Chapter 32: Children's education

Lucien felt a silver lining of the possible future where he could see the world outside Grinas Village. It had become his longing after witnessing the drastic difference between their parents and the villagers.

He wanted to know of this magic world, which his mother had said he could be the meat Mage in. Learning was, but a window to it, his first step towards it.

Bianca certainly was enthusiastic about teaching the children. 

Going through what the children knew, she summarized that; they spoke fluently under the influence of their parents' superior noble grammar which was instilled in them from a young age. They could identify a majority of things like animals, plants, body parts, times of day, and all the things they saw and discussed daily. Lucien had bugged his father to learn more than a small share of words while he strived to understand the book's contents. He could read all the nursery books well. Mikaela on the other hand, though not interested in books, was a fast learner and would memorize things at first sight.

She was amazed but she understood, that children had a better learning capability than grown-ups. 

She set aside a small room, similar to Lucien's study room, where the two children would begin their academic studies.

Hmn~

She hummed in delight, being proud of her work.

Bianca had prepared the room with all the necessities. A crude writing board and colored chalks stood in the far front of the room. She came across them sometime in her younger days. She had several picture charts with labels, pasted on the walls.

There was a joined desk for both Lucien and Mikaela in the middle of the room. On the side, opposite the windowed wall, was a shelf with multiple books well stacked and arranged, and at the back of the room was another shelf with learning materials like ink pens, ink, charcoal pencils, brushes, and plain papers. There was colored paper and writing books too.

Bianca introduced the room with a brimming smile to the children. She turned to face them, her whole body swaying in motion under her baggy long dress. The round gold-rimmed glasses with golden delicate jewelry that rested on her nose bridge came into view. Her side-tied hair complimented her general look giving her a particularly quirky air.

"Shall we start our lesson for today?" she asked.

Her hazel eyes curved into crescents. 

The children looked upon her good mood in the hope that learning was a good thing, a fun endeavor at the very least.

…

Over the next few days, Mikaela focused more on his training. His sight was set forward, his grip on his sword and balance at his core. 

He swung over and over, countless times until he felt comfortable with himself. He felt like his lagging had improved somewhat, back to his former peak state.

To his surprise, his body adapted quite well to the changes. The heavier, longer sword in his grip didn't feel out of place anymore. 

His body gained more flexibility while doing horizontal and diagonal swings. He was happy that the most urgent problem was solved. The winter was no longer harsh on his body. It felt like any other typical cold day.

Mikaela still had hidden resentment of his delicate and pretty visage every morning. It didn't make him manly at all, so he thought.

As days, passed, his body began forming dense muscles and his glossy hands formed new calluses further improving his grip on the sword. He wrapped coarse bandage cloth on his hands while training to ease the pain and reduce the damage to his hands. It would help slowly adapt anew to his skin tear and wear process.

Mitchell saw no need to observe his son's progress as he prepared for the next training phase.

Amidst this, a feeling of urgency grew in his sword swings. Mikaela felt like he had come across a barrier preventing him from progressing further. His goal was so close within reach, yet so far beyond this invincible towering wall. In frustration, Mikaela swung his sword relentlessly, in a trance-like persistence. 

…

Lucien had his form of training as well. Ever since he got to the first circle, his mana efficiency had fallen into disarray. His mana had improved in quality which meant that his same spell used less mana for the same effect compared to his former mana quality.

Lucien had to practice tirelessly to be more proficient in this. His father mentioned learning more about the circle void and First-Tier spells.

There was the usage of grimoires as well but that would come after his mana sensitivity training.

The daily lessons ended with the same comment,

"Think about the feeling when you cast the spell and try to access your Circle Void."

 These were the never-changing assignments he got after every magic learning session.

Lucien could perform, in theory, all learned First Tier spells such as Light, Freeze, Earth, Fire, Aqua, Breeze, Daze, Darkness, and several others.

It was known that there were countless First Tier spells beyond those known to the public. Merlin chose to teach Lucien a select few of these spells. It would be impossible to learn the rest quickly and there was a limit to how many spells one could record in the grimoire at each Circle phase. 

Now that he could perform all the first tire magic, meant he needed a lot of practice. Unfortunately, his insufficient mana reserves did not carter to practice endlessly. Even if he did have endless mana, his body would be too strained. 

He needed to rest more for the well-being of his mental and physical health. 

His mother was very strict with this and his father didn't comment further on it, silently approving her words. 

^_^

Author's note:// If you have read up until here, I was wondering, if should I make character revisions on the earlier chapter. Make them more unique, distinct, and different. I mean, outline Mitchell's goofiness, Anette's coldness, Bianca's playfulness, and random antics, or Merlin's stoic personality more. Please let me know.

<( _ )>

Oh, thank you for reading~~