"Really?"
"I can," I assured, maintaining eye contact to show how serious and determined I was.
"Mommy reads books to me all the time," I added.
"Very well, read this." He pulled one of the pieces of paper from on top of his desk.
"O-okay," I stammered, to act child-like.
Cough!~ Cough!~
"Dear. Mr. Heidor. I-I will be passing by Lumen," I continued stammering to keep up the act. "On the 27th moon of the month of April. Please. Prepare. 2. Rooms"
"Okay that's enough, I'm convinced. Wow!" He congratulated me, patting me once more on the head.
"Can I read the books now?" I asked, pointing at the bookshelf.
"Uhum, yes of course child. I'll be outside, don't make a mess. I'll be back in a while." He said exiting the room, seemingly stunned at what he had just experienced.
In his entire life, he had never seen a child capable of reading at 1. It was so surprising to him, he was willing to consider Darian a prodigy or even a genius. He had left the room to go talk with Diana about Darian's reading abilities, and ask if she had known of it.
Meanwhile Darian was rummaging through the books in Jonathan Heidor's bookshelf.
"Garbage," he said, setting a thick book to the side.
"Garbage again…"
"...More garbage," he said, tossing an even thicker one to the side.
"Ah! This might be interesting… Let's see… The Common Man & Common Magic." His eyes widened. He had finally found a book that could teach him more about magic, even if it was likely worthless and everyone could do it.
The book was barely 2 centimeters thick, it didn't have a hardcover and looked like it had been disregarded. Still, in the boy's eyes it held immense value. It meant he could finally understand a little more about this world, it also meant he could gain the power he sought after since his second chance.
"Yes!" He jumped, waving the little book around in the air. He looked akin to a penguin jumping up and down with his little legs and arms.
Finally settling down, he sat cross-legged on one of the sofas.
"Hmm…" He opened the first page.
"Written by Eras Gundyr…" The boy read out loud.
Eras Gundyr was a man of poor origins who became a renowned archmage, not because of his exceptional talent, but because of his hard work.
He was born a slave and eventually set free. His greatest work was the discovery of the practical applications of magic.
He paved the way for even commoners of humble origins to use magic during a time when people were being segregated for their ability to use magic or not.
Darian, being engrossed in the teachings of the book laid down on his stomach with his eyes still focused on it. With his two legs swaying up and down, he was enjoying every second of his newfound knowledge.
Reading the contents of the first chapter, it read in summary:
"Every living thing has what is known as a 'mana center', it is usually 2 inches in diameter located near the navel, and makes up the very foundations and makings of a mage.
Most people have a developed mana center at the age of 12, starting with dark purple, then blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, and finally red.
As a mage's mana center progresses in color, it can expand and/or become more dense allowing them to accomplish greater magical feats.
While many people during the early days of my research dubbed it as nothing but an easier way to do party tricks, and 'chore magic'. My magical teachings are without a doubt the key to understanding magic in its entirety! However, many choose to ignore my words and remain second rate".
"I see… A little arrogant I guess" the boy muttered.
…
Unknown to the boy was a grin that appeared on his face. With every second drawing closer to him finally casting his first spell, he grew more excited.
Quickly reading further into the book, he eventually learned what the basics of casting a spell was.
First, he needed to chant the words needed, then make the appropriate hand signs, and finally 'will' the mana from his navel into his hands.
These were the basics, however Eras went on to argue that once a mage understood these simple spells at their very depths, one would not even need to chant or use hand signs, or anything at all. A true mage, according to him, only needed to think of the spell to cast it.
Despite all of this, he mentioned the undeniable fact that only people with great talent didn't need to use hand signs or chant, and a one in a million genius didn't need to use anything at all.
'Casting sounds simple in theory, and straightforward, but it can't be that easy right?' He thought, standing up on his two feet with the book in one hand, and the other stretched out in front of him.
For his first attempt, after rummaging through the spells in the book, he was going to use the same spell his mother used every time at home to clean it of dust and dirt.
The boy breathed in and out, his heart was racing with excitement.
"Okay, here goes…"
"Nox Mundus," he muttered while doing the hand signs as best he could.
Nothing.
Nothing had happened.
"What the hell?," he said in confusion at the turn of events.
"...But I did everything correctly!" He said after taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
Shuffling through the book, he looked more deeply between the lines, looking to find something he had possibly missed.
Nothing.
And so, he tried again. And again. And again!
'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results…' He thought to himself.
With the book in his left hand, and his right extended in front of him, he tried again but this time closely paying attention to the mana flowing in his body.
As he chanted the words and did the hand signs, he finally caught on to what was wrong.
He was doing one of the hand signs wrong. The flow of mana would cut itself short when he'd done it incorrectly. Correcting himself, he chanted and did the hand signs once more, this time paying attention to the flow of mana and the timely movement of his hands.
"Nox Mundus!"
A black veil of energy suddenly burst from his hand, spreading itself onto the floor.
The previously somewhat dirty floor was now almost squeaky clean.
"Holy sh–" He was about to say but fell backwards in surprise.
…
I pondered for a while on what I just felt after successfully casting. My mana center felt a little less full, meaning that in order to cast the spell mana I stored in my navel was used in order to conjure the spell. Incredible. There was no other word for it, if my previous world had magic maybe I wouldn't have been so useless and weak.
Circling round and round in the room, I was beginning to lose myself in thought. One particular thought kept repeating itself in my mind. If magic was this easy, why didn't more people simply become mages? Why weren't more people using it regularly instead of just for house chores?
Before I could finish my line of thought, Mr. Heidor and my mother came in through the door.
"Darian honey, Mr. Heidor over here told me you can read, is that true?"