Kael had to ignore the strange feeling that was spreading in his stomach and focus on what was important. Looking around, he checked to see if there was anyone close enough to overhear their conversation. Finding them mostly alone, he went through his list of questions, weighing which would be best to start with.

"I have a few questions about uhh magic. You ok if I ask some of them?" His voice was strangely shaky, and he still felt a little silly asking. "Sure. What do you want to know? Just remember that I am in my first year, so I don't have all the answers." - "Ok. So first of all, what IS magic?" Martin took a slow sip of his slightly too hot to drink coffee before answering.

For a short moment, Martin became serious, sitting upright, before, keeping a perfectly straight face, saying: "Not a clue." Kael wondered if he had misunderstood something when Martin broke out into laughter. "Sorry, but that is a question that has been debated since magic first appeared in the world." Maybe it was Kael's face, or maybe something else, but Martin seemed to notice that Kael was not laughing with him.

"Sorry. Really. I am not laughing about you or the question. There is just a bit of history there that you can't know of. In the first week of school, after all of the ceremonies are done, the headmaster always gives a speech to the entire student body. The core of it is precisely that question. He spends a good fifteen minutes going over one theory after the other without prejudice. Then, when most of the students wait for him to give the correct answer, he just says: What is true? Eh. No clue! So don't waste your time and get on with it."

Hearing Martin mimic his headmaster's dignified voice as he stated: 'No clue!'. Kael could not help himself and had to laugh. Interested in the strange person that was the headmaster of a magic school, Kael asked a few more questions about him. By the time they had finished their coffee, Kael could almost picture the man before his mind's-eye. Looking forward to, one day, hopefully meeting the headmaster in person, he brought the discussion back to the topic of magic.

"But then how do you, I don't know, train magic? Improve your power? Learn new spells? What is the next step for me now? Oh, and what is a physical?" Martin thought about it for a moment before he answered. "Mhh. Yea, well. There are two core skills that you will need going forward. In the end, both are required to progress and are usually worked on in consort with each other."

Sighing, he stood up and motioned for Kael to follow. He continued once they were outside the cafè. "There are several tests we need to run to get an understanding of your talents. From there, we would look into what style of magic you prefer. Pure caster? Reinforcer? Faith-based? Logic-based? Weapon-focused? There are so many styles to choose from that finding the right fit for you will be difficult. Especially if we don't have access to some of the more intricate machines."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Kael noted everything down as he walked, making sure he could remember all the details in the future. "I am sure we could find some workarounds, but I don't think that is necessary. What makes more sense is to find you some way into the school as a student. There, all of those tests are free for students."

Martin stayed silent for a while, and Kael noticed that there seemed to be something bothering him. Flustered, he tried to remember what he should do in such a situation. Everything he thought about saying sounded so hollow and stupid in his mind as he tried to find the perfect thing to say. So the two walked silently through the city.

Ten minutes later, Kael still had not found the perfect sentence and was getting desperate. Thankfully Martin released him from his burden and started speaking again. Releasing an internal sigh that carried most of his thoughts, Kael focused on Martin again.

"There is something else that I would like to ask you, but I don't know if you are ok talking about it. So... Why don't we sit down for a moment and I tell you about what you can do now, and then I ask you another question that you don't have to answer, ok?" Somehow they had entered a small plaza. Benches surrounded a small fountain in the middle of the round area, encased by a small ring of trees. The park was empty, ideal for a talk about something as secret as magic.

"What I told you about first were the ways to use magic. While all methods are unique in their approach, there is one core element that unites them all. The use of mana is universal, and as such, ALL mages must work on their maximum mana capacity. You see. Every mage has a pool of mana. All spells mages cast use mana from their pool as fuel. Ergo. The more mana you have in your pool, the more spells you can cast."

Martin's description of a pool reminded Kael of the strange fountain, bowl, thing he had seen when he first awakened. Martin nodded when he asked and confirmed that it was most likely his representation of the pool. "What you saw was your interpretation of, essentially, yourself. Everyone sees something else when they look at their own magic. Be it a tower, a lake, some machine, it does not matter. What matters is the size of your mana pool."

"But let's get back on topic. The pool is self-regenerating. Meaning it will always go back to full after a part of it is used but never generate more than you had before. Increasing the maximum capacity is done by overloading the pool with mana. Making it stretch to fit all of the new mana. That is both the hard and the easy part, for once you get the hang of it, it is only an exercise in persistence."

Over the next half an hour, Martin explained the process for how he should increase his mana pool in detail, demonstrating bits Kael had trouble understanding. He had to somehow find the connection to his mana pool, and draw in the ambient mana, guiding it inside. Then Kael had to hold it there until his pool had stretched a bit before letting go of the rest of the mana. Then rinse and repeat until he felt full, having to wait for a while before continuing.

Martin then taught him a form of meditation that should help him center himself, making it easier to find the connection. Feeling the ambient mana was the second hurdle to take. Martin only said that Kael should try to figure it out himself first, making Kael raise his eyebrows.

With Martin there to coach him, Kael quickly got the hang of mediation, though he had no luck finding his mana pool yet. By the time they were finished, the sun was already going down, and it was time for Martin to go home. The unasked question from before still stood in the room. Martin seemed hesitant to ask, so Kael took the initiative. "You wanted to ask me something. Out with it. If I don't want to answer, I won't. So don't think about it so hard."

The relief was evident on Martin's face, and after a quick smile, he spoke. "This is kinda personal, so think about it before you answer. So, here it goes. Would you please tell me how you became a mage?"