The Second Element

Xavier sighed in relief. He sat up and was about to get to his feet when a tremor ran through him. He fell back to the ground as pain once more racked his body.

What was going on? Was this a side effect of using the formation to awaken his magic? Energy suddenly burst within him. It was a colorless, formless thing. The energy took root in his spiritual world.

Xavier was stunned. People woke one element at every level. That had always been how it worked. So why was there now a second element in his spiritual world? Was he somehow an intermediate mage?

He had never heard of someone awakening into an intermediate mage before. After a moment of consideration, he felt elation. Either way he had two magics already and after thinking of it for a moment he knew what his second type of magic was. Colorless magic was the trademark of summoning magic. It seemed he was a 'true' descendent of the Mitchell familia after all.

Xavier's elation began to fade as he considered what he had to do next. There was no way that he could hide his awakening from his family. Anybody with cultivation higher than his own would be able to sense the magical energy swirling around in his body. Besides, he had to find out why he had two elements.

Xavier rested for a few more minutes and then made his way home. He didn't meet anybody until he walked through the door into the foyer of the villa. His father, who was sitting watching the evening news, looked up at him as he entered. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"What the hell happened? Why do I sense magical energy flowing through your body?" His father stood and crossed the room to put his hands on Xavier's shoulders. His voice was full of concern. Awakening magic early was very rarely a good thing. Few survived the experience and fewer still made it through the early awakening without some sort of deficit.

Xavier squirmed uncomfortably. He knew he had to tell his father the truth but now that the moment was here, he was more than a little frightened. "I'm doing fine father. I awakened early."

His father took one look at the guilty expression on his face and straightened up to his full height. His son had done something to make this come to be. "Xavier, what did you do?" His voice was no longer laden with concern but with unmistakable anger.

Taking a deep breath Xavier told his father all about his using the soul and awakening formation. After the tale came out his father was silent for several long moments. Xavier waited nervously for his father's reaction.

"What you did- you had no right to do. You put yourself and the others around you in danger. Your risked you own life in awakening your magic early and you put others at risk by modifying formations without the necessary knowledge to do so. Do you realize that if the modification hadn't worked properly energy could have exploded out of the formation in unpredictable ways? There have been cases where even the smallest formation released enough energy to level a square mile after modification."

Xavier began to feel a little sick to his stomach as he heard the potential disasters that could have happened. Seeing his son's expression of apprehension Xavier's father was satisfied that his son now understood some of the misfortune he could have caused. Now all there was to deal with was his son's defiance. He knew Xavier had been warned by his tutor and then he ignored that warning.

"You were warned that there was a potential for danger." Xavier looked at his father in disbelief. "Your tutor told me that he had a conversation with you." Xavier looked down in embarrassment. He didn't think that his father had been aware of that.

"I'm sorry father. I didn't mean to put others in danger. I just-" Xavier went silent as he saw his father's expression.

"You've no excuse that I could accept as reasonable. I can see that you now understand what you did wrong. Now I need to make sure that you remember the implications of it. There is a small stand of woods that are infested with beetles on the edge of the wood. I don't want the infestation to spread so those trees will have to go. Your punishment will be to cut them down and dispose of them." His father looked gravely at him. "Until you've completed this task you are not to use your magic. If I find evidence that you have, I will bind your magic permanently until you turn eighteen."

Xavier was mortified. That sounded like it would take forever. He had awakened his magic only to be told that he couldn't use it. It wasn't fair, wasn't right-. His mind ran wild for a moment before he realized there may be a way to lessen his father's anger.

Xavier took a deep breath, "Father there is one more thing that happened."

His father's expression became grave. "What happened?"

"When I awakened something strange happened after the spacial magic had taken root. Another element suddenly appeared in my spiritual world."

His father's expression turned to one of shock. "Are you certain? How are you sure?"

Xavier explained the second element taking hold and how he recognized it as the summoning element. His father's expression went through various emotions before settling in something between frustration and joy.

He sighed. "Your punishment will still stand. You can't use either of your elements until you've completed the task. As for the other implications- for now don't tell anybody what happened. I will inform your mother and Mr. Mortenson."

His father sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. Then he smiled, "Well as always you surprise me. Don't mistake me. I'm very disappointed in you. I'm also very excited for you. You've awakened the rare spacial magic and our familia's specialty, summoning magic. This will be very good for your future."

Xavier was disappointed. He had hoped that the news of his awakening his second element would get his out of trouble. He thought about it for a moment and then sighed. This was- fair. Xavier turned to his father and then asked the one question that was bothering him. "How did I awaken two elements though? Am I an intermediate mage?"

His father threw his head back and began to laugh raucously. Finally, he calmed down enough to answer, "No. You're no intermediate mage." He smiled, "There is a rare innate talent that has appeared a few times through out the brief history of magic. It's happened maybe, three or four times. A mage will awaken not one but two primary elements. It's called dual innate elements."