Solar Picks (Tobyverse)
Pitch
A high school kid, a bit of a nerdy loner, bit of an underachiever, has recently been learning tricks and stage magic of an older guy that lives in the same small town that he does. The older guy is a bit weird, and lives alone in his big house on the hill, but is friendly and funny and has all manner of cool, crazy stuff in his house that the kid is really interested in. He also seems to believe in actual magic, though the kid is pretty skeptical of that. Anyway so the older guy asks the kid whether he wants to engage in an ancient ritual, just for fun, you know? And the kid thinks that hey, sure, could be fun.
Except that the ritual is actually a real invocation that summons the gestalt spirits of dozens of powerful and ancient sorcerers. These sorcerers form an unbroken line back to the first days of magic, and each protected earth from the various enemies from beyond that threatened it. The old man is the latest sorcerer, and the kid is his chosen apprentice. When the kid realizes this during the ritual, he runs, but it is too late. He has been marked and chosen as the old man's successor, and now magic has been awoken inside him.
That night, as the kid sleeps at home, he is awoken by a spectral vision that tells him he must go and see the old man, who need his help. He refuses and denies it, but eventually his curiosity (and bravery) overcomes his fear, and he goes to the house. Inside, on the floor, lies the old man, grievously wounded. He tells the kid that he will die soon, and that is why he did the ritual so soon, without telling the kid what it entailed first. He needed someone to succeed him, he knew he was going to die tonight. He then says that he wishes his son could have been half the man he sees in the kid, and dies. As he does so, the gestalt is invoked once more, who solemnly confirm the kid as the new Earthward, Guardian of the Arcane and Master of Sorcery. They leave him a familiar to guide him through his role, and the responsibility of protecting the entire planet from anything that throws itself at it.
