“What is ‘magic’? It can be defined as the power required to bend the principles of the world or to utilize artifacts that do so, using the divine authority shared by His Majesty the Emperor. All Patronians naturally acquire magic around the age of ten... (omitted)... Consider, for example, a person capable of lifting a boulder the size of a house whole, and another capable of lifting ten grains of rice simultaneously at perfectly equal intervals. While the former has a higher magic rank, the latter excels in delicate mana control, making it difficult to say which is superior in terms of magical prowess. Therefore, students reading this text should not obsess over ranks, but rather, never slacken in honing their magical skills.”

  — Excerpt from the Introduction to An Introduction to Magic for Ten-Year-Old Patronians

  Kane was deeply bewildered to be told he was a Patronian with immense magical talent. As far as he knew, the only Patronian anywhere near here was Baron Panain at the nearby Tersha Castle—a man who served as a doctor, fortuneteller, rural lord, and eternal idol to the local children. Yet, even the Baron would look completely drained of color just from briefly conjuring a (relatively measly) fireworks display in the night sky during the occasional village festival. Kane, on the other hand, though he had passed out immediately afterward, had created an explosion of fire massive enough to engulf the entire village and then some. He didn’t know what had happened while he was unconscious, but ever since that day, Kane found himself going to Baron Panain’s house every single day to receive what was called ‘lessons.’

  Through these lessons, Kane learned about his talent. At the same time, he learned that he absolutely must not be caught by anyone (except his mom and dad). It was just like how he wasn’t allowed to be caught with a book. His mom, his dad, and Baron Panain simply exacted promise after promise from him without ever explaining why. Or, to be precise, his mom did try to explain it once, while carefully leaving out the core reason.

  “But Mom, Grandpa Panain is a Patronian and everyone likes him, right? He heals people when they’re sick. Why do I have to hide that I’m a Patronian? No books, no magic, no being a Patronian—why are there so many things I can’t do?”

  “...Whether my Kenny can use magic or not, you are an incredibly precious and special child to me. You know that, right?”

  Carol stroked Kane’s head affectionately as he quietly nodded.

  “But if people found out that Kenny could already use such incredible magic at such a young age, you would become a very special person not just to Mom and Dad, but to other people too. And people will often do anything to get their hands on something very special. They might try to take Kenny away from Mom.”

  “Was the fire I made at the festival really that special?”

  “It was, but more importantly, Mom and Dad aren’t...” Kane thought he noticed his mom hesitate slightly here. “...Patronians.”

  “Patronians are different from us. And magic is something only they and their children can use.”

  “I’ve been learning from Grandpa Panain, too. But why is it like that?”

  “Well... I’ll explain it to you when you’re a little older. It’s a very difficult concept to grasp... Now then, Mom is going to the market to buy ingredients to make castella cake. Let’s go together and then head home.”

  That was how it usually went. It always boiled down to Kane being too young to understand.

  Moreover, while Kane couldn't hide his joy at first over being able to read books to his heart’s content, his thoughts changed after a few lessons. Reading books, of course, was incredibly fun. But regardless of how much Panain praised his talent, magical training was far more boring than he’d imagined. Shaping a fist-sized ball of water from a bucket and floating it in the air was quite fun at first, but do it often enough, and anyone would lose interest. Furthermore, moving that water droplet between lit candles without extinguishing them dozens of times was a rather tedious task for a ten-year-old. On top of that, Panain insisted Kane needed to learn delicate control to avoid being caught, forbidding him from using any large, flashy spells. Instead, he started by teaching him how to use trivial magical artifacts like microphones and air conditioners.

  But the most unbearable thing of all was that, because he had to attend these lessons every single day, he could no longer meet up and play with his friends. When Kane mentioned his friends would be worried, Baron Panain simply smiled faintly and shook his head. Kane wondered just how long he would have to live like this, but Baron Panain only ever told him that once he finished his lessons and became a true mage, he would be allowed to use magic freely. Therefore, it was practically inevitable that Kane would eventually use magic to sneak out and see his friends, just as he was doing today.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  At the exact moment Kane was lightly vaulting over the castle wall using magic, the three friends who always hung around him—Joseph, Max, and Jessie—were near Tersha Castle. After Kane suddenly stopped showing up a few days ago, Jessie had pestered everyone in the village until she finally obtained the information that Kane was learning to be an attendant at Baron Panain’s house. They had originally planned to sneak in through the back gate of Tersha Castle, but they ended up getting lost.

  “Hey, I’ve never seen this place before. Isn’t this where the adults told us not to go?”

  “Ah, I don’t know. We’re already here anyway, we have to see Kenny before we go back,” Jessie said, pushing through the bushes.

  “But this is the one place the adults said we should absolutely never go...” Max said cautiously. Jessie whipped around to glare at him.

  “Fine, then I’ll go by myself—Ack!”

  Striding forward confidently, Jessie suddenly bumped into something and fell flat on her back. Max rushed over to help her up.

  “What was that...?”

  “Why are you suddenly pretending to fall?”

  “Pretending to fall! There’s something here!” Jessie rubbed her reddened forehead, glaring angrily.

  Max reached out toward the spot where Jessie had fallen, then suddenly froze.

  “It’s true... there’s something hard and invisible here.”

  Joseph came closer and reached out his hand as well. Their small hands were blocked by something in midair, unable to move forward. Max reached out in a different direction, but his hand was blocked there, too.

  “This is weird... It really feels like there’s some kind of wall here.” Joseph carefully traced the wall with his fingertips. At the smooth, cold sensation beneath their fingers, the children felt a mix of unknown dread and fascination.

  “It’s the same on this side. I don’t think we can go any further.”

  Just then, Jessie suddenly looked at Max and shouted. “A wall!”

  “A wall?” Max asked blankly. “What about it?”

  “Ugh, you’re so slow. Walls are meant to be climbed, aren’t they?”

  “Ah!”

  Joseph suddenly scooped up a handful of dirt from the ground and tossed it forcefully at the spot where the invisible wall seemed to be blocking them. The dirt hit the barrier, not a single speck passing through, and rained down to the ground.

  “Let’s try higher!”

  Undeterred, Jessie enthusiastically threw dirt higher up. This time, it worked. They clearly saw some of the dirt disappear as if it had sailed over the wall.

  “Wow, I found it! I think it’s right about here...?”

  Jessie reached her hand as high as she could, feeling along the invisible wall.

  “Right here! We can climb over the top!”

  And then...

  Beep— Beep— Beep—

  “Aaaagh!”

  A sudden, loud noise blared, and an object they had never seen before in their lives abruptly jutted out from the ground right in front of them. It looked a bit like a perfectly straight walking stick broken in half, except it was pitch black with a smooth, glossy surface. There was no way these country children could recognize an automatic rifle.

  “What is this?”

  As Joseph, who was closest, took a tentative step toward it, the automatic rifle suddenly let out a whirring sound and pointed straight at him. Looking closely, he saw it had a hole right down the middle, much like a bamboo shoot. Joseph leaned in a little closer to peer into the hole.

  Bang—

  Kane, who had been walking in the direction he expected his friends to be, suddenly clutched his head and crouched down as a sudden headache struck him. He had a strange premonition. For a split second, an image of someone swaying and collapsing heavily to the ground flashed through his mind. Then, the headache vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared.

  Beep— Beep— Beep—

  “Aaaagh!”

  Huh? That sounded like Jessie’s voice.

  Kane quickly stood up and sprinted in the direction of the sound. But he hadn't taken more than a few steps when a noise like thunder echoed through the air.

  “W-what... what is that?”

  Startled by the thunderous sound, the children fell backward. And before the shock of that noise could even fade, a new horror unfolded before their eyes.

  “M... Mom...”

  Joseph lay collapsed, blood streaming from where his eye should have been. The occasional violent shudder that wracked his body was the only sign he wasn't dead yet, but both Jessie and Max were too terrified to even think of approaching him. After a moment, Jessie seemed to snap out of it. Biting her lip hard, she took a single step toward Joseph.

  Vrrrmm—

  The stick of death that had attacked Joseph moved once again. It pointed straight at Jessie. She stared at the end of the stick, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly, unable to move a muscle.

  “Jessie! Watch out!”

  Bang—

  Kane almost tripped, startled by the loud noise that had rung out from so close by.

  That was definitely Jessie’s voice, wasn’t it...?

  And then, alongside another intense headache, an afterimage of someone being shoved back and collapsing flashed in his mind. This time, he could recognize the face.

  It was Jessie.