Leo

Berlin, Germany

“No need to rush, Leo. We have time. Before we begin, I would like to get to know you a little better,” Viktor commented, causing Heidi to sigh.

“Can you tell me where you come from, how you grew up, and what you know about your family? It helps us understand you better. Usually, such things would not matter, but it is required because we cannot apply our core formation process. We need to do what the legends say.”

“And what is that?” Leo asked.

“They say that for mages of old, the mana core formation was not a technical process. It involved a trial of character. So what can you tell us about yourself?”

Leo frowned. He did not expect to share his life story with a couple of strangers. Given the circumstances, he felt unsure about his safety and what they wanted with him. Either way, what did he have to lose?

“Well, I am sure you looked into me. From what I gathered from Heidi, you are serious about helping me, so I will share what I think matters. I grew up with my grandparents in post-soviet Latvia, which is next to Russia today. My childhood was rough. It taught me a lot about people, as I have took care of myself since childhood. I found who I am in the spiritual sense. I never knew my father as he deemed it unnecessary to stick around after my birth, while my mother could not take care of me. She died giving birth... So my grandparents took me in and raised me like their own.

“I know little of my distant family, as I have not met them, though my grandfather liked to tell me stories of my great-grandmother. He told me she was an old witch and turned people into frogs and other nonsense.

“I liked these bizarre stories as they made life more interesting in childhood and allowed me to imagine that there was more to life than the causal gray surrounding me. I grew up a bit of a dreamer,” Leo said, blushing slightly.

Viktor and Heidi were silent for a minute and evaluated Leo. ‘They say do not judge a book by its cover,’ Viktor thought. ‘Who knew the issues he had to deal with….’

“That sounds rather tough,” Viktor commented. “These stories, with the witch, were they folk tales or the general way your grandfather described his relative?”

“I do not know to be fair,” Leo answered and shrugged. “Grandad mixed a lot of things up in his stories. He liked to say that the Walpurga would come and catch me if I continued to run around after dark when I had to sleep, so I thought they were just simple stories to scare me into behaving.”

Hearing the name of the witch of the Black Forest made Viktor lose his composure slightly, though none of it showed on his face. He knew that Leo came from a region that the last known heretic mage visited often. He did not make the connection before Leo mentioned her. Further, he knew no one used this name in folk stories told by people in the region, as the Church made sure to scrap her name out of history books. Leo should not have heard it before unless he was somehow connected to her.

Curious… This raises multiple complications,’ Viktor thought. Leo did not mention having German roots, though he unlikely knew anything, given how he talked about his family. Viktor had to treat this information as a guess before more evidence showed itself. On the other hand, if Leo was related to Walpurga, it would partially explain his circumstances. He knew from the legends that the mages of old awakened their cores when they were older. The artificial ritual awakened children much earlier.

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The way Leo did not form his core fit the description of the process described in the only book he had in his collection left to him by their ancestor, Inca Aer. She left the book to their clan with instructions to seek it out when the time came. As vague as it was. So when his father passed the book to Viktor, repeating the same unclear instruction, he did not think much of it. Now? Now Viktor understood that he needed to take another look at the book and its contents.

Given how he found Leo in the hospital, Viktor felt something interesting stood before them. ‘But what?’ he questioned himself. He had to play this right. ‘I need to test the boy. Manage to give him the testing stone to gauge his core’s stage and affinity,’ Viktor thought and recognized that he had to keep him contained and entertained.

“I see,” Viktor finally responded. “Well, to be frank, I will need more information than that, but let's stop here for now. Let me explain what we need to achieve in the upcoming weeks.

“As I mentioned, our first step will be to stabilize the mana accumulation you are going through at the moment. After that, we will try to form a core in you. This process will be the hardest of all the steps. After that, we will continue by testing your affinity. Then you will do simple mage exercises to push yourself into the apprentice tier. Sounds easy, right?”

“Well, if you put it that way, of course,” Leo smiled.

“I assure you, we will take good care of you. And let me explain my motivations a bit more. You may not know it, but Heidi is our clan's heir. It puts a lot of responsibility on her. You heard that she awoke her core fairly early as a child. She even did it naturally, something which we do not encounter. Given the circumstances, our clan is under scrutiny from the Church.” Leo looked at Heidi, who was playing with her fingers, seemingly ignoring Viktor.

Viktor continued, “Let it be no secret that our clan is no fan of the Church and its barbaric, outdated practices, but there is not much we can do in our circumstances. You will come to learn what the runes on our cores do. Hence, that is where you come in, Leo,” Viktor said, becoming serious.

“You are a variable that the Pope has not foreseen. He knows of all the clans, all the mages, and all of the people capable of performing magic. The only thing the Pope doesn’t know, as he is not a god, is the inner thoughts and wants. He would like to know those as well, given what a control freak he is. You, my dear friend, he does not know anything about.”

“I do not understand how that helps your clan exactly?” Leo asked, frustrated that Viktor was dancing around with his words.

“Simple. By bringing you into the clan and raising you from scratch, we stand to gain an asset. One who is not chained by the same rules as we are. You can become someone to liberate our people and fix what is wrong with our world.”

“Wow, no pressure. Let us stop there,” Leo interrupted. “This sounds like some mission-impossible stuff. Look, I know nothing about what you want me to be a part of. I am just one man, taken against his will to your mansion. I recognize the amount of pull you have to manage that successfully. Please, understand my position. You have said that magic is real, and I am dying. It is a bit too much for me already. Anything else on top can come after you have fixed whatever is wrong with me,” Leo said in an exasperated tone.

Viktor paused. Not many people dared to speak with him like that. And not many people Leo's age displayed such maturity in assessing the situation and likely outcome he himself wanted to achieve, so Viktor decided to entertain the idea and be frank with him.

“I understand. Then let's keep it simple, as you say. We start by fixing you and work our way down the list. Along the process, you will be introduced to more aspects of our world and understand our motivations better. Then we will discuss it again and come back to this topic at a later date when you will decide on your own if you want to be part of this or not. Deal?”

“Deal. That sounds reasonable.” Leo responded. “So when do we begin?”

“Let's begin now,” Viktor answered, getting up from his chair. “Heidi will explain what you need to. I will come to see you again when you are ready.” Viktor nodded to both of them and went to the door.

Before he walked out, Viktor turned around and said, “And Leo?

“Yes?”

“Survive,” Viktor said and closed the door behind him.