Three weeks have gone by since the pale boy and the wise Elder have uncovered the existence of magic.
The two of them have now made it a habit to meet every day by the waterfall, which has officially become Kona's training ground.
Because of this, Doran has temporarily moved to Gerga, in a little newly built house near the waterfall.
Initially, the Elder had thought about bringing the boy to Varelan, but a more careful consideration had made him realize it would've been too dangerous: big, crowded cities are not exactly the place for some secret training. It was better to help Kona grow in the village, far from the injurious urban environment.
As for Kona's parents, you ask? Well, Kona and Doran had agreed on keeping the discovery a secret to anyone but them, so...
Junas and Eve couldn't have been happier. Finally, after all the suffering their family had had to go through, Fate had blessed their son. And although Doran did explain the dangers and responsibilities associated with such great power, this didn't diminish the farmers' enthusiasm.
Now, as you may imagine, the Elder had spent lots of time to further analyze the Manual, and had found out quite a few interesting things.
The tome explained that a sorcerer had three main abilities, on which all of the more advanced techniques relied and built upon.
The fundamental skill that any mage worthy of their name must possess is Perception: it is the ability to recognize, feel and understand intuitively the nature of the Flow.
The more developed one's sixth sense is, the better their Perception.
Just above this foundational skill there are Energy and Matter.
Energy: the ability of a Sorcerer to manipulate the Flow and transmute it into any other given form of energy.
Matter: the ability of a Sorcerer to manipulate the Flow and transmute it into any given form of matter.
According to what the book stated, it appeared that the white-haired boy, despite the complete lack of training, had a particularly developed Perception: every oscillation, vibration and twist of the flow waves, he could catch it in a heartbeat.
Therefore, Doran had decided the pale kid should work on his Matter skills. However, not much progress had been made...
"So, Kona: the "Manual of the Young Sorcerer" states that, in order for you to condense this… 'Flow' into a droplet of water, you need a deep understanding of the idea of a water droplet. You've got that? It also states - here, page 348 - to perform any kind of energy transmutation, the young mage must be in a quiet, peaceful state of mind, and his head shall be empty of any thought that may disturb his-"
"STOP IT. You've read this 100 times already, I know. I just can't, I can't do it! And stop reading this stupid manual, the know-it-all scholar who wrote this crap is clearly an idiot. We've been doing these exercises for DAYS, and the most I could do, in all this stupid time, was LIFT UP A USELESS LEAF!"
The two remained silent, the white-haired boy breathing heavily as the sound of the waterfall behind them filled the air.
"I'm sorry, Master Doran, I didn't mean to yell. It's just... I can't, I'm not good enough, maybe. Or maybe you're just wrong about all this magic stuff and I've actually gone mad…"
The boy looked down to his feet, gripping his hands tightly. He felt powerless, useless.
"Young man, look at me. I know what it feels like to keep hitting your head on the very same issue for months, years even. I may not be a sorcerer, but I'm an old man, with much more experience than you. Nothing in life comes free, you know? Great things, great things only come from great efforts. Now focus! I know that you can do it!" said Doran, spinning his staff and then planting it in the ground, as if to give his words more weight.
Kona took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders, and looked at the waterfall. Closing his eyes, the boy extended his arm in front of him, emptied his mind, and immersed himself in the Flow.
Around him, the vaporous swirls of the Flow streamed through the air. Then, as the pale kid's mind emptied, they started dancing around his palm, in a spiraling motion.
Suddenly, the streams converged on his hand, concentrating in a singular, tiny spot.
Doran looked at his student, his small blue pupils concentrated on the boy's palm.
As the condensed Flow was being transmuted into matter, a tiny, almost invisible water droplet started growing on Kona's hand.
It was just a tiny, insignificant tear, nothing worth noting. But it was also the first concrete outcome of Kona's training.
The boy jumped up, excited:
"MASTER! DO YOU SEE THIS? I did it, finally!"
"Great job, Kona! You've actually made it, the first magical breakthrough in 1000 years!"
The old man smiled at him, his deep green eyes filled with trepidation.
However, their excitement was abruptly shut down.
Just as the two of them celebrated that little achievement, the screams of a commotion filled the air around them.
From the village, a sudden tumult erupted, and the duo stood hesitant.
"Master, what's happening?"
"I don't know, Kona. Maybe a brawl? I'm not sure, to be honest. I'm yet to be accustomed to the nuisances of this village."
"I'll go see what's happening, Master! You wait for me here!"
There it was. In the kid's eyes, the spark of adventure had swiftly lit up.
"No, Kona! Stop right there! What if it's something dang-"
The old man's words got lost in the wind, as the white-haired boy sprinted towards the village, quickly swallowed up by the trees and shrubs.
Rest assured, Master Doran. If it's dangerous, I'll come back quickly.
Kona emerged from the edge of the forest and, dribbling around the buildings, rapidly closed the distance to the uproar's place of origin. One last dash, and he'd left behind the last house: the village's square opened up in front of his pale eyes.
However, this time, something was off. A remarkably noisy crowd had formed around something.
Kona, twisting and slipping, traversed the tightly packed bunch. He was starting to feel worried.
As the white-haired boy finally emerged from the mass of bodies, the scene that appeared before him almost had him fall on his knees.
His father, wielding the bastard sword in his right, was bleeding.