Duality

"With that out of the way, let"s get to the reason why we"re here," Athalia said, her face turning serious.

Hagen crossed his arms. "Yes, I"d also like to know what"s this about."

"John, what you did today by saving Bellatrix and Nevil is something worthy of praise. You"ve shown bravery in the face of danger, determination to protect the weak, and the skill to stand tall against adversity."

It took more than a little effort for John to keep a straight face. Sure, he prided himself on his fighting skills; his mother trained him a lot, after all. But Athalia spoke as if he was some sort of knight in shining armor. He knew himself well enough to find the idea ridiculous.

Hagen frowned as he listened to his wife"s words.

Athalia continued. "You"ve displayed the values of chivalry and, as such, I"d like to offer you the opportunity to become a squire."

"A squire? Do you mean like a knight in training?"

"Exactly so. You"ll have the opportunity to learn from a knight under our service and, if you impress them, you"ll be recommended for the Squire"s Tourney the year you reach 20 years of age."

John drew a blank on the tourney"s name, but she said it as if it was something very important.

Hagen seemed to know what it meant, and he didn"t like it. "My love, that"s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be hiding him, not attracting people"s attention to him."

"Because of his parents? No one is even going to suspect he is their son unless he says so." She turned to John. "And you"re not going to do that, right?"

John shook his head. He still didn"t know what that was all about, but he knew that telling people about his parents would be a bad idea.

"See? No one will be the wiser."

Hagen"s frow remained, but he didn"t try to argue any further.

"I"m sorry, but what"s so important about this tourney?" John finally asked.

"Have you heard of the war academies?" Athalia asked and John nodded in confirmation. "They offer the best education in the kingdom, and every person of note studied in one of them. While originally intended only for n.o.bles, they"ve since expanded to accept people of lower cla.s.ses through the Squire"s Tourney."

"And they would allow someone like me to compete?" John asked, somewhat doubtful that they"d allow a southerner"s child to take part.

"That"d be a first," Hagen commented, confirming John"s suspicions.

Athalia didn"t let herself be discouraged. "Well, there"s a first time for everything. Besides, the sole requirement to compete is to be recommended by a knight, which you"ll be able to if you do well enough as a squire. And once enrolled, you"ll be able to learn everything from history to tactics, and will have the best resources to cultivate your body and your mind. For example, I notice that you"re also a Mage. How many spells do you know?"

"Only a few shadow and fire spells," John answered truthfully. His mother taught some of the spells she knew but, as he was only a Mage, she wanted him to focus on improving his cultivation.

"Spellcasting is much harder than cultivating the body. One of the reasons for that is the affinity. No matter how good someone is, they can"t use an element they aren"t attuned to. Have you ever tested your elemental affinities?"

John shook his head.

"We can do it right now if you want." Athalia picked up the wooden box and it made small clanking noises as she moved it. She undid a clasp and opened the lid to reveal its contents. Six colorful marbles were arranged as the vertices of a hexagon with a seventh marble at the center. Only the top half of each marble could be seen, as each of them was settled on a circular hole in the wood.

"This is how affinities are tested. As long as the person is already a Mage, then they can infuse these stones with mana and they will light up in proportion to your affinity. For example, you said that your mother taught you shadow spells, so let"s start from there." She picked a black marble from the bottommost vertice and handed it to John. It felt smooth on his hands.

John followed her instructions and tried to infuse mana into the marble. The process felt somewhat strange, as he had never done something of the sort without trying to cast a spell along with it. Finally, he managed to do it, and a strong light shone inside the dark marble.

Athalia clapped and then ruffled the little hair that John had. "That"s very good, you have a great affinity with the shadow element. Did you ever try any other element?"

"Only fire, but that one felt harder for me to cast."

"It must mean that your affinity is lower with it. Let"s see." She placed the dark marble back in the box and handed him a red one from the top left vertice.

John repeated the process with the red marble. It shone, though not nearly as strong as the black one.

"Certainly not as strong, I"d say, so it"d be easier to stick to shadows. Let"s try lightning next." This time she chose the purple marble at the center of the hexagon. Rather than shining, it glimmered weakly in his hands.

John felt somewhat disappointed at that. Fire could be quite destructive in combat, as showcased by Nevil. And while he"d never seen lightning spells, John wagered it could be just as powerful as fire. Alas, he wouldn"t be able to burn or smite his enemies; he"d have to settle for cutting and stabbing.

At this point, John began to understand what the marbles" colors and placement meant. He picked up the brown one from the bottom left to check his earth affinity. Maybe he"d be able to hurl rocks at his enemies. It glimmered as weakly as with the lightning. No rock hurling then.

The gray stone for air at the top right similarly just glimmered.

There were still two more elements to test when Athalia acted like the testing was already done. She placed the marbles back on their position and intended to close the box when John interrupted her. "What about water and light?"

"They won"t work for you," Hagen stated as matter of fact. "They are opposite to elements you"re attuned to."

"Let"s humor him at least." Athalia handed John the blue marble from the bottom right vertice.

Try as he might, it showed no signs of change. From the way it remained inert, he"d think it was just a regular marble.

"You have some affinity with fire, which conflicts with water." She took the blue marble from John"s hands and the red one from the box. The former shone with a strong light while the latter remained the same. "I"m attuned to the water element, which also means that I"m unable to cast a single fire spell."

John nodded in understanding. He picked the last marble, a pure white one sitting at the topmost position. "So I guess that light will be the same?"

"Yes," Athalia answered while putting the other marbles back in place.

John repeated the process one last time, already expecting it to fail; instead, the marble lit up, maybe as strong as when he tested shadow.

"... or maybe not," Athalia commented, somewhat surprised. "You"ve opposite elements, that"s rare."

"Is that good?"

"It"s good in the sense that you"re well attuned to two elements," Hagen explained. "But it does mean that you won"t be able to combine them, so it could be better. For example, my old teacher at Phoenix academy could combine fire and light to create a sort of focused beam that burned straight through armor. Your attunement to fire isn"t good enough for that."

"Don"t listen to old Hagen, he"s a grouch." Athalia patted John"s head. "Not many people have opposite elements, so this means that you"re special. And in the academy, you"ll learn how to best make use of your elements."

"Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course, take as much time as you need. I know you must be tired, so we"ll let you rest." She picked up the box with the marbles and the cup of water. "If you need anything, don"t hesitate to ask one of the servants outside." With that, they both left, closing the door behind them.

John had to admit that he felt tempted by Athalia"s offer, but he doubted it"d be as easy as she made it sound. Hagen, for that matter, seemed much more realistic than her, and he also didn"t treat him like a child.

He"d have to think about it when he was better rested. John slumped into bed. In contrast to the soft mattress, the frame was well st.u.r.dy, offering not a single creak as John"s weight fell on it. It didn"t take long for him to fall asleep.