Nick got home at around 4:00 pm; school ended at 3:20 pm and it was a 15 minute bus ride to get home. His two sisters and his grandaunt were already home. He didn't greet any of them and just went to his room. His room had nothing in it but an old television projector, an old bed with slightly torn sheets, a rickety desk and an old chair. Most televisions these days created holographic video displays rather than there being a LCD or LED screen which was considered old technology as far as televisions were concerned, Nick loved this TV because the videos on it were his only means of seeing any meaningful human interactions growing up. Since as far as he can remember he didn't have anyone he was especially close to. As far as he new he had an absentee father and a half crazy mother that he only ever saw once when he was a toddler.

"None of that really matters, huh?"

muttered Nick.

"I should do a few push ups, take a shower, eat and then start studying".

Nick spent the next 30 minutes doing 4 reps of push ups: two reps of 22 and two reps of 30. Nick wanted to create a habit of training his body in someway because he understood how important physical fitness was. He didn't do too much because he thought that that would get in the way of his studying which he did everyday along with the push ups. He once heard someone say that its the little repetitions each day that create big results, the person went on to say that if you only cared for your teeth by going to the dentist twice in a year, they would fall out but if you just brushed them twice daily, they would be fine going into old age, it's small habits everyday that make the man. Nick didn't really know if all that was true but he liked the concept of building good habits.

After he finished his pushups and showered, he left his room to get something to eat. On his way to the kitchen he came upon his grandaunt who was making her way to her own room, she spoke to Nick in an accusatory tone:

"How could you just come home and not greet me or anyone, that's not very good behavior. Why are you so worthless and good-for-nothing? Remember to rake up the leaves in the yard tomorrow before going to school."

Internally, Nick felt enraged at the insult but he kept an outward appearance of calm; Nick silently clenched his right fist and nodded his head. He was all the more angry because he heard his sisters' laughing in the next room. He went into the kitchen to get some of the food that had been prepared and went straight back to his room. Inside his room, Nick dejectedly muttered to himself:

"So what if you hate me, I'm still going to do what I have to, I'll fight for myself."

As is evident by Nick's interaction with his grandaunt, he didn't have a very peaceful home life because his grandaunt was a bitter and abusive woman, especially toward him, and his sisters were, as far as he was concerned, just miniature versions of her, less abusive, a little less dishonest but with the same amount of hypocrisy and hate between them. Anyway, to him, none of that even mattered anymore, all that mattered was getting into a laws and magic academy.

After spending 10 minutes on eating, he began studying mathematics, which to be honest, is probably his worst subject but Nick believed that it was the most important subject in terms of understanding science and by some extension, laws and magic. He read a math text on the the theory of numbers for three hours and went to bed at around 9 pm.

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He woke up when the alarm rang at 3 am. One minute later he heard a voice coming from his old cell phone saying:

"Young man, if you will change, then your whole life will change..."

It was an old speech by Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker who lived a few centuries ago and it always put a smile on his face in the morning, reminding him that if he wanted to get better and stronger, he had to continue changing everyday in the right direction even by a little. He set the message to play a minute or so after the alarm.

"Let's get this yard work done OG."

Nick cheerfully whispered to himself.

Nick went outside with a rake and a few trash bags to get rid of the leaves that had fallen onto the ground from a few fruit trees that were planted in the yard. He always wondered why his grandaunt kept fruit trees that never bore actual fruit but only shed leaves. Then it crossed his mind:

(She might not have cut them down so that I would have to clean up the leaves...yeah...that's completely possible...whatever, lets hurry up and get this done before school.)

It took Nick about two and a half hours to rake up and dispose of the leaves. After all that, he took a shower and got ready for school. It was 7 am as he was leaving the house when Nick walked past his grandaunt's bedroom, he heard her speaking on the phone, saying:

"That boy is so lazy, I have to even rake up leaves and bag them because he refuses to do so..."

Nick put on a awkward smile when he heard the conversation, he didn't know what was funnier, her lying about doing some yard work or the fact that she doesn't know that her bedroom is not soundproof. Nick then put on an indifferent expression and left the house.

As he was closing the gate to the yard he heard a loud roar above him; he looked up and saw something shocking. There was a creature that looked like a European dragon that you would see in old video games flying over his house, it seemed to be 30 feet tall, had fiery red scales covering its skin and had glowing green eyes and what was even more shocking was that there was someone 'riding' it, standing comfortably on its left shoulder. The spectacle was obvious to onlookers because all the houses within this neighborhood only had one storey and were very well spaced apart.

A minute after seeing the 'dragon' and its rider flying west, there was a loud voice that spread all over the neighborhood, as if for an announcement,

"Citizens, an apology has been released from the Order of the United Realm for the disturbance caused by one of its Regular Magicians and his magic beast. They were dispatched on a mission that required them to fly over this area. Things will return to normal in a few minutes. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

After staring for another five minutes, Nick whispered to himself:

"I have to become a Magician, that was so awesome."

Nick then went to the bus station, got on a bus and took the fifteen minute bus ride to school.