Chapter 5:

The twilight lit the sky with a deep red flame, setting the gloomy clouds ablaze. Like nature’s rare tears, occasional droplets of subsiding rain lightly descended onto the earth forming small streaks of water that rolled into the distance. The fresh evening air was ripe with a pleasant, dewy petrichor and the salubrious smell of grass and leaves. The forest seemed quiet and unperturbed; the typically cacophonous chirping of restless birds sounded natural and harmonious, heavy waterfalls filled the air with an ineffable feeling of tranquillity, an ambience of peace; even the distant sound of metallic hooves clicking against the soft ground, so unnatural for this wild place, seemed rhythmic and soothing.

A small wooden carriage unhurriedly rolled along a narrow path which was barely discernible among the surrounding vegetation. Pulled by an old weary horse that constantly limped on one foot, it slowly advanced forward, somewhere into the outskirts of the encompassing woodland. Two dim oil lamps hung down from either side of the shabby wagon faintly illuminating the darkening vicinity. Atop sat two figures.

From time to time, a cold refreshing gust of wind would blow. It would scuffle around lush leaves, sending them into all sorts of peculiar dances, play around with the hackney’s short flaky mane that seemed to thin out by the day and gently stroke the head of a boy that sat at the very back edge of the carriage. The boy lazily swung his legs back and forth in one steady motion as his bored gaze aimlessly wandered around the dimming landscape, his long messy hair fluttered in the breeze and his small fragile fingers drummed some sort of a random beat along the wooden surface. He seemed utterly tiered.

“Grandpa!” Finally, the boy’s dull eyes appeared to light up a little as he quietly called out, apparently remembering something important.

“Aye, kid?” After a few long seconds, the man in the lead finally responded tiredly as he semi-turned his head towards the speaker, “What is it?”

“Grandpa,” The kid repeated as if not sure whether he should continue or not, doubt evident in his voice, “Mother once told me that this forest is dangerous. She said that,” he paused for a second trying hard to recall his mother’s old words, “that it is a land filled with lots and lots of scary monsters, ruthless beasts that prey after kids and adults alike… is… is that all true?”

“Haha!” The man laughed heartily at his words as he slapped his thigh with a loud clap, “Well, your mother was always one to tell stories, but she isn’t wrong, you know; this land is not something you, or anyone at that, should wander carelessly.” His tone suddenly became serious as he resumed, “When we stop… no, at all times in this forest, do not take even a step away from me, stay close and listen to my every word as if your life depends on it, because it really does; you understand?” He looked the boy dead in the eye searching for any clues of rebellion, not a hint of joke evident in his sharp gaze.

“YYes…” The boy shivered a little before diverting his eyes away from the man’s face, a look of unwillingness surfacing on him, “but, but how come I still haven’t even seen a squirrel, more so a monster? We’ve travelled for almost a whole day by now.” He retorted back in defiance.

“Well,” the man sighed as he gently pulled the reins, commanding the horse to stop, “Let’s set up the camp first and I will tell you everything over some warm supper, what do you say?”

“Alright!” The boy smiled lavishly as he eagerly jumped down from the carriage, “I’ll help you with the tent!”

The man only shook his head tiredly at the kid’s impatient reaction, “If only he was like this back at home…” He muttered under his breath.

The bonfire was ready by nightfall. Akin to a saving lighthouse, it brightly illuminated the vicinity, restlessly repelling the impending waves of darkness that threatened to invade the campsite, submerging it into its impenetrable black depths. Its warm heat radiated in all directions creating a feeling of safety and comfort that permeated through the entire site.

Around the fire sat two figures: one was small like that of a child, the other - much larger, akin to an adult. Crack! Wood crackled under the heat as light shone onto the bigger figure; it was a man. Despite his long ashen beard that covered half of his face, one could easily tell that the man has long come of age, his cheap tattered clothes hung down along his thin body like ragged bags, his arms looked weak and bony. Oddly though, his bright green eyes seemed to somehow contrast this feeble image, like bright distant stars they shined with undying vigour in the surrounding darkness; they seemed to hold knowledge and power that no regular human could ever achieve.

“What do you know about magic?” The old man finally opened his mouth as he grabbed a roasted piece of stale bread from the fire, his deep eyes seemed to lose focus as his conscience travelled back, somewhere into the depth of time.

“Magic?” The kid asked, confused, as he too took a bite, “I heard that it is a special power that only magicians can have. Mother told me that with its help they can conjure all sorts of cool miracles from throwing fireballs and flying across the skies to turning mud into gold!” As he spoke, the boy’s gaze gradually became dreamy and longing, he too wanted to one day be able to do something like that.

“Haha!” The man chuckled, “It's not as simple as that,” he turned his gaze up, towards the stars before continuing, “Each one of us is, in fact, at heart, a magician, you know.” His gaze shifted back at the boy.

“Don’t be ridiculous, grandpa!” The boy shook his head in disagreement, “If everyone was a magician, then how come I never saw magic?”

“Well, being a magician doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be able to use magic, it only means you have potential, in most cases, one that is never destined to be realised.” The man narrowed his eyes as he spoke regretfully.

“What’s are you saying?” Immediately the kid asked with hope and uncertainty, “Do you mean that I can use magic?!”

Sigh

“Not that fast, boy,” interrupted the man, “Let me finish.”

“In this world, every being; be it a dog, a bird, a human, or even a dragon - everyone is born with something that is known as a mana core.” He paused, letting the information sink in, “This mana core is a little similar to a tiny spherical container that can store mana, an invisible substance that permeates through the entire world. Most, and that includes us, humans, are born with a black core - a core that is essentially empty. It is in a way akin to a vase, one that is capable of storing water, but doesn’t contain any inside; over time, this vase, droplet by droplet, is slowly filled up by the surrounding mana, let’s say… just like by rain, and when it is completely full, the core finally activates and clears itself from impurities turning into a purple colour; it is at this point that a magician can truly begin to use magic.” The old man sighed, “As a magician accumulates more and more mana and as his core become purer and purer, he is able to use greater amounts of mana and form more powerful spells. The cores go in this order: black, purple, blue, red, orange, yellow, silver and, finally, white, each of these levels has its own respective name: basic for black, intermediate for purple, advanced for blue, expert for red, master for orange, grandmaster for yellow, sage for silver and, at last, legendary for white.”

He glanced at the boy before continuing, “In theory, advancing levels is simple, all one has to do is amass mana and purify the core, in practice though, this is very difficult and even reaching the purple stage is nearly impossible for most people. You see, just like vases, mana cores tend to be very different from person to person, some are akin to open vases that can easily collect rainwater and fill up, others, on the contrary, have tiny holes which are barely able to catch even a droplet, unfortunately, the latter is the case for most.”

“I see…” The boy whispered dropping his head, “Does that mean that in the end, I will never be able to use magic?”

“Don’t be disheartened, kid.” Noticing the boy’s melancholy, the old man quickly tried to comfort him, “You are still young, you have your whole life ahead, who knows, maybe you will be lucky.”

“Really!?” The kid exclaimed raising his head in hope, but soon quieted down, “But I’ve never even met such a person, what could my chances possibly be?”

“Buh!” Retorted the man, “How many people have you met in your whole life? 100? 200?” He questioned in all seriousness, “And who told you that you have never met a magician?”

“Grandpa, of course, I haven’t!” The kid tried to reply but was immediately interrupted.

“And how would you know? How can you tell who is a magician and who is not?”

“Well…” the kid thought for a moment before shaking his head, “I just know!”

Hearing this, the old man only shook his head in resignation, he was not about to argue to a wall.

“How do you know all of this anyway, grandpa?” The kid continued to question.

“The longer you live, the more you’ll know,” responded the man mysteriously, “maybe one day, when you are ready, I will tell you everything.”

“Hmph!” The boy harrumphed. Silence descended upon the campfire.

“You still haven’t told me about the monsters.” Noticing that his grandfather was not reacting to his provocation, the kid could no longer keep up his feeble act and finally spoke.

“Monsters?” The old man gave a thoughtful nod, “Well, they are too magicians, just not humans, you see. What you would refer to as a monster, or, more commonly, a beast, is just an animal that managed to awaken its core.” He looked at the boy, “Just like human magicians, beasts also have core levels and corresponding titles: wild for black, power awakening for purple, mind awakening for blue, primal for red, sovereign for orange, overlord for yellow, calamity for silver and apocalypse for white.”

After a long moment of silence, the man sighed and resumed, “Luckily, in the outskirts of this forest, the only beasts we can meet are wild beasts, maybe, if we are very unfortunate, we may encounter a power awakening beast, but that is extremely unlikely.”

“I see,” the kid nodded in understanding, “What if we go deeper, would we be able to encounter an apocalypse level beast?”

“Hahaha!” A loud laugh escaped the man’s lips, “Of course not! Just like Legendary magicians, Apocalypse level beasts only appear in legends.” He explained, “We can’t be certain they even exist, let’s say that even sovereign level beasts or master level experts are exceedingly rare in this world; our entire kingdom, for example, is only known to have a single magician in this realm. Meeting something beyond mind awakening in this forest would already be unthinkable.”

“That’s good…” the kid nodded as his gaze began to vigilantly survey the surroundings.

“Alright,” said the old man after some time, “it is time to go to bed, tomorrow we have another whole day on the road.” He got up, “Come on, finish up and let’s go.”

“Coming!” Exclaimed the kid as he threw one last glance into the distance before standing up.

‘Must’ve been my imagination.’ He shook his head remembering the strange dark shadow that seemed to flash in the distance, ‘such big spiders don’t even exist.’ With these thoughts, he proceeded to enter the tent.