Alister and the two tutors stared at each other in silence for a good five seconds in the wide-open study hall. Eventually, Alister sighed, “Thank you for coming so far. I know this is inconvenient for both of you, to be dragged from so far off.”

Ode scoffed, “You’ve no idea, kid.”

“Ode be nice. It’s not his fault.”

“May not be his fault but he’s still the reason we’re here. A full recall. You saw how eager the king was!” She huffed and folded her arms, glaring daggers at Alister who gave no expression, “You really remember your whole life, kid?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Were you any good with a sword?”

“Ode…”

“What? I feel like our first duty is to prove it!”

“I am sufficient with a sword. It was never my specialty, though,” Alister held back a smirk.

“Ode we could just check his mana,” Jacob pleaded, but Ode was having none of it.

“Jacob, draw your sword,” she said, drawing her own at her hip and handing it to Alister, “Just have a friendly spar.”

Jacob groaned. The eight-year-old looked ridiculous with that sword in his hands. Alister smiled, “It’s alright sir. Flat side only, yes?”

Ode nodded, and Jacob stared at her, “...Okay so… how about we use wooden swords? I brought a number of wasters along with to train the boy.”

Alister looked a little disappointed, as did Ode, though for entirely different reasons. He dropped the metal sword to the side. With a sigh, Jacob walked over and picked out some practice weapons, “I swear… mages are always so violent and showy… Here.” He tossed a staff Alister’s way, and it clattered against the ground until it came to rest at his feet, “Instead of swords let’s start with something a little more practical. Yes?”

“You’re no fun,” Ode grumbled, moving off to take a seat at the edge of the large room, “I still wanna see this kid do something impressive.”

“I know, Ode. Just… shut up, will you?”

“Hey! We might basically be family but don’t tell me to shut up in front of the kid!”

“Ode. You act like you wouldn’t tell me the same thing.”

“... Yeah well… shut up.”

Ahh, that explained a few things, Alister thought as he picked up the jo staff. They acted like siblings. How entertaining. Looking at the heavy piece of wood, it was about the same height as him. It wasn’t exactly a perfect fit… this body was relatively weak. He had been too unwell to begin his exercise program. Mages needed to train their body as well as their mind, else the power from your spells would harm you.

“Kid, er, Alister? Just try your best, okay? I want to have a baseline for how well you move anyway. That way we know where to start for training,” Jacob explained, stretching his arms out, “Go ahead when you’re ready.”

Alister nodded and spun the staff between his hands a few times, judging the weight and balance of the thing. He swung it down fast enough to make it whistle and pointed it at Jacob. He’d let his frustrations out on these tutors. If they were so keen on evaluating him, then he’d make sure to give them something to watch. It would hurt, but he was pretty sure his core was stable enough for simple, small spells. He was getting used to the pain, and it dulled the more days that passed.

Tapping the ground with a toe, he cast wordlessly and without a circle. Bolt. With inhuman speed, the kid shot forward at the knight and the staff whistled forward. Jacob stopped it with a deafening crack, and for a moment, both tutors had a look of surprise. Alister continued movement, pivoting. Turn. Spin the jo staff. Use his small size to his advantage, aim for the knees. There was another crack as staff hit staff.

Jacob could move faster than this little untrained body could, even with the magical enhancement. Alister 'tsked and leapt back, watching the knight for a long moment. Another spell, then. Another layer of bolt was cast and Alister grit his teeth through the pain the spell caused. He moved forward again, faster than before.

Wood slammed against wood in a couple of dozen swift movements before Jacob connected with Alister’s midsection.

He reeled back and fell on his butt, wheezing and holding his stomach like it could make the feeling go away. Jacob’s breath was quick like he had been on a jog, but he didn’t seem tired, “Great job! You have a lot of talent. Were those spells you cast?”

Alister coughed and rolled to his knees with a groan, “Yes… agh… Damn it, that hurts.” He couldn’t even win against a knight like this. Pathetic. He’d be dead in an instant in a real fight. He chastised himself harshly in his own head until Ode’s hand made its way into his view.

“Alright. I’ll admit. I was wrong,” she chuckled, pulling him to his feet, “You alright?”

“Yeah Alister, you good? I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. We were just moving so fast, I got too into it.”

“Idiot.”

“Oh shut up.”

Alister grimaced and rubbed the sore line across his belly that was sure to make a welt, “I’m fine… It’s fine. How did I do?”

Jacob smiled at the kid, “You did great!”

Ode concurred, “I’m fascinated. You did a couple of spells there but didn’t use a circle or even a chant. Where did you learn silent casting?”

“My past life,” his answer was simple.

“You must have been a pretty decent mage before, then. Well… good. That gives me a decent idea of where I should start. I’m glad. I was worried teaching you would be a waste of our time,” Ode said unabashedly, “It’s not a short journey from the capital, you know. I wasn’t happy about having to serve some little kid of a duke. I’m happy I was wrong.”

Alister found her a bit strange, but he could appreciate her humility. She had no problem in saying when she was wrong. That was important for a mage, and even more so for a teacher. Jacob nodded in agreement with her.