Woosh!—the orb expanded at the speed of light and soaked everything in the room in a blinding flash. It was warm and rejuvenating, as if the grace of Solis itself had brushed upon the lands.
Sir Dolorem could not see anything in that light. But worrying for Sylvester's safety, he pushed himself forward. Then surprisingly, he felt the light pushing him away. It was not too strong but enough to make him exert himself.
Meanwhile, Miraj was simply rolling on the floor, screaming, "My eyes! My eyes!"
The cat's shrills were very striking to the ear, so Sylvester opened his eyes and looked. But there was nothing but blinding light emitting from his palm. 'Oh! That's interesting.'
The light didn't affect him in the slightest, and he tried to analyse what was happening. At first, he attempted to feel what it was that made the light come out of his palm. 'It's like my skin is breathing. Similar to how I can feel my body sweating, I feel this, albeit much more comfortably. It appears magic is a biological part of a wizard's body. It comes as natural as breathing... but how do I make a fire?'
"Master Maximilian!"
He was slammed out of his introspection when two arms grabbed him by his waist out of nowhere and lifted him in the air. He shook his head and looked around. Miraj was screeching about eyes, and Sir Dolorem seemed exhausted.
"Ah!" he exclaimed loudly. He realised the magic was hurting them. But there was a problem.
'How do I stop it? If it's like breathing, I don't know how to stop breathing.'
PA!—all of a sudden, a nice hard slap hit his face and hurt him.
'H-He hit me?'.
'Ah, the lights are gone.' he understood what happened. The pain diverted his mind entirely from the magic. But, a slap? He looked at Sir Dolorem's face.
The Knight quickly put him down and sat down on his knees. "Forgive me for hitting you, God's Favoured. I shall report the incident and get the appropriate punishment."
'I think I overdid it. I can't let this get out; I don't need more eyes on me.'
He contemplated how to stop this man without speaking. And then glanced at Miraj; it seemed the latter was knocked unconscious.
'If Sir Dolorem divulges this incident to his seniors, they might kill or remove him from serving me. Who knows what kind of man the next one will be? Will he teach me? No, I can't place my bets on the unknown. Wait... I do have a way to get the message across!'
Sylvester once again closed his eyes and prepared to sing his hymns. He opened his mind to search for the right words and started proceeding with his first words as a bright circular halo appeared behind his head.
♫O' mortal, basking in my warmth.
The time has come to make an oath.
I shall test your loyalty thenceforth.♫
Sylvester peeked at the man from the corner of his eye. He was satisfied to see Sir Dolorem sitting with his arms crossed on his chest. The man believed whatever was happening.
♫Make the vow here; never will your faith waiver.
I am him, I am you, I am everywhere.
I am earth; I am the sky, I am air.♫
♫My light reaches all, yet there remain heathens,
Ruffians—sinners no less than demons.
Help condemn the godless to the dark abyss.
It's your pathway to eternal bliss.
In your mind, etch this, for I am Solis.♫
Thud!—The loud noise made Sylvester open his eyes. Sir Dolorem was prostrating in front of him, muttering some vows. "Apostle of Solis, I, Adrik Dolorem, vow to serve you for as long as my heart allows me to feel the warmth of your grace.
"I vow to protect you with my life, sword, and magic. J-Just... please grant your grace to my wife and infant son."
'He has a family?' This was a first for Sylvester. What the man said instantly took him back to when he was expecting a child with his wife... before all went to hell.
"Aya!" He patted Sir Dolorem's head.
The man got back up. His eyes looked tearful. When Sylvester noticed them, he reminded himself that he might look at the religion in this world as rubbish, but to people here, it was their way of life. It was their escape from reality.
Sir Dolorem rubbed his eyes and moved to help Sylvester up. "Strange, I heard a cat earlier."
'Ah, time to fake tiredness.' Sylvester threw himself back and closed his eyes while repeatedly muttering, "Magic!"
The Knight could only watch over, precisely what he was ordered to do. He hoped, however, that he would never have to teach the God's Favored again as he felt if the light could do this much damage, how much would fire, air and water would?
It was undoubtedly a haunting thought in his mind.
…
Sir Dolorem was utterly wrong. Sylvester not only didn't stop but instead became more pestering. He would shout 'magic' unless Sir Dolorem compromised to teach him. Not just that, he used Miraj to go around and throw things to make it seem like it was happening because he was angry.
In the end, the little baby won over the Knight. So Sir Dolorem picked him up and headed to the terrace to train him.
Soon, the student and the teacher were face to face. Sylvester stood on his feet as Sir Dororem tried to convey his teachings with actions and words.
"Master Maximilian, I am only proficient in Wind and Fire magic. Let's start with the wind. It took me yea… let's get right to it."
Sir Dolorem displayed his palm, put some sand on it, and showed how the wind is generated from his hand. Then, he used the sand to make a tiny tornado on his palm.
Sylvester carefully looked and noticed that the tornado was not bound to the palm. Instead, it only started to take form a few inches above the skin. 'So do I have to move those Solarium particles in a round motion? Hmm, this is going to take more mental focus.'
Slowly, he came to understand that magic here was as much of a mental feat as a physical one. Just having magic and high talent won't help someone to become good if they don't practice.
'Okay, let's try now.' he tried to imitate Sir Dolorem. He raised his palm and tried to feel the same energy coming out of his skin as before. He felt the rush once again as the tiny invisible particles started to come out of the skin pores.
However, they started to take the form of the orb of light again. 'No-no, I want wind!'
He tried to rotate that orb of light while controlling its intensity. The more he messed around with the particles, the more proficient he became. But the damn orb didn't disappear, and it annoyed him.
"You're doing well, Master Maximilian. It seems you have a high affinity with light, and it's overpowering other natures." But, by now, Sir Dolorem had started to have some doubts that Sylvester could understand him.
Because the child seemed to be following his verbal instructions more rather than his movements.
So, he decided to test the hypothesis. "What I have shown you is called the Whirling Storm attack. It is a grade 'A' move if done with full intensity. Those of Lord Inquisitor's rank can cast thousands of these tornadoes and ravage cities in a few blinks. You too… can do this one day."
"..."
There was silence from Sylvester as he kept trying to make air on his palm spin. Finally, he mumbled gibberish in frustration. "Aaaaa…"
Sylvester was not a fool. He had instantly read the change of tone and manner in Sir Dolorem. Instead of speaking and moving simultaneously, the knight only talked as if speaking to an equal. 'This guy, he's smarter than I thought. He's testing me. Too bad, I'm the master of the art he's trying to test me with.'
Sylvester decided to go extra with childish theatrics and establish that he was indeed a child. He focused on turning the orb of light into the wind too hard and purposefully hit his own face with the light.
Bam!—Sylvester fell on his buttock, then laid back and started kicking around his arms and feet. He screamed, "Magic! Magic! Bad Magic!"
He stopped for a second when he noticed Miraj sitting beside him, calmly licking his paws as if this were usual theatrics. For some reason, Sylvester felt a bit offended by that. But then he continued to kick around.
Sir Dolorem tiredly picked him in his arms and headed back to the room.
"I should have never doubted. What a mess."
'Darned right.' Sylvester kept screeching.
…
Like that, the teacher and student duo went to the terrace daily. Sylvester trained, Sir Dolorem complained, and Miraj was entertained.
Weeks passed just for Sylvester to understand how to manipulate the Solarium particles enough to create a small tornado on his palm.
However, this was just the first step. Sir Dolorem quickly decided to take the next step since Sylvester had control now.
"Master Maximilian, the next stage uses adding an element into the whirling wind… like this." He lifted his palm and showed off a similar tiny wind tornado. But then, out of nowhere, it caught fire.
Sylvester was genuinely amazed by the beautiful fire tornado. He imagined the damage it could cause if it had attained its actual size. "Waa… Magi-"
Sir Dolorem cut him off. "Yes, magic indeed. This is a grade 'S' move. Even I cannot maintain its full size, and I never will be able to. This requires a vast release of Solarium from the hands. It's fine if you can not do it. Not all have an affinity with fire magi-
"..."
"Ahaha… Magic! Magic!" Before the poor knight could finish, Sylvester's palm was facing the sky, and a 10 feet tall uncontrolled tornado of fire was whirling on it, challenging the heavens.
Clank!—Sir Dolorem fell in utter disbelief. His metal armour made noise as it touched the concrete floor. "H-How? It took me seven years to learn…"
Sylvester was in the zone, celebrating his victory. But that was not enough. He raised his other hand too and tried to make a tornado.
Woosh!—a second fire tornado left his palm and joined with the previous one, taking the form of an even bigger fire tornado. The fiery light from the fire shone all around like a beacon on the massive terrace. "Ahaha… Big Magic!"
If not for his childish voice, one could have mistaken him to be some villain. But Sylvester was only rejoicing, mainly because he finally had a move to protect himself that he could use in case of danger. 'Finally! A means of protection!'
"Huzza! Huzza!..." Miraj woke up suddenly and started jumping and kowtowing in a circle around Sylvester like he was doing a ritual. Even Sylvester didn't know what went on in this fish fetishist cat's mind.
Meanwhile, Sir Dolores was numb. He imagined that maybe in the future, people would remember him as the teacher of the Favoured One. The child had exceeded all his expectations even when he had set them very high.
He also tried to reason with the anomaly. "Of course, the fire couldn't be far behind with your monstrous light affinity. It seems we need to widen the scope of your training. But—huh? where is this cat's crying coming from?"
"..."
Sylvester glanced at the dancing cat. Miraj had gone crazy, forgetting he shouldn't speak when people are around. 'You leave me only one option, Chonky.'
Bam!—he stopped casting Magic and tackled the cat with his round fat buttocks. He made it look like he was resting, but in reality, he shoved his hand in Miraj's mouth and shut him up by sitting on him.
Leaning a bit, he whispered in Miraj's furry ears, "Chonky, fish is banned.
"Nyaaaa…!"
[A/N: A light-hearted chap today. Get ready for darkness in the next two. Short time skip incoming.]