The morning sun cast dappled shadows through the forest as Ezekiel and I returned to our familiar spot. The fresh scent of pine mingled with the crisp air, invigorating my senses. Unlike our previous visit, we weren't here to fight bandits, but to delve into the world of magic.
Ezekiel was an accomplished mage, though he often played the role of a scaredy-cat, hiding behind me while I took on the brunt of the danger.
"Hey! I heard that, you dummy!" Ezekiel's voice echoed through the forest, his chest puffed out in mock indignation. For the first two hours, he chased me around, exhausted from his lack of stamina compared to my more trained physique build.
As Ezekiel finally collapsed in a heap, gasping for air, I chuckled. "Okay, I won't mock you anymore. Let's start with the magic lessons."
"Good idea," Ezekiel wheezed. "let me catch my breath first, though."
Several minutes passed as Ezekiel regained his composure.
"Alrighty then, Jin," said Ezekiel with a sly grin. "Before we dive into the mystical realm of magic, let me remind you that I'm a mere six-year-old genius known as The Oracle of Ingenuity. No biggie."
I couldn't resist a smirk as I responded with a hefty dose of sarcasm, "Oh, forgive me, Your Highness. I had no idea I was in the presence of such greatness. How could I forget that you're practically a god in the realm of six-year-olds?"
Ezekiel's face twisted into a scowl, clearly not amused with my teasing. But he continued on with his lesson.
"Alright, fine. Let me explain the basics first." His tone was patient as if he were talking to a student who was slow on the uptake.
"In this world, every human being is born with the essence of mana," he continued, his voice growing more animated. "Mana is the root of a mage's power, and our world is essentially made up of constructs and abstracts of this substance.
There are multiple elements that a mage can wield, and there is no proven way to determine the calculations needed to attain all the elements at birth. However, theory suggests that it is bestowed through the will of the child."
Jin listened intently as Ezekiel went on. "The four primary elements are Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in the way we live. To conduct the elements, it heavily depends on the user's influence on the flow of mana."
He paused, looking at Jin. "As I said before, all humans are born with mana, but not everyone has the same amount. Some may have larger mana reserves but dull mana sharpness, while others may have minimal portions of mana but the sharpest force of it."
Ezekiel's excitement grew as he explained further. "Lastly, techniques play a significant role in conducting magic. My father taught me that a person with a small mana reserve could use a large-scale spell as someone with larger reserves, because, at the end of the day, it comes down to the technique, of course!"
Jin couldn't help but yawn, causing Ezekiel to scowl. "Don't tell me you were sleeping this entire time, you mutt!"
Jin quickly shook his head, trying to salvage the situation. "No, no, no, I was just taking notes in my head, haha."
Ezekiel rolled his eyes before sighing. "Never mind. Let's just get on with it."
Ezekiel reached over to the side of his bag, fingers deftly grasping what appeared to be a device with a handprint solidified into the book-like mechanism. Within the middle finger and ring finger, there appeared to be a colourless gemstone, glinting dully in the light.
"Alright, all you have to do is put any hand into this magic affinity tester and the projection of this tool will light up in a holographic state, projecting your magic affinities and your mana reserves," Ezekiel explained, holding out the device towards me.
Following his instructions, I tentatively placed my right hand onto the device and felt a sharp pain shoot through my palm, causing me to wince.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that this device needs your blood in order to figure out your mana reserves?" Ezekiel's voice was light, teasing.
"Your one sly fox, I must say," I replied, my face flushing slightly with embarrassment.
Waiting for a few moments as the device processed my affinities, it began to make strange sounds of cracking, causing me to wonder if that was normal during its progression.
"Oh, what's going on here?" I asked, eyeing the device warily.
Within moments of waiting, the screen on the device displayed the results of my test, causing me to frown in confusion.
"Elemental Affinity:
Water: O
Fire: -
Air: -
Earth: -
Lightning: -
Ice: -
Light: -
Darkness: -
?: -
Mana reserve: Grade -1
"Hm, this has never happened before, and it appears that this is the actual result of it," Ezekiel mused, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Why's that?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
"Well, the reason for it is that the device is the original creation of Aiel himself. It was said that the results of the device don't lie, as was proven by the smartest man in the world, Khirial Machovelian.
You might be wondering who he is, but he's the one who made multiple accurate replicas of the item I hold. And, frankly enough, I somehow managed to break all of them in testing.
But the weirdest part of them all is that the elemental results have a straight line instead of an X or an O, confirming that your only affinity as of now is water. And the craziest part about it is that your mana grade is -1. Like how is that even possible?"
Ezekiel's voice was filled with wonder and confusion.
"Beats me," I replied, my mind racing with questions.
"Well, since we only know that your affinity is water, let's attempt a standard and easy spell. Now, the way you want to conduct this spell of ours is to create a picture in your head and manifest the life of the image into your hands.
But, since it's different for everyone, you kinda have to say it out loud as all mages do," Ezekiel explained, gesturing towards the tree in front of us.
"Zeke, I've never heard you say a single spell before," I remarked, eyeing him curiously.
"It's because my father told me I'm more different than anyone in this world. He said that chantless spells are an extremely rare skill to have, as only 0.1% of mages in this world can use them. Let me show you the spell first," Ezekiel replied, his eyes shining with excitement.
Without a moment to spare, I witnessed a massive ball of water hurtle towards the tree with incredible speed, slamming against the wood and sending it crashing down.
"Dayum, Zeke, you really got a hole-in-one there," I exclaimed, impressed by his powerful display of magic.
"Now it's your turn, Jin," Zeke said, gesturing towards me with a grin.
Keeping a safe distance from the tree in front of me, I entered a state of trance and allowed my thoughts to flow naturally, conjuring up a tiny bullet of water that shot through the air and pierced through the trunk of a nearby tree.
"Amazing, Jin! How did you do that?" Zeke asked, clearly impressed by my spell.
"Huh? What do you mean?" I replied, a little confused by his enthusiasm.
"You performed a chantless incantation spell! That's incredible!" he exclaimed, his excitement contagious.
Despite his praise, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the small size of my spell.
Little did I know, however, that my seemingly insignificant bullet of water had penetrated not only the tree in front of me but five others beyond it, leaving behind a clean, visible hole.
"Such sharp power! To think I could witness this with my own two eyes," Zeke marvelled, his admiration for my magic evident. "But still, it's nothing compared to my power. I can do the same thing."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his arrogance, but I appreciated his support nonetheless.
"Anyways, since I taught you how to use magic, I think it's best that we do an exchange. You teach me how to wield a sword?" he suggested, his smirk indicating that he was up for a challenge.
"Oh ho, I teach you the way of the sword?" I laughed. "Well, with your frail structure, it would be best if you gained a bit more weight--"
"Shut up and teach me," he interrupted, eager to prove me wrong.
"Okay, okay," I relented, secretly pleased that he was taking an interest in something other than magic.
As the day drew to a close, Zeke and I traded lessons on magic and swordsmanship, each of us striving to learn from the other's strengths and weaknesses. Though we made progress, we always fell just short of true mastery, but our shared experiences brought us closer and slowly started seeing him as a brother to me.