《Magitist》 Chapter 1: Quantum Entanglement Chapter 1: Quantum Entanglement ¡°Gravitational anomalies present. Suggestion: Exercise caution, navigational amendment¡ªCritical error: Navigation not present. Unable to resolve. Engineering automatons required. Critical error: Communication timeout. Unable to resolve. Critical error¡ª¡± ¡°Warning: body is in shock, administering CNS depressants. Kinetic inhibitors required. Elevated KE proteins. Danger: heart rate critically low. Suggest: Urgent medical attention. Error: Medical personnel not found. Fatal Error: Unable to reach relay. Calling Dr. Kingsley to the bridge. Dr. Kingsley to the bridge. Dr. Kingsley to the¡ª¡± ¡°Medical emergency. Suggest: FAS Stabiliser, APNT pain inhibitor, Creetech stimulant, MAE nanites, immediate medical attention by trained professional¡ª¡± ¡°Unknown gravitational anomaly causing catastrophic failure in¡­ Sector A: subsection J2. Engine malfunction. Critical damage reported in¡ª¡± Artificial gravity is out?! quitter. The droid control was out. Navigations were down. I don¡¯t know how to fix something of this magnitude. I¡¯m¡­ stranded. their ridiculing faces and their dismissive attitude. ¡°A young man with too much pride and more money than sense.¡± ¡°A reckless loner desperate to prove himself.¡± ¡°Smart, but not wise.¡± What do I do? I¡­ don¡¯t know. I¡¯m going to die. ¡°Warning: critically low power. Shutting down all non-essential systems.¡± I would die due to a random series of events! ¡°Life support disabled. Limit of breathable atmosphere: two hours.¡± Two hours? I¡¯ll be lucky if I had two more minutes! I just¡­ wanted to be someone who made an impact. Why? Where in the Universe am I? If anything, I should be wide-awake with shock. was. If facts cannot be reconciled in your theory, then your theory must be revised to fit the phenomenon. How? How¡­ could I be an infant?! Was it the ship? Was it the cargo? Was it¡­ Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Reality¡­ what in the Universe is that anyway? How should I approach this? WHAT IN THE BLOODY HECK WAS GOING ON? Herculean in magnitude. Eventually, I calmed down, the excitement giving way to boredom. Well, in actuality, I tired myself out with the emotional stress. After a few cycles of panicking and sleeping, I had eventually adapted. Am I Pavlov¡¯s dog? I thought myself wryly. Milk. Apparently, this world didn¡¯t have the nutrient-rich substitute baby-formulas and relied on a mother¡¯s milk. I¡¯d heard of these ¡®all-natural¡¯ approaches but that didn¡¯t diminish the fact I was sucking on a breast from a woman I barely knew! The young woman, different to the one I first saw, was always caring for me attentively, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice a slight crinkle among her eyebrows. I¡¯m¡­ definitely going crazy, or they¡¯re giving me drugs that are making me go crazy. A neck snapping has got to be less painful than this. Or, I¡¯ve been so radically changed, would I even be considered their son anymore? It could be years before they are notified of my death. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think that they were ancient roleplaying fanatics. Well, they probably weren¡¯t purists, because they had access to considerable technology. But¡­ this is too real. Ha, serves you right. I thought, but immediately crushed that under mortification. What was I doing feeling pleased about winning a battle of wills with a five year old girl? That was pathetic! What does she want with me? It¡¯s a mathematical ratio, but alright, let¡¯s go with whirlwind. My mother held me aloft and cradled me in her arms. She held out her hand. ¡°Look! I can do it too!¡± Sekrath aliminic hellan!¡± The field manipulation is quite advanced. You¡¯re taking this roleplaying seriously, aren¡¯t you? What was she talking about? That maybe I¡¯ll be able to access the A.I.? Should I play along? huge. The extravagance to build this, especially in this sort of style, mimicry or not, had to be expensive. There were at least three floors to this thing, and there were many, many rooms, most of them not used. Imagine that! Real human servants! Unless they were doing something highly illegal, I don¡¯t think these servants were droids, but how could someone afford to keep so many?! Wait, what if these people are those maniacs¡­? Could it be that I¡¯m not human? That I¡¯m also a construct? That was one hundred percent my fault, though. I let it slip accidentally when I blurted it out one time she was feeding me. I even tried to call her by her first name, but she got really, really, mad. I¡¯m pretty sure these guys are insane. I better keep my thoughts to myself. Okay¡­ why would you do that? Is this the culture of your people, or are you just as delusional as the rest of them? Even worse, am I delusional and this is a personal hell of my own creation? Hey, hey, what about all that speech about the safety of your son? Woah, woah, woah, woah! Are you just going to stand there? This individual is clearly insane! Oh sweet stars above, he actually¡­ Why¡­ WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE SO CRAZY?! Chapter 2: Quantum Strangeness Chapter 2: Quantum Strangeness Regret, I found, was a powerful motivator. ¡°You one of the lab geeks?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a scientist, sir.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look so to me. The way I see it, you¡¯re just another one of these washboards.¡± ¡°Excuse me? I''ll have you know I graduated¡ª¡± ¡°Prideful, aren¡¯t you? Let me guess, you think a degree¡ª¡± ¡°Doctorate. From¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªwhatever, can give you a free pass around here, right? Then you see how far the spider¡¯s web extends.¡± ¡°What do you know?¡± ¡°I know enough. The question is, what do you know?¡± ¡°I know a lot.¡± ¡°Ah, so why aren¡¯t you on the stage, then?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say, so I kept silent. The old man had a nasty grin on his face as he observed my frustration. ¡°Yeah, seems like you¡¯ve been doing a lot of work that isn¡¯t recognised.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m used to it.¡± ¡°Are you now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°¡­what do you want me to say?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, something along the lines of ¡®screw you¡¯ or ¡®piss off¡¯, I think. But I can see that¡¯s not your style. Your style is to lord it all above everyone and hope they see you like you¡¯re some sort of shining star¡ªhey, where are you going?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to listen to this.¡± ¡°Fine, but then you might not be getting that grant you¡¯ve always had your eye on.¡± I paused. That grant was the perfect gift to escape from this social hellhole. But how did he know I applied for it? What in the Universe was his motive? These questions were important, but it wasn¡¯t what held me back. It was that filthy feeling of hope that did. And I hated myself for trying to grasp it. ¡°Who are you, anyway?¡± I demanded, narrowing my eyes. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the arrogant sort, aren¡¯t you? You don¡¯t seem qualified to fence words with me, son. I dictate the terms around here, not you.¡± I tried to keep my anger in check as I nodded. ¡°Good,¡± he replied with a smug look. ¡°Now tell me, why do you want this grant?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± I gritted my teeth, forcing the words out. ¡°I just want to do something good.¡± ¡°That is utter astro-waste. Good is a word for the press, not a hot-blooded ambitious young man like you. You¡¯re not doing this for high-minded ideals. You¡¯re doing this for yourself. Come on, be honest with me. What do you really want?¡± I glared at the geezer, trying to wrap myself up in a cloak of indignation. He didn¡¯t seem the least bit buffeted by my act. Instead, he smiled. That¡¯s what I remember most about this conversation. That chilling smile. Under his disconcerting countenance, I relented. ¡°I want to be someone different,¡± I finally squeezed out. ¡°I want to be someone special.¡± The old man gave me a long, uncomfortable gaze that made me squirm slightly. ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll give you your grant. Go on a journey. Transform yourself.¡± He threw something clear at me that I wasn¡¯t prepared for. I managed to fumble around and grab it. It was a crypto-key a rare physical lock for private enterprises and the military. He laughed with a wheezing chuckle as he left. ¡°Don¡¯t regret this!¡± It was only a couple of days later when I received the grant¡¯s letter that I realised it was a key to a ship. My own ship. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It was a handful of trying months after that traumatising event where Talland wiped his blood all over my face. Other than that one incident, these crazy zealots didn¡¯t seem to have any other ¡®fun¡¯ activities planned for me. Just in case, I kept an eye out, even though I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in this powerless body of mine. Whilst aural comprehension was excellent, I had trouble pronouncing certain aspects of the language in this world. When no one was around, I would often try to practice the language by mumbling it to myself, mimicking the main syllables that made up this foreign language. ¡°Aww, isn¡¯t he cute? He¡¯s trying to speak!¡± Trying was the key word. Without any means to reply, I simply nodded in her direction. Well, if I wanted to speak, it would certainly be possible, but I¡¯d sound like a lisping idiot doing so. So I refrained from the temptation of doing it seriously. To them, I was just an infant trying to mimic speech. Several times, I also tried to access the A.I. and perform some of their field manipulations, but it didn¡¯t seem like I had permissions to do that yet. Depending on these people, I might never get access at all. That was worrying. There were more important milestones, like today. Today, I was about to turn one year old. ¡°Rael, you¡¯re about to turn one year old!¡± Yes, mother, thank you for the reminder. Lilanthe was standing by the door with one of her overly-affectionate smiles. She was the main person to take care of me, even though there were servants clearly assigned that task. It seemed she really didn¡¯t mind watching me. But, well, it was probably because I was a quiet child that didn¡¯t make a fuss unnecessarily. I was an adult in a child¡¯s body, after all. ¡°Rael, this the earliest time we can test you for your power. It¡¯s time to learn magic!¡± Power? Did she mean the authority to access the A.I.? Even though I didn¡¯t believe her claims of ¡®magic¡¯, it was clear that there was at least some hidden system governing field manipulations that I couldn¡¯t access. Even though I was skeptical of what I could do in a fenced-off bullpen¡ªno doubt restricting my authority to the main A.I.¡ªI still felt a measure of excitement. Who knows? After a while, I might even be able to get deeper access, and then I might be able to contact the wider space civilisation and be free of this primitive lifestyle. Until then, I guess it was sticking to their role play. I looked around. Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be both of my parents attending to this ceremony? From what I gathered about this, I thought this was a big deal. Time to speak, at least for one word. ¡°Daddy?¡± Mother hesitated before giving me a strained smile. ¡°Your father couldn¡¯t make it right now. He¡¯s doing something important for the kingdom.¡± I nodded slightly as Lilanthe breathed a sigh of relief when I accepted her explanation. She was being deliberately vague, I knew, but there was nothing I could do about it. Why was she worrying anyway? It wasn¡¯t as if I could reprimand her. If she was thinking about this rationally, a child wouldn¡¯t even be able to understand her. Lilanthe gestured to the doorway and a woman entered the room. Oh? The midwife was back, although this time she was carrying a large knobbed staff with various intricate carvings I just couldn¡¯t make out at this distance. Lilanthe smiled and hugged the midwife with a delighted giggle. ¡°Mariel, you came!¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss it for the world, friend.¡± Mariel glanced around. ¡°I don¡¯t see Dias around¡­?¡± Lilanthe sighed. ¡°There was a Shade spotted nearby.¡± Mariel snorted. ¡°So? A villager spots their own shadow and declares it to be a Shade! They are simply making dragons out of lizards!¡± ¡°I know, but my husband couldn¡¯t rest unless he checked it out. It could be a clue¡­¡± ¡°Bah! He has a beautiful wife, a budding son and all he can think about is glory and honour. I don¡¯t know why you married that bonehead.¡± Lilanthe put her hands on her hips and glared at Mariel. ¡°That bonehead is the head of the Primo family, now!¡± Mariel stuck out her tongue. ¡°Ah, sister, you know I don¡¯t subscribe to that noble stuff. Family lineage means nothing to me.¡± She smiled at me and patted my head. ¡°Well, unless it¡¯s my own.¡± Lilanthe rolled her eyes and snatched me up to her chest. I let out a soft cry of surprise, but they both didn¡¯t seem to mind me as I rolled my eyes and settled into her grip. ¡°And where were you, all this time, ¡®sister¡¯?¡± Lilanthe raised her eyebrow with a dead stare. Mariel shrugged, dragging her finger through her hair as she tapped her lips. ¡°Testing the powers of all the villagers within reach. Oh, it so exhausting finding no talent within this side of the world, let me tell you!¡± Lilanthe stroked my head with a worried look. ¡°We are quite far from the Spire.¡± Mariel nodded. ¡°But true power is able to open the gate anywhere, Lilanthe.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right, but it still worries me; I¡¯ve heard things about how the blessing passes down. Sometimes it lays dormant for a long time, be weak, or even skip generations.¡± Lilanthe¡¯s hand became a claw. ¡°What if¡­ what if¡­¡± Mariel flicked away Lilanthe¡¯s unspoken suggestion as if she were warding off a fly. ¡°You worry too much! The powers really do shy away from the doubtful.¡± She drew out a milky-white crystal that had shifting coloured clouds moving just beneath the surface. ¡°We can always do this another time. Oh, alright, alright, no need to glare at me like that, let¡¯s get your silly fears overcome, then.¡± She brought the crystal over holding it near me as Lilanthe gently took my hand and a drew it near the glass. Just as I was about to touch it, Lilanthe paused. ¡°But what if¡ª¡± ¡°Oh for the love of the Celestials!¡± Mariel slammed the crystal into my hand as I felt an electric shock stab painfully through my arm. I drew it back with a surprised gasp and a cry, but suppressed it when I saw the crystal flash blindingly white for a moment before going dark. The clouds disappeared and there was no movement from the ball anymore. ¡°What¡­?¡± Mariel stared in mute astonishment as she peered at the crystal ball. ¡°What happened?¡± Lilanthe kept shooting glances between me and the ball. ¡°Mariel, what does that mean? I¡¯ve never heard of something like that happening before.¡± Mariel straightened and cleared her throat, getting over her shock with a ruffled expression smoothed with great effort. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. I¡­¡± She stared at the ball with a shiver. ¡°I have to look it up.¡± Abruptly, Mariel withdrew, taking the crystal ball and beelining to the door with hastened steps. ¡°Wait! My son¡¯s not in danger, is he?!¡± Lilanthe called out. Mariel glanced back and hesitated, then gave a mostly fake-seeming smile of reassurance. ¡°No, no, no, no, no, not at all. Don¡¯t worry about it, I just have to check up on something or¡­ never mind. Just take it easy. I¡¯m sure it was just the Shard being worn out. Yes, that¡¯s it, nothing to be worried about.¡± With that, Mariel disappeared from the door. I could see the about-turn in personality from Mariel was starting to give Lilanthe a rising sense of unease. She placed me on the floor as she stalked out of the room in a hurry, forgetting, perhaps, that she was leaving a child alone in the room by himself. Well, it¡¯s not like I could get into trouble and I needed time to process all they¡¯ve been talking about. Fantasy lands and roleplaying. The more that I think about that theory, the more the evidence doesn¡¯t seem to fit. Even if I consider them really, really, into it, there should be technological clues that hint at an A.I. Overwatch. With their reactions and the way they spoke naturally, it seemed like they really believed what they were saying. Alright. Time to revisit the options. The first option was some sort of rebirth in an afterlife. That was rejected due to lack of evidence. Good. Second option were fanatics roleplaying an ancient cultural world after saving me with super-advanced technology that can withstand radiation from a pulsar flash, whilst also escaping the immense gravity well of a neutron star. Very, very, very unlikely. Thirdly, these weren¡¯t the puppeteers behind the strings and were somehow brainwashed to believe they were actually in the feudal age, but with all the same caveats as above, saving me from the pulsar, etc¡­ This was ridiculous. I sighed. All a human can do is move forward, though. So considering the scenarios above, the course of action I should take would be three steps: 1. Play along with their reality and not openly resist their way of thoughts. Test this by introducing advanced knowledge tentatively. If they accept it, they are possibly manipulated, if they reject it, they are possibly fanatics. 2. Secure myself and my independence. This would require knowledge of the local rules, customs, laws, science, technology, and the resident A.I. (if present). 3. Carefully study and wait for an opportunity to determine whether home still exists. Obtain necessary self-sufficiency as soon as possible and then construct a methodology to determine if reaching home is possible. If not possible, try to make the best of the situation as possible.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Making a plan instantly made me feel more at ease. I may be in a powerless infantile body, but at least I was clothed, fed, and mostly well-off. Apart from some strange local customs, I was steadily getting used to this lifestyle. I was even getting used to eating solid food. I mostly ate liquids in my previous life, but here, there was some mushy stuff that I assumed was similar to porridge. ¡­ At least I didn¡¯t need to suckle for my meal anymore. While deep in my thoughts, I was interrupted by the whirlwind of my mother. ¡°Oh Rael, she¡¯s gone! I can¡¯t help but worry about that test of powers. That¡¯s never happened here before. I wonder what it means? If your father was here I¡¯m sure he could think of something, but I¡¯m the mage of the family, so this should be mine, but even Mariel didn¡¯t know. If my sister doesn¡¯t know something then how am I expected to know¡ª¡± Lilanthe kept this worried mumble going even throughout the time she was feeding me. Eventually she grew conscious of how her own worries was making me feel uncomfortable and she apologised, tucked me into the cot and left me to my own devices. I didn¡¯t see Mariel for a long time after that. I didn¡¯t know what that meant. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Today, I resolved to get my hands on some books! Even though Lilanthe would often recite me stories, which I must admit to enjoying, it wasn¡¯t a replacement for solid knowledge. I was dying to know about the topsy-turvy world I was in and theorising about it in my restrictive cot wasn¡¯t going to get me anywhere. Seeing that the house was quiet and there wasn¡¯t anybody around, I steadily climbed out of the cot. Levering myself up over the top and down, I slid a couple of centimetres down, testing my grip first before letting go and falling to the carpeted ground with a soft thud. Smiling to myself, I waddled out of the room. There wasn¡¯t anybody around, good. Two things were going for me today. Most of the servants had left to attend to Dias and Lilanthe as they ventured from home. Some of them stayed behind, but they weren¡¯t around on my floor. I had observed that they mostly restricted their cleaning to early in the morning before anybody else had awoken. Then they would do miscellaneous tasks like shopping and cooking. This left me with a window of opportunity between breakfast and lunch. Which was now. Excellent. Another thing was that the door to my room was left wide open. However, the door to the study was closed. At the very least I knew it wasn¡¯t locked because I hadn¡¯t seen anybody using a key. This house, true to ancient times, used good old fashioned mechanical locks. I didn¡¯t know much about them, other than you needed a key, which would trip the tumblers depending on the grooves etched into the key. I also knew about lock picking, but not how to do it. The professor who introduced the concept used it as a trivia of sorts when explaining encryption. Weak encryption if you ask me, he used to say. Easily broken. Levering myself at the foot of the study door, I got up on my legs, teetering slightly, and faced another challenge. Stupid me, of course I wouldn¡¯t be tall enough to reach the handle! I toddled my way back to my room and grabbed a few cushions and positioned myself at the door once again. At one point, I almost toppled the whole thing. Lilanthe would probably return to find an unconscious baby. It would have been a serious injury¡­ but nothing gained without nothing risked, right? I reached out and grabbed the handle. With a satisfying click, the door swung inwards¡­ taking me with it! ¡°Woah!¡± My feet was suspended almost half a metre off the ground! I dangled for a few frightening seconds before I realised there wasn¡¯t much danger. After calming my wildly beating heart, I braced myself to fall to the ground without hurting myself. With a careful release, I slid to the floor, which thankfully featured a rug to pad my impact. Landing awkwardly on my pudgy legs, I grinned; my face was flushed with the success of conquering my first mission. Successful infiltration of my ¡®father¡¯s¡¯ study achieved. Sweeping a studious gaze around, I couldn¡¯t see anything that would be considered an introductory text. There was parchment scattered on my father¡¯s desk with some peeking over the lip of his study table that I could see from my vantage point. Bookshelves lined the walls with odd paraphernalia scattered around. I spotted several crystals on stools and chairs, ornamental weapons mounted on stands and pedestals, and some jewellery with those ridiculous gemstones again. Just as I was about to go about picking something to decipher, I heard the heavy click of the door on the bottom floor. Eye widening, I realised that was the front entrance. That would mean one of my parents were back! I chose any book at random from one of the bottom shelves and then darted out of the room, dragging the heavy thing to my own room. I went back and retrieved the cushions, spotting, just outside my periphery, the ominous shadow of a person ascending the winding staircase at the end of the hall. Inside my room, I tossed the book under the cushions on one of the least-used recliners in my room and then rapidly scaled my cot to plop myself in it and tucked myself in. I could feel my head pounding with the exertion as footsteps echoed down the corridor to stop at my room as I drew the covers around me. ¡°Rael, my son¡ª¡± My father¡¯s words were cut short as he approached. Oh damn, did he notice the book? Did he catch me? A hand was placed on my forehead, and I flinched from the contact. ¡°Do you have a fever?¡± he murmured quietly. At that, I relaxed. Phew. Dias withdrew from my room with a worried look and hurried steps. Later that day, a doctor actually visited, and I felt kind of guilty knowing that I worried them. Still, it was a score to retrieve a book, and now I could begin to decode it. It will be hard, but I needed to have an edge here. Knowledge is the key to obtaining one. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°I think my son¡¯s a genius.¡± Lilanthe¡¯s comment to Dias wasn¡¯t missed. Talland was here with a maid that was assigned to me. I found out her name was ¡®Eileen¡¯ and she was a young, but loyal, servant that recently joined. I could tell from all the glances that Talland was sending Eileen that he was smitten with her, but her professional demeanour was hard to crack, despite his clumsy attempts to ingratiate himself with her. In contrast to the frosty reception that Eileen gave Talland, this young girl acted both lively and mature for her age, which I guessed was somewhere around sixteen years old. Not being much older than Talland, I could see why puppy-dog love sprouted for him, but my ¡®guard¡¯ was making a fool of himself trying to earn the affection of Eileen. Still, I had to give it to him, he tried hard. Dias glanced up from his scroll and rolled his eyes. ¡°As much as I love my son, it¡¯s not as if he can actually read any of that.¡± I had to hand it to him, he knew what he was talking about. I didn¡¯t know anything this storybook actually said in writing, because I could only recognise characters but not strung together words or sentences. That was a little more complicated because no one gave me any input. I had to reverse-construct it from whatever I could remember from Lilanthe¡¯s bedtime stories. ¡°I know!¡± My mother went over to a shelf and pulled out a book. ¡°But it¡¯s so cute looking at him concentrating so hard on the book!¡± Dias rubbed his eyes. ¡°He¡¯s going to have to get used to it, but shouldn¡¯t children be out and about? Maybe I should give him sword training?¡± Lilanthe snatched me up and away from the book I had levered from the shelf. I reached out with forlorn hands as she hugged me to her chest. ¡°No! There¡¯s plenty of time to swing around a hunk of metal when he¡¯s older. Right now, I think he could be a great scholar¡­ maybe even a Court scholar!¡± Dias laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t get too ahead of yourself, dear, what are the chances?¡± Lilanthe chuckled with him and stroked my head. ¡°I know. It¡¯s just that, in moments like this, I will hopefully remember being this happy forever. Rael is such a good boy¡­ I wish it will never end.¡± I looked up at my emotional mother and wondered about her strange outlook on me and life. Was I such a big deal to her? Did my mother used to think this way? Dias tilted his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him complain or cry or throw a tantrum, it¡¯s strange, but he¡¯s never really made a fuss before. I¡¯m worried that there might be something wrong with him.¡± Well, he¡¯s not wrong. Even though I wanted to keep my developmental profile a secret, it¡¯s not like I can act like a child all the time. How was I supposed to know how a child behaves, even? I can¡¯t remember how I acted as a child, but it probably wasn¡¯t like this. I could understand them, though, a child wouldn¡¯t be this quiet and well-behaved. It might even be scary for them. ¡°Rael is just a good boy, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, Mommy.¡± I was diligent in my replies at the very least. Dias shot Lilanthe a look. I didn¡¯t miss the envy in the glance as he pursed his lips. ¡°Oh alright.¡± He sighed. ¡°I wonder how much Rael understands this conversation? He looks like he¡¯s following along.¡± ¡°Much as I like to think it, it¡¯s impossible for a child that young to understand all that we¡¯re saying. He¡¯s just looking between us because of who¡¯s talking. It¡¯s so cute!¡± Ah, Lilanthe is in mother-mode again. Dias laughed and rose from his table to give his wife a quick hug and a kiss. I was pressed in between, but didn¡¯t really mind it. Family is important, after all. That bit of contact triggered a little nostalgia for me. Even though I tried to keep in contact with my real family, my travels took me far and wide and it was common for me to be gone for years between visits. Well¡­ maybe it will be different here. I shook my head. No, that¡¯s ridiculous. These aren¡¯t my real family. I must have been caught up in the moment. I¡¯ve got a real family waiting for me planet-side. All I have to do is try my best to get there. At a knocking sound on the door, Eileen opened it and spoke quietly with the maid outside. Talland rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as the door swung open to admit a slightly haggard individual. Leather and metal creaked and clanked as an armour-clad woman stumbled into the room. We all froze in surprise at her abrupt entrance. Fiery red hair peeked from under her hood as Talland moved to intercept her. ¡°Careful now, Talland,¡± Dias warned him, ¡°that¡¯s the Duke of Armridge¡¯s daughter.¡± As Talland whipped his hand away from his sword to stretch it out as proffered help, the Duke¡¯s daughter ignored him and straightened painfully before giving a stiff bow. ¡°Lord Dias Primo, Lady Lilanthe Ander¡ª¡± ¡°Primo,¡± Lilanthe interrupted with a cold gaze. ¡°Lady Primo.¡± The newcomer adopted smoothly. She turned her gaze to me, the heat of it looking like it could cut steel cooling to a warm sunny sparkle as she studied me with interest. ¡°This must be Master Rael Primo.¡± She bowed to me slightly. ¡°I hope he will grow up with the qualities of both his parents.¡± Though Dias and Lilanthe were initially cautious, they both relaxed after she said that. ¡°Lady Chrysale Armridge, to what do we owe this honour?¡± Dias prompted with a wary smile. ¡°I¡¯ve just been sent with a message to warn of another Shade sighting.¡± Dias sucked in a breath and then released it out with a hapless smile. ¡°The last few sightings were nothing more than hearsay and gossip-mongering, but from what I see, you finally have evidence to the contrary?¡± Chrysale hesitated briefly as Dias¡¯ eyebrows drew down in response. ¡°Lord Dias, I¡¯ve been having visions¡ª" ¡°You¡¯re not telling me that you¡¯ve come all the way out here just to tell me that you¡¯ve had another vision?!¡± Dias roared. Glancing my way and evidently seeing my wide eyes, he took a deep, calming breath and then continued. ¡°Lady Chrysale, even if you are the Duke¡¯s daughter, I cannot go out of my way to investigate every little premonition you¡¯ve dreamt up!¡± ¡°Lord Dias¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough! I have a family, a household, a land to take care of, and every time I want to spend time with them, I¡¯ve been dragged out to look into your wild fantasies! I¡¯ve indulged for the first few times, but even you must realise that it is bordering on ridicule to suggest that I should entertain you for a second longer! You may hold a distinguished position but even the Duke will listen if I bring forth my grievances to him, are we clear?¡± Chrysale stood, stiff and mute, her fiery demeanour nowhere to be seen. ¡°Yes, Lord.¡± Dias held his angry stance for a few more seconds before wiping a weary hand across his face. ¡°Lady Chrysale, your father and I have known each other for many years. I was there when you were born for Celestial¡¯s sake. I¡¯m saying this for your sake, drop this issue now, or you may be endangering more people than helping.¡± Chrysale did not say anything in return and stood with a defiant expression, which made Dias sigh. ¡°Do you know that to deal with a possible Shade threat, how many soldiers we need to pull away from defences? Do you know how many brigands, thieves and bandits run wild when there are no armed forces nearby to maintain the peace? Do you know the cost of exposing travelling folk in our kingdom to that kind of danger? I think I have done enough as a favour to you and your father.¡± At that, Chrysale bowed her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lord, but¡ª¡± ¡°People have died, Lady Chrysale.¡± An ominous silence settled on our shoulders. Lady Chrysale, to her credit forged on. ¡°My Lord, you¡ª¡± ¡°Stop right there, Lady Chrysale, I don¡¯t want to have to throw you out. I will tell you what will be. I will give you, you alone, a month to gather evidence of a Shade. If you cannot bring forth enough definitive evidence, then this ends. No more visits about your visions, no more asking for my men and my time, are we absolutely clear?¡± Chrysale bowed deeply. ¡°Yes, Lord, thank you for your understanding.¡± Dias shook his head. ¡°You must know more than anyone that I want a Shade dead, but at this point, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re using this because you genuinely mean it, or if there isn¡¯t some hidden agenda.¡± He leaned in close to Chrysale. ¡°I hope, for your sake, that that is not the case.¡± I could hear her audibly swallow. ¡°Yes, Lord.¡± Chrysale bowed stiffly. ¡°If I may request one last thing from you, Lord?¡± Dias sighed plaintively. ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± ¡°Could I stay within your fief and investigate the matter here? My vision¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, yes,¡± Dias muttered impatiently, ¡°you may stay here, of course. I didn¡¯t suggest that I wouldn¡¯t be hospitable.¡± His gaze softened. ¡°Despite our differences in this issue, I still care about you and your father. We are brothers in arms and you are almost like my daughter.¡± Chrysale bowed deeper this time, and I managed to catch a shadow of guilt in her expression. Interesting. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t sharing the full extent with my father? ¡°Thank you, Lord,¡± she said simply. Dias nodded. ¡°Talland, Eileen, see that our guest is shown her quarters.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord,¡± they both said as they bowed and led Chrysale out. As Chrysale left, Lilanthe, silent up until now, sighed too. ¡°My, my, Dias, are we really going to entertain her? She¡¯s the one that¡¯s been pulling you all around the place!¡± ¡°I know, Lilanthe, but you must realise that she puts me in a difficult position. I also care about her. Japeth has been a great supporter for our own problems in the Primo family.¡± ¡°Have you actually spoken to Japeth about her?¡± ¡°Well, no, but I would hardly think that she would do all this without¡­¡± Dias tilted his head. ¡°You don¡¯t think she would dare?¡± ¡°If anything, I think we should keep an eye on her.¡± Lilanthe shrugged. ¡°The girl obviously means well, but she¡¯s misguided.¡± ¡°I think so too. I will send a letter to Japeth in the meanwhile.¡± Dias groaned as he shuffled woodenly back to his desk. ¡°Being a noble is so exhausting.¡± ¡°You chose to come back.¡± Lilanthe¡¯s chuckle filled the room. ¡°Being a noble is quite a different experience, mind you.¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Rael, I¡¯d probably camp out in the woods, you know, it¡¯s not too late¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a handful!¡± Lilanthe swatted his arm. ¡°I want Rael to have the best possible start. There are some things you absolutely cannot reach being a commoner. This is what we¡¯ve decided.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right, I just miss the good old days when we were on adventures¡­ oh, well, looks like Rael is getting sleepy.¡± ¡­It¡¯s not my fault! Lilanthe¡¯s arms are warm and cozy! ¡°He¡¯s growing big and strong, just like his father.¡± Dias laughed. ¡°I hope he has a great mind like his mother.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡­¡± I tried my best to pretend to sleep, maybe even actually sleep. When these two got into it, nothing would stop them and they¡¯d be at it for hours! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Over the next few months, I tried my best to read. It was slow going, but eventually I was able to nail down the writing, which, in some ways, was very similar to Galactic Common, my native language. At the same time, I learned a little more about the surrounding geography. The language had roots from several other languages within the same continent. The books that I had been reading was the continent¡¯s dominant language: Arterial. The second most common language was the language of the ¡®mages¡¯: Nidilanth. There were several other languages, but I couldn¡¯t get much information on them. Back to ¡®mages¡¯, I found out that most people were able to use ¡®magic¡¯, which I had initially assumed was part of a distributed A.I. system. I was wrong, there wasn¡¯t an A.I. system. The way I figured this out was that all A.I. commands were invoked verbally. There were no provisions to use it neurally. This was because of the problem of ¡®tangential thought throws¡¯, the A.I. was unable to cope with how our mind would often run several ¡®tangential¡¯ thoughts when we wanted an outcome. For example, if I wanted the A.I. to fetch me something from the table with my mind: I would simply think ¡®I want that pen¡¯, accompanied with feelings of wanting the pen. However, because my mind doesn¡¯t ¡®verbalise¡¯ the command, the A.I. gets an influx of thoughts and feelings tangentially related to the pen. Sometimes, the thoughts and feelings have nothing to do with the pen, or the situation and my mind, since my mind has once associated them with a pen, it brings them up as a matter of course. So if I once bought a pen at a office store that had scissors next to it, followed by a high speed hover-bike accident as I walked out of the store, the A.I. Might confuse the memories and intentions and send a pair of scissors flying at me at lethal hover-bike speeds. That¡¯s an exaggeration, of course, but the problem still stands. Well, there had been some forays into neural linkup and A.I. systems, but unfortunately, in emergency systems and with dealing with forces that have the potential to harm or injure someone, it¡¯s best to verbalise all of the commands¡­ and that¡¯s what everyone has done up until now. I¡¯ve been playing around with the concept of this world¡¯s ¡®magic¡¯ by trying again and again to make the little whirlwind that Lilanthe showed me a year ago. The book, which I had first stolen from Dias¡¯ study was, surprisingly, an introductory guide to magic. It was written more for the average sword swinger (which, might I add was an insane concept) but it did have some useful information about ¡®magic¡¯. Since eliminating the fact that there was an A.I. system here, I was dying to know what kind of technology would allow these people to access field manipulations to such an extent. So here I was, frustrated with reciting the ¡®incantation¡¯ time and time again. ¡°¡­ Sekrath aliminic hellan!¡± ¡­Nothing, yet again. It seems like there was more to this than just verbalising the command. Frustrated, I tried to recall how the wind moved above Lilanthe¡¯s palm. How air rose, taking cool air with it. It turned due to the fast moving currents below and above¡­ Wind, just blow! I thought savagely, imagining a giant gust of wind. Then, abruptly, it did. A small puff of air blew from my palm and into my face. I looked around. No, it could have been a draft, right? I looked at the palm of my hand. This time, I imagined the movement of air around my palm. Suddenly, I could feel the currents of air blowing about my palm and when I moved a nervous finger towards it, I could feel the streams of air caressing it. Well I¡¯ll be. So that disproved the theory that A.I. was controlling this place. The kind of neural resolution and distributed computing to follow everyone in the society would be on the order of magnitude of a megastructure. A star would probably have just enough energy to drive the computational power to manage a small city. Then it suddenly hit me. Was I really reborn? No, that would be ridiculous. But the wisps of wind coiled around my fingers gave me ominous doubts. Chapter 3: Quantum Electrochromodynamics Chapter 3: Quantum Electrochromodynamics ¡°You don¡¯t talk much now, do you?¡± When she didn¡¯t get a reply, it didn¡¯t faze her one bit, instead she tapped me on the shoulder persistently. ¡°You know, I understand what you¡¯re going through.¡± That made me look up. ¡°What do you know? This was my one chance to prove them all wrong! This was everything to me! Everything! Instead, I lost it all. There¡¯s nothing left for me, nothing!¡± Her silence was like a rubber band stretched to its limits. I winced internally, but didn¡¯t back down. I was so close. I almost had everything. Like always, she was the first to break the silence. ¡°Is your research really everything to you?¡± It didn¡¯t matter what my answer was going to be, I knew I had pushed her too far. ¡°Don¡¯t I mean anything to you?¡± I wanted to say yes, but my stubborn pride clamped my lips shut. I expected her to be angry, but I was greeted with disappointment instead. I think that was when, thick as I was, I was able to pinpoint the moment I realised how out of touch we were. I couldn¡¯t predict my own wife. In the morning, she left for a new job across the galaxy. It was a better position, I rationalised, but I knew I was just fooling myself. She just wanted to get as far as possible away from me. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It took me a while to get used to the fact that this whole place might indeed be a new world. Emotionally, I couldn¡¯t really get used to the fact that I was reborn. In fact, even operating under that assumption, there were discrepancies. For example, the fact that I retained memories of my previous life ran in contradiction to what I knew about being reborn or reincarnation. But then, what did we really know about reincarnation? Everything just seemed so absurd. I decided, for the time being, to accept the world as it was and try to understand it more. After all, I wouldn¡¯t be a scientist if I didn¡¯t try to figure out a few things. So, being almost two years of age, I decided to practice with the basics of ¡®magic¡¯ and to interact with the language and whatever knowledge I could lay my hands on. The results were a comprehensive assessment of what could only be described as a fantasy world. Magic, mythical monsters and feudalism was all here, stated as facts. Even though I was dubious, it was only human to start doubting one¡¯s foundations after being subject to constant pressure from their surroundings. Regardless, I pursued my course to deciphering the contents of that primer on magic. Wind was called when I thought hard enough, but I could neither control the power nor the direction of where the wind went. Apart from wind, I was also unable to summon any other ¡®element¡¯, such as ¡®fire¡¯, ¡®water¡¯, ¡®earth¡¯, etc. It seemed that basic spells and the foundation of everything else were based upon these four ¡®elements¡¯, more complex spells relied on an understanding of these ¡®elements¡¯. That¡¯s another thing that ticked me off. I wish I could tell them to use the periodic table; I had a thorough understanding of that, at least. Regardless, I was unable to make any other ¡®element¡¯ appear. It was intensely frustrating. Also, it didn¡¯t seem I had unlimited tries, either. I would simply summon wind for a while until I felt sickly-tired. Sometimes I would have no strength to stand after exhausting the limit of ¡®calling¡¯ these ¡®spells¡¯. However, like a muscle, my usage of these spells grew in capacity and though in the beginning I could only cast one or two, now I could cast about twenty or so before collapsing. In contrast to my labouring exertions, my parents were as carefree as a singing robin. I observed my parents laughing and carousing around my room. Ignorance was indeed bliss. ¡°The harvest festival is coming up soon!¡± My mother was in high spirits. ¡°We will dance around the ring again!¡± Father¡¯s eyes were humorous as he held out a gracious hand. ¡°Will you do me the honour?¡± ¡°Oh, my, please, Dias.¡± They swept around the room in a wide arc as I tried my best not to heave a sigh. Some people here were trying to learn. ¡°Rael really loves his books,¡± Lilanthe commented with a heady grin. ¡°He will be a Court scholar, for sure.¡± ¡°Nay, my Rael will be a mighty knight, a triumphal fighter!¡± Dias announced thunderously. I¡¯m sorry, father, I will probably be leaning more towards what mother wants. Dias glanced at me as he sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not good, a man must have the strength to protect the woman he loves. A bookworm is going to be a little on the weak side¡­¡± Is he a mind reader?! ¡°Words have power,¡± Lilanthe shot back, ¡°I think Rael has potential!¡± Dias tilted his head. ¡°And what did Mariel say about Rael¡¯s potential?¡± ¡°Well, she¡­ that is¡­¡± Lilanthe trailed off with a worried expression. ¡°I don¡¯t know; Mariel¡¯s disappeared off into Celestials know where.¡± Dias trailed a finger down his cheek as he nodded in thought. ¡°Who knows where that woman has gone off to? She could be on the other side of Duine by now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be back, Mariel never misses the harvest festival.¡± Dias nodded genially. ¡°Mariel never misses anything to do with food.¡± ¡°Unless¡­¡± Lilanthe kneaded her hands together as she glanced my way. She gave me a rather fake smile as her brows knitted together in ill-concealed worry. ¡°Unless what?¡± ¡°Unless there¡¯s something wrong with the kingdom.¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with the kingdom. Something that big will have reached us by now, don¡¯t worry.¡± But as the day wore on, Lilanthe couldn¡¯t help but be slightly infectious with her worry. Dias tried several methods to cheer her up, but with Mariel¡¯s continued absences, Lilanthe grew increasingly depressed. I¡¯ve noticed that when Lilanthe was worried, she would often cling to me, as if I was some sort of soft toy to be hugged. I would hang limp in her grip and try as hard as I could to read a book. However, most of the time I would be subjected to constant stroking in the process, which made it difficult to read. So it was in my best interest to cheer her up. ¡°Cheer up, Mommy.¡± The best route is often the most direct. Lilanthe was startled from her almost catatonic lip-chewing and habitual toddler-petting. Her eyes widened considerably when she heard my first coherent sentence. Instantly, her face was painted with joy, then immediately wracked with guilt. ¡°Oh Rael, I¡¯m so sorry I¡¯ve been upsetting you.¡± I shrugged with a feigned smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so smart!¡± I could almost see the gears turn in her mind. ¡°We¡¯ll teach you letters!¡± I¡¯ve already learned them, though. ¡°Oh, it¡¯d be great to teach you everything but after the harvest festival¡­ do we even have time to get a tutor? Can they teach you everything? What about the maid?¡± I could really see that my mother was a natural-born worrier. If she kept this up, I was half-afraid she would worry herself into an early grave. Then I would probably follow straight after her. To each suggestion, I gave supremely subtle clues, slightly nodding my head or shaking it when she came up with both reasonable and radical ideas. Honestly, who was the adult here? Wait, that would be me. I was well above her age. Lilanthe grinned at me and cuddled me close. I caught scent of a sweet fragrance that I realised brought a sense of nostalgia and warmth. I recognised it from before¡­ this was a scent of a mother. It made me feel so safe and secure. Is this a biological effect? Instinctively, my eyelids drooped, but I fought to keep them open and pressed with my small hands to get away from my mother¡¯s embrace. ¡°Oh, is little Rael getting rebellious thoughts? You¡¯re not at that age yet, before that, hugs!¡± ¡­I was squashed into her chest again. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Later that day, Lilanthe¡¯s worrying was soon ended when Mariel, of all people, showed up at the doorstep. She waved a knobbly cane at me and tipped her ridiculously broad-brimmed hat with a pointy top. I didn¡¯t want to say it, because it¡¯s so unscientific, but she looked like a witch in that getup. ¡°Oh, Lilanthe, how have you been¡ªoh! By the Celestials, I was barely gone for a year, what¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Lilanthe wrung her hands. ¡°I¡¯ve been worried sick, when you left without a word after the¡­ you know¡­¡± Mariel spotted me clinging to the staircase, peering down. She had really sharp eyes, that one. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Rael, it was simply a problem with the crystal,¡± Mariel told her smoothly. ¡°I thought it was something, but after extensive tests and consulting with Montegro, we concluded it was nothing.¡± ¡°Montegro! All the way past the Wastes?¡± Mariel laughed. ¡°Well, yes, I couldn¡¯t even find a suitable mount, can you believe it? Some noble bought up all the available ones!¡± Lilanthe put a hand to her chest and breathed a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you here, whatever the case. Why don¡¯t you come inside? Harvest festival is well on its way, but we were waiting for you.¡± Mariel grinned at Lilanthe and patted her on the arm. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss it for the world.¡± She waved her staff at me and chanted something under her breath that I couldn¡¯t catch. With a startled cry, I was lifted from the ground as a gust of wind lifted me clear into the air! Dangling in a sky-diver¡¯s ¡®x¡¯, I came tumbling to a stop in Mariel¡¯s arms as she hugged me. ¡°There, there, how was your first flight?¡± ¡°Obviously, frightening!¡± Lilanthe snapped, but her choice words were swallowed back when she saw me grinning from ear to ear. ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m glad Rael is enjoying himself, but never do that again!¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re just a little worry-wart, a little flying never hurt anyone and look, Rael is excited, maybe he¡¯ll become a Ranked like me. How about it?¡± More magic? More phenomena to study? Well, I don¡¯t see why not. ¡°See? He¡¯s already enthusiastic about it,¡± Mariel finished with a mischievous grin. ¡°Where¡¯s old Dias?¡± Lilanthe stared at Mariel with a puppy scowl for a few more moments, before she relented with a tired sigh. ¡°Oh he¡¯s out and about the festival. Come now, let¡¯s give Rael some new experiences, being cooped up indoors is never a good thing.¡± Mariel¡¯s head bobbed up and down in avid agreement. ¡°Ah, something we can both agree with, learn by doing.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It goes without saying that this was the first time I was out and about. As we crossed past the wide double doors, I saw servants and workers in the gardens and the lower floor bow respectfully towards us. Several free-standing columns lining a gravel path were surrounded by a well-kept garden with flowing water babbling happily. Following the theme of using gems for ridiculous reasons, I saw a couple floating above the water, seemingly bobbing up and down with the flow of bubbling water in evenly-spaced fountains. The precious stones acted like they were buoyant giving a fantastic feel to them as they were serenely suspended in these cascading works of art. It made me appreciate, at least in part, the aesthetic pleasure of these artesian waterworks. Or, that¡¯s probably what I would say if I was a professional art critic. As it stood, the garden with tangled vines creeping up in a sheltering cover over the promenade really gave the background of the mansion an austere feel. I felt like I was in an immensely wealthy castle, but without the crazy buttresses and function-over-feature walls. It was simply¡­ peaceful. The path lead directly to iron-work gates that were open and inviting. An ornate carriage was stationed just outside with a prim-looking driver dressed in clean-cut clothes. Lilanthe had changed into a lace dress, with satiny blues and pinks chasing around her figure, giving her the allure of a noblewoman, whilst Mariel, in stark contrast, wore a muted grey robe. I myself was swaddled in plain clothes, with even a miniature jacket. I felt a little like a doll, but I endured it for the sake of my bubbly mother. During the ride, I kept one languid ear on the conversation between Mariel and Lilanthe, but most of my concentration was focused on the outside world. Trees and harsh brushes lined the rows in stoic columns, with a dirt path that was ground by the carriage as we whizzed past using purely animal muscle to overcome friction. I breathed the natural, non-recycled air filled with the wild scents of leaves, foliage and earthy soil. It reminded me of the frontier worlds whenever I needed to touch down planet-side. Even though I loved to explore space, there was a certain charm to walking amongst the surface of nature. Here, I was able to experience things from a non-technological standpoint. I don¡¯t know whether I thought it was a good thing or a bad thing. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Later, we arrived in the middle of the village, festivities were well on the way. Dancing happened in a wide ring around a massive bonfire as billowing smoke, laughter and music filled the air. Strange instruments composed of beating metal covers over stretched hide accompanied strange cone-shaped flute-like materials that seemed to be carved from wood. Alien music without synthetic sounds permeated the lively atmosphere. ¡°Isn¡¯t this wonderful? The village has really come alive recently after you¡¯ve arrived, ¡®Lady Lilanthe¡¯.¡± Lilanthe rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sure you would have done the same, if we weren¡¯t available, ¡®Magus Mariel¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh please, spare me. I hate being cast in the spotlight, look at all those adoring eyes, yuck.¡± ¡°You seem to do fine with Rael¡¯s adoring eyes.¡± ¡°He¡¯s different. They¡¯re neither adoring or wily like some of these hapless people.¡± ¡°You say one thing, but do the other.¡± Mariel, scooped me up. ¡°I will make off with my prize, then. Go on, you have another loved one to meet.¡± She shooed Lilanthe with flickering fingers. ¡°Go to him.¡± Dias spotted us from the centre of a ring of people. Instead of dancing around him, these people were supplicating him with various sheafs of paper, or baubles to sell or, in the case of some of the younger, more daring girls, trying to openly seduce him. Some of them stopped when they saw Lilanthe, but a few, with knowing eyes, clung closer to him. Dias reddened and tried pathetically to shrug them away. I saw Lilanthe¡¯s expression immediately darken. ¡°Yes¡­ I think I will go to him.¡± I sent my father a quick prayer and was comforted by the fact that we probably had enough money for the funeral costs. Mariel grinned slyly at me. ¡°Lesson for the future, though you may not remember it: There is nothing more scary than a woman¡¯s ire. Make sure that you¡¯re never on the receiving end.¡± I didn¡¯t have much experience in that area, so if Mariel said so, then I guess it was true. With that blatantly obvious example though, who would be caught dead in such a situation? Mariel hoisted me up to her shoulders and took me through the crowd. I don¡¯t think anybody recognised me, how could they? They sure recognised Mariel, however, and bowed just as respectfully to her as they did to my mother. For someone that claimed she didn¡¯t like fame, she certainly had a fair share of it, didn¡¯t she? Mariel whistled a lively tune I could barely hear over the clamour of music and entertainment as she led me to a more slow-moving part of the village square. Dominating the square was a statue of a winged person stretching a hand towards the sky in a graceful gesture.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That¡¯s Sadriel, the Celestial of Light. They say she takes part in every gift of life. Make sure you thank her someday, when you¡¯re older. It¡¯s said she is especially partial to young followers, the mother of all children.¡± I filed away the religious belief into a corner of my brain. Getting to know the local beliefs was a matter of life and death in some places, so this was immensely important information. The books in Dias¡¯ library were filled with information about physical features, abilities and procedures, but was very skimpy on culture. Mariel continued to lead me away from the celebrations. She smiled and chatted softly. ¡°I¡¯m not a fan of hustle and bustle. I hope you don¡¯t mind me ruining your first Harvest Festival.¡± With a sneaky smile, I shook my head. Mariel looked surprised for a moment and then burst into laughter. ¡°Ah, well, I guess it is right, after all. Montegro can eat my thesis!¡± Not understanding, I tilted my head and observed my surroundings. Looking at the village there were many people, but most of the houses were made of mud, with not much to show in terms of bricks or stones used in construction. Roofs were made of simple thatched straw, carefully arranged and varying in quality from high-quality houses in the centre, to the more dilapidated buildings in the direction we were headed in. ¡°Magus, magus!¡± Kids dressed in clothes that were more like rags came swarming out as Mariel greeted them warmly. From the inside of her clothes she withdrew food and water that seemed to spawn out of nowhere. I widened at the trick and wondered how it was done. ¡°Keep this a secret,¡± she told the kids who nodded solemnly. They took the proffered bread, candy and water and thanked her, dashing off into the alleyways, nooks and crannies in the slum. Did Mariel do this often? ¡°Ah, one day, I hope you won¡¯t be one of those nobles that neglect the most powerless of people.¡± Of course those were nice words, but without money or power, how do you expect me to attempt it? At the very least, I was glad that Mariel was here keeping me company. A fresh pair of eyes was always good for the soul. Suddenly, I felt Mariel shift slightly as she moved her head sharply to the right. There was a shadow in the corner of a building that flittered out of view. ¡°Here?¡± she mumbled. With deft movements, she transferred me to her chest as she unslung her cane from her back and gripped it tightly. ¡°Aelshir, Divine Protector, come forth and shield me from harm. I beseech you. Saelem jithir nael-thoth!¡± Nothing seemed to happen, but Mariel relaxed slightly. ¡°With this we should be safe¡ª" ¡°Sekrath, Lord of Enmity, grant me the ability to smite all foes in front of me! Alshakeer litra alum!¡± Fire blossomed from his hands as he directed them to Mariel. They slid of harmlessly against an invisible wall. Wow, was this a force-shield-like spell? ¡°I call upon the Celestial Guardians to confer me divinity. I seek it in the name of Sadriel. Sia uinsal lidianth!¡± Streams of brilliant cerulean light gathered from the ground and coursed towards her hand. Frantic, the man in front of us charged, drawing a blade, apparently abandoning any attempt to attack with magic. Dodging the blow smoothly, Mariel placed a hand on the man¡¯s side and whispered something into his ears as his eyes widened. ¡°Niderath akum sidrath.¡± He stumbled back with a cry, his hands spread out in supplication. His legs didn¡¯t look like they worked properly. Did she paralyse him? ¡°No, please, don¡¯t do this!¡± Mariel¡¯s eyes were hard. ¡°You did this to yourself.¡± The man collapsed to the ground with a surprisingly hard ¡®thunking¡¯ sound. His hands had frozen as they curled into fists. What in the world? Are his hands turning to stone? No, his whole body is! ¡°I should have slain you the moment we met,¡± he spat out with a seething look. ¡°I¡¯ve always hated you, but you couldn¡¯t resist. You¡¯re nothing! You¡¯re¡ª¡± I stared in horror as his mouth was slowly petrified, choking off his last words. His bloodshot eyes were immortalised in hatred. Mariel caught my look and clutched me to her chest, patting me in sympathy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that,¡± she whispered softly. You apologised, but¡­ what in the Universe had I just seen? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª We got back to the festival in a subdued mood. Mariel was certainly less talkative and I¡­ well I was a toddler that shouldn¡¯t be able to say more than a few words, so I didn¡¯t know what I could do to comfort her. I guess my social skills were not up to par as my technical ones. Still, I did the best I could, given the circumstances and tried to show that what happened didn¡¯t worry me by trying to be a good little kid. Although, I think that¡¯s probably the wrong way to go about it since Mariel kept sneaking glances at me, as if to check that I was okay. I couldn¡¯t change tactics now that I was staying silent, but I didn¡¯t have to worry as it wasn¡¯t long before Mariel started to perk up as she got closer to the centre of the festival, where Lilanthe and Dias were kicking up a storm at the party¡¯s events. Before we got to them, Mariel confided in me. ¡°What you just saw was but one part of the world that is hidden from you. There are always people ready to take something from you the moment you let your guard down. Make sure that never happens to you.¡± She stroked my head and smiled at me, her actions not at all matching the weighty words she were throwing at me. Mariel¡¯s smile faltered slightly as she laughed bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s funny, whenever I¡¯m around you, I feel like you can understand every word I¡¯m saying, but that¡¯s crazy, you couldn¡¯t possibly understand¡­¡± She trailed off as my father came bounding out of the crowd. Dias was the embodiment of cheer as he greeted us. ¡°Mariel, son, finally you make it back to the festival! How was your little walkabout?¡± Mariel shook her head as she flicked a hand dismissively, looking none the more different than if she had taken a leisurely stroll. ¡°The usual. How is my little sister doing with the no-good-of-a-playboy Lord?¡± Dias coughed into his hand, his smile collapsing into a weak simper. ¡°Well, it was a little bit of a misunderstanding, you see, with Lilanthe back at the mansion, the village¡ª¡± Mariel held up her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it.¡± She patted my head. ¡°This innocent one will never turn into such a scoundrel, right Rael?¡± I pretended to grow sleepy, dodging the question neatly whilst the adults argued. I was more preoccupied with the exciting possibilities magic represented. With the unfortunate death of that attacking stranger, I was able to have a glimpse of the potential utility of magic. What kind of scientific endeavours would be possible with the simple application of this magic? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª As time passed on, I had upgraded from just having a personal guard, to also having a personal maid. Please bear in mind, I was only four years old at the time. The personal guard was still Talland and the personal maid was Eileen, much to Talland¡¯s obvious joy. Eileen was happy to attend to me, but less than thrilled to be around Talland. The tutor was delayed by travel, some kind of incident occurred, but the tutor would take over the role of teaching me letters, writing and so on, and teach me the foundations of magic. It was planned that Mariel was going to do that, but it changed when an officious looking summons appeared by literally pigeon-mail. Mariel was not happy in the least, but finally set off with a sour look. She promised to deliver a tutor for me in the meanwhile, which was the aforementioned delayed tutor. Despite lacking a tutor, I had not spent the last two years unproductively, of course. Dabbling in the mysteries of magic, I have come to realise that the system here was based on the belief of ¡®foundations¡¯. A foundation was the base catalyst for all magic. The inhabitants of this world believed that magic was brought forth from making a ¡®contract¡¯ with a ¡®deity¡¯. With the interconnected nature and relationships of these deities, it was hard to master different types of spells because the foundations required support from deities that would often clash in goals. Some deities believed in peace and some believed in war, for example. It would be a miracle to cast more than one type unless you were one of the following: Young or gifted. For me, I fell into the ¡®young¡¯ category and Mariel fell into gifted. I didn¡¯t know much about Mariel apart from the fact that she was related to my mother and was apparently famous. She was quite tight-lipped about her past, especially around me and apart from the incident at the festival, Mariel never mentioned a word. Young people were able to cast a lot of spells. If they have the predisposition for it, most children had the ability to cast one or two spells, and people here believed that had something to do with the deities favouring them or trying to attract them to one side or another. I thought it was a bit different. It seemed that through my experiments, there was a mental barrier associated with believing that a particular ¡®god¡¯ or ¡®goddess¡¯ presided over magic. The fact was that I was able to cast magic simply by imagining the outcome and willing it to appear. It was no more complicated than that. I ¡®knew¡¯ it was possible to summon wind out of nowhere, so it became so. When I tried to same with fire, I failed. After seeing that person conjure fire out of nowhere, I instinctively gained the ability to do the same, because I could suddenly ¡®know¡¯ it was possible. With that framework in mind, it was only a matter of time before I could overcome each ¡®elemental¡¯ hurdle and manipulate ¡®earth¡¯ and ¡®water¡¯. But since I knew the existence of many more elements, couldn¡¯t I do more? Experimentation was in order¡­ however, when I tried to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with magic, nothing happened. Maybe there was some other condition? I was pleased enough that deities didn¡¯t come into play, though. I didn¡¯t like that religion would be worked into this system. If magic was non-secular, I wouldn¡¯t know what to do. Of course, the amount of people even able to cast even one spell is apparently one in one thousand, with some tangential guarantee that if you were a descendant of a magus, you could be one too, so magi were mostly composed of aristocrats and wealthy individuals, with some exceptions from commoners that won the genetic lottery, so to speak. With that in mind, my maid took over the role of tutoring me, during the time it took for the tutor to overcome their trials and reach me. ¡°Hello, I am Eileen, although we know each other, it is proper for me to introduce myself again as we change roles.¡± ¡°Yes, Teacher Eileen.¡± Although it was annoying, there were social rules here that conferred appellations to people in various positions. For example, the maid must refer to me as ¡®Master¡¯ Rael, because I was the descendant of the ¡®Lord¡¯ Dias and ¡®Lady¡¯ Lilanthe. I was to refer to her as ¡®Eileen¡¯ simply, unless she was a teacher in which case I was to refer to her as ¡®Teacher Eileen¡¯. Not really confusing, but it was apparently disrespectful to deviate among these unless you were close friends or family. ¡°Excellent, young Master Rael. Tell me, what are these letters?¡± I pretended to struggle with them as I sounded out the letters and phonetically described them. I drew them with a shaky hand and ¡®practised¡¯ writing for about half an hour. Unlike many children my age, I hear, I was surprisingly obedient. Talland stood at the corner of the room, but even he wasn¡¯t daring enough to interrupt a lesson to try to woo Eileen. Eileen checked my work and nodded. ¡°Once again¡­ surprisingly normal progress.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Talland leaned closer. Eileen glanced at me as I put away the writing tools and pretended not to listen to their conversation. I took out a book and started reading it. ¡°I get the feeling that Master Rael is pretending to struggle with reading and writing.¡± ¡°How is that so? A child can barely understand letters at this age, to understand letters is already considered above and beyond what a normal child can do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, for some reason, I feel like Rael can understand everything we say and do¡­ it¡¯s almost like someone older that¡¯s humouring us. I don¡¯t know how else to explain it. And the way he looks at us it¡¯s almost like¡­ he understands.¡± ¡°I heard that genius children are different¡­ not that I know of any, but Rael does seem like one, doesn¡¯t he? Also, how can a child even understand all these letters on their own?¡± ¡°He¡­ well he can¡¯t be possessed? Mariel would know wouldn¡¯t she?¡± ¡°Of course not! You shouldn¡¯t doubt her of all people!¡± ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ maybe I¡¯m overthinking it. He is a strange boy, but he¡¯s so well-behaved I often forget he¡¯s a child. Most children his age would be bawling their eyes out or fidgeting or something¡­¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right about that, he¡¯s special.¡± I finished reading the chapter and flipped over the page. You have no idea. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª This sort of thing went on for a couple of months. Talland and Dias even tried a few times to get me to hold a practice sword, but Lilanthe was determined not to let me start until I was at least five years of age. Well, I wasn¡¯t keen on actually swinging a sword, so I¡¯m glad that got delayed, even though I¡¯d still do it. I think curiosity may be enough to bring me to try it once, but it seemed like just gruelling exercise to me, so I didn¡¯t want to do it all the time. After all, that would cut into reading time. When the tutor got here, I was surprised to see that it was a young girl, no more than a few years older than me. Didn¡¯t she come with Mariel when I was only a year old? Her fiery red hair had deepened slightly and so were her eyes. She stared at me coolly, before curtseying respectfully to my parents. ¡°Greetings, Lord Dias, Lady Lilanthe, the Kingdom of Dill extends its regards to the Heroes of Canter.¡± Lilanthe blushed profusely, whilst Dias rubbed a hand on the back of his head. ¡°Ah,¡± Dias began, ¡°you don¡¯t need to bring that old news up, we were only doing what anyone would have done.¡± The girl with the long hair shook her head. ¡°Not everyone would have done that¡­ I¡¯m glad to meet you, I do apologise for the delay.¡± ¡°No, no, no, we understand that it¡¯s a long journey from the Spire.¡± ¡°Yes, well, not everything is ideal, but one must do what they can to make the best of things.¡± An awkward silence passed between them. Dias frowned. ¡°What is it that you mean by that, Apprentice Hylia?¡± The girl flicked her long hair behind her shoulders as she bowed her head slightly in apology. ¡°I meant no disrespect, but isn¡¯t an Apprentice a little beyond the needs of your child? A simple scribe from the local covenant should be enough and he can enrol to the school when he is of age.¡± Dias raised an eyebrow, whilst Lilanthe gave Hylia a confused look. ¡°Yes¡­¡± Lilanthe decided to brave the awkward silence. ¡°Didn¡¯t Mariel tell you who you were assigned to?¡± Hylia sighed. ¡°She told me it was a promising candidate, but didn¡¯t tell me exactly whom. Had not the driver been adamant that it was this mansion, I would not have believed him. With all due respect, Lord, Lady, even if you are the heroes, this is well beyond the scope of an apprentice magus. Would you reconsider my assignment?¡± Dias rubbed a hand over his face. ¡°Well this is clearly out of my field, so I¡¯ll leave it to my wife. Lilanthe, would you mind accompanying the young lady while I attend to a few matters? The Court has asked me out on patrol again and Lady Chrysale is giving me a headache again.¡± Hylia gasped. ¡°The Court?! Lady Chrysale?!¡± Lilanthe ignored Hylia¡¯s outbursts and gestured with an open hand. ¡°Won¡¯t you come in?¡± As if remembering her manners, Hylia gracefully stepped into the household with reddening cheeks. Feeling a little weary of her already, I walked back to my room and sat down reading a book. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It was a few hours after Hylia had been invited in before they deigned to come to my room. Hylia wore a pleasant smile that soured as she came into the doorway. Looks like she enjoyed the conversation with mother whilst my poor mother was trying her best to drum some enthusiasm into the child. ¡°Listen,¡± she said with a gentle tap on her shoulder, ¡°if it doesn¡¯t work out and you¡¯re really sure that this is a waste of time, then I¡¯ll write a letter to my sister and you may withdraw. You must promise me, though, that you¡¯ll take this seriously before I do so, though.¡± One could say that Hylia was extraordinarily gifted for her age. Not only that, but making a journey from the Spire to here wasn¡¯t a mean feat. She was mature, elegant and eloquent. However, even though she was mature for her age, that didn¡¯t mean that she didn¡¯t have a limit. ¡°I must object, Lady Lilanthe! I am positively sure that this will be a waste of time.¡± Lilanthe shook her head, disappointed. Hylia grew red, but didn¡¯t yield. I guess the term would be ¡®all in¡¯ if we¡¯re going by Earth terms. ¡°Apprentice Hylia, it¡¯s been such a long journey, it would be such a waste to return straightaway. How about you take a few days as rest? We will need some time to arrange for another more accommodating Apprentice. In the meantime, you will fulfil the role you were assigned to, understand?¡± At the cold tone Lilanthe issued, Hylia swallowed audibly and nodded in reply. When Lilanthe left, Hylia sniffed and drew a book out of her coat and plopped herself into a corner and ignored me completely. That was fine by me, I didn¡¯t need her anyway; I could read just fine. As time passed on, I caught her peeking at me from time to time, but whenever I caught her gaze, she would, quite obviously I might add, duck her head and pretend to read her own book. What was she, five? How childish. After about the third time this happened, I finally set aside the book and stared passively at her. When she peeked up, I deliberately locked gazes with her. Hylia finally got the message, she averted her eyes with puffed cheeks. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I simply continued reading. As time wore on, Eileen came back with Talland from shopping and set up in the corner of my room without a word. They didn¡¯t comment on Hylia¡¯s teaching, or lack thereof, and busied themselves with trying to be human statues. Similarly, I also took no mind of them, excepting a nod of greeting to which they warily returned. Well, I couldn¡¯t blame any of my staff members from feeling a little off-put by an infant basically acting like an adult, but I made sure that any awkward silences were steadily washed away by lengths of monotonous reading. After all, without a more efficient transfer medium, the only way I could siphon information was to absorb them from a book. Without the advantage of a real-time databank, my actions were restricted the knowledge I could memorise. So that¡¯s what I did. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he crying or making noise or something?¡± Neither Eileen nor Talland answered Hylia. Hylia rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. ¡°I know you¡¯re following etiquette but I can hardly speak with your young master, so you must in his place. Isn¡¯t that the duty of one of his attendants?¡± Eileen raised an eyebrow. ¡°When speaking about etiquette, one must demonstrate it themselves first.¡± Not for the first time today, Hylia pursed her lips angrily, but with a supreme effort held back barbed words with clenched teeth. Speaking through such teeth, Hylia affected a small smile and tried once more. ¡°Would you mind showing me to the washroom? Even though I am technically Master Rael¡¯s Tutor, I am also his guest. So, if you would please¡­?¡± Eileen curtseyed in a way that I could only describe as ¡®stiffly¡¯. When Eileen left with Hylia, Talland rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall. ¡°Spoiled brat.¡± I agreed, but her reaction was understandable, I mean come on, I was only four years old. Barely worth the effort at her level, I¡¯m sure. An Apprentice was probably a high position in her world. Talland sighed. ¡°We need to go out shopping later in the day, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be alright with Hylia.¡± I nodded in reply. Talland grinned at me. ¡°Good man.¡± Once again I nodded. He chuckled and walked out, meeting up with Eileen as she came back. ¡°We¡¯ll wait outside for Hylia. There¡¯ll be Giselle in the kitchen if you need anything,¡± Eileen called through the door. ¡°Bye, Master Rael.¡± I returned to reading, enjoying the quiet time to churn through the more complex theorems in magic. I was trying to derive some of the more complex phenomena, when Hylia came back in. She opened the door and stared at me, whilst I did my best to mentally calculate everything since I didn¡¯t have pen or paper. ¡°Still ¡®reading¡¯ aren¡¯t you?¡± I continued ignoring her. Seeing that neither Tallan or Eileen was here, Hylia rapidly dispensed of the etiquette and sat cross-legged on the ground, glaring at me. ¡°I thought I¡¯d be assigned to a proper Potential, but you are just a child.¡± Seeing as how she¡¯d probably never drop this, I decided to curb her attitude with my own. Carefully setting my book aside, I stood up and locked gazes with her. ¡°So are you, you¡¯re barely older than me,¡± I replied coldly. ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to do your job, just keep out of my way and let me study in peace.¡± Hylia¡¯s mouth flopped open but I barely paid it any heed as I stalked out of the room. Feeling triumphant, I walked over to my father¡¯s study and peered in. He wasn¡¯t there so I helped myself to a few of the books and perused some of the beginning chapters. The magical theory of the most recent paragraph require cross-referencing, so I needed to lay my hands on additional material. ¡°Perfect,¡± I murmured, flicking through the pages. I looked up to see Hylia with the same wide-eye expression on her face. ¡°Y-You, what are you?!¡± I sighed, placing a hand on my hip and shrugging slightly. ¡°What are we all? Humans? Sapient creatures? Reincarnated species?¡± ¡°W-Why are you talking like¡ªlike some kind of¡­¡± Hylia threw up her hands when she couldn¡¯t find the words to express herself. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°And so you ask the question twice. I guess children do have a limit to their mental capacity?¡± ¡°Y-You¡¯re the kid here! You have the limited mental capacity!¡± ¡°Uhuh. Alright, if you¡¯re so smart, why don¡¯t you explain this¡± ¡ªI gestured all around me¡ª ¡°situation to me?¡± Hylia spluttered as she tried to piece together a coherent argument in reply, but I think she was more overwhelmed by the fact a child my age was beating her so thoroughly. ¡°Y-You, j-just, fine!¡± With that, Hylia stormed out, while I simply cocked my head at her ridiculous response. Who the heck was the child here? Calmly, I picked up the books and left father¡¯s study. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When Talland and Eileen came back, Hylia tried to explain the situation to them. ¡°He¡¯s possessed or something! You have to alert Lord Dias!¡± Talland raised an eyebrow. ¡°Uhuh, Apprentice Hylia, what evidence do you have of Rael¡¯s possession?¡± ¡°He talks like an adult, he reads and understand complex books, he¡¯s way too advanced for his age.¡± ¡°While I admit he¡¯s pretty smart, he¡¯s just looking at the books for fun, I doubt he¡¯s actually reading them.¡± Talland scratched his cheek thoughtfully. ¡°He¡¯s going way too fast for even most adults. Besides, no one has taught him to read more than a few sentences.¡± ¡°That obviously proves my point, he shouldn¡¯t be that smart already!¡± Eileen rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, I think he can read, but that doesn¡¯t prove anything other than he¡¯s exceptional. Right, Master Rael?¡± For the benefit of others I pretended to be confused. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡± I rounded my eyes and turned them to the floor. From the corner of my eyes I could see Hylia almost breaking into a fit and Eileen rushing over quickly to comfort me. Talland rounded on Hylia, while Eileen hugged me. ¡°No, no, of course not, you¡¯ve done nothing wrong.¡± ¡°But Hylia says something about me being bad¡­¡± The aura around Talland shifted from easy-going to dangerously dark in a fraction of a second. ¡°Apprentice Hylia, what did you say to Master Rael?¡± ¡°H-He¡¯s obviously lying!¡± With her emotional outburst, she quickly lost ground. Talland¡¯s eyebrows drew together as he gave her a ferocious scowl. ¡°Apprentice Hylia, I advise you drop this nonsense now.¡± Hylia dropped her shoulders and looked between Eileen and Talland. Seeing no support in their cold gazes, her look eventually wandered to me. I went from distressed to devious and back again in a blink of an eye. Hylia¡¯s eyes widened slightly as her expression darkened for a brief moment. She bit lip, however and reluctantly nodded. ¡°I¡­ apologise for my actions so far.¡± The Apprentice shot me a dangerous glare before retreating to the hallway. Eileen patted me on the head. ¡°It¡¯s okay now, she¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I said ¡®uneasily¡¯. Talland wiped a hand across his face. ¡°I knew that girl was going to be trouble.¡± Au contraire, Talland my friend, this just got a lot more interesting. I think it¡¯s time to begin a social experiment. Chapter 4: Quantum Energy Chapter 4: Quantum Energy Apprentice Hylia was getting frustrated. Her ambition was to climb to the top of the Magus world and stand above all others with her vast knowledge, superior power and depthless wisdom. Being a Magus was one of the most assured ways a human could overcome their deficiencies against the hostile and dangerous mortal land. Nature was filled with danger. With sinister monsters, varied opponents of high physical calibre and superior bloodlines where nobles were concerned, the only way to claw up from the sea of commonality was to embrace magic. The power of nature was a high hurdle to scale, and only those who were gifted or exceptionally dedicated (and often both) could hope to achieve complacency. Yet¡­ And yet with all her hard work, all her ability, she was relegated to become a babysitter for the child of two nobles in a backwater fief! She came with high hopes, on recommendation from the High Magus Mariel herself. Hylia¡¯s goal was to gain fame from rearing up an ardent Potential into an Apprentice, but that was an impossibility with someone barely out of their diapers! However, even in her darkest time, her luck won out, and the nobles were the heroes of Canter! Awesome figures that dominated recent history by their very act of unifying the land with the exalted King himself! Lady Lilanthe was an Adept with fearsome casting abilities, her magic centred around the wind and healing spirits of water. Lord Dias was a first-class paladin with fearsome abilities to purify and counter evil! These two weren¡¯t just nobles, these were living legends! But¡­ But¡­ But now she was in charge of this little brat instead of pursuing her lifelong goals! Unacceptable. Hylia knew she was an accomplished person, proficient of feats that no one her age would ever be capable of. She was already able to tap her Centre and her ability rivalled that of her role model, High Magus Mariel, when she was her age. It would have been fine if she could just wiggle her way out of this tutoring role. She had to complete one to advance in her studies, but this was her chosen Assignment. It would be near impossible to request a transfer. She thought that perhaps the Potential might underperform or there might be friction due to their age difference¡­ but she never thought she would be assigned to not only someone who wasn¡¯t an adult, but wasn¡¯t even five years old! The age difference was in reverse! What a disgrace! Still, she kept up appearances and eventually when she met the boy¡­ he was reading. Well, not reading, how could a four year old read such complicated manuals? He must have been looking at the book in interest. Yes, she thought to herself, he was simply looking at the book. Then he spoke to her. Not like a four year old would, but like a chilling, full-blown Magus would. There was no power behind his words, there was no stir of energy that accompanied his speech and nothing about him seemed remotely like a Magus. Except that frosty feeling that accompanied someone that had lived a long, long time. ¡°So are you, you¡¯re barely older than me,¡± he spoke coldly. ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to do your job, just keep out of my way and let me study in peace.¡± Hylia had taken an instinctive step back in fear. Before she knew it, she had berated him, but received a stunning riposte back! But she knew that this¡­ being wasn¡¯t Lady Lilanthe¡¯s and Lord Dias¡¯ son. A possessed child¡­ perhaps even a Shade in disguise! But Talland and Eileen were under his sinister spell. They didn¡¯t believe her for a second. Instead of praising her, they berated her for being too wilful. She was even forced to apologise! Tightening her fingers into a white-knuckled death-grip, Hylia had stormed out the room whilst clenching her teeth in fury. After struggling with her rage for a full minute, she forced herself to calm down. All was not lost! She would have to prove that ¡®Rael¡¯ was not who he said he was. Once she brought proof to them, he would be exposed, and she would be rewarded, perhaps even inaugurated as the youngest exorcist, as an Apprentice! Hylia licked her lips. Yes, this wasn¡¯t a setback, this was perfect. ¡®Rael¡¯ was the perfect stepping stone for her own ambitions. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Seeing Hylia leave, I shrugged my shoulders and went back to reading. After all, magic wouldn¡¯t solve itself, and there was much to learn. One of the interesting aspects of magic is the ability to utilise it in a way that doesn¡¯t require the direct intervention of the elements. There was an implicit understanding that the four elements were the only elements in the world and everything from the trees to the grass to the sky and wind and animals and humans are all unique combinations of these elements. Of course no one has been able to replicate life, but apparently the use of automatons where energy is ¡®imbued¡¯ into objects was possible. How fascinating. Could there be a way to dynamically allocate function to inanimate objects by fusing a protocol to its substituents? In other words, the energy that binds the inanimate objects together could somehow work as a system and the ¡®intent¡¯ of the caster is the ¡®program¡¯ it ran on. Very interesting. I had a few hypotheses I wanted to test out, but unfortunately, Talland and Eileen were here so I couldn¡¯t practice magic openly. The only time I could do it was when everyone was asleep, or if they thought I was asleep. During that time they would leave the room and stand guard outside, giving me the opportunity to cautiously experiment. However, there was no chance. After the little spat with Hylia, Talland and Eileen had comforted me by making reassurances that I hadn¡¯t done anything wrong and had stayed in the room instead. Seeing their actions, I felt a little ridiculous for faking the tears and acting like a four year old, but I consoled myself with the fact that right at this moment I was four years old. I sighed. I should act my mental age. I didn¡¯t want to act too conspicuous, but there were also opportunities to probe at them to determine whether or not they were fanatics or just trapped within the system. For all intents and purposes the hints I were dropping about my understanding were glossed over. It seemed they genuinely believed I was a part of this world and that there wasn¡¯t anything wrong with me. Apart from some minor inconsistencies, which they had doubts, but mostly dismissed. I wasn¡¯t particularly hiding the fact that I had greater intelligence for my age, but I wasn¡¯t keen on showing them blatantly. After all, I had it pretty good here and from the way society was stratified, I was near enough to the top that I could be satisfied with what I had. Anyway, putting that aside, the book I was reading was fascinating. Advanced magical theory was very close to science in some ways. They talked about energy flows and allowable mechanics and rules that govern the way people could ¡®use¡¯ magic. The basic principle was that every person had an unlimited resource of energy to tap into: the ¡®Centre¡¯. The ability for those to channel this were, broadly speaking, those who could use magic. Around us there was also something akin to energy that our Centre absorbed. Like a well filling up with water, this energy poured into our Centre and filled it up. The capacity for magic users was called the ¡®Elemental Source¡¯. As one became more proficient in the Art, the ability for the Centre to retain a greater amount of Elemental Source increased. Speaking of which, magical users were split into four main categories. People who had an affinity with the Centre were called Potentials. They could sense that it exists. Additionally, they can barely see the flow of power and could not manipulate it at all. The next step above were Apprentices. Apprentices were those that could see the flow of power as it affects nature. Apprentices can feel the Centre, but not connect with it, however can use a formless type of energy from their surroundings. Typically, if the energy density around them is weak, they are as powerless as Potentials. Initiates were Apprentices that had passed the test to show that they could connect with the Centre. They can produce at least one spell and had an affinity to at least one element. Adepts showed promise to become a Magus. They could cast multiple spells and had a strong connection with the Centre. Their affinity to their element gets stronger to the point where it is ready to ¡®evolve¡¯. When it evolves, then they are considered a Magus. The Magi were the highest point for magic users in this land. Magi could change the very nature of existence with their spells and warp things to their heart¡¯s desire. The limitation of the Magus only came from their physical and mental limits and whichever deity they pledged themselves to. A beginner Magus could fell a demon. An accomplished Magus could decimate an army. Of course the steps between each of these were astronomical. The rate of success between each step is often generalised as: One in a thousand for a Potential to become an Apprentice. One in three for an Initiate to become an Adept. One in two for an Adept to become a Magus. A Magus was basically asking for less than one in one million. That was a number that boggled the mind. While a Magus was rare, the odds of finding someone who could do magic wasn¡¯t bad. After all, roughly one half of the population could be considered a Potential. This meant that almost every second village had someone who could cast a simple spell, and every town probably had an Initiate or Adept, whilst each kingdom was almost certain to have a handful of Magi. There was also a component of this being genetic predisposition, thus creating the noble archetype for Magi. The fact that I was a Potential wasn¡¯t too surprising; my parents were adept at magic. I didn¡¯t know what ranking my parents were, but my mother was at the very least an Apprentice and my father was probably an Initiate. In any case, since I was able to cast simple spells, I might be an Initiate. I could cast more than one spell, so I could probably be ranked as an Apprentice. However, I did have my doubts. It couldn¡¯t be this simple to go from Potential to Apprentice, and there seemed to be tests involved. Mariel did say that I had potential. Was she talking about my current ability or what I could be? I heard the door click in the middle of my musings. ¡°Master Rael,¡± Talland called out from the door. ¡°Apprentice Hylia is back to teach you.¡± He paused briefly with some unknown emotion flickering through his eyes. ¡°Do you want to see her?¡± I nodded ¡®hesitantly¡¯ and then slid off the chair, presenting myself respectfully, even though I was annoyed I would spend less time reading. Hylia was an interesting case, being an Apprentice at such a young age, but she seemed to have a personality that made it difficult for me to get along with her. There was a reason why I preferred to study science alone. Talland gave me an encouraging nod as he opened the door and admitted Hylia. Hylia had this scary dead-set expression that made me take a step back, but it was quickly squashed under carefully modelled neutrality so fast that I almost thought it was my imagination. Almost. She was still giving me a strange look. Talland posted himself in the corner of the room, but Hylia didn¡¯t seem to mind. Instead, she handled a heavy-looking leather satchel at her waist. Opening the flap, she withdrew a weighty vellum envelope with creases running down the side. I stared at her as she arranged herself on a cushion and sat somewhat gracefully down next to me. ¡°Now, Master Rael, I will be your Teacher for the next week or so.¡± She paused here with expectant eyes. Belatedly, I placed the book down next to me and suppressed a sigh. ¡°Yes, Teacher Hylia,¡± I replied solemnly. Hylia nodded stiffly, before moving on. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start at the beginning. What do you know about magic?¡± I could feel her suspicion openly being transmitted, but feigning ignorance here could be even more dangerous. Though I had taunted her before, I felt that the action was a little too rash. I¡¯ll admit, she got on my nerves. Her personality didn¡¯t mesh well with mine, and I hadn¡¯t exercised caution that I would usually, when thrown into the unknown. Even though Talland was here, there was no telling what an Apprentice could do to me. The difference between the abilities of an Potential to an Apprentice was like trying to swim upstream a torrential river. It wasn¡¯t impossible, but it may as well be. I decided to obediently convey the basics of magic to her. I would be good until I knew the full extent of her powers. ¡°Magic is the ability to tap into the Centre. The Centre is somehow connected to the energy all around us. Deities, and belief in one, is the foundation of advanced magic. One example is¡ª¡± ¡°Hold it.¡± Hylia pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°You do realise that you¡¯re basically quoting the book word for word?¡± ¡°Yes, so?¡± I glanced at the book with a frown. Hylia pressed her lips together. ¡°Do you even understand what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°Of course I do,¡± I replied impatiently. There was my temper again. I didn¡¯t like it when people doubted my abilities. I¡¯ve had enough of that before. ¡°I¡¯ve been reading about this for a long time.¡± Talland, who couldn¡¯t hear our conversation at this distance, was beginning to become suspicious with the tone and approached. ¡°Everything, alright, Master Rael?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I affected a sweet smile. ¡°Thank you, Talland!¡± Talland, for some reason, glanced away and coughed slightly. ¡°Too¡ª¡± he mumbled something under his breath. ¡°What?¡± Did I do something wrong? ¡°Nothing.¡± Talland glanced between us for a moment, before retreating slowly. ¡°I¡¯m only a shout away, Master Rael.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Talland drifted back into the corner as Hylia eyed me critically. ¡°So,¡± she said abruptly, ¡°let¡¯s drop pretences. What are you?¡± ¡°Rael.¡± Hylia glared at me. ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. What. Are. You?¡± I rolled my eyes at her. ¡°What do you think I am?¡± ¡°Possessed.¡± Hylia ground her teeth. ¡°And I¡¯m going to expose you and then exorcise you!¡± She glanced back with a reassuring smile to a dubious Talland. I folded my arms. ¡°And how exactly are you going to do that?¡± Hylia pressed her lips together and fumed. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to force you duel me.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Right,¡± I drawled, ¡°and do you think my parents are just going to accept that?¡± ¡°They will when they find out you¡¯re possessed!¡± ¡°Uhuh. So let me get this straight. Your plan is to duel me to convince my parents that I¡¯m possessed because that¡¯s the reason to duel me.¡± ¡°I, erm, yes!¡± I gaped at her audacity. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m not!¡± ¡°Are you even an Apprentice?¡± ¡°Y-Yes!¡± ¡°You¡¯re stammering.¡± ¡°I can stammer however I want!¡± ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re an Apprentice? Aren¡¯t Apprentices capable of tapping their Centre?¡± ¡°I can tap my Centre, I can cast multiple spells!¡± My mouth twitched. ¡°You¡¯re not really an Apprentice, are you?¡± Hylia bit her lip guiltily. ¡°Yes I am.¡± ¡°Oh. You actually¡­ I can¡¯t believe you really lied about being an Apprentice.¡± ¡°I am an Apprentice! I¡¯m better than an Apprentice! I just¡­ I just haven¡¯t passed the test yet!¡± ¡°Are you really the tutor that Mariel sent?¡± Hylia found something interesting to look at on the ground. ¡°By the Stars of the Universe,¡± I muttered, ¡°you really are an idiot.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand! My master went away and she left me this scroll and then she told me that I needed to help some Potential in a backwater town! She told me this was my test! I am way above the level of an Apprentice, I can¡ªWait, why am I explaining everything to yo¡ª¡± She caught herself before she went any further, going beet red as I placed a hand in front of my face and sighed. ¡°A-Anyway! You¡¯re not who you say you are!¡± ¡°You do realise that lying about being an Apprentice is grounds for execution, right?¡± Hylia suddenly paled. ¡°W-What?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you don¡¯t know this. Don¡¯t you know anything about the Kingdom¡¯s Law?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ never been out of the Spire before now¡­¡± ¡°How did you survive? What about money?¡± ¡°Money?¡± Hylia¡¯s eyebrows drew together. ¡°I just told them I was an Apprentice and then showed them my master¡¯s certificate and they just gave me whatever I needed.¡± I stared at Hylia for a full ten seconds straight. ¡°¡­ Let me see that certificate.¡± Hylia clutched the vellum envelope to her chest as she glared at me. ¡°No, why should I?¡± ¡°Do you want to be executed or not?¡± Hylia hesitated slightly and then passed over the vellum envelope she was gripping like it was her lifeline. After tugging it out of her hands, I took it and opened it carefully as she watched with a complicated expression. The parchment inside didn¡¯t look it saw much use. There wasn¡¯t a seal, but something sparkled as I touched it before dissipating. Did Mariel do something? Feeling nothing adverse, I decided to continue. To Whoever It May Concern, This is to certify that Hylia Mandern is who she claims she is. I endorse this in my name as High Magus of the Kingdom of Dill, Mariel. Signed in my own hand, Mariel This was clearly an identity document! Also, Mariel, you didn¡¯t put an explanation at all! She could claim to be the Princess and people would believe her! I slapped a disbelieving hand to my forehead. What are you doing?! I waved the letter at Hylia with pursed lips. ¡°You¡¯re very lucky they believed you, but this is so like Mariel to just do things like this on the fly. You know this document gives you free pass to be anything you claim to be as long as Mariel backs her name up with it?¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s what it does?¡± Hylia snatched it back and started reading it. ¡°No wonder they just let me go anywhere, I thought they were impressed with my noble aura¡­¡± By the Stars, did this girl actually neglect to read her own introduction letter? ¡°Listen, erm, Hylia, you don¡¯t seem like a bad kid¡ª¡± even if you are an idiot ¡°¡ªif you fess up now, you might be able to¡­¡± Hylia glanced at me, her expression shooting backwards and forwards between ¡®tortured¡¯ and ¡®possessed¡¯. Which was ironic, considering she thought a second ago I was the latter. ¡°You know magic, right?¡± she suddenly asked. I blinked at her. ¡°Uhm¡­ what?¡± ¡°Then you can teach me, right?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you my teacher?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a Potential¡­ I mean I¡¯m close to an Initiate, but¡­ can¡¯t you just teach me to cast another spell? You seem to know a lot of the basics. Then I can be an Apprentice for real and they won¡¯t have to kill me!¡± ¡°Woah, woah, woah.¡± I gave her a stern look. ¡°Putting aside the fact that you were about to duel me for the reason to duel me, couldn¡¯t I just tell them you¡¯re not an Apprentice? Then it would force them to test you, then they¡¯d execute you and then all my problems would be gone. Why should I go ahead and teach you magic?¡± I kept silent on the fact that she didn¡¯t even know if I knew how to cast magic. She probably still thought I was possessed and she literally asking the possessor to teach her magic. Was she crazy? Well, now that I know her rough capabilities¡­ Hylia could see the fact sinking in. I grinned inwardly. Perfect. ¡°Okay, how about we make a deal?¡± Hylia was instantly on guard. ¡°What deal?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s simple. I teach you to cast another spell and then you have to do me an undisclosed favour in the future.¡± Initially, she hesitated, but when I shifted and looked a little disinterested, Hylia felt her chance escaping her and quickly nodded. ¡°Okay, fine!¡± I smiled na?vely, holding out my hand in a proffered gesture of goodwill. Hylia barely concealed a wily expression as she reached out in turn. ¡°Don¡¯t be breaking this promise. Let¡¯s shake on it.¡± The Apprentice was oblivious to the softly glowing hand I extended when she eagerly grasped it. ¡°Okay,¡± she said, ¡°you won¡¯t tell them no¡ªow!¡± She yanked back her hand, shaking it in the air as she scowled at me. ¡°What did you do?!¡± ¡°Everything alright here?!¡± Talland leaped over with two bounding strides as he thrust a hand between Hylia and myself. He almost looked ready to tackle Hylia to the ground. ¡°All good!¡± I smiled at him as Hylia quickly smoothed her expression. She was sweating bullets, however, underneath all that. ¡°Yes, yes, I was just showing Rael a simple spell and got a little excited. Nothing to concern yourself with.¡± She gathered a bit of her impetuous attitude around herself again. Talland cocked his head suspiciously, glaring at Hylia. Despite that, he seemed to accept her explanation. ¡°Alright, then¡­¡± He retreated slowly to once more stand in the corner of the room. ¡°It¡¯s a simple little spell to discourage you from breaking the promise.¡± Hylia gritted her teeth, speaking through them as she angrily shot back. ¡°What spell?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s a little spell I found in my father¡¯s study room. It¡¯s just insurance.¡± I smiled wickedly at Hylia. ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯re my first guinea pi¡ªI mean student.¡± Hylia didn¡¯t look as happy as I did. For shame. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Talland left us alone, probably reaching some sort of misunderstanding with the handshake he saw earlier. He excused himself, probably to go flirt with Eileen. I didn¡¯t mind it. Although, he didn¡¯t tell me exactly when he was coming back, so I didn¡¯t practice any magic in the meantime. ¡°You cast a spell on me!¡± Hylia hissed at me, whilst clutching her hand. ¡°You¡¯re at Initiate level, too!¡± I shrugged and all but ignored her, reading my book. ¡°Hey, you said you would teach me!¡± ¡°I did, but did I ever specify a time?¡± ¡°What? How could you¡­? Ugh!¡± Hylia stomped away and drew out her own books and started reading feverishly as well. Good. The path to being a Magus is a scholarly one. Knowledge is power. Evidently, Hylia could only take so much before she set aside the book in disgust and approached me again. ¡°Hey,¡± she called out to me. I finished off the paragraph, then flipped over the page¡­ and kept reading. ¡°Hey.¡± I put down the book, seeing her avid gaze lighting up as I¡­ closed my eyes and took a brief nap. ¡°Hey!¡± Not bothering to open my eyes, I answered her wearily. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Teach me!¡± I raised my head briefly, before letting it sink back down. ¡°Later.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side. Hylia pouted at me, which I suppose would be considered cute if she didn¡¯t keep interrupting my sleep. I had a tight schedule, you know. ¡°Hey!¡± Finally, unable to get shut-eye, I opened my eyes and stared at her. ¡°Fine, I will teach you.¡± Hylia instantly retracted her raised fist¡­ what was she planning to do with that if I didn¡¯t teach her? She sat down cross-legged on the floor, looking up at me expectantly. When I didn¡¯t say anything for a full minute, Hylia lost her patience once again and snapped at me. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything? Aren¡¯t you teaching me?¡± Instead of answering her question, I asked her one in turn. ¡°I¡¯m going to teach you by having you teach me. What would you teach me first?¡± ¡°What?¡± Hylia looked taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s not what we agreed on!¡± I shrugged. ¡°You didn¡¯t specify a teaching method, nor a time, nor a place¡­ do you know anything about contracts?¡± ¡°Contracts? The agreements merchants use?¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Never mind. If you¡¯re going to learn from me, you have to follow my teaching methods. You will have to learn my learning methods and how to apply them. I will not simply teach you the spells directly.¡± Hylia seemed to have some regrets in jumping into the agreement so easily. She snorted derisively. ¡°What can you teach me besides spells, anyway? Aren¡¯t you barely four years old?¡± I sighed and pressed a finger to my temple as I patiently answered her. ¡°If we¡¯re talking about age and proficiency, shouldn¡¯t you be better than me? Why is it that I can cast a spell and you cannot?¡± Hylia reddened. ¡°I can cast a spell!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I leaned forward. ¡°Show me, then.¡± Hylia reddened further, looking more like a tomato than a human. ¡°I-I can, just w-watch!¡± Hylia held out her hand and concentrated fiercely. Even though she was determined, I could see a bit of hesitancy in her movements. She was clearly nervous about the outcome. Oblivious to my scrutiny, Hylia chanted a long and complex aria. ¡°As I breath life, life is breathed in me, the heat, the light, the warmth of fire becomes my aid in the darkness. I seek the inferno of burning desire, the forged weapon primeval, I beseech the Lord of Flames, Keas, to bring endless ardour. Alima ser redeel!¡± At first, there was nothing. I glanced up at Hylia, but she doubled down and glared at her hand. For little more than a second, a puff of flame was ignited. I was surprised, but Hylia was shocked. She immediately recovered with a smug expression, though. ¡°Ha! See?!¡± she exclaimed, glancing up at me. However, I had already suppressed my own astonishment. There was hope for her after all, but her level of proficiency was somewhat disappointing. I shrugged, which had Hylia swallow back her pride as she leaned back, aghast. ¡°How can you be so calm about this? I cast a spell!¡± I raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°You seem to think it¡¯s a big deal.¡± ¡°It is, I bet you¡ª¡± Her mouth dropped open as I cast a simple spell. A flame leapt in my hand, glowing softly as it danced lazily on my palm, almost as if mocking her earlier attempt with its casual existence. I waved my hand above it, then closed my fist, extinguishing the flame. ¡°B-But, there¡¯s no chant, no aria, no deity invoked¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°And why is that?¡± Hylia sank back. ¡°It must be a trick. You must be using a talisman or something¡­¡± I cocked my head at her. ¡°Does everyone need to use an ¡®aria¡¯ before casting a spell?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Hylia got up from her seated position and stomped her foot as she glared down at me. ¡°That¡¯s the very basics of magic!¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve seen something in contradiction. So now, how does this play into your belief system?¡± ¡°But¡­ it must be some kind of error¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°Why are you disbelieving what is happening right in front of you? You¡¯ve seen the evidence and I¡¯ve brought forward proof.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s impossible, you can¡¯t cast spells without the aria¡­¡± ¡°Yes you can, didn¡¯t I show you?¡± ¡°But¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s put this in context then. Have you seen Mariel chant before casting her spells?¡± Hylia nodded. ¡°Did she use any variations to her chanting?¡± Hylia eyes lost focus as she struggled to recall. ¡°I think¡­ so.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s your answer. The aria and chant aren¡¯t the only way of casting magic, after all, there are such things as magical beasts, right? How can they cast magic without chants?¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re simply acting on instinct. They cast without thinking of the duration, power or the deity they are invoking. They aren¡¯t working in harmony with their element as well. That¡¯s why they can¡¯t achieve the same power we do.¡± I nodded at Hylia¡¯s response. ¡°Good answer, and a textbook one at that. So, if a chant is necessary to shape and form an element when casting a spell, why is it that I can do it without chanting at all?¡± Hylia stared back at me, dumbfounded. I patted her shoulder. ¡°Give yourself time to think about it and then maybe you will arrive at your answer. You are old right now, so the foundations of your beliefs are stopping you from going further. You have to comprehend magic and the intricacies of nature to fully grasp how to use it.¡± Hylia gave me a strange look. ¡°How do you know so much?¡± I countered, quite childishly. ¡°How can you stand knowing so little? The world has no limit to learning, you know. Just as you think you¡¯re advanced for your age, you aren¡¯t the most advanced in the world.¡± Hylia abruptly stood up, and left the room. ¡°I¡­ I need to think about this. Excuse me.¡± Turning over the foundation of one¡¯s beliefs isn¡¯t the easiest task. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The next day, my parents had to leave quite suddenly. I didn¡¯t know the reason but the rumours from the gossiping maids in my room hinted that there was unrest in the kingdom, forcing the King to summon them. The capital wasn¡¯t far from here, but it was at least a few days ride from their home. Talland and Eileen had stayed behind and were ordered to keep the peace within the fief. Talland, suddenly loaded with the work that plagued Dias, settled down to do the paperwork, whilst Eileen, ironically, was left more free as her only other duty was to bring meals to the pair. As she was my personal maid, she took the time to ¡®teach¡¯ me some more letters and made it her own solemn duty to keep an eye on Hylia who visited me outside the time allocated for our tutoring session. She was turned away politely the first time and then progressively more coldly as Hylia aggressively tried to make contact with me. Why was she so desperate to see me? In the end, she was reluctantly let in after my session with Eileen. Eileen, however, didn¡¯t let me go off and read like normal. ¡°Master Rael, I have a quick question for you.¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Yes, Teacher Eileen?¡± ¡°Erm¡­¡± Eileen fidgeted with the hem of her lace dress as she bit her lip timidly. ¡°Master Rael¡­ what is the situation between you and Apprentice Hylia?¡± I blinked at Eileen as I tried to piece it together. Surprised, I accidentally let slip my childish persona and answered honestly. ¡°We¡¯re teacher and student.¡± Eileen¡¯s eyes held some indeterminable emotion for a brief moment. She sighed, setting her jaw as she added firmly, ¡°Master Rael, is Hylia bullying you?¡± Judging by the way Eileen dropped Hylia¡¯s appellation, she was convinced that something serious was going on between us. ¡°No, Teacher Eileen.¡± Eileen softened her expression, her strict fa?ade fading as she smiled at me. ¡°You can tell me, Rael, we¡¯re not teacher and student anymore, I¡¯m your maid and friend. You can tell me.¡± Well, a half-truth is better than honesty, sometimes. ¡°Apprentice Hylia was pretty mean¡­¡± ¡°I knew it!¡± Eileen clenched her fists. ¡°I¡¯m going to¡ª¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted. Eileen froze halfway to getting up. I was afraid she storm out and find out about our little arrangement, I can¡¯t let her know I know too much. ¡°She¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s fine!¡± Eileen crouched down and stared into my eyes, making me feel a little conscious of myself. ¡°She¡¯s not threatening you right now, is she?¡± ¡°No!¡± I said quickly. ¡°She¡¯s nice now!¡± Eileen sighed. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. But Rael, you come to me if she ever does anything to you, okay?¡± I smiled thinly at Eileen. ¡°Yes, I will.¡± She ruffled my hair. She sure likes doing that. ¡°Good boy.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Eventually Hylia was allowed access to my room. Seeing that Eileen was posted in the corner of the room, Hylia evidently swallowed back something she was dying to say and assumed the persona of being a teacher. ¡°So, Rael, the principles of sensing the Centre is as follows¡­¡± We made it through about half the book before Eileen went to fetch us some water, as Hylia was ¡®parched¡¯. Looking torn between her duties of hospitality and protecting me from Hylia, Eileen eventually left, muttering something about how she never would have thought she would miss having Talland around to help her. Hylia seized on the chance the moment the door was closed. ¡°Hey, look what I can do!¡± Without pause she chanted. ¡°I seek the inferno of burning desire, the forged weapon primeval, I beseech the Lord of Flames, Keas, to bring endless ardour. Alima ser redeel!¡± Above her palm was a very small and unsteady flame. It lasted for about thirty seconds before dying out. ¡°I shortened the chant and wished with all my might and then it finally appeared!¡± Hylia grinned at me, but it soon died as she saw my expression. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand the basics of what I was teaching you. Magic is not about copying what I¡¯ve done or shortening the chant or believing that it should come true. It¡¯s a realisation of the current state of matters. The Truth, essentially.¡± ¡°The Truth?¡± I nodded. ¡°Look at how the world works and figure out how you made the fire come about. Talk to me when you figure it out.¡± I tapped my chin as I thought of the way to frame it. ¡°Okay, how about we go on an excursion?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°An excursion. We¡¯re going to go outside and learn about things first-hand.¡± ¡°How do we go outside? Your guards watch me like a hawk!¡± I grinned at her. ¡°That¡¯s simple, we sneak out.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª In the dark, many things can be accomplished. The reason why I am most proficient in fire-type ¡®spells¡¯ is not because I have an affinity for the element, it¡¯s because I understand energy and things like moving rocks or shifting water seems to defy logic, so it¡¯s immensely difficult for me to comprehend it. I can barely make it work because I know about artificial gravity systems, but applying that to this reality proved to be difficult. Anyway, I liked fire because I wanted to read at night. That¡¯s right, my scholarly pursuit is what gave me my knowledge in the first place. I didn¡¯t formally learn most of my field. I studied it through research, and that¡¯s how it should be. You acquire skills and knowledge as tools to aid you in your goals. That¡¯s why fire comes pretty easily for now. I ¡®summoned¡¯ a light source above my hand, the cool glow casting variegated shadows that danced in tune with my swivelling hand. If it were up to me, I¡¯d make a pressurised suit similar to the one on my ship, but for now, heading into the wilderness, I was equipped with my wits and Hylia. Although I had to fetch Hylia first. Climbing out of my window was an easy feat. The latch worked from the inside, but moving outside was a little more difficult. Just to let you know, being able to pilot a ship on your own requires rigorous training. I think I spent half my research grant on the accreditation required to allow me to fly solo and the other half on the equipment on my ship. I¡¯m able to deal with alien worlds full of hostile environments where the air isn¡¯t even breathable and the gravity is crushing. Climbing a wall was a piece of cake. If only I had more than the strength of a child. Despite a gruelling physical regime set between the times that I read during the time I ¡®slept¡¯ or ¡®napped¡¯, I was barely strong enough to clamber from one side of the wall to the other. Luckily, Hylia was situated in a guest room on the same floor I was on. Straddling the window sill, I took a deep breath. I¡¯ve done this a million times, and even though the jitters have mostly gone, the relative scale of myself and a ten metre drop still chills me. The night was calm, which I was thankful for. Last time there was wind, but how else was I supposed to get books from Dias¡¯ study when the door was locked? He only left it unlocked when he was here. I hooked my fingers into tiny crevices that only my child-like fingers could fit into. I marvelled at how delicate my fingers looked, yet how tough the human body was to withstand the force of my whole weight suspended by the muscles in my hands. Latching on the wall, I shimmied across, feeling a little like a spider. Finally, I arrived at Hylia¡¯s window. The sill for the windows were large enough on this side that I could stand gingerly on the edge. I settled on it and then turned to the window. Peering in her window, I was curious to see what she¡¯d brought with her on her journey from ¡®the Spire¡¯. I wondered what the Spire really was. People talk about it like it was something between an institution, a holy place and a powerful object. Whatever the Spire was, anyone not from this area was interesting. Her room was sparse. There was a simple writing desk, which I think would be considered a luxury, a bulky backpack with a somewhat smooth staff hooked into the side, a simple bed with white linen with a figure sleeping soundly. She was also drooling. A lot. There was a pool of saliva and everything. I tapped on the window. The figure stirred, but then resumed sleeping after a while. Annoyed, I tapped a little harder. Hylia groaned slightly and then sat up. My eyes widened when I realised she wasn¡¯t wearing a single thing! Was it considered a crime if I didn¡¯t know? I quickly looked away and tapped once more. This time more insistently. There was a pause then a muffled scramble as I rolled my eyes. The window opened quickly as Hylia poked her head out huffing. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­ Did you see?¡± ¡°¡­ See what?¡± Hylia pursed her lips, but didn¡¯t seem to press the issue. She folded her arms in her hastily thrown-on robes and glared at me. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± she finally demanded, nostrils flaring. I chose to ignore her ire. She shouldn¡¯t sleep in the nude if she knew someone was going to visit. ¡°I told you, we were going to sneak out.¡± ¡°How,¡± she sniped, ¡°are we going to fly?¡± I blinked at her. ¡°How did you know?¡± Hylia¡¯s mouth dropped open. Oh, she didn¡¯t know. Chapter 5: Quantum Levels Chapter 5: Quantum Levels I gestured for Apprentice Hylia to come out onto the ledge. She stretched out with dainty feet, looking like those spindly AI-driven spacemonkeys that clambered around the front of maintenance ports on large carriers. They have that oddly-satisfied but scared-to-death look that made watching them endlessly interesting to the bored mind. But still, it¡¯s largely unethical to treat humans the same way so I helped her a little by providing her with some support. She took my hand with a little hesitation and then came out on the ledge with me. ¡°What are we doing here?¡± Hylia asked in a near whisper, looking like she regretted coming out in the first place. That girl didn¡¯t have much confidence in me, considering she specifically asked me to help her. ¡°We¡¯re going to a secluded area in the forest to practice. We can¡¯t do it without interference in the daytime and if something goes wrong it won¡¯t affect the mansion. I don¡¯t want to burn down my own home, you know?¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, quiet!¡± There was a shadow moving along the grass there. I relaxed slightly, recognising the figure as it approached the mansion. It was Talland, but what was the reason for him stepping out in the first place? As the grounds became clear, I decided to file the discrepancy in the back of my mind. Now was not the time for investigation. Besides, there was nothing I could do about it. I hadn¡¯t learned much about this alien land, but I was dying for a little experience of freedom. It was time to explore. ¡°Okay, hold on, I¡¯m going to use some magic to get us down there. Spread your arms and legs and grab onto my shirt.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Here we go.¡± She let out a muffled yelp as a strong gust blew at us from underneath. Our clothes whipped and billowed as I controlled the force of the gale so that a column of air cushioned us from all sides. This was a lot harder and a lot louder than I thought it would be, similar to the rushing wind of skydiving, but about five times as noisy. We landed clumsily in the middle of the lawn, but Hylia had my shirt in a death-grip and I gently pried away her fingers. ¡°What in the world was that?¡± She almost shrieked at me. I chuckled apologetically. ¡°Wind, but stronger.¡± ¡°Wind that strong is way past an Apprentice¡¯s level!¡± ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Hylia snapped in a whisper, remembering just barely that we were sneaking out. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of wind magic being used like this!¡± The forest wasn¡¯t dead quiet like I imagined. There were sounds of animals rustling in the bushes and screeches, chattering and insects chirping in the background. Hylia didn¡¯t look comfortable, but she hugged herself and soldiered on. ¡°W-We¡¯re not going too deep into the forest, are we?¡± Her voice carried a suppressed shivering as she stepped out. The girl grabbed her cloak, but it looked like she could still feel the cold. ¡°No,¡± I replied, ¡°we¡¯re just going to scout around a bit for¡­ oh here.¡± There was a small clearing up ahead. From the mansion you could barely see the patch of grass from my window, but it looks like I was right, a small clearing was in the forest. ¡°Okay, now, show me your magic.¡± Again, Hylia started chanting, but I stopped her immediately. ¡°Okay, okay¡ª¡± I took a deep breath, then dived right into it ¡°¡ªdo you understand what magic is?¡± ¡°Magic is the ability to tap into the Centre¡ª¡± I held up a hand to stop her mocking tone that mimicked my previous book recital. ¡°No, I¡¯m not talking about the mechanics of doing magic, but what magic really is.¡± Hylia¡¯s eyebrows drew together as she parsed what I was trying to say. ¡°Are you talking about what magic is composed of or how magic works?¡± ¡°Both.¡± I pointed around us. ¡°This is the natural world. We live in it and are a part of it. In order to understand the mechanisms behind the world, The Truth, we have to study it.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying I shouldn¡¯t be studying how to cast spells, but the spells themselves?¡± ¡°Exactly. How do you make fire without magic?¡± Hylia frowned once again. ¡°How is this relevant?¡± I sighed. ¡°Just humour me and answer the question, you told me you would follow my teaching methods.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t question them.¡± I smiled, surprising her. ¡°Good, always question, that¡¯s the first step to understanding the world around us. Now, just for the sake of it, answer my question or we won¡¯t be getting anywhere.¡± ¡°Well¡­ from what I¡¯ve seen I guess they strike rocks together to make a spark?¡± ¡°Just some rocks?¡± Hylia reddened at my ridiculing tone. ¡°I mean special rocks, I can¡¯t remember the name right now, okay?¡± ¡°Flintstones generate a spark easily when you strike them together or use iron. These sparks will land on tinder and then the tinder is blown to provide air flow that allows the tinder to catch alight, then when there¡¯s a critical amount of heat, the whole thing bursts into flame.¡± Hylia shrugged, unimpressed. ¡°Yeah, so?¡± Patiently, I summoned a flame around my palm. ¡°Look at this flame. You can feel the heat, but nothing is burning, why?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s magic.¡± I gestured with the flame. ¡°But is that really why? We just established a fire needs something to start it and something to keep it going. What is powering this flame?¡± ¡°Well¡­ your Centre is powering it?¡± I dismissed the flame as I raised an eyebrow. ¡°So there¡¯s fuel, but I wonder where it comes from?¡± ¡°The Centre¡­¡± I gestured around. ¡°Where¡¯s the Centre? Yourself? The Universe? The world around you? What exactly do you mean by the Centre when you talk about it?¡± ¡°I-It¡¯s the big source inside of us that we can tap into to get power for spells!¡± Hylia took a step back at my passionate speech. ¡°I don¡¯t get what you¡¯re trying to say.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to point out that it might be possible to power spells without tapping into the Centre. If you decouple the Centre from the spells, then effectively you could power spells without using your own strength, wouldn¡¯t that be great?¡± Hylia¡¯s expression cleared as it dawned on her what the implications were. ¡°But¡­ what does that mean?¡± ¡°What does that mean indeed? We just have to find out what sort of ¡®fuel¡¯ spells require and then try to manipulate it. Just like starting a fire requires wood, magic must require some sort of energy or source to get going. Plus¡­ why stop there? Flintstones are one way to light a fire, but how about rubbing wood together to create it through friction? How about concentrating light so that the photons impart their energy? How about using high voltage electricity to kick start it instead? There are many ways to cast a spell, why just rely on chants or arias? Maybe chanting or arias don¡¯t cause the spell to come to fruition, something else does. That¡¯s what I¡¯m getting at.¡± Hylia stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You just started talking with weird sounds.¡± Oops, looks like I started talking in Galactic Common. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, just think, the amazing possibilities that are possible if you just break down the essence of magic.¡± Hylia shook her head. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I mentally reproached myself for getting excited. ¡°Well, never mind. What I¡¯m saying is that chants and arias are probably not the only way to cast a spell. It¡¯s merely a process that helps you cast a spell. It orders your thoughts so that you can better visualise the outcome and draw on your power. Think of it like a crutch for walking, but wouldn¡¯t it be easier to do it yourself if you¡¯re strong enough?¡± Hylia nodded with a clearer expression. ¡°I see!¡± She frowned. ¡°But why are you telling me all this? You don¡¯t need to go this far to help me when all I¡¯m asking you is to learn a spell.¡± She did have a point. But then, well, it would be churlish of me to stint a child. After all, I was one too. Besides¡­ I shrugged. ¡°Knowledge should be shared. You¡¯re not a bad person, just a little ignorant. Someone once said that you should assume people are speaking from ignorance rather than malicious intent. That said, rationality is your friend. Don¡¯t believe everything you learn and be open to all sources of information, big or small. If you learn this, you don¡¯t have to rely on specific spells.¡± Hylia glanced at her hands. ¡°Umm¡­¡± ¡°Also, it¡¯s going to be hard to break your reliance on arias or chants to help you cast magic, so it¡¯s going to take you a long time to master it. Concentrate on shortening your chants and try to separate the spell from the intent.¡± ¡°The spell from the intent?¡± ¡°Yeah, look.¡± I summoned the flame again. This time it separated into three parts. I played around with the three orbs and then dismissed it again. Hylia stared wide-eye. ¡°How did you do that? What spell did you use?! I¡¯ve never seen that before!¡± I smiled wryly. ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s the same spell as before.¡± ¡°B-But the spell you cast before what just to summon a flame, not three flames that can be individually controlled, that¡¯s another spell!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same spell. Think on it.¡± Frustrated, Hylia frowned at me. ¡°What do you mean? That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°You will have to figure that out yourself.¡± I sighed. ¡°That is part of learning.¡± Hylia considered what I said briefly, then with a serious nod, she finally acceded. ¡°Yes¡­ thank you.¡± I hid my surprise. I didn¡¯t think she would be this humble. This was probably the first time she had thanked me. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The next few weeks went by like this. Hylia tried really hard to separate the spell from the chant, but was unable to do it, so she settled on shortening the chant itself. Her flames built up in strength, but she was unable to summon another type of flame or split it like how I did no matter how hard she tried. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why isn¡¯t it working?¡± ¡°You have to break away from your preconceptions.¡± Hylia glared at me, her frustration breaking through. Though she didn¡¯t outrightly criticise me, her demeanour suggested that she was fast losing respect for me or my teaching methods. I¡¯ve seen this in students that I had taken on board before. Those who stuck through with my teaching methods ultimately gained a greater understanding, but there were those who, frustrated at the plateau in their growth, decided to seek instructions elsewhere that would get them to their short-term goals the fastest. I¡¯ll admit, some were successful in doing so, but personally, I believe that nothing beats hard work and planning for the future. Self-restraint is a good thing. An ancient human psychology study confirmed that children with the highest self-restraint were more successful in the long term. They did this by placing some treats in front of them and told them they would receive more if they could wait five minutes. All the children in the study were tracked until they were adults. Those who adhered to the time limit and waited for the promised extra treats were generally more successful than those who weren¡¯t. Of course, humanity has exceptions, but you have to adapt to circumstances. Right now, Hylia wasn¡¯t doing either, so we were stuck with her growing impatience and her own strengthening conviction that I wasn¡¯t helping her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you teach me another spell? I can learn to stop chanting later.¡± I stared at her for a moment, then shook my head. ¡°If you do that, you¡¯ll destroy all the progress you¡¯ve made so far.¡± ¡°What progress? I haven¡¯t been able to do anything other than shorten my chant, I keep trying to do it, but nothing comes out!¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you keep going back to the chant to reinforce your perception that spells rely on them,¡± I replied, closing my book with a gentle gesture. ¡°It¡¯s the opposite. You rely on them to produce spells, when in fact there is no need.¡± Hylia stomped her foot. ¡°I can¡¯t get anywhere with this!¡± ¡°Calm down, I know it¡¯s hard, but if you¡ª¡± ¡°Teach me a spell now!¡± ¡°No, you will have to learn the basics¡ª¡± ¡°This won¡¯t work out, why can¡¯t you teach me one spell?¡± ¡°I refuse.¡± ¡°If you won¡¯t, then I will find one myself!¡± I shook my head. ¡°If you wish.¡± Then I went back to reading. Hylia stared at me in mute astonishment, like she was expecting me to say more, then huffed and stormed out. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª From then, we stopped doing evening jaunts together, although I kept it up alone. The clearing was regularly lit by my exercises of magic and I would return back home exhausted, having used every ounce of my fortitude to try and take control of my Centre. Magic power, it seemed, was limited to some sort of mental stamina that affected my body simultaneously. At this rate, my body needed to keep up with my mind, and though it was almost sleepless torture, I exercised during the day when my attendants weren¡¯t looking. Of course, during the times Hylia and I were ¡®teaching¡¯, we ignored each other, which was fine by me. ¡°Rael¡­ he doesn¡¯t seem very lively today¡­¡± Lilanthe and Dias were back from a journey to the kingdom¡¯s capital. Apparently, there was an urgent summons from the king and though it was evidently very important, they were equally tight-lipped about it. Though they were discussing me at one end of the room in low voices. I kept reading, although I slowed down to keep an ear on what they were saying. Dias was also slightly concerned, but hid it behind some manly stoicism. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine, but¡­ let¡¯s put off sword training for another year, I¡¯ve heard there was a sickness spreading to nearby villages.¡± Lilanthe scooped me up and lightly placed a hand on my forehead. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to have a fever, but he does seem tired. He barely reads his books anymore and spends a lot of time sleeping¡­¡± That¡¯s because I¡¯ve been sneaking out and learning magic and training my body while you weren¡¯t looking. Also, ¡®barely reading¡¯ is like decreasing from ten books a day to about five, I just read half of them at night, that¡¯s all. ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s the wasting disease, do you?¡± Lilanthe continued unsteadily. Dias rounded on Lilanthe with a frantic expression. ¡°No!¡± he yelled. ¡°Dias! You¡¯re scaring Rael.¡± More like I was frowning in thought, mother, so don¡¯t worry. What was the wasting disease? Dias lowered his voice as he glanced at me. ¡°No, we can¡¯t say that for certain. We should bring a doctor over.¡± I shouldn¡¯treally exhaust myself like this, so I guess it probably would have been better if I had waited until my ¡®sword training¡¯ began. The people here really did use swords and daggers, which was ancient technology. Back in my old life, we had reciprocating blades, which were a series of dull interlocking edges that vibrated back and forth at high frequencies to replicate a fine cut. They were a lot safer than knives because they adjusted their frequency dependent on the ¡®yield tension¡¯ of the object. For example, hard materials like plaster needed high frequency but low tension, it was breaking more than cutting, whereas for softer materials like meat, it was the inverse. At rest, the blades themselves were dull enough to hold and didn¡¯t require honing except for disposable cartridges. But I¡¯m sidetracking myself. Right now, I needed to do something to distract them. I immediately perked myself up. ¡°I¡¯m okay, don¡¯t worry, mother and father.¡± They shared a look.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Oh, Rael,¡± Lilanthe crooned as she picked me up. ¡°No need to worry, Mommy and Daddy will take care of it, okay?¡± They misinterpreted my assurance as a lack of assurance on my part. Well, at least I tried. ¡°Okay,¡± I replied meekly, I didn¡¯t have much choice. The doctor came for the second time. I think she was starting to get annoyed because she was somewhat impatient when we met. She told the parents to clear the room as she examined me. ¡°Healthy complexion, heartbeat strong, fit body¡­ have you done sword training little fella?¡± I smiled and neither confirmed or denied it. ¡°Good boy!¡± It¡¯s not like I wanted to mislead the doctor, it would just raise a lot of questions if I didn¡¯t respond or acknowledge her. Also, how would I explain to her I did training while my parents weren¡¯t looking? Despite that, I couldn¡¯t think of anything better, so they found out anyway. ¡°Sword training?¡± Dias frowned. ¡°We haven¡¯t started that yet at all. Why do you ask? Is he alright?¡± Lilanthe didn¡¯t say anything but she wrung her hands together, trying desperately to prevent herself from mothering me like I was a crystal vase that would shatter if she touched me. She kept sending me worried glances and I thought she was going to die an early death if she kept this sort of high-anxiety mongering going. The doctor¡¯s eyebrows drew together. ¡°I¡¯ve examined the boy and he is fine, but his build is exceptionally toned for someone his age. He eats well and looks lively and apart from not talking too much, he is the epitome of good health. I can¡¯t find any fault.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± my father started, but the doctor interjected. ¡°Since he hasn¡¯t had any sword training he must have been doing some of his own, haven¡¯t you?¡± The last part was directly astutely towards me and for good measure I hung my head. ¡°Rael, is this true?¡± Dias asked of me. I hesitated slightly, then nodded sheepishly. ¡°I train¡­ by myself, when you¡¯re not looking.¡± Their expressions cleared, but Dias looked disappointed. ¡°Rael, do you know what you did wrong?¡± ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t tell you?¡± Dias shook his head and sighed. With hand that suddenly seemed unbearably big, he beckoned me as I approached cautiously. ¡°Rael,¡± he said softly, ¡°come closer, I¡¯m not angry at you.¡± The strangest thing was I felt that he was telling the truth. He wasn¡¯t lying. I didn¡¯t see an iota of anger within him. Instead, the disappointment I saw wasn¡¯t aimed at me, but at himself. A hint of sadness also decorated his features. Feeling a weird sense of guilt, I came forward a few more steps. Even though I knew I was older than my father, this weird dynamic made me feel small and powerless. I guess, when you¡¯re an adult, there was a liberation to lie and things like small deceptions and subterfuge didn¡¯t feel so wrong. But here, now, I felt it keenly, a strong sense of wrongness that was hard to shake. My father gathered his breath and launched into it. ¡°Rael, hiding things from us isn¡¯t wrong, there are times when someone must do it.¡± He held up a finger. ¡°But lacking trust in people who you should trust is the problem. You may not understand this fully now, but we love you very much. If there is anyone you can trust in this world, it will be us, because of this. Of course, like anything, trust has to be earned, and it is my fault that I wasn¡¯t able to do that. Rael, I hope you can forgive me for that.¡± Being a child gave me a different perspective on morality. Or maybe there was something to be learned from the people and not only from the knowledge hidden in books of this strange world. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, father.¡± Dias and Lilanthe both smiled, while the doctor had already excused herself from the personal talk. Before she was excused, I apologised to the doctor as well. The doctor didn¡¯t take any offence and told me she was glad I wasn¡¯t sick in the first place. That didn¡¯t make me feel any better, but she smiled in a way that made me feel a little more at ease. ¡°Just keep your mischief to a minimum, young master,¡± she said to me before she left. I nodded, perhaps for the first time, earnestly. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª After that reveal, Dias decided to give me sword training anyway. ¡°If you¡¯re keen on training, you must train right!¡± He threw a carved wooden sword on the ground. ¡°Pick it up.¡± The sword was heavier than I thought, it must have been made of some kind of dense hardwood. ¡°That is a wooden sword. Your own sword. Though it may not look like much, it can hurt you and it can hurt others. You must take care with it. Respect the sword and it will treat you the same back.¡± We were out by the garden at the rear of the mansion. Lilanthe had excused herself inside and was occupying herself with cooking, much to the dismay of the household maids. Dias winked at me and told me she was too worried about me getting hurt but knew this was a necessity. He said it was the charm of his wife to care about the weak and helpless. Which kind of irritated me, but I think that was the expression Dias was looking for. He told me that I had the instincts of a good man. ¡°See that wooden block over there? We¡¯re going to practice with it. Sword training might seem a little dull to you, but in time you will be able to do something like this.¡± Dias held the sword and concentrated hard on the the block, with one smooth, flowing motion, his sword almost leapt out of his scabbard and sung a deadly song as it whistled through the air, slicing the wooden block so cleanly that it sounded more like an axe parting the wood rather than a sword. I couldn¡¯t understand what I had seen. Didn¡¯t he cut the wood cross-grain? Wouldn¡¯t the sword normally bite into the wood and stop? How was he able to produce enough force to shear through the block? I glared at the sword, trying to find its secrets through observation. Dias laughed at my confusion. ¡°Haha, isn¡¯t your father amazing?¡± He puffed out his chest, then slightly deflated when I continued inspecting the sword instead. He pulled it away from my searching hands with a slightly exasperated expression. ¡°No, no, Rael, the sword isn¡¯t the great part of this, this is just regular steel. It¡¯s also a little blunt, see?¡± He slid his finger along the edge to demonstrate it. ¡°But! What I¡¯ve done is infused a little of my Essence into the blade and made it charged with power. It¡¯ll made this sound, see?¡± He concentrated once more and I could hear a faint whine from the sword. Ah, this was similar to the vibration of the reciprocating blades. Fascinating. ¡°Now, this might be had for you to understand, but doing this requires a lot of strength and training. Grab your wooden sword there.¡± I gripped the sword and held it out. Dias smiled and placed my hands a little further apart. ¡°You need to stop your hands from slipping too much. Take your hands and rest one near the guard and the other just a bit below it. That¡¯s it. Now I¡¯m going to demonstrate a series of movements and I want you to follow them as close as you can.¡± I nodded, feeling a little excitement. I¡¯ve taken a few classes of martial arts, but things like sword training and the like were a rare art that was barely practised by those who even knew it existed. ¡°This is an overhand, this is a backhand, this is a cut to the side, this is a parry and this is a block.¡± Dias held my hand still as I made to imitate him. ¡°No, hold on,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m just showing you a few of the moves. All you need to do is concentrate on building your strength. Move the sword up and down and from side to side. Yes, that¡¯s it, good. We¡¯ll do this for a while and then after this, we¡¯ll go for a run. Knights like us will have to wear armour, so I¡¯m giving you this padded vest.¡± He drew out a thick padded vest that seemed to be weighed down with wood. ¡°This is training armour, it will help you get used to the weight of armour before we move onto the next stage. Any questions?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°When can I use Essence?¡± Dias chuckled. ¡°Good question. Not for a while yet.¡± He held out a warning finger. ¡°Essence is very dangerous if you try to use it without understanding how it works or preparing your body for it, so you must absolutely not use unless I tell you to, okay?¡± He gripped my hand and held my gaze. ¡°Promise your father this, please?¡± Caught back by his serious tone, I faintly nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± I replied finally. ¡°I won¡¯t use it until I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Good boy.¡± He ruffled my hair. ¡°Now, let¡¯s do a few more swings and then go for a run!¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª I must admit, there¡¯s merit in training with others rather than alone. Psychology tells us that self-discipline is often weaker than peer pressure. Training with Dias, he pushes me to my limits everyday and though this left me dog-tired, I didn¡¯t complain, because he was sincerely interested in my well-being. That said, my studies started to lag a little bit and keeping awake long enough to decipher the next passage when you could barely turn the pages with your fingers was, in my opinion, one of the hardest things I¡¯ve ever had to do in my life. I comforted myself with the fact that I had to be prepared. There was no telling what could happen here, and if I didn¡¯t learn and train, I could be at a major disadvantage. I needed to survive long enough to get home. On the other end of the scale, acting in my teacher role, Hylia was beginning to stir up some trouble. I had explicitly warned her against learning new spells, however, against my instructions, she was able to learn another fire spell when she stole my magic primer and read it. When I found out, Hylia cringed as if I would scold her, but she squared her shoulders and tightened her fists with a stiff upper lip. She was prepared to defend herself, probably thinking that results equate to justification. I wouldn¡¯t have any of it. ¡°Hylia, you¡¯ve learned a new spell,¡± I stated, rather than asked. Despite that, Hylia defiantly replied, ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Even though you knew this was against my instructions?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Without changing my expression, I let it go. ¡°Alright then,¡± I said. Hylia frowned at me. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get mad or something?¡± ¡°Is it my job to get mad? What would that accomplish?¡± ¡°But I¡¯m your student and I did something that you forbade me to do!¡± ¡°And yet, you did it, didn¡¯t you? My words were not enough to stop you then, will it stop you now?¡± ¡°No, but I still did it! So why aren¡¯t you doing anything about it?¡± When I rolled my eyes at her, Hylia threw up her hands and jabbed a finger towards me. ¡°Are you a spineless coward?!¡± She folded her arms. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you upset?¡± I stared at Hylia with a placid gaze until her anger snuffed out. Instead of reprimanding her, I set aside the book I was reading and massaged my temples. ¡°What do you want from me? A teacher only guides their students by teaching. If you don¡¯t accept my lessons, then you¡¯re not my student any more. Thus, there¡¯s no need for me to do anything. If you don¡¯t want to be taught by me you are free to leave or do as you wish. The only time I would intervene is if you actually committed some form of wrongdoing, but here, right now, you only hurt yourself.¡± Hylia crossed her arms. ¡°Then, what are you going to do about it?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not keen on following my instructions, then you obviously don¡¯t want to be my student any more. There¡¯s no point in continuing this, you can do as you wish, but on your own.¡± With that, I picked up my book and walked straight out of the room. Hylia didn¡¯t say anything as I left and I didn¡¯t do a thing either. From that point on, we kept mostly apart, only making contact robotically when required, like during lessons. During that time, to be honest, I made more progress than I did before. It left me with a somewhat bittersweet sensation. On one hand, I liked working on my own personal projects, but on the other, I felt a little responsible for that rambunctious girl. But I knew that these feelings weren¡¯t the point. Even though I enjoyed teaching, if the student wasn¡¯t driven to learn, then I couldn¡¯t do much about it. ________ Time passed and I grew more and more proficient in magic and the art of the sword. Dias took me on ¡®long¡¯ training runs where we would scale hills and make circuits around the territory he governed. Every time we passed a villager or nearby farmland, there were raised voices of greetings and happy, deferential smiles. Noblesse oblige was a term that was all but extinct in my world. Here, though, it held strong and it seemed the people under his domain was well-aware of that fact and celebrated Dias for it. In these exchanges, if we ever stopped by, I was seen as more of a mascot, but the villagers held keen eyes and hoped that I would follow my father¡¯s footsteps. From the ongoing conversations, the region had been enriched by my father¡¯s presence. He had substantially lowered taxes and undertook public works in order to improve agriculture after¡­ well, something to do with his family. The Primos used to be disliked. In fact, the deep-seated opinion of the older generation was that they were still distrustful of my father. Dias¡¯ father, Lord Ialis Primo, had pulled as much as he could from the land, pushing the villages and lands under his rule into starvation to fund a lavish lifestyle. Though this wasn¡¯t typical of local barons to push villages to such extremes, it was not unheard of during times of stress and war. With what I gleaned from fragments and snippets of local conversations, Ialis had taken advantage of the war with the neighbouring Kingdom of Lunae, which was often dubbed as ¡®the Kingdom of Darkness¡¯. He often claimed land and forced peasants and serfs to contribute to harsh taxes under the guise of lending assistance to the war. The Courts found nothing wrong with this. After all, he was contributing substantially more than usual. However, skimming from the top, funds quite often ended up in his coffers instead. It was said that Dias tried his hardest under the thumb of his father to help who he could, but without the means to rebel, he simply left, going on a journey. His father kept a watchful eye on him, but approved of his leaving. Without interference from his own family, he did as he pleased and wrenched more from the helpless citizens under his domain. Dias eventually returned after succeeding as a freelance mercenary turned adventurer turned drafted army grunt turned military officer, and eventually¡­ trusted aide to the Prince. He almost single-handedly fostered a new age. Several events happened in rapid succession after that. The King passed away. The Prince rose to the throne. Civil war broke out across the country. Dias¡¯ father joined the second Prince¡¯s faction. The country fell into a period of chaos and a miracle was born between Dias and his partner Lilanthe. They triumphed in a battle of over ten thousand men against their single unit of one hundred at Canter. Though less than twenty of the original unit remained, they were triumphant. Citizens described anyone a part of the battle ¡®Heroes of Canter¡¯. Although they were labelled the heroes of Canter, my parents would often wear a sad look when it was mentioned. A victory, my father had said once, but also a loss. Then Dias came back, ousted his own father from his own position, and reinvigorated his own region as the King bestowed upon him the title of baron. He, in the eyes of many people, became a hero, maybe even a living legend¡­ Well, according to whispered rumours I¡¯ve accidentally stumbled upon, that is. Still, there were fair few that also prospered during Ialis¡¯ reign. Dias had rooted most them out, but there were some sticking around. It appeared that Mariel¡¯s attacker was somehow connected to that. With the name of the Primos thrown into the mud, Dias worked hard to restore honour to that name. It was hard, but there was some progress. Still, there was buried resentment, no matter how well Dias tried to quell suspicions. It seemed like some of the populace were waiting with bated breath to see when Dias would snap and return to being like his father. Dias rarely paid such rumours notice, opting instead to keep an optimistic outlook and show the people his intentions through his actions. He, I surmised from just this, was an exceptionally good man. I learned all this during our daily jogs. Lately, I¡¯ve been told to carry a few small weights in a backpack. Even though I never complained about any of the training, my father saw the confusion in my eyes and explained: ¡°When you¡¯re out and travelling in the world, you have to carry your own armour, provisions, shelter and livelihood. You must learn to carry it yourself and not rely on a beast or monster to do it for you.¡± ¡°Beasts?¡± Dias grinned. ¡°Yes, sometimes, if you¡¯re lucky or wealthy enough you could own a horse or some of the more¡­ esoteric mounts like Chirps or Newts.¡± He laughed as he saw me pull a frown. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll get you one when you¡¯re older.¡± Chirps were big bird-like creatures that could be found more commonly in plains and swamps up in the north, whilst Newts were apparently lizard-like creatures that lived in volcanic or rocky terrain. Having seen different forms of xenobiology, these creatures didn¡¯t surprise me, but I did wonder about horses. After thousands of years of evolution, equines had changed in my present age, so I only knew what they looked like in old broadcasts and virtual realities. Of course, I had seen one when I boarded the carriage for the harvest festivals, but Dias and Lilanthe apparently owned their own steeds. I wouldn¡¯t get one until much later when I was old enough. We weren¡¯t wealthy enough to just buy me a smaller horse to practice on, but I was promised one when I was older. The thought excited me. After all, having an animal around was good company. I did keep a dog back when I had a wife, and although I initially was resistant, the little rascal grew on me. But, just like my wife, the dog passed away and the pain of losing both prevented me from reaching out and getting a new dog. ¡°Lord Primo!¡± A voice among the tall corn field called out to him and interrupted me, thankfully, from my dark thoughts. It was deep and rusty, kind of like the collective crackling of gravel rather than a deep baritone. I wondered what sort of chest and throat could make such a rich sound. ¡°Ah!¡± Dias veered off the path and gestured for me to follow him. I tripped and stumbled over a rock, but got to my feet as I caught up to Dias by the edge of the corn field. ¡°Jasper!¡± Dias exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. ¡°What brings you here?¡± He frowned at the corn. ¡°Why are you hiding in there?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ well¡­ you know the story¡­¡± Dias momentary confusion cleared as he grasped what Jasper was hinting at. ¡°Even with my pass?¡± ¡°Even so¡­ well, no matter, I see a young cub at your feet. Hello there!¡± I waved back at the corn, feeling a bit strange for doing so. I could grasp there was a shape in there, but the vegetation was so dense that I only caught some darkened eyes peering out. Since Dias wasn¡¯t on guard I didn¡¯t bother being cautious and stuck a little behind him and peered inquisitively. Jasper chuckled. ¡°This one has lively eyes!¡± He paused, then his tone turned serious. ¡°Dias, I came to tell you about the situation in Lunae.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t be on the move so soon?¡± ¡°Who knows? Although I am more welcome over there than here, it is a harsh environment to live in. I would not want a part of it, despite what it¡¯s like here. There is simple mistrust here against others, one can work with that. Those that hold contempt for their own kind¡­ well¡­ that can¡¯t be fixed so easily.¡± ¡°Jasper, are you in need of help?¡± Dias reached out into the corn field, but was only answered with hearty laughter as the figure stepped back. ¡°Dias, you must raise the little one well and join us when you have trained the young cub to be a strong, fearsome beast that doesn¡¯t yield to anyone! Then maybe, if you¡¯re not still too old, join me.¡± There was a slight pause. ¡°Darkness is growing again.¡± The last part made Dias falter slightly. He glanced back at me and then to the corn field. The mirthful chuckle came once more. ¡°Ah Dias, there is plenty to do here, think of this as but a visit from an old friend. I will see you in the plains.¡± ¡°I will see you in the plains,¡± Dias replied sombrely as the figure disappeared into the field with a rustle. ¡°Who was that?¡± I asked Dias. ¡°A good friend that is about to do something reckless,¡± Dias replied with a smile. But the smile did not reach his eyes. We immediately headed home after that. At the mansion, as we opened the door, Lilanthe was there, wringing her hands and glancing back behind us. ¡°I felt something familiar,¡± she said immediately as we entered. ¡°It was Jasper,¡± Dias replied and then bent down to me, giving my head a tussle. ¡°Rael, go along to your room with Eileen, okay?¡± I nodded and headed there. What was going on? _________ It seemed that Dias and Lilanthe were on high alert for the remainder of the week. We still trained, but we stuck close to the mansion. Dias was exceedingly vigilant, whilst my mother stuck to me like glue. When nothing in the week transpired, they started to relax slightly, but both were still cautious, not really letting me out of their sight. I took this time to read a bit more about the geography of this world. There were several countries surrounding ours and almost all of them were kingdoms. To the east was Lunae, a kingdom that bordered the sea. There wasn¡¯t much information other than the fact that ¡®beast-people¡¯ lived there. I wondered what that meant. To the north lay the rich, dense impenetrable forest of Aster, where a city filled with dubious beings such as ¡®fairies¡¯, ¡®elves¡¯ and ¡®forest-spirits¡¯ lived. I wasn¡¯t convinced there were intelligent beings other than humans¡­ but that was using the common sense of my universe. If I saw a sapient creature that wasn¡¯t human, I could no longer deny anything. I was probably not in the same universe and going back would be immeasurably difficult. I kept that thought in the back of my mind, though. Such things as losing one¡¯s determination for one¡¯s goal was detrimental to one¡¯s (mental) health. To the south was a volcanic wasteland that was apparently the site of a large-scale magical battle. The area was still active with latent spells and the equivalent of magical land and air ¡®mines¡¯, so it was dangerous to head into there. However, rumour has it that valuable equipment could be found there if one was foolhardy enough to risk their lives. To the west¡­ well there wasn¡¯t much about that area except a high and dangerous mountain range. There were whispers that a prosperous kingdom lay beyond that mountain range, but I couldn¡¯t find much information on it. Well, actually, some of the sources say there was a civilisation inside the mountain range, but that couldn¡¯t be true, could it? Honestly, the ability for me to accept things at face-value and not disregard some fantastical notions out of hand was growing greater by the day. I used to balk at this sort of thing in the past, but lately I¡¯ve started accepting some of the ¡®facts¡¯ of this land. If I didn¡¯t, I would have gone absolutely crazy. Anyway, pertaining to more local matters, my student was getting more proficient, whilst I was too. Hylia had shockingly mastered several more fire-related spells and I was somewhat glad for her, because she was fulfilling her own goals. I began to appreciate her silence in a philosophical kind of way and though we spoke, it was rarely about consequential things. It seemed there was some sort of unwritten rule that prevented Hylia from touching on magic. Like she was afraid that in doing so, it would summon my disapproval and she was receive a lecture or something along those lines. I wouldn¡¯t do that, but that was beside the point. She had already mastered the proficiency requirements to advance into being an Initiate. These rankings were apparently granted by Magi or Adepts via delegated appointment from the Spire. I wondered what the Spire was. It sounded like it was important to the magical practitioners here. To my knowledge, it was some sort of magical academy where it was easier to cast magical spells around. Something about being able to access a divine ¡®Gate¡¯ when someone was near enough. ¡°Ahem.¡± Hylia approached me for the first time in a long while and considered me for a few seconds before speaking. I was reading another book, but when she looked like she was ready, I put it down and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked. Hylia fidgeted a little and then, seeming to summon the courage, she spoke. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to go back to the Spire, today and complete my training.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± I commented dryly. ¡°Well, good luck with that.¡± ¡°I just want to say thank you for getting me this far, even though¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± I said mildly, ¡°but you have no obligation to me.¡± Hylia swallowed whatever she was about to say and angrily muttered something under her breath that I couldn¡¯t catch. She threw me a contemptuous glare and shrugged. ¡°Well, what do you know? I can learn new spells and I¡¯m qualified to move up from being an Initiate to being a fully-fledged Apprentice. If you¡¯re nice to me, I might introduce you to someone at the Spire.¡± ¡°Not interested,¡± I replied. My face was stone-like under her superior scrutiny. At least, not right now. I needed to gather a bit more intelligence. Besides, it looked like she didn¡¯t know that Mariel was Lilanthe¡¯s sister. If I needed a reference, it would probably be better to obtain one from Mariel instead of a partial fraudulent Apprentice like Hylia. I kept most of my thoughts to myself, though. She was a former student, after all. Hylia lifted her chin angrily at my remark, but then abruptly looked like she changed her mind and threw me a disdainful look instead. She looked like she considered me a lost cause, which was strange seeing as how I was the one that initially rejected her as a student. ¡°Don¡¯t bother continuing with magic, then. In the future I¡¯m going to be more powerful than you can ever imagine and you¡¯ll regret that attitude you have with me, whatever you are.¡± She probably still thought I was some sort of possessed creature. Well, seeing as I¡¯m sort of inhabiting this body and I¡¯m remembering something like a past life, I can¡¯t really disagree. She waited for my answer, but I found it too tiresome to respond, but she kept standing there until I set down the book and met her gaze. ¡°If you would like to do so, then that is your choice.¡± With that, Hylia left even more furious than ever. The next day, she was gone. Cancelled I made a few chapters in the coming months during my leave and I was never satisfied. I reworked and reworked this fiction countless times but couldn''t get it to the point where I felt it would work out. I think at some point I started resenting the story and couldn''t capture what I really thought was the core of my writing. There was a lot of ambition but execution was sorely lacking. In short, during my reflection, I found that the story was very subpar and I wasn''t able to get it to the point where I could be proud of it. As such I''ve made the decision right now to place this fiction as ''cancelled'' with the view that it is very unlikely for me to revisit this fiction.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I will try to develop another fiction and try to gain some more experience. After all, I do like writing! And I love that there were many, many readers who put in their support to follow this story. I really do apologise for raising expectations only to ruin them. I want to say sincerely sorry and though it''s taken me a long time to get to this point, I haven''t forgotten those who''ve supported the fiction up to the point that it reached now. I only wish that at least I can bring all the effort in the past year or so back into writing something new that all may enjoy. TLDR: It''s cancelled because I couldn''t fix it and I''m sorry.