The next day Maxwell woke up with expectations of this day. This is finally the moment he has been waiting
A few hours pass as he ate breakfast and re reads some of his books
Before lunch Alfonse appears outside the manor with some old books
Going upstairs Alfonse enters the room of Maxwell. He finds him seated and ready for the lesson
"Thats a good attitude, today we are going to learn history... although i dont know why you are so interested in this"
He sat beside Maxwell and opened his books
"First of all, do you remember the name of our kingdom?"
"Yes, its called Kingdom of Bluefire"
"Then, do you know why its called Bluefire?"
"Thats... no, can you tell me why?" With a shine on his eyes he gazes intently at Alfonse
"The kingdom of Bluefire was founded 347 years ago by the supreme mage Aztaroth Bluefire. Bluefire wasnt his last name or family name, it was his mage nickname, he was called like that thanks to his famous blue fire which beated many foes. He named the kingdom after himself, making the first generation of royalty" After explaining, Alfonse saw that Maxwell was lost while mumbling something
"Supreme mage..."
"Teacher... what is a supreme mage?" Maxwell asks innocently, using the curiosity of a child to his favor
"Thats... well i dont know very much about the mage circle but he is basically a very powerful man who can make impossible things happen. Maybe in the future you will be able to know exacly but for now lets concentrate on history"
"*Ahem* Then, i guess you know the name of our city, Azurath. Its name comes from the azure stone mine which gives the city most of its income"
"You mean those blue stones i see everywhere on the house?" Thinking of the lapms which have blue stones inside Maxwell asks
"Yes, those stones can shine for a whole year with only a tiny bit of mana"
"Mana?" Maxwell asks the key word
"Thats... you father is going to teach you that after a few years, its not yet time for you"
"Then... okay" Resigned, he can only wait
"Lets continue. We are surrounded by many nations, some hostiles, some allies and some neutral. First of all, to the south is the great sea, we have a port city there. To the north west is the Sacred Republic, they are zealots who believe in gods, worst of all they really can use sacred magic"
"Are they allies or enemies?" Little Maxwell asks
"Technically enemies, as they always want to make us follow the 'Good' path, but without a good reason we wont enter a war with them for now"
"Next, to the east is the... Freedom Seekers..." With a weird face, Alfonse says a cringy name
"The... what?" Startled, he asks again to confirm
"You heard it right, they call themselves the 'Freedom Seekers, they are a bunch of small kingdoms who wants to escape the tirany of the Empire, or so they say... although the empire is not doing anything remotely tyrannical towards them"
"Thats... interesting. Then this Empire teacher mentioned?"
"I was about to talk about that, but first let me tell you the last nation near to us, which is on the north. Its called the Mystical order, they have the biggest and best magic academy on the continent. Also, supreme Bluefire was a very good friend of the headmaster at that time. The headmaster is like the leader of the nations and thats why he gifted a part of their territory to supreme Bluefire. Also thats the reason why our kingdom is very close to the Mystic order"
Maxwell was writting on his book that he took out before while nodding
"Teacher, can you tell me now about the Empire"?
"Of course" Alfonse says while making a serious face
"The Empire, its official name is the Dragonborn Empire, they have almost half of the continent and are a very powerful nation, if it wasnt for the joint effort of our 4 nations then the Empire would be the absolute ruler of the continent"
"Dragon... i saw in a book that dragons are legendary creatures who are almost extinct, are they related to them?" Maxwell asks
"Yes, rumors says that the royal house of the Empire has dragon blood flowing on its veins, granting them various powers and benefits. Neither me nor the general public knows exactly what they get but one thing is for sure, they are really powerful" Alfonse seriously said
After that, Alfonse took his time teaching Maxwell about many events in history
The great mage war about a hundred years ago
How the Empire started as only a little kingdom two thousand years ago
Many things related to the history of this world
...
A few hours later
While saying goodbye, Maxwell starts to organize his new knowledge inside his head
"Today was a good day, i hope tomorrow teacher comes back with more books" After saying that Maxwell starts to pass the day
Time flows
In less than 2 months Alfonse was left without more things to teach Maxwell so he could only bid farewell with tears... not because he was atached but because the day before he was called by another noble house to teach his kids
10 months later Maxwell is 3 years old
Today he finally could reach the door knob of his father library... thats right, he couldnt enter before because the door was too big
And there is another problem, he could only pick the books on the lower side
Even bringing a stool cant fix this
"Lets see what can we find" saying to himself, he picks a random book
"[History of Bluefire] Pass"
"[101 ways to make love] ...Father... really?"
"[Mana for begginers] This it is!" After finding something related to magic, he starts his first introduction to this magic world
"[Mana is ever present, its the energy forming everything but sadly, only a Mage can control it to do many wonderful things. Mana can control everything, from the fire element to the nature, meaning that a good control of mana is essentia to become a certified Mage]"
"[To become a Mage you first need to start by being an apprentice mage, but how do you become an apprentice? The answer is to start feeling the mana around you and absorbing it into your body]"
"Interesting, lets see if i can see more details" Maxwell mutters
After reading a bit more, Maxwell finally found the detailed way to become a Mage
"[But mana is not the only thing needed, you also need spells! Spells are the sacred books of a Mage, guarded by every family as a legacy. But lets not speak about being a Mage here as you are not even an apprentice if you are reading this]"
"[Start to feel mana and absorb it into your body and force your mana capacity to expand. Beware that only by having atleast 6 years and a healthy body you can do this, as forcing your mana capacity to expand is a tiring process. NOT recommended for: Sick, Disabled and Old normal people
Wrote by: Aztaroth Bluefire]
"So thats why i cant learn yet... *sigh*" After being hit by the cruel truth, Maxwell becomes sad
"I can only wait..." He returns the book and leaves the library, not in the mood for reading more, but he still have time, the library is not going to run right?
...
Time flies and Maxwell is 4 years old
Today he got called by his father to his room
After entering he gaze around
The room is very normal looking, a desk with some documents, an ink pen, some medieval decortion and finally a Azurath stone lamp
After sitting on the chair, Maxwell looks at his father
He is a schoolar looking man with black short hair and a groomed short beard. Maxwell knows he is a mage as he showed him some magic tricks, but his father doesnt wear a tipical mage robe, he wears normal looking clothes most of the time
"Father"
"Max, i called you today to notify you about your future training"
"Training?"
"Yes, a healthy body is always good, so from tomorrow onwards a knight master will be training you"
"Yes father"
'This must be in order to prepare my body for the mana expansion' Maxwell thought while leaving his father room
While walking he catch a sight of his mother seated on a rockingchair in the courtyard while taking a nap
'She is getting weaker and weaker' Maxwell thought while gazing at her sleeping mother
Even since he was born, his mother, who has always has been weak and a little sick got worse
'I hope father can find something to help her, i cant do much with this body
...
The next day Maxwell woke up early, ready for the training
He ate breakfast and went to the courtyard, there he found his father talking with someone
It was a burly man in leather armor, he has a sword on his waist and his bald head is shining on the morning sun
The sound of steps got their attention
"Hello Max, did you ate already?"
Maxwell answers with a nod
"Thats great, you will need all of your energy for training"
Nod
"Okay then, this bald guy right here is Rick, he is a great knight, and before you ask for it, he will brief you in the level of knights" After explaining, the bald guy called rick rolls his eyes
"Atleast introduce me like a powerful knight and some respect, you are making me look like a random passerby in front of your son"
"Haha, i left Max with you Rick, gonna do some Mystical~~ Mage things" While stretching the Mystical word, he returns to the house
"Are you always gonna boast about having talent as a mage?" While muttering, Rick makes an annoyed face
Before he could end with his internal reflection, a little kid salutes him
"Hello sir, from now on i think you are going to be my teacher. Im Maxwell Silverwing" Doing a noble bow, Maxwell introduce himself while making Rick uncomfortable
"Hey kid... stop that, i dont like that noble way, its always like watching a hypocritical act"
"... Yes teacher, how are going to start? Swinging a sword? Doing poses? Lifting rocks?" With shining eyes he looks at Rick
"Kid... first of all, start running around, 10 laps around the courtyard" While crushing Maxwell dreams of cool training, he starts commanding him to start running
"... yes sir" Maxwell says in a sad voice, then start running
Running and running
A few minutes later he made 10 laps
*Pant* *Pant*
"This is... harder than i thought..." While grasping for breath, Maxwell is almost on the ground after running around
"2 minutes of rest, then give me another 10" Rick, like a hell trainer, gives more tasks
"... Yes..." While going toward a table he grabs a prepared glass of water, drinking it whole then sits on a chair
"3...2...1.. rest time is over, start running" With his arms crossed he demands
Enduring his tembling legs, Maxwell starts running again
Time flows and after entire hour of exercise, Maxwell lies down on the floor
He was made to do many entry routines, from cardio to push-ups, his body was hurting all over
Before he could rest a little on the cool floor a deep voice sounds above him
"Tomorrow we are gonna repeat, this is going to continue until you are not like a disabled person after an hour"
"By the way, your father is going to give you some regeneration potions to accelerate your healing. Tomorrow your body is going to be completly healed!" With a great smile, he looks at Maxwell on the ground, making his bald head shine with the sun
"..." Without energy to answer Maxwell just stays on the ground
After being there for like 10 minutes, he can finally stand again, although with trembling legs
He start walking to his father room
Too tired to care about knocking he just opens the door
"Hey Max how are... I guessed you will end like that" His father says before rummaging into his robe
"Take this" He stands up and gives Maxwell a green potion, its label says 'Minor Regeneration' Also, on small print below the name is 'Ingredients: ...'
Without thinking too much Maxwell just uncaps the potion and drink it whole
"Thanks father... Also goodbye father, im going to die in my comfortable bed"
Then he turns around and walks to his room
His father Isaac was left on his room
"*sigh* I understand your pain Max, just bear with it and you will be atleast a good knight if not a mage" While muttering he starts to recall his youth
...
The next day on the courtyard
Maxwell, now with some energy to think about this, is completly shocked at the condition of his body
In his past world it was normal that after your first session of training the next day your body is going to hurt everywhere
But today he doesnt feel even a little bit of pain, like he never did anything yesterday
'This is unscientific' While thinking so, he gaze at the green potion which now is waiting for the end of his training on the table beneath a cool shade
Before he could near it, Rick, the bald muscleman enters the manor
"Its training time!" Giving a loud shout he enters the courtyard after walking a little
'Here we go again... its all to become a mage..." While encouraging himself he starts with todays routine