No! No no no! None of it works!

Rai couldn’t figure it out.

“Aunt Elly, I’ve tried for over a year now, but I still can’t get it.” Rai said to his aunt.

After meeting with the Aspect of Deception, Kallad, and his daughter Sindyl, Rai spent a lot of time thinking about how to make this... weird lightning spell of his work.

“Maybe you should spend less time with the demon girl and more time focusing on your magic studies then!” Elira shouted.

Rai stared at her. His eyes started welling up.

She quickly realised how mean she was being when Rai nearly started crying. Elira’s expertise lay in magic, not in childcare.

“Wait, no- Rai I’m sorry.” Elira kneeled down and hugged Rai, rubbing the back of his head. “Business with the clan has been draining me, I shouldn’t have let it out on you. I’m really sorry.”

Rai hugged Elira back. He was sad that she shouted at him, but got over it once Elira hugged him tight like she always did.

“It’s alright Aunt Elly. You should have dinner with us more. Mum always says she misses you.”

Elira didn’t respond, but she hugged Rai slightly tighter at his words.

“Also, Sin’s not actually a demon.” Rai said as he pouted.

Elira giggled, loosening up a bit.

“Fair point. I’ll go inside for a bit and relax with your mum. You wanna join us?”

Rai shook his head.

“I’ll wander around for a bit, then I’ll come inside.”

“Alright. Don’t stay out too long, okay?”

Rai nodded. He smiled at his aunt as she went back into the house to relax with her sister. After wiping his face, Rai got up and began wandering.

I wonder where Old Man Jin is. Aunt Elly and mum were really quiet when I asked before... I hope he comes home soon.

Rai’s hair was longer now, and he was taller than he was a year ago. He tied his hair into a ponytail, then looked over at the potato farm, only to see the suns’ light shining off the dirt field. The harvest they sold a week ago was bountiful, and they got a lot more gold than usual for it. Jin’s farm was one of the few farms in the area, and fewer still of those few, that supplied potatoes and wheat. This meant that they earned a lot of money, which was surprising for anybody that wasn’t an adventurer. Sometimes adventurers got lucky and found magic tomes containing rare magics that could earn a fortune.

According to the people travelling through Townsend, one adventurer even managed to find an epic tome, which he sold to a high noble in his clan. That had earned him a permanent noble status. Rai thought about how fun life would be if he was an adventurer. Going around, exploring the world, helping people, finding riches, all of the stories told by the adventurers at Townsend instilled those fantasies within him. It was a lifestyle he would like to try.

Rai's thoughts continued to drift as he went on his walk. He thought back to the magic lessons he had over the last year with Aunt Elly, and him learning a lot of new things in that year. His favourite one was his new ability to imbue objects with lightning.

It wasn’t exactly all that useful compared to many of the other techniques, since there weren’t many objects that could withstand being imbued by lightning. Most weapons would disintegrate after a single strike if they were. But the feeling of lightning coursing through him, that electric sensation, was familiar.

It made him feel comfortable.

Rai was initially surprised that he didn’t have to verbally cast spells like his aunt. All he had to do was envisage the mana moving how it should if the spell was cast, and the spell would be cast like that. Rai then attached that feeling to a command phrase that he would think, which would set the spell off. Almost like an internal cast.

He giggled to himself as he walked. That made Aunt Elly look so surprised! I’ve never seen her with such a silly face.

Rai couldn’t use many complicated replication spells though, simply because they required deeper understanding of their natural counterparts in order to reproduce. Also because he didn’t know what half those words meant.

Rai's aunt told him of the technique tiers early on in their lessons, which made sense to Rai as a general way of knowing what level the techniques and spells he used were. They went all the way through common, rare, epic, and legendary. His aunt even told him of forbidden techniques, which were forbidden because it's believed they go against the natural order of the world.

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Though, Aunt Elly didn't instil the typical stigma attached to forbidden techniques into Rai, mostly because of her own disposition to look at magic as a creative matter more than anything. Rai wasn't sure what tier his techniques would fall under, but he hoped that one day he would become powerful enough to use legendary techniques.

Rai was even more proud of his swordsmanship. He felt like he’d reached a point where he could almost force Jin to move from his defensive position within a minute. If I can learn that spell with my lightning... then maybe... His mood dampened. No matter what he did, Rai couldn’t make use of Kallad’s advice. He felt so close to figuring it out when Kallad mentioned it to him too. Well, I shouldn’t think about it too much. Even mum says to let problems figure themselves out!

Instead of thinking about the technique, Rai thought about something that made him happy. Rai was very happy about making a friend in Sin. Even though they could only meet once a month because they lived in different regions, Rai thought that Sin was his best friend.

A voice came from his right.

“Oh, hello there Rai!”

What the... How far did I walk?

“Zenith to Rai, are you there young man?”

Rai turned to see the chubby old elven lady sat outside her house. He waved at her.

“Hey there Ms. Talvier!”

“Not Ms. T this time?” The old lady teased him.

Rai forgot about the nickname he gave her when he was younger. He’d only given her that nickname because he couldn’t remember her whole name, but she adopted that name instantly and now it’s stuck. Rai cringed a little at his younger self, then walked over to her. She was sat on a wicker chair just outside her porch.

“Ah no, sorry Ms. T, I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”

Ms. Talvier continued knitting what looked like a massive sock while Rai walked up the path to her house.

“What’s someone as young as you got on their mind that feels so heavy?”

“I’ve been trying to figure something out. It’s a spell, kind of, that makes my body faster, but my eyes and mind can’t keep up with the speed of my body when I use it. I’ve gotten advice from a lot of people, but I still can’t figure it out.”

Ms. Talvier stopped her knitting, then indicated for Rai to sit in the seat next to her.

“I don’t know all that much about magic boy, but I do know a little something about making food. You remember all those meals I’ve made for you and your mother?”

“Yes, and they are always perfect. Me and mum have no idea how you always make amazing food.”

“Yes, well you see, being a cook means you learn a lot about people’s palates. I used to work in a hotel in Aurum, as the head chef. The most important part of cooking is the balance of the customer’s palate. If the main dish is savoury, then make dessert sweet, and provide a drink that cleanses that sweetness, but leaves a satisfying aftertaste. You have to make up the weakness by lowering the other side of the scales to balance them.”

Rai pondered for a moment. He didn’t know what some of the words she used meant, but he got the gist of Ms. Talvier’s message. If I’ve been using lightning to make my muscles stronger, then what would happen if I moved lightning to my eyes at the same time? Would I be able to see everything? Hold on, what if my thoughts can’t keep up? Perception... it’s a combination. I need to send lightning to my mind as well!

He figured it out.

Rai had a joyous expression plastered across his face. However, as much as Rai wanted to celebrate, he quickly realised that now wasn’t the time to yell in ecstasy.

“I noticed Dorothy at Townsend prepared her meals in the same way, if you've been there.” There was a kick of happiness in Rai’s voice.

“Dorothy is a great cook, she worked under me in Aurum for a time, before she left for Acies to work alongside her husband.”

“Wait, you and Dorothy both worked in Aurum together? What was that like, what was the city like? I’ve always wanted to go but mum and Jin say I can’t until I’m older.”

“It was beautiful. The city is beautiful, the people are beautiful, and the food was beautiful. Do let me know when you go there, I might have a few friends who could help you out in the city.”

“Of course, thank you for the offer!”

“My pleasure. After all, if you’re going to go to the capital region of Zenith, then you should go well prepared. Rest here a while, I’ll make you a meal before you go. Take it back for your mother, will you?”

Rai knew better than to try to refuse, as the will of an old lady who wanted to feed you was impossible to deny.

“Yes Ms. T, I’ll rest here while I wait for you to finish, if that’s alright.”

“Wonderful! One 'balanced' meal coming right up.” She giggled at her own joke as she walked into her house.

Rai smiled as she went inside. An Aspect and the greatest warrior in Zenith can’t beat a chef.

He giggled like a child in what felt like ages.

----------------------------------------

Click!

Elira lifted her gaze from the book she was reading beside Reiki to look at the door that just closed.

“You’ve been gone a while... hopefully you didn’t sneak off to meet with your demon girlfriend.” She winked at Rai.

“He’s only nine, and so is she, leave them be you deviant.” Reiki said as she lightly shoved her sister.

“Alright alright, I was only teasing the boy.”

Rai felt like he owed them something of an explanation.

“I went for a walk and ended up at Ms. Talvier’s house. She gave me this pot of ox-hoof stew.” He pointed down at the big pot of stew that he’d left at the doorway, which somehow his mother and aunt didn’t take notice of until now.

Reiki shook her head and got up from her seat, walking toward Rai. She tutted.

“She always makes so much, and I never know how to repay her. That Ms. Talvier’s always been so lovely.”

Reiki wore a vest today, which revealed her relatively toned arms as she took the stew from Rai into the kitchen.

I’m glad she’s getting back into shape. Rai thought about the year his mother went through a weird phase that she didn’t do any work at all, and seemed somewhat disconnected from the world. Jin didn’t say anything then, but Rai felt that something was definitely wrong. Right now, however, she seemed much better.

“How did you open the door with that massive pot?” Elira asked Rai.

“Just used magic.”

“But I didn’t hear any... Oh I forgot; you don’t need to cast like the rest of us ‘plebians’.” She spoke with sarcasm, but there was a hint of actual envy.

“I know, I’m just so great aren’t I.” He teased back.

“Why are you so happy? Just a few hours ago you were almost as stressed as I was.”

“I figured it out.”

Elira’s emerald eyes shone for a moment, then she jumped from her seat, dropping the book she was holding.

“What. No way! Show me!”

“Weeeellll, I only figured it out, I haven’t actually tested it yet.”

Elira looked at him with narrowing eyes, then picked up her book and fixed the creases she just caused.

“Got me all excited for nothing then. Go test it, then call me when you’ve done it.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“No messing up the field again please! I still haven’t fixed it up from last time!” Reiki shouted from the kitchen.