The Beginning Ch. 08-11

"Good gods," I moaned, holding my head between my hands, "I think my head is going to explode with all this information today!"

"Right, yeah, data overload," Randal said, nodding, "I understand. Let's wrap this up real quick, then. The reason we went to such lengths to integrate ourselves into your life had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with your father. Michael, for that is how we knew him, was our Supreme Commander during the last war. We always knew that Nicolas would send somebody to finish the job, so when Michael and Lia decided to leave the Academy, they were assigned a permanent protective detail as a sign of respect for everything they had sacrificed to keep us safe. Our entire class volunteered to be their guardians. When you were born, you seemed to gravitate towards Mathias and myself, and a decision was made that the best way to protect you was if we were to grow up with you and follow you everywhere, which is when the charade of us being children your age began. We inserted ourselves into your life when you were starting school at the age of four, and have stayed with you ever since. When we hit high school and started to be divided, Ronald stepped in as Principal, to help us keep an eye on you."

"Moving on," Mathias tagged back in, as he saw me open my mouth to ask more questions, "a 'Gift' is an extranormal ability that you gain as a consequence of having access to magic. The nature of a Gift depends on the element a Wielder has the greatest affinity to, as well as the nature of their Companion. Randal and I are Bonded to Tigers and Vaishnavi to a Wolf, yet we possess Gifts that are uniquely suited for battle. I heal quicker from injuries, Randal can cast certain destructive spells with roughly half the amount of Power than other Wielders, and Vaishnavi has tactical foresight, meaning that she can eerily predict her opponents' move— be they a single combatant or a whole army— in the thick of battle, similar to the ability your father had. However, hers takes a while to kick in, and it behaves similar to a forecast algorithm in that she needs to observe her opponents first, in order to gather enough information or data to gain that foresight. Swati, who you've also met, is Bonded to a Bear, and like most Bear-Bonded, she has a variation of the Berserker Gift. Ronald is Bonded to an Owl, yet rather than being purely academic, his Gift allows him to accurately assess the best weapon to pair a Wielder with, even before they've begun martial training.

"An 'Artifact' is nothing more than an item that has been embedded with a spell. The more complex the spell or the more Power required to cast it, the stronger the item needs to be. For example, the plates we just ate in are made of clay, but the spell that allows them to transform and fill up with any food you could desire is inscribed on discs of iron. Though it takes only a lick of Power to activate it, the spell itself is complex enough to require an element like iron to bear the inscription. You'll learn more about Power levels, affinities, and what elements support what spells as your training progresses.

"I know that all this would only have raised more questions, but for now, swallow those, and let's get moving. It's almost ten, and we still need to show you your abode."

"Fair enough," I replied, standing up and dusting myself off, "let's get moving."

Randal nodded and focused on each of our plates and cutlery in turn, and I watched as they were covered by a haze again, which cleared to reveal that they'd turned back into simple plates, and were sparkly clean again. I noticed with a start, however, that even though it was almost ten p.m. according to what Mathias had said, cause of course, I didn't have a watch on, we were still the only ones in the building.

"How come nobody else is here?" I asked, looking around.

"Most people eat at home," Randal answered, as the plates rose off the ground and floated into an alcove on the far wall, "and the Food Hall tends to be reserved for celebrations."

"Right," I said, "makes sense. Shall we?"

The two of them nodded and stood up, and I was reminded rather suddenly of how much taller they were in reality. While we'd mostly been the same height before, my head only came up to their chests now, and I honestly felt plain short next to them. They didn't seem to notice, however, and turned around to walk out hand-in-hand, leaving me to follow them.

"I hope this 'abode' has a comfortable bed," I groused, "I really need to sleep and get my head around all this."

"It'll be grand!" Randal called over his shoulder, "Just follow us."

Sighing resignedly, that's exactly what I did. I didn't know what to expect, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next.