4 The Golden Boy of Skagi

That night many of Skagi's townsmen investigated the incidents that had just occurred; they traveled for hours north to find the oak tree stump and tracks leading up the mountain. Although they were baffled, they determined it must have been the work of the gods. Which is another way of saying they didn't have any clue what the hell had happened?

The Town of Skagi held a funeral for Magni Börsson two days later. The Church cremated Magni. The reason for this was corpses had a high chance of turning undead in this world. An unattended body could become a zombie or a skeleton.

Rumors of involvement of gods had buzzed around town. Jarl and the Priests of Anongrath (An Elven City a couple of hundred miles South) were in constant contact through messenger ravens over the next year, but eventually, things died down.

No one was able to move The Oak Tome, and it remained sunken in the Front yard of the late Magni's home. No-one could even open its cover. Not for lack of trying! Even the Wizards of Anongrath city had come to try and move it using levitate with no success. Levitate was a 2nd tier magic that would barely lift over 37 stone (500 pounds), the Oak Tome was over 22,000 stone heavy. There it stayed as a testament to that legendary Sorelos Night.

The townsfolk built a statue to commemorate Magni's feat of strength and placed it at the town gates. They also made a shelter for the Oak Tome, as they were confident it was an artifact of great value and religious importance.

The residents that had witnessed the Blue Explosion, and experienced the ground quaking beneath Magni's feet were certain that Ozen Raw or some other god was involved. She may have sent one of her herald's they guessed. Indeed she had.

The town's expectations for Mars to be some kind of mighty warrior dwindled, as Mars seemed to be the runt of the entire city. They saw he was a small baby of only 5 pounds.

But everyone was amazed when Mars started speaking fluently at six months old. He could hold a conversation and spoke of complex concepts they could not understand! Mars would ask them questions they could not answer, such as "What Galaxy are we in?" and "What level civilization is this?". Many of the townsfolk were impressed that he could speak, but when they heard about "space" and "speed of light," they chalked it up to a child's imagination.

Var raised him as a loving single mother, and Olaf had her and Mars come and live with his family.

Olaf had been just as grief-stricken at his brother's death as Var was. While he also felt pride and bewilderment at how Magni had carried that Oak Tome, something even a giant may struggle to do! It was indeed, very bittersweet.

Mars had a comfortable life with his mother Var, uncle Olaf, aunt Ski, and his two cousins Hagar and Dagmar. Five years had passed, and life had been relatively peaceful aside from the occasional Dire wolf coming close to town.

Bör and Olaf had taken to the role of teaching Mars, in place of his Legendary and deceased father, Magni Börsson. They taught him about hunting and skinning, and about chopping down ash trees. Bör would tell him all kinds of Fairy Tales, and Olaf would talk about the few times he had hunted monsters with Magni.

When Mars turned five years old, he began to amaze everyone even more. He became able to cast "Prestidigitation."

While lying down in his bed one night, as he was about to fall asleep, he had accidentally created sparks in his room. These sparks could not cause any fires, but it was visually striking.

His cousin Hagar first noticed the bright lights and burst into the room, thinking a fire had started.

"Mars, what the hell is going on here!" Hagar exclaimed! He had never seen such an odd spell before. It wasn't that the spell was rare, but no one in Skagi got blessed with magical abilities like this. "I don't know! I just visualized the sparks, and they appeared!"

Although Olga the Priestess had a few spells herself, they had required her studying at the Cleric's University in Anongrath for ten years. She could cast one cantrip ( a tier 0 spell), "Mending" a spell that repaired minor tears or damage on inanimate objects, and only two 1st tier spells "Cure Wounds" which healed small cuts and wounds, and "Create or Destroy Water" Which could produce only 10 gallons per casting.

His mother Var had run in the room; she was just as shocked as Hagar was. She burst into tears of pride. Var had realized it was magic and knew her son must be special after all. She yearned that Magni could witness his only son performing such feats.

She was right to be proud. While "Prestidigitation" was not considered a powerful spell, it was undoubtedly useful and was excellent for party tricks.

Prestidigitation could warm or cool objects. Change flavors of food, create faint musical notes, create gentle aromas of Mars' choosing. It could even light candles, torches, or campfires(or extinguish them). The fact that Mars had learned this on his own was proof he was a born Wizard.

Now Mars had become extremely valued in Olaf's home; he would light the fire for them if it went out, he would put on the magic show's where he would make sparks and lights dance for everyone. Everyone in Skagi adored him, and he felt loved and happier than he had ever been.

The Jarl and many others had realized that the gods blessed Mars not with physical prowess, but with intelligence and magic potential. In this world, Wizards were the rarest of magic casters, and generally, they would only start to bear fruit in their late 40's or 50's if they were lucky. To think a resident of Skagi, with common blood, had the potential to be a top tier mage!

The Jarl had assessed that Mars was ready to begin his training beyond books. Var, Olaf, and Bör agreed. But the Jarl saw an excellent way to help his town make some money, and have the excitement they all craved. It would be a battle tournament for the right to tutor Mars.

The town council had many meetings over it and concluded they did not want Mars to leave and study under a great mage; instead, if a mage wished to have such a fantastic apprentice, he would need to come and live in Skagi. Once word had traveled to various wizard circles and adventurers guilds across the planet, Wizards, clamored for the chance to train such an amazing lad.

When Mars heard a tournament would get held to find him a mentor, he was one hundred percent in favor of this idea. Mars had been casting his one spell over the last month, now its effects could last up to an hour, and he could cast two separate effects at the same time. He was hoping at this upcoming tournament he would get a glimpse of what real magic power could do.