Using magic

Alex left the room his mind still flooded with all the new information Sage Pennteller had just deluged him with. His mind swam as he tried to sort everything out. According to the Sage self made spells are inherently better than copied spells of the same variety because the mage has a better understanding of how the spell works as well as the spell being chantless and can be tweaked in different ways. Thinking back he remembered how affinities worked, taking it one step further he considered that he should focus all self made spells into fire and wind and probably space and just learn copied spells for areas he had low talent in? He would run this past the Sage when he saw him tomorrow.

Having not been paying any attention to what his body was doing while his mind was deep in thought he realized he was sitting on the couch in the library with two little bundles of cuteness snuggled into either side of him.

"What did my little dragonlings get up to then?" asked Alex

"Boring etiquette lessons" grumped Anna a small pout on her face.

Alex and Lily both giggled at Annas antics, who promptly burrowed her face into Alex's chest eliciting another giggle from Lily, Alex just stroked her hair.

"We are going to start learning about what it means to be a dragon as well as theory behind dragon magic soon according to Aunt Mira" Lily stated.

Alex nodded, "That's probably a good thing as magic training looks like it will eat up a lot of my time" an apologetic look on his face.

Lily snuggled back into the warmth that was her Alex and mumbled "Don't worry about us we don't want to hold you back by being selfish.

"Did you want to learn Alchemy Lily? I've noticed you have been reading a lot of books on the subject recently" Alex asked suddenly.

"Un" Lily nodded, "alchemy is very interesting there is a lot you can do with it"

Alex smiled and nodded his eyes warm and gentle as he stroked both their heads, he soon noticed that both had dozed off and as he sat there listening to their breathing Alex mental strain caught up with him and he also dozed off.

Mira found them like this an hour later when she came looking for them once dinner was ready. She gently shook them awake and all 3 let out cute little yawns rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Mira led them to the dining hall where Gramps, Sage PennTeller and Ms Rightworth were already sitting.

"Hey Gramps" Alex called out

"What is it Alex" Zakath replied

"When my combat instructor comes would it be possible to get an alchemy instructor for Lily to come at the same time?"

Zakath pondered the request for a while he turned to Lily and saw the obvious gleam in her eye. Chuckling to himself, "I don't see any problems with that Alex in fact I have just the person in mind.

Alex grinned at Lily, he felt a sudden tug on his arm, what about me sniffed Anna feeling left out, "I thought that would be obvious you will be having combat classes with me when the instructor arrives" Alex said smiling towards Anna.

A radiant smile broke out on Annas face the moment she heard that hearing that she would get time to spend with Alex. Everyone around the table even the prim and proper Ms Rightworth laughed at their antics, causing Anna to blush furiously in embarrassment.

As dinner wound down Aunt Mira took us off to get cleaned up and ready for bed, as the three of snuggled together Lily suddenly spoke up "Hey did you know we will have to sleep in different rooms once we get old enough?"

Alex nodded in the darkness yeah gramps told me that when we reach ten our bodies start going through some sort of change and we need to have our own rooms for a few years until the change is done then we should be able to go back to sleeping together" he explained with all the innocence and pureness only a 6 year old can have.

"That's good then, it will be weird not having you to cuddle up to.

"Un" Anna nods in agreement in the darkness.

Slowly the trio drift off into dreamland.

Next morning Alex extract himself from Lily and Anna throwing on some clothes he then headed out to the training courtyard to do the work out routine Gramps had given Alex when he was 5. It was fairly basic simple jogging sit-ups, pushups etc. Gramps claimed that it was so my body didn't instantly collapse when my combat instructor arrived, Alex thinks to himself that he should probably get Anna to start the routine as well if she wants to train with me.

Alex heads back into the house and washes off the sweat changing into clean clothes, looking at the bed he can see two little bumps in the duvet knowing the girls are both terrible at getting up in the mornings Alex loudly states breakfast is ready and if they aren't down in 10 minutes he will eat their portions too.

Heading downstairs Alex greets everyone with a friendly smile sitting down at the table he tucks into a hearty breakfast as he is really eager to get into magic training, Sage Pennteller stood up having finished his food and spoke, "Once you're done Alex come to the training courtyard"

Alex hopped up an eager look on his face and excitement bubbling in his tone lets the Sage know he is more than ready to get started.

Five minutes latter two sleepy eyed girls shuffled in, "Where's Alex?" hey ask in unison. He has already gone to start his training so you won't get the chance to see him until lunch, Lily and Anna looked completely dejected, both making the resolution to get up earlier in the morning so they could share some time with their Alex before lessons.

Over in the training courtyard, Alex was sitting cross legged while Hubert stood off to the side observing the magic channels in the boys' body, he advised Alex not to rush things as even the most accomplished mage took at least a few days to grasp their mana. After a few hours of meditation Hubert took Alex through basic magical theory as well as introducing him to simple mental exercises to help improve his focus and mental adaptability.

This routine continued for five days with the only change being Anna and surprisingly Lily taking up Alex's training routine, while surprised he was also happy as training with his two little dragonlings made the experience much more fun. On the fifth day just as Alex was getting frustrated, he felt a tug on his heart, it felt vaguely familiar, it was just like the tug he felt when he used the affinities board. Zeroing in on that feeling he finally felt the mana in his body unlock.

Hubert watched as his disciple's mana channels were washed with mana as the barrier was finally overcome allowing Alex access to his mana reservoir. "Not to fast nor too slow", Hubert through nodding his head then something happened that left him shocked.

Alex felt the mana flood his body, he was almost giddy with joy, he had access to mana he was a mage now, without even thinking about it almost in a trance from the euphoria of unlocking his mana the spell that had the biggest impact on his psyche flashed into his mind, raising his hand up palm outward pointing towards the target dummies a fireball formed in his hand, swirling flame, fiery destruction, compress it down, pack more power in, compress, the fireball shrunk down to half its original size but you could feel the power radiating off it but Alex felt it still wasn't enough instinctively he thought of all the times he had seen people blow on a flame to make it burn hotter, without even thinking about it he added coat of wind to the fireball then using the same wind as a propellant launched the fireball at the target, the moment the fireball left his hand Alex's eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out.

Hubert watched the whole process not believing what he was seeing a 6 year old child who had only just unlocked his mana was firing a self made fireball spell and had even add a wind element to it, the fireball flashed across the courtyard impacting the dummy, and resounding explosion could be heard throughout the house and a flaming tornado appeared where the target dummy used to be, the tornado lasted about ten second before fading away, leaving a rather large crater smoldering where the dummy once was.

Everyone rushed out at the large noise, to see a Hubert standing there as if he had just seen a ghost a collapsed Alex and a smoldering crater. Lily and Anna ran to Alex prone body on the verge of tears, absentmindedly Hubert called out to them, "Don't worry little ones he just over used his magic and passed out, he will be fine after a night sleep. They both looked relieved but at the same time they didn't let go of Alex.

Zakath looked at Hubert, "What exactly happened here?" he demanded

Hubert looked over at Zakath, "I don't think you would believe me if I told you, I don't believe it and I watched it happen"

"Try me" growled Zakath

Hubert took a deep breath then slowly explained exactly what he had just seen.

"If it wasn't for the crater and an obviously mana deprived Alex you would be right I wouldn't believe that my grandson the moment he unlocked his mana cast a chantless self-made spell and even modified it with a second element" Zakath rubbed his temples, "What kind of walking disaster am I going to let loose on the world once he finishes his training?".

"Take him to bed he won't be waking up until tomorrow but aside from a headache he will be fine", Zakath ordered, looking over at Hubert, "You're going to have to instill in him the necessary sense of caution towards his powers so this doesn't happen again"

Hubert just nodded his head still not quite grasping what had happened.