12 Chapter 12

"You should have understood by now, being a mage means you have more understanding towards how the world works than an average person."

"You can guarantee that a successful mage is an extremetly intelligent person. Without understanding how and why things work, you can never be a sucessful mage."

"Mages also tend to spend most of their time researching their respective elements than practicing actual magic."

"Now, I will answer one of your questions."

Aaron was about to bombard Ryan with questions.

"Wait, dont be too anxious. I will answer only one of your questions each day. This will teach you patience and also make you contemplate on what you want to ask. Both are important qualities needed to be mage. Okay, now you can ask."

"Can I do magic now?" with all Ryan said, he still asked the first question that came to his head.

"Hahahahaha" it was the first time Aaron saw Ryan laugh.

"Brilliant. As expected. Everyone wants to learn magic as soon as possible. But unfortunately you cant cast a spell right now. If you could, perhaps you would be the first to do in all of recorded history of the mages. "

"Most mage candidates dont have enough magic power to cast a spell. Magic power grows with age. It reaches the peak when you reach adulthood. It differs for person to person by a couple or so years. Also its near about impossible to cast a spell on your first try without having any knowledge about it."

"And lastly, I dont really understand how space magic works. I could possibly teach you a trick or two. But it might lead you down on a wrong path. I dont want to do that. Foundation is the key."

Aaron was dissapointed, so near yet so far. He really wanted to learn magic. He wanted to fling a couple of fireballs... Errr.. spaceballs?

"What I can help you with is I can teach you about science and tell you about the world. I can explain the basic theories regarding magic. That will put you in a slightly better position when you reach the institute. " Ryan continued.

Hearing Ryan did calm Aaron down. But he also wanted those spaceballs.

"Now, do we know where we are?"

Aaron looked outside the window. All he could see were the crop fields. He was so engrosed talking with Ryan, that he never realized how far he had already travelled. He couldn't even see the shadow of Rensworth.

Looking at Aaron who had a blank look after looking outside, Ryan gave a faint smile.

"I meant where are we in general?"

"We are still in your kingdom of Rensworth. This place which you consider as the capital and big place is actually a rather small insignificant tiny place. Hard to believe it, right?"

Not nearly for Aaron. He knew it was a small place. Although he didn't knew how it stood in comparison to this world. He listened to Ryan explain things further.

"Your kingdom lies within the province of Modena. The province of Modena comprises of lots of such small kingdoms. It's ruled by the house of Philips. The king of Rensworth is one of the scions of house of Philips. I won't get much into politics. I will leave that for your teachers at the academy."

"Now , Modena is quite big size wise, but it lacks the resources to be influencial or strive towards development. The insistute you are going to is the 11 star mage institute. It's located in the Indigo province. If you travel by road, it would take 6 months to travel to the academy, but we have arrangements in place to make it shorter. "

"Now I have some books with me, which I carried specially for you to read on your journey. I did it for myself and not you. If you are busy, you are less likely to disturb me in my reading so don't give me that look. "

This Ryan sure is long winded, thought Aaron. He talked without stopping and giving others a chance to speak.

"Do you understand?" asked Ryan.

"Yes mage Ryan."

"Now since this is the first day, I will answer one more of your question. Think on it before you ask. "

Aaron was happy to hear it, no matter how Ryan put it, he wasnt a bad person. He even brought books for him and explained things to him rather patiently.

"You mentioned different provinces. Where are provinces at. Does all the provinces together have a name?" Aaron wanted to know about the structure of the world. But since no one here talked about planets or continents, he tried to phrase his question differently. He didnt want to ask something which contradicted something what people believed in this world.

Hearing him Ryan shook his head. It was in dissapointment.

"No matter what, you were from a small place and even though you had a teacher, he was from the same place as well. They all lack the knowledge which is perhaps common in the other parts which are more deveoped."

"The world we live in is called Contura. Its spherical in shape and revolves around the sun you see in the sky. Water makes up most of the surface. The large land mass where the provinces are at is called a continent. There is a single continent on the planet. There are smaller land masses called islands, but they are smaller in size and not really suited for humans to stay at. You can read more about it in the books I brought along."

Aaron was happy with what he heard. This world was similar to earth. That means most of the universal laws would be same as well.

"Now, let me rest for a while. It has already been a long day for me. I started the journey quite early so that I wont have to waste a day in Rensworth. You could rest as well. When we stop for the night, I will hand out the books I brought. They are in my luggage, and its in the luggage compartment. Make sure you dont disturb me for now. " Saying that Ryan laid down on his seat and closed his eyes.

Aaron stared outside the window. He learned more about this world from Ryan in this short amount of time then he did in the 8 years before this. He was happy for it and saddened because he was leaving Rensworth and all the people he knew behind.

When it was dusk and getting too dark for the carriage to drive, the carriage driver pulled onto one side of the road.

He brought out various utensils and rations. Looked like he was preparing to make dinner.

Ryan soon woke up. He felt refreshed after the nap. He walked out to stretch his legs. Looking at Aaron who eagerly stared at him, he brought out the luggage from the luggage compartment. He took out 10 books and handed them over to Aaron.

"These are 10 books for you too read. They dont hold much value in the Indigo province. Most of it is considered general knowledge. Its upto you on how many of those books you can finish within the two months. "

He thought Aaron was a 8 year boy. How many could he get through. Reading books required concentration. These werent story books which you could breeze through. But it didnt matter to him. It all depended upon Aaron himself to absorb as much knowledge he could. People at the academy were at an advantage because of their backgrounds. The more Aaron studied, better his chances.

After having dinner, Ryan told Aaron that he could sleep in the carriage on his seat or if he was comfortable enough he could sleep in the open. Ryan himself, slept in the carriage. Aaron decided to sleep outside. He liked looking at the stars. Pollution on earth made it difficult to see stars in the cities.

As he stared into the starry sky, he wondered if one the stars he saw was the sun he was so familiar with on earth.