Night had fully settled. The small hut in the middle of the village was quiet, except for the steady breathing of his grandmother, who lay asleep beside him in the bed.
The faint light of the moon barely illuminated the room, casting soft shadows across the earthen walls.
Adrian's eyes stayed wide open, staring at the ceiling. His heart still hadn't calmed from finally awakening his magic. He couldn't fall asleep—he was far too excited—but unfortunately, he had been dragged to bed by his grandmother, his ear still stinging from the tug.
Excitement and curiosity mixed together, pulling at him like someone was tugging at both his heart and his feet at the same time. He couldn't settle down.
He listened carefully to the rhythmic sound of his grandmother's breathing. She was deep asleep. Slowly, carefully, he tried to get off the bed. He looked at the bed itself—a wooden frame tied with hemp ropes in a tight mesh, topped with a mattress made of old fabric stitched together. He had built it himself, thinking of his grandmother's frailty and age.
He shifted slightly, pushing himself up. But before he could slip away, a hand settled firmly on his waist. His grandmother's warm, heavy hand pinned him in place.
Adrian froze. He held his breath, pretending to be asleep, waiting for her hand to move.
Minutes passed. It didn't move.
'Maybe if I wait a little longer'
a few more minutes passed but the hand still didn't budge .
He sighed softly, annoyance flashing across his face. He gave up on sneaking out. He turned his gaze back to the ceiling, trying to calm himself down enough to sleep.
But then his eyes caught the extinguished torch on the wall across the room.
An idea sparked.
'What if he tried to light it? Just like Bonnie had done with the candles.'and he didn't have to get up he could try it from here in bed.
His pulse quickened. He focused on it, lowering his voice to a near-silent whisper.
"Fire."
Nothing happened.
Maybe it's not how magic works in this world, he closes his eyes searching his memories on any explanation how magic works in this verse but nothing came up it's very inconsistent, sometimes spells , sometimes intent or hand movements and the spells he saw in the series are all just gibberish he couldn't understand neither in his previous life nor now.
The only thing that makes sense is expression magic which feels somewhat easy to do bypassing spells to some extent, what was it like making magic do what you want through your will or something? Let's try then.
He tried again, this time imagining fire bursting into life. Still nothing.
Adrian frowned. 'Okay… maybe it's not like that. Maybe it's about how you think.' He remembered how magic in Sometimes it was about intent, sometimes emotion.
He closed his eyes and thought about what fire was. Heat. Energy. Sparks turning into flames when things burned. He imagined friction, like sticks rubbing together, and tried to will the same heat into the torch.
Still Nothing.
Then I was frustrated, 'I was supposed to be the most talented magic user in this universe and I can't even light a torch on fire for crying out loud.'
Try some hand movements pointing hand towards the torch he tried to light it on fire but nothing happened still.
Next some dramatic stuff, thinking power loved big words. I mouthed something stupid — half prayer, half line from some play — and pushed with all I had.
"O fiercest of the five elements in nature, light upon thee!" he whispered with all the seriousness he could muster voice a little louder this time.
But nothing happened to the torch but the hand on my waist trembled a bit.
My chest thumped so hard I thought grandma would wake. I swallowed and forced myself quieter, afraid she'd wake up.
I held my breath. My cheek felt hot from shame more than effort. I had almost woken her. I stayed pinched still, heart thudding, until her hand relaxed a bit.
Until the only sound heard are of night crickets outside the hut.
He clenched his jaw. 'Okay, so that didn't work either. Maybe I should think like Bonnie… she just looked at candles and they lit. Maybe she just visualized it strongly enough.'
So Adrian pictured flames dancing on the torch. He imagined them crackling and spreading. He visualized smoke, the smell of burning wood, even the orange glow filling the room. He focused harder and harder until his head started aching.
Still nothing.
"Come on," he muttered under his breath. His mind raced. Maybe emotion is the trigger. Fire comes from anger, passion, frustration. I should feel it instead of thinking too much.
He closed his eyes and tried to stir something inside himself. Anger at being stuck in bed. Frustration at failing again and again. Excitement at having magic at all. He bundled all of it together, willing it into the torch.
Minutes dragged by.
As His eyelids dropped, exhaustion washing over him but he fought the exhaustion and continued one last time 'this time nothing just sheer will trying to force magic to do what he wants light it on fire' nothing happened this time either.
But before he could feed it with more focus he was exhausted mentally,
Adrian slumped back into the bed. His body felt heavy, like all the energy had been drained from him. He hadn't even managed a flame, so much for being the most talented to ever walk on this universe surpassing Silas , qetsiyah and hollow and Hope combined, did that godess lie to me?
But he denied that possibility, he awakened magic fully at just four year old maybe his awakening started much earlier just cause of adult soul my emotional fluctuations were not violent enough for magic to happen, which means I am very well a genius in magic worry about it later now in am exhausted' he came to conclusion.
As he drifted into sleep, the torch flickered faintly again—small, weak embers glowing just enough to cast a brief light in the dark room before fading completely.
Adrian slept soundly, unaware that tonight's failure was still proof of something important that he still need to to learn magic seriously.
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