4 The start (02)
The man in purple looked at the sky and placed his hands behind his back.
"To be capable of using magic you have to be mentally strong enough."
"Hahahahahahah....."
Bitsy the pony who was swimming in the lake suddenly started laughing again, and even though Arasine tried not to laugh still let her shoulders shake from time to time.
The man in purple looked at Bitsy and said nothing as he was watching the young man in front of him.
After somewhat controlling herself Bitsy said.
"Even that kid knows whenever you try to look cool you do just like that." Bitsy said pointing her hoove towards the young man.
The man in purple didn't do anything but kept his eyes on the young man who's left eye twitched slightly after Bitsy the pony's remark and the man purple immediately noticed it.
"Sigh....." the man lets out a sigh.
He looked again towards the sky and said.
"Children grow up quickly don't they Zed?" he said in a calm voice.
But in the ears of the young man named Zed, it was anything but calm.
Without any warning, Zed started to float and not giving him time to even scream the man in purple drops him in the lake.
Immediately Zed started shivering in the lake as if it was bone-chilling cold.
"Hahahahahaha... he's gonna hate you Red if you keep doing that to him every time your mood gets sour." Bitsy started laughing again while floating on the lake surface with her belly upward.
Even Arasine regained her composure after Zed got dropped into the lake.
The water inside the lake was really cold even though it looked like the pony was treating it like warm water Zed's grandpa who was also a mage specifically made the water cold for his grandson's punishment.
No matter how many times he got dropped inside the cold lake water he never got used to it because just as he begins to adapt to the water his grandfather would decrease the temperature inside the lake.
After suffering the cold, Zed swam towards the shore and begins to walk towards his grandfather.
After nearing his grandfather his clothes and hair returned to their original condition. As for his shoes, he didn't have the time to put them on while his grandfather brought him outside after waking up.
The man in purple once again looked towards Zed and said and decided to not look at the sky and only placed his hands behind.
"As I was saying magic needs strong minds and strong willpower along with creativity and wisdom." the man said looking at Zed and his grey eyes flickered with orange slightly.
"There was a time that was the truth at least, as that began to change with more advanced thinking and ambitions." Zed focused his eyes on his grandfather lest he missed anything and he started to let his imagination turn wild at his grandfather's speech.
His grandfather continues.
"No, it was not the ambition to rule others through magic. That was one of the stupid thought only idiots thought of. The true mages didn't even bother with the normal mortals, and why would they? They got bigger problems to solve like the mysteries of the world, limits of the land, depth of the seas, hight of the sky. What were the mortals going to understand?
As they advanced they soon began to look for those who can help them advance like some fellow mages or maybe mortals who had unique thinking. In the midst of this....."
"Hey, you are going sidetrack." Bitsy said loudly from the lake.
The man in purple didn't lose his composure as started talking again as if nothing happened.
"Hmm, that can wait for some time I suppose. So magic needs strong minds, strong willpower, creativity, wisdom and knowledge as basic requirements.
The reason you were made to experience those life cycles and different eras, was so that you would have a capable mentality. There were many great figures who got perished because of lack of control over their minds."
Zed continued to listen to his grandfather's explanation and couldn't help but think about all those moments where he lost control over his mind and wandered around the world for years and his back got covered in a cold sweat.
Bitsy who was floating in the lake looked at his shivering figure and couldn't help but say.
"Hehe, you were really the lifesaver for this bored horse. You have no idea how much I appreciate your efforts for making my days entertaining." saying that she started to float again.
Zed looked at his grandfather who had calm expression and towards the pony who was floating away then to the young girls dressed in a green gown who was playing with the bearlike animal's ears and fur.
After noticing his gaze she looked in his direction she smiled and said.
"Yes I appreciate your efforts too." After that, she began whatever she was doing again.
Zed looked at his grandfather who was looking at him saying nothing and couldn't help but think how much of his stories did these people who he considered family watched and to what extent?
His grandfather who was looking at him as if he could read his mind said.
"Don't worry we watched it all you don't have to worry about we missing anything interesting." he said as he kindly smiled at him.
However that kind smile let him know everything he was questioning for and reflect on all of his actions throughout the centuries and millenniums he experienced but he didn't have the capacity to do that instantly and his grandfather started talking again without giving him the change ask any questions.
"Now, magic lets you take command over matter and energies which you've read about. But to do that you first have to understand them and understand yourself first. The first mages who explored the wonders of magic were seen as gods because mortals did not have the understanding of the world as those mages had.... oh got distracted again."
"Sit down and close your eyes." his grandfather said lightly.
Zed sat down where he stood and closed his eyes immediately.
"Empty you mind slowly and let it be free.
Don't stop your mind from thinking, let it think and solve itself." grandfather said again
The time passed as Zed began to meditate and forgot about everything around him.
He began to think about all of his lifetimes and experiences, about his dreams, about all the questions he had, how he found himself reborn again right after his grandfather and gran Bitsy played with him at the age of 15 in a completely different world with strange parents and an unknown language, how he lived inside the village and died of old age but still got reborn again with new parents and siblings in a new village.
He thought about all those years he spent wandering around looking for answers and questions like a madman, how he endured through all the tortures and betrayals people brought him again and again and also the love he received from different people surrounding him, how he came to a realisation about his grandfather's tests and training and how he recovered and began searching for the exit of the tests. And how his grandfather again asked him to continue the search for questions and answers while experiencing different lives with different people.
As he began to think about his life, again and again, soon he started to feel light-headed as if he got free from all the worries and problems. He didn't feel hunger and tiredness.
Time passed and minutes turned into hours and hours into days, and full nine months passed. There was no way to count time but according to the days and nights, it was probably about right. The months of silence broke apart by his grandfather's calm voice.
In these months of the time, nothing changed the pony was still floating in the lake, the young girl was playing with the animals and his grandfather was still standing still in the air floating before him.
"Yes just like what you did all those first mages spent years looking for but unlike you, they didn't have opportunities you did. But of course, they were geniuses and preserved against the obstacles and immerged again reborn anew."
As soon as his voice faded away the air surrounding Zed vibrated slightly and he hovered in midair 3-4 inches above the ground and suddenly something sounded like glass shattering and he floats back on the ground.
Zed opened his eyes which now had a light purple light flickering in then from time to time.
His grandfather looked at him asked.
"How do you feel?"
Zed looked at his grandfather and then at his hands and feet.
"Just like waking up from a long dream." he said with a low voice but as soon as his voice sounded the air around him started to vibrate.
The animals in the surroundings immediately started to distance them from the group of people by the lake as if not wanting to stay around them but only the bigger animals started to walk the small animals like the which the young lady was playing with stayed where they were.
"Hmm that is natural, now you should start feeling like dying too in a few moments." his grandfather said in his always kind voice.
Bitsy the pony too looked in his direction and made her face that of anticipation along with the big sister of forest Arasine.
Zed looked at his grandfather's kind smile and noticed that his surrounding air suddenly got heavier and heavier, he began to find difficult to brath and his body felt like it was being crushed under heave water.
"GRANDPA.....!?" Zed shouted with as much strength he could muster in his condition.
"Relax it will be over in no time, let it be and just like what you did while thinking about your life do it again." he said in a relaxed manner again.
After his grandfather's instructions, he began to close his eyes and meditate but that did nothing but made him feel as if those effects had multiplied but due to the increased weight he could no longer even open his eyes and mouth and could only endure the pain.
