the door to my room flew open and my mother rushed in, her hair loose and her night robe fluttering behind her. Her eyes scanned the room frantically before finding me.
"Kael!" She knelt in front of me, her hands glowing with healing magic as she checked me. "I felt a massive disturbance of mana. What happened? Are you hurt?"
"I… I…" What could I say? That I was trying to train like a manhwa protagonist I wasn't supposed to know?
My father appeared in the doorway moments later, his sword drawn. "Is there an intruder?"
"No," my mother nodded with her head, without stopping checking me. "It's Kael. His mana…"
She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in shock.
"Alduin," her voice was barely a whisper. "His core. It has advanced to light orange. In a single night."
My father approached quickly, sheathing his sword. He placed his hand on my chest and felt his own mana extending to examine my core.
His expression turned grave.
"Impossible," he murmured. "The jump from solid orange to light orange normally takes months, even for prodigies. And Kael did it in… minutes?"
Both of them looked at me with a mix of amazement and growing concern.
"Kael," my mother spoke softly but firmly. "What were you doing, sweetheart?"
I bit my lip. I had rehearsed this moment in my mind dozens of times, knowing that eventually I would have to explain something. But I hadn't expected it to be so soon.
"I was… meditating," I said with my childish voice. "Like in the books in the library. About absorbing mana from the environment."
It wasn't a lie, technically.
"Meditating?" My father exchanged a glance with my mother. "Kael, you are three years old. Those books are for students of at least ten years."
"I like books," I replied, which was also true.
My mother gently took my cheeks, forcing me to look her in the eyes. "My love, listen to me very carefully. What you just did is dangerous. Absorbing so much mana so quickly can damage your core, or worse, it can explode."
I felt a genuine chill. I had been so focused on copying what I remembered of Arthur that I hadn't considered that my three-year-old body might not withstand it like Arthur's had.
"I'm sorry, Mom," I said honestly. "I didn't know it was dangerous."
She hugged me tightly. "I know, sweetheart. I know. You are very intelligent, too intelligent for your age. But that is exactly why you must be more careful."
My father knelt beside us. "Kael, your mother and I know that you are… special. Since you were a baby, you have shown a talent not seen in generations. But that talent comes with responsibility."
I nodded slowly, understanding the gravity of the situation.
"But we can't stop you either," my father continued. "I see that fire in your eyes. That determination. You are like your grandfather Virion when he was young. Once you set your mind on something, there is no way to stop you."
My mother sighed. "Then we will do this properly. If you are going to train, you will do it safely and under our supervision."
"Really?" I couldn't hide the hope in my voice.
"Really," my father confirmed. "But there are conditions. First, you will only train when one of us is present. Second, you will not absorb mana that way again without supervision. It is too dangerous. And third…"
He paused, his expression becoming even more serious.
"Third, this must remain an absolute secret. Not even Tessia can know how powerful you really are. Do you understand?"
That hurt. Tessia was my sister. I didn't want to lie to her. But I also understood why it was necessary.
There is still no time. Someday I will tell her the truth. But not now.
"I understand," I said quietly.
My mother kissed my forehead. "Good boy. Now, go back to bed. It's been a very long night."
But before I could go, my father stopped me.
"One last thing, Kael. Did you feel anything strange while you were meditating? Something… unusual?"
The question caught me by surprise. Had he felt my vision of Cecilia?
"Like what?" I asked carefully.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But for a moment, while you were absorbing all that mana, I felt something. A presence. Something that shouldn't be there."
The Legacy. He felt the Legacy.
"I only felt a lot of mana," I said. "Nothing else."
My father studied me for a moment longer, then nodded slowly. "Alright. Go to sleep."
My parents tucked me into bed and finally left my room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I stayed awake for a long time after they left, staring at the ceiling.
That was stupid, I scolded myself. Too much power, too fast, without control. Arthur had years to develop his power gradually. I tried to do in one night what took him months.
But I also learned something important.
I closed my eyes, remembering the vision of Cecilia. The way mana responded to her. The connection we shared through the Legacy.
The Legacy is not just power. It is a connection. A connection with all those who have possessed it or will possess it.
I didn't finish that thought. It was too complicated, too frightening to consider.
Instead, I focused on the immediate.
I need to train. I need to control this power. But I must be more careful. Smarter.
Arthur trained obsessively because he wanted to recover his previous power. I must train because I know what is coming. The war. The suffering. Tessia's fate.
I cannot save them if I am not strong enough.
The next morning, my father woke me up early.
"Come on," he said simply. "I promised you supervised training. Let's begin."
He took me to the palace's private training garden, a secluded area used only by the royal family. It was surrounded by dense trees that blocked the view from any window.
"This will be your training place," my father explained. "No one comes here except your mother, me, and occasionally your grandfather when he visits."
I looked around. It was perfect. Open space to practice, privacy, and enough ambient mana from the nearby forest.
"First," my father continued, "let's make something clear. You are incredibly talented, Kael. But talent without discipline is wasted. And in your case, it is dangerous."
I nodded seriously.
"Good. Then we'll start with the basics. Mana control." He extended his hand and a small flame appeared above his palm. "Make a flame. Small. The size of a candle."
It seemed simple. I extended my hand and let mana flow into it, visualizing fire.
A column of flames exploded from my hand, reaching meters into the air.
"Kael!" My father dispersed my flames with his own mana. "What did I just say? Control."
"I'm sorry," I said, genuinely embarrassed. "I thought I was controlling it."
My father sighed. "This is the problem. You have so much mana and so much affinity that your 'control' is the maximum power of other mages. You need to learn to be delicate."
For the next hour, I practiced making small flames. Again and again. And each time, they were too big, too hot, too uncontrollable.
It was frustrating. I knew Arthur had mastered this when he was a baby. But then I realized the difference.
Arthur had perfect control because he had been King Grey. He had spent an entire lifetime mastering his body and his ki. He had discipline forged in countless battles.
I only had raw power at this moment.
"Alright, enough fire for today," my father finally said, seeing my frustration. "Let's try something different. Do you remember when I told you that elven talent is plant magic?"
I nodded.
"Good. I want you to try something simple. See that plant there." He pointed to a small flower growing between the stones of the garden. "I want you to make it grow. Just a little. A few centimeters."
I walked over to the flower and knelt down. I extended my hand over it and let green mana flow from my core.
The flower responded immediately.
But it didn't grow a few centimeters.
It exploded in growth. The stem shot upward, reaching a meter in height in seconds. Leaves sprouted in all directions. Additional flowers bloomed all along the stem. The roots visibly spread beneath the stones, breaking them apart.
"Kael, stop!"
I cut off the mana flow abruptly. The plant stopped growing, but now it was a massive bush where there had once been a small flower.
My father looked at me with an expression that was half amusement, half exasperation.
"You have… a lot of work to do in control," he finally said.
I couldn't help it. Despite the frustration, I laughed. And after a moment, my father did too.
"Well," he said, ruffling my hair. "At least you're enthusiastic. That's something."
That night, after dinner, Tessia came to my room.
"Kael," she said, sitting on my bed. "I heard Mom and Dad talking. They said you started magical training."
Oh no. How much had she heard?
"Um, yeah," I admitted. "Dad is teaching me basic control."
"Why didn't you tell me?" There was a hint of hurt in her voice. "I thought we were a team."
I felt terrible. "We are, Tess. Always. I just… wanted to surprise you when I got better."
It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.
She studied me for a moment, then smiled. "Alright. But next time, no secrets. And maybe we can train together sometimes."
"I'd like that," I said honestly.
"Good." She stood up to leave, but stopped at the door. "Kael… are you very good? At magic, I mean."
It was a loaded question. I could feel the insecurity behind it.
"I'm still learning," I said carefully. "Dad says I have a lot of work to do in control."
Also true.
Tessia nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. "Good night, little brother."
"Good night, Tess."
When she left, I lay back on my bed….
The lies are beginning, I thought. Small at first, but lies nonetheless. How many more will I have to tell before all this is over?
But I knew the answer. As many as necessary to protect my family.
Because in a few years, Arthur Leywin would fall into this kingdom. And after that, nothing would be the same.
I needed to be ready.
To be continued…