And so Colin became part of the witch's house, not as a family member or a student, but as what ultimately was a slave. As he was still young, it didn't take too long for Colin to learn the chores he had to do: cleaning, laundry, cooking and doing the dishes among other miscellaneous things the witch would occasionally task him to do. He also had prior experience with certain things, as helping out his mother taking care of the house had often fallen on him, but there was also a lot to learn for him.

After three weeks of working indoors, Colin was finally able to go outside and see the field and the forest near the cottage: there was a large field behind the hut with wild flowers growing all over it, but everything else was surrounded by woods; green leaves and trunks so enormous in size they would take Colin's breath away upon gazing at them for the first time.

But no matter how far he walked, Colin would never get out of the vicinity of the house. He had obviously tried to run away the moment he was left alone to work outside, but after hours of walking he'd just end back at the witch's house, where the woman would welcome him back by complaining about the time Colin had spent outside and giving him more work.

Colin never liked being there, but he learned to endure it. To a high degree he even learned to tolerate Katherine and her cruel, demanding personality that didn't tolerate a single mistake: everything Colin did never seemed to be enough for her, and whenever she thought the boy did a particularly bad job, she'd use her magic so that Colin would have to start the whole thing right from the scratch.

Oftentimes he'd be so exhausted that when he crashed down onto his small bed filled with hay for a mattress, he'd immediately fall asleep and sleep like a log until the next morning, when he'd have to wake up early to make Katherine breakfast.

But Colin persevered, he endured this unfair treatment, and soon a year had passed. And on the day he turned 13, Katherine taught him the first spell he could use.

"I see you're compatible with the wind," she spoke to him. "You have a good, strong core for someone who has never used magic before."

"I was never taught how to," Colin replied quietly. "I didn't know I could."

"That's the problem of the current era," Katherine sighed. "The magic is dying because people have forgotten how to access their core."

She then turned to the boy and extended her hand towards him, sliding her finger across his face all the way down to his chest.

"This is where your core is," she said softly. "It's right there, and although you can't see a core even if you dissect a person, I can feel it. It's whirring, pulsing, like a heart."

"I don't feel anything."

"That's because you're not a magic user: only someone who has already accessed their core can feel it."

Colin's first task was to find his core. Katherine explained him he was still young enough to access it and actually use it, and that in order to do so he had to close his eyes and focus on his body and its sensations - and Colin did as told.

"It's right there, I'm sure you can feel it; a feeling like a nostalgic memory, like something you thought you had lost but found again."

"I think I feel something," the boy muttered in shy excitement.

"Take that feeling; reach for it. Focus on it with all of your being, and forget everything around you."

The room fell silent, and Colin pushed all his mental strength into investigating this curious new feeling somewhere within him. Indeed, it did feel like a nostalgic memory to him, the same way thinking about his home made him feel: so distant and far away, yet simultaneously close, right there, just within his reach - and Colin reached out for it, until his body was overcame with a tingling warmth.

"Very good," the witch said. "You're a wind user, so think about the breeze. Any kind of breeze. A gentle summer wind or a terrifying storm, as long as it's wind."

Colin thought of the hay field behind his old home, the golden crops bending on the way of the wind, as if saluting it and its powerful presence. He imagined himself standing on the very same field, his hair being brushed by the warm summer breeze, and when he opened his arms the warm summer air would travel through the gaps between his fingers, making him feel like he could, almost, catch the wind and fly.

And then the wind rose inside the room. The cups and plates on the table started to rattle, the curtains move and the herbs hanging from the wall's hooks started swinging back and forth by the strength of Colin's magic.

"Congratulations, Colin," Katherine complimented. "You have found your core."

Holding her hand up and using her magic she kept the force of the wind within the room from destroying things, she could clearly feel the strength of the power - and for the first time while spending time with this miserable, weak child, Katherine felt a little uneasy.

Indeed, she would come to regret teaching Colin magic.