"It's here! It's here! Alert the house for It! Is! Here!" I cheered, moonwalking away from the door or at least doing a passable job of it...

Okay, I tried to moonwalk away from the door but mostly just sort of awkwardly ambled in a backwards direction, letter held high in glorious victory!

For it was a glorious day, wherein I achieved my long held ambition and finally became more than a mere reincarnated mortal- soon, I would ascend and become an apprentice warlock as well!

Who said the British lacked upwards social mobility? Ha!

I mean, we did, absolutely, but in this world we also had magic. And let me tell you, magic? That's a magic all of its own.

"Oh, it finally came did it?" Grandfather politely inquired, not looking up from his morning paper.

"It came, it came!" I confirmed, bouncing in place.

"Oh did something arrive?" Father asked, sitting down at the table with a plate of toast. Hmm, jam on toas- No! Don't get distracted.

"It did, it did!" I nodded, waving my precious burden before his eyes, that he may feast his blurry gaze upon such a splendiferous vision of beauty as my letter. Doing the man a favour really.

"What came again?" Grandfather asked, scratching his chin and sounding rather lost. Oh this poor man, the ravages of age were upon him.

"My letter! It's here, so let's go-" I exclaimed in excitement only to be rudely interrupted.

"William, it is seven in the morning. Eat your breakfast, whatever letter that is will wait until later." Dad interjected with all the sympathy and emotional supportiveness of a murderous cannibal!

The gall of these men, to deny me my rightfully earned rewards.

"Gluttons! You're both gluttons, food obsessed madmen!" I declared with feeling. "The letter is here and I'm ready to go, but you're too preoccupied with stuffing your gobs!"

"Oh did you get a letter?" Grandfather asked in surprise and I...

I...

"You both suck." I decided, sitting down and pulling my bowl of coco-pops towards me. "Here I am all excited and you're playing me for a fool."

"I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea of whatever it is you're talking about?" Dad said, exchanging smiles with his father.

"Absolute bitches, the pair of ya." I decided, earning a smack around the head from an entirely unamused Grandfather. "Ouch."

"If you can't do the time, don't perform the crime." Was the old man's only response, further encouraging child abuse and perpetuating the cycle of tyranny and family oppression via the authority of the patriarch!

How dare he discipline an unruly child!

When I was the child, that was absolutely forbidden.

I would of course, reserve the right to give a snot-nosed brat an ear clipping when I was old and crotchety. The young'uns needed to heed the wisdom of the ancients. What better dispensation of wisdom was there than a precisely calibrated whack?

There wasn't.

Father gave Grandfather the side eye but didn't comment.

With no recourse but to abide the tyranny of age and sheer overwhelming power, I gave in. I surrendered the fight. I was really was the lowest of the low, surrendering with only a token protest. As I ate my delicious chocolatey breakfast I decided that I was okay with that.

It appears that even in defeat I still won.

Hmmm... chocolate milk...

We settled into the front room after breakfast, both men dithering and taking every excuse possible to draw out the moment. They traded hidden smiles when they thought I wasn't looking but jokes are on them- I noticed!

That just made me madder.

No, you don't have to change your socks! No, you won't need a raincoat just to go to the other room!

"Grrrrr..." I expressed my displeasure, earning only a much appreciated head-pat in return. At least it hurried them along.

"That was a nice breakfast, I must say." Father mused as he sat down.

"Too right. Maybe we should have seconds? Should I put another pack of bacon on?" Granddad mused, scratching his beard and coincidently hiding his mouth. You're fooling nobody! I won't fall for such blatant provocation-

"Forbidden!" I shout with a viciously pointed hand. "It's letter opening time."

Oops.

I fell for it.

"Did a letter arrive?" Dad asked blithely.

I sat down on the sofa and threw it at him.

"Just open it." I sulked before frowning. "Wait, isn't that illegal? Opening my post?"

The older men just snorted as Dad used a fancy silver letter opener to cleanly slice the packaging. He slid it open and withdrew a thick waft of paper.

"Hmm. Yes. I see." He muttered and adjusted his glasses. Grandfather leant over to read over his shoulder.

"Well? I got in right?" I rocked back and forth, excitement and tension filling my body.

"William." Father said seriously, letting the letter droop in his hand, his eyes boring into mine.

"Yes?" I swallowed at the rising tension.

"You..." He said again, sharing a look with his own father. Granddad nodded seriously.

"Go on." I urged desperately.

His eyes locked with mine, as serious as I'd ever seen him.

"You appear to have received a letter."

I...

I just can't with this man!

"Prick!" I yelled and charged forward, headbutting him in the stomach.

"Oof!" He exclaimed before breaking into laughter. His arm locked around me tight, his knuckles scrapping across my head.

"You got in by the way." Grandfather stated calmly as my father brutalised my poor head. Hey, rough-housing was only okay when I was winning!

"Looks like you'll be off to Oxford soon." Dad said softly, letting me go.

I collapsed to the floor bonelessly before the words penetrated my mind.

I...

I got it!

"YES!" I cheered and began skipping around the room, victory lap secured.

"Huh. Didn't think you'd be that excited about going off to university." The oldest man commented, picking up the discarded letter and scanning it thoroughly.

"Piss on university! I got in so you know what that means!" I round on both men and begin rubbing my fingers together. "Show me the money!"

Dad took his wallet out and began rifling through it. "I've got a twenty to spare..."

I fell to my knees. "Stop. Please. I'm begging you here."

The men exchanged looks and something told me they weren't kidding this time.

"Okay." Dad said softly after taking a deep breathe. "William, I know we have hammered this point home many times over but it needs repeating. I cannot explain to you just how dangerous magic is. You must, at all times, treat it with the utmost respect. None of your silliness."

I allow the levity to fall away and nod as solemnly as possible. I was fully capable of being serious and both of them knew it. I just chose not to be sometimes, when the stress of everything began to eat away at me. "I promise. No mucking about."

"Right then." Grandfather grunted and took a key out of his dressing gown. "I'll get the stuff, you lot go to the bathroom."

"Is there a reason we're doing it there?" I asked as I trailed behind my father heading for the bathroom on the first floor. The room itself was a shower set up for disability access, the entire floor being a rough grit material that provided plenty of friction. The floor sloped down gently to a central drain and there was no lips or other obstacles that prevented a wheelchair or the like from just rolling into position.

Or at least, that's what I'd thought the room was for.

Now the rather large empty space and well ventilated room took on another dimension entirely.

"Huh..." I realised, looking around with new eyes.

"It doubles as a ritual space, yes." Dad confirmed with a sly smile. He took a seat on the floor and I mirrored him without having to be asked. "Now I do realise and appreciate you've done quite a bit of let's say, reading ahead. Nonetheless I will start from the beginning for the sake of thoroughness."

"Please do!" I agree quickly, sitting attentively.

"Now magic is... everywhere. It's in the soul and body of every living person, every living creature right on down to the smallest of bacteria. It's in every inanimate object, it's in the air and it's in all that we know. Magic exists everywhere." Dad began in a lecturing tone and despite having heard it all before I sat on tenterhook, waiting for every word.

"In nearly all cases people are utterly unaware of this magic within them and around them. It's simply a part of life. The only practical way to gain an awareness and eventual control of magic is through the process of using it. It's like any other skill in the regard. It's something that takes time and practice to familiarise yourself with."

"As you use magic, you will begin to gradually feel the ebbs and flows of it, perceive it's movement and meaning. Highly skilled witches and warlocks can feel magic across entirely different continents. As you use more and more magic, slowly, as it passes through your own soul, it leaves traces. These traces accumulate and build on each other, allowing a magic user to also use internally sourced magic, instead of externally sourced magic." Dad explained, looking up as Grandfather joined us with a large bag bulging with items. As he began to unload the various strange looking objects Dad continued.

"External sourcing of magic is where we will begin. What this means in practice is we will be using materials that are rich in magic, whether through an inanely magical nature or a simple process of time and fortune. These will serve as fuel for the spell, rather than drawing from your own internal well which at this point would be rather miniscule."

"Right." I nod in understanding and pushed down my excitement. Now wasn't the time to act out and put my suitability into question. Maybe I had been playing into the child angle too much and for too long now. "But how does magic actually work?"

"Well, isn't that a question." Dad chuckled and shook his head. "The simple answer is that everything has a resonance. Words, material, meaning and more, these all have an effect on the ambient magical field. To start with, we will be reaching out to a spirit for a little help to get you started."

"A spirit? Wouldn't that be... dangerous?" I asked because that simply did not sound sound safe. In the myths and legends spirits often had a certain reputation.

Grandfather snorted and looked annoyed. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But idiots have to mess everything up!"

"Father, this isn't the time." Dad sighed and began cleaning his glasses. "We should stay on topic."

"What happened?" I grinned, looking between them.

"Someone got smart a couple of decades ago and sacrificed some economic theory textbooks to some local water spirit!" Dad's Dad ranted. "Damn thing decided to 'diversify it's offerings'!"

"What does that..."

"This particular spirit was known to help in certain ceremonies, before... well, before." Dad breathed out, fighting a smile. "Since then, it's began offering active help with some very simple and beginner magic, to ah, advertise and build up brand loyalty."

"It's an up-jumped sales spirit!" Grandfather accused in outrage. "What has the world come to that even the pond scum are trying to commercialise?! The damn thing's exploded in strength and power in only a few decades. If this keeps up, it'll become a minor god within the century, you mark my words!"

"No way." I asked in delight and made no attempt to hide my own smile. "That sounds kind of awesome."

What followed was an in depth rant about the mercurial nature of spirits and a reminder that I should kill any of them while they were weak and helpless before they got themselves settled, from a very irate grandfather. Dad just tried to keep him on track.

"Okay, the first step is to read this leaflet very carefully." He said, passing me a colourful flyer, emblazoned with a smiling blue... creature. It almost looked human but there was a certain uncanny valley effect as the features were either too small or too large. "This is the ritual you will be performing. When you're ready, use the materials we have provided and set it up. We'll point out any mistakes you make along the way."

I took the flyer- leaflet maybe?- which was clearly advertising personal aquatic ritual services, with a simple ritual summoning included. I had to fight my giggles, both in glee at finally getting to perform magic but also at the situation.

This spirit was based as all hell and it might have just gained a lifelong customer.

With slow and unhurried steps I began collecting the provided materials and set them aside, referencing the guide. When I was certain that everything I needed was at hand, I double checked and then began.

First I took a can of salt and carefully began drawing out three circles, each larger than the other. The smallest was just large enough to fit my sitting form. Following that up I used a herbal mixture to connect the circle layers, forming trace lines of what I assumed to be runes of some form.

"Do I need to know what these are?" I asked, focused on creating the unbroken trails.

"No, not for this ritual. It's all rather simple and the bog shitter will guide you through." Came my Grandfather's grumbled reply.

"Thanks." I replied faintly and turned my attention to forming the sigils. Next came several small circles formed in connection with the second and third circles. These were made out of chips of willow bark which had to be coated in chicken blood.

I had to do that manually, tearing open a plastic bag and carefully pouring the deluge into a bowl of red liquid. With disposable scrubs on I got to work, mixing the sludge thoroughly. Both older men watched like a hawk, offering no feedback but seemingly ready to jump on any mistake.

The pressure to perform perfectly for my first spell was high.

"Glad that's over with." I muttered as I finished the final fourth circle of blood and wood. I'd used a fork to scoop the coated bark out, shaking it to drain off the excess blood and then began slowly forming the circles.

As it turned out even simple rituals weren't quick to pull off. Maybe it was a matter of experience and I'd gain more surety and skill in putting it together quicker over time.

Right now I didn't want to mess up a single step and was perhaps taking too long to double and triple check every action...

With the sacrificial circles done, I placed the items to be sacrificed inside. A fish bowl with three shimmering goldfish happily swimming around, a gnarly looking old pumpkin with darkened skin, a seemingly random looking branch of wood and a bird skull.

"Okay, I'm ready." I told them as I sat in the middle circle and lit several candles, placing them according to the diagram provided.

"Well done Will." Dad smiled and knelt in front of me before the circle, holding the leaflet up before my eyes. "You can begin the chant when ready- do not deviate from it. This is so vitally important."

"Leave the lad be Rupert. He'll do as he always does."

I shot the older man a smile and clapped my hands together, releasing a slow breath.

Everything was ready.

I began the chant, a strange mixture of malformed Latin, old English and modern English, making sure to pronounce each word to the best of my ability even if I slowed to a crawl at points. If everything was resonance, a break in the pattern was worse than a slowdown, right?

"- Theophilla'Tania'Egh'Ur. Let your mighty essence bridge my spirit and accept my offering! Let there be Light!" I forced out slowly, desperately trying to avoid stumbling over that abomination of a name.

The water spirit was henceforth known as Theo.

I clapped my hands together four times and on each clap one of the offering burst into blue fire. The flames didn't burn and the materials didn't suffer but instead slowly began to fade into nothingness.

Your transaction has been accepted.

The words whispered into my mind, the faintest swirling of something touching my brain. I could have just been imagining it but before I could focus on the sensation, a light appeared before me.

It was a small ball of glowing energy, possessing a strong white core. The light wasn't all that bright and was perhaps less than a small handheld torch.

This was the focus of the ritual, what I had just spent almost two hours carefully setting up. This little light.

All for this.

I felt my attention forcefully pulled onto the white light and a small warmth that tingled with blue deep within me. The cold sensation forced me to focus, gently guiding my attention to the feeling that I hadn't ever experienced before.

I couldn't quite grasp the effect even though I felt it happening. I felt the flow of energy through my body but it wasn't under my control. I felt like I was caught in the cutscene of video game, forced to standby and just look at what was happening.

Except in this case I wasn't watching with my eyes, I was feeling, experiencing the spell cast through me as control of the ritual was by design offloaded to Theo the spirit.

It was wonderful.

I relaxed and just let myself try to understand what was happening. Minutes crept by slowly as subtle shifts of the blue mint stream that travelled through my soul rippled but remained stable, the echo of a faux professional gently reaching out and keeping everything contained.

All too soon the experience came to an end. The tiny river within my soul fell lower and lower until it dried up and the ball of light before my eyes flickered and faded away.

Once the magic spell ended the spirit's job was done and I felt the ripples recede as smoothly as they'd come, whispering a farewell.

It has been a pleasure doing business with you, please come again...

I fell silent and just closed my eyes, focusing on all the new experiences that just happened all at once. A spirit had touched my mind and body and soul. It had cast magic through me as a medium and then forced my own perception to focus on that spell to the exclusion of almost all else.

That was beyond scary, my own will just... given over like that, but at the same time I had literally asked for it in performing this ritual. I expect it was only my own willing offer that had made the process so easy for the spirit.

No matter how much I searched for the same sensation of magic within me however the result was the same. I was still just a blind now to my own magic as before.

"Nothing." I sighed, opening my eyes.

"I'd bloody well hope so." Grandfather snorted as he began packing up excess material. "There's genius and then there's bloody terrifying."

"You did well Will, exceptionally so for your first time." Dad smiled. "Don't focus on the results too much. Learning magic is a journey, an... an art. Let things happen as they happen. Pushing for more can never help where magic is concerned."

"Right!" I smiled at him in return, feeling the giddiness return. "Dad. I just did magic! I did magic!" I cheered and jumped to my feet and let out a whoop of joy.

That had been so cool! I had actually made reality my bitch and light had appeared and there was a spirit and it was all so damn cool-

"Oi, brat. You've splattered blood all over my bathroom floor. Clean up this mess!" Grandfather chuckled as he left with my dad, leaving me with a bathroom floor covered in salt and blood and other messy things.

"Ah..." I was brought back to Earth with a thud, looking as the disaster I had to clean up. "At least we did it in the shower..."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.