Once I had resolved to win the crown, I began to work on strengthening my magic. The first step would be to overcome my disability. I remembered reading a few books on the subject as a child, though I could no longer read. Magisters were expressly forbidden from using magic on themselves or other human beings. Experimenting with crops as we had done was on the edge of the line. Life is unpredictable, and Magisters that had broken this law in the past had often found themselves or their subjects hideously deformed. Their connection to magic would often be severed in the process.
So I could not use magic on my eyes to allow me to see again. You see, the world has a way of challenging us for what we wish to accomplish. Yet, the image persisted in my mind of an object enchanted with magic that could bestow sight to the sightless. It was, for me, as a philosophers stone. A theoretical object of such power that it could circumvent natural law. An idea, just out of reach, but ever closer.
For years I experimented, trying to achieve some form of progress. Until, that fateful day, when I created it.
Not, unfortunately, a device that would allow me to see, but something that achieved recognition. Upon concentrating my energy on a single point, I formed something. An ethereal substance, smooth as polished glass, yet warm to the touch and full of life. I had created what would later be called a Mana Crystal. This crystal, formed of the energy of the world itself, would power Magitek without the need for a Magister to be present. This earned me an apprenticeship at a local engineer's shop. The days of living in the orphanage were over.
Don't get me wrong, the people there were very kind, and the food was adequate, but no one wants to adopt a blind child. Lame, sure, deaf, why not. The other children left almost as soon as they came, but no one knows how to care for a blind child. That was, until living with Isabel. Although she never officially adopted me, she was like a second mother to me, one that I at least had the pleasure of knowing.
From that point, I spent my days creating Mana Crystals, and sockets to insert them. I had, of course, presented my discovery at the next Festival of Giving, but King Cautus the Kind, while greatly pleased, said that on it's own, it wasn't worthy of the crown, but I was on the right track. You see, while this advancement meant that Magisters didn't have to be present to operate Magitek, it still meant they had to craft the crystal. And so, Magisters were still needed, it just made things slightly more efficient.
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