I took a quick bath in the private washroom adjoining my bedroom, then pulled on my new clothes.

The outfit was simple, consisting of a white undershirt and trousers, the same symbol from the guard’s shields was embroidered in gold on the back of the shirt, but otherwise it was plain. A pair of black boots waited for me by the door along with a silver ring—a simple band. The clothing felt surprisingly light and quite comfortable; it was almost like being naked, but not quite.

After getting dressed, I brushed my teeth and combed through my hair before meeting with Vorlin. He didn't seem to mind when I arrived late, saying only, “Are you ready to train?”

I nodded as I scanned the multitude of weapons racks set up around the training area.

I was surprised by how much equipment there was; swords of all sizes and styles, maces, lances and spears, daggers and even whips hung on the racks. There were bows of varying styles as well, some even bladed. Much more interesting, though, were several racks holding what looked like crude staves, or plain branches.

Even though I didn’t get close, I felt something from them like an energy that seemed to gather and swirl around them. They must’ve been some sort of magic weapon.

Vorlin stood unarmed on one of four black platforms, so I climbed up to join him without grabbing a weapon.

“I see you’re curious.” He smiled.

“Yea, those staves are especially interesting.” I answered.

“We can practice with weapons another time. Today, we focus on the basics.” Vorlin said.

"The basics?" I asked in confusion, "Don't you think I can throw a punch by now? How many tournaments have you seen me win?"

"Your fighting technique would be fine if you were still on earth," he replied without hesitation, "but when magic is involved, combat becomes a whole different beast."

To emphasize his point, he rushed across the roughly twenty foot platform, moving at twice the speed he should’ve been able to. Unsure what to expect, I threw up my guard.

Vorlin’s fist passed between my arms and stopped an inch short of my face. If he had intended to hit me, he’d have succeeded easily.

“You see Sam? Magic can be used in many ways and the stronger the mage, the more unpredictable battles become.”

His demonstration made it crystal clear that what I learned on earth wouldn’t mean much on Aeros, at least not until I understood how magic might affect a battle.

I couldn’t use any magic just yet, but Vorlin went over the most common combat applications for magic anyway. He demonstrated each for me to see how they worked. I had vague memories of what it was like to sense mana, but currently I couldn’t do it, so the demonstrations mostly just served to show me what was possible.

There were all kinds of ways a mage could strengthen their body. Some of the basic techniques included reinforcing grip, adding force to a punch, even hardening the skin for stronger defense. There were applications for rapid movement, jumping higher or slightly further, as well as a simple technique to aid movement and reduce fatigue. There were even more options he couldn’t really demonstrate, but he told me about some of them. The most interesting was vision enhancement and a trick for improving sensory processing speed.

If Vorlin was rusty after so many years not using these skills, he didn’t let it show, not in any way I could notice.

With demonstrations out of the way, he went back to the first move, demonstrated it once more, then asked me to block the blow.

Over and over, Vorlin kicked off the floor and shot towards me like an arrow. He was only using simple strikes, a straight jab aimed at a red dot on my chest, but my arms came up too late again and again.

"No! That's too slow!" He bellowed, then his fist slammed into my chest, knocking me back on my ass.

"I'll get it next time," I said as he helped me back to my feet for the thousandth time.

Vorlin shook his head. “No, that’s enough for today. I don’t want your mother—I mean, Silvia—well, both, jumping down my throat because you’re too spent to pay attention later.” he sighed and crossed his arms. “Let's head to the house for lunch. Mirina's probably dying to see you, and Silvia should be done at the school soon, which means it's almost time for your first magic lesson.”

As we walked toward the Kalestin's house, I asked, “Why didn’t we start with something simpler, did you actually expect I’d be able to block those attacks?”

From my perspective he was asking the impossible. There was no way I could block those blows without magic.

“Training is about pushing past your limits so that you can reach new heights. If we just practice what you're already capable of, then the only improvement will be in your technique."

His answer was simple and made sense, but part of me wondered if there was more to it.

Silvia wasn't home yet when we arrived, so Vorlin made lunch while I played with Mirina.

Of course she asked about the gruffle, and handled herself surprisingly well when I explained I hadn’t seen the Queen yet. I told her about my morning training with Vorlin and she told me about her morning at the magic academy.

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She didn’t have a mana core yet, like some of the other four year olds, but that wasn’t unusual. Apparently four was when most elven kids developed mana cores and started studying magic. For now she was just learning basic theory and only had classes in the morning, but she was quite excited. I realized quickly that her discovery of magic likely played a role in how she reacted to news about the gruffle.

When Silvia did arrive home, she ate with us, then asked me to go with her to the castle so we could begin my magic lesson.

After returning to Faerelle, Silvia and Vorlin seemed to step effortlessly into their old roles. Silvia seemed a bit more at home than Vorlin, but it was clear both had been ready to come back for some time.

Silvia taught at the royal academy of magic, but I didn’t attend the school. Queen Riona insisted that I must learn in private because my situation was unique and it might be dangerous for me to use magic.

Magic could be dangerous generally, but apparently, my mana core didn’t just crack when I was trying to save Lumia, it advanced two stages at once to reach the fourth stage. When my mother arrived, Silvia was already there. She had managed to disrupt the flow of mana and stop my core advancing any further, but the Queen ordered Silvia to also force my core into dormancy.

No one knew what would happen once it activated again. That was why not only Silvia, but also my mother was present for this first lesson.

“Do you recall anything about magic?” Riona asked.

I shook my head. “A little, but nothing concrete.”

“That’s okay,” Silvia said with a smile, “I was thinking we should start with the basics anyway.” She walked to a shelf containing many odd artifacts, scrolls, ancient texts, and runic carvings. While searching for something, she kept speaking. "Mana is the source of all magic, it's also the essence of every living creature, plant or animal, and it flows throughout all of Aeros."

"Sounds just like the books I read on earth." I joked.

"That's probably because a number of those stories were true or at least based on truth." Queen Riona replied.

Looking at her skeptically, I scoffed, "There's no way."

"Isn't there though?” Silvia chimed. “You think we're the first magical beings to hide on earth?"

I thought about it for a second. She made a good point, and it would explain the similarities between unrelated books. It also made me wonder if authors like Riz, who wrote my favorite web serial "Tales of Alexander" were actually magical beings themselves. Riz Tales was definitely a pen name, maybe he was really just Alex telling his own story.

There was only one problem with the theory.

"Supposing what you say is true, then wouldn't there be records of all those legends here? maybe not written in story form, but surely the history was recorded?"

Silvia shook her head. "You misunderstood. The stories might be true, but not one of them occurred on Aeros. There are many different magical worlds out there.” Plucking what looked like a simple glass orb from one of the shelves, she said. “Here it is. Sam, come here.”

When I approached her, she extended the orb towards me. Nothing happened, but when I touched it, I felt a spark, like static shock.

“What is this thing?” I asked.

Queen Riona answered almost before I finished speaking, as if she’d been expecting the question. “It’s a safety precaution, one I hope we won’t need, but…”

Silvia placed the orb in my palm, leaving hers on top of it. After a deep breath, she said, “Okay, Sam. Close your eyes.”

I looked to my mother, who nodded, then back at Silvia before closing my eyes.

“Now try to feel the space around you.”

I did as instructed. Several moments passed before Silvia asked, “Do you feel anything?”

“Besides air, no, nothing; what’s it supposed to feel like?”

“You’ll know when you feel it. Let’s try something a little different. Take some deep breaths, and as you do, try looking inward. You already have a mana core so let’s focus on feeling that.”

I nodded and followed the instructions. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to be focusing on, or looking for, but I tried just following the air as I inhaled.

It proved an effective tactic because I quickly noticed a pulsing in my chest. With each breath I drew in, there was a warm wave that followed. It was hardly noticeable at first, but by the fourth repetition I was sure of it. Between my lungs, there was something breathing along with me. Not in the same sense—it wasn’t taking in air—but with each breath, mana was being drawn into a sphere.

Once I was aware of the core, a new sense presented itself to me. “I can feel it!” I said, “it’s almost like being in a pool of warm water.”

“Yes, that’s it, Silv.” The Queen cheered.

Silvia added, “Good, good, now that you can feel it, you should be able to draw it in directly. Your core has been inactive for years. We’re in uncharted territory here, so just be careful and go slow. We don’t want to overwhelm you.”

I nodded as I eagerly began trying to bring in mana. It really was everywhere like Silvia said. The closest thing I could relate it to was an atom. Only this atom was a part of everything and completely undetectable to those without a mana core.

I guessed that the core must be like an organ, one necessary not only to process mana, but also to perceive it.

I wasn’t sure if my understanding was correct, but drawing from my knowledge of science, it was the best explanation I could come up with.

As I began pulling, the new particles responded easily to my will. I felt a rush of vigor as they filtered into my core, slowly at first, but like a ravenous beast, starved for too long, I couldn’t restrain myself. Mana flooded in until it was crowded around my core, packed so tightly that it couldn’t move.

My core felt full and yet still hungry, ready to devour more, but unable to take it in. Mana pressed harder around my core, crushing with a tightening grip that threatened to break it. I needed to let go, but I couldn’t.

It was almost like what happened in my dream, only this time it didn’t hurt as much and I wasn’t trying to hold on.

A face appeared in my mind, the face of my uncle. He looked more life-like this time as his thin lips stretched into a wicked grin and his silver eyes narrowed with wrath. As suddenly as the image appeared, it was gone, as if it’d never been there to begin with.

My eyes popped open.

With a breath of panic I groped at my chest, feeling for something—an unknown something. I was panting and barely able to stand. My legs trembled and my body ached as I collapsed.

Silvia and Riona both rushed to support me, gently helping me to the floor.

“What happened? Why didn’t the stabilizer work?” Riona demanded.

Silvia shook her head, panic and confusion swirling together on her face, “I don’t have a clue. Everything was fine and then—”

“I saw him. Uncle Vale, I saw him.”

Riona’s eyes opened wide, shock evident in every inch of her expression. She gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.

My vision blurred as tears streamed down my cheeks and I fought against the overwhelming urge to fall unconscious.