“Since you are a descendent of the great Armanden legacy,” Romin said in a condescending tone and a derisive little smile. “Let’s test your aptitude for basic comprehension, shall we?”

Shilo paused in completing the math assignment to turn in his seat and glare back at the man standing in the bedroom doorway.

Romin called Shilo over and sat a bowl carved from a blue calcite stone down upon the dining room table. Inside it contained three very different gemstones, a crystal, a small geode stone, and one plain rock.

“And because Lytah was unexpectedly called away by the Council, I’ll be your instructor for today. For an added boost, Hydee will be my assistant.”

Hydee clapped and gave a little curtsy before hopping up on the chair beside Shilo.

“Because after all, boy, it will be one solid blow to your fragile ego to admit a small child is brighter than you.” Romin gave an assholey smirk. “Wouldn’t it?”

Gods, why?! Shilo glared down at the stones and then up at the man with rocks for a brain standing before him. 

“As I am sure you’ve already been taught,” Romin began, “mages are those few with the innate ability to access mana, either within them or without in the environment around them, and harness it to create magic. Mana is the natural occurring energy within every living and nonliving thing in nature, from the first breath of life to the erosion of mountains. Mana is life. Magic is, in essence, chaos. It is the force that expels mana outwards and disrupts the natural flow of its state.”

To emphasize those words, Romin expelled a flash of light that ended in a puff of red smoke coming off his outstretched hand. Hydee clapped her little hands with a chorus of ohs and ahs.

“But mages are not the only ones who can access mana to create magic. Witches can siphon the mana from within a mage to perform magic that they themselves are incapable of doing.” 

Romin’s eyes locked on to Shilo as he said, “They do this through pain and blood.”

Shilo felt a cold shudder run through him and quickly averted his gaze.

“That’s scary, Daddy,” Hydee uttered. “I don’t want to see one. They’re not around here, right?”

“No, not anymore that I’m aware of.”

Hydee voiced her thankfulness at that, to which, her father patted her head, though his eyes never left the boy. 

“But there are other, safer ways mages can give the benefits of magic for those who cannot.”

“Like the mage-lights,” Hydee pipped. She beamed as her father complimented her on her answer.

“Mage stones,” Romin said, picking up the thumb-sized white opal that radiated with a rainbow of colors as it glistened in the light. “Mage stones are gemstones that have been inscribed with a rune to hold a magical spell.”

Romin held the gem out for both children to see. The rune carved into its surface resembled some sort of hourglass with wavy lines erupting from its top. 

“The rune is just a readable marker for that spell, the mage infuses the stone with mana to power the spell, and thus, anyone can use it.” He flipped the opal over, showing tiny intricate markings carved into its surface. “More advanced spells may require more focus to set the magic, therefore, the mage may need to inscribe a sigil to better concentrate the mana.” 

He set the opal down on the table. Hydee started to reach for it, but at the sound of her father clearing his throat, quicking stopped and placed her hands on her lap.

“The stone used varies on the spell due to certain stones holding certain spells or elements better than others. For example, hematite,” he pulled a silvery stone out of the bowl and set it down in front of him. “Hematite is tied to the fire element and protection, and thus, used in spells associated with such. But generally, opal or quartz are the most commonly used due to their affiliation with all four of the main elemental powers.”

The third gemstone looked more like a shard of a roughed up green glass pebble. It wasn’t translucent, just bubbly and dull looking. But Shilo could feel a slight vibration emitting from it even from across the table.

“For more powerful spells, tektite is sometimes used since it has a higher vibration and frequency, and as such, affiliates strongly with the spirit element. But these are rare stones, so the cost is expensive. However, it is a very lucrative investment if you have the right spell in place.” He held it up once more before carefully placing it back in the bowl. “Once the spell is embedded, I would secure the stone inside a ring or amulet for the buyer. Which in case you’re wondering, is my field of expertise.”

Shilo said nothing and just looked at the man. Romin’s  darkish-medium grey didn’t seem powerful enough to grant the title of expert. But then again, what did he know? He was a blacken fluke after all.

“This,” Romin sat a plain grey rock with a fire rune scratched in it on the table, “is also a mage stone, a very basic one. While more common, it is still decent and of a good quality. It’s primarily used for simple spells to sell to those looking for practical and portable magic conveniences at affordable prices.”

He gestured to the three stones laid out upon the table and said, “Now, children, tell me what spell you think is inside. Shilo, you go first.”

Shilo tried his best not to sneer at the man’s patronizing tone. He needed to put on a good boy act since misbehaving could potentially cause problems for Lytah. He handled the first stone, the opal. It felt smooth and cool to the touch but steadily grew warmer the more he held it. He studied the markings, but the squiggles offered no help, he didn’t know much about runes, much less magical ones. He did feel a pleasant hum vibrating off the gem that sent a slight tingle through his skin, but he wasn’t about to tell Romin that.

“Uhhh, um,” Shilo uttered, trying to put on a good concentration face without overdoing it. “Light?”

Romin gave him a hard stare. 

Maybe he did overdo it just a bit.

“Strong magical light?”

“Hydee, your turn,” the man said, causing his daughter to gleefully grab the gem out of Shilo’s hand. 

“And just so you’re aware, boy, she has no prior knowledge of what spell is inscribed on any of these stones.”

The girl held the gem up before her eyes and twisted it this way and that, while humming a little tune. She tilted her head back, and closing her eyes, placed it against her forehead. After that little demonstration in concentration, she plucked it from her brow and rolled it thoughtfully in her hands.

Her face suddenly lit up with joy. “Oh, oh, oh! It’s not light! It’s a healing spell! I can feel its heartbeat!”

“Yes, well done, Hydee. Very intuitive,” Romin answered his daughter, flashing a smug grin Shilo’s way. “Lytah placed a healing spell upon it that’s effective on anything from a minor injury up to a major broken bone.”

Shilo soured his face. Lytah must not be a very good drawer. How the crap do you get ‘healing’ out of a snake vomiting vase? 

Romin gestured to the next gem and again had Shilo examine it first. Shilo ignored the man’s condescending smile. Though part of him wanted to prove the man wrong just for that look, but then that would give the a-hole an ego boost. Plus there was the fact it could get him thrown to a much worse fate than pretending ignorance towards the vibrations of annoying balls and pretty rocks.

The hematite was shiny, smooth as glass, and slick like a polished hardwood floor. Like the opal, the cool surface warmed in his hand and hummed faintly with mana. But those pulsations could still be imagined. It wouldn’t take much to conjure them up due to the name, mage stone, and what expectations were addressed. 

But the kid had said she felt it too… Shilo thought with a sigh.

The rune etched into its surface was that of a bull’s head, which gave the impression of strength or stubbornness, depending on how one looked at it.

“You said these stones were used for protection and there’s a bull on it, so I’m going to say, a boost in strength?”

Romin tisked, “I guess I did divulge a little too much information with that one.” 

Hydee gave the congratulatory clapping of the hands. Though that applause was tainted by her pouty little, “I wanted to say that,” comment.

Romin’s face didn’t offer even the slightest hint of praise as he gestured to the last stone.

Shilo picked up the plain old rock. It looked like a rock, felt like a rock, and was warm like a rock out in the noonday sun.

“It’s a rock with a fire rune on it,” he answered without much thought. “So a spell to make fire.”

The man huffed and plucked the stone out of the boy’s hand to place it in Hydee’s eager fingers. “You’re not even trying, are you?”

Hydee scrutinized the stone. She rolled it around in her hands as she stuck the tip of her tongue out in thought. Then she cupped her hands over it and brought them up close to peer inside.

She giggled. Shilo felt an odd little tingling sensation in the air and watched as the little girl’s tiny hands started to glow.

“It’s a light,” she squealed as she opened her hands for the both of them to see. The stone glowed brighter and brighter as she held it up. “Like an energy lantern!”

“Very good, dear,” Romin smiled down on his daughter before glaring at Shilo. “And as I told you, boy, the symbol inscribed is just a marker, not the actual means of the spell. The mage selects what the image is and what it represents. Therefore, its only purpose is to identify that a spell has been placed upon it. Usually there is a sort of universal chart for labeling spells, but that isn’t always the case.”

The man continued to grumble about incompetence and the lack of listening skills, and Shilo suppressed the need to do the universal rude gesture with his finger.

Romin took the crystal shard out of the bowl and sat it on the table. “This is a conduit crystal. Any guesses what it does?”

Shilo gave the man a bored look. “No, I’m not a mage so why should I?”

“Oh-oh-oh! Daddy, I know!” Hydee bobbed up and down in her seat and rattled on without waiting for permission to answer. “Lytah told me! It’s a crystal that a mage can put their mana in so a normy mundane can do things like mage lights or other things that need magic that they don’t have!”

“Very smartly said, sweetheart.”

Hydee beamed at her father’s praise. And now, Shilo had the little snot-turd giving him a condescending smile as well.

“Yes, not only is a conduit crystal a way to power convenient amenities such as mage lights or to refuel mage stones, but it is also a way for mundanes to use magic. Just as long as they know the spell and have an affiliation with the mana inside the crystal. All a mage has to do is touch the crystal and impart some of their mana into it in order for it to be beneficial to any non-mage. 

The last rock was removed from the bowl. “This is a geode. And as you see, it is a rock with an internal cavity lined with minerals that have hardened to form crystals. These are often called mana stones. Can either of you guess the reason?”

“Why do you keep looking at me? You know I’m going to get it wrong.”

“I expect you to try, boy,” Romin growled through his smile.

“My name’s not boy!”

“Alright then,” he said, his smile becoming even more forced. “I expect you to try, Shilo.”

“Why? It makes no difference to me, so why do you mages get your panties in a twist if I don’t get it right?”

Romin growled, his tail flicked to his annoyance. “Humor me.”

“It’s pretty?”

Hydee sat properly in her chair with her hands folded in her lap and her bottom lip quivering as she tried her hardest not to cry at the sight of her father’s rage filled eyes.

Romin took a deep breath. “Let’s try this again, shall we? I mean, you can’t really be that much of an ineffectual, worthless, bungling, halfwitted moron that you can’t even think of one practical explanation to pass as a remotely satisfactory answer to any damn thing? Can you, Shilo? Seriously, how the hell did you survive this long without someone terminating your very existence because you managed to piss them off to that point?”

Shilo looked up at him and with the most superficially demure voice he could muster, replied, “Because I’m special?”