Ozahr didn’t always have magical powers. No sorcerer ever did. It was something that came with time, usually at the ripe age of three (or five if you were a late bloomer). Some rumor that the greatest sorcerers were born with ribbons of magic at their fingertips, but those rumors were started by sorcerers who don’t remember a life without magic and think they’re entitled to greatness. 

Truth is, it didn’t matter when you awakened your magic, but how.

“Mom, mom—” The little white-haired boy tugged at his mom’s apron in the kitchen. “When am I going to get my magic?”

 The mother hummed with curled lips. “Hmm, let’s see… It’s your eighth birthday soon, so it’s about time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah!” The boy cried in outrage.

“Maybe the stars will decide to finally gift you magic on your birthday,” She entertained the possibility, despite the boy knowing that’s not where magic came from.

The boy pouted with big, disappointed blue eyes. “You say that every year.”

She crouched down to ruffle his white hair. “Would it be so bad if you didn’t have magic, Oz? Look at  me, I have no magic and I’m as happiest as I can be because I have my family with me,” she kissed the boy’s cheek despite his protests.

“I can’t go to magic school without magic,” Oz insisted. It would be embarrassing to enroll in the world’s top magic school for children in the city of magic itself. Idrahal did not get its reputation from magic enthusiasts.

Another voice came from around the corner of the cottage. “You can still appreciate magic through books,” said Elidyr, carrying a heavy and boring looking encyclopedia.

“Easy for the magical elf creature to say,” Oz retorted. 

“I’m hardly magical.”

“Definitely a creature,” Oz said with suspicion. 

Oz has known Elidyr for as long as he could remember, but the elf never assumed any official role in his life. All he knew was that he was good friends with his mother. And that he was the last elf on earth. Probably. Oh, and that Elidyr saved him from a magical curse he was afflicted with when he was born, but he always refused to elaborate on it and his mom wasn’t the magic type to explain what exactly happened.

First day at school went just about as well as Ozahr expected. Kids were flaunting their colorful sparks and accidentally setting each other on fire, while he had to sourly admit he had no magic when someone ran up to him and asked him to show off.

Recess was even worse. Two teachers had quit by midday and there were less eyes to watch over children who just received the coolest powers in the world and did not know how to control them yet.

Ozahr plopped at a picnic table at the edge of the courtyard, away from the impromptu sparring competitions the kids were organizing. 

One other boy had the same idea. He was sitting at the other edge of the table, paying no mind to the commotion or even to Ozahr right across from him. He was twirling a crayon, leaning over an uncolored picture that the teachers were trying to sedate the children with. The brown-haired boy was wearing foreign clothes—not unusual for Idrahal, but unique enough that it caught Ozahr’s eye.

Ozahr inched closer to the golden-skinned boy. “What’s your magic?” He asked, because that’s what everyone asked upon first meeting someone.

“Don’t have any,” the boy lied flatly, having practiced the line a few times throughout the day.

“You don’t?” Ozahr asked with a hint of excitement and promptly switched sides to sit next to the magic-less boy. “I don’t either. But I’m still going to be the best sorcerer in the world!” Oz clarified.

The boy fixed his posture upon realizing his line didn’t chase away the personal-space intruder and politely asked, “How are you gonna do that with no magic, dumbass?”

“Easy,” Oz puffed out his chest. “I have the best teacher in the world,” he talked about Elidyr. “He can even teach a lousy student like you since it looks like you never got the hang of manners!”

“I’ll consider it,” The boy replied.

By the end of the first school day, the two had become friends. 

By the end of the first week, Elidyr took on Ozahr’s friend as an apprentice.

And by the end of the first year, it was clear to Elidyr that Ozahr would be the best sorcerer in the world.