I gathered my strength, stood up, extinguished the purple flames, and walked back into the room as if nothing had happened. The soldiers were still staring blankly at the spot I had just been, like bugged out NPCs. Without saying a word, I returned to my room.
Mnex, did you see that? That was amazing! I looked like a charismatic anti hero, didn't I? Oh man, I knew those purple flames would be awesome. I can already imagine...
BAM!
That scene felt oddly familiar. When Grandpa first set up the military camp, he used to burst into my room just like that. He hadn't done it in a long time, but I guess the soldiers had reported what just happened. Strangely, Grandpa hadn't returned to his own estate since arriving. Maybe he decided to stay here because of the winter.
He stood before me, eyes scanning me from head to toe.
"Henry!" he roared.
Instinctively, I snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!"
"What happened?!"
I looked like a mess. My clothes had been soaked, dried, and partially burned. Some parts were even scorched through.
Noticing the burns and holes just then, I gave a sheepish smile.
"Ah! An idea came to me… I tried it out. That's why I look like this."
Grandpa took a deep breath and pressed his fingers to his temples.
"Henry… I know experimenting with new spells in your mental world is fun, but you shouldn't be doing dangerous things alone. Actually, from now on, you should inform me whenever you're about to try something new."
"I'll be more careful from now on, sir." I gave a soldier's nod at the end of my sentence.
"You were experimenting with fire magic, weren't you? Tell me, what did you do? Did it work?"
"Yes, sir," I said, and snapped my fingers to summon the purple flame at my fingertip.
His eyes widened.
"But... this is purple?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah… Isn't it beautiful?" I replied, admiring the flame.
At that moment, my mother entered the room carrying Roderic. I quickly dispelled the flame and hid my hands behind my back.
"Henry?" she said, face full of concern. "I just heard, what happened to you?"
She rushed over, hugging me with one arm while still holding Roderic in the other.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Don't worry. Actually... I feel great," I said with a smile.
Then Grandpa cut in.
"How? How did you do this? I've seen blue before, but this... I've never even heard of purple."
Mom looked at him, trying to understand what was going on.
"Well..." I said, trying to recall the information Mnex had given me. Normally, Mnex would jump in at this point and give me an encyclopedic explanation, but right now, it was strangely silent.
"The color of fire changes with temperature. Red is the coolest, then orange, yellow, blue, and finally... purple."
Grandpa was still in shock.
"But how did you raise the temperature that high? Even expert fire mages haven't achieved that."
"That was the tricky part," I said, holding out my hands again.
"First, I discovered water magic." A small orb of water floated above my left palm.
"Then I turned it into ice." A crystal of ice shimmered above my right hand.
Grandpa's jaw dropped. Mom nearly dropped Roderic.
"Then I used both elements together. I trapped fire inside the ice and water. I fed the flame with the energy from the water. Just before the fire could die out, I dispelled the water and ice, using the stored energy to ignite the flame harder and raise the temperature." I dismissed the other elements and reignited the purple flame.
Mom sat at the edge of the bed, stunned. They both were.
"What?" I finally asked, unable to take the silence.
"Henry…" Grandpa murmured, more to himself than to me. His eyes were out of focus.
"Normally, learning even a single spell takes years. And reaching mastery over it takes even longer." He paused, then looked directly at me.
"You... you've not only learned water magic, but you've mastered it."
I frowned.
"Wait… most mages only master one element?"
"No, Henry. Magic isn't just about elements," he said, then hesitated again.
"But... you're only four. I haven't even taught you half of what you need to know."
I looked at my mom, then back at Grandpa. Roderic was sitting on the bed, reaching out to me with his tiny hands and giggling.
"So? What's the big deal?"
Mom spoke next. Her voice was hollow, almost robotic.
"I'm not a mage, but this is common knowledge. If a mage can bring any one of their spells to mastery, they're considered a master mage. And you… have two."
Grandpa nodded in agreement.
"Learning new spells is possible with enough knowledge and imagination. But mastering them... that's an entirely different level."
"So I'm… I'm a master mage now?" I asked, still stunned.
Mom nodded gently.
"I guess so, sweetheart."
I didn't know how much time had passed in my mental world, but the joy I felt now made everything worth it. I was only four years old… and I'd already become a master mage.
That's when it hit me.
"What other types of magic are there?" I asked. I had never thought to ask before. Everything I'd learned was from what Grandpa had shown me, not explained.
Mom was still dazed.
"Your Uncle Philip is a specialist in agricultural magic. But I think he also knows runes and healing magic."
Grandpa picked up from there.
"Yes. Magic is generally divided into a few categories, agriculture, alchemy, runes and crafting, offense/defense, and healing. Elemental magic usually falls under offense and defense."
He paused, thinking.
"I didn't learn magic systematically like your uncle Philip. I was trained in the old way, master and apprentice, more eastern in style. While elements are the foundation for most magic, each category has its own intricacies."
He shrugged slightly.
"And these parts... I can't teach you myself."
Damn it, Mnex. Where are you?!
So much new information was flying around, and I had no idea what most of it meant. But Mnex… was still silent. Like it had vanished.
"Now, get some rest," Grandpa said, his voice a mix of firmness and warmth.
"Recharge your mana. Maybe tomorrow... you can show me what else those purple flames can do."
He turned to Mom.
"Come, Adelaine. Let's give Henry some space to rest."
He picked up Roderic and took Mom's arm as they left the room.
She was still murmuring to herself,
"My son… a master mage…"
Once the door closed, I stood in silence again. I was still trying to process everything, but that one phrase kept flashing in my head like a warning sign,
Master mage.
Had I really become one?
Joy spread through my chest like wildfire. I couldn't help myself anymore.
"Woooohooo!"
If Rocky's theme had started playing, it would've been perfect. I jumped in place, flailing and dancing like a total idiot.
"I'm OP! I'm OP!" I shouted, twerking and hopping like an uncoordinated squirrel.
That's when I noticed...
The door was open.
Gareth and Isolde were standing there, watching me.
I froze mid dance. Clothes disheveled, hair messy, mid twerk. Isolde hid her face behind Gareth's back, trying to muffle her laughter with a "pfft." Gareth was beet red, cheeks puffed, barely holding in a grin.
Across both my lives, I had never been this embarrassed.
"ARRRGHHH! What?! What do you want, huh?! Wanna get roasted by purple flames?!" I yelled.
Gareth turned pale instantly. But Isolde... lost it. She burst out laughing. Gareth finally cracked and joined her.
It was the first time I saw them like this, so relaxed, so real.
And honestly?
It wasn't that bad.
They were finally being themselves in front of me.
So… I decided not to roast them. Not this time.
Blushing, I sat on the edge of my bed and pulled the blanket over my head like a war hero surrendering to shame.
"What's going on? What did I miss? Why are they laughing?" Mnex chimed in like nothing had happened.
Ugh. Not now. I was dancing like an idiot from happiness and didn't notice the door was open. They probably found it hilarious, alright?
"What?! Damn it! How did I miss that?! Now I have to manually extract this memory and archive it."
No. You absolutely will not. And where the hell were you anyway?
"Oh I'm doing it. In fact, if you annoy me further, I'll replay that dance in your dreams, slow motion, with terrible 80s music."
MNEX! That is never happening. Now spill it, where were you?
"Oh right… Something incredibly interesting caught my attention. I lost track of time. Totally worth it."
Gareth and Isolde had mostly pulled themselves together by now. Gareth stepped forward and bowed.
"Young Lord…" he said with a 90 degree bow. "Forgive us. When we heard the scream, we entered without knocking. We brought you some fresh clothes, but… then we saw…"
He couldn't continue. His smile gave him away.
"It's fine," I muttered quickly, eager to deflect. I was still thinking about Mnex.
As they helped me get changed, I returned to the voice in my head.
Alright, spill it. I'm dying of curiosity here.
"Haha. You really want to know, huh? Well then… you'd better get ready."
"You should head back into your mental world. You're not going to believe what's waiting for you there."