Elina's rebuttal had caught her by surprise, she realized she had struck a nerve. After studying the ruler, Nana had to admit it was a clever learning tool.
Tell your husband that this thing is really a good idea. He could sell it to teacher Hawell. It never hurts to have extra money.
Elina wouldn't let her change the subject, not until she apologized for calling her son a liar.
Raaz didn't invent it. Lith did, so he could study alone without bothering anyone.
Nana was shaken by all those sudden revelations. Her pride wanted to avoid apologizing, but insinuating that Elina too was lying in front of all those people would have hurt her whole family's reputation.
So, young man, how much is seven times six?
Forty-two.
Nana took the book from Lith's hands, and after opening a random page, she gave it back.
What is written there? Start from the top of the page.
Lith suppressed a smirk. "The first thing to understand while studying magic is that it's just a tool. Anyone can use it, but few can actually use it properly. In factâ¦"
Okay, that's enough. I owe you an apology Lith. Yet she said it while looking at Elina. "Seems your son is indeed blessed by the light, dear."
The room was once again resounding with chatter, but this time they were all discussing the same topic.
What does Nana mean by 'blessed by the light'? Isn't that just a fairy tale?
I wish my son was that smart. Every morning just sending him to school is a war of attrition. Not to mention getting some actual results!
Those were the most common comments.
Lith kept hitting the iron while it was still hot.
Can I⦠Suddenly he realized that he ignored the word borrow. "take it with me for some time? I will return it as it is. I promise."
And what would you do with it? Can you already use magic? Nana's reply would have normally been quite different, but she had had enough surprises for the day and could not afford any more sarcasm or skepticism.
Yes, I can. Lith replied before realizing his mistake.
"I'm an idiot! I just blew my cover! Years of careful planning, ruined by this big mouth of mine. The only thing I can do is damage control." -
Really? And what can you do?
Yes, Lith. What can you do? Elina rebuked. Her right foot was furiously tapping the floor in annoyance, Lith knew he was in trouble.
I can do wind and water chore magic. He said with a low apologetic tone while staring at his own shoes.
I'm sorry mom, I know you prohibited me from using any magic, but everyone else in the house always uses it, and I was so bored.
The chattering increased in volume. Elina was really angry, but she could not scold him in public. Not when they were staring at them with admiration.
"Nana seems really impressed. Maybe this is a turning point in Lith's life. If she takes him as her apprentice, we could have a healer in our family. I can't ruin this opportunity." -
So, she kept silent, wondering about her son's future.
Would you please show me? Nana asked, smiling for the first time.
In for a penny, in for a pound. Here goes everything. Lith thought.
Brezza!
Lith twirled his middle and index finger two times, creating many tiny whirlwinds that he used to quickly sweep the room. He pretended to lose control from time to time. His goal was to impress, not to brag or scare people out of their wits.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Nana laughed in admiration. she could see more and more of her in the little imp. Nana too had been a precocious brat. When she was his age her talent was better, but Lith was still a sight to behold.
Usually men were less talented at magic, since women with their prerogative to give birth, were naturally more in tune with the life force of the planet. Some called that world energy, others simply called it mana.
Also, country boys were usually blockheads, more inclined to hard work in the fields or in the military rather than spending years on books.
Now I want you to do a thing for me. You said you can conjure water, right?
Lith nodded in response.
Now call upon water, it does not matter how little. But then, you have to not let it fall. You must make it float, like this. A perfect sphere of water the size of a fist appeared half a meter from Nana's open hand.
Lith could not comprehend the why of such a specific request, but he complied.
Jorun! He conjured less than a glass' worth of water, keeping its form irregular and unstable. Lith could not afford any more mistakes, his focus peaked trying to make his lack of control convincing.
The water floated for three seconds before falling down, but instead of hitting the floor it floated again, becoming another perfect sphere orbiting around Nana's spell like the Moon does around the Earth.
Lith was flabbergasted. Not by Nana's control of the mana flow, he was already capable of doing the same, if not better.
He could not avert his eyes from the spectacle in front of him. Both spheres of water were constantly spinning themselves, reflecting everything around them. They would capture the light from the sun, turning it into sparkles of rainbow.
Lith had always seen magic like a force to be reckoned with, a great tool to build his future with, but he never thought of it as beautiful.
For the first time in over three years, he was not pretending anymore. He was simply amazed, staring at the dancing lights while the memories of his old life flooded his mind.
He suddenly remembered all the hours that he spent as a kid, hiding in the planetarium together with his little brother Carl. They would dream of becoming astronauts, to run away to the stars where no one would ever hurt them again.
And just like that, his grief returned stronger than ever, snuffing out the joy. The pain of the loss overwhelmed him, tears started streaming from his eyes.
Lith, are you all right? Elina's voice woke him up from his stupor.
Realizing how weak he had allowed himself to be, Lith felt deeply disgusted.
"Water is just water, no need to go soft over a measly light show. Soldier up and follow the plan." Lith steeled himself sealing away all the feelings that he deemed useless. "I'm done getting hurt." He thought. -
Yes, mommy, I am alright. I was just moved from the old lady's magic.
My name is Nerea, Lith. But everyone calls me Nana.
Why Nana? Nana was usually a term of endearment used for the family's grandmother.
You see, when I was still was a young maiden, everyone called me by my name, but then time passed and I helped so many children come into this world that they started to call me Mama. After even more time passed, those children had children of their own, and they started to call me Nana. She ruffled Lith's hair.
I have a proposal for you. You are too little now, but when you become six years old, instead of going to school together with those blockheads, you could come here instead. So you could read those books as much as you want and maybe you could learn a trade. Mine.
Lith tilted his head, playing dumb.
I don't know, you don't seem nice. I would like the books, though. He replied while hiding behind his mother, only half his face visible behind her legs.
Elina didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her dream had come true but Lith didn't understand what he was turning down.
Please, excuse him, Nana. He is just three years old, he has no idea what he is saying. He doesn't even know the importance of apprenticeship.
Three years old. Nana repeated. "It's almost too good to be true, but you are right. If he had to choose between gold and toys, he would probably pick the latter.
We'll have this conversation again three years from now." She knelt down, looking Lith straight in the eyes.
If you don't become dumb like all the other boys in this village, I'll take you as my apprentice. If you are still interested in magic and books, of course.
Lith nodded, grabbing his mother's gown, looking
for protection.
His weak and scared appearance hid his inner rage.
"Three years? I could starve by then! And all because of you, greedy hag." He was so sick of being hungry, he wanted to bite her out of frustration.
Calm down, Derek, and remember all of your lessons. Suck it up and grow stronger, because only strength will make you free. Only power will keep your family safe. -
Chapter 13: Learning a Trade, again
Nana's work ethic didn't allow for favouritism of any kind. Lith may have been his future apprentice, but Tista had to wait for her turn like everyone else.
Lith hadn't been so happy of being stuck in a queue since his student days in college, when he would use every single second to review his weakest subjects.
"So much to read and so little time. Better to cram light and dark magic since they are the only elements outside physics as I know it. In the best-case scenario, it will take years to get my hands on a book again, and there is only so much I can learn as self-taught." -
When their turn arrived, he studied carefully how the healer performed the light magic Vinire Rad Tu.
It was the same life force detecting spell she had used on him three years ago. This time he had a better understanding of magic and a way better viewpoint.
Being next to her, Lith could appreciate every gesture and hand movement Nana used to amplify the spell's effectiveness. The light enveloped Tista's body, quickly turning grey around her chest, clearly outlining the shape of her lungs.
I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that Tista's condition is the same as always, there is no sign of degeneration this time. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be improving either. I'm afraid that she will remain like this forever. The more she grows, the lesser the chances that her body will be able to somehow fix itself.
The air in the room turned heavy, a lifetime of illness was barely better than no life at all.
Lith was shocked enough to completely forget about the books. The whole world meant nothing to him if he could not share it with the only three people he loved and trusted.
They came out of Nana's house in low spirits, returning home without speaking a word.
Once arrived, Elina shared the bad news, searching for Raaz's embrace before bursting into tears. One by one, the whole family broke down and cried, hugging each other in search of comfort.
Lith allowed himself to cry, cursing the cruel fate that had befallen his sister.
"What good is magic if I keep being helpless? Why do I keep reincarnating, simply to replace one living hell with another? Is this just bad luck or is it my fault? Could it be that in some previous life I committed such an atrocious act that now all those I love are cursed? Could this be my punishment?" -
During the following days, Lith kept second guessing every life choice he made, before accepting the fact that bad things happen. Tista was already ill when he resurrected for the second time, it couldn't be his fault.
Having been accepted as Nana's apprentice, he could now practice magic openly. Soon he proved capable of cleaning the whole house by himself, relieving his mother and sisters from all the chores.
Thanks to darkness magic, cleaning dishes and cauldrons became a matter of minutes. Nothing organic, be it food residue or grease could escape being turned into dust by a single spark of dark energy.
He also performed countless experiments with light magic, in search of a cure. Yet all he managed to do was to keep the symptoms at bay. Tista now needed much fewer treatments from Nana, but was still a prisoner in her own body.
This caused Orpal to hate him more and more.
"Show off! How I am supposed to enjoy my life with him constantly breathing down my neck? Leech not only shares the housework with mom, but also spends so much time with Tista. Mom and dad always praised him for his so-called talent and intelligence. Now they never shut up about Leech saving the family a lot of money by relieving Tista's condition on his own. No one gives a damn about me wasting my time and sweat doing all the farm work! Gods, why did you let him live? Why didn't you give me any talent?" -
Oblivious of his brother's feelings, Lith was not coping much better. His magic power and comprehension of mana kept growing, but it could not erase the perpetual taste of failure that accompanied him.
In the following year he could not feel any joy regarding magic, every discovery was useless, all his power meaningless.
And so, he was finally four years old. The period between four and six years in Lutia was called "the golden age" since the child was big enough to have some freedom and too little to be of any help in the daily activities.
They would be allowed to play all day without a care in the world. It was the perfect time to make friends and grow closer to one's own neighbours and deepen the ties between the families.
The day of his fourth birthday, after he finished the chores, Rena introduced him to all their neighbours before returning home.
He was supposed to socialize and play, but Lith had other plans. There was no amount of failures or grief that could make him forget for long the hunger that consumed him since he was barely five months old.
Raaz's farm was on the western edge of Lutia's farmlands, a little less than a kilometer (0.62 miles) apart from the great woods known as Trawn.
Despite the pretentious name, it wasn't particularly dangerous. The people who lived in nearby villages depended on the forest as their primary source of timber for their everyday life.
Trawn was also abundant in wildlife, so those bold and lucky enough would go hunting all year round, searching for precious meat, warm fur or both.
It was impossible to meet monsters in the forest, unless one went several kilometres deep. Since there was no need for exploring Trawn in detail, the inner areas were still uncharted territory.
There was a reason that Lith had never practiced martial arts in the new world, not even the footwork. The constant practice of magic required a lot of energy, and his household lacked the necessary resources for his training.
Lith was already skinnier than all of his siblings, any more exertion and he would turn into a pile of bones. He needed food.
But being a city boy, he knew nothing about butchering, he needed a teacher. And that was why he was headed for the house of Selia Fastarrow, the only hunter among their neighbours.
"The problem is that I have no idea how to get her to help. I'm still too little for an apprenticeship and even if I wasn't, it's unlikely she had not heard about Nana's offer. She has nothing to gain from helping me. I can only hope she is a kind and benevolent woman." -
Selia's house was a single-story wooden house, much smaller than Lith's, about sixty square meters large. There was no henhouse or barn. Except for the space in near proximity of the house, the fields were uncultivated, full of weeds, tall grass, and whatever the wind had planted over time.
"She clearly has no interest in farming or stockbreeding and that's good news. It means her business is good enough. I wonder what's inside the shed. It's almost as big as the house itself." -
Lith knocked, his innards tied in a knot from the nervousness. The door opened almost immediately.
You again? Are you lost or something? Selia was a woman in her mid-twenties, 1.7 meters tall, her skin tanned from years of long exposure to the sun. Her black hair was kept short with a haircut identical to Earth's military standards.
She could have been considered very cute, but the small bosom coupled with her sharp eyes and rough attitude made her manlier than most farmers.
She wore a leather hunting jacket over a green shirt, green cargo pants, and brown hunting boots with a soft outer sole to limit the noise made while moving.
Hi miss Fastarrow, I need a favour. Could you please teach me how to skin and gut animals?
Selia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Because I am hungry. Not having any leverage on her, Lith had decided that honesty was the best policy. "I have been hungry long enough to forg
et how being full feels. I know I can hunt, but I also know that without proper handling, meat goes bad and it's inedible."
No, you got me wrong. I mean why should I help you? What's in it for me? Now she was knitting her eyebrows.
What do you want? Lith asked while bottling up the urge to kill her slowly and painfully. He was hungry enough to see her as a quarry.
Honestly, I don't believe a runt that barely reaches my belt can hunt anything, not even a rat. Since teaching is a waste of time, it demands compensation.
She scratched her chin searching for a deal bad enough to drive the pest away. She never wanted a child of her own, let alone dealing with someone else's.
So, if you want to learn from me, first you must bring here some game. If you mess up while playing butcher, you'll ruin my merchandise, wasting my goods and time. So here is my deal, whatever you bring me, I'll teach you how to skin and gut it. But half of it is mine for the trouble. Take it or leave it.
"So much for the kind and benevolent woman, this is plain extortion." Lith thought. -
I'll take it. How long will you stay at home? He replied.
I'll be here all day, I have a lot of work to do. Why?
Because when I get back with my prey, I'll need your help. Don't forget our deal.
Lith turned around, moving toward the woods. Seeing the little runt act all tough, without a bow, traps or even just a bag for the game, Selia could not help but laugh out loud. That is until the door suddenly slammed on her face, sending her butt first to the floor. After getting up, she went to the nearest window.
Lith was still in the same spot, but his face was turned towards her door, his eyes glowing brightly in the dim light of the dawn.
After getting to the edge of the woods, he activated the light spell Life Vision. It was one of his creations from the last year of practice. By infusing his eyes with light magic, Lith was able to see living beings as coloured, while the rest of the world was turned into shades of grey. The stronger the lifeforce, the bigger and brighter was the light emitted. This way he could easily spot animals, even if they were hiding underground, in bushes or inside a tree.
Fight for a Living Page 7