Hello, guys and gals. This is absolutely, seriously, totally, certainly the last chapter for today. I mean it. With this I only have two ready chapters left, and I'm afraid I'll need to stop releasing for a few days to restock. It's crusial for me to have a stock in case I want to go back and change\add something.

PS. lutexv's comment made me release this one today. Make sure to thank him when chance occures.

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I woke up because of loud bangs outside. I tried to sleep for a little bit longer but cracking sound of a falling tree woke me up completely. Tasty smells filled our house. I rubbed my eyes open and got dressed.

“Good morning, dear. Breakfast is in five minutes. Could you call your father?” She gave me a worrisome glance while removing a cocatrice from fire. We hadn’t had those in a while.

I went outside and saw father dismantling a rotten trunk elder pointed. After seeing me he buried the edge of his axe halfway through the trunk effortlessly and waved to me. Strength has whole another meaning in this world. I felt a bit bitter after yesterday but it didn’t hurt that much anymore. I might have overreacted, I thought. Some roads may be closed for me, but I’m young and the world is wide, somewhere there is a place for me. I almost turned around to go inside again, but saw a movement in the corner of my eye. Far in the distance elder Shanahan was making his way to our hut.

“Mom, elder Shanahan will join us for breakfast. He might have fallen in love with your steaks,” I told her, but surprisingly fourth plate was already served. Was she expecting him?

“Wash your hands, dear,” she said nonchalantly making it obvious she knew about his visit.

“It were ants and bees,” father said while entering the house, “ants have eaten their way inside a hive and messed the trunk up. Newer saw something like this before, the trunk was perfectly fine last period. Both insects usually keep away from each other. I wonder what made them greedy.”

“Hello,” I greeted elder. He silently nodded, sat down and started to eat cocatrice’s leg right away, without even waiting for us. Such a weirdo.

“Huh, a bit hoth, but tastes ghood, hoooh, hooh,” he blew out before swallowing. “You know Akillah, anyone who tried your mother’s cooking knows she’s the best cook in the village. But I’ve been wondering, if you try her cooking too cold or too hot, will it still be he most delicious meal, or not?” he thought for a little, than added, “you can’t judge the cook only when she’s in top condition and makes her specialty. Good cook’s food is always tasty. My compliments, Galena,” he winked to my mother.

“Thank you, elder.” she replied courtly, then turned to me, “Akillah, after the meal you’ll go with elder to his place. He’ll be teaching you stuff from now on.”

“Uhm. Ok. Wasn’t I supposed to go to school in a period?”

“Elder decided to teach you personally. It’s a honour! Show some gratitude.”

“Thank you, elder Shanahan,” I replied immediately. Mom is a bit serious today.

“You see, Akillah, I’m not taking pupils these days, neither do I tell stories like yesterday,” elder confessed.

“Is that so?” I must admit, I have no idea what’s going on here.

“The stories are to be told only when they could be well received. Stories are not for amusement, but for meaning behind them. My yesterday’s story proved you can listen to me, while my odd questions gave me a hint I can listen to you, should you ever speak. All people have ears, but few will ever hear what you say. Anyone has eyes, but none see you the way you are, child.”

“Has the lesson started already?” I’m proud to say I understood a bigger half of what he just told.

“No, Akillah, eat well. Elder Shanahan, show some manners too. Leave your riddles for later,” father complained. It was the first time I saw him scolding someone for bad manners. The rest of the breakfast went and gone in silence.

I’ve never been so deep into the village before. Elder Shanahan gave me a piggyback ride to his house to let me see better. Our hut looked like a joke comparing to this buildings. We’ve been going for twenty minutes without touching the ground since all the houses were intricately interconnected by wooden bridges of any kind of length and width. Bigger trees held two and three levels of houses, some houses had two, three floors, some were constructed between two trees and hung over us like an arch. Mother never took me this far. We were buying all our necessities from hunters, who spend more time in woods then at home. There was so much hustle on the streets I couldn't hear the sounds of nature any more. People stared at me all the same, but now I knew the reason why. Red eyes made me a “rara avis”, an unusual sight. Moreover, I felt more comfortable on elder’s shoulders. Was it because we were not hiding and sneaking around, but took main road and walked right through the centre of it? It was a nice feeling. I started to stare back at people and watched them avert their eyes.

“Here we go,” elder stopped at one of neat looking “arch” houses, then started to climb the ladder. ” Have you remembered the road?” he asked.

“Yes, elder.” There was nothing special to it. Always take the widest bridge until you're here. “If not, I could ask for pointers anytime, someone should know where your house is, right?”

“True,” he opened the door and let me in. Contrary to the outside, inside was a mess. Piles of books in the corners, heaps of paper and parchment everywhere, drawings on walls and the floor, that was a short summary of what I saw. On one of the large parchments was depicted a swirling mass of colours you could only describe as baby scribble, but something was awfully familiar in it.

"What's this, elder?" I asked immediately and grabbed the parchment to eye it better.

"I don't know. Saw it in one of my recent dreams. Could barely open my eyes while drawing. Why did you pick up that one out of all of my pictures?" he narrowed his eyes.

"I wonder," there were many sheets of paper with runic writings and pictures of odd animals. “Is this an abstraction?” I couldn't draw my eyes away. Why do I have the feeling I'm forgetting something important?

“ Maybe yes, maybe not. I have no idea what is it, or if it is something at all. Better take a leather bound book behind you and start reading aloud. We'll start your education with human language. You'll get to choose your next lesson after an hour.”

“Language? It’s not like I’m going to travel anywhere soon. I thought you’ll show me some magic! I’ve never seen one!”

“Never shout never, stupid….” someone called me stupid for the first time,” …and don’t make me repeat myself, you’ll get to chose next!”

I realized my mistake right away. I should have known better to show impatience. I’m neither a small kid, nor a country bumpkin to ask for magic tricks.

“Power needs to be handled with prudence, was it?” I showed shame with my ears, but his face already brightened with a smile.

“What did I say about stories, Akillah?”

“They exist to teach a lesson, elder.”

“And didn’t I judge you to be capable to hear them? Hehehe, good, good, now start reading.”

“Umm, may I sugest something?”

“Yes?”

“How about short breaks after every lesson? Ten minutes or so.”

His eyes raised up to the ceiling but he didn't look anywhere in particular. “Agreed,” was his answer.

“For how long am I going to stay here today?”

“As long as you like, Akillah. I’m not going to force you into anything since you don’t look like lazy girl. I expect you to spend dinner here, though. You may bring it packed with you next time, hehehe.” He wiped the edge of his mouth with his sleeve.

“Shall I get started?” It was the first time he gave out his emotions. That’s right, you could control your ears and hide your tail, but you can’t tame your stomach after my mother’s cooking, hehehe. Crap! I laugh like him already!

“You could have started thrice by now.”

And so, my studying has begun. Little did I know how important this lessons are going to become. Human language proved to be nothing special. I was a bit difficult to spell some sounds without growling, though. There was something soft, almost french in humans phonetics, but my “r” sounded more like german. Elder told me it can either fix by itself to some extent when I'm older, or stay forever, depending on how high-pitched my voice is going to become according to our standards. I didn't get to know much about grammar during my first lesson, but with my baggage of experience any language felt familiar. Any language consists of twelve sections, like phonetics, orthoepy, graphic arts, spelling, lexicology and blah blah. I imprinted all basics in my memory a long time ago, so large my obsession with books was. I had a nasty habit to read books in original. Now I only needed to surround those basics with bricks called words. The interesting part came next.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Now that it’s my turn to chose, I wish to learn basics of magic, elder. I would like to get a small demonstration in the end of the lesson.”

"Sure," he told while dropping a small feather on the table. "Lesson one is called a willpower. Try to move that feather without touching it."

"You mean with your mind? Who do you think I am? An.......an....." This world had no word to represent telekinesis so I was at a loss of words.

"Any mage can do that. In fact, any trained warrior can do that too. Including your father and uncle. Only they reached that level of concentration through different means, but fact is fact."

"...?!.....ok, I'll try."

For the next fifty minutes I felt incredibly stupid. I looked at the feather and tried to stare it out from the table. When my eyes started to hurt I closed them and tried to think about damn feather really hard. Naturally all kinds of stuff infested my thoughts, starting with my new woolen tunic and elegant leather belt mother made, and finishing with bugs and bees from the tree. I tried to get back to the feather time after time but started to feel head ache. I wonder if elder was mocking me the whole time.

"I don't get it, what exactly do you want me to do? I need an explanation!"

“Sure. Let’s make it more entertaining, ask me questions and I shall answer them. Interview me!” He looked as if he was pleased with my progress so far. That's a lie, right?

“First, what is magic?” Let’s start small.

“On basic level magic is an ability of your mind to will things into existence.” His first answer drove me into a corner.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean exactly what I told.”

“What do you need to be able to use magic?”

“Hmm. A brain?”

“???” I didn’t even know how to comment this. “Does it mean I could use magic right now?”

“If you're not questioning the presence of a brain in your head, then yes, if you were to really wish so,” he told with perfectly straight face.

“Is there some kind of fuel you use?” I asked having mana as a reference.

“Can your brain be used up? Do you spend it while you think?! Huhuhu…” he laughed genuinely for the first time since I met him, “…to the contrary, the more magic you use, the easier it becomes.”

“Do you have to know magic words?” I asked while thinking of incantations.

“Rather not then yes. Some words help you to concentrate, to bring a right feeling about what you’re doing, to let you remember the first time you bended elements to your will. Sometimes this words take a form of sentences, verses, songs or whatever. Our race, for example, prefers battlecries. But remember this, the incantation used by someone may be completely useless for you and vice versa. There is no discreet reason to use them in the first place. I once met a mage that used a cough as an incantation. The fool blew himself after catching a cold!”

“I still don’t get it. How come immaterial world can influence material?”

“Huh? An interesting question for a child. Is your brain immaterial? Or are your thoughts not a result of its activity? Then what about vocal cords and sound? What about ghosts and spirits that are purely immaterial beings but can move objects? Yes, ghosts exist, they're not just a part of folklore,” he answered my next question I couldn't even start to ask, “most of them are just a shadows of their former self, but some are different. Awakened ones can do things, sometimes good, sometimes bed. Anyway, let’s leave theory of magic for another time and let me tell you a story. Be grateful, child, since you’re the first one to hear two stories from me in two days!” He tried to look strict, but I could tell he was agitated more than he was willing to show.

“Please, elder, I’m all ears.”

“Two little e boys, Han and Hal, studied under one old elf mage. They sat on their butt all day long, and tried to move with their minds a feather so small, that the smallest wind could pick it up effortlessly. Han tried hard while Hal grew impatient. After a year Hal managed to move a feather a little bit. He was drenched in sweat and his head hurt. He thought, “why do I need to go through this, if by picking a feather with hand you spend one thousand times less effort?” Next day he didn't come back to the mage, but decided to be a warrior. In ten years Han and Hal met again. Hal took a large boulder and threw it further then the eye can see. He started to brag how efficiently he spent this past years. “Weird,” thought Han, “I could do the same without lifting a finger. How come Hal is the one to brag?” Elder ended abruptly.

“Have you come up with this story just now, elder?”

“No, I’ve just shortened it ten times or so, it’s boring anyway. I just wanted to let you know how much concentration you need to take but one step as a mage. Moving things is just a bare basis! To become a real mage one needs to understand laws of the world, the core principles of universe,” he smiled and threw me an apple across the table which I put in my pocket. I had few questions left.

“Does it mean I can’t learn magic until I learn anything else you have to teach me?” I think I’ve got the hint, not that I’m agreeing with him just yet.

“I'll be gracious, Akillah. I'll ask you few questions. Answer them right and I shall make an exeption ”

“Ok, go on,” have nothing to lose here.

“Is there a clear line between material and immaterial?”

“Yes,” an obvious answer.

“Why?”

“Because matter can be measured and anything immaterial can't?”

“Measured by what?”

“Distance. Weight. Height.” I thought a little, then added. “Time.”

“Can you measure yourself?”

“I’m one metre high, sixteen kilograms, three years old.”

“What represents your soul, Akillah? Weight? Or your age? Huh?” He seemed to be amused by my frantically thinking face. "Or are you trying to say your soul is not the part of you? Let me make it easier. Can you measure a rock the same way you did with yourself?”

“Yes, I guess?” He was obviously luring me into the trap.

“Does your measurement reflect everything the rock is? What if I say this imaginary rock has a wish?”

“I’ll say rocks can’t have a wish.”

“Assuming rocks are not alive, that is." his face was calm but his eyes laughed at me. "Which is not completely true,” he added.

"So rocks are alive?"

"Stricktly speaking no, but they have life in them" I strugled to not use foul language at this point.

"If...if you say so, then anything has life inside? Stars? Sun? Univers as a whole...? Let me guess, next thing you're going to say is "universe has a wish" or....or—"

"Exactly! I'm glad you understand!" he looked at the corner where a hourglass stood. “Time is up! My turn to choose, hehehe.” He stood up and tossed me a small purse while saying, "Here is your first home task. Keep practising with these feathers. And bring me a map I saw in your house, I'll need it for geography lesson."

I froze with my mouth open for the next question. My perturbation knew no borders.

“Wait! You promised a demonstration!” I won’t let him go that easy.

“Your pocket, Akillah,” he clearly liked to tease me. Anyone can grow beard, start saying bullshit and make an all-knowing face at that. I reached to my pocket to throw my apple at him.…what I found there was a hard, solid rock.

“Do you know what’s your problem, child?” my upraised eyebrows told him I don’t. “You ask right questions for all the wrong reasons and vice versa. Let me give you a piece of advise. Keep your mind open and learn what you can. Maybe one day you’ll know what to ask."

I understood he knew what he was saying after all. Of course he did! I continued to rely on my otherworldly skills and knowledge. I continued to cling to the same mindset from before. If things were to continue in the same direction, I was going to become the same person. That old person had no future, he started to degrade long before his death. I needed to let go on that person to have my own future.

“Elder Shanahan?”

“Yes?”

“Please guide me well.”

Two significant events happened that day. First, I discarded my right to chose a subject. A sense of trust formed regarding our eccentric elder. Second, I always thought he smelled good. I learned to trust my instincts more.

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PS. Magic system in my story has nothing to do with mana, as you already understood. I wanted to step aside from that concept. I perfectly understand that I'm complicating things, and may regret it in the end, but as I told before, I can't write happy-go-lucky stories. Not my style, sorry.