After the end of the match, Dad and Marcus were unscathed, so the question was: who won?
"It was an amazing fight, Your Majesty. It's been a long time since I last had such a good training match." said Marcus, breaking the silence.
"Indeed. I am as satisfied as you are. I won't be present tomorrow, so we shall meet some other day. I will come and check on Domi's progress from time to time. Now then, Domi, let's go. We have to be on time for dinner, otherwise Mum will be furious. Goodbye, Marcus." Dad replied while heading to exit.
"Okay, Dad. I am coming! Goodbye, Marcus, thank you for today's training! See you tomorrow!" I nearly shouted to Marcus while running to my Dad.
"Goodbye, Milord. Goodbye, Young Master. See you tomorrow."
While we were walking upstairs, there was silence for some time, when Dad asked me: "So what do you think? About your fight, about my fight, about Marcus and the training overall."
"Hmm, it's hard to say. I am still a little bit confused about everything. But I really like it! Even though I passed out in my fight, I do not remember anything and the whole fight is a bit blurry in my memory as well for some reason and yet I remember the feeling from the fight. And I want to train more with Marcus to become as strong as you!" I replied saying everything I had in my head.
"That's good. I am relieved that you liked it. And do you have any thought about my fight with Marcus?" Dad curiously asked.
"About your fight, hmm… I… didn't understand anything at all. But I know that both of you are very strong. That's why I want to train!" I answered with all of my honesty.
"Hahaha, I like your honest answer, Domi! Indeed, if you train hard, you will be as strong as I am. But by that time, I will become even stronger!"
"S-so I will train twice as much!"
"I like your spirit. Let's make haste or we will be late."
"Yes, Dad. Let's hurry up."
…
When we finally made it to the dining hall, judging by my Dad's face we were feeling the same. Both Dad and I had a bad feeling about this.
Servants opened big double door and we entered. Mum was already sitting at the table on her usual place but she looked … quite angry.
"*Dad, I think we are probably a bit late, for why else would Mum be angry?*" I whispered, uncertainty was clearly heard in my voice. I was a bit scared, seeing my Mum in this state.
"Yeah, it seems we are indeed late…" Dad replied with the same tone.
It wasn't long before she noticed us. When she did, she instantly hid her scary aura, stood up and went to us. She didn't say a word, she silently came up to us, or so I thought. She rushed to … me.
She came on her knees and tightly hugged me. To say I was confused would be an understatement. Lost, I looked at my Dad: he was calm, as if he knew what was going on. His face expression looked like he was guilty of something. And I felt my Mum's nervousness. So, there was clearly something going on that I had no idea about.
Curious and confused I asked: "Mum, Dad, what's going on? Can you tell me? I am confused."
After a few seconds my Dad told: "It's nothing, Domi. It shouldn't concern you. Everything is good."
" 'It's nothing'? Can you imagine how worried I was, William? Can you really say 'it' is nothing?" with no time Mum replied to my Dad's words with both anger and tremor of worrying.
"Cecil, let's talk about this later. It's an important matter and I am extremely sorry about this! I was worried as much as you were and you know it." Dad said sincerely.
After a few more seconds, Mum finally replied: "Yes, you are right, Liam. I overdid it a bit. Sorry."
"No, you didn't overdo it. It is solely my mistake. And I want to make up for it somehow." Dad said with determination in his voice to make up for this mistake. Which I still don't know.
Then he continued: "Anyway, let us go to the table. Dinner should be about to be served. It was a long day with lots of events and I am starving."
"Yes, I am very hungry as well. And Mum, I still don't understand what happened but I am fine, you can let me go now. Let's go to the table!" I said finally being able to move my hands. I hugged my Mum as well and after a few seconds she stood up and we came to the table.
After this situation everything was as always, we had a wonderful dinner and had a great time together. Then, I went to my room to get changed and waited for my bath to get ready. Next, I had a bath and went to bed right after.
This was an amazing day. I am looking forward to what is going to be tomorrow!
Cecilia's POV.
After Domi went to bed, I was getting ready to sleep as well, except for one thing. I had to have an important conversation with Liam. Finally, he came to our room. Big decorated doors opened and he entered.
With no hesitation I started: "So, I want to hear what happened today on the training grounds. Why I felt that our son lost his consciousness?"
"It was a training match between him and Marcus. Domi's ————— started to awaken and scared Marcus. Because he lowered his guard too much and his instincts made a move before him. But I healed all of Domi's injuries and will punish Marcus for this. Was it not Marcus, I would have killed anybody in such situation right that instant." he told me, sitting on a soft, exquisite chair in front of me across small table and drinking tea.
I took a sip of the tea as well and then replied: "That makes sense. And, I guess, there is no one to blame. *Sigh* I was so worried, first few moments I thought about coming there but I sensed your presence and calmed a bit."
"Yeah, I can imagine. I was there and could do only that little. It's good that Domi doesn't remember anything related to this matter."
"He does not?! That's a relief." I felt like something heavy was lifted from my shoulders after this conversation. It was a really stressful day for everyone.
"Yeah, a relief it is indeed. As I said before, Marcus will be punished and this situation won't repeat ever again. Marcus has learned his lesson as well already. Also, I soon will teach Domi magic, that will protect him from most dangers."
"So that's what you plan. I agree. I will help him with magic as well, especially if he will inherit mine. Okay, let's call it a day and go to sleep. I am exhausted."
"Okay. And one more thing… about my apology for that situation, what do you want?"
…
Dominique's POV.
Next morning was just as always. I woke up, got dressed, went to the bathroom to wash up my face and brush my teeth. Then, I headed to the dining hall for breakfast.
There I met my parents; we ate and I went to study. After the lunch I had my training with Marcus. Today he explained me some basics and proper stances. Marcus also suggested that I should learn the same fighting style as my Dad as the first one, because he saw some similarities in our moves based on yesterday's match.
Fortunately, Marcus himself had the same main style as well, so it's all good. And I can now also read about this style in a book that I took in the library.
After training I had dinner, then bath and went to bed. That was all for the day, as well as the next, and the day after that, and the whole week. Nothing special happened whatsoever.
When the next week started though, my dad cancelled my training session with Marcus and took me to our garden. We went through a hidden path to a small lawn surrounded by trees with one in the middle.
"Wow! I never thought we had a place like this. It's so quiet and peaceful!" I said still gazing everywhere. When I stepped here, I felt as if nothing in this word can disturb my calmness. I felt really at peace here.
"Indeed, this is a hidden gem of our garden. Only a few know about this place and nobody will disturb you there, so you can come here to relax and it will be very useful for you starting of today."
Confused by his words I asked: "But what is it that we are going to do here today, Dad?"
"Sit down, Domi. Sit comfortably in meditation pose, you know it, right?"
"Of course, I do! This pose is often used to refine one's inner mana… wait, does this mean we will be learning magic?! Really?!" I asked very curiously, my eyes were shining and smile as wide as it could be.
Despite my impatience and curiosity, Dad replied calmly and without haste: "You're right. Today you will start learning magic or start gathering mana to be more precise."
"Gathering mana? You mean that ancient way to awaken?"
"Yes. Are you sceptical of it because it is ancient? Don't worry, the time only proved it's efficiency and there is one more reason you will use it."
"If you say so, then I have no doubts about it. But what is another reason for that?"
"That's because your mana is sealed, so it won't awaken by itself for another decade at least, if not more."
"Eh?! But why would you seal it?!"
"Don't be so afraid, it is but another tradition of our family. It serves for your bright future. The seal only prevents from early awakening, protecting you as a child from harming yourself and accumulates more mana inside you to have bigger mana capacity."
"Huh. It's quite a relief, don't scare me anymore, Dad, please!"
"Haha, yeah, sorry. Next time I will explain everything from the start. But one more thing: the seal can and should be broken. It's is an old custom as well. Your mana capacity will still be much bigger and you are old enough to not harm yourself now."
"I understand. So, what should I do?" I asked as seriously as ever.
"Okay, I like that spirit of yours!" Dad said with a smile on his face and continued: "Firstly, sit in meditation pose as you are and close your eyes. Then relax your body and concentrate on feeling your surroundings. As you relax and start feeling what is around, you should start to feel tiny fluctuations everywhere. At first it might be only something far and unclear with a variety of colours but as you meditate more you will see it more clearly. I will give you some time to see it first."
Then, Dad went silent for a few minutes. As he said, I can feel fluctuations everywhere around me, in every bit of space with different sizes, colours and activity. Also, I could sense the very big dark spot in front of me. When I concentrated more, I got a bit scared at first, feeling it's power and how the space around this spot is curved, only after a few seconds did I realise it was none other than my own Dad. That showed how powerful he is.
After some time of practicing, I broke the silence: "I can feel it a bit more clearly now. I think in a few days of constant practice I will be able to clearly see everything."
"That's good, but I never said that you should practice to only feel it. Next step for you is to attract this mana that you feel and collect it inside yourself. And remember, your mana core is in your heart and at first mana flows with your blood throughout your body, so collect mana there. Well, that's all for today. I have a ton of work to do and you have yours."
"Eehh?! You are already going? Dad, stay and help me! What if something goes off?" I feared of ruining something or even worse.
"Haha, don't worry too much. I believe in you, you are a smart and capable kid, who proved it time after time, Domi. Believe in yourself more. And don't forget about trainings with Marcus. Bye." And then he left, leaving me with myself to train now in magic.
"Huh… I guess I have nothing else but to train even harder starting today. But, Dad, you are such a bad guy. I don't want to be left alone so soon!" I said out loud, knowing no one will hear me. Yet a drop of sadness appeared in my heart.
Anyway, I continued to meditate for the rest of the day. I succeeded in collecting my first few mana particles, as I called them. At the dawn I returned home, had a dinner, took a bath and, exhausted, I immediately fell asleep.
I have never thought that meditating would be so tiring. The next few weeks were the same. I studied, then trained with Marcus, at my free time, which I had plenty, I meditated. Sometimes in the hidden lawn and more often in my room.
One thing I soon realised was that the amount of mana particles at the lawn was much higher than that in my room. So, I tried to go to the lawn as often as it was possible.
…
Time flew by, about a month has already passed after I started my intense everyday meditation. I has successfully learned how to collect mana particles easily and now it was like a game "collect as many as possible before they will recover" and I was never able to collect them all. They recovered too fast.
Anyway, I like how it isn't tiring at all for me now. I can do it all day and will still have strength to train with Marcus. With this pace I am sure I will be able to…
I wasn't even able to finish my thought when suddenly something happened. I felt like something unlocked in my chest, it was very warm. I felt like my body was light as a feather. I didn't understand what has happened. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was levitating a bit, or was it the ground curved around me? After a few second, I understood that it was small aura explosion of pure mana from my body. It meant only one thing – I finally did it, I awakened!
To be continued…