Unexpected

Jane stood there without words for a few seconds. The only thing they could hear was the snow falling outside, and the crackling fire from the fireplace. Kai was proud of himself, 'I shocked her with my talent, hehe.'

"Are you serious about this? If you are joking, then just say it. This is a serious matter and no one should joke about this," Jane said, staring directly at Kai.

She was someone who played along and joked with Kai, but magic was something she took very seriously. The nature of her magic had a healing purpose, so she took it very seriously because it was related to the lives of others.

Kai grinned at her, "I am telling you the truth. There's no way I will say this to my father because it will only bring me problems, especially with my siblings. So you are the only one I trust to talk about this."

Jane had her eyes wide-open, "You are smart, kid. Hugh would probably feel jealous and this might make your relationship bad. But how the hell did you get it so fast? What are you? An old Arcanist reincarnated into the body of a child?"

That was a description that fit well with Kai, but he simply said, "I have no idea what those words you said mean, but I am me. Now, will you start teaching me magic? It would be a shame to lose time."

The whole benefit of accessing the sea of consciousness early was precisely to start practicing magic before others, and that could bring some advantages. Well, if you think about it, it would be like one year, one year and a half in difference, so in the long run, that was basically nothing.

"Uh, yes, yes, of course. It had been a long time since I taught someone, so this is exciting," Jane said as she started to search for something inside her cabin.

Kai looked at her with surprise, "You were a teacher in a magic academy?"

"Yes. What is so surprising about that? I am a good mage, and an old one. My knowledge is needed everywhere."

The strange village of Silka seemed to be a place that drew the attention of powerful individuals. Kai's parents were decent mages, Jane too, and Kai came from another world. What exactly was happening in that place?

"Did you teach healing magic?" Kai asked.

Jane finally found the things she had been looking for: books, elementary books about magic.

"Yes, that and herbology. Come here, kid," she said, gesturing for Kai to sit with her by the table.

The books she had were not related to a specific field of magic but rather general books about magic. All of them were of elementary level.

"These are the books you will be getting when you start your first year in the academy. Well, these are the versions with less complicated stuff, and they probably changed a few things over the years, but the general knowledge is still the same. We will be working on those for the upcoming years. This will give you a solid base for magic," Jane said.

"So this is what I will study the entire year?"

Kai could not understand why he would spend years studying these books when they only taught it for one year. Well, things were even worse than that.

"No, of course not. This is like, two months of your year. But I am a strong believer that the base of magic is the most important aspect, and that you should focus on that. Also, it is not like we can start practicing other magic too. Your body won't handle it anyway. That is the reason they only accept older people in the magic academy," Jane explained.

She was a strong believer about strengthening the base of magic, as this would only bring more benefits when studying other things. But she also had no choice.

"Well, this is better than nothing. We will be studying these books for years then?" Kai asked as he looked at the books above the table.

They were not thick books but not small ones either. Perfectly doable to read them in two months like the academy asked for its students.

"Correct. We will start with this one tomorrow. It's late and we need to rest," Jane said. She searched for more blankets, giving them to Kai to make sure he would be warm during the cold night. She placed him close to the fireplace.

"Good night little one. Be ready for tomorrow," Jane said as she kissed Kai's forehead and went to her own bed.

Kai liked her. She always took care of him. 'She is like my grandmother,' he thought.

He wanted to get up and grab the book to start reading it. The curiosity was making him go crazy, but there was a natural thing he could not go against: sleep. Kai was still a kid after all, and he could not keep himself awake…

*

The following morning was an exciting one. Kai got up with the smell of his breakfast, prepared by Jane.

"Good morning grandma Jane. What did you make?" Kai said.

Jane was surprised once again. She got fond of the boy during the years, and hearing him call her grandma warmed her heart, "Just some eggs with bread, the basics. Before you get too excited, though, we will start our training during the afternoon."

"What? Why?" Kai asked, frustration evident in his voice.

"Your father wants your help with something. He passed by but you were still sleeping."

Kai was eager to start learning some magic, but calmed down. 'I waited for six years, so one morning is nothing.'

After eating and talking with Jane about magic, Kai returned to his home. The sun was already in the sky, so it wasn't as cold as the night. When he arrived home, his father was already waiting for him in front of the house with Hugh beside him.

"Kai, you are here," Zerin said, smiling to his son, "Wanna come with me and Hugh to explore those ruins? The villagers want to know if there is danger there, and we need to go."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kai asked.

Zerin was always so protective so it was strange to have him bring them there.

"I don't think so, and we will only explore the first part. The rest I will do it alone," Zerin said.

Well, Kai's morning would not be as boring as he imagined it to be.