The room fell silent. "Mister Marius, while it is true that the seasonal compass is the lowest rung of magical artifacts-
Alice glanced at her child and cleared her throat.
"How could my child drain the mana from a stable spell formula, one crafted by accomplished artisans?"
Marius crossed his hands. Pushing his glasses up, he replied, "First of all, the seasonal compass is indeed barely a magical artifact, thus mass-produced, not handcrafted. Secondly, I think is quite clear from this event what your child suffers from."
When it came to magic, no one dared throw out stipulations. Marius sighed and said, "Your son has an excess of mana – not just an excess, but an absolute gargantuan amount of it for his age. He drains the mana from the air so fast and effectively he can break a simple spell formula."
Turning around to the bedridden Emilia, the doctor crossed her with a displeased glance and said, "You need to work on your spellcasting skills. It is shameful a toddler was able to cripple your magic."
Emilia tilted her head down from shame, biting her lower lip.
As for Alice, she struggled to comprehend this flood of information – as evidenced by her reverie and gazing eyes. Nonetheless, Victor's magical this or magical that wasn't her priority. His health was.
"Doctor, how can we bring my son's fever down then?"
In response, Marius furrowed his brows. Furrowing eyebrows. Twitching eyes. Clicking his tongue he said, "There's no way to cure this, I don't think you'd even want to do that-
"I want to do that if this harms my son."
"How then? Do you have a priceless mana-draining artifact on hand? Lady, it's the middle of winter. Unless your toddler can cast spells to consume his own mana, there is not much we can do but reduce his symptoms."
Alice leaned on the mattress and took her child into a light embrace. Helpless to help him, she turned her head towards the doctor, "Let's do that, Doctor."
"Again, it's the middle of winter. I didn't prepare for the event someone would visit me in this weather – I don't have the medicine on hand, nor are there any fresh herbs in this frost to make them. I loathe to say it, but bring down his fever the old way with cold water and pray for the best."
"I loathe to hear it too, Doctor. I didn't know…medical professionals were this useless!" Alice brought down her fist on the bedside cabinet.
Marius turned away.
Emilia, on the other hand, breathed deeply and said, "My lady, I think this is beyond the doctor."
"I wish to see no child die, I'm no heartless man. Leave the woman shout all she wants, for she fears the worst."
Marius tightened his fists and concealed them inside of his coat.
"Doctor? If he can cast magic, he would be able to drain his mana, wouldn't he?"
The doctor eyed Emilia. In his eyes were sheer astonishment and surprise at such an inquiry. "Are you implying a toddler can cast magic?"
"My son can speak! He can read! Soon, he'll be able to write, and I'll send him to a magical academy! If today, he leaves me because you did nothing, I'll…I'll…" Alice glared at the doctor.
A squeak came from the door.
"A magical academy? Hmm, I see. Miss, are you confident you can get the toddler to cast magic in a few minutes?"
Emilia nodded frantically, "Doctor, I'm surprised myself sometimes, but the Young Sir is a genius. I planned on teaching him magic soon. My duties aside, I'll admit it's tragic to lose a potential prodigy."
"Maria. Be a dear – can you bring me the spellbook in my study?"
The doctor's attendant nodded and left the room. The sound of little, running footsteps could be heard as the attendant reached the door.
…
Soon enough, she came back with a thick leather book in her hands. It was the same book Alice planned to teach her son with.
Then, Marius flipped the pages open. Stumbling on the first page, he said, "The light spell is the easiest spell in the book. I'll forcefully wake him up with medicine. Miss, will you manage? And, Lady, if you'd move a bit: we're going to save your child."
With a nod from Emilia, Alice reluctantly budged away from Victor.
The doctor retrieved a glass gourd from his cabinet and opened the toddler's mouth. "Be ready."
…
Forced into wakefulness, Victor opened his eyes. Feeling every nook and cranny of the fever and the weakness in his body, he tried to sleep again. He couldn't.
"Young Sir."
"Young Sir."
The blurry mess that was his vision suddenly focused as a tall silhouette dawned on him. It was Emilia, his attendant.
'What's going on?'
"Young sir. Can you imagine this in your head?" Now, the pages of a book occupied his field of vision.
With jet-black ink, a simple sigil took up the page. Composed of a circle and a number of triangles arching around it, Victor thought it resembled a rudimentary drawing of the sun.
'She asked me something.'
Picturing the sigil in his head, he moved his lips, "Y-yesh. I think."
'I want to sleep. It hurts. It hurts so fucking much.'
"Good, good. We're doing magic here. Remember, you wanted to try magic. Say after me. Here I'll extend your hands for you."
'Magic? Can I, do it?'
No, he couldn't. He was a toddler, no longer the hero of Occidia.
"Creo Lux Ex Obscurum."
It didn't hurt to try, did it?
"Creo Luksh Eksh Obshcurum…"
"Miss, if he can't pronounce the chant correctly, it won't happen. Give it up, a toddler can't cast magic."
As soon as he spoke, Marius was pushed aside by a resounding force. Alice eyed him, "Don't tell me what my child can or cannot do."
"Victor. My son."
Victor stared at his mother. 'She's so beautiful – I hope I received some of her good genes.'
Brown eyes peered over him, while stray locks of black hair concealed the rest of his vision, leaving only his mother.
"Repeat what you said. Try to pronounce the 's', as hard as it is. A lot will be hard in your life, but you have to bear with that pain to escape your condition, to escape weakness, to escape your chrysalis."
"That's it. Say the 's' like chrysalis. And keep the sigil in your mind, my son."
Victor felt like he nodded, but he couldn't be sure. Constricting his throat as hard as he could, he tried again.
It wasn't as hard to bear with the striking tear in his vocal cords since he was in pain already. "Creo Lux Ex Obscurum."
The warm finger of his mother extended his small hands outwards.
Squinting her eyes, Alice stepped back. Everyone in the room turned towards Victor and gasped. It was as if the God of the Golden Months, Victor, Himself descended upon them on this freezing winter night. An orb of light shone inside.
"Incredible."
A small silhouette opened the door and also entered to witness this feat. For a total of seventy seconds, the light of day returned.
When the orb dissipated into fickle sparkles, everyone remained still and silent. A short figure stood up from the pile of blankets. Wheat-like complexion and glowing brown eyes, Victor eyed the room.
Meanwhile, the room and its occupants eyed Victor.
"Magic: a might of man meant to measure to the morals of the gods and mash away the malevolent. This is what our masters meant! A mere mortal mustering the momentum of miracle to amaze the macrocosmos. A mere man so unlike his mundane peers he pierces the stars and makes heaven and earth meet!" Marius convulsed, exclaiming like a lunatic.
Alice jumped on her son, hugging him tightly, "Who's that? Humboldi?"
Marius, still stunned, replied, "No. Theomachus, father of magic. I believe this is what he meant when he pronounced that quote a millennium ago."
Victor tried to speak, but no words left his mouth. Drowning in a sense of achievement, he realized he had cast his first spell.
"Is that your daughter, Doctor? She's beautiful."
A short girl stood shyly in the corner of the room. She had very light features; Light blond hair, light skin, light green eyes, and light eyelashes and eyebrows.
"Isn't she? Benedicta, that's what magic is. You always asked me."
The girl scanned everyone in the room before running toward her father. She clutched his legs and whispered, "Can I do that too, dad?"
Marius suddenly scratched his eyes. Not being able to hide his oncoming tears, he laughed and stated, "Four years ago, my wife gave birth to this angel right here. She delivered ten days before winter."
He looked at Alice and her son – seeming happy.
"My wife is no longer with us and my child is, well, an Albian. I apologize I blamed you earlier, Lady, for I only remembered my own failings as a husband."
Alice scratched her face. She had a comatose husband, so she knew how to react. Showing no pity or unbound sadness at this, she said, "My condolences to you."
Marius crouched and chuckled through the tears, "My angel, you cannot do magic – but you can do so much more."
Soon enough, the Agosto household left the doctor's estate, refusing to stay longer as the man suggested.
"When the hero made use of his first magic, destiny dealt her cards. As they say – destiny always deals the best cards. This event, a manifestation of his future might, is so paramount, so important, and of such an eclipse to any other; that then it is only right to pass the mundane winter into the first day of Germinal, when Osmanthus flowers bloom and the hero meets the herald of his House." Didiet Erasmus, Searching for the Lost Times of Victor Agosto, Volume 1