Chapter 12  

There was no fence or gate, so they followed the paved path towards the main building. Their eyes were still trying to grasp the quiet splendor of the estate. They didn’t realize immediately when a man appeared in front of them like a gust of wind.

Kai blinked to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He had been distracted looking around, but he had not seen him coming.

Did he teleport or is he just that quick?

He remembered the enforcers from the Republic showed superhuman abilities, but nothing like this. Kai squeezed his mother’s hand to keep his calm.

The stranger had icy blue eyes and white skin, even paler than people from the Republic. He looked to be somewhere in his late twenties, with an expression oscillating between bored and annoyed, as if he couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

Getting over the surprise, Alana started respectfully speaking, “Greetings, I’m Alana and this is my son, Kai, we are here fo—.”

The man interrupted them, “I know why you’re here. Come. The old crazy lady that owns this house is this way.” He said with a hint of mirth in his voice. He turned around and started walking.

Shit! How the hell did he hear me?

His last shred of calmness melted in that instant, but he couldn’t run away now. He reluctantly followed the strange man. Kai guessed he must be the butler or something.

Alana looked radiant. After seeing the estate, she had probably expected to get thrown out or sent away with a few polite words. Despite the cold welcome, this was already a good sign in her book. Kai was instead imagining all the things that could go wrong.

They were led around the main building towards a large pavilion that provided shade on the edge of the beach.

The closer they got to the mansion the more anxious Kai felt. He couldn’t breathe, the air felt dense, almost solid in his lungs. It wasn’t the high humidity, this was different.

He wondered if this was how people felt going to a job interview. If the butler was this terrifying, the witch that owned this villa could likely turn him into a frog with a flex of her little finger.

With each passing second the tension racked up higher, but Kai couldn’t see the mysterious mage yet. They were walking so painfully slow, he wished he could race ahead and get this over with.

Kai walked on the tip of his toes to get a look inside the pavilion. This whole place made him want to run away.

Damn, my height!

Despite all his efforts, he could only see a little table and a few empty chairs.

He was so focused, he didn’t notice the butler wasn’t leading them there, but to the side.

It took his mother lightly tapping him behind his back to finally notice the owner of the house.

He didn’t know what to expect, but that wasn’t it.

On a beach chair laid a woman sunbathing who seemed straight out of a magazine cover. She wore what looked like a white bikini and a pair of dark sunglasses. She couldn’t be a day over fifty and in great shape. Kai was left speechless.

Living on a tropical island he was used to seeing people half naked; he had stopped finding it weird a long time ago. Her attire shocked him more because he had expected an old woman wearing a robe and a fancy hat. The only items that gave her a vaguely mystical feel were a pair of drop earrings with tear-shaped rubies and a golden bracelet with some strange inscriptions on her right wrist.

Her bikini looked a bit too modern, but he had seen similar garments around, even if they were usually made for comfort and not for style. Glasses were a similar story: if you wanted something to shield yourself from the sun, there weren’t many shapes you could go with.

They waited to the side for her to nonchalantly stand up and acknowledge them.

She was tall, at least as tall as his father had been. Her skin was a shade darker than his, and with a straight nose and high cheekbones, she looked like a retired Indian model. She wasn’t young, but Kai couldn’t see a wrinkle on her tight skin.

Realizing he was staring at her like a dead fish, he lowered his gaze like his mother, trying to look respectful.

She scanned them from top to bottom with a glance. He became very self-conscious of his messy appearance. If their shabby figures annoyed her, she didn’t let it show.

She took off her glasses, her expression was impenetrable. Kai’s gaze was immediately captured by her orange eyes, like those of a tiger ready to pounce.

“Thank you, Elijah.” She nodded to the pale man. When Kai turned to look the butler was already gone.

The mage’s gaze turned back on them. Kai was sweating buckets wishing he could be anywhere else. He felt suffocated but tried to look as calm as his mother.

After a few more seconds staring at them—especially him—as if she could see right through their souls, she walked towards the pavilion with casual grace. It didn’t feel like she was even trying, she just had a certain gravitas to each of her movements that he couldn’t put his finger on.

Please, tell me she can’t read minds.

“Come on.” She gestured to the seats under the shade. Her tone was curt, but not harsh, with an accent Kai didn’t recognize.

Once in the pavilion, she put on an embroidered blue silk robe that looked more expensive than his house and poured three glasses of lime-green liquid from a jug. She offered them a tray filled with cut fruits and other sweets that looked like some kind of pastries.

Kai didn’t dare refuse and grabbed the glass. It smelled lemony and it was surprisingly cold, but he was still barely able to breathe, let alone able to eat or drink anything.

“I’m—.” Alana tried to present themselves.

“I know your names, no need to repeat yourself. You can call me Lady Virya. Now tell me what you were hoping to get by coming here.” Once again, her tone wasn’t hostile, but neither warm. It was the tone a policewoman would use to interrogate somebody that could be both a witness and a suspect.

Alana started again, trying to regain her confidence. “Lady Virya, I hope we are not too much of a bother and thank you for the hospitality. We have come here, because I heard from someone you hosted during the last winter, you may be looking for someone to hire.”

Kai had never heard his mother speak so respectfully to anyone. The islanders were casual people, the only title they ever used was elder.

Virya took a sip of her drink and adjusted in her seat, “I remember that woman, we offered her and her family shelter for a couple nights. Theodora found her stories very amusing. And yes, we used to occasionally hire people from the nearby villages to run a few errands. Then the Republic disbanded them and made things much more… inconvenient.

“But you’re not the first people coming to my house since then. If you walked all the way here hoping I would pay in gold or silver, you are severely mistaken. Or is the situation where you live so bad you need to walk till here to find employment?”

“We heard that you were a powerful mage, Lady Virya.” Alana looked at her for confirmation, but the mage didn’t show any hint on her face, so his mother continued speaking before it could seem rude.

“My son has unlocked the Mana Sense skill without guidance. Before the Republic decided to… move us, my late husband taught him what little he knew. Now I’m looking for a teacher but have not heard of any as qualified as you. I understand your time must be very valuable, but any pointer you could give him would be priceless. I’m willing to do any work to pay for it.”

“Was your husband a mage?”

“A researcher, Lady Virya. He was from the mainland and had some basic knowledge of mana skills.”

Virya nodded, “And the reason you have yet to find a teacher means you can’t afford to pay them, is that correct?”

Alana hesitated for a moment.

“Tell me the truth dear, I’ll know it regardless.”

“Yes, that is correct Lady Virya. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think I would be wasting my son's talent otherwise.”

Virya raised an eyebrow and turned to him. If his hands weren’t grabbing his drink, they would have started trembling.

“How old are you, child?”

Seeing his hesitation Alana answered for him, “He is six—.”

Virya raised her hand to stop her, “If I have to consider teaching him something, he needs to be able to speak for himself.” Her orange eyes turned back on him.

Kai did his best to sound confident, “I became six ten days ago, Lady Virya.”

He tried to look as respectful as possible, hoping he didn’t look constipated.

“And if you learned Mana Sense before the governor expropriated your houses in his troublesome project to transform this peaceful Archipelago into a noisy resort, you must have learned it when you were around three.”

“It was on my second birthday.” Kai interrupted, then he remembered and added, “Lady Virya.”

She glanced at him as if to dare him to interrupt her one more time. Kai tried to make himself even smaller than he was.

“So, you learned it at two…”

She must have truly had a way to know if they were telling the truth from how she seemed to be considering the facts. But instead of feeling reassured Kai felt more alarmed.

He knew there was actual magic in this world, but until now he had only witnessed tamed examples of it. This was the first time he felt like he was in front of something beyond his understanding.

There was something about her, as if each casual gesture had been thoroughly studied, as if her presence bent reality itself. Even casually sitting on a chair, he felt like she belonged to a different species of human compared to him.

“Elijah.” As soon as Virya called his name, the pale man appeared beside them, as if he had been standing there all along.

“Talk with this woman to find out what she can acquire and set up a delivery schedule.”

Alana almost fell to her knees in thanks, “Thank you Lady Virya, you are too generous.”

“Wait to thank me dear, I’ve yet to make up my mind. But since you came all the way to my house, you might as well make yourself useful and take a job. It’s been very bothersome having to rely solely on ship delivery for fresh goods. I’ll talk with the child alone before making my decision.”

A wet blanket was thrown over Alana’s excitement, but she tried to hide it and followed Elijah. Before going she looked at Kai and mouthed a few encouraging words.

If Alana had her excitement dampened, Kai felt like doom was upon him as his mother walked away and disappeared inside the main building.

Please, don’t leave me alone.

Virya’s burning orange gaze felt more deadly than the eye of Mordor. Kai stared into those piercing eyes, completely terrified.

“Child, if you pee on my chair you are going to have to buy me a new one.” It was hard to tell if she was making fun of him because her tone was completely flat.

But it lit a small flame in him.

What the fuck am I doing, stop acting like a scaredy cat and grow a fucking spine! She is not gonna eat you. I’m 90% sure her ageless skin isn’t maintained through bathing in children’s blood.

Feeling a tad calmer, Kai sat up straighter and prepared to answer her questions.

Virya gave him an almost imperceptible smile of appreciation. He might as well have imagined it since her face returned to a stone mask a moment later.

“So, child, I’ll ask a few questions to get a few facts straight. A yes or no answer will be enough.”

“Yes, Lady Virya.”

“And drop the Lady, each time you say it, it sounds like you are choking on something.”

Kai gulped some saliva and nodded. It wasn’t his fault calling someone lady felt so weird.

Remembering he was still holding a drink, Kai took a sip, a refreshing feeling immediately spread down his throat. It tasted lemony as the smell suggested, but with hints of mint and other flavors he didn’t recognize, maybe licorice. The best part being - it was cold. It was the first icy drink he had in summer on Elydes, which made it a thousand times better.

He didn’t get the time to fully appreciate it, because Virya started interrogating him as if reading from a checklist.

“Did you truly receive no guidance at all to get Mana Sense?”

“Yes.”

“Were you born in the Baquaire Archipelago?”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone in your family possess magical talent?”

“No, not that I know at least.”

“Were you born with a one-star Red grade in your race?”

“Yes.”

“Are you a spy?”

“Ehm… No.”

“Does your status show your race as anything else apart or in addition to human?”

“No.”

“Did you receive any help to reach three-star Red in your race, like alchemical potions or special training opportunities?”

“How do you kn—.”

“Just answer the question child, you can ask your questions later.”

“No, I didn’t receive any help apart from some advice from my parents on how to get some skills and train them.”

“How far are you to reach Orange advancement?”

It was very personal information, but it didn’t look like not answering or lying was an option.

“About halfway, a little less.”

Virya nodded to herself, her face still unreadable. Kai had not seen when, but at some point, she had taken out a small book and was taking notes with a golden pen. Maybe she was actually following a checklist.

“Okay, last question. This is also the most important one, so think it over before answering. This will determine if it’s worth spending any time on you as well as decide your future.”

Like, no pressure at all.

Kai thought he had managed to calm down, but the gut-wrenching anxiety came back, he was terrified.

“Tell me why you are feeling so scared and anxious, it looks like you are having trouble breathing.”

Kai’s first instinct was to deny it, but he stopped himself. It was a lie, and it didn’t look like a good answer either.

“It’s because y—”

A snarky comment wouldn’t do it either. Was she looking for a bit of humility? Did she want him to admit that this whole place made him anxious and that she terrified him?

It felt like the best answer he could think of. A fool who won’t admit what’s in front of him won’t go anywhere.

“I—”

Kai stopped again.

But was it really the most important thing for a child to admit that he was scared? Maybe she was just toying with him, and this was all for nothing, but he couldn’t act on that assumption. He had to take this seriously, this could decide his future.

What could determine if he was worth teaching. Him having a bit of self-awareness? He thought it was a fundamental skill anybody should have, but it felt like a dumb thing to deem as most important in a child.

Think Kai, if I were a powerful old witch with the body of a model, what would I look for in a potential student to see if it was worth it spending time teaching him? The taste of his blood or the tenderness of his flesh?

The joke relieved a bit of his tension, but he had to give an answer. Be fucking serious for a moment and focus, don’t be an idiot!

Kai thought hard, methodically analyzing any possibility he could think of, and discarding them one after another.

Excluding some bullshit answers, the most sensible qualities he came up with were being hard-working or talented. But how can that question determine either of those?

Unless I looked at it the wrong way…

With a glance, Kai knew he had the answer.