The sun had already gone down, the evening sky, replaced by the cold moon light. The Estate of the Verdant House was still full of vigor, the streets were packed with vendors selling their merchandise, calling out to people. The magical lamps that were on the streets had been turned on, illuminating the streets. Amidst all this–
The only quiet place was the Mansion situated at the center of the Estate, the Verdant Mansion.
Inside the study room of the Head of the Verdant Household. A couple was discussing the situation that had happened today. The woman was heartbroken to hear about it, as the man explained to her and consoled her.
"Why does she have to go through something like that?" The woman asked, eyes filled with tears threatening to spill over.
"Belle, it's not something we can solve, the only thing we can do is prevent something like that from happening again." The man, Damien said to his wife.
The conclusion of Sophia having a nightmare and being afraid of darkness was something he couldn't keep to himself. Isabelle would eventually come to know about it, so telling her was the only thing he could do.
"Should we call a priest to check on her?" Isabelle asked. She wasn't a crybaby but during the five years after Sophia's birth, she had been constantly worrying about Sophia and the discovery of Sophia being able to reach 9th Circle only added more worry for Sophia.
"No. We can't, it seems like Sophia doesn't know about it." Damien said.
Earlier when they had dinner, Sophia hadn't even mentioned about having a nightmare and was in a joyous mood. So overreacting in this situation and calling a priest might bring back the nightmare and the fear of darkness she had.
"Okay." Isabelle said, even though she wanted to argue and bring a priest, her husband's decision was final and she would not go against him. He had always been there when she was feeling down and being the understanding wife she was, she understood the meaning behind his words.
"How about I take your mind off of this matter." Damien said as got up and smoothly carried Isabelle in a princess carry.
"Ho..neyy !!" Isabelle blushed, she was embarrassed from the way Damien was holding her.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Damien playfully queried, as he kissed her soft lips, the warmth of them taking away all his thoughts, only the passion that he had for his wife remained.
"Umphh…hah…we shouldn't do it here. What if someone saw us." Isabelle said as her lips were released from the passionate kiss.
"Let's go to our bedroom." Damien said before leaving the study and heading towards their bedroom.
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-Next Day-
The sun had once again risen and inside the bedroom on the first floor of the Verdant Mansion, a little girl was seen rushing around, her clothes scattered across the floor as she threw them outside from her closet. She was so distracted that she didn't even see her personal maid enter the room.
"Miss." Gisel called out. A maid that Isabelle had chosen herself. Gisel was a capable and young maid, since Sophia's birth she had been constant in her life.
"Ah …Gisel, please find me some decent clothes to wear." Sophia said before walking out of the closet and heading towards the bathroom. She had wasted a lot of her precious time, looking for something to wear but she couldn't decide what to wear. Since Gisel had come into her room, she assigned her to find a suitable dress and went ahead to freshen up.
"Alright." Gisel said before looking at the dresses strewn across the floor. Gisel just like Iris had a duty and that was to serve Sophia to her fullest. Gisel was never the one to complain even in tough and unpredictable situations caused by Sophia. She would always happily oblige whatever Sophia would ask of her.
Ten minutes later, Sophia got out of the bathroom and looked at the neatly laid out pale blue dress trimmed with silver lace. She quickly wore it and rushed outside her bedroom. She saw Gisel but didn't call her out, she was in a rush for her magic lesson. Gisel quietly followed the little girl, once she was out of the bedroom.
---
Inside one of the study rooms on the first floor, a young man was sitting on the chair by the study board, he had just finished casting down the circle required to activate the mana path. The circle was intricately woven and was structured in a complex language that was only understood by those who embarked on the journey to become a mage.
The young man was thinking about how much time the little girl would require to unlock her mana paths. He knew that even the most gifted genius would take at least one or two weeks and that too when their age was around ten. Sophia was just a five year old girl, her chances of unlocking mana paths on her own was abysmal, but with the support of the magic circle, even a five year old would be able to do it with proper guidance. It was just a matter of how long it would take for a five year old to unlock the mana paths.
The young man's job was to help the little girl open her mana paths and teach her the theory behind the magic circles and spells.
Knock! Knock !
"Come in." The young man said as the door was pushed open. Sophia entered the room, her white hair flowing gently as she walked, her blue sapphire eyes sparkling with determination to learn magic.
"Greetings, young miss, Sophia." Juan greeted Sophia with an elegant bow and Sophia reciprocated it.
"Good morning teacher." Sophia said as she looked at the magic circle on the floor that she was standing on, she was curious what it was, so she asked Juan. "What is this teacher?"
"That is a magic circle that helps in unlocking the mana paths inside one's body." Juan said.
"Oh.." Sophia's curiosity was still not satiated, she wanted to know about it in depth because she had been trying to open her mana paths for a few days but was unable to do it.
"Take a seat, I'll start with our first lesson." Juan said as gestured for Sophia to take a seat in front of the study board.
Sophia diligently sat on the chair as she opened a book that was given to her by Gisel, ready to take the notes that Juan was going to give her.
"Let's start with the basics. Mana is one of the fundamental energies of the world along with the Aura used by the Swordsmen. The origin of mana is yet to be found but, the applications of mana had been present ever since its first discovery." Juan explained as Sophia jotted down everything.
"Mana is the primordial life-force of existence — the invisible energy that flows through every living being, element, and plane of reality."
"It is the breath of the world, the current of creation, and the foundation of all magic."
"This Mana is manifested in the form of a magic circle to perform spells.." Juan said as he casted an intricate magic circle using the mana. "What us Mages do is to use these constructs and redefine their purpose to suit our needs." He said and instantly a water ball was created above his palm that held the magic circle. "There are two ways to construct a magic circle, one is by using a solid surface and the other is by using the space around us." Juan said as the magic circle that created the water ball was now present both in his hand and the air. "Casting a magic circle is by no means easy. There is an ancient l language or what us mages like to call it as runic language." Juan said, highlighting the text that was present inside the magic circle. "To use this runic language, one needs to have the determination to study and spend a lot of their time deciphering the texts, for one's own understanding."
Sophia was fascinated by the magic circle that Juan had created and more so by the runic language that was present in the magic circle.
"Now, let me tell you how mana becomes accessible to a person." Juan said, dismissing the magic circle, he took one of the books on the table nearby and handed it to Sophia after opening a particular page.
"This here is the human anatomy and these are the mana paths that are present inside a person since their birth." Juan said as he pointed towards the lines drawn along the nervous system of a human body.
"They are mostly spiritual and are not physically present inside the body. These paths are spread all across the body originating from the heart or what mages call as the core for the mana paths, a Mana Core. The Mana Core is a faint spark, present in all living beings by birth, but sensing it, refining it and utilizing it makes us Mages powerful. By sensing and refining the Mana Core, the mana paths are activated. But, just sensing and refining the core alone isn't enough, we have to create a magic circle and place it near the Mana Core. This magic circle then connects the Mana Core and the Mana Paths, allowing a Mage to cast spells." Juan said as he pointed towards the magic circle that he had cast on the floor of the study room, it wasn't glowing, indicating its dormant state.
"But that is only one of the ways to unlock a mana path. There are various ways in which a person can access their mana paths, like an enlightenment or even a life or death situation. But most mages prefer the path to draw a magic circle near their heart, to connect Mana Core and Mana Paths." Juan said, pointing out various ways of opening mana paths. The ways to open mana paths was not something that everyone knew of, sometimes people could find themselves in a life or death situation and would gain some enlightenment and open their mana paths, but this had its own risks and was not the preferred way.
Sophia, who had read the books on magic, knew about the ways because she had been trying to unlock her mana paths but was facing difficulties.
"Now our first goal is for you to feel the surrounding mana and gather it near your heart so that you can form your first magic circle." Juan said.
"Teacher, I have tried that but I couldn't sense the mana around me and gathering it towards the heart seems even more impossible." Although Sophia was dejected by not having progressed towards unlocking her mana paths. She was not going to back down until she had tried everything.
"Well that is because your body is too young to sense the mana surrounding you." Juan said. He knew the exact reason why Sophia was unable to unlock her mana paths. "You are just a five year old girl and unlocking mana paths at that age is quite difficult. You must at least be ten years old to even open the mana paths. But there is a method that is able to open the mana paths even if someone is not a ten year old." Juan explained the reason as to why Sophia was unable to open her mana paths.
"What's the method?" Sophia asked, excited to finally be able to progress towards opening her mana paths.
"I'll explain as we proceed with opening you mana paths. First go and sit down on that magic circle." Sophia immediately followed his words and sat down on the magic circle. "Good. Now, what I'll be doing is guiding your senses to make you feel the surrounding mana." Juan said as he sat down behind her, both his arms touching her back.
"I'll be transferring a bit of my mana through your body and all you have to do is feel it." Juan said as he channelled the mana through his mana paths, starting from the heart, eventually reaching his palms and then to Sophia's body. He also simultaneously activated the magic circle that was below both of them.