Chapter 7 - The First Cast

It was a new day and Greus once again did his usual morning routines and excitedly went back to the magic shop he visited yesterday.

When Greus was at the front of the magic shop, he noticed that the sign that hangs on the door says that its close.

"Weird, it was open yesterday at this time…"

And just as Greus is about to think of something to pass off the time, the door opened and the old man from yesterday greeted him with a smile.

"Come in son! I've been waiting for you."

The old man then flipped the sign that hangs on the door and gestured once again to Greus to come inside, and of course, Greus did.

Seeing that the youth is inside the shop, the old man then once again flipped the sign then closes the door.

Inside the magic shop, Greus sees that everything is just the same as yesterday, but that thought quickly vanished when he saw a bunch of scrolls piled up in the counter table. Seeing those, Greus quickly went near and eyed them closely.

The scent of paper wafts through Greus' nose. It was the same smell that those books in the library have.

Tempted to touch and open one of the scrolls, Greus reaches his hand but he also quickly backed down as he is afraid that something might happen, as this is the first time that he would touch one of these.

Seeing the youth hesitating, the old man finds the sight funny and chuckled. The old man then quickly went back to the sit behind the counter then spoke to the youth that is still staring at the pile of those low magic scrolls as if it is some sort of a treasure.

"Go ahead son! Try to open one."

The old man said with his arms open wide as if to say that it is fine to do such a thing.

Of course, Greus would grab this opportunity to finally open one of the scrolls, so he randomly took one from the pile and quickly un-scrolled it.

Upon opening the scroll, Greus saw complex symbols in black ink mashed around each other. This makes no sense to him, nonetheless, he is still amazed.

Greus then lifted his hand and touched the scroll without a second thought. The complex symbols suddenly shine in a bright white light upon contact with his fingers. Greus was startled but he has no time to react because something seems to be being branded in his mind the second after he saw the symbols shine in white light.

A couple of seconds passed and the branding in his mind came to an end. Greus then noticed that new knowledge seems to appear in his mind.

It tells him that the spell's name is "Flash", and the knowledge also tells him how to chant and the formation that his mana should have in order to successfully cast the spell.

Greus then realized what happened and tried to touch the scroll once again, but this time, the symbols didn't shine in a bright light anymore. A worried expression began to form in his face.

"This is for sale, right?"

Greus nervously asked the old man while pointing at the scroll he's holding.

Of course, the old man laughed at this silly question.

"Hahaha! All those low tier magic scrolls are for sale son. Also, I'll give you that scroll you're holding for free."

The old man then winked at the youth.

"Uhhh… Thanks old man!"

Greus don't know why the old man is very nice to him, but he doesn't want to think much about it either. He's fine getting along with this nice old man.

"Call me Uncle Klors son."

"Then, thank you U-uncle Klors."

After saying that Greus' face has a shade of red into it. He is not used to call someone like a family, but for some reason he doesn't hate calling this old man in front of him as uncle.

Seeing the youth's embarrassed face, the old man once again laughed and spoke once again.

"Then, can you tell this uncle your name son?"

"Greus."

"So, Greus, how about you try to cast that [Flash] spell hmm?"

Klors said as if to tempt Greus.

Of course, Greus immediately nodded at the temptation of Klors. He finally gets to cast a spell!

Then, Greus closed his eyes, focused and tried to do as what the recently branded knowledge in his mind told him to do. He then raises his arm and open his palms in front of him. It was as if he was just trying to recreate the scene where he manifests his mana.

Greus then thought about the symbols in his head and willed to replicate it using his mana, a process in which Greus is very familiar with.

Then suddenly, a magic formation formed on his palm and the [Flash] spell was successfully invoked. The counter then lit up with a bright light with Greus' palm as the source.

Greus felt this change and suddenly opened his eyes. There he saw traces of his purple mana on his palms, and he immediately broke in cold sweat as he realized that his secret might have been revealed.

It is not that Greus doesn't trust Klors in front of him, in fact he is starting to like this nice old man. If someone is nice to him, then he would also be nice to that someone, that's what Greus is like.

The only reason Greus is afraid for Klors to find out his secret is because he likes how Klors is treating him right now and that might change if Klors would know his secret. That's all.

"Ohh that was bright!"

Klors' voice suddenly sounds out.

Greus then looked at Klors and saw Klors wiping his eyes.

"Have you seen something Uncle Klors?"

"Yes! I forgot to close my eyes and saw that white light and now my eyes hurt son."

Klors replied as he opens and close his eyes.

However, Greus is not sure whether if he can breathe a sigh of relief or not, but since it's already in the past, if Klors know something, he decided that he should just act if Klors would say something about it.

"To be able to successfully cast a spell you just branded in your mind, son, you have quite the talent!"

Hearing Klors praising him, Greus smiled and thanked him. Then, Greus decided to go straight into business and bought various low magic scrolls, and with Klors' advise, it doesn't take too much time until he chose the five low tier magic scrolls he would buy.

Then after buying the low tier magic scrolls, Klors then taught Greus about the basics and fundamentals of magic. Of course, Greus didn't dislike it and listened to Klors wholeheartedly. It is now nearing sunset when Greus walked out of the magic shop, with a satisfied smile on his face.

…

Moments passed and Greus is now back at the orphanage.

Then one helper of the orphanage told him to come and find Miss Maria, it seems that Miss Maria has something to say to him.

Greus didn't mind it and went around the orphanage to search for Miss Maria. Kids would often call out to greet him and Greus also greeted them back and promised to play with them later after dinner.

Then Greus finally found Miss Maria in the kitchen, it seems that she is cooking wholeheartedly as Greus can see a serious expression in her face.

"What's up Miss Maria?"

Greus asked.

"The wonderful girl that brought you back here when you were unconscious is coming to dine with us tonight. Be sure to thank her properly later okay?"

Miss Maria said while still focused on cooking.

"Oh."

Greus muttered in a daze.