"Now that they're in bed, what do you think?" Kendra asked as she sat across from Pierre at the table.
"They're both incredibly talented. The boy, in particular, he was able to cast the flight spell." He said as he sipped the tea in front of him.
"The flight spell!?" Kendra said with surprise.
"Did you not teach it to him?" Pierre asked. Kendra shook her head.
"No, I just taught him the basic spells and a couple of intermediate-level ones." Kendra said.
"Did he figure it out himself?" Pierre asked. Kendra shrugged as she sank into her seat a bit.
"Maybe..." Kendra said. 'Was it real?' She wondered as she thought back to a memory from one night when John was out with friends.
She was half asleep at the time and barely opened her eyes while looking at the crib. After a moment, she saw something shocking, water floating above the crib, moving in time with Theodore's arms.
'I remember I just closed my eyes... I didn't believe it was possible, but it was so vivid...' She thought. "He's always been smart." Kendra said as she grabbed her cup of tea with both hands. "More importantly, every time he had seen magic, it was like he was analyzing it. Trying to figure out what it was. Even when he first saw it at the dinner table one night." Kendra said.
"He does have a calmer demeanor than most his age." Pierre added. Kendra nodded.
"I've never seen him cry." Kendra said. "I'm used to children that don't cry often... But not at all? It worried me at first, but I found that it was fine after a while..." Kendra said. "He's a strange child, but he's a good boy." Kendra said with a gentle smile.
"Well, that aside, have you told them about the ranks of magic?" Pierre asked. Kendra shook her head. "I'll preface my lesson with that then." He said as he finished his tea. "Thank you, Kendra. Have a good night." He stated as he stood up. She nodded a bit.
"Alright, Theo, you ready?" John asked as he picked up his wooden sword. Theo picked up his wooden sword and looked at John unconfidantly.
"No, but does it matter?" He asked. John chuckled.
"Come on, I'll go easy." He said.
"Good luck!" Sydney said as she walked out of the house to watch.
'I'd hope so. I'm two.' Theo thought as he positioned himself across from John. Quickly, John began using a few easy-to-block strikes. Theo managed to block them, though barely since he's a bit slow due to lack of muscle. 'It'd be cool if I found a way to do magic without the light...' He thought to himself as he continued to defend.
"Come on, counter!" John said.
"How am I supposed to do that!?" Theo mumbled to himself as he looked for an opportunity to strike, but couldn't find one. After around an hour of that, John got some water for them and sat in the grass with Theo.
"You're thinking too much. You can't do that in a fight." He said.
"I don't know how not to think..." Theo said lightly with a sigh as he put his elbow on his knee and his face in his palm.
"You'll figure it out. It's not exactly something that can be taught, it needs to be learned. You'll understand as you continue sparring." John said.
"That seems so abstract!" Theo complained as he laid down in the grass and looked at the sky.
"As I said, you'll figure it out, it'll just take some time." John said. "That aside, I think your tutor would like to start your lesson." John said. Theo glanced over at the door and saw Pierre waiting.
"Alright." Theo said as he sat up.
"He's all yours, Pierre." John said as he stood up. Pierre nodded. Once everything was prepared, they sat outside just the same as the first time.
"Alright, I'll start by explaining the levels of magic." Pierre said, then cleared his throat. "There are three categories with three levels in each category. The first category is called Wizard. In the Wizard category are the low, intermediate, and high-level spells. Any practitioner that cannot cast above high-level spells is considered a Wizard." He explained.
"So we are considered Wizards, right!?" Sydney asked with a hyper tone. Pierre nodded.
"That is correct." He said. "The second category is called Mage. That's what I am. The Mage category contains the Elite, Master, and Grandmaster level spells. Any practitioner that can cast, at most Grandmaster spells and at least Elite level spells is considered a Mage." Pierre explained.
"What's the most you can cast?" Theo asked.
"I am a Master level Mage, which means I can, at most, cast Master level spells." Pierre said.
"So, that makes us intermediate-level wizards, right?" Theo asked.
"If intermediate is the highest you can go, yes." Pierre stated. 'Of course, Theo, my student, you can do at least high-level spells, so I'd say you are at least a High Wizard.' Pierre thought.
"Whoa! We're cool!" Sydney said happily. Pierre chuckled.
"Continuing, we have the Sorcerer category. This is the highest known category." Pierre said.
"Known?" Theo asked.
"Yes, it is theorized that ancient magic-users used spells beyond our comprehension, there are even myths of magic-users using chantless spells, but nobody has heard of anything of the sort for a long time." Pierre explained.
'So I'm not an isolated case. I'm curious as to why nobody uses it then... Perhaps they became to dependant on chants?' Theo thought.
"In the Sorcerer category, we have the Saint, Sage, and Special level spells. We, in the caster community like to call it the Triple S." Pierre said. Theo chuckled slightly while Sydney seemed captivated by what Pierre was saying.
"I wanna be a triple S!" Sydney said excitedly.
"Well, if you continue learning, perhaps you will!" Pierre said. "Now, for the types of magic." Pierre said. "There are spells, magic circles, runic magic, and ritual magics." Pierre explained. "The most common types are spells, then magic circle, then runic, then ritual." He continued.
"So many!" Sydney said. Pierre nodded.
"All magic types have two variants, attack, and support. Attack magic is magic that is meant to harm others while support magic is everything else." Pierre explained. "Now, spells are chanted magics. Things like the phoenix flame spell. Magic circles are drawn diagrams that have particular sets of effects. Runes are a written language of magic, it's used to enchant objects and buildings. Lastly, ritual magic is most commonly used to invoke the power of gods, but can also be used for other things." Pierre finished.