It was a few months later when Kroft finally emerged to the outside world from his studies. He decided that he had recorded the most that he could with his current individual knowledge on magic. He didn't know it yet, but the amount of information and the advanced understanding that he had about the basics of magic control was beyond anyone's understanding for only a few months. The grasp which he had was unimaginable to others. What would have taken others dozens of years, was comprehended by Kroft in months. This was of course thanks to his gift, his ability, whatever you want to call it. Although he was far from ignorant with magic now, he wasn't sure how far he had come with his learning. He knew that what he had acquired was much too quick for a normal person and so to try to keep a low profile for now he didn't want to disclose what he knew until it was necessary. Having completed his understanding of basic magic he decided that it was time to learn from his mentor. He made his way to Ms. Strikes and greeted her and asked about the whereabouts of Ms. Ross. Informed that she was in her office he gained the instructions to the room and was given a warning before his departure.
"Kroft, I wouldn't recommend meeting with Ms. Ross until you grasp the basics of magic. Even then you need to go through an awakening and doing that will not come overnight. You must have patience, if you rush to Ross eager to learn you will be turned away at least and much more horrible things at most."
Kroft took a moment to ponder Ms. Strikes words but decided against telling her that he had already awakened, the less people knew about it right now the better his thinking was. He thanked her for the advice and left her office heading over to Ross's room immediately. When he arrived he was garbed in the school's loosely fitted robes and he lowered his door when he was outside her door. He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath.
First impressions are important, he said to himself. I want to be able to be on good terms with my mentor if I hope to gain the most out of her.
He raised his hand to the door and gave three light taps with the back of his hand. After waiting for about five seconds the door opened and behind it revealed a middle aged woman sitting at a desk. She was immersed with a limb of a creature which was unfamiliar to Kroft. This alone surprised him, he had read through many books and more than a few of them were related to anatomy and the study of creatures. He held back the urge to question what animal the limb belonged to and introduced himself. Or at least he was going to, but he was stopped by Ross.
"Are you the one who wished to be my apprentice?" Ross inquired of Kroft with a tone of light curiosity. Her voice showed an aspect of noble dialect, as if she was composed but almost casual simultaneously.
"Yes ma'am, my name is Kroft Aldrich." He said politely while bowing respectfully.
"Now Kroft, I understand your want to advance quickly and learn as much as you can, but I specifically ordered for no one wanting to be my apprentice to come to me until they have a grasp over magic. I have your information, you know, I received it when you applied for me to be your mentor. You only joined our academy a little over two years ago, so are you telling me you have grasped the basics of magic in two years, the amount of time that only a handful of geniuses do? Not only that but to fully if not partially grasp it you must go through an awakening, which can only occur after bringing your body to a peak condition." Ross said all of this without looking up from the limb which she had already started to dissect. Her tone though had hints of dominner mixed in when she spoke to Kroft. If a student who had come here unprepared had heard what she just said they would have shrunk back just from the pure intimidation that came from the few sentences that Ross stated. Kroft absorbed what she said quickly and replied at the same rate.
"I believe that I have an adequate understanding of magic to start learning from you Ms. Ross." Krofted stated plainly, he turned his gaze to meet hers which for the first time since he entered looked towards his direction.
"Do you know?" Ross said. Kroft could have sworn there was a sense of teasing in that statement. "Come here then." She said to Kroft as she waved him over. She stood up and Kroft made his way to her. This was the first time since he entered the room that he could get a full view of her. Azael Ross looked to be in her mid to late thirties. She had dark brown eyes with dark black hair that reached down to her chest. Her body like most magicians was in peak condition. Examining her face you would find a beautiful allure that sent a chill down Krfots spine when he stared. Her symmetrical face though was blemished by a single scar that cut across her left cheek, this however didn't affect her charm in the eyes of Kroft. After a few seconds of them staring at each other Ross stretched and then yawned.
"Alright then, now that we're done observing each other, give me your hand." Ross extended her hand towards Kroft. Kroft, stunned by her bluntness, hesitated for a split second which Ross didn't wait for. She took his hand from his side and applied pressure to it, and with it came a warm energy. Kroft immediately knew what she was doing. She was spreading her magic power to his body, if Kroft was actually inexperienced in the most basic magic understanding or if he was unawakened the magic would spread through his body and become uncontrollable when Ross released it. He would be killed, an aneurysm, an explosion of bloody mist, or perhaps a popping of blood vessels one by one. That didn't happen though and as Ross released the energy into Kroft instead of him dying as she expected him to, he harnessed the energy and circulated it through his body smoothly. Kroft reached out his other hand and grabbed Ms. Ross's just like she did to him. He reenacted her movements as her own magic energy was transferred back to her. A smile rose upon Ross's face as she felt the energy return to her.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise? Your control seems so smooth as if you have been practicing for decades only the movement of magic." Ross commented as she still held hands with Kroft.
"Thank you ma'am, I have been practicing non-stop with all my energy to live up to any expectation you might have, so that when I came here I would not disappoint you."
Ross detached her hands from Krofts and lowered them back to her side.
"Stop it with that ma'am bullshit. If you want to be my apprentice then I don't want such formalities when we're in private. Also speak how you think, I hate it when people think one way but filter their words to speak another. You have it very well hidden but I can sense the falseness of your dialect." Ross told Kroft plainly, casually, Kroft wasn't expecting it and was very bamboozled.
"Hm, okay." Kroft said very nonchalantly, dropping his former formalness.
"Good. Now what is it? I could practically feel your curiosity screaming when I pulsed my magic through you." Ross said while staring at Kroft.
Embarrassed a little at being read so easily Kroft asked, "So, I have read a lot of books from the school library but I don't think I know what animal that limb came from that you are dissecting."
"Hmhmhm" Ross chuckled to herself as she walked back to her desk. She explained to Kroft what animal it was and why he hadn't seen it before. It turned out to be a Kalfd and how they are quite rare and so not many would be documented, or at least documented accurately. They were small animals, a hybrid between snail and a slime, as they are so rare their limbs are of course difficult to get a hold of. Kroft did an Ah of clarity and was pleased with the explanation. He took a liking to Ms. Ross, her casual and straight to the point demeanor was very enjoyable to Kroft. After speaking a bit more about the different creatures that Kroft had a database on that were similar or from the same environments to Kafd's Kroft was sure that he had helped at least a bit with whatever Ross was dissecting the limb for. Them both being pleased with the encounter, Krfot was sent back to his dorm with the invitation to return tomorrow so that he could start with an apprenticeship with Ross. That night as Kroft drifted off to sleep he was looking forward to what he was going to learn in the future and with that, the day in which Kroft Aldrich and Azael Ross met came to an end.