Outside

I went to bed thinking about what my father said. I was anticipating the day when I will become ten year old and gaining my affinities. I liked to have thunder or ice affinities. but I what caught my attention were the time and space ones. I found those superior to the others and more versatile. yet I couldn't understand why people would call them useless.

( well dad said that in order to perform a spell you must understand it's nature. well I know why people would know how to use fire and water and the others because those are elements that we can see and picture in our head. you can imagine putting something on fire just by seeing a fire place. but space and time are conceptual elements. you can't see time but you know it exists and for space it's a mystery element. Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. in other words space is coordinates and forces.)

(hmm, I guess I know why people would think it's useless. as far as I have seen in my house, this world seems not as advanced as earth in terms of technology. we didn't have lights nor any electrical supply. I saw something like a fridge but it was not connected to anything which left me wondering how it worked. well I didn't know how we had light without bulbs. we didn't use candles nor torches in the house. and our source of light was a glass jar that had floating inside of it. I couldn't understand how it worked. but the point is, I assume that none of earth's technologies were present here, so I guess people wouldn't understand about conceptual theories.)

(yeah we earthling my a huge advancement in experimentation and theoretical knowledge. we made it into space hihihihi)

and just like that I went to sleep.

the next day was busy, my mom decided she would take me out to see the outside world and i was pretty excited to know what it looked like.

i held my mothers hand and took my first step outside and I was greeted with a cobblestone street, the houses near us wear made of stone and it gave me the vibe of being in medieval Europe. People were going down the street. everyone greeting each other and talking while some kids were running everywhere. it sure was lively and I kind of liked it.

as I was taking in the scenery, some old couple came towards me and my mother and greeted her they looked at me then the old woman turned towards mom again

"is this little Edward he is so cute"

said the old woman, I didn't know who she was, but she bent down and started pulling my cheeks, it kind of hurt, so I turned and hid behind mom while peeking at the old woman

(damn, that old hag, it hurts)

I cursed inwardly.

my mom sensed my confusion and she said while holding me in her arms

"Don't worry Edward, this is Madame Martha, she is our neighbor and that is her husband mister Henry. don't worry they won't harm you."

the old man came closer and patted my head and he said

"ohh, Hi Edward, I'm Henry, nice to meet you."

he then turned towards mom and said:

"I remember him being the same age as my grandson Philip."

"yes he is two years old"

so after some time, we left the old couple and went to the market.

we went to a vegetable stand and I saw some plants that I knew and some totally foreign for me. there was a vegetable that was a mix between a potato and strawberry and it had a spicy smell. it was weird.

we spent around two hours in the market and we were going back home.

I mostly spent that time waiting for mom finish speaking with her friends and acquaintances.

(she sure loves speaking)

on our way back, I saw a kid going out of a shop holding a thing that looked like a book. i was curious about it. so I gathered every ounce of strength I had and turned around to my mother and said in my cutest voice.

" mommy, what is that"

I said as I pointed to the book.

it was difficult for me to act like a child. but I am bearing it just for knowledge.

" you mean the thing the boy is holding. it's called a book, and the shop that sells it is called a library. books usually contain information about things and all "

she tried explaining it as simple as possible. but I understood what she was saying .

" can we go there, please "

"sure"

as we entered there, we saw a man in his fifties with a monocle resting on his eye. as he saw us he stood up and came to mom and said

" Madame Stella, welcome. it's been a while since you last came here. how are you ?"

" Mister Abraham, hi, I am fine, thank you. How are you doing ?"

"well, same old same old. I suppose this your younger son. I remember Roland told me his name is Edward."

"you're right, he was curious about books when we were passing by and asked me if he can take a look"

"hmm, so young but already curious, I like him. Even the brilliant Endric didn't start reading at this age. well, I think they really are you and Roland's children"

he then bent down and faced me and said

"Well young Edward you can come here any time if you are feeling bored and want to read something, it's better than leaving the books accumulating dust"

I nodded while my mom thanked him.

we said our goodbyes and went back home. Today was busy, so i went directly to sleep.

Next day, I asked dad if he can teach me how to read and write. and he agreed to it.

he got me a black board and some chalk and taught me how to write. for the next, all I did was practicing how to write and read. my mom would teach me, my sister and my brother.

my brother was really smart and he was a good teacher for a seven year old. for that age, I felt he had a brain of an adult.

So a month passed, I did learn quite a lot and my reading skills were good, but my writing skills were still lacking and I needed to improve it. but for a two year old, that was astonishing .

It has been two days since Sacha's birthday, we did it a party for her and we had a good evening together. I learned that birthdays are not yearly. they only celebrate the day where someone becomes a ten year old, ready to have his affinities awakened.

Today, we were going to attend Sacha's awakening. I hope she awakens something she likes. Sacha is really caring and loving and i grew attached to her.

Dad took the whole day off and we went to a place called a Magic Hall where someone awakens their affinity.

The place was full of parents and their kids. Apparently people from nearby villages attend this hall for their awakening. My dad took Sacha to register and we waited in chairs.

after one hour, my sister's name was called and a receptionist took us inside a room.

there was a thirty year old man sitting on a chair with three glass spheres near him.

he greeted my parents. I guess they know him and gestured for Sacha to step forward.

Sacha did as he said and stood before him. he then turned to his left facing a sphere and spoke

"First we are going to measure your mana density, Come and place your hand on this orb, insert some mana inside of it "

Sacha did as she was told and the orb shined with a white light.

He then nodded and told her to lift her hand. then he faced the orb on his right and said

"Now we are going to test your mana pool, insert your mana here until you have barely any left."

Sacha placed her hand and the orb was starting to shine and getting brighter and brighter but Sacha's face was getting paler and paler.

I was getting worried about her and I unconsciously took a step forward but my father took my hand and shook his head as he was saying no. I was confused but when I looked back at Sacha her hand was no more on the ball and her face was getting back it's normal color. Meanwhile the orb was shining brightly.

The guy nodded again and he turned to the sphere right in front of him and said

"Now for the final test, we are going to awaken your affinities, Now place your Hand on this side of the orb. You will sense some energy trying to invade you but don't fight it, ok"

Sacha did as he said, and after some time the orb started shining, at first it had a deep blue color, then all of a sudden it shined a light green color then it turned into a golden color. My parents seemed happy about it and the guy nodded in satisfaction and told Sacha to return while he went out of the room from another door.

After some time he came back to us with a paper in his hands. He handed it to my dad and said

"congratulations, Mister and Madame Raiden, your daughter is an exceptional one. well of course, she is your daughter. her Mana density is above average at Rank 5. Her mana pool is astounding at Rank 7. and finally she is triple elemental with affinities to water, wind and the rare healing. She is going to become a formidable mage one day"

my parents' faces brightened as they heard him and thanked him.

after that we left the Magic Hall and mom decided to throw in a small celebration for Sacha.

Everyone was happy when we came back, but I returned home with more questions than before.

(hmm, Mana Density, Mana pool, Ranks and most importantly how did Sacha know how to use magic before even awakening it ?)

that's when I knew I won't be able to sleep until I find out ….