived to be King were very rare, so Manym felt uneasy about this, but he came for one reason, and he was going to go through with it. The fight started. Everyone held their breath to see what an ungifted was going to do in combat. But Manym just stood there, motionless. Saumura hesitated a bit, knowing that Manym was ungifted. After a few seconds, she started casting an spell to control the ground, and started to attack Manym with focused earthquakes, making pillars emerge rapidly from the ground under his feet. Immediately, Manym was thrown away and landed on his back.
The crowd laughed, with a roar that echoed throughout the arena. But it came to a close soon, as Manym managed to struggle to get back on his feet. And after a while, he was standing up, facing Saumura once again with a look of determination. The crowd cheered at his courage. "That is the strongest ungifted I've seen !" "He should have been knocked out instantly !". Saumura was angry at this sudden shift in mood from the audience. She followed up with a lightning strike, which came from the sky, hitting directly Manym, who fell to the floor again. And once more, he rose up, with the audience cheering even more. Saumura, angrier than ever, prepared another attack, when a huge voiced echoed in the arena.
"STOP !"
It was the King. Everyone stopped talking.
"I declare Manym, winner of this duel."
The audience cheered. Manym had passed the first round. He didn't even think he could succeed that well, but he did. He was happy about it, but he knew the tournament wasn't over. In the end, though, he ended up winning all his matches the same way, through his unshakeable persistence. He rapidly became popular in the audience. Eventually, he got to the finals.
As he feared, his opponent was none other than Lahnz, the favorite. The famous fighter immediately recognized Manym, and made a huge smile. Before the match started, Lahnz got close to Manym and told him that there was something special for the finals.
"This is a special match, because this time, the popular decision doesn't matter. The winner can only be decided by knockout."
Manym was really surprised by this. He had no idea it worked like that. How was he supposed to win ? He looked around him. The audience was incredibly excited, much more than usual in this tournament. He couldn't disappoint them. He couldn't disappoint all his friends, all the people that supported him.
"I forfeit."
Manym looked back at Lahnz. He was the one who declared that. The audience booed at the scene, but mostly at Lahnz. "You could have won this time !" "He lost during the finals again !". But despite all this, he continued to smile, and left the arena proudly. Manym just stood still, unable to move. He… won ?
The King rose up from his chair and raised his arm. In a matter of seconds, the audience stopped making any kind of noise. After the calm had settled in the arena, the King started his speech.
"My loyal subjects ! It appears that we are about to face a revolution. Throughout history, we Kings were chosen by who was the strongest in using our gifts. But this time, this fighter, the bravest of all, came to participate in the royal tournament ungifted. And he was up to the challenge. I declare that Manym, the ungifted fighter, is becoming your King !"
Multiple kinds of voices echoed in the arena. The ones who supported Manym cheered and shouted in joy from the top of their lungs, ungifted and gifted alike. The rest of the audience was disappointed in the winner, and booed. But the winner was set, and this was an unchaneable fact.
The same evening, Manym was summoned by the King to participate in a dinner with him. Even though he was set to become new King after the current one was gone, he still felt overwhelmed by his presence. He sat at the table, still a bit anxious but trying to relax. The King initiated the conversation.
"You are really strong, Manym. You deserved to win this tournament from the start."
"Thank you, your Majesty."
"Ha ha ha, Manym. Please just call me Luther. We are alike, you and I."
"Do you mean that, because we are both… Kings ?"
The King laughed at this remark. "Oh no, I don't think you understand. Did you think you were the first ungifted King ?"
"Are you… ungifted ?"
"That is correct."
"But how did you win the tournament ?"
"Let's just say a friend helped me."
Suddenly, someone appeared at the table. It was Lahnz. More than appeared, Lahnz actually teleported himself there. Immediately, Manym asked him :
"You… made the King, I mean, Luther win the tournament last time ?"
"Yes." Lahnz smiled. "It was the time for Eracima to have an ungifted King. I met him long ago and we became great friends. Just like with you, I believed in him. I helped him win the tournament, but this time, he wanted to participate as a gifted fighter." I used my powers in secret to make it look like he was gifted. Nobody ever called the bluff !" he explained, then laughed.
Manym felt a bit embarassed, as he realized he was less original than he thought, which almost negated his joy to have won the tournament.
"You see", continued Lahnz, "When I saw you at the duel 10 years ago, I knew you were worthy of being the next King. But this time, I wanted to be sure that everybody knew that you were ungifted. This would change things for sure."
Manym was now part of the biggest secret in the world, but he agreed to be part of it anyway. Over the next two months before he would officially become King of Eracima, he prepared himself to be the new King.
At the time of the official crowning, Manym was not anxious, unlike during the tournament. All the people remembered his performance, and they cheered at him, an ungifted King, when he arrived, something that was unconceivable to the majority before. Manym walked in front of the crowd, and started speaking, which made everyone in the audience stop talking. What he said during this speech was not important, but in the end, everyone believed in him, and most of them did for the rest of his reign.
The secret of King Luther was buried forever, as he died two years later. But on the day of the crowning of King Manym, there rose to the power the true 'First Ungifted King of Eracima'.
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