A Boy, The Forest, & Ambition (4)

"That's impossible." Emily shook her head in disbelief. "It shouldn't be possible for a 10 year old boy to have a core that's light purple, especially with a pool as large as yours."

'Perhaps I might have gone a little overboard with the training.' Darian thought.

Emily continued to look at him with unbelief. "Can you use any spells?"

"Only the ones my mother uses around the house." The boy lied as easily as he breathed.

"Show me." Emily ordered the boy, looking towards his parents where Diana looked completely shocked except for Renbrandt.

"Okay…" Darian responded, before holding his hand out and reciting the magic word. "Purgatio." But, he had forgotten something critical in his inattentiveness, he had not bothered waving his hand at all. The spell had always required an accompanying hand movement, yet it worked without the need for him to do so, shocking Emily even more.

The room fell into a hushed silence as a wave of energy rippled from Darian's outstretched hand. A black mist enveloped a small part of the floor of the clinic, leaving it spotlessly clean.

The mage's eyes widened, never in her life had she seen such talent in a young child. "You! You can use spells without chanting can't you?" She insisted.

"Well…Usually I just point where I want to and the spell goes woosh…" Darian replied, acting childish and clueless as best he could.

'Damn it.' He said to himself inwardly.

He was waving his childish innocence as he noticed the situation had gotten quite serious without him meaning it to. For all he knew, he would get dissected, better yet turned into some weird research subject – the next E.T.!

'Ughhh I don't want to turn into a grimey alien research subject…' Darian shuddered at the thought.

Emily took a deep breath, her mind racing. She had never encountered a child with such extraordinary magical potential. It was something unprecedented and the young mage knew she had stumbled upon someone truly remarkable.

"I'll teach him." Emily declared to everyone in the room.

"Emily, I don't understand." Diana said, taken aback by the turn of events, yet there was a smile on her face.

"It's quite simple, Didi', your son's talented and I would like to teach him."

"Urhm…Urhm…" Renbrandt coughed. "So you're saying our son who spends his days running around and playing in forests is talented." He continued.

"Precisely, yes." Emily replied, looking at the boy like he was some sort of precious treasure.

"So you're saying you'll be his mentor?" Diana asked, her voice still tinged with disbelief. She had fully expected to impart a lesson to her son that not everyone could become a mage, that some things in life simply weren't meant to be. Yet her son was talented and at heart she couldn't be more proud, especially at the reveal that he had been working on magic in his spare time.

"I… Yes, I will," the young mage replied. "I'll be his mentor for now."

"What do you mean for now?" Renbrandt asked.

"There's only so much your son can learn from me, when he turns 13 I would like for him to attend the academy."

"The academy?!" Renbrandt exclaimed. "We don't have the money to send him to the academy."

"Do not fret, I have connections in the academy that would be interested in your son."

"We trust you, Lady Emily," Renbrandt said, his voice filled with gratitude. "We want what's best for our boy."

"Thank you for your trust," Emily said sincerely. "I will teach him to the best of my abilities."

Darian who had been intently listening to the conversation was excited. He was aware that his life was about to change in ways he couldn't yet comprehend. His ambition for power was starting to come well within his reach, and, without meaning to, his self exploration of magic had paid off.

Gently patting the little boy on the head with tenderness, Emily asked him to bow a total of seven times.

"Now, child, boy 7 times to me so we officially have a master-apprentice relationship as per tradition."

"Yes." Darian replied, bowing 7 times to his newly appointed master in magic.

As Darian finished bowing, Emily knelt down onto one knee.

"Darian, my first ever apprentice," she said, her voice gentle yet firm. "Your potential in magic is extraordinary, but you have to remember that learning magic is a great responsibility, and its use even greater."

Darian nodded in understanding.

"I will be teaching you magic in order to unlock your true potential. But, it won't be easy, and there will be challenges that you must overcome along the way."

"I understand, master."

"Alright then, it's settled. You will come to this very clinic every day and leave every afternoon. Is that alright?" She asked, looking for Diana and Renbrandt's approval.

Diana and Renbrandt nodded in approval.

Darian, Diana, and Renbrandt then exited the mage's clinic, the weight of what had transpired inside the clinic hung in the air, making them exchange glances filled with a sense of wonder.

***

As the door behind them closed, Emily leaned against the wall, her chest rising and falling with deep breaths. She closed her eyes, letting it all sink in.

"I have an apprentice!" She declared, excited.

In all her years as a mage, Emily had encountered many magical anomalies and peculiarities, but never had she come across a young prodigy like Darian. His potential had shaken her to her core.

With a soft chuckle, Emily pushed herself away from the wall and walked to her desk, picking up a quill and a fresh sheet of paper, ready to write the academy.

As the quill touched the parchment, Emily began to write. Emily wrote about her intention to teach the boy basic magic until he turned 13, the words flowed from her pen, capturing every single detail of what had transpired.

As she finished the letter, Emily read it once more, satisfied with the message it conveyed. Folding the parchment carefully, she sealed it with a drop of red wax and her personal sigil. This letter would herald the turning point of a new chapter, not just for Darian but for her as well.

Little did Emily know the uproar her letter would cause upon its receipt.