Winter is here.
It had taken hold of the city, its icy grip holding fast. The air was frigid, so cold that every breath felt like tiny knives piercing the lungs. Thick clouds blanketed the sky, casting a gray pall over everything below, with no hint of clearing anytime soon. Every day, snowflakes fell from the sky, swirling and twirling in the bitter wind before settling on the ground in a soft, white blanket.
The people of the city huddled in their homes, seeking refuge from the unrelenting cold. Only the bravest ventured outside, bundled in layers upon layers of thick clothes to ward off the biting chill. Even the palace dwellers, accustomed to luxury and comfort, were not immune to the winter's icy touch. They too donned fur-lined coats and heavy boots, braving the elements to go about their daily business. Everywhere one looked, the world was transformed by winter's magic, a stunning but unforgiving landscape that demanded respect and resilience from all who dared to face it.
Winter in this world is different than the one I am used to back on Earth. While the sun do shines during winter back on Earth, here the sun would not be seen until the cloud breaks many months after the first day of winter, signalling the beginning of Spring. Another thing I learnt recently is that winter here is a lot more dangerous. Winter is the time when demonic beasts roam the world.
Demonic beasts are wild animals that transform into ferocious beings during winter. Nobody knows how it happen, but as other seemingly supernatural happenings, I believe it is most likely caused by magic.
Their presence meant that it is unsafe to roam outside of a city's castle, so citizens of the kingdom who lived outside a city walls will move into the city by the time winter came around. This also meant that communications between cities are extremely limited, and news of happenings during winter will not be heard by other cities until spring came.
Winter also seemed to bring an increase in the saturation of magic in the air. My spells are more potent than before winter, and I rarely use incantations for casting as it is so much easier to cast magic.
I am currently in my chamber, practising and teaching magic with Emily and Marie. They are both quick learners, and have learnt many offensive spells, even mastering the crucial ones such as Expelliarmus and Stupefy. Today, however, I'll be teaching them the foundation for ancient runes.
Both of them shows high degree of understanding of their spell works, and can often change the characteristics of their spells on the fly. Learning runes would be very beneficial for them, as they can further enhance their spell castings through runes, and if taught to more advanced level, will allow them to enchant an object or even create wards.
"Today, I'll be teaching you the basics of runes." I said. Before continuing, Emily raised her hands.
"What are runes?" She asked.
"Runes are actually a form of writing. What makes rune special is besides representing a set sound value, each runic symbols also carry meanings, and can be powered by magic. Let me show you an example."
I walked towards the table in front of us, and picked up two stones, one on each hand. I then tighten my grip on the stone on my left hand.
"As you can see, nothing happened to the stone if I grip it normally. While enhancing my hand with magic might help me break it, it would still take a lot of effort. Now watch what happens if I do this. Scribblifors." I transfigured the stone on my right hand into a Quill. I have taught the spells to both of them in anticipation of this lesson.
I then wrote the runic symbol of Uruz on the back of my hand, and showed it to the two of them.
"The runic symbol I have just wrote is called Uruz. Its phonetic value is U, and represents Aurochs, Life Force, Strength and Good health. Now watch what happens when I channel my magic towards the rune." I spoke as I recalls what I have learnt in my mind. I should look into teaching them occlumency as well soon. It will help them memorise what we have learnt, and protect their mind from foreign intrusions.
As I channel my magic to the rune, it began to glow. I then tighten my grab onto the stone, and with little force the stone crumbled.
"As you can see, it takes little effort to crumble the stone now. The most important thing when writing down runic symbols is your intention when writing them down; you must make your intention clear on which of the meanings you would like it to take. If I wrote the Uruz rune with 'Good Health' as my intention, the runes won't have any effects on the stone." I stated. "Now, why don't you two give it a try."
They nodded, and picked up some stones. After writing Uruz on their hands, they tried to squeeze the stone. Emily's stone crumbled explosively, which means too much force is exerted, while Marie's took a lot of effort to be broken.
I chuckled. "I forgot to mention, the strokes of the runes is also important. A little crook in your writing can cause myriads of effects on the runes. This can be useful when you want your runes to behave in a more specific manner, but for now let's try and perfect your rune's strokes first."
They nodded, and practised writing their runes before testing them, making sure they got the runic symbol right, before committing them to memory. After a while of training, Emily made a request to me.
"Hey, Harry," She said. "We have been meaning to ask this for a while now, but we always forgot as your lessons are quite engaging." She said sheepishly. "Can we invite the other witched in the palace to your class as well? We'd like them to be able to protect themselves as well."
Oh, shit. I almost forgot there's other witches in the palace as well. "Sure, you can. Who are they by the way?" I asked.
"They're your father's and your siblings' maids." Marie replied. I nodded, just like Emily and Marie then.
"Sure, I kind of forgot about them really, since I rarely saw them." I said sheepishly. The palace is big so I rarely bump into them, and whenever I saw them I don't actively looking for a sign of witches.
"In fact, why don't you try teach them what you've learnt as well? Teaching is also a form of learning, after all." I suggested to them.
"Thank you, Harry!" She chirped, and gave me a hug.
"No problem." I chuckled and replied.
I proceed to teach them another few runes before ending our learning session for today.
Right when I was about to end today's lesson, Sabrina, father's chief maid, knocked on the door and entered. Seems like she is on a rush.
"Marie! The Queen has entered labor! Come to the chamber quick!"
Marie's face turned serious, before facing towards me. "Sorry, Harry, but I am needed there now."
"No worries, I was about to end the lesson anyway. Go now, mother needs you by her side now." I urged her a bit.
I was both excited and nervous for this day, as anything can happen during childbirth. I can't really involve myself with delivering the baby, so I can just pray that everything goes smoothly.
She nodded, before leaving with Sabrina.
"You think mother's gonna be fine?" I asked Emily.
Emily scooped me up and settled me onto her lap. "Everything's gonna be fine, Harry. Let's just pray that everything will work out fine, okay?"
I bobbed my head. "Okay."
We just sat there in silence, praying that everything will go on smoothly.
After a few hours, Marie went to my chamber. She informed me that mother had successfully gave birth to a baby girl. She invited me to go to my parents' chamber.
When I opened the door to their chamber, I can see Gerald, Garcia and Timothy already in the room. They stood around the bed, with my father sitting besides my mother, who are laying down on the bed. He is currently holding the newborn sister of mine.
I am quite excited, as this will be my first experience with a little sister.
When I arrived by the bed, My father coughed into her fist, attracting everyone's attention.
"Thank you for coming, my children. I'd like to introduce you all to your new sister, Tilly Wimbledon." He said, holding the baby up for us to see.
"Ohhh she's so small! Just like when you're born Harry!" Gerald said, smacking my back firmly. I winced a bit from the pain.
Mother chuckled, and added,"He's really cute back then. Now just look at my girl, she's even cuter!" She said, her voice carried a hint of exhaustion, her energy spent from the labor.
I pouted. "Are you saying I'm not cute now?" I definitely am still cute.
The others just laughed, before Timothy replied,"Well, just look at you now, your cheeks are really round, and your arms are chubby!" he said, poking into my arm.
I just crossed my hand. "This is baby fat, brother. Just wait when I'm older, I'll woo all the ladies!" I said indignantly. I have no doubt at all I'll beat my siblings in the looks department when I'm older.
Everyone laughed again, before mother gave a long yawn. Seems like she is tired.
"Well, let's leave your mother and let her rest. I'll just go and pass Tilly to the nannies." Father said, and moved to the room next door, where Tilly will be cared for by a team of Nannies and caregivers, alongside my parents.
We all nodded, and greeted mother before leaving the room. "Always know that I love you all, no matter what." Is what we heard she said when we leave the room.
It's been three days, and mother have not waken up from her sleep.
Father have got the court physician to take a look at her. He can't identify what is wrong with mother. I can feel her vitality getting worse every hour. She'd die if nothing is done. The palace's atmosphere had gotten gloomy.
Gerald had been swinging his sword in the practise room for hours now. Garcia locked herself up in her room, and I can hear her sobbing when I enhance my hearing. Timothy always went to royal study, doing some reading, while his eyes stare into nothing.
I've been visiting her this past three days, doing all healing spells that I know of. I've also been scanning her body with my magic, hoping I can see something that is wrong with her, but I can't find anything wrong with her body. This suggests that her ailment is magical in nature, but I have a hard time confirming this theory as mother emits little magical energy.
"You're visiting the Queen's Chamber again today, Harry?" Asked Emily. I looked towards her. While she has a smile plastered on her face, her eyes hide a trace of anxiety and exhaustion. The Palace had been in a sombre mood since Mother failed to wake up. While the palace dwellers still act as normal and go on their tasks for the day, there are an underlying sense of dread laced into the palace's atmosphere.
Seems like they have accepted the worst outcome. Not me, though. Today, I am planning to stay in her room as long as I can. Hopefully I can find a way to save mother. As I am heading to the exit, Emily voiced out her thoughts.
"Let me come with you as well, Harry. You mentioned last night that the Queen's illness might be magical in nature, so maybe having more magical help would be beneficial." She said. I pondered a bit. Having an extra helping hand would help tremendously in finding what ails my mother.
"Makes sense. Come with me, then." I said.
As I entered the chamber, I can see Ayling sitting by the bed, sleeping. He hasn't been to his office this past three days. Seems like he's been taking care of her the whole time, judging by his deep sleep.
I sat on the bed, besides mother, while Emily is standing on the other side of the bed. She's breathing, albeit at a slow rate, and her breath is faint. Her vitality continue to be drained. I start doing my check, this time planning to do full scale scan on her body.
I had been trying multiple charms and spells to wake her up and rejuvenate her. I've tried the reviving spell, stamina charm, and even the unrelated healing spells on her whole body to see if it would help healing her, but these spells have no effect on her, which supports my theory in this being a magical ailment.
Magic is a power of nature that originates from living beings, meaning everything has its own magical signature, even if miniscule. This is how my magic scan works. It uses magic emitted by cells to give me information I needed. Magic also have a rejuvenating quality. This made people feel intoxicated when they received a boost in magical power, which is probably why many maniacs like Voldemort are power hungry.
"Emily, since you are better at detecting magic, can you do a check on mother's magical flow? Her magical energy is too little for me to do a scan on her effectively."
"I will do as you say." Emily said. She then close her eyes for a moment, before opening them again, revealing a glowing blue orbs in place of her usual eyes.
First, I scanned her arms. Her blood flow is normal, albeit slow, and her muscle is a bit atrophied, probably due to laying on bed for three days. Her legs also showed the same reading. I the moved to her stomach and chest, which is normal as well.
Scanning her neck and head also doesn't reveal anything. This ailment that is hitting her is very confusing, as vitality can't just disappear into nothing.
"Harry." Emily said, grabbing my attention. "Seems like the Queen's magical flow is a bit weird. While most of them are circulating throughout her body, there is a little magic that seems to disappear into nothing."
That grabs my attention. Magic wouldn't disappear into nothing. As per the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another. As an example, performing fire magic transform raw magic into heat energy. Magic still follow this law, albeit being very versatile in their transformation from on form of energy to another.
Emily pointed towards the place where the magic is seemingly disappearing into. Switching my vision, I can see that while Mother's magical core is absorbing magic from the environment, those magic is being absorbed in an area at the base of her neck. I recognise this immediately, as it resembles the way Divine Stone absorbs magic.
I immediately made a minor cut to take out the Divine Stone. The stone is located under her skin, about the size of a pinhead. I put it in a basin, not wanting to lose it, and put the basin at the table by her bed.
After I was done, I attached her skin together again. I scan her body, and it seems that magic is flowing into her core again, replenishing her core. I continued to observe her for a few minutes.
It seems like the flow is not slowing down. In fact, the flow is continuously picking up! Her magic core is filled up rapidly, before it began shining brightly!
Shit! She's going through awakening, and she's still unconscious! "Emily!" I shouted, attracting her attention. "Help me expel excess magic from her! She's going through Awakening!" She nodded, and we put our hands on mother's chest before beginning to expel excess magic from her core. We expelled all those extra magical energy out of her system. As the awakening process continued, Her magical core began morphing, while we continuously expel excess magic to minimise pressure on her core.
Half an hour gone by, and her Awakening is almost done by then. Her core began solidify, revealing a shining core surrounded by a pair of wings. Seems like she got an ability related to flight.
We both slumped against the bed, gasping for air. That was very tiring. I am almost out of magical reserve by now, and it seems like Emily is the same as well.
"You… okay there… Emily?" I said between my breaths.
"Yeah… Will manage…" She gasped. We both remain slumped there for a few minutes, gathering ourselves back together. Once we are better, I dismissed Emily for the day, directing her to retire early and take a rest. I then walk slowly towards my chamber, my soft, comfy bed the only thing on my mind.
Mother woke up a few days later, much to the delight of the rest of the family as well as the palace staffs. A feast is planned in a few days to celebrate Emily's birth as well as mother's recovery. We siblings have been inseparable from mother since she gained her consciousness, chatting and playing games with her whenever we have no other matter to attend to. We even opted to bring our mattresses into our parent's chamber and slept there, much to father's annoyance (he secretly enjoyed it).
Emily, Marie and I have also saw and tested Mother's magic. She is now able to materialise white, majestic wings on her back, though she still had a hard time trying to fly with it. She is also able to perform bless magic, which could increase physical strength and magical potency amongst other things, as well as a little bit of healing. In short, she has become an Angel. Heh, maybe we are not Devil Incarnates after all, aren't we?
Mother awakening her magic also meant that Tilly will be the last of us siblings. While I'd like to have more younger siblings, this is better than losing my Mother.
Speaking of magic, the magic in the Palace's vicinity is still a little barren after mother's Awakening. It seems like her awakening had sucked the magic surrounding the city significantly, and mine and the other witches' magic recovery had been slowed down significantly as a result.
Currently, I am in the Royal Study with Emily and Marie. On the table is a small box, which contains the tiny Divine Stone we had extracted from Mother.
"We need to find out who is responsible for this assassination attempt." I said to the both of them.
Marie and Emily, both are currently seated on the other side of the table, nodded. "I suspect that the Church are the one doing this." Marie added.
Emily and I turned our heads towards Marie, our eyebrows raised. "What makes you say that?" Emily asked the question both of us had at the moment.
"It's what I've been hearing," she subconsciously moved her head closer. "The King have received reports from our Spymaster that the church is behaving suspiciously, both in the Kingdom and the other Kingdoms. The Church of Hermes is currently being fortified, while preaching activities seems to have decreased over the past few years. Movement of people towards the church also increased, criminals who should've been executed are instead indentured to the church, while church's recruitment posters have been posted throughout the Kingdoms. They are preparing for something." She said, unveiling her intricate conspiracy theory. Probably not so much a theory at this point though.
"The Church is also the only way you can get a Divine Stone. So, if the Church is not the one responsible, they would at least be a conspirator." She added.
I gave what I had heard from Marie a thought. What she said makes sense, and the Church's movement suggests that they are preparing for war. Do they want to wage war against the Kingdoms or something? That seems like a waste of resources and time since the Kingdoms already subscribed to the Church teachings after all. Maybe a crusade against the Demonic Beasts instead? We had known for centuries that there are large landmass beyond the four Kingdoms, so maybe they want to liberate these lands. But then this supposed assassination attempt would not make sense.
"I think we should tell Father and Mother about this Divine Stone, Marie. They have more resources to investigate this attempt."
"I will do that, My Prince. They will probably want the Divine Stone though." She said.
"No, I need the stone, at least for now. Tell then that I will give them the stone in a few months." I said. This stone will serve as benchmark for an experiment I have in mind.
"What do you need the stone for, Harry? They're only good for disabling magic, and this one is too small for practical use." Emily said, drawing a disapproving glare from Marie, probably from addressing me by name. She will get used to it eventually.
I tapped my index finger on the table, before saying my thoughts. "You noticed how Mother went through Awakening after we took off the stone from her, Emily?" She nodded. "I think her Awakening might be caused by this stone embedded into her and absorbed the magic in her core. This might cause her body to absorb more magic from the surrounding to compensate the magic lost to the stone. Hence, when we extracted the stone the other day, the increased rate of absorption rapidly filled Mother's core, thus initiating the process of Awakening. I will need to run an experiment to test this theory more." I stated my theory.
"Speaking of, I'd like some help from you two on this. Can you find some palace staffs, two men and a woman, who are willing to help with this experiment? I'm going to try and embed this stone into the base of their neck for a few week to see if we can induce an awakening this way. I'd like he or she to be monitored constantly in case something bad or unexpected were to happen." I added. I will need to break a few fragments from Ferry's Divine Stone (mine now) to accommodate this experiment.
They both nodded, and Marie added,"We will do so, My Prince, but I suggest that you mention this to the King first. This way, we can have more people monitor this experiment." She suggested.
I nodded. "Right, I will do so later. I think that is all for now, we'll have no lesson for the rest of the week since the two of you will probably be busy preparing for the feast. We'll meet again…" I took a look at the calendar. It's Tuesday today, and the feast will be on Sunday. "We'll meet again on Thursday next week, and do bring along the three people here on that day. Oh, and don't forget to mention the downside of being a witch as well. Don't want them to be wanting a child, after all." I added.
"I will attend to your wish, My Prince. Have a good day." Marie bowed, and proceed to leave the Study. Emily followed Marie, but not before giving me a hug and a kiss to my forehead. I stayed inn the Study for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what I can do with the stones I have got, as well as pondering the possibilities of the future. The future doesn't look so bright now, after all.
The experiment was a success.
All three participants of the experiment had awoken to witch and wizards after a month of having Divine Stone embedded in the base of their neck. They each consumed different amount of magic in their awakening process, but between the three of them, their awakening have sucked up about half the amount consumed during Mother's awakening. We should limit awakenings in the future, and we would need to pick the right time for it since we would lose access to magic for up to a week after the Awakening. Probably once a month as precaution in case Mother's situation repeats itself.
Speaking of the results of the experiment, Jason, a labourer who works at the palace's warehouse, was embedded with the stone extracted from my Mother. His Awakening proved that men can also be awakened into a wizard.
The other two participant, Edna and Carter, a maid and squire respectively, are embedded with shards from my stone, which is to test whether the shard we extracted has been modified to enable Awakening, as well as another gender test. Their Awakenings meant that any Divine Stone can be used to induce Awakening, and reinforced the notion that men can also be awakened.
This experiment also highlighted a downside of awakening people using Divine Stone: They will be gradually weakened throughout the time they were embedded with the stone.
Jason has now been appointed as a squire of a Knight, as he awakened an ability to strengthen his muscle, making him capable of dealing devastating blows against his opponents as well as tanking sword strikes. A literal walking tank.
Carter is now able to enchant his weapon, increasing their sharpness. His strikes can cut through steel like cutting through butter. Edna, meanwhile, are now able to perform calculations in her head. We had tried multiplication of millions, and she is still able to calculate the answer accurately. We haven't tried complex mathematical concepts yet, since medieval mathematics are simple, and I am not math savvy. Maybe Luna can help with this.
With the addition of these three, there are now more than ten Witches and Wizards in the Palace. There are still few of us, but with the success of this experiment as well as any witches or wizards we might come across over the year, this number is bound to increase. At that time, I will need to seriously consider establishing an association of Witches and Wizards to better coordinate our movements, as well as to protect ourselves from threats.
I smiled. It seems like I've already gotten my hands busy for the next few years. The future might seem uncertain, but the future of wizard kind seems to brighten ever so slightly.
Hi all, Pong here! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I originally planned to have Harry awaken in this chapter as well, with his ability to induce awakening into people, though I decided not to since that power sounds lame, and would not be helpful in a fight, which Harry will be in a lot. It also doesn't fit his personality. Do give me suggestion on what power he should have!
Anyway, sorry for the super late upload. I was busy with Eid preparation back on April, and I was caught up with new games from early May to now (Age of Wonders 4 and Tears of the Kingdom had been consuming my life, seriously.) I plan on uploading another chapter this weekend, though I have not begin writing them yet. If not possible, I will upload them next week. I am also quite stuck with this chapter, with the whole Harry's power thing and general world building stuffs that happened in this chapter. This chapter will shape the later chapters, so I try to be more particular with this one. Do leave comment if you think anything in this chapter does not make sense, or any suggestions to make it better.
There will be a time skip since... well, I have no more idea what I can do with a 3-years old Harry. This chapter is already pushing it with the Harry helping his mother and the discussions with the maids. The plot should be moving quickly in the next few chapters, and we will start seeing some actions from then on.
Perseus12: Hahaha thank you! I was laughing the whole time I was writing that part XD
Natsuyuuki & hirsya1216: Thank you! do consider reading the original novel! It was a load of fun! :D
That's it for now, and until next chapter! Cheers!
