It has been a month since Dad left for Fort Eldric, and the only thing keeping Mum at ease is the weekly letters that Dad sends home.

In the meantime, even though I have not yet learned any 1st Circle magic, by now I have seen and copied all the hand signs and words of power that the servants use to perform household/0 Circle magic, and I have been experimenting with it.

What I found out after getting my hands on whatever literature on the subject I could and a lot of experimenting, was that the words of power that we chant and the hand signs are actually stand in for the runes to control the element, range, and power of the spell.

Thanks to my accelerated growth, by the time I was 2 years old, my mouth was developed enough to form proper words, soon after that it did not take me long to cast household magic, which should not be a surprise due to me trying and failing to do so from the crib.

When I showed my family I was able to cast 0 Circle magic, my parents and grandparents were ecstatic and praised me for casting my first spells. When I asked them about runes in relation to the element, range, and power of the spell, they very quickly clammed up and started telling me that I would learn more when I got older.

It was the kind of talk one would give a child about why it was a bad idea to touch a hot stove or running around with sharp objects. I grumbled and whined at them to tell me or at least give me a hint, but they stood their ground.

I understood where they were coming from as responsible adults, but I still did not like it and pouted for the rest of the day.

But now, after a year of research since first casting 0 Circle magic and practicing casting 0 Circle magic at Stumpy the backyard tree stump, I think I have come to the conclusion that the runes that make up household/0 Circle magic are gimped to begin with.

How did I know this? Glad you asked. The first big hint was when was casting magic at Stumpy, I got the idea in my head to see what would happen if I messed with the runes using mana manipulation while casting. So I conjured a flame at the tip of my finger and visualized the string of runes that made up the spell in my mind.

The first thing I messed with was the rune for the fire element, I was unable to do anything to this rune without the whole spell collapsing, so I moved on.

Next were the runes that controlled the range, unlike the element rune, this set of runes was more resilient to my manipulation of its structure before the spell collapsed, but I did manage to get some tangible results, after bending the protrusions of the runes, I managed to make the small flame drift a few more centimeters away from my finger, any attempts to further alter the runes caused the spell to collapse.

Lastly were the runes that controlled the power of the spell. Just like the set of runes that controlled range, I could slightly alter the size of the flame at my fingertip, and when I tried to do the spell without the range runes, power runes, or both when attempting to remove the limitations of the spell, it failed every time.

It seemed like the whole spell was made in such a way to be linked to each other, if 1 part of the string of runes fails, the whole spell fails.

Another thing I tried was swapping out the air rune with fire in the hopes that I could make fire travel further, but that also made the spell collapse. I guess they really only come in a set, and it also explains why the range and power runes are different for each element.

The next big hint about my theory of the gimped runes was Mum and my grandparents clamming up and trying to change the subject while neither confirming nor denying my questions when I brought my findings to them. That may have worked on a normal child but not me, them acting the way they did was confirmation enough for me. So I dropped the subject and acted like they successfully distracted me.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Looks like I will just have to stick to training up my Molecular Magic in the meantime.

***

In a private room of the Ironcrest mansion.

Luke’s mother, Lady Amara Ironcrest, was discussing a serious topic with her parents regarding her son’s future.

“Mum, Dad. What do we do? My baby boy is physically growing up too fast and now he is starting to figure out the secrets of magic on his own. He is already isolated from the outside world due to his condition needing to be kept secret and the only children he will be able to socialize with are his sister and Anna’s kids. If he starts down the road of magic and becomes obsessed with it like many mages do, what would become of him?” Amara said with a worried look on her face.

After a while of pondering the situation, her father Baron Rowan Silverbrook started, “Hmm… if he has got this far with just the non-controlled magic literature and self-research, I think it would be best to start giving Luke some proper instruction on magic. So far he has shown to be a well-tempered boy and should be wise enough to handle this responsibility of knowledge. Besides, with his level of knowledge, it is better to start now in case he does something trying to cast proper magic and hurt himself.”

Her mother, Lady Isabella Silverbrook, nodded in agreement and added, “Agreed, we all know what happened the last time Luke tried something big on his own before he was ready for it, he almost killed himself with his own aura. And besides, we cannot waste Luke’s potential. If he is able to cast household magic and recognize the limitations placed on household magic at his age, I foresee a great future for his career as a mage, or maybe even an archmage of the kingdom.” Isabella said with a twinkle in her eye as she thought about the political power it would bring to their families if Luke made it to such lofty heights.

After more pondering and discussions, Amara concluded, “So we are in agreement. Tomorrow, we will start Luke on the basics of magic and see how he takes it from there.”

***

Ironcrest Barony, the town of Glenfell, where the Ironcrest mansion is located.

A dingy inn near the slums, The Rusty Goblet Inn, was host to a group of 4 men who gathered in a rented room. They all came individually to avoid suspicion and were all waiting in silence.

That was until a 5th man opened the door and walked in, he was greeted with daggers and throwing knives being unsheathed and ready to strike, but after seeing who it was, the 4 other men lowered and sheathed their weapons.

“You’re late.” One of the men who was waiting said.

The man who just entered the room said nothing to the accusation and took out from his cloak a folded piece of paper. “The information we had before we got here is outdated, our target now also has 2 extra mages, one of which is a confirmed War Mage, Baron Rowan Silverbrook.”

Another man spoke up, “Good to know, but irrelevant, our mission is to kill everyone in the house. As long as we play this right and avoid the guards, we can kill them all in their sleep nice and silent. If everything goes well, we will be halfway to the border by the time the bodies are discovered.”

The rest of the men nodded and another man said, “If you say so, you’re the boss of this opp.”

The “boss” of the men nodded and said, “Right, get some rest, we move when the moon is high.”

The men dispersed into the town and the “boss” sat down on his bed to recap what he knew of the mission. They were sent to kill the fortress commander and his family. The lead assassin theorized that in the case that the attempt on the Fortress commander’s life by another group fails, when news of his family's death reaches them, it may affect the commander’s state of mind when commanding the defense. Thus hopefully making it easier for the Valorhelm Dominion to conquer Fort Eldric.’

And even if both attacks failed, none of them here were master assassins, and the lead assassin knew that he and his men were an expendable resource.

Besides, a border baron did not need a master assassin to deal with them, and this was the lead assassin’s chance to move up the ranks if this mission succeeded.

The lead assassin spread his equipment on the bed and did maintenance to prepare for the coming bloodshed.