“ummmghhh” Cadmus , currently an 8 years old boy , can be seen on the bed. He seems to have woken up but didn’t have the energy to actually get up. After a while of tossing around left and right in the bed he finally sat up.

“I got to take a shower…..” He took off his shirt , pulling it against his wavy brown hair , finally getting his clothes off and out of the way , he took his bathrobe and rushed to the bathroom

However , as he ran in the long corridor of his home ,Cadmus slipped because of a piece of paper laying on the ground

“It hurts…….mom… it hurts...help me.” Cadmus bit his lips trying not to cry while holding his knees that is bleeding , A figure of a woman can be seen from afar , her blonde hair brushing against the wind and her golden eyes looked at Cadmus .

“Gosh, Cadmus , I already told you not to run in the corridor” She said while looking at the wound on Cadmus’s knee. Then she took a weird position, something akin to praying.

She then mumbled “ Be healed “ Just after that , a bright light shone in the room and Cadmus’s rate closes at a rate visible to naked eyes

Lucia then hugs him “ It doesn’t hurt anymore right?” She asks him to which Cadmus replied “ No it doesn’t….what was that mom? It was…amazing. I want to do it too! “

“Ehh?” Lucia caught off guard by his will to learn magic was contemplating , Studying magic for his age would normally be too hard but maybe it would be a good choice .Deciding that she asks Cadmus “ Do you really want to do it? “

Cadmus then looked at her as seriously as he could “ yes I really wanted to do that , it was so cool “

She then hugged him again before urging him to go and have a shower while she and her husband talks about it

With Cadmus

“ How does mom do that? “ Cadmus said to himself as he could be seen in the bathtub, playing around with a miniature dragon that his mom bought for him

“Maybe I’ll be able to go boom with magic and fly in the sky with dragons” Lifting his toys ,playing it as if the dragon is really a living creature and that he knows one such dragon ”Roaaaar” Charging the dragon up unto the sky

For a while Cadmus was inside his own world , Riding a dragon and flying in the sky freely , it felt so real to him that he forgot it was his imagination

“Hey partner” shouted Cadmus as he’s riding on the dragon’s back , feeling the wind rush against his face and the adrenaline it brought for him .

“What?” responded his ride in a beastly voice , the dragon have pitch black scales that even light doesn’t reflect off. It practically absorb it , it’s wings is big enough that maybe Cadmus will fly away by a single flap of it.

“Can you go faster?” He asked , even though he’s already hanging on for dear life on the dragon’s back

“are you trying to commit suicide kid?” The dragon bore his eyes on Cadmus who is insane enough to ask him to go faster

“I’m not…I’ll never fall from your back” As he looked at the dragon in the eyes , his eyes full of confidence that he would never fall from it

The dragon smirked “ Let’s see howmuch of that is actually true “ He flaps his wings with force much greater compared to the one before “still holding on kid” He asked with a teasing voice

“Yeah , mr dragon , I told you I won’t fall.” Cadmus said his face full of smiles that he’s riding a dragon but everything seems blurry now “ hey…it’s all disappearing , tell me your name mr dragon”

Preparing to launch himself forward , the dragon let Cadmus fall from his back before shouting “ The name’s Baz**** ,kid , I’m from the future so treat me better this time around “

“Baz who? “ Cadmus shouted back , the rest of the dragon’s sentence is fading just as his surrounding was. Cadmus jolted out of the bathtub he was in

“Awww mannn, it’s just a dream “ Cadmus shouted in frustation that all of that is just his hallucination , he dried himself up and then donned some clothing on himself.

He brushed his wavy hair so it doesn’t look so wild even if it’s still look that way even after he brushed it. Then he ran out of the room to ask to his parents “Mom , Dad can I go play with Alithea ? “

Without waiting for their reply , Cadmus sprinted out of the room and slammed the door unintentionally

“So Lucas , what do you think? Is he ready to learn something that difficult? “ Lucia asks her husband while eyeing him with a bit of lust now that Cadmus had gone out and olay with his friend. His fit body , his wavy brown hair and especially his brown eyes, always managed to draw her attention

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“Not sure Lucia, I’ll give Andreas a call later after asking him at dinner if he’s really serious about this stuff , since you know Andreas” he said looking out of the window looking at Cadmus’s figure that’s getting smaller and smaller

“Yeah” Lucia gave him a chuckle “He’s a good guy but he sure doesn’t pull his punches in the money department , though we might get a little discount …. It’s not helping though “

“Would be a good time to reunite with him, wonder how he’s doing these days , I haven’t contacted him since Cadmus is born , hope he’s doing well and is healthy” He pulled Lucia closer and give her a peck on her forehead “might as well do some work that we have nothing to do now”

As he wanted to stand up , Lucia held his hand “ you know…we haven’t….played in four years since he’s born , let’s have a little fun today “ Her face blushing as she buried her face in his chest

“Finally” Lucas took her to their bedroom and locked it before remembering to write a note that says do not disturb in case Cadmus came home , then he made a soundproof barrier

With Cadmus in the forest

“Alithea , hey! “ He greeted Alithea who seemed to be casting his lure onto the river and enjoying the silence the forest brought , different from the crowded city full of people

“ Yo , you finally made it “ Alithea said without lifting his face by much , his green eyes bright that is bright like emeralds is staring intently at the fishing line before he retracts it. “ Arghhh , I don’t think I’ll be getting anything today , so what are we gonna do ? “

“ I’m going to paint and probably walk around the fore-“ Before Cadmus could finish his words Alithea suddenly pulled out his bow , readying the dulled arrow , which if hit him would certainly hurt but not enough to do fatal damage.

“Wh-what?” Cadmus asks Alithea as he seemed serious about shooting him then he replied “ gosh , I’m bored , just trying to teach you to use some mana . Don’t worry , it won’t hurt too much. “

“How?!” He asked as Alithea pulled his bowstrings

“Just pull the blue particles in the air in your mind , imagine it doing something you want to , to make something a reality “ Then he shot the arrow straight to Cadmus’s stomach

Cadmus seeing no way out of this , tried what Alithea said . He imagined pulling mana from the air ‘ huh ? what should I make it do? ‘ panicking , Cadmus directed his mana to the painting of swords he had drawn inside his room , ones that he had prepared to show to Alithea today.

A bright light shone as Cadmus felt something drained out of his body , two swords floating in the air in front of him , ones that he had drawn . His drawing realized into reality for a while , deflecting the arrow that Alithea shot . Before it fell to the ground and disappeared

“What….What the hell is that?! “ Cadmus asked with a dumbfounded expression “did – did I do that? “

“That’s my friend , you got it right first try “ Alithea suddenly sneaked behind Cadmus and put his arm around Cadmus’s shoulder

“You bastaaard” Cadmus finally retaliated and grabbed Alithea’s clothes and shouted at him while shaking him left and right “what would you do if that arrow had pierced me?! Are you trying to murder me ?! “

“ Chill bro , that arrow is dulled ….even if it would hurt a little “ Alithea tried to play innocent but it didn’t seem to work as he saw Cadmus’s serious expression “Alright sorry….i just wanted you to know that you could use mana too….”

Cadmus continued to block Alithea's arrow as they ran around the forest . They then played around for an hour or two , with Cadmus’s newfound ability. Though Cadmus asked to stop midway as they’re both now tired and Cadmus really didn’t want to make all his paintings disappear , he really treasures them.

As they’re still tired Cadmus asked Alithea “Isn’t mana rare though? how likely is it that my parents missed it ? since you know , they’re mages”

“ Bah , they’re probably just hiding it , don’t want you to work too hard or get arrogant . They’re probably waiting a few more years , though if you asked them , you’ll probably get a tutor “ he then shrugged and cleaned himself of dirt

“ Oh yeah right, I asked for a tutor this morning . Come with me to my home Alithea , I wanted to tell my parents that I could make my painting a reality , those swords seems really cool. Imagine if I could make it stay permanently “ As he pulled Alithea’s hand and they disappeared from the forest

At Cadmus’s home

“Mom , I’m home” Cadmus’s shout was heard all over his home , a while later footsteps started to approach the source of the sound

“Hey , don’t go shouting everytime you got home. My eardrum would one day burst “ An annoyed Lucia was seen wearing an apron while carrying a dirty soup ladle made out of wood , she turned her head to Alithea then her expression turned 180° while smiling “Hello , Alithea , would you like to eat dinner at our house? “

“I’m not sure , I’ll make my grandma worried” Cadmus is fidgeting , pondering over the choice given by Lucia then Lucia said “ Eh , don’t worry . I’ll let her know you’ll be eating dinner at our house and maybe stay here for the night too . It’s already dark outside , I won’t know how to face your grandma if something happens”

Lucia took something resembling a tome out of a nearby drawer and write in it , some second later when the ink all dried up , it began to shine disappearing little by little. After a few seconds , it was all gone. “ It’s done , your grandma already knows you’re staying here for the night”

She turned back to the kitchen , most likely to cook . Before she got the chance to retreat back to the kitchen, Cadmus grabbed her apron “ Mom , I want to show you something “

Cadmus then took out his drawing book and dragged his mom impatiently to outside of the home “So what did you want to show me ? “ Lucia looks at Cadmus curiously

“Look at this “ Cadmus laid his drawing at the ground , then began to recall the sensation that he felt earlier at the forest. He remembered , gathering the mana in the air , connect it a little with himself , then will it to make his drawing take shape into reality.

The drawing mystically disappeared , the same thing that happened in the forest , and an armor same as the drawing slowly took shape upon reality. “ see mom” Cadmus looked really proud of himself , managing to make his drawing a reality. He looked really closely at the armor together with Alithea while his mom has a complicated expression for a split second , and smiled right after that

“….well done Cadmus” she patted his hair for a while then got back to the kitchen , afraid of turning their food into charcoal and….maybe some other reasons