In the domain of rest an image of his mother drew close to his mind, her ever so loving arms extended towards him as she called;
``Ivan, Ivan``
Unconsciously his legs moved forth as he called her as well;
``Mom, Mom!!``
His legs continued to move and the distance between them appeared to be smaller. Soon she stood in front of him, arms open ready to embrace him.
``Mom!!``
With one more step he came close enough to hug her but as he managed to grasp her, she transmuted to a cloud of mist, slipping out of his hands.
``No, no. Mom come back!!``
The pleads for her to return resonated within his mind as the mist blew behind him.
It then reformed as the image of his father that stood behind him.
``Ivan``
Upon hearing the voice of his father he pivoted backwards but once again a shroud of mist appeared before him.
Mist brushing across his skin, a sense of frost leant upon his body as the scenery shifted to that of a cold, desolate forest enveloped in a snow storm.
He stood there dazed before his gaze caught two figures hand in hand walking further from him.
Turning towards them he caught a look at them with the faces of his parents.
Unhesitantly running forth Ivan shouted;
``Mom, Dad, Wait!``
He continued running and running without stopping.
``Wait!!``
One misstep ruined his acceleration and caused him to crash into the snow.
Ivan raised his head and extended his hand towards his parents as they were lost in the snow.
``Mom, Dad``
``Wait, don't leave me``
``Don't leave me``
``Don't leave me!!``
His head sunk back into the snow as the dream ended upon Ivan awakening once again drenched in his sweat.
He gazed at the room before gripping his head.
He had hoped this was just all a bad dream that would end once he awoke but that didn't seem like the case.
It was indeed real.
His head tilted upward at the roof of the cave before descending back down.
Ivan got up from the floor and approached the campfire.
``Your awake``; Aria said while he could be seen roasting that looked quite a lot like a large chunk of meat over the campfire that its color was quite different from before.
It burned a rainbow like color that was hot enough to quickly cook the meat and generate enough heat for the section of the cavern.
``Morning``; Ivan replied while rubbing his stomach with one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other.
``The concept of day and night does not exist here``
Ivan plopped his body on the floor in front of the fire before speaking.
``Then what should I say when I wake up``
``A simple hello can do.``
Ivan nodded his head before his gaze landed upon the meat. His mouth began to water, his stomach growled. It had been a while since he ate and he had already been hungry prior to resting.
Seeing the clear signs that the boy was hungry the goddess handed him the piece of meat.
``Eat up``
``Are you sure``; Ivan asked before Aria told him to go ahead.
Taking the meat with no hesitance, Ivan gnawed down on it.
The meat was chewy and had no outstanding tastes but what would you expect in a place like this.
As he gnawed down upon it, with a full mouth Ivan asked what it was.
``Devildog``
``What ``; Ivan said, mouth filled to the brim with meat.
Leaning back unto a wall behind her, Aria began to explain to Ivan.
``A low level monster that wears the skull of its prey on its face. They eat the scraps of other monsters which gave them another name ``Scavengers``. They're the scum of this place but they make for a great meal.``
Swallowing the food in his mouth, Ivan questioned her once more.
``Didn't you say that only high level monsters were sent here``
``Yes they are but in some cases those creatures reproduce asexually and create low level monsters`` Aria stated before getting up.
She raised her right hand in a wave-like motion increasing the flames size before moving her hand once and directing the flame to ignite unlit torches on the side of the cave entrance.
Upon igniting the torches she redirected the flame back to the campfire.
Traces of its beauty fluttered around Ivan which amazed him.
In his amazed state Ivan how she did that.
``You don't know what magic is?``
Ivan told her that it was not like any magic he had seen before to which she replied by saying that she was able to perform such feats due to her divine lineage.
In that moment a thought, an idea came across his mind which he blurted out the moment it touched him.
``Can you teach me…on how to use magic``
She had never received such a request before which stunned her.
``You want to learn magic from me``
Ivan rapidly nodded with a wide smile on his face.
An exaggerated sigh was let out by Aria before she agreed.
``I guess I can teach you a thing or two``
Grateful and extremely excited Ivan ran up and embraced her, only managing to wrap his hands around her waist due to his size.
It was unexpected which left her slightly stunned by this extreme gesture of emotion. It was something quite uncommon to her so she simply patted his head.
``Now let's get to it``; she said, which made Ivan release her from his grasp.
The two got some distance before Aria plopped herself on the ground below her. She curled legs in a meditation-like position which Ivan copied with minor difficulty.
Arms resting on her lap, The goddess began to teach.
``Magic is the process of using mana to perform supernatural acts whether that be through incantations or runes and in some cases incantations or runes aren't even needed to use spells.``
``What is Mana you may ask?
Mana is the essence of life, all beings contain it but only a low amount can sense and control it. Those few are called mages``
``They are three types of Mages…``
Her sentence was cut short by Ivan finishing it himself.
``Astros, Palios and Veridian``
Aria would be surprised by his knowledge of magic even if it was just the basics at such a young age.
``Correct``
Before she spoke again Ivan continued by explaining each and everyone almost flawlessly.
``Palios is the most basic out of the three. It uses mana in the air with the help of an arcane focus and incantations to form spells.``
``Astros is more rare than Palios and only a special few awaken. It uses Mana to strengthen and refine their bodies, increase their speed and increase their defenses. But they have a severe weakness, their limited range``
``There is not a lot known about Veridian mages other than the fact that they are extremely rare and have the power to shape the world to their will``
``Am I right??``
Once again she was left impressed but Ivan made a simple mistake while explaining.
``Everything is correct except for the ones you know as Veridian mages. They can't shape the world to their will; they simply have a higher level of manipulation than the others which makes others view them as godly but they are simply tools for the gods``
Ivan would nod before Aria began to draw on the ground using a highly concentrated flame coming from the tips of her finger tips.
As she drew she questioned Ivans knowledge of magic.
He told her about his father being a mage which contributed to the reason he knew that much about magic, along with a fascination of his.
After her query was answered she continued to teach.
``There are two ways one can awaken;
By building up enough mana in one's core from either the usage of substances or by taking mana around them. A tactic which is used by those with either great wealth or an already stable bundle of mana within their core.
Or for those with small amounts of mana within their core
By receiving a stable boost of mana from a second party. Too much mana being pumped into one's body like this is harmful to beginners making it a non recommended way of awakening``
``But what if there was another way? A simpler one in fact``
Another way and a simpler one at that. That was unheard of. For centuries those two methods were the only ones believed to work efficiently.
Ivan had no clue what she meant by this and sat confused, his head swaying left as a result of this.
Drawing a deep breath in, Aria proceeded to explain this unforeseen method.
``Unlike the methods before that forcibly attract mana inward like a magnet this is more…precise``; She stated while continuing to draw deep breaths.
With no room for error she began to explain, her eyes shut behind the blindfold.
``Shut your eyes and think of nothing``
``Then i'm gonna need you to breathe…a certain way``
Ivan was once again confused and simply replied with a sudden what.
``Take a deep breath up your nostrils until you can't do it anymore. Afterwards release the breath you took in around 5 small huffs and repeat until you see tiny glowing lights around you``
The process was followed, each step confusing him but he continued nevertheless. Slowly something came into sight in the empty void in his mind.
It was the peculiar, tiny glowing lights she was talking about.
Excitement filled the boy and he shouted out his progression. In that brief moment his concentration was broken and the "Certain breathing" was stopped.
``Wait, they're gone.``; Ivan disappointingly said, eyes still shut.
``Continue breathing boy``
He repeated the process until they came into sight once more. They looked no smaller than a pebble that gave a sense of warmth but yet felt shocking as it hovered before him.
There were more than a thousand, some clustering while others scattered like molecules.
Once again he told Aria of his progression and she began to instruct him on the next step.
``Great, what you see are speckles of mana residing with the air, now reach out for them with your mind and bring them in``
Complying, Ivan reached out for a bundle before sweeping them. The bundles of mana were attracted to one another and formed an orb.
Like the bundle that orb became attracted to Ivan's core and fused with that. The same feeling of warmth and shock ran through Ivans body making him break focus.
Saliva dripped from his mouth and sweat ran down his face.
``That's enough for now``; Aria said, seeing the visible strain on Ivan.
Ivan leaned backwards while continuously panting, a sense of accomplishment and excitement written on his face.