The girl he met was, strange indeed but more than that she felt harmless. August himself also felt a sense of comfort with her in that moment of wholesomeness. When she didn't speak a word, that is.
She was a perfect balance of kindness and mindlessness.
Her father Wilson, who was a farmer himself seemed a very kind and harmless person to August. He was like a statue, a work of art perhaps. Having a polite smile plastered on his face at all times made him look like a kind of man who couldn't even harm a fly.
Turned out August' parents already knew the good man who helped them find their son. Not that it was too difficult. But parents could never rest easy in these types of situations.
August found out how terrified they were when he was hugged by his mother, whose eyes were running down with tears. She was trembling by the mere thought of having her only son in danger after not finding him in his room.
The problem with the situation however was that August himself didn't know how he got there so was unable to explain the situation or rather calm his mother down. Lord Valerius thanked the father and daughter duo who helped them.
August, after coming back home was showered with various types of questions but his lack of knowledge himself left his parents with more fear, insecurity and restlessness.
He withheld the information that could make them more tense like the headache and told more about the dream which was thankfully discarded as a mere nightmare by them.
Well, the explanation wasn't much to calm them down but it worked. For now.
———
[ After six years since August was born ]
August was a good and kind boy. He was taught to live by values.
"Without values humanity could lose their place"
These were the words of Lord Valerius which he kept reminding his obedient son again and again. August used to listen to every word of his father and tried to understand as much as he could at that age and also tried to live a moral life as his father wanted him to.
August was nothing if not obedient. Not did his parents make him do anything against his own will of course.
It was a late summer day. The sun was towering high above the sky pouring the land beneath with its brilliant light and warmth. Heat, should be more appropriate.
Two children a girl and a boy sat beside each other on the wooden verandah of a luxurious mansion. As far as the countryside' luxury goes. The helplessness on their faces due to the summer heat could clearly be seen from their tired expressions.
It wasn't like they had done heavy work or so.
The strange girl August met some years ago under strange circumstances had become someone dear to him. Playing with him, taking care of him not to mention Shelly's excellent cooking skills, she managed to get herself a little brother.
August felt somewhat hesitant at first due to his first strange interaction with the unknown girl who claimed to save his life while he was unconscious. No, more like he walked in his sleep from his room all the way to her house.
Well this hasn't been that difficult for August to believe if it wasn't for the strangely persuasive attitude of that girl. Therefore he felt something was not right.
But all these speculations of his were largely undermined when he got to know Shelly. After that incident for whatever the reason, August encountered her more and more. And that could not have all been a coincidence. It was true she used to study mana basics under Lady Sophia but she wasn't that great with magic.
On the other hand there wasn't any match for her on the battlefield.
In contrast to her mana aptitude, Shelly was extremely skilled at weaponry and hand to hand combat. Since she was so good with her strength, apart from swords on the training grounds Shelly, wielded a battleaxe as her weapon.
Well it didn't come as a surprise for August. It was all but given considering her overly enthusiastic personality.
"Here's your snacks children" A young beautiful woman with long dark hair and red ruby eyes wearing an elegant blue dress, came out of the house holding a large straight tray said smiling, "eat well, and don't spill the drinks on my new carpet" smiling she turned towards her son, "Understood August?."
"Mom!" He said irritatingly, "I know that. You don't have to point fingers."
"That's right" his mother replied, her smile unwavering, "I know my son is a grown up now. But in any case." She turned towards the girl, "Shelly, please take care of him."
"Mom!" He shouted again but everyone ignored him.
"Okay teacher" replied the young girl, "i will take care of this little boy here."
With that, after exchanging some light hearted comments Lady Sophia headed inside.
"I'm not a child you know" August scoffed, "you don't have to be a babysitter to me."
"I know that" Shelly replied, "i was just kidding."
It wasn't like August was irritated by their little chit chat. He knew it well these were nothing but mere jokes. The real reason he felt more irritated than usual however, was the heat.
Well there was another thing he was much bothered by than the summer.
The boredom.
August used to train and stabilize his perception of mana and the sword stances in the morning. Which left him not having to do anything useful for the rest of the day. Not to mention the summer was also at its peak which only made the boredom August felt, more painful.
Going to official lessons about mana basics with his mother was one of the options but he was convinced that there isn't anything he would learn at those classes which he already doesn't know. Not to mention the teacher was none other than his own mother.
'I might be a fool. Like hearing her yell at me at home isn't enough.'
There was another option at hand also. Playing with Shelly which also included her mindless games and her logic-less talks.
He glanced at the young girl who was devouring the snacks like a gluttonous monster.
'giving this creature more of my time. Yeah, i might be a bigger fool to think that'
August let out a sigh.
Feeling his indecisiveness Shelly asked with her mouth full, "what happened? Why do you look so grumpy?"
"Ah! nevermind" he replied, "it's just so hot in here." He sighed again, "not to mention, the boredom."
"What? That's it. There isn't even a problem in the first place." Said Shelly before taking another bite.
"Oh yeah?" August replied without showing much interest, "how so?"
"Simple" she said keeping her tone rather casual concentrating wholly on the snacks, "just attend the mana basics classes like all the kids in town."
"Yeah. Right" losing the tiny bit of interest that he had at the beginning, "you really are a genius. What a masterplan. Maybe you forgot it's my own mother who teaches there."
"That's the whole point" keeping her tone casual, "you have a problem finding your attribute didn't you?"
"Whoa" not bothering to hide his disinterest, "congratulations, you found my secret."
The fact that most of the kids in the town have aptitude for mana had found their attributes or in the other words the core element of their being most of them at pretty early age and the rest later, on the other hand August was the only one not having his core element found till date.
Which was kind of disheartening for a boy having perception of mana like August. He felt left behind by his peers.
While it was true that most of the people used to find or awaken their attributes at pretty early age and only have to sharpen the sense of only one element using the innate mana. Which helped greatly in eliminating the distractions called echo from other elements.
While most of his peers were sharpening the perception of their core element, August was constantly trying his best to find the element he had an affinity to. Among the ones who could use mana, mages like August were considered nothing but failures.
A state without a core element was considered as the most vulnerable one and was believed that without an element to anchor you to mana one could lose his ability to sense it.
While Shelly wasn't skilled with her mana manipulation, she unlike August had a core element which gave her, affinity to wind type spells. Due to this she had her perception anchored to the core element and cannot forget to perceive mana. While August, who had the greater perception, talent and the aptitude than Shelly, was at a risk to forget how to sense mana.
Or it was believed this way. No one was able to prove that because there were very few mages with this attribute problem who failed to find the element that suited them or rather their innate mana and later gave up on magic and had their innate mana be put up on a stage similar to diapause or inactive with the help of skilled and experienced healers.
The vulnerable state was rumoured to break the will of the person suffering from it due to the other elements trying to claim the unclaimed innate mana which often resulted in mages ending their own lives by them going insane.
Since the human mind wasn't suitable to command more than one element, without a core element to anchor and stabilize it made unable to resist the distracting echoes from other elements. Many of the mages had taken their lives or gone insane under the pressure of various elements present in the atmosphere calling for them.
The mages in that state were called ambivalent.
Therefore it was advised to embrace the diapause before anything happens to the ambivalent mage.
"Would you please listen to me first?" Shelly hissed.
Receiving a nod from August she continued, "while finding one's attribute is a rather natural thing, therefore no teacher can be of help to you. But you can learn more about the process."
August let out another sigh. He was a bookworm long before he could walk. He knew almost everything about mana. Therefore he was hesitant about this idea of Shelly.
'what could i possibly learn there which I don't know already'
"Best thing, you can awaken your attribute or"
Ignoring his disinterest Shelly asked him, making her question seem interesting with an amusing smile, "...what attribute does your mother possess?"
'why's she asking me the obvious?'
"The whole town knows genius, it's ice" even his tone seemed fed up answering which were obvious questions, "what's with you today?"
'is she this mindless always? Or am I noticing that too late'
"Correct, it's ice" said Shelly raising a glass with an ice cold drink, "you can learn how to make ice, idiot. You are ambivalent aren't you. Which means you can create mounts of it in this heated summer." She winked at him before taking a sip, "that too without any restrictions."
It was true that Ambivalent mages could go insane at any point having so many elements calling for them but this also meant they had limitless possibilities with any element of their choice. Not to mention without any restrictions from the anchoring core element. If one doesn't possess any how could they be bound to these restrictions?
Well for an ambivalent mage focusing solely on a single element while ignoring the call from others wasn't a simple task either. Not to mention the echoes become more severe when trying to command any one of them without being anchored to the core element.
August, was safe for now because he was doing regular practice of stabilizing his mana perception by constant meditation under the guidance of his mother. That was the reason he was able to resist the echo or the call of distraction from other elements.
There was a chance if he used an ice spell his core element whatever it would be could be awakened. It was too risky to use a spell without an anchoring element therefore no one knew what might happen if anyone tried to do so. Not even, experienced high grade combat mages like his parents.
What Shelly suggested might give August a push towards his core element. It was a risk. No, more like a gamble. But August wasn't the one to back down from risks. If he did not know more about forming spells apart from his bookish knowledge, he was open to the Idea.
'hell, it's a good idea'
If nothing more, August could learn to make ice which would very well be counted as a victory in his eyes. What could be more pleasant than ice on a hot summer day.
'making limitless ice on will. Shelly's a genius. A literal genius.'
"That's a great idea" he said with his eyes shining by excitement but later chewed back the compliments he had in mind for the girl. Shelly nodded casually focusing wholly on food.
Watching her devour the snacks with both hands and mouthful, August calmed his excitement down, staring at her in disbelief.
'I should reconsider my life choices'
With that it was finally the time for his first official lesson on mana manipulation.
—————