Henry was carrying a tray with ingredients of tea and some cold milk to the study. It still surprised him that the young master could look at accounts of the territory at such a young age. It had surprised not only him but everyone who was kept in the know.

To say that the young master was unusually intelligent for his age was understating it enough. The young master at times, was too perceptive. He was also unlike other kids of his age. That may in part be due to the attacks he had suffered since his birth. Nobles getting attacked from the shadows was nothing new. But that they had gotten so far as they had with the young master at such a young age was telling. And the remnants of the attack lingered still. But the young master never showed any remorse for not being able to walk. That also may in part be due to the monstrous amount of magical power the younger master possessed for his age. An amount that could easily aid in his movements.

The young master as well as everyone else had agreed to keep his abilities secret. In the young master’s words, it was because he didn’t want trouble and as such the young master had requested that his skills be kept under wraps for as long as possible. Everyone else had undoubtedly agreed. It was more favourable to keep cards hidden than to show them off.

Henry's ruminations would have to be paused as he had reached the end of his destination. So he knocked on the door and after a few seconds, entered.

****

Alerio did not need to glance upwards to know it was Henry who had brought them refreshments.

“Lord Ernest, young master Alerio, I have brought refreshments”, lightly chipped Henry.

“Great Henry! I can’t tell you how much I was craving one of Alerio’s, what was it called, ah yes, iced tees”, spoke Ernest in an excited tone.

Alerio rolled his eyes. He was not into drinking tee every day. He just had it every once in a while or when he needed it. Even until now, it was only being drunk for its medicinal properties. It was actually bitter in taste. But a few weeks ago, he had tweaked it to his own taste with some expensive sukari they had. And produced more variations of it with milk and varying degrees of temperature. One of them was a simple iced tee that his father was craving right now.

He had also read about some similarly bitter-tasting kahffi plants in the not-so-old Bibliotheca and ordered a merchant to get some for him. He was not into drinking kahffi either but it was good to have options.

The books in the Bibliotheca had only increased after he requested for more. And the variety of books had also increased as he wanted to know more about more topics. Unfortunately, the number of books produced in the first place wasn’t enough and those that were there were kept closely guarded. At least, the important ones were. And those were the ones he wanted most. Books on magic, magic circles, magic tool making, rocks and ores, flora and fauna – both the mundane and magical kind and so much more. If books on these were hard to come by, then books on pits were almost non-existent. Simply for the fact that there was little known about them. These pits were spaces unto themselves. Occupying a little area of the outer world, they were places of great risk and reward and came in near-infinite variations. What was known was there was an eye in the pit, the pit’s eye at the deepest level or highest if it was a tower, and that it was the core of the place. Shattering it was a no-no. Doing so would place a mark on you that would have everyone in the world out to hunt you. Pits were places of resources and training and wouldn’t be allowed to be lost unless for some exceptional circumstances. There were even some floorless ones. Truly a marvel of the world with an infinite variety of environments, denizens and more. Their growth was slow but they were said to be non-ageing, so there was that.

At least, there was progress on the front of breathing manuals. These were crystallizations of experience, innovation and wisdom of the previous ages to combat the dangers of the world. The manuals showed methods in which one ought to breathe to gather the magic power in the surroundings towards oneself. Though one couldn’t start using manuals at such a young age, they had to wait till 12 to begin. Any younger and they would risk getting injured. There was also the issue of compatibility, however, his family had a breathing manual which they had unabashedly named Dune and were surprisingly compatible with. His grandparents had found it in some ruins and through it, clawed their way to power.

Research on manuals had all but stopped, not because they had reached their peak but because it was a drain on money, effort, time and resources. Previously, manuals were developed because survival depended on them, and so everyone shared their knowledge more and strived forward. Yet, once the issue of survival was solved, people fought amongst themselves and took their knowledge and wealth to their own domains.

The desire to rule and keep ruling had drowned the desire for research. Manuals were still being researched and so was magic and its derivatives, but the scale had dropped significantly. No new breathing manuals had been developed in the recent past. No new innovations either.

As he couldn’t use a manual right now, his use of magic at the moment was more basic and intuitive. He emptied his reserves daily which allowed his magic power to grow. He used his magic to expand his vessel slowly and steadily, not expanding more than what his body could handle. It was similar to building muscle, this one only a magical kind. One had to exercise and rest regularly to keep at optimal levels for constant growth and improvement.

At the moment though, he had to finish making the iced tee quickly as his mother would be waiting for it.

****

Ernest looked at his son twirling his hands to make him an iced tee and couldn’t help but recall that hateful night. He would probably never get over the guilt, no one in the house would. His son could not walk and they had yet to find who those assassins were or which power they belonged to.

But he would do all he could to provide his son with the best life. While they felt guilty and were searching hard for a cure, they couldn’t let the guilt swallow them for another child was on the way.

Zilia was due soon otherwise she would be here savouring an iced tee herself. The iced tee had gone far to satiate her cravings and mood swings right now. And cups would be sent to her chambers as soon as Alerio was done working his magic – both metaphorically and figuratively.

The amount of control Alerio had over his magic was remarkable for his age, though his son always touted he wasn’t controlling it, but rather asking of magic as a friend. Ernest still wasn’t sure about the last part but perhaps his son was onto something. Something he would have to check out later.

Because if Alerio’s control over magic was remarkable, then having a colossal amount of it whilst ticking each and every affinity was outright delirious. His eyes had glazed over when he had heard that for the first time.

Seeing that Alerio was done, Henry picked up the cups meant for Zilia and quickly left. Ernest did not want to get beaten again and thus had repeatedly mentioned to Henry to rush with the cups at the first moment to Zilia.

Taking a sip of the refreshing and sweet milk tee, Ernest allowed his shoulders to rest a little and relieve their tension. This had become a sort of ritual for him now. One he felt relaxed in and grateful for.

“You want to look at your reflection again, don’t you?” he asked looking at his son. His son was strangely obsessed with his reflection.

And as expected, his son nodded.

“Well, there is the looking glass. You can look at your reflection through it”, Ernest said, pointing his finger at a drawer in a shelf at the side.

****

Alerio didn’t need to be told anymore. He snapped his fingers and the drawer opened, revealing a crystal sphere. The crystal sphere was weird. Sometimes it looked clear, sometimes like a cratered moon. Leaving the mystery of its appearance aside, he waved it over and his magic brought it to him.

Holding the crystal ball shaped looking glass, he saw his reflection come to life in front of him. Just like the day before.

Alerio Dune

Tier 2

Magic Power: Rich

Affinities: All

Skills:

Fake Death 2

Ally of Magic 7

Analysis 2

Accounting 2

The words were made of what seemed to be evaporating and drifting mysterious smoke and they just clung to the air in front of him. One could choose to show it publicly or privately. He did not have to hide it from his dad so he chose to do so publicly.

“Well, looks like your skill levels have improved and your tier is still absurdly high for your age”, quipped his father from the side.

“And I still don’t get your Ally of Magic skill even though I have heard the explanation”, Ernest added.

To most, magic was a fundamental force and an important tool they could use.

And Alerio’s idea of it was different and might take some time to get used to.

He understood what his father meant but he also couldn’t explain it any better.

Focusing on certain aspects of the reflection could make them more defined, making it possible to view them in greater definition. He had done just that for his Ally of Magic skill but the skill description he received in return hadn’t been of much help.

Ally of Magic: You ask, and you request of magic. It heeds your call, listens and answers.

And Alerio’s explanations of how magic was living but not in the way they as people were, were not helping. It only confused everyone more. So they had left it for the time being.

These reflections as they were called always fascinated him. And how they came to be or worked even more so. But those were things he couldn’t figure out at the current moment. So he would be content just looking at his reflection and adding to his skills. It was extremely addictive and motivating to see yourself improving constantly.

He had started helping his parents with accounts and analysis only a couple of months prior. And as much as he loved them, they were just not good at it. Neither were his grandparents. Fortunately, the territory was young and the records were few which was both a joy and a pain to be fair. Joy because it had taken him less than the time it would take to go through more and pain because the records were neither complete nor well kept.

There were some assistants but even they were not good. Their competency and skill were lacking. How the territory had been running was a question and a wonder in and of itself.

He had to break his head over them and almost went bald scratching his head at the tender age of 3. But now things were looking better. And his work had netted him the Accounting and Analysis skill. The financials were looking better. And they were going to begin planning territory reforms to up the energy levels in the sands of the desert. To be fair, he wanted a comfortable and peaceful life where he could do whatever he wanted but he was bogged down with work at such a young age. No one had forced him into this work but if he allowed his family to do what they were, they would become poor very soon. Both his parents and grandparents were good at bargaining but when it came to paperwork, they looked like they would rather die and he couldn’t fault them for it for he felt the same. Yet, he wasn’t good at bargaining either. He was of the opinion that he had rather pay a little more and be more comfortable.

Dreaming of a blissful and peaceful future, he dived back into work. It was going to be a long day. And that was saying something in the desert where the sun shone the hottest.