“Sylver! Where have you been? I have been looking all over the place for you!”

A middle-aged man notices Sylver and Conner walking out of the Usra family mansion and begins reprimanding.

Sylver jolts to a stop.

“No need to be so harsh on your son, William, he’s still nervous for the ceremony.”

Conner tries to calm the middle-aged man, William.

“Your too nice to him Conner, as the mentor of the Usra family’s young generation, dishing out physical punishment now and then is essential. I remember when I was a rowdy young lad and a good bumps on the head always set me straight.”

Conner had a wry smile on after hearing William reminisce about his childhood.

‘This violent tendency is why you get along so well with elder brother.’

Conner thought to himself.

“As for you, Sylver …”

William begins to take off his slippers.

“W-Wait dad! I-I was in the library studying and reviewing for the upcoming ceremony!”

Sylver, under this “life and death” situation, was able to find the excuse that gives the highest chance of “survival”.

“Hmm? Is this true Conner?”

Both William and Sylver look towards Conner, one for confirmation while the other for “salvation”.

“Yes, I found him in the library going over the books about the ceremony.”

William’s face changes.

“Haha! That’s my boy! Never doubted you for a second. Haha.”

Both Sylver and Conner look at the cheerful William with an awkward smile.

Luckily for them, William is not a mage, otherwise, he would know there are no such books in the library.

Awakening to become a mage is a trade secret for any organization that conducts said ceremony, since there are so many ways to go about it. Each method of awakening can have a great effect on the success rate and the Mygan born from it.

A Mygan is an intangible organ that allows an individual to control the mana inside their body, and this mana is the energy that fuels the mage’s mystical abilities.

All people have a hard time producing their Mygan naturally, some more than others, and the difficulty of awakening can vary drastically from person to person.

The ceremony is meant to induce the creation of the Mygan, depending on the individual, the results can be negligible.

In fact, it is a well-known statistic in the mage world that only 1 in 100 are suitable to become a mage, if one is not part of this slim population, then it’s too difficult to become a mage.

However, for mage families, things are different.

One criterion for a family to be classified as a mage family, need to have an awakening method that fits the “blood” of the family and allows any family member to gain a Mygan.

This is why mage families are a vital player in the mage world, at least that’s what Sylver learned from reading the library books.

But, the Usra family would not share such important secrets in the regular library that anyone can access.

“AAH! Give it back Malfas!”

A young girl’s screams attract the three’s attention.

“Haha, if you want it, come get it!”

A young man, Malfas, is waving around a doll while being chased by a young girl.

However, Malfas sense of danger starts to fire warning sighs.

Next moment…

*bang*

“Ugh!”

Malfas falls to the ground, he quickly holds his head in pain.

His angry eyes search for the culprit that threw something at him but sees a single pair of sandals on the ground.

‘I know that san-’

And that’s when he knew he fudged up.

“MALFAS! Did I not tell you to stop bullying your sister!”

William screams.

“D-dad,..I…I was just-”

“Go help your mother and the family’s staff set up the celebration!”

Malfas wants to rebuttal, but knowing his father, that would make the punishment worse.

“Thanks, daddy!”

“Oh don’t you worry, my little angel Sylvia.”

Sylver, seeing the dotting manner his father treats his little sister, Sylvia, and the strict attitude he has towards him and his older brother, Malfas, incites jealousy to brew inside him.

***

“Hello everyone! I welcome you today to the Usra family’s celebration! We hope you all have a great time, but before the celebrations start, my mother, head, and the first generation of the Usra family, madam Sybella, would like to say a few words.”

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In a wide clearing, where multiple tables and stalls have been set up for the celebration, stands a man with a thick gray beard and a bald head on a podium, giving out an announcement to the crowd that has gathered.

“Thank you, Robert.”

An old, white-haired, granny comes on to the podium.

Her clothes are neat, however, on her robe, a red and blue twirl design is stitched on.

The villagers knew that this is the symbol representing the Usra family.

“Dear friends, ever since I was able to follow the path of the mage, I have strived to ensure the Usna village I grew up in, and its neighbors, live well and are treated fairly by Ather kingdom.”

“It took a long time, but I eventually gained the marque title and took over the governess of these villages. It saddens me that I could not share my accomplishments with my master and twin brother, they were pillars in my life and allowed me to have today’s achievements.”

“But, today is a day of celebration, a new member of my family will step forward into the path of mages. I hope you all support him.”

“Not just him, but support my children; Robert, Conner, and Amelia. And also my grandchildren; Ruthford, Eluna, Claire, Cain, Malfas, Sylver, Sylvia.”

“Support them so they could support you!”

With Sybella’s words, the crowd began to cheer.

***

The jolly chatter spreads through the field as the gatherers eat and socialize.

“Why are you here by yourself sleeve?”

Sylver, who was sitting by himself contemplating about the upcoming ritual looks up to see his older brother Malfas and an older teen beside him.

“Stop calling me that! My name is Sylver! Not sleeve!”

Malfas’s teasing did not stop with his younger sister, Sylvia, but Sylver had to deal with it as well.

“You should be enjoying the festivities, instead of sitting here, Sylver.”

The older teen interjects before the two get to their usual quarrels.

“I’m sorry Cain, but there are so many things occupying my mind. I just find it unfair that the adults decided to let me take your turn for the Mygan awakening.”

Sylver looks apologetic towards Cain, his cousin.

“I’ll say, if they were going to skip turns, then it should be ME that gets to go next.”

Malfas shares his opinion on the decision.

Cain shakes his head in response to Malfas arrogance.

“Grandma has always said, what maintains the trust and loyalty of the family is sacrifice. If this is the best thing for the family, then I’m willing to give up my turn and wait a few more years for my next turn.”

Seeing his cousin’s attitude towards himself in comparison to his brother, Sylver finds it confusing.

“Why are all my cousins so much nicer than my brother? *sigh*”

“What you say?”

Sylver’s words irks Malfas.

“Now, now, young ones, no need to fight.”

A voice distrusts the two’s squabble.

The three boys look to the side to see a man, around his early 20s, walking over.

“Ruthford! You're here!”

Cain’s eyes widen with joy at seeing the man walking towards them, Ruthford, son of the eldest of the Usra family’s third generation.

“Haha, yeah no way I was going to miss Sylver’s awakening ceremony. Thankfully, I was able to get permission from my master to come here.”

“Ruthford! the ruffians in the nearby villages have been acting up lately, let’s go teach them a lesson!”

Malfas face is one of pure joy thinking about all the mischief he can cause with his eldest cousin here, his first target are a few kids, or his “rival gang” as he calls them.

“Oh my, you're still up to your old ways Malfas, haha. How about you Sylver? How are you holding up?”

Ruthford quickly changes the subject, not wanting to entangle himself in Malfas mischief.

“I’m fine, there are just a few actions of the adults that I don’t understand.”

“Hmm? Your talking about the turn skip?”

Sylver nods in confirmation.

“Do you know anything about it, Ruthford?”

The three younglings stare at Ruthford with curiosity, Ruthford has become a mage apprentice and should know more about the reasoning behind it.

As it stands currently, all of the awakened family members are currently mage apprentices, even grandma Sybella.

Though, Sybella has reached the consummate state that an apprentice could reach, it is too difficult to reach the level of a mage in these lands.

In fact, there is practically no chance for becoming a mage on the Malgoin island where they live.

“I do know a bit, but I can’t speak on it, just know there is a purpose behind it.”

***

The two suns follow the same trajectory and both set in the west, what follows is a sky filled with sparkles from the stars and light from the bright clear full moon.

Back at the field where the celebrations were occurring, a few people were hanging around but most villagers have already left and the Usra’s staff are cleaning the area and tidying things up.

“Mom, can you stop that? my hair is already fine!”

Sylver complains to Amelia, the youngest of the second generation, in a room with a man-sized mirror.

In the shared room of the boys, there is no large mirror such as the one Sylver is standing in front of, it could only be found in one of the adults' rooms, like Amelia and William’s room.

“It still needs more straightening, you need to look your best for the ceremony, my little Sylver.”

“Can you not call me little any more mom, I’m 10 years old! Why does everyone keep saying I’m little?”

The young lad’s pride is hurt.

“Don’t worry Sylver, people also call me little too.”

Sylver’s sister, Sylvia chimes in after hearing his complaint.

“You’re 7 Sylvia, your encouragement does not help at all.”

“Don’t be too harsh on your cute sister, she’s only trying to be nice.”

Sylver did not reply and stares at his reflection in the large mirror, in which, his mother's reflection keeps fixing his hair and clothes.

“What’s wrong Sylver? Are you worried about the ceremony?”

Sylver nodes to Amelia, who notices a faint nervous expression on his face.

“Don’t worry, everyone gets worried, it’s normal.”

Amelia comforts him and Sylvia tries to do the same.

“It will be fine Sylver, grandma is the strongest in the world! She’ll solve any problem in the ceremony.”

“Oh, honey!”

Sylver sees his mother go hug his sister for saying that “crazy” line, he almost wants to say “your ‘world’ doesn't include anything outside the village.”

But he’ll get a scolding if he does.

*knock**knock*

“Come in!”

Amelia calls out.

“Miss, they are calling for you and young Sylver.”

A butler opens the door and informs them.

Madam Sybella employs staff from the neighboring villages, and even though she does not compel the staff to call the family members' as ‘master’ or ‘mistress’, like other noble families.

The villagers still are respectful when addressing the adults of the family, especially the staff.

Sybella was an orphan and lived with these villagers in her younger years, so she is especially sympathetic to them and the blight of having to live under cruel nobility.

The Usra family is especially kind, especially in comparison to other nobility, which earns the family the respect of the villagers.

***

Trees, fields, and farms Surround the Usra mansion.

But there is also a tower a few minutes walk away from the mansion.

The tower has many vegetation and trees growing on it.

From far away, it can pass as a giant tree.

Looking closely, one can see that vines grow from the ground and onto the tower, as though the tower is part of the vegetation and land.

Sylver is walking towards the tower with his mother.

‘I can finally enter the mage tower!’

Even though he is still nervous, the mage tower was always been off-limits and only mages of the family can enter it.

To finally be allowed to enter, Sylver could not help but be excited.