Alexander and Nyx agreed to bring over a priest to check. The results were mixed. There was no sign of possession, but there was a sign of the divine.

*******

Yir was now five years old. He no longer crawled in the rooms and hallways of his home. Now he walked with the swagger of the man he looked up to the most, his father. Nyx always joked that he and

Alexander was becoming twins. It was impossible.

Yir may copy Alexander all he liked, but he lacked the ruggedness of his father. Instead, he inherited his mother's beauty. His hair grew long and pretty. He had high cheekbones and soft features. He had his father's sharp eyes, but everything else was his mother's except for the hair. With two black-haired parents, his was a mix of midnight black and bright silver.

Yir walked to his father's study and opened the door. He’d ask for this for his birthday. Any other time he did, his parents denied him.

‘Go outside and be a kid!’ they said. How could he do that when magic existed?! Alexander’s study was basic. A large desk, three chairs, and bookshelves filled to the brim. He didn't come here for politics or geography. The history of the gods and heroes would be second. No, he came for two books on the top shelf. He couldn't reach them even if he used a chair, so he had to call his father.

******

Alexander had been dreading this day for a while. His son had always been trying to get into his study. He always tried to learn instead of roughhousing with other kids. When he imagined having a son, he thought he would get someone like himself. He wanted to raise a warrior... against his wife’s wishes but he’d be damned if his son sat behind a desk his whole life. He didn’t get that vibe from his boy; in fact, it was the opposite. When he trained, Yir watched like a hawk. It was like he wanted to learn the sword like his old man, but it changed as he got older.

Now Yir begged to read. To read! Not pick up a sword and spar with his old man as he and his father did, but to read like his mother. That was not manly. Leave the bookwork to the women and pick up a weapon. That's what his dad taught him and that's what he wanted to teach Yir, but the boy only wanted one present for his birthday. It wasn’t a toy or an expensive sword. It was only for access to his study.

sighed; the boy came to him pleading to get some books from the top shelf. When he looked at the choices, his usually stoic mug cracked, and the ends of his lips curled.

“Son, why do you want to learn about magic? These are big boy things.” Alexander took out a recording crystal. He would need evidence when he brought this up to his wife. She didn't want him to be a fighter, but the boy had his mind.

“No! I want to read about magic! I want to fight like Dad!”

Alexander laughed harder than he had in years. He picked up the ‘basics of magic ‘and ‘basics of body cultivation and forging’ books and gave them to his child. He wasn't sure if his son was a second-generation magician, but he’d felt his core awaken months ago. He could help with that.

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“How about you read them outside? The tree in the back has great shade.” Yir spent most of his time indoors. Not ideal for a boy. Hell, his son won't be a Panzy. Go outside and get his hands dirty like a man.

“Yes sir!” Yir saluted and ran outside. He would have to explain this to his wife, but he had evidence.

********

Papa was right. The big tree in the backyard was huge, and Yir could feel the magic heat coming from it. He sat in the shade and rubbed his hand on the old but strong book. Just the texture made his hair stand. Yir opened the book and began to read. First, mana is the fuel that causes magic. Magic is the result, not the beginning. Secondly, there were many schools of magic, most falling under battle magic. Things like time and dream magic existed, too.

Though, they were rarer and could be used for battle. Most people could do elemental and spirit magic. Only the truly gifted learned magic outside of the elemental school. From Yir’s understanding magic could be broken into pieces; Attack magic, support magic, and other magic. Rune inscribing was a tricky fella to give a piece. It did a bit of it all.

You need access to mana to do magic, but that didn’t mean magic inside the body was necessary. Like the water runes in their house, runes inscribed on an object(weapons) worked fine. They just needed a magic core imbued to the item to work.

People had affinities, but that didn’t mean learning other forms of magic was impossible. Someone could learn all forms of magic. It would be a really hard feat. It was only a theory, but each race had a capped amount of magic they could learn before they were strained. There were ways to increase the cap, but the risk of someone's soul getting damaged permanently steered most away. Other theories suggested there was no cap, but the difference was the potential of the mage.

There were four ways of doing magic. Incantations, magic circles, hand seals, and true magic. Incantations and hand seals were the easiest while magic circles and true magic proved to be most difficult. Incantations were words said that triggered a preset magic effect.

The incantation didn’t need to be the same as the ones already written. It only needed to embody the same message. It may cause a stronger or weaker effect, but you didn’t have to remember and recite the incantations over and over again. You could make it personal. Yir thought that was amazing. You needed an understanding of the class of magic the caster wanted to use. It could be based on the real world or metaphorical. Those spells tended to be stronger which is why the history of gods and otherworldly beings was so important.

Hands seals are how martial artists do magic that affects the outside world. The result wouldn’t be as grand as a true magician, but it gave them flexibility in battle. There were even some techniques that could rival full magician magic.

Magic circles were the original way magic was cast. It was similar to incantations as the effect was preset, but not fully. Magic circles can be tinkered with before the spell is cast. Lastly, true magic is the pinnacle of magic. True magic needed no circle or words. Nor a hand seal. True magic directly manipulated mana to the caster's will.

True magic was said to be learned from the dragons Yir only knew existed now. His heart pounded in his chest. His thoughts said, ‘fantasy world’. He’d lived here his whole life. Why would this be a fantasy world? He shook those thoughts out of his head. It was time to practice magic! If he could. He’d seen his core close to his belly button. Yir could be a martial artist. It was the most common path, but magic was what he wanted, no, needed.

He flipped the pages until he came across beginner-level incantations. They were magic anyone could cast without knowing too much. His eyes landed on a fireball spell. Yir read it five times before coming up with his own. He closed his eyes, unknowingly drawing on those strange memories, and stuck his palm toward the sky.

“By Ra's fierce might, flames ignite,” the wind picked up around him. His body glowed a faint white. ”In his name, this fire takes flight.” His heart spread the warm flame he felt before to his arm then hand. “Inferno's glow, with power untold. By Ra's decree, let flames unfold!”

His eyes opened, and a white ball of fire floated from his palm. He smiled ear to ear.

“Son! What are you doing!” Alexander broke Yir’s focus. The fireball grew out of control. Yir’s hair went wild in the wind. Suddenly, it shot from his palm. Yir’s knee hit the ground. He was drained, but he looked into the sky and saw his fireball soar.

It gave him a bit of strength to stand.

Alexander wiped the dirt off his clothes and made sure he was okay. “Father look! I cast magic!” Yir jumped around like a rabbit, but Alexander was confused. “I see, but ho-”

Alexander turned and wrapped Yir in his cloak. “Papa what are-” The fireball exploded. Yir's hands went to his ear as quickly as they could. The earth shook. The air around them grew scorching hot. It took a few seconds before the worst of it passed, but the heat was unbearable. Alexander took Yir into the house immediately.