Ch 35 - Insight (1)

"Noah?! Your back?" Ralph exclaims.

"I've been waiting over half the day," I say impatiently.

"Waiting for what?" Ralph questions.

"You! Our deal! Teach me about fire magic! Now!" I shout.

"You're serious?" He asks.

"Of course, I brought Luke back just as I said I would now it's your turn to hold up your end of the deal," I say.

"Why do you even care or want to learn about fire magic anyways? You can't possibly be a mage let alone one that can harness fire. Plus your what… five years old. You still have to double your age before is even possible to find out if your a mage," Ralph goes on to explain.

'I remember that from somewhere, where though, uhhh, oh yeah, the evil nurse lady and Christopher were talking about it when I was a child. Didn't one of them say something about the test not being reliable and that you could only find out if someone was a mage when it was their tenth birthday?'

"What do you mean what's so important about turning ten years old?" I ask confused.

"Huh? Didn't anyone tell y-" He begins to say before cutting himself off.

"When you turn ten you find out if you're a mage. It is different for everyone but at whatever time you were born the second that time passes on your tenth birthday something in your mind will click and you will just know if you're a mage."

"I can't explain it well, but you will get the feeling that whatever was missing from your life was finally revealed to you."

"For me, I was born during the day, so while eating lunch with my parents I got this sensation that was just... beautiful."

"I remember it vividly, we were eating soup. My parents were extremely nervous and so was I. We knew that it would happen that day so my mother made my favorite meal and we all ate in silence. Then just as I said I got that feeling. I dropped my spoon on the floor then looked down at my hands. Then I spoke words I've never heard or studied before and moved my hands in such a unique way. Then poof! A tiny baby flame appeared on the palm of my hand. Then ever since that day I've been practicing my magic and have grown to where I am now," Ralph said with a smile explaining his upbringing.

"Turning ten years old makes or breaks if you will be successful in this world. Listen closely Noah pray and pray that you will never become a mage because it's a curse you will never escape."

"When Luke found out he was a mage I cried tears of joy yet at the same time my heart shattered into pieces. Don't get me wrong being able to magic is such a wonderful thing but the amount of pain that it brings along with it is far too much," Ralph says with a deep sigh.

'What. The. Fuck?! WHAT! Hold on. Whatever bullshit this man is sprouting about mages having curses is just idiocy. But what is this new information that people only find out they are mages at age ten?' I tell myself as my mind explodes.

'It can't be true? Can't it? But it doesn't make any sense… wait… no I'm wrong, it does make sense.'

'When I first arrived at Wingston I never told anyone that I could use magic but the thought never even crossed their minds. That confused me but I figured it was just for the best. Then I was easily able to kill Edward and that was probably because he never expected me to be able to use magic. Then that makes even more sense with the fatty. He couldn't understand why I was the strongest but once Julia confirmed that he probably thought I was a bastard of a noble or something and just rich. Not only that this explains why Julia was so confused as to why I could use magic when we first met… FUCK ME! I've been going around town all willy-nilly not bothering to hide that I could use magic. When in reality I have a second huge secret to cover up. Thankfully the army doesn't know that I can use magic because I was careful enough to do it when I was alone. If they found out, I definitely would have become a test subject. I was so close to condemning myself to even more torture,' I say to myself just now realizing how big of a deal it is that a five-year-old can use magic not to mention when he was a newborn.

Calming myself down I come to the conclusion that I am not in that much trouble.

The only person alive that knows I can use magic is Julia and as of right now I have her under my control. I just need to make sure it stays that way or just find a replacement for her.

Now that I'm calm I now see that I need to be a lot more careful. Not only that but I need to come up with an excuse to still get Ralph to teach me.

'Think! Think Noah think!'

'Ralph might already have his speculations about me since I already displayed some dangerous intent towards him and Madelyn, plus the fact that I want to learn about magic. There's no way out of this!' I complain.

'You know what, fuck it,' I say coming to a conclusion.

'As long as someone more powerful than me doesn't find out I can use magic I will be fine. Plus sooner than later I'm going to come to a bottleneck and won't be able to advance any further. I need Ralph's help,' I discover but without shuddering that I must become dependent on someone.

"Why don't you think I could be a fire mage?" I ask.

"Heritage. One of your parents must be a mage in order for their child to possibly become one. And there no way a mage whose son might also become one would give up their child before their tenth birthday without knowing first that they are mag-"

"PINEAPPLE!"