Time passed in an instant. It was winter already. A pity that the forest along with the town were situated on plains.
Temperature never dropped cold enough to make the snow fall here. Regardless of that, the cold outside was chilling.
August, just like always, was staring outside from his window. Far at a distance, tall peaks covered in pure white snow were to be seen. Clouds drifted across the valleys making the scenario look even more majestic.
Reluctantly so, he turned away from the sight walking out from his room to where his mother was waiting for him along with her two students.
Shelly and Elias were both mages, it was understandable why they were getting their basic education.
On the other hand, he didn't possess a core element. So it was out of his understanding why his mother was so hell-bent on teaching him the way of essence.
Not only that, his father had also started to teach him the basics of sword art. All of it was happening so suddenly.
Well, not like he could turn down a request from his mother.
"Okay so today we are going to learn about how to sense the essence," his mother started the lesson as soon as he sat down with the other kids.
Beside him Shelly let out a stifled whisper, "what happened, you look like someone who is trying to take a big bite."
August didn't quite get what she meant by that. And
'…why does she have to use food as an example every time?'
In the end he just smiled, "thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment," Shelly whispered again. "I was just concerned about you."
If it was anyone other than August, they would've thought how kind the girl was —for getting concerned over someone else's sake.
But August had come to know this girl all too well. In fact he had summarised her whole personality into three points.
Food, food and more food.
…and she was one without a single brain cell.
A vein bulged on his forehead as he whispered into her ears, "... I'm sorry big sister, I am just dumb."
At his words Shelly let out an arrogant smug. Patting his head gently she said,
"...don't worry you're just a little slow. Listen to what I say and you'll get there eventually."
As they say in the books, if you want to stand up to a mindless fool, just be one yourself.
And if you want a happy life, just shut your mouth.
As for August, he wasn't even fazed by her idiotic behaviour anymore.
August smiled again and turned to his mother who was talking about essence.
"Close your eyes and hold your breath steady.
Tell me if you can see the tiny lights around yourself."
August closed his eyes and did as his mother said, his breathing was calm, heartbeat slowed down. His thoughts were tranquil and mind at peace.
But no matter how hard he tried deep within the darkness he saw nothing.
"I see them," a voice came from beside him. It was Elias, Bren and Alea's son. Although he was the same age as August they didn't talk to each other that much.
August was rather a shy kid himself and Elias never approached him either. On the other hand Shelly barged into his life like an unstoppable wind.
Perhaps, it wasn't a coincidence that her core element was related to wind.
However, in the next moment Shelly's voice came too, "I also see them teacher."
After some time when he never spoke up, he felt a warm patting his head gently. August didn't need to open his eyes to see who it was.
His mother wasn't consoling him out of pity of not being a mage like the others but it was her way of saying that she wanted her son to stand tall alongside the mages who wielded the power of nature itself.
She never wanted him to feel small and detached. On the contrary, her warm gesture was to signify her support to him. That she would be always standing with him no matter the circumstances.
It was a world of essence, one who does not hold the aptitude to control it will surely fall prey to the lies of his own mind.
Every person in the world knew no normal human could ever hope to stand against a mage wielding a core element. Even August also knew that he stood no chance against these two.
But there aren't any rules in the world that couldn't be broken.
The one who has enough resolve would surely find his way. The only thing that remained was to wait and prepare for when the time was right.
"Now, follow the lights that lead towards your core element. Towards your own body." August tried his best to learn all of what he can even when he wasn't able to understand all of this yet.
"The essence will lead you straight to your conscious sea. A place within yourself—where your real core element resides. Here, you will find different ways to control the essence. You just have to imagine and of course your will has to be resolute."
Sophia shook her head, "it's not easy to create something out of nothing. It is violating the laws of nature after all."
August could not do anything but felt a cold wind beside him. As he opened his eyes, Shelly was covered in some kind of transparent layer.
'What is this? I think her core element was supposed to be wind.'
On the other side, Elias was looking at his hand, without giving off any expression. His hand moved like fluid but as expected he couldn't maintain that form for longer.
August was impressed, even if Elias wasn't happy with his development August could tell he would do damn good in the future.
Well, this presentation of magical powers didn't last very long. It was only obvious that children like Shelly and Elias couldn't keep it for very long.
If anything they displayed genius for their ages.
After a decent session, the class was finally over.
He excused himself before anybody while his mother gave some pointers to the other two.
"Very well," she said. "You're all doing very well. Just remember to keep it simple and do not put yourself under pressure okay?"
Sophia was about to dismiss the class when Elias spoke suddenly,
"But teacher? Your son didn't do anything."
His words stung Sophia like a sharp knife plunged into her heart and twisted up until she began to cry.
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