Dawn had yet to break and yet, the sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the Raz's family ranch.
Shinsusa, who was the knight that accompanied Reina, spoke with ground-shattering authority, "You're full of openings, child." She smacked Raz between his ribs with her blunt sword. "Not to mention slow."Shinsusa, despite wearing most of her armor, was as swift as the wind whereas Raz could barely move in his red boar-hide armor.
Raz lunged forward, hoping to hit Shinsusa in her chest, but Shinsusa easily evaded it by side-stepping, "Too obvious. Too emotional." Shinsusa hit Raz's back with her sword and grabbed his right arm, his sword arm. "And now, you're dead, child." she said, not a hint of exhaustion whereas Raz was panting like a dog on a hot summer day. "Let's take a break." Shinsusa suggested, much to Raz's delight.
Wasting not a moment, Raz took off his equipment, throwing it and himself on to the ground. He let out a huge sigh of relief and decided to relax and regain his energy. Shinsusa simply sheathed her sword.
"You're not treating the sword as part of your body," she explained. "Do not think of your weapon as a mere chunk of iron; it must be an extension of your arm. You do not need to think about moving your arm nor do you need great strength to do it. You need only be swift and instinctive."
"But… how do me do that? When me hold sword, me feel it heavy. Me can move difficult." Raz complained.
"On your feet. Now." Shinsusa ordered. Raz quickly readied his equipment and stood to face Shinsusa in a mock battle.
Raz's tall opponent looked around them, found and picked up a stick that was about the length of a long sword. "Come," she ordered.
Raz, feeling disgraced at the audacity of his opponent, charged at his opponent. He got within range and swung his sword from the left. Shinsusa took half a step back, dodged Raz's sword, and lunged forward, hitting Raz in the middle of his chest. "Dead," she proclaimed.
Raz, red in the face, lunged forth again. Shinsusa side-stepped but before she could counter, Raz's sword was already heading for her face. She dipped down low and looked to strike at Raz's legs, but he had already moved onto her left side, the side where he was safe from her stick. Raz, using both his hands, raised his sword high above his head, seeing which, his opponent sidestepped to Raz's left. She stood up straight and readied to attack but was hit in the side of her chest by Raz's sword. With a decent amount of power for someone as young as Raz, at that. "Dead", Raz proclaimed with a smile.
Shinsusa was at first too stunned to speak. Then a smile broke on her face, then full on laughter. "Dead indeed," she said while laughing. "In all my years of sword fighting, never have I ever been bested in a one-to-one fight! Razmuth, son of Kalmu, I Shinsusa of the Kengod lineage stand as witness to your abilities. I shall do all within my abilities to ensure that you, child with the red eyes, shall become the greatest warrior this world has ever been blessed or cursed with."
Raz wasn't sure how to react; partly because he didn't understand his instructor fully and partly because he didn't expect to best his instructor so quickly. "Did Lord Lanna know about this?" Raz pondered.
"I won't be going easy on you any longer, Razmuth," Shinsusa said. "Brace yourself!" Shinsusa drew her sword and lunged at Raz.
Raz barely managed to get his sword up and parry, however, Shinsusa had already predicted this. She swung her sword down at Raz, who blocked it but stumbled from the force of the swing. Shinsusa kicked Raz's legs, hard. Raz was knocked over and down and Shinsusa pressed her sword against his chest.
"You've far to go yet, Razmuth, the sword bearer." It interested Raz that Shinsusa dubbed him "Tarwal thamal" meaning: "Sword Bearer".
Raz tried to get up, but his body failed him. Raz looked down and saw what adrenaline had prevented him from feeling: his right ankle had dislocated. Realizing what had happened, Shinsusa quickly picked Raz up and carried him to Reina's room.
"Reina! Open at once! The boy needs your help!" Shinsusa shouted, standing outside Reina's closed room. There was some clattering and then the door opened, and Reina stepped out. Her hair was a mess, and she was in her white night-gown.
She gestured for them to come inside, "Put him on the bed, quick." Her voice was calm yet commanding. Shinsusa followed her commands without wasting a moment. Reina examined Raz. She put her hands on his right ankle, closed her eyes, and began chanting: "O, Sai! All praise be to you! With your grace, move this child's foot to the right spot! Mend his wounds and make him well again!"
As soon as the chanting was done, Raz felt something warm around his ankle, which strangle seemed familiar, and before he knew it, he was healed. Interestingly though, the warm feeling didn't dissipate immediately. Instead, Raz felt it spread throughout his body, the as blood does.
Raz sat up on the bed. It had been the first time he had had healing magic cast on him while he was conscious, so he was very curious.
"What was that?" Raz asked, with great interest.
"Magic," Reina replied. "Have you never seen it before?"
"No, me know what you did. me is ask why me feel warm thing in mine body."
Reina's eyes lit up, "You felt something when I casted healing magic on you?"
"Yes."
Reina seemed like she wanted to scream in excitement. "Amazing! I knew it was worth it to come meet you! You, Raz son of Kalmu, you will be known throughout the world before long, just wait!"
Raz was very confused. Shinsusa coughed, which made Reina realize that she had lost herself in her excitement.
"Apologies. Allow me to explain. Magic isn't divine intervention, at least not fully. Magic is the same as using a sword. You need to have the right equipment and the right knowledge to use it. The knowledge is the chant, and the equipment is Visiri. What you felt was Visiri, what you felt was magic itself!"
Shock, amazement, and excitement all rushed Raz at once; he could not wait for his magic training to begin.
Hours later, Raz was now sitting in his father's study. This was the room where his father would welcome all important customers, and it showed. The walls were decorated with game trophies, the floor had been carpeted which was regularly cleaned, there were a few couches and a coffee table in the center of the room and the windows showed the most beautiful view among all the windows on the ranch. There were a few books in the room too, most of them being relevant to the ranch's business and some being the books that were brought to Raz by his teachers. Raz sat on the couch where his father would normally sit, and Reina sat across from him, with the coffee table between them. Reina had placed some notes onto the table for Raz to read, they described the theory of magic.
"So, Visiri, as I have proven in my work, is all around us. We cannot live without it. It is what enables us to walk, breathe, eat, and everything else. Without Visiri, the world will end." Reina explained, drawing Raz's attention to relevant parts of the notes.
"We harness the power of Visiri to perform magic. Each type of magic has a different amount of Visiri that is required. Simple magic like blowing a gust of wind requires very little whereas healing mortal wounds require so much that one wizard is oft not enough."
"It say 'All humans po… pozesas--"
"Possess."
"--possess Visiri'," Raz read Reina's notes. "What it mean?"
"Ah, yes. All humans are born with some amount of Visiri. Most are born with so little that they cannot control it, while others have enough to overwhelm the world, we know these Visiri rich humans as Arcanes; and the ones who have enough Visiri to cast spells are called Wizards."
Raz wondered about the implications of this statement. If the entire world is filled with Visiri, it stands to reason that the myths of magical beasts may not be myths.
He voiced his opinion, "Does it mean magic beasts real?" Reina stared at Raz, her eyes sparkling.
"Exactly. I was about to just say that… All these stories that we have oft dismissed as tall tales, they may be factual events that happened long ago. Not only that, but many other things may just be due to Visiri which we misunderstand these days."
Reina looked at Raz, expectantly; however, he did not know what she wanted him to say.
Eventually, Raz spoke, "Your words 'All humans born with Visiri'… Are you sure?"
The sparkle in Reina's eyes dimmed as she replied, "Yes, child."
"So… If Visiri all around, how do you know Visiri in human?"
Reina wore a confused look, then realization hit, and her eyes widened, "Sai help me… You're right… For so long, I have assumed that Visiri was in the person since the tales of arcanes have oft mentioned them feeling something within them… But what if what was really happening was them control the flow of Visiri in general which they interpreted as the sensation that was described!"
Reina looked at Raz, with a different sort of admiration. Before, what she was seeing in him was the promise to be a great wizard, now she saw in him a legend.
"Razmuth, son of Kalmu, I, Reina, daughter of Khon, Wizard of Polme, humbly invite you to be my successor and learn the way of Visiri in Moontouch," Reina formally invited Raz to learn magic. "I know that you probably have your reservations about my proposal. However, I beg of you to accept it; you are one who will be remembered for thousands of years to come, and to ensure that, let me provide you with the facilities that you deserve in Moontouch, in the capital of your kingdom, Walinda."