Leo

Berlin, Germany

Heidi took Leo by the hand and walked out of the study. They quickly moved toward the dining room, where the servants had arranged an elaborate dinner hosted by her father. Leo, seeing that she took him by the hand so bluntly, blushed slightly but did not move to correct her.

With a quick step, they walked through the decorated corridors and arrived at their destination. Once Leo approached the dining room, he could smell gorgeous roasted chicken, potatoes, and pork.

Heidi approached a large, oak double door and threw it open with a gust of air, the same way she threw Leo off his chair in the kitchen. Taking a few steps inside the dining room, she abruptly paused, almost making Leo walk and stumble.

He looked over her shoulder and saw that the smells did not do the feast justice, as a large table that could host at least thirty guests was set, covered with all manner of foods, lit with beautiful gold-plated candle holders.

He looked around the room and saw that Viktor was sitting at the head of the table. On his right sat a woman he had not seen before. She was dressed in a green evening dress with brown hair and gray eyes that looked at him with disdain and arrogance. Viktor did not seem to notice her gaze.

The woman did not look older than thirty, so he guessed that she was Heidi's sister, though they shared no physical resemblance. Looking to his left, he saw that the dining room had large windows covered with expensive-looking white curtains. The windows showed the garden in all its evening glory. Walls around the room were covered with servants waiting for the opportunity to serve them food.

“Hello, daughter! Leo!” Viktor said pridefully, clearly having tasted the wine before the dinner began. “Come, join us at the table!”

“Good evening, father and stepmother,” Heidi answered, nodding slightly to both of them, as was proper, and walked inside the room, moving towards the spot next to Viktor’s left.

Leo was surprised that the woman sitting at the table was Heidi’s mother, as they looked almost the same age, so he stumbled again and increased his speed to catch up after Heidi.

When they sat down, Viktor turned to them to do the introductions. “Leo, meet Adele, Heidi’s mother,” he said, while Adele raised her hand and moved it toward Leo for a shake, which he accepted in turn. “Adele, meet Leo, the boy I told you about,” Viktor said.

“Nice to meet you,” she replied in a sweet voice.

“Likewise,” Leo said.

The helpers moved to serve the four of them once introductions were out of the way. They started with the appetizers - sausage rolls, which were an interesting choice in Leo’s opinion, not matching the festive and expensive atmosphere in the room. Leo did not complain about the food and dug straight into it, gladly accepting a glass of wine on the side.

Without taking a bite or even looking at the food, Heidi got straight to why she rushed here, “Father, we have important matters to discuss. Could we have some privacy, please?”

Viktor looked at her for a second, searching her expression for a clue. Not finding anything, he waved for the staff to vacate the room. The head helper took a hint and gestured to the others to clear the chamber. Meanwhile, Leo did not stop eating, already continuing from the sausage rolls to roasted potatoes and chicken filets.

“What is the matter?” Viktor asked.

Heidi looked at him, eyeing her stepmother in the background, hesitating to share her discovery with her father. Seeing no visible reaction from Adele as she served a glass of wine to her lips, Heidi continued, “Leo has made his first breakthrough today.”

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Viktor inhaled sharply and took another sip of wine. Drinking too fast, he started to cough loudly. After gathering himself and catching his breath, he asked in a strained voice, “What? Already? But it has only been a few hours. What was he doing?”

Heidi continued, “I explained to him the visualization exercises you mentioned. Frankly, I do not know what happened. Maybe Leo can explain better, as I dozed off when he started meditating.”

“Well, Leo, can you explain what you experienced exactly?” Viktor asked him.

Before continuing, Leo raised his eyes from the plate and noticed that Adele had stopped nursing the wine glass and was paying close attention to the conversation, waiting for him to explain.

Without minding her, he started, “Well, I tried to meditate and visualize the core as Heidi described. The next thing I knew, I noticed a formation around my navel. I felt that it was pulling in some energy when I inhaled.

“So I continued to breathe in and out for a while. As I continued to do that, the formation in my stomach grew, first to the size of a grain and then to the size of my thumb. Oh, and then Heidi gave me this stone to touch, and it turned green. She said that it was a big deal? That is why we rushed here,” Leo finished, grabbing a serving of pork cutlets.

Adele stared at Leo, her eyes bulging, and then slowly moved her gaze to Viktor. On the other hand, Viktor was holding the glass of wine to his lip without taking a sip. He turned to Heidi and asked, “Is what he said true? The testing stone showed green?”

“Yes, I believe tomorrow we will be able to start practical applications and train him with simple spells. The mana inside him has somewhat stabilized, and his core is almost formed. That is what I understood from his explanations. The sheer concentration he employed while meditating was astonishing. He did not get up even once for around six hours,” Heidi said.

“That is remarkable, Leo! I believe you are going to be fine. Actually, more than fine. Soon you will be joining our elite teachers! And take our clan to new heights with your talents!” Viktor raised his glass towards Leo and took a mouthful sip, clearly drunk.

Meanwhile, without anyone seeing, Adele touched a ring she was wearing on her left-hand index finger and activated a hidden formation in it, given by her father, Alexander, the head of the Inpes clan.

The ring had one function. She had to use it only when she was sure the boy was a threat. After seeking counsel with Alexander on the issue they discussed with Viktor, her father advised her to notify the Church after she was sure that Leo was a heretic.

The enchantment in the ring activated a simple beacon spell that could not be detected by any of the mages present and could pass most of the wards. The deed done, she moved her hands to her knees and waited for the Church’s inquisition to arrive.

At the same time, Leo noticed a bright energy pulse from where Adele was sitting. He did not deem it interesting enough and continued to feast while Viktor and Heidi exchanged explanations of what Leo had done.

“Heidi, I want you to take Leo back to the study tomorrow. Continue to do what he was doing today. In addition, there is a large leather-bound book in my desk drawer. Here, take this key,” Viktor said and passed an old iron key to her.

“This key will open the drawer on the right. Take the book that is there. Your great-grandmother left it to us, with instruction to turn to it when the time is right. I believe it is the last known tome written by Alea.”

Heidi’s eyes widened at the mention of her great-grandmother, as her father did not talk about her much. From the few stories he had told her, she was a companion to Alea, the last known great free mage that vanished mysteriously around the thirteen century. From the little information she knew, Heidi understood that the book should contain helpful information about how free mages were trained back in the day.

“How will the book actually help him?” she asked.

“From what I could gather, it has some message hidden within it that can only be read by the right people. I was unable to glimpse at its contents,” Viktor laughed. “Looked like the book had some protection mechanism. To render it useless unless you were of a certain descent.”

“Either way, the Church cannot know that the book exists, as we have hidden it for generations. As you know, the Pope has outlawed any literature or written text concerning the free mages. Also, they cannot, under any circumstances, know what Leo is and what he experienced, you hear me?” Viktor said, leaning toward Heidi and looking into her eyes.

Before Heidi could respond, her gaze was drawn to the large windows. Viktor turned in sync with her, feeling a large amount of mana accumulate. A split second later, they saw the night brighten. Then the windows shattered inward, knocking them out of their seats.