Chapter 8 – Speaking Never Seamed Hard before.
Arston deliberately make himself fell over to this back while sitting on the dining chair. It`s not that the chair doesn`t have any back for leaning back, it in fact has one, one that covered with cushion to boot. S, Arston knew that it won`t going to be painful, he just needs to lean back quite hard and the cushion will soften his fall. It`s just the falling sensation which making him flinched a little.
It`s not that Arston wanted to cut her story short, but he couldn`t bare to watch her tearing up. He`s not good at calming and cheering up other people, especially girls which are still a complicated mystery to him. As for boys? He more likely to ask "you sure they wrote your gender correctly at the birth certificate?". Moreover, Laura is a friend of his parents and also more like an aunt to him despite of only knowing her for a year and a half.
Luckily, the trick did it`s wonder and Laura moved her attention to the now fallen Arston, thus putting an end to her unpleasant reminiscence of her adventuring days.
"My God!, Are you okay dear?" inquired Laura with a face full worry while rushing to Arston`s side.
Without waiting for any reply, she chants that healing spell again. Frist she touches the back of Arston`s head then moved her palm to his back. She then gave a relieved sigh.
But before she could start on the scolding session, Arston beats her to it and ask
"aunt La-a, can you teach e how to make your hands glow and heal people? I want to help my Ma, Da, Ana and Mada if they hurt, please" he carefully asked and added a prolonged please word after a second of pause.
The scolding got stuck on Laura`s throat and what replaced it was a nod and a happy "yes" word.
Like so, the two of them sat for hours, one giving lecture about basic principles of magic and the other one listening attentively.
"spells are mostly consisted of a chant and a hand gesture or some people call it sign, it can consist of one syllable or more, even many, each syllable usually have a meaning to it but in the old and nearly forgotten tongue, some said that it's the language which spoken by our ancestors, for the elven raise, it was their ancestor`s tongue, or some even said that it was the tongue of gods. Same goes for the hand gestures or sign, each motion has a meaning for it. Just like the hand gesture that I used on my basic healing that I casted. Each finger represented one meaning, people also suspected that the hand gestures are some sort of realization of the spell which they`re casting."
Laura then performs the hand gestures and followed by the chants of her basic healing spell.
"the index finger represents the light or heaven above, the folded middle finger represents our will for the light, and the three remaining fingers which touching each other at their tips while making a ring represented an enveloping gesture thus it borrowed the light`s power to envelope you."
Laura then looked at the 2 years old who`s sitting in front of her whose young cuddly face has a stern and focus expression. She asked Arston if he understood it or not and inquired him to reexplain of what she just lectured afterwards.
To her surprise, the 2 years old was able to comprehended her teachings but he retelling version is a bit childish yet correct overall. She then continued to the chanting part of the spell.
"The chant has four syllables which also consisted of four words in the old tongue. The meaning of them is just like the hand gestures, "Lour" means light, "Rin-vure" means envelopes, and "trall" means mine. Each of them has a specific intonation to them. Where "Lour" has a pleading tone to it with a slight pause before the next chant, "Riv-vure" has a flat near toneless intonation to it, and Trall" has a declaration tone.
She casted her basic healing again to give a presentation once more. Followed by the honest claps from Arston. Every time he saw it, it`s still blew his mind, he kept thinking what would he had become or where would he been if he was able to cast spell. With just the healing spell in hand, he would have worked at the medical department in the army, not some sacrificial soldier doing reconnaissance mission and got blasted to bits, and soon followed by a sigh in his head.
"why don`t you try to cast it?" Asked Laura after noticing the little boy in front of her dazing of.
"Umm… okay aunt La-a" Replied Arston nervously, it`s a genuine nervousness this time since he realized that some of the chants are really mouthful to speak.
As expected, he couldn't cast it. He gets all of the words wrong. Never mind the intonation of the chants, He couldn't even pronounce the words all together. His tongue felt like just got twisted or got tied just trying to speak the chanting words. Thus, receiving some giggles from Laura and his mom who's unknowingly joined the spectating audience.
"it's okay dear, you're still too young for chanting spells, wait patiently until you're five or years or six, your mom over here couldn't chant her fire spells until the age of thirteen" joked Laura which received a head smacked by Irvina.
"At least I'm able to learn faster than you on chanting spells" Remarked Irvina to redeem herself in front of her almost two years old son.
"Yeah… only by a month faster, you got so into it, if it wasn't for me bringing your food to your room, you might look like a skeleton wrapped by skin back than " Laura shotted back while rubbing her aching back head.
"Honestly you're more like a hermit of the secluded room back then comparing to the now Irvina who's got married and has three children, I think you got swapped with a doppelganger sometimes in between." Added Laura.
"first, it was our room, secondly I was in a diet back then, and lastly are you jealous of not having a kid of your own?" teased Irvina while correcting her friend`s wrong statement.
"I.. I.. I'm not jealous…. It's just I… I… haven't decided to have a family of my own" answered Laura with a redden cheeks more and more after each excuse.
Arston just sat there while watching the two women teasing each other where one is having a growing smile on her face while the other got a more and more redden cheeks from her teaser.
They finally stopped after a while, and without knowing, the sun has nearly out of its lustre, marking the arrival of the night, it`s also meant that it's already time for dinner. The now 8 years old Anya and the six years old Amanda bring the already cooked meals on to the dining table. The meals were actually already finished being cooked thirty minutes ago, however the two siblings kept redecorating the dishes. It's a war between the pair of sisters on whose dishes are better looking than their opponent. With the jury being themselves and their opponent, the dishes ended up like a mini typhon just swept the dishes into a mess.
"mom… it's her fault "said the both of them pointing their finger at each other.
Irvina then sighed and pulled each of their ears and said "I knew I should just bring the meals outside right away, you girls really needed to stop this silly competition of yours"
"mom.. it hurts… it hurts!" both of them yelled in pain but their mom still didn't loosen her ear pulling hands.
"we… we… promise not to do it again…" pled the pair of sisters.
"no, no cakes and juices for you two young ladies" Irvina casted her judgement to the two villainesses in crime of ruining the dinner.
"NOOO… "
The dinner keep took place despite the two girls` sulking and grumping over the desserts that their mom took away from them. Arston teased the two sisters of him by trying to give his portion of the desserts which of course got taken by Irvina and got fed to him instead. The two then couldn't hold it anymore and cried. But Irvina still didn't budge with her sentence. While the spectating audiences giggled silently.
After the dinner, all went to their respective room. as for Laura she went back to her own hut while as for Arston, he kept thinking about how to accelerate his study on casting spells. He didn't want to surrender to time and let it take it slow as/s to move forward. Therefore, he imagined the hand gestures in his mind. Started with the index finger facing up and repeated the word "Lour" quietly, followed with the folded middle finger along with the chant words "Rin-Vure". He felt something burning in his stomach area, it's that space between the chest and the stomach. Around 45 degrees and five cm above his navel. The sensation was horrible, like something got poked with a burning metal rod and also a shrinking-expending motion. With the increasing pain by each second passed, he screamed out loud and soon collapsed. Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard a raspy male voice.
"What an idiot"