"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" I squealed in excitement, as I stared in glee at the small fireball in my hand.
It finally happened, as of ten seconds ago and counting, my Magic has finally awakened! And I can't contain my excitement, I'm really using Magic right now, this is awesome!
"Congrats, buddy, I'm so happy for you!" Grinned Rhyle, as he walked over and patted my shoulder.
"Yeah, the wait's finally over, feels good, doesn't it?" Added Argent with a smile.
"Mhm, feels really good!" I responded joyfully.
I don't think I've ever been this hyped up before, across either of my lives...Magic, I'm using real freaking Magic! Holy shit, I can hardly believe this is actually happening right now!
"Uh, maybe put away the flames inside the house, okay?" Spoke up Lycia nervously, as I jumped around in ecstasy, unable to contain myself.
"Oh, right...sorry," I grinned sheepishly, before focusing and chanting, "In that case...Elemental Earth: Rock Bullet."
A mass of earth formed over my hand, floating above my palm...this is so surreal, I just created this out of thin air! I mean, yeah, technically it's my Mana that created it, but visually speaking, it looked like I just manifested this rock out of nothing!
"Wow, impressive...I mean, it's a bit crude, and the fireball was on the unstable side, but considering that it's barely even been a minute since you awakened your Magic, this is really something," Remarked Rhyle in awe.
"I'll say, it took me a full day before I could even form a spark of fire, and I'm still not very good at Earth Elemental Spells," Sighed Argent wryly.
"Too bad I can't use my Skills or manifest my Soul Weapon without getting appraised," I responded with a look of disappointment.
Actually, I can, but I shouldn't...since I already know the names of my Skills and Soul Weapon, I technically can use them, but doing so would be extremely suspicious.
Because usually, until they're appraised at a Guild, a person can't use those abilities since they're unaware of the names of those abilities. So, I need to be patient and-...
"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's head into town right away!" Suggested Rhyle with a thumbs up.
Woah, seriously? The law is that, once you've awakened your powers, you have a maximum period of a week to get appraised, and unless you have a valid excuse for taking longer to get appraised, you'll get arrested, and probably enslaved by Nobility.
"Really!? Awesome, thanks so much, dad, you're the best!" I grinned with genuine gratitude.
"Haha, that's right, praise me! Praise me more!" He laughed dramatically, as he ruffled my hair.
"Wow, one compliment and he's over the moon. Honestly, it's kinda sad," Sighed Argent with a shake of his head, before glancing at Lycia, "Maybe you should compliment him more, mom, he seems rather starved for attention."
"H-hey, now, do you have to knock me down so brutally?" Responded Rhyle despondently.
"As always, you're too easily affected by words, dear," Smirked Lycia teasingly.
"Stop, he's already dead," I chimed in, as I poked at Rhyle's slumped down shoulders.
"Keep that up and I might change my mind about taking you to get appraised today," He grumbled in response.
Oh, crap. I don't want that.
"It's fine, if that happens, I'll take you," Smiled Lycia, as she patted my head, before giving Rhyle a side glance with a smirk.
"Really!? Thanks, mom, I can always count on you!" I grinned cheerfully.
"Wha-...no, I was just kidding! I wouldn't do that after getting your hopes up," Laughed Rhyle nervously.
He's way too easy to read.
"So, uh...can we go now? I'm just kinda feeling really impatient and restless about this," I grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah, alright. Go get ready, I'll do the same, and we'll head out right away," He replied with a nod.
Without skipping a beat, I rushed towards my room and got changed as fast as I could, nearly falling over as my foot got caught in my trouser leg.
Without all my training, I almost definitely had would've fallen, my sense of balance has improved drastically thanks to Lycia's training. It can be pretty tiring sometimes, but seeing the results is always satisfying and makes it more than worth the effort.
Anyway, once I was changed and ready, I headed back out to the kitchen, brimming with excitement and anticipation.
Honestly, I don't really have any major ambitions or anything with my Magic, I just really want to have fun with it. If I had to pick one goal, it would be to improve it to an extent where I can use it to defend myself against anyone.
I fully intend to avoid ever being involved with any nobles, but there's no guarantee that I won't ever have a run-in with one...so, I need to be prepared.
But, well, the main reason I've been so excited for my Magic to awaken is because I think it's super cool. I mean, I'm pretty sure anyone from my previous world would feel the same in this situation.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone change clothes that quickly," Argent greeted me, as I walked back into the kitchen.
"I have to admit, your excitement is rather contagious, Larrk," Smiled Lycia, as I impatiently waited for Rhyle.
Well, I'm just glad that I'm not annoying them or anything...I feel like I might get annoyed if someone was this amped up around me.
"Hey, kiddo, ready to go?" Inquired Rhyle, as he walked out of his room, having changed.
"Yeah, I was born ready!"
"I can see that. Alright, then, let's go!"
"Mhm!"
As we left the house, waving to Lycia and Argent as we headed out, I glanced over as I heard my friends calling out to me.
"Hey, Larrk, going to get appraised?" Came John's voice.
"Yup, my Magic just awakened," I nodded in response.
"I don't think I've ever seen you looking so excited," Grinned Rick in amusement.
"I can't help it...," I responded with a wry smile.
"Um, good luck, Larrk, I hope it goes well," Added Kera, as she gave me a slight smile.
"Thanks a lot! I'll see you guys when I get back!" I waved, as we reached the village border.
"Yeah, see you soon!"
"You better not steal any of our Soul Weapon ideas!"
"Um, I don't think it works like that."
"Yeah, but still..."
They're probably gonna laugh when they see that my Soul Weapon is a whip...well, that's fine, it won't take long to display how cool a weapon it is. I've been using vines often when I spar with Lycia, so my whip skills haven't gotten rusty, I wanted to make sure of that.
"Listen up, Larrk...I know it'll be tempting, but don't carelessy show off your powers, understand? Not only is that dangerous, but also risky," Rhyle advised me, once we were about halfway through the path between the village and town.
"Yeah, I understand. I might accidentally hurt someone, or I might attract unwanted attention, right?" I nodded in response.
"Exactly right."
"What about the Guild? Won't they know exactly what my powers are?" I asked him.
"Not quite. See, the appraisal process requires a special Magic crystal to be implanted into your hand. By running Mana through it, you can activate it and form a screen-like display that lists your abilities. But if someone else runs Mana through it, they'll only be able to see your Attribute. The main purpose of the appraisal is to make sure that you have the Dark Attribute," He informed me.
Right. According to the God who reincarnated me, my Attribute will be Dark by default, and I can switch to Light and Heretic manually as I see fit. I've never brought this up before, but here goes...
"Dad, why are people with the Light Attribute so bad? I understand that the people from the Light Continent are our enemies, but I don't understand why someone from the Dark Continent who happens to have the Light Attribute is bad?" I inquired innocently.
He then halted silently, as I felt a sense of nervousness and dread. Crap, did I mess up?
"Listen, Larrk...never say anything like that in front of anyone else. The Nobles, and especially the Royals, they seek to spread and maintain hatred and fear of those with the Light Attribute in order to prevent anyone who has a child with the Light Attribute from sympathetizing with the people of the Light Continent.
And unfortunately, most Commoners can't, or simply just won't, understand that. After all, defying the will of the Nobles is practically suicide," He pointed out in response.
Oh...that was actually a pretty reasonable reply.
"Yeah, that makes sense. Don't worry, I'll act like I'm prejudiced against Light Attribute users in front of people. Still, a person can't control what Attribute they have when their powers awaken, right? Whether they possess the Dark Attribute or Light Attribute or both, it seems stupid to blame them for something they have no control over."
"Well, yes, I have to agree. But, unfortunately, it is what it is. So many innocent children have been enslaved, killed or, at best, banished to the Dead Zone. And sadly, I don't ever see the situation between the two continents improving," He sighed wistfully.
"That's too bad. Well, at least I got the Dark Attribute, the fact that I can make flames and earth is proof of that," I pointed out in an optimistic tone.
Technically, I'm a so-called Heretic, but...I don't need to tell him that...
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