5 more months of training have now:
Wagner, while avoiding burning down another barn was able to gain his second magic circle but still hasn't been able to create any skills. According to the diary every mage is able to accomplish 16 magic circles at absolute maximum. Each mage is only granted one affinity and one skill per magic circle. Wagner has read over and over the steps of creating the first skill. The main pointers were to visualize what you wanted to happen, and apply mana to the process in the same way one would manifest a circle of fire. The alternatives were to use a scroll or follow the instructions from a scroll. With very little understanding of the world, Wagner didn't know what to imagine and the skills described in the books he has read were either too high level or had too little detail. The mage who wrote the diary was a water mage which didn't help all that much because he couldn't exactly copy his defensive water wall skill. Mainly because he didn't want to burn down another barn or anything else for that matter.
Wagner decided to go for a walk to discover some new ideas for his skill development. After all a simple walk wouldn't interfere with his schedule which was full with his plans of skipping chores. Wagner wasn't exactly well acquainted with the other children in the village, as his head was always in a book whether or not his head had already been in every book 2 or 3 times. Wagner noticed that none of the other children or any of the adults were using their magic affinities at all. Wagner was quite confused by this sight or lack there of. He had just thought that his parents were specifically against magic. He maybe started to think that his whole village was anti-magic and just participated in the awakening ceremony because it was the rules of the continent that everyone must participate. He decided to go to the village head and find out if he knew why everyone refused to use magic.
The village head was decided to be the village head mainly because he was the oldest. However, he was also chosen to be the head because he knew the most, while he wasn't a mage, he had grown up as a merchant. He wasn't much of a story teller or at least he didn't like to tell any stories. Either way, he had traveled around and visited more places than Wagner could even dream of. Despite his status the Village head lived in a very small house that a more candid person might call a shed with a chimney. Even so, he had never minded the small housing and actually preferred it, as the lack of space always provided him a reason to turn away guests.
Coming up from behind Wagner, the village head asks, "What is troubling you young man?"
He would usually find any way to get rid of the guests but he knew Wagner was more difficult to get rid of than the other children.
"I have a lot of questions, I need answers for that only you can provide." Wagner rushed out in excitement that he may take the next step.
"Alright, let's hear these questions of yours." The village head replied accepting the fact that he was actually going to be stuck answering all of these questions.
"Well, my first question is why does nobody in the village use any magic? Is this a rule I don't know about? Next is how do I create a spell, and than what kind of kind of spell should I create and than..." Wagner getting more excited by the second could not hold back all his questions.
"Let me stop you right there, while I do want to finish this conversation this year, I can only answer one question at a time. And for the first question, it's not that magic is banned or anything like that, its just that nobody in the village knows how to. And following that I don't know either, so I can't answer your other questions." Lectured the village head.
"Then next is what kinds of spells have you seen and how do they work and how..." Wagner starts to drag on again.
"Wagner, if you do not have the patience to let me answer than I won't answer. I will again answer your first question, I have seen water walls, ice rains, and all types of earthquake spells. Once I was lucky enough to see a mage summon a sword of light, who then used that sword to create a wall of light that blinded their opponent and all the merchants watching." Told the village head, showing that his storytelling skills were in fact quite rusty.
"Wow, village head, did you really see all that? How do they all work?" Wagner asked even more eagerly before
"Wagner, I said one question only. I did indeed see all that." Deciding not to mess with the child too much, he continued, "I do not know how they work though, you would need a teacher to understand any of that."
"Then how and where do I get a teacher." Wagner's excitement practically reaching undiscovered heights.
"You would need to go to one of the schools in the city and be talented enough to be worth going there. However, you will most likely be too busy working on the farm to take the entrance exam. Along with that you are still yet to turn 13 and that means you are too young to go to school. Not to forget there are still 5 more months before the entrance exam and you have no way to get there." The village head trying to do Wagner's parents a favor and attempting to discourage him from going.
"I may not know yet how to get there but I will find a way." Wagner said now running back home trying to figure out how he will ever convince his parents.
Wagner had now discover
Later that night at the dinner table:
"Wagner, you skipped your chores again." Ilya said telling on her brother.
"Ilya, you are supposed to lie for me, why would you be so mean to your big brother." Wagner joked being used to the lack of loyalty his younger sibling showed.
"Wagner, how many times do we have to tell you to GET YOUR CHORES DONE." The mother said nearly yelling by the end.
"Mom, the more you have told me to do my chores the less I've gotten done. So maybe you should try telling me less times." Wagner said hoping he could buy himself some silence over the next day.
"Careful Wagner, If you say that to your mother than you might not wake up." Wagner's father said knowing at some point the boy was going to get himself killed at the hands of his mother.
"Actually, Mom and Dad there was something I wanted to talk about." Wagner let out very nervously.
"What is it?" Wagner's father said, knowing if he left it to Angela she would not have given him the chance to speak unless he had finished his chores meaning he might as well have been mute considering he never did his chores.
"Well, I want to become a mage, or even a magic knight, but I need to leave home to do that." Wagner now approaching levels of nervousness that he hadn't felt since burning down the family's barn.
"Well you aren't exactly doing any of the farm work here anyways. I guess we can consider it." Answered the father.
"Thomas! What are you thinking!? How can he be allowed to leave home!?" Angela said questioning the father and his audacity to go against what he knew she was thinking.
"How about this, we will give you an answer tomorrow after we have talked it out." Thomas said trying to give Wagner some hope.
Even later that night:
Wagner was too worried about the potential answer that he couldn't sleep. And he was lucky for that because he could now hear his parents going back and forth on the subject of his future. Frankly the whole village might have been able to hear his parents.
"How could you be willing to let a child, that is not even 13 out into the world?" Questioned Angela, practically yelling.
"How could you be willing to not let a child chase the only dream he has ever had?" Retorted Thomas lowering his volume to reduce the chances of waking up the children. The children that hadn't gone to sleep in the first place.
"What dream, he should learn to accept his future as a farmer." Again yelling the mother.
"Why not at least give him a chance, its not like we will be missing out on help around the farm." Thomas said somewhat jokingly.
" I don't know how you can be so calm about this."
"Well, if we don't let him go, he will resent us for his entire life, this is a tough decision and no matter what there won't be a right answer so we might as well answer this with the most hopeful option. And that is to let him go and hope he can do something with his magic. We just have to be hear to support him and possibly welcome him back." Thomas trying to reason with Angela.
"Fine, he has 1 year otherwise he has to come back."