Tim took a clear look at the perpetrator, who looked a little scared, yet not so guilty of her doings.
"Adel?" Tim recognized his sister from the memory flashbacks, how he spent hours after hours with this blonde sly fox at their younger ages.
Beside her stood two attendants with frightened looks in their eyes. They were visibly shaking for some reason, unknown to Tim.
"Miss Adel, you must not use those spells in close proximity areas like gardens. It can seriously injure someone." Spoke an old man, probably in his sixties, raising his tone a little. He wore the same black full metal armor, covering from head to toe, lowering his sword.
'What kind of contraption is that…?' It was the first thought that passed through Tim's mind as he looked at the man named Mac, a personal knight of the duke. His shining armor attracted Tim's attention the most.
Tim could not wrap his head around as to how this metal armor manifested within seconds out of nowhere. Was it too advanced nano tech or what?
"I am Sorry Sir. It was a mistake. It will not happen again." Adel's blue oceanic eyes glinted as she smiled gently.
"Good. As long as you understand." The Old man nodded, sheathing his blade back into its scabbard. And soon his armor too dissipated into nothing, followed by the same yellowish hue but lighter.
"Now Leon, are you ok…" The knight added shifting his attention to Leon, who was gawking at him for far too long.
"…"
Getting no response from the Lord, Mac asked again waving his hand which brought Tim back to his senses. "You, okay?"
"Yes…. Yes. I am fine." Tim awkwardly dusted the dirt off his face and clothes. "Where did your armor go by the way?"
"My armor?" Mac frowned a little, hearing Leon's words. He could not understand why this guy was asking about his armor when he should be worried about his own injuries.
"Yes. It just disappeared." Tim ' sparkled with curiosity as an excited smile appeared on his face. "Is it nano tech? Or some kind of flexible leather? Or an invisible plate? Man, that reaction time was amazing. How did you guys' even program it?"
"Calm down Leon, you are talking too much nonsense." Mac sighed resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I don't know what you are talking about but it is not nano or whatever that is."
"Then what is it?"
"It is Eviron."
"Eviron? What is that?"
"It is the metal used for making armors which uses mana to integrate and disintegrate itself." Answered the old knight in a firm tone.
"So, you wear that armor made of this metal and control it using what? Is there something integrated in your CNS to help you?" Tim could not comprehend this muddle he was hearing. It was the first time for a mad scientist like Tim to know such strange things.
"No! We use mana to manipulate it around our body. It can take any shape and size by our will."
"Oh. What is mana then?" asked Tim, again with a confused face.
"Honestly brother, you should be more worried about yourself than discussing weaponry. You literally just saved yourself from getting zapped you know? And how did you even do that?" Adel added, swirling her hand through her ash-blonde hair.
"Exactly!"
"What exactly?"
"Exactly, how did you shoot that bolt of electricity?" Tim walked towards the girl with the same look full of excitement on his face. "Are there any miniature tesla coils attached to this stick?" Tim took the stick from her hands and inspected from all angles.
"What the hell are you talking about? Adel expected Leon to act like his usual climatic self, where he would just lash out at her for this unwanted accident. She could use that against him as leverage. But now he was acting like a curious child, jeopardizing all her plans. Just what was wrong with him?
"If it is not a coil then how did you do it?" Even after closely looking everywhere there were no signs of any batteries or any opening to insert them. It was just a regular old stick but coated in black.
"I used a minor attack spell." Adel mumbled annoyingly but instantly raised her tone. "And tell me what the hell is a coil?"
"Spell? What is that?" Tim was ignoring every question Adel asked as he was too focused on discovering this outlandish tech.
"Brother you should stop acting like a moron." She took a deep breath, controlling her ever increasing frustration. "Sir Macknight, please call the court physician. I think his head is not working properly."
"Yes! Mark…" The old man nodded in agreement as he called his subordinate but stopped once he heard Leon's loud voice.
"No no! I am perfectly fine." Tim shouted, attracting everyone's attention. "Just tell me how to use a spell."
"Why are you acting like a child? You know how to use spells since you were just two years old." Mac said in a heavy tone massaging his forehead. For him all this seemed nothing but a waste of time.
"..." Tim said nothing on the outside as he kept staring at everyone dumbfounded. But internally he was asking a million questions to himself. Like how did he know? When did he know? Why did he know and many more.
"I know it? How? Why? Where?" Tim was left completely dumbfounded, unable to understand the meaning behind these people's words.
"You know what. Let's just go inside. I cannot deal with this anymore." Adel snorted looking away from her brother and left followed by her attendants who bowed to him before leaving.
Tim stared at their backs with a surprised look on his face before looking at the knights who had finished scanning the area for any danger.
The group of five and the lord kept looking at each other for a solid minute before Mac ordered all of them to leave. Soon they nodded and left, leaving Tim alone holding the stick.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Tim mumbled, rotating the stick with his fingers. "Use spells huh? Does Leon know…"
And soon his brain gave him the information he needed, and it did but not in a normal way. It just threw everything away followed by the severe case of migraine. His head felt like it would explode at any moment. Many bits of information regarding this bolt of electricity and many others came crashing like an uncontrollable downpour.
Clutching his head Tim stumbled a couple of steps as his body began to lose balance. All his questions about the outlandish thing he just did was explained in a second which was too much for him to handle.
"Damn it! That hurts." He groaned falling back on the ground but after some time the pain disappeared which was always a good thing.
Now Tim had a vague idea of spells which was nothing but a way to harness nature's energy or mana. These were just random words to summon what could be best described as magic. And for someone like Tim who did not believe in magic, the best way to see how it worked was by using it in practice.
So, Tim pointed the stick at a nearby tree and uttered only one word because that's what came to his mind.
"Faze!"
As soon as the word escaped his lips, he felt something unusual rushing towards his hand from inside his body. Next A yellow light wrapped around his outstretched finger, and bolts of lightning covered the stick.
An arc of pure lightning jumped out of the stick and his hand recoiled backwards.
Boom!
Tim's attention shifted from his hands to the tree in front him whose trunk had a large hole in it.
"Woo…" Witnessing the damage he was left in awe but that did not last long as the tree fell towards him with a loud creaking noise.
"Shit!"
There was no time for him to escape as he was too close. Still, he tried but it was all in vain. The tree leaned towards him at a rapid pace and shouting on top of his lungs Tim raised his hands to protect himself.
But it never came down and Tim slowly opened his eyes to see the literal tree hovering in the air. His hand was still extended but felt too heavy to hold. So, he waved his hand and the enormous piece of wood fell beside him with a thud.
"Did I just do that?"
Tim's gaze flickered between his bare hands and the log beside him, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
"No…no... It can't be… It is impossible." He muttered frantically as the headache returned but with too much force. His head throbbed in an unimaginable pain, his world started fading into complete darkness. He fell on the ground backwards, losing consciousness.
***
Tim's eyes slowly opened looking at the very familiar ceiling above him. He had first seen it just a couple of hours ago but now it seemed too familiar. It felt like he had been looking at the ceiling for his entire life.
But that thought soon disappeared as his brain picked up something important and that was magic. Yes, a freaking unbelievable thing called magic. By using them everyone could do outlandish things and he was one of them.
Tim's memories gave him glimpses of many things he could do. Both utterly fascinating and totally baffling.
He believed in science where everything was logically explainable, not these freakish things which contradicted the very law of nature.
The headache which had subsided slowly returned as Tim's inexplicable thinking grew. So, with a long sigh he got up and soon was met with surprised stares from many people.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Leon with an awkward smile overlooking his entire family including the maid named Sophia. He didn't know there were people beside him in the room. And if they were, then why were they not making any noise.
"We are worried about you." Answered Adel, leaning on the long sofa sitting alongside her mother. "And I am sorry. I should not have acted carelessly."
"No problems Kid! It happens." Tim winked with a soft smile on his face.
"Kid?" Adel rolled her eyes, but before she could add her opinion, the duchess spoke in a worried tone.
"You have fainted two times in two hours. That is not a good sign my son. If you are feeling sick then tell us." She got up and moved towards her son.
"I am fine, mother."
"I am telling you he is fine. You are all worried for no reason." The duke responded sitting on the high chair, cross-legged with a bored expression on his face. He could have fainted for over drinking or sleeping less as he was already famous for his habits.
Saying nothing the duchess put her hand on Leon's shoulder as she glared at the duke who just shrugged his shoulders.
Soon the court physician arrived into the room and checked Leon but found nothing wrong with him. He concluded it was probably the side effect of his drinking habit and told him to not to drink for a couple of days.
That was all. He bowed to everyone one last time and left and the duke too left with him. Next the duchess and Adel left before ordering Sophia to bring some food into the room for Leon.
So, she too left along with them and Leon or rather Tim was left alone in his room. He got up from his bed and moved towards the balcony as he gazed at the beautiful garden for some time with many thoughts passing through his mind.
After a very long time, he experienced the warmth and care of the family he dearly missed. It made him happy. Something he always craved.
This place was strange. Really felt like a dream.