The Witch And The Hut( Part 1)

Reverie was speechless.

' Why hadn't I thought of that?' She cursed. '

' All magic incantations are elder speech! It's so simple!'

It was a terrible blunder and as a fellow mage, Reverie was almost too ashamed to face up and look Isadora in the eye. Her face flamed.

When mages started training at youth, they are first taught the theory of magic so as to have a grasp on the basics. Magic in the world of Aüserst was spilt into two types, Unique and Conventional. 

Conventional magic spanned three types. First was pacts. Second was magic circles. And third was Elder speech.

Research into the area was dubious at best ,but the general consensus was that elder speech was a language system of an unknown race that came to end up on the world of Aüserst millennias ago. No one understands the language but combinations of its words can act as a code to help tap into one's dormant mana and manifest miracles upon the world.

And that was the genesis of Magic was we know it.

At the moment, Rumius was even more slack-jawed and flabbergasted.

" Huh? W-W-WHAT?"

" Did she just speak english? Yeah she did! She did!"

" So people in this world really can speak english?"

" How many of them can? Where do they speak it?"

Rumius's brain was going overdrive in excitement. In the wrong direction though.

Reverie put a hand on her son's head to calm him down.

" Believe me now?" She said rather haughtily towards the ginger haired woman, an attempt to divert attention away from her shameful misstep, who had walked back and sat back down across her.

Isadora nodded. "Well yes, I suppose so."

" What do you intend to about it?"

Reverie hesitated and she fell into silence. It wasn't like she hadn't thought of it. In fact, it had been the only thing on her mind. The problem was that she didn't know.

She spoke again after a while.

"What is this condition? Is it a curse?" She asked, her voice tense.

" I don't know."

" You don't? Then what am I supposed to do?" Reverie asked, her voice inadvertently turning a whole pitch higher by no choice of her own.

Isadora didn't answer but rather looked away, her gaze eventually falling on one of the few glow stone lamps that illuminated her small abode. She clicked her tongue softly. 

' This is why I dislike dealing with nobles. Can't they use their brain? Try not coming to beg someone for the answer for once.'

Isadora looked back at reverie. 

" There's need to panic. I may not know what it is but, it's definitely not a curse."

She paused awhile.

" But I can't say that I've seen anything like your son's condition before either."

Isadora took stock of the baby in the arms of the woman across her. She didn't like dealing with babies but this one was surprisingly well behaved, especially considering the state and smell of her place but that was beside the point.

' How interesting. A child blessed with the ability to recognise Elder speech at birth.' She mused.

Isadora used the word 'recognise', not 'read' or 'write' but simply 'recognise'. This was because that was all she could deduce from his reaction. That he recognised the language.

However that in itself was already incredible. Anything more that that would simply mean that this child would grow up to be a mage that could access any spell in the world or create any spell at a whim with as little effort as reading off lines from a book.

' No…that simply can't be.' She shook her head but then smiled.

' But even so, it's a good head-start and definitely worth furthering.' Isadora thought.

" He may be no god but he is definitely a god-given prodigy."

'However…..'

"Is he unique-less?" Reverie asked, her voice anxious. She had shared Isadora's thoughts.

' Indeed, and therein lies the the rub.' Isadora thought. 

Aüserst too was subject to the laws of nature and it implied that all needed to be in balance. This extended to gifts as well. One could even venture that it applied especially to such god-given gifts. 

' If he has such a powerful ability, then the trade off must be terrible.'

At the same time, while the ability to possibly access any and all spells was powerful, it only extended to conventional magic.

And in Aüserst, conventional magic was seen as weak and impractical.

Why? It was because it required training. Hard work. fortitude.

Unnecessary all when the other simpler option existed.

Unique magic.

"A manifestation of the unique mana flow that runs within an individual, Unique magic is a form of magic that is exclusive to an individual. While such magic is exclusive, it does not guarantee its superiority. Usage in conjunction with conventional spells is often advised." Or such was the textbook definition.

The reality couldn't be more different.

Because Unique magic is innate, every individual will naturally have a near perfect affinity for their own individual magic, skyrocketing their speed of progress. 

Most Unique magics are often also more powerful than conventional magic, more versatile than conventional magic and all around superior. 

There was almost no incentive for anyone to further learn conventional magic past the simplest spells.

Unless, that was if one fell into either one of two categories .

First was if one's Unique magic was non-combat based. Being a mage, even one who specialised in support roles, still meant that one needed to know basic self defence and conventional spells could be used to fill this role.

And second, was if one didn't have Unique magic at all.