On entering the large hut, Gan noticed that right away he faced the elders of the village. They sat in large chairs above the rest of the hut, looking down at Gan and his companions. ‘Leaders share the same taste. It seems no matter where and what culture.’

Gan quickly gave a curt bow and introduced himself to the elders.

“I am Gan, a baron and magus of the Magi Kingdom to the North of his village. I have come here to rid the locals of the pesky wolves that have been spreading far and wide. I would also like to establish communication and friendship with your village and let my troops stay and rest here while doing so.”

The head elder, a man who received the name owl for unknown reasons, stood and approached Gan.

“You speak of Magi Kingdom. What is this? We of Tonto Village have been here for a century after migrating from the Great Iceland down south. Even in our historical text, we have never heard of a Magi Kingdom or of magus.”

Gan, surprised at the revelation of Tonto coming from the South, took a second to think before responding.

“Hmm, you came from the south. Those barbarians down there are often too busy fighting off the cold and struggling to live to do anything else. I wonder who you lot are descendants of. Most refuse to leave even knowing they live in a hellhole. Anyhow the Magi Kingdom was founded 136 years ago after leaving the suppression of the Santo Theocracy. We are Magi who no longer want to be restricted by others in what we can and cannot learn. We strive to understand all and become almighty. Though in the process we don’t forget of our human nature and give in to evil desires.”

Deciding that even though his small speech was amazing, he ought to give an example. Gan pulled out his wand, still with fire on it, and started a brief chat under his breath. He waved his wand intricately and then loudly spoke

“Fly Free,”

Tens of butterflies made of fire rushed out from his wand, lighting the dim hut all going in circles, giving the others ample time to examine, before all of them slowly popped like fireworks sprinkling light down. The elders’ eyes seemed to pop out of their heads. The head elder bowed down in front of Gan, with the other elders following suit.

“Wise sir, holy man, please spare this ignorant one. We’ll do anything. You may bring as many troops as you desire. Our home is your home, please.”

Apparently used to this kind of behavior on his journeys to secluded villages, Gan turned and nodded to Sam, who took off back to their encampment. The elders and Gan made small talk about what had happened with Kane and how the future cooperation between the kingdom and village would go. Kane crouched outside the meeting hall crying, mourning the loss of his last family and wondering on what he would do in the future.

‘I’m hopeless. I froze up back then and couldn’t help anyone. Luck gave me life. What am I to do now.’

He pondered on his future, unable to return to his simple dream of being a hunter. He wanted to survive and being good with a bow wouldn’t be able to guarantee that when beasts that could take his life in a second existed.

Walking out from the hall, Gan saw the crouched boy. Not knowing what to say, he simply sighed and went to walk off. Kane, hearing the sigh and seeing this, leaped to grab his sleeve.

“Sir, please teach me magic!”

Gan having also encountered this situation in the past. Turned and with a deadpan voice replied.

“Lad, many before have asked me to teach them, and I have declined most. What makes it so that I should teach you? Are we family? Do I owe you? Your situation is unfortunate, but there are plenty of others with sob stories believing that entitles you to something will get you nowhere, just like all the others.”

Gan mercilessly put Kane down, leaving no room for remorse or possibility. Kane, stunned but not wanting to give up, became desperate.

“Please, sir, please, I’ll do anything. I promise I can be useful. I can carry things. I can help with your mission. I was good enough to go on hunts. I swear I can be of help to you.”

“Lad, that may be so, but are you confident of being better than all the others here? Why should I settle for you? Almost every adult in this village has the same knowledge and would all be more than willing to help me.”

“I’m the best with the bow in the village. My eyes are also second to none. I guarantee it, sir!”

Gan, shaking his head, sighed and curtly responded.

“Fine damn it, go rest for the night. I’ll teach you a bit, depending on magic, if you prove your worth.”

Kane bowed down to the floor, his head touching the ground.

“Thank you, sir! I’ll make sure you don’t regret this!”

He only raised his head when he noticed Gan had walked away. Kane stood up and walked to his hut, a smile spread across his face. He couldn’t help but feel ecstatic about his chance to learn magic. It was a thing out of this world, a chance he couldn’t hope to get before. He lied down in his bed, which was essentially just fur, and began thinking about the day.

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Turning over onto his side, his smile disappeared, and soon the sounds of sobs took over. Regardless of how happy and excited he was by this opportunity, he realized it had come at the cost of his only family figures. He couldn’t shake off the fear and sadness he felt.

In his sleep, the scene kept replaying the image of Eagle getting bitten in the throat while staring in his eyes. The thought that maybe he could’ve changed the outcome haunted him. If only I had bought some time for them. ‘We should’ve been on high alert, but my conversation distracted them. I could’ve delayed one of them with my bow.’

These thoughts haunted him even in his dreams. In the morning, he woke up sweating and feeling sick in his stomach. Unable to stop shaking, he got up and walked out of his hut, wanting to shake off the feeling. He saw lots of unfamiliar faces belonging to Gans’ troops. They set up tents on the outskirts of the town and appeared to be in a jolly mood. Kane could hear their laughs and smell the meat cooking.

Kane followed the smell and laughs over to the troop’s encampment. A small boy walked out of a tent and noticed Kane and shouted something out to the men standing guard of the camp. He was quite short for his age but carried himself nobly and appeared very prideful. He had short, blonde hair with freckles sprinkled across his face.

“You must be Kane, yes?”

He asked, spirited. Kane shot a quick nod to him, overwhelmed by everything and still shivering.

“We should be about the same age, no? How’re you so tall compared to me?”

The boy had walked up to Kane and was gesturing to the size difference between the two, with Kane nearly having an entire head above him.

The knight behind him, standing guard, made a quick remark at this.

“Milord, he looks about average height to me.”

The young noble boy shot a quick glare to the knight. “Impossible. He must eat some special food like all the others. One day I’ll learn the secret. Maybe today. Kane, I would put in a special good word with Gan if you tell me. Everyone in school keeps it hidden and none of the adults would relent, either.”

Kane, surprised by the conversation, cracked a small smile. His shaking went away as well.

“Milord, I believe it would be the liver I eat. Are you sure you’ll put a good word in to Gan?”

“Hmm liver of what beast, though I’ve eaten plenty of liver and it’s yet to make a difference? Don’t worry about the good word. I will put it in. I’m one of Gans actual apprentices, unlike the ones he likes to pick up from small villages. They quit quick for people doing lots of labor. They’re pretty weak. Oh, my name’s Felix, by the way.”

The little guy named Felix was a very talkative guy like he could go on for ages. Kane didn’t mind it, though it helped distract his thoughts. The two quickly started having a fun conversation while Felix walked Kane to Gans’ tent. The two laughed along the way and only stopped when they got there.

“Teacher! Ive brought Kane like you asked me to!”

Felix yelled outside of the tent. A short grunt replied. Kane looked at Felix, confused about what it meant. Felix answered by holding his arm out, gesturing to go in.

“Boy, you’re finally here. You ready to learn?”

The hut was bland, with nothing out of the ordinary in it but something caught Kane’s eye and that was a dusty book laying on the table in front of him. It’s title. “The basics to magic and mana.”

Gan, noticing his gaze, nodded towards him

“That book will be yours for the next couple of days. You can read yes?”

“Mhm”

“if you have questions, you’re free to ask me, but until then read the book and follow the instructions. The first step to any magic is drawing the magic in.”

Kane nodded, grabbed the book, and sprinted away.

“Hold it there. You will not be staying in that rundown shack anymore until you pay me back for giving you this knowledge. I essentially own you. For now, you’ll be staying with Felix. Just let him know I’m sure he’ll be happy to have someone his own age around.”

Felix outside of the tent eavesdropping fist pumped at this news. He quickly caught Kane walking out of the tent and began guiding him to theirs.

“So what’s it like living out here with no clue about anything?”

Kane glared at the boy.

“Do you ever stop talking?”

“Not really, no. It’s the reason my parents agreed to let me follow Gan out here in the middle of nowhere. Saying they need a break from my awful chatter. They’re very mean people. I don’t think my chatter is awful. I bring smiles to the people.”

“I agree with your parents. Can you use magic? Is Gan powerful?”

Kane broke out in excitement, asking about things related to magic. It was the only thing that seemed to distract him from the pain he felt. He never felt so eager to read before, back when Eagle forced him to learn he would complain and run off all the time, saying that the other children didn’t have to. Eagle would eventually catch him and, using the pressure of forcing him to train with Hammer, caused him to focus and dedicate himself to learning. Kane whispered a quick thank you to his uncles in his heart growing teary.

“Gan is pretty weak. Actually, he barely could graduate from Fada University. I’m only being taught by him since finding a cheap teacher can be very pricey. Most have to wait until they enter magic universities anyway, since a lot of the needed resources are hard to get. Hehe, I can illuminate, but that’s about it. Before you learn your element, it’s hard to learn spells you’re compatible with.”

“Element?”

“Yeah, like earth, lightning, light, wood, and such yknow there are lots of elements out there. I’m excited to learn mine. I get to go to magic university next year and that’s one of the few places you can get it checked there, guilds, and the few rich families that can just pay through everything.”

“I wonder what mine is?”

“You might be lucky enough to find out soon. Stick with practicing and once you're 14, the universities might take you in. All you have to do is show some talent. Lots of people join every year but most get dropped pretty fast. They’re an easy to get in but hard to say kind of place.”

Finally arriving at their tent, Kane laid down on the empty cot. It was a comfier than his old one. He took a deep breath, relaxing before pulling out the boom Gan had given him. Opening to the first page was a short and very brief description of magic.

‘Magic is the power to wield mana. There are hundreds of different mana. The kinds of mana refer to the elements you know it. Take, for example, the illuminate spell. It’s a simple spell anyone can do regardless of their elemental compatibility, simply because it’s controlling pure mana. We make it all gather closely and will it to glow, causing the mana to glow, but slowly disappear and be used at the same time. To get the mana, you must first mediate, relax, and immerse yourself in the world and slowly sense the natural mana around you. Mana of all kinds is everywhere, though some environments make certain kinds of mana more plentiful. If dirt surrounded you, there will be lots of Earth mana, and if you are by water, then lots of water mana. No need to worry, though. If you have a rarer element, it will be slower to gather, but all kinds of mana are interconnected. None can exist without the others, so you’ll be able to find even darkness in Earth, even light in water. It’ll simply take longer.’

Kane, getting into the mediating position, tried to clear his head and bring in mana. Breathing in and out slowly, he looked for the natural mana. An hour after being in that position, he felt something. He felt it near him. As if urging closer, it came nearer and nearer, almost blinding Kane. The small bright light went into Kane's and it felt warm. The bright light brought strength to every inch of his body, but slowly disappeared as fast as it came.