A soft peck on the lips pulled me from my dream. My eyes opened to the sight of Victoria sliding off the bed and to the floor. “Today you have a lesson with my mother after breakfast. It should be rather short. After that, Gregory will likely want to train you some more.”

  “You mean beat me up,” I said as I moved to join her.

  She ughed at that, “something like that.”

  “Any advice or warnings about lessons with your mother?”

  Victoria stood in the door frame. Looking back at me she said, “Just don’t make her angry.”

  “What?” I called after her as she disappeared toward the bathroom. “Will she turn into the Hulk or something?” As soon as I turned into the hallway I nearly ran into Marcy. Her eyebrow was lifted as she seemed to look down on me. I would never understand how some people were capable of doing that even when they were nearly half a foot shorter than you, but somehow they still pulled it off.

  Fear built with every second of silence as I waited for her to say anything. Finally, she did, “Just don’t be stupid and you should be fine. Also, am I not your mother now too?” With that surprising statement, she walked away.

  My eyes followed her as my brain tried to restart. She had acted so indifferent to me when I had met her. Only letting me in because her daughter had asked. Or at least that was what I had thought at the time. Now that I had more information on their situation, I was starting to see why she had acted that way.

  With a swift jerk back and forth, I shook my head before returning to what I was doing. Entering the bathroom, I quickly undressed and joined Victoria under the hot water. Helping her with her back and hair as she returned the favor.

  In short order, we were sitting at the dining table eating ptes of pancakes and hashbrowns. I drowned mine in syrup while Victoria used up a bowl of her mom's whipped cream. Something told me that her trip to the town was for more than my sword.

  “So, when do I get to practice with my sword and knife?” I asked Gregory.

  “When I send you off to do so,” Gregory replied, not bothering to say anything else as he ate more than both me and Victoria combined.

  Marcy finished her food first. Not even waiting for the rest of us to do the same, she said, “Come. It is time we start your introduction to magic.” Absentmindedly I took a scoop of the hashbrowns and held it out to Victoria who ate it quickly before doing the same for me. As soon as the forks were both on the pte, we were rushing after her mother.

  Now that I knew the door was there, I couldn’t not see it. In fact, I didn’t understand how I had missed it before. Marcy pulled the door open and headed down the stairs. I grabbed the door to prevent it from shutting. The weight of it nearly caused me to stumble. Only then did I realize that the door wasn’t made of wood.

  Looking at the door edge on I saw that only the outer faces were thin strips of wood. The entire center was made of a metal I had never seen before. It was a mixture of vibrant purple and a bck so dark that light seemed to vanish into its depths.

  “Are you coming or do I have to drag you down here?” Marcy’s voice came up the stairs.

  I hadn’t even realized I had stopped at the door and zoned out. With a jump, I shoved on the door and made my way down after her while I asked Victoria, “Why do I have to learn about magic down here?”

  “You're not learning about magic so much as getting an introduction to it,” Marcy said before Victoria could answer. She was standing just past the stairs waiting for us. “I don’t want to lose the house because you couldn’t control your mana the first time you used it.”

  Stepping off the stairs and onto the floor, we follow close behind Marcy as she leads the way. A fair ways off were a couple of piles of pillows lying on the ground. Marcy and Victoria sit on a set each. Taking the obvious hint, I take the st pile for myself.

  Looking at me, Marcy asks, “Now, what do you know about magic?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” I reply.

  Marcy’s head turns to Victoria who answers without prompting, “Magic is manas effect on the real world in an attempt to fulfill the caster's will or spell.”

  “Good.” She nods at the answer. “Think of magic as a mechanism to do something while mana is the fuel to power it.”

  I asked the question that was burning in the back of my mind. The question that pestered me every time I saw a spell being cast. “But how would that even work? How can you control something you cannot touch and tell it to do something?”

  “How can you interact with electrons and photons without being able to see or touch them? With the proper tools and techniques, humans were able to make computers and sers. The same thing applies to mana.” Marcy held up a hand as she continued, “Now, we will not be doing anything so advanced. Instead, we will be focusing on interacting with the mana inside of you to create a light.”

  Seeing that I wasn’t going to ask any questions, she continued, “Close your eyes and focus inward. Find your core. The spot where your mana is gathered and stored.”

  Closing my eyes, I rexed and felt for the spot where I thought my core was. It had to be where all the pain had been during the ritual. While I couldn’t see anything through my eyes, something shone in my mind’s eye. As I looked closer, the light dimmed while the world around me seemed to fade away. All around me, it was dark. The only light came from the orb in front of me. A web of threads stretching from it vanished into the distance.

  As I got closer I heard Marcy’s voice in my ear. “Good. Keep in mind that you will not need to visit your core every time you want to cast a spell, but for now, it will help you learn how to feel and see the mana as you use it. Reach forward and try to pull a thread of the mana to you.”

  My right hand reached out, brushing across the surface of the orb. I expected the outer edge to at least be solid but it wasn’t. From what I could tell, the entire thing was made of some liquid with the consistency of water. Cupping my hand, I scooped some of the liquid out and brought it toward me. As soon as the liquid left the pool it started to vaporize. All the liquid I had scooped out was gone before I could bring it the short distance I needed to.

  “Mana without any guidance will dissipate. As you remove it from your core, impose on it what you want it to do. The form you want it to keep.”

  Again I reached out. Scooping another handful of the liquid. This time pnting the image of it staying as a liquid into my mind. Willing it to stay that way. I managed it for all of five seconds. Then the handful of liquid exploded in my face.