It was a simply decorated room, nothing grandiose like the room with murals they were in before. But of course, everything inside was a hundred times better whatever Evin would find in his house. An almost transparent glass, smoothly waxed wooden floor, and a grandly decorated wallpaper. In the middle of the room was a finely crafted desk, which had six vials lying on top of it. Each vial contained a substance of different colors and textures inside it, and Evin could feel immense power seeping out from inside them.

  ‘Those must be the World Shards…’ he knew instinctively.

  Evin wanted to act more excited, but knew that his father was still very unsatisfied. Thus, he could only try his best to keep himself in his most obedient behavior.

  Leanne brought out five chairs from somewhere, and had everyone sit down.

  “What’s your name, little girl?” she then asked the young Four.

  “Kon, exalted mage,” the mother replied reverently.

  “And you are?”

  “Jun… exalted mage.”

  “No need for such fancy honorifics, I’m nothing more than a simple Leanne. And besides, you’re not going to call your daughter with such a grand title as well, are you?” the mage chuckled, “Well, as you probably know, now that little Kon here has turned out to be a mage, you will no longer be slaves.”

  The mother nodded timidly.

  “The Mage Circle will solve the problem of your ownership. You’ll also receive a house and a job from us as well, and later down the line when Kon gets her Mage Seal, your family will eventually become one of knights.”

  “Thank you, Lady Leanne,” the mother replied.

  “If you must thank someone, thank King Seth for his benevolent heart. But you must understand, you won’t be able to become a knight by doing nothing. You will still need to eligible to become a knight. That means, you’ll need to be able to read and write and eventually know everything that a knight family is expected to know. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by this all, don’t worry. Since you’re a family with a mage now, you are the kingdom’s greatest treasure. Us mages and the government will do its utmost best to help you stand on your own two feet.”

  The two slaves nodded solemnly. Leanne also nodded with a smile before glancing towards Evin’s way.

  “Hmm, although I don’t like you for showing up here in such a manner, I suppose your face is handsome enough,” Leanne chuckled, “What’s your name?”

  “Evin,” his father replied, before the boy was able to.

  “And you are?”

  “Edmund. No last name.”

  “Alright… Though Evin? I don’t think I’ve seen the name in the list… Ah, is his full name Eviendra?” Leanne asked.

  “That it is. But since it’s a very Northern name, he’s been called Evin ever since,” Evin’s father looked at his son with conflicting emotions, “A bit of a pretentious one too.”

  “A wisdom drakeling, right?” Leanne said, her hand on her chin.

  “That it is.”

  “Can you read and write?” she then asked.

  “I-” Evin began, but was interrupted once more.

  “He can. A bit, at least,” Evin’s father said, and his hands suddenly went upwards. Evin flinched at his father’s sudden movement, but when he looked towards him, he was just stroking his beard, making an obviously disgruntled face.

  Leanne seemed to notice this fact, as well as the voice in Evin’s head.

  

  “Well, you’re already citizens so I don’t have to explain the rules to you.”

  “Mm,” came the reply.

  “Let’s talk magic now, shall we? This will be the first lecture you two will receive as a mage, so it might take some time.”

  “Should we vacate the room for you three?” Evin’s father asked.

  “No, please stay for today. Since your children will be practicing these things in the future, it’s best if you become familiar with these details.”

  Understanding that she was finally about to speak of magic, Evin listened carefully. Even the voice inside him turned silent.

  “As you can probably guess, these are what’s called the World Shards,” Leanne said and gestured over the six vials.

  “Using it, mages gain access to the Worlds of Magic. Let me explain it to you in more detail. One such example would be Irratas, The World of Fire,” she said and hovered her hands above the vial with a bright-orange, almost ethereal substance inside it.

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  As she did so, the orange substance started to become more active, excitedly growing little wisps of flames above it, seemingly trying to reach out towards the woman’s hands. Leanne then whispered something under her breath, and a ball of fire appeared atop her palm.

  Evin, Kon and her mother gasped in surprise, as it was their first time seeing magic so close in action. Evin looked over towards his father, but the latter seemed uninterested.

  “The World of Fire, as you can probably guess from its name, is a World that allows you to create fire and control heat to a certain degree. If you become a more skilled mage, you’ll be able to do much more than just a simple ball of fire like this one,” Leanne said and got rid of her spell, and reminded the two children.

  “But of course, we must always be careful of misusing our powers to hurt others, especially non-mages. Willfully, or accidentally. Both of which will be heavily punishable by the laws of the Empire, not just the kingdom. This is one of the few Laws made under the Empire's name, so you should know how seriously this is taken.”

  Evin nodded solemnly. Though he really didn’t think he would be mad enough to set someone else on fire, in the first place.

  “Well, you’ll learn more about these in the Academy, so you don’t have to worry about it for now,” Leanne said with a smile, before moving over to the next vial.

  This one was the most normal out of the six, as it simply looked like water. The only notable difference was that it looked much bluer compared to how normal water would look inside a glass cup. Even when the mage’s hands hovered above it, it didn’t show any reactions like the previous Shard.

  Leanne whispered something else under her breath, and a stream of water materialized out of the air. It danced around the two children playfully, before regathering near Leanne and turning into a chilling icicle.

  “Ivelisi, The World of Water. Allows a mage to create and control water and ice.”

   the voice said, as Leanne went towards the next vial.

  It contained a handful of loose, beige-looking sand, which would solidify and climb up towards Leanne’s hands as it closed in on it. Like before, Leanne didn’t really do anything with the World Shard itself, started chanting, and a thin strand of scattered sand appeared in the room. More and more of it started appearing, before it all solidified into a shield and sword in her hands.

  “Tenarak, the World of Earth. As you can see, become strong enough with it, you’ll be able to bend the lands to your will. But of course, you’ll only be able to raise a handful of sand and dirt using it at first,” Lean chuckled.

   the voice urged suddenly.

  Evin tried to ignore him, but the voice seemed very adamant on this fact.

  

  “Lady Leanne, can you bend metal to your will with that World?” Evin asked finally. Well, he was curious about this fact as well, and it didn’t hurt him in any way so he didn’t mind indulging the voice a bit.

  “Great question. The short answer to that is that you can, but not now. It’s just going to take a while for you to get to that point. You’ll need to have absorbed at the very least ten of these Shards into yourself.”

  Leanne finished explaining and went towards the next vial.

  This one was a bit weird, as at a glance it only looked empty. If only one focused harder on it, they’d see a gas of some sorts swirling inside the vial in a lively manner. With Leanne’s chant, a lively breeze ran circles across the room a few times, before dying out.

  “Seyethe, the World of Air. Sometimes called the Stormfreer’s world, as the more well-known mages of this world tend to bring about a storm or a tornado upon the world in a fit of boredom. But of course, most other mages prefer to use it together with another World to fly around or simply create comfortable breezes around themselves.”

   the voice muttered.

  Evin didn’t really agree with it, but the idea of flying around in the sky did sound pretty cool.

  Leanne held her hands over the next vial, which held a brightly shining white orb of some sorts floating inside. The closer Leanne’s hand got, the brighter it shone. Once again, Leanne chanted and a brilliant light appeared inside the room. It shined atop the onlookers, becoming brighter and brighter, as if it was demanding to have everyone around witness its glory.

  “Lumiaris, the World of Light. A favorite of the late King Roland. Which makes it a favorite among many young and aspiring mages as well,” Leanne smiled, “As for its use, well, as you could see just now, you can make very bright lights using it. This World is used heavily in lighting our kingdom in the darkness of night.”

   the voice snarled.

  Evin obviously wasn’t going to bother caring about the voice’s opinions. He ignored it and looked towards the final vial.

  This one contained something a bit difficult to explain. The vial’s inside was pitch black, which disoriented Evin greatly, since his mind was telling him that nothing existed in that spot he was looking at. The only way he could tell its location was through the shimmer that the glass vial emitted. But when Leanne held her hands over the vial, something quite disturbing occurred. The dark, gas-like substance started gathering, creating a chaotic web made some black, vein-like matter.

  Leanne then walked up to the wall next to the window and chanted something like always. For a few seconds, nothing seemed to occur, but before Evin could understand what had happened, Leanne disappeared from his sight, as if no one was standing in the corner in the first place.

  Evin bend his body to the right, trying to make out the woman’s silhouette in the darkness. Through great effort, his eyes finally managed to find the woman’s outlines, though Evin was sure that if he wasn’t actively searching for her, he wouldn’t have seen her.

  “Exivear, The World of Darkness,” Leanne explained as she reappeared, “If you want to blend in with the shadows, maybe hide out some impending threat, Exivear is for you. When you become strong enough, you can cover an entire area with shadows, so you won’t even need to search for a dark spot to become invisible.”

  the voice stated his verdict.

  Evin agreed. But the Shard was very cool. Maybe when he was rich, he could get one and keep it as a trophy.

  “These six worlds are what’s called the Elemental Worlds,” Leanne said. “There are six more worlds which are classified as Conceptual Worlds, but if you wish to learn more about them, you can do so here at the Academy later,” Leanne smiled. “What I’m going to do today, is to help you choose one of these World Shards to absorb, as this will be the first step of your journey as the kingdom’s mage.”

  Evin really was very excited about the prospect, but with his father staring daggers down his back, he could only nod slightly.

  “If it was possible, the kingdom would’ve let the two of you take in all twelve of the World Shards, but of course, these things are rare, especially the Conceptual ones.”

   the voice ordered.

  “How do we get the other Shards for ourselves?” Evin parroted.

  “When you start studying in the Academy, you’ll have many chances to obtain a World Shard for yourself. Don’t worry about it now,” Leanne waved her hand, “Now, try holding your hands over these six vials, if you’re compatible with them, the World Shard inside will try to reach out to you.”