The sun's rays seeped through the cracks of the walls of Lucian’s room, which caused his eyes to twitch. A few seconds afterwards, he opened his eyes and struggled to sit upright. He felt groggy as he got up from the bed. After opening his eyes, he inspected his surroundings to figure out where he was.

“I’m… home?”

Just as he was getting up, he saw Marian sitting beside his bed, with her head placed on his bed between her crossed arms, sleeping peacefully. As soon as Lucian started to sit up, Marian woke up.

“Lucian!” said Marian, tears welling in her eyes as she hugged her little brother.

“What’s going on? How long have I been asleep?”

“That’s what I wanna ask you! You came home running as if you had seen a demon and then collapsed as soon as you entered.”

“Did I? I don’t remember much…”

“Well, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Lucian recollected his thoughts. His last memory was delivering the mail to the Eithar Guild receptionist, after which he couldn’t remember anything, not even coming home running. He didn’t remember fainting, but he had an odd dream. A dream in which he was in a world completely coloured white. He had trouble differentiating where the floor was due to how white the world was. Suddenly the dream world started to corrupt; patches of darkness blotted the once-white world, with a voice resonating from all the dark patches. He couldn’t figure out what the voices were saying, but the voices spoke more to him and gradually started to overwhelm him with tiredness, which made him want to sleep more, possibly forever. However, the dark patches began to fade away before they could overwhelm Lucian completely. Lucian then closed his eyes, and the next thing he knew was that he woke up in his home.

He told his experience to Marian, minus the dream-turned-nightmare while eating the porridge she made for him.

“Really? You don’t remember much. I guess it can’t be helped. What matters is that you’re okay now.” Said Marian, wiping her tears away.

“Speaking of which, Mom and Dad left a while ago to buy some groceries. They should be coming back any moment now.”

After a while, Tom and Cassia were about to reach their home, discussing how they should tell Lucian about the mage’s proposal on the way. As soon as Cassia heard from Marian that Lucian had woken up, she came hurriedly to check on him. Cassia breathed a huge sigh of relief when she found him sitting upright on his bed. However, something had changed about Lucian. Call it mother’s intuition, but she felt Lucian was slightly different from how he usually acts. When she entered the room, he looked aloof while staring at the wall and stared at Cassia for a second or two before smiling.

No. It must be my imagination. He just woke up. He’s disoriented, thought Cassia, after which she and Tom asked Lucian what had caused such a toll on his body.

After catching up with what Lucian had told Marian, Tom and Cassia were hesitant to tell Lucian about the mage.

“Son, there’s something we have to tell you.”

Tom recounted what had happened while Lucian was unconscious.

“Me!? Becoming a mage’s apprentice!?” asked Lucian.

“Yes, we thought about it. The mage says your condition will pop up from time to time, so it’s better to stay with her. She says she’ll even teach you how to be a mage.”

“Really!? I’ll become her apprentice, then!” said Lucian rather excitedly.

“Won’t you feel lonely? You’ll have to go to the capital, away from us.”

“It’s not like I’ll never meet you guys again. I’ll visit from time to time.”

“Look at this cheeky brat, acting like a hotshot when he hasn’t even grown past play pretend.” Said Tom, relieved and with a smirk on his face.

Cassia and Tom were worried about Lucian’s future, but seeing his enthusiasm, after being bedridden with a near-fatal condition eased their hearts as parents. After all, they only wanted Lucian to be safe and happy.

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“Alright then. We’ll pay Miss mage a visit when you get better. So, you better rest and eat properly.”

“Yup! I will!”

Since he was a teenager, Lucian spent most of his time fooling around whenever he had free time. Unlike his older sister, who wanted to try for the knight’s selection following their father’s history, he hadn’t decided what to do with his future. Now, an opportunity had fallen on his lap; the chance to become a mage, which was a dream of most children in the kingdom. Mages were people who had power and fame and were highly respected wherever they went, as long as one was officially affiliated with the Mage’s organisation.

Four days had passed since Lucian had woken up. His body felt lethargic, but he made up his mind to visit Cecilia no matter what, as it was the day when he would meet the mage that saved his life. Tom took Lucian to the Howenward’s estate as Cecilia told them to come by when they had made a decision

After they reached Howenward’s estate, the guards let them in immediately, no questions asked, a stark difference from the indifference they showed the first time they met Tom. They led them to the garden, where the estate's servants prepared a table for Cecilia to relax.

“Ah. I see you have woken up. How are you feeling?” asked Cecilia, as she sipped the tea that was served to her. A sour face enveloped her, followed by her promptly adding tons of sugar into the tea and swirling it.

“I’m feeling good, thanks to your help.”

“So, what’s your decision, then? If you accept, then you have to come with me to the capital.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll become your apprentice! When do I start?!” said Lucian, beaming with excitement.

“Not today. I have to meet someone today. Come by tomorrow. We’ll start from the basics. For now, I’ll treat you since it’s been a week since I last saw you.” Said Cecilia, as she casted the same blue spell that saved Lucian.

“Is that a spell!? What does it do!?”

“It’s a complex spell made of two simple spells ‘Ward’ and ‘Vigour’. Ward is used to protect the target from mental and physical attacks, while Vigour is used to empower the body’s natural functions and healing.”

Lucian stared wide-eyed at his glowing body while the spell was doing its magic. His body no longer felt lethargic, and his mind felt energised. The glow dissipated after a few seconds, but Lucian still felt the effect.

“That will last you a week. Your health doesn’t look completely fine to me, so we’ll stick to theory and practice spells.”

“Huh? Isn’t that all mages have to do? What else is there?”

“I’ll be training you physically as well. A fit body means a healthy mind.”

Cecilia bid Lucian and Tom farewell and then went back inside the estate after idling peacefully for a while in the garden, drinking the overwhelmingly sweet tea that only she could enjoy. She found a dark-haired lady waiting for her, dressed in a purple gown with a teal necklace that was the same colour as her eyes.

“Was that your soon-to-be student?” asked the lady.

“Yes, he is. I expect him to be a great mage, despite his origins.”

“Hmm. Well, I don’t care what you do as long as you make sure you don’t face trouble in the future.”

“That’s very considerate of you.”

“Of course, it is. Normally nobles like me will do whatever they can to maintain the power they hold over the commoners, crossing every line imaginable. If they find out that a commoner has extraordinary magic levels on par with nobles, chaos will consume the noble society. That’s wh-”

“Okay, I get it. I understand what you are trying to say. I really do not want another earful of high society rules.” Interjected Cecilia, with fingers in her ears.

“Fine. I’ll let you off this time since you saved me from those assassins.”

A guard then opens the door in a great hurry.

“Miss Howenward, there’s an imperial magic knight by the name of Rian Frostmane in the garden waiting area, asking for a meeting with Miss Cecilia.”

“Lead him in. I swear there’s never a day I can rest easy with you here, Cecilia.” Said Lady Howenward with a deep sigh.

The guard left them for a moment and came back with an imposing man who wore black battle armour that had small engravings made with gems, which had faint traces of magic emitting from them. His silver hair contrasted his armour, and his battle-hardened face had a scar crossing his left eyebrow.

“Hello there. Lydia. Cecilia.” Greeted Rian.

“It’s been a while since I last saw you, Rian. How have you been?” asked Lydia.

“Been better. I’m here to ask a favour.”

“Wow, didn’t even take you a minute, and you’re talking business. What do you want then?”

“There are some magic texts that I need Cecilia to decipher. She will be rewarded accordingly.”

“No one at the capital could do that?” asked Cecilia, furrowing her brow.

“None.”

“Fine. As long as I get paid. I hope it’s not too important. I’ll go after two months from now. I have business to attend to with my friend here.”

“Alright. I’ll see you at the capital then.”

Rian left the estate without any further delay.

“That man hasn’t changed a bit. He left as soon as he got what he wanted. I was hoping he would at least ask us how we are doing, but it seems that’s too much small talk for him.”

“…”

“What’s wrong, Cecilia? You’re awfully quiet.”

“It’s nothing.” Said Cecilia, avoiding her friend’s gaze.

“Did something happen between the two of you when I left the Academy? Now that I think about it, he ran away as if he didn’t want to talk with you any more than needed.”

“Let’s just say we are not on the best of terms with each other.”

“Is that so? Well, I won’t pry too much into the matter if you’re not willing to share.”

“Thank you for understanding, Lydia. Let us start from where we left off last time.”

The next day, Lucian left for the estate as per Cecilia’s instructions.

Can’t believe I’m gonna be a mage, thought Lucian, as he was eagerly running.

He reached the estate and was able to enter without any hassle or checking.

Guess they know why I’m here.

“Good morning, ma’am!” said Lucian enthusiastically to his teacher, who was readying some books on her way to the main garden.

“You’re here early. Shall we start the lessons?”