"Father, inquisition family; Power! Sneaking in secretly and reading the forbidden… Regret. Fear, pain, fear. More fear. Jasmine… What happened to her? How much is real, how much is a dream? Am I hearing the power? Do I want to mature? Who are the infidels? My friend or my enemy. The angel spoke, my master advised. Is the book true but the angels liars? What is God, who is He? Betrayal, justice, faith. An adventurer on a journey veered off at a crossroads, right is family, left is truth. So, is family a lie? How old was Guren? Was life a lie? Making Father proud was a double-edged sword. So, should I follow the angel… or the devil? Thank you, Mother, thank you, Moses…"
I just stared at the ceiling. What had the angel said to me? I'm Guren, aren't I? I raised my hands toward the ceiling and grasped at the air. All my life, I took my father as an example, wanting to be the strongest to make him proud. If I become his enemy, what's left of me? I can't believe it! I can't believe this! I always thought I succeeded because I worked hard. What, so I'm smart because I'm not actually me? Who am I, then?
Thinking about these things gave me headaches. I cried silently. I cried silently within myself! I swear this will be my last time crying! I need to think. I need to think about what to do. That's what I've always done. But for some reason, I don't want to believe. I don't want pain again.
The door was gently knocked. Edna entered.
"Good morning, little sir!"
I had to act like nothing happened. I replied with a smile:
"Good morning, Edna!"
I got out of bed, changed my clothes. I had shaken off the exhaustion from yesterday's meeting with my teacher. After a quick shower, breakfast. Also, I should think about that city thing the angel mentioned. I wondered, am I thinking too much this morning? I feel like an adult. I hadn't seen Edward since I woke up. I asked Edna. She said he went to the city. Even though I'm six years old, I've never been to the city. I was always at home. Honestly, I never wanted to go outside. Dozens of strangers… Scary. My teachers always came to our house. I never went to school. Despite that, I had a friend—well, not exactly a friend. Edna's daughter, Beta. The so-called element I can ignore. She's seven, older than me. She hates me. I don't know why. If I ask, she doesn't answer. So, I just ignore her now. Last night, she almost caught me. When I got up from the dining table, my mother rushed to me in panic, saying, "My son, are you okay?" and kissed my forehead, reminding me of last night when, in fear, I threw that egg-shaped stone I found in the basement at the window. They must have thought there was a thief. When they learned nothing was stolen and everyone was fine, my mother's panic subsided. Edward had gone to report the incident to the police station. Apparently, no one realized it was me. I felt so relieved. I went outside to get some fresh air. This place was paradise. Why would I go out when I have a garden like this at home? Honestly, I'll keep reading Moses' book. But I'm not sure about trusting the angel. I won't go outside.
After sitting for a while, Kris came. He grinned and greeted me as he entered through the garden gate. His wrinkled face annoyed me. If the angel is telling the truth, I won't fight for my father. I mean, I don't need to get stronger to prove myself to him. I'll look to my own path. That way, I won't have to deal with this old man Kris either. I stuck out my tongue at him. He got angry right away and stormed over to me.
"Are you mocking your master?!"
"No way, what's that about, teacher?"
Kris swallowed his anger. "Let's start, then. First, let's begin with the two basic forms of magic."
He looked at the ground, then at the tree to his left. "This'll do." He plucked a leaf from the tree with his left hand. Handing it to me, he said, "Hold this." He extended his right hand to the ground and his left to the tree. "Listen carefully, kid! This is called Remutus!" A light breeze blew, and a piece broke off from the tree. The piece fell to the ground Kris was looking at. He clenched his open hands into fists. "Do you know how a chalkboard is made? We need a medium-density fiberboard. Everything in this world is explained by manatron balance, string movement, and electron movement! If you control mana, you can create anything you want." The wood started to burn, and then a liquid formed above the fire and poured over it. A big cloud of steam rose, and the wood, which should have turned to ash, took shape and became a chalkboard. Honestly, I was shocked. Could everyone do such things with magic? I clapped in amazement. Kris stood up and started talking. "Guren, can you give me back the leaf I gave you?" I did. He stared at it like an idiot. "Hmm? What was the formula for chalk again? Oh." He clapped his hands. "Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)!" He bent down and picked up a stone. He wrapped the leaf around the stone. While doing so, he chuckled, "Paper beats rock, right?" Such an old man! He pulled another stone from his pocket. Wait— that's a bone. He took a bone from his pocket and placed it in his palm too. Then he strained a bit, and the leaves in his hand caught fire. "This is called Diffusio, kid!" The leaves burned, and smoke rose. When the smoke cleared, the unburned stone in my master's hand had shaped into chalk. Kris winked. "Pretty cool, huh?" I shouted, "Super cool!" He laughed. Something came to mind. My face fell a bit. I asked Kris, "Why are you still teaching me even though I failed yesterday's exam?" Kris' goofy smile faded. "Guren, you passed that exam. The purpose of that exam was to prepare you and teach you the responsibility of weakness and strength."
I was shocked. And happy. I had passed… "I promise you'll never go through such trauma again."
I felt relieved. Two days ago, I would've sobbed uncontrollably. I'm serious!
We continued our lesson. Kris started explaining. "We're starting from the basics. We don't actually need this board or chalk. If you want, we can do the lesson in your mind. It'd be more permanent." That was dangerous for me. If the book and the angel's words were true, he might find something in my mind he shouldn't. I politely declined. The old man was disappointed but continued. "The Remutus I just did is a high-level spell. You can't do it easily. But with effort and hard work, it's possible. Creation spells like this are harder than pure combat spells. They require knowledge and experience. Magic starts with Diffusio." He wrote "Diffusio" on the board. He continued, "Magic is communicating with manatrons through mana. That way, you can heat electrons and change elements. So, at its core, there's only one spell: Fire magic. All spells, except Divanitas, stem from fire magic. Everything is energy. Energy is everything, don't forget that. If you give energy to an object and make it react with oxygen, it burns. That's the simplest. The next level is controlling manatron particles, not at the subatomic level but at the atomic level. They conduct mana perfectly and let you ignite gases in the air. If you master it enough, you can burn them too. But be careful with Nitrogen (7N). Mastering fire magic and its derivatives goes like this. The next stage is wind. Wind is created by pressure differences. To create a pressure difference, you need to control the environment's temperature. Then come earth, water, and later lightning spells. I'll explain their details later." I nodded with my hand in my pocket and replied, "Alright, I got the theoretical stuff! Now let me do some magic!" He calmly continued, "If you're that excited, fine!" He pulled a knife from his pocket. The knife looked very old. It was worn and rusted. "Look closely at this knife, Guren." He tried to cut his palm with it, but it was futile. The knife was dull. "See, Guren, this knife is dull; you couldn't even cut paper with it." He must have remembered his lame joke from earlier because he chuckled. He stopped laughing abruptly, and the knife suddenly glowed. He threw it at a rock nearby. The knife, which should have broken upon hitting the rock, shot straight through, shattering the rock, and lodged into the grassy ground. I was enchanted again. "This is the easiest thing you can do with magic. Now it's your turn!" He thrust the knife into my hand. I was confused. "How do I do it?" Kris replied, "Close your eyes and imagine a hole at the tips of your fingers. Then think of gripping the knife. Picture channels inside the knife. Let a liquid flow from the hole in your hand and spread evenly through the knife—" Guren's words were cut off. I opened my eyes in fear. The knife in my hand had turned orange. Kris was looking at me in shock. "What did you do?"