Magic 101

"Now though since the waning of light has seemed to have completely ceased in the three realms we magical folk left alive live right amongst humans who have forgotten and replaced their arcane history with a more logical and science-based viewpoint. Which actually helps us hide in plane sight rather than shivering in the darkness." Certain figures' features seemed to glint and flicker, revealing hidden ears or tails.

"So we all live in peaceful coexistence then?" I asked, invigorated by Kairo's presentation.

"Uhh... it's coexistence at best humans on mass can't handle the truth about what they live next to, and the humans who can and do are inimical at worst." The light show disperses, and Kairo begins his way downhill toward the sunset.

"Hurry up. I wanna make it back by sunrise." I quickly shuffle behind him, keeping my footing down the steep hill. As we walked, I noticed the chirps of birds that were unfamiliar and colorful bugs that lept or flew around our feet. Kairo stops short at the bottom of the hill using one hand to shade his eyes from the sun he squints at something in the distance.

"Alright, walking will take too long so here." He holds a hand out for me to grab, which I hesitantly take.

"Try not to hold your breath, alright?" Kairo said as he took regular deep breaths and squinted once more at something in the distance.

"Hold my breath for wh- " Before I could finish my question, I felt a tug from the center of my back. My feet felt as if they were swept from underneath me. the image before my eyes changed rapidly. As I registered the image I could tell we were now standing at the edge of a forest, but the image was inverted I look down to see a clear blue sky, and above me, the blue grass slowly waved in the wind. With a single blink, everything was upside right again, and my feet felt solid against the ground.

"-at holy shit what was that!?" I greedily take deep breaths because it felt like I had just surfaced.

"That was There I can pretty much move anything from Here, to anywhere I want, There as long as I've seen the There." I was amazed it was an incredible power, and I couldn't wait till I got to try my hand at it.

"You'll never be able to do it." He crushed my dreams as if he saw them growing in my head.

"Wha!? Why the hell not? Are you saying you won't teach me?" I stomp my feet at him in anger while folding my arms.

"No I'd gladly teach you, but it's one of the many Familia Magics that can't be taught and only given by birth it's what separates a Sorcerer from a Magician the Magic realm is governed by a hierarchy of families that all have strong ties to the elemental magics or conceptual magics the current being my father and his is space the last one his father was time and for as far back as anyone can remember it has been those two families switching places on the throne."

"Two families?" I ask, not meaning much by it, but again, the dreary look he's held all day threatens a return.

"Alright, one more jump, then we'll be at the tree line." I take his hand without hesitation I think startling him out of his thoughts. I keep my eyes open wide for this jump. I take in the topsy-turvy feeling, seeing tree trunks stretching into the sky, which makes me giggle as we reorientate my feet returning to the earth.

Kairo smirks at me, enjoying the blips through reality. I assumed seeing someone brand new to magic had to be refreshing. He hunched over his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Sorry, moving myself is nothing, but I'm not used to you or how crazy heavy you are." He takes ragged deep breaths. My face flushes red. I was on the thicker side, but I didn't think a magical jump through space would take into account weight.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know I was so heavy!" I pull my hood over my head and the strings tight. This made Kairo burst into laughter, and the embarrassment slowly stoked the anger that replaced it.

"Explain the joke and explain it soon..." I growl, which brings his laughter to a halt.

"You're not heavy physically silly you've gone through magic saturation meaning your tank's been bloody fueled and because you're a fledgling you've been just gushing it out as much as you're taking it in." I peek from my shell of confusion, taking hold of the anger. I didn't feel like anything was leaving, and I was for sure not feeling the bubbling sensation from earlier.

"So I've got a crazy amount of magic?" I ask, fully removing my hood, hoping I might get to learn something I could use.

"Yeah, it's ginormous, which I would think is odd if it weren't for your grandmother." Kairo says, cocking his head to the side as if he started crunching numbers in his head.

"So my grandmother can build up a lot of magical power?" I asked curious about what my family may have passed down to me.

"Oh, on another level, your grandmother and mother. Ya, see humans after saturation doesn't receive much magic. Most people aren't sure why but only halfbreeds and title holders get to push the limits of human magic, your grandmother and mother hold the title summoner." Kairo seems to somewhat catch his breath, but sweat still poured from his brow.

"So that means I'm a summoner, too." Kario's mood grew pensive he shifted his weight heel to heel, not wanting to make eye contact.

"What?" My chest tightened, feeling a but coming from Kairos' lips.

"Titles aren't family based they are granted through ritual or circumstance, but your mother pulled it off through circumstance and is considered the strongest summoner to ever live so..." He tried his best to give consolement but pretty much said if I wasn't a summoner...

"I'd be whatever my father is, and no one knows what my father is besides Joker." Kairo tried not to shy away, but it was obviously not the best news to hear that your magical identity was a coin flip chance of being summoner or question mark.

"What are the rituals or circumstances that get a human the title summoner?" I ask, trying to keep hope in my voice.

"From what I can tell reading all the books Joker has stolen over the years the rituals take an obscene amount of sacrifices with a final act of kindness that allows you to bind magical creatures to you or allow one to bind themselves to someone and the circumstances normally consist a life or death situation and a magical being or creature with an empathic demeanor that you can make a pact with." The confusion didn't dissipate. I wasn't sure how either of those things would come to pass or why we stood at the edge of a forest.