“One… letter?” Lucia asked after a moment of silence, looking confused. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s pretty simple, miss,” replied Alex with a smile. “Basically, it’s shortening words into their first letters and using them to execute our spells. For example, Crumble to Dust is a spell that causes any object to turn to dust, right?” When she nodded, his smile broadened as he went on to say, “Likewise, instead of using such long incantation, it’s easier to just say C.T.D. and make the same thing happen, right?”

Lucia looked at him in and blinked a few times in surprise before asking, “What?”

This made Alex look at her in confusion and ask, “You didn’t understand, miss?”

“No, no, no. I got it,” she replied while shaking her head slowly with look of disbelief on her face, “but I’m just… surprised by what you said that I didn’t know how to react to it.”

“It’s not something to get so shocked about, miss,” he said, smiling a little as he found it to be silly.

However, she shook her head vehemently and looked seriously at him as she said, “No, Alex! Seriously! It’s a groundbreaking discovery! As of this moment, there is no magician capable of pulling off using magic with just letters! Seriously! It’s a major thing to be able to do use magic in such a manner!”

“Really?” Alex asked, unsure how he should feel about that. “I will admit it might be difficult to master, but not as tough as mastering Voiceless Incantation, right? It takes an immense amount of practice to be able to pull it off, so it’s not an impossible task that should be deemed so radically.”

“I don’t believe this kid!” Lucia exclaimed, leaning back on her chair and throwing her hands into the air helplessly. “This kid’s values are so messed up! God, help me with this one! Please!”

He was startled by her reaction, but soon he began to laugh and say, “Miss…! Don’t be silly. I’m sure even God would feel about it the same way as me.”

To his words, she stared at him for a few seconds in silence, finally remarking, “You’re probably the only one alive that would say something that ridiculous!”

As he grinned at her as he found her behaviour to be funny, there was a knock on the door to his room.

“Come in!” Lucia called out to whoever was behind the door.

Following her command, the person opened the door and revealed themselves to be none other than Alex’s father, Samuel. He wore an expression of concern on his face, which broke apart as a smile appeared when he caught sight of his son sitting upright and looking very happy.

“Alex!” He shouted, bounding forward and wrapping his arms around his son. “I’m so glad you’re alright!”

With his father squeezing on him really tightly, Alex tried pushing him away to no avail. Finally, he exclaimed, “Dad! You’re squeezing me!”

“Oh!” Samuel said, shocked at what he was doing and immediately let go of his son. “I’m sorry, Alex! I’m… really sorry! I… I didn’t mean to hurt you in any way.”

His son breathed a deep sigh and looked coolly at his father before saying, “It’s fine, dad.”

But his father shook his head and replied, “No, Al. It’s not fine.” He looked sadly at his son and said apologetically, “I’m deeply sorry that I put you in this situation. It’s all… my fault! If only… I thought things through, you wouldn’t have been injured!”

He looked down at his hands, which shook from the great amount of guilt he felt. Alex looked at his father in sadness to see him becoming so depressed and turned to look hopefully at Lucia. He was hoping his magic teacher would have something to say to reassure him, but instead, she shook her head as she decided to not get involved in family matters.

Alex put his hands together and imploringly asked her, “Please, miss?”

Lucia widened her eyes for a brief moment in surprise before sighing in resignation and nodding at him. She turned to face Samuel and said, “Sam, don’t blame yourself like that. It’s not only your fault. I’m also at fault for being so stubborn to care more about my beliefs and not about my student. I’m a failure as a teacher.”

“No!” Samuel said, looking at her quickly, alarmed by her blaming herself. “You did nothing wrong, Lucia. It’s my fault for being so stupid to try and force my values onto my son! You were just another victim of my foolishness!”

Lucia was taken aback by how strongly he felt about his contribution in causing Alex to get injured that she became unsure about how to reassure him. She looked back at her student and shrugged her shoulders in a helpless gesture, leaving Alex to face his father and try and console him in the only way he knew how.

“Dad, if you keep being like that, I’m also going to get upset!” He said to his father in a firm voice, causing Samuel to look at him in shock. “Seriously! Please stop apologizing. I’m telling you no one is to be blamed for my injury, not you, not Luna, and most certainly not you, dad. Rather, I feel that you made a valid point when you were so concerned about my safety since I’m only concentrating on using magic while not bothering to exercise my body as well. So, please, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault. In fact, I am grateful for this loss.”

“What?!” His father exclaimed, looking thoroughly bewildered by his son’s statement. “Are you serious?”

Alex nodded and said, “Yes, dad. I’m being serious because I now understand the wisdom of your words, and I now realise what I must do to become stronger. I think you told me once that it’s a man’s job to get stronger, aim higher, and never show weakness. Up until now, I never gave that much thought, but now, I believe it’s about time I take those words to heart and improve myself so that I don’t lose a second time.”

Samuel looked at his son in silence, being amazed by the strong words his son was using with a serious expression on his face. It made him wonder just what he had been expecting from his son up until that point, realising that he had been reading him wrongly. He now understood that his son was a boy of great character, and he firmly believed that, one day, he would become a great man to be respected.

For now, he moved closer to his son and patted him gingerly on the head with a soft smile on his face.

“I’m happy you think so, Al. I’m glad you’re my son,” he said affectionately and hugged his son.

Alex momentarily flinched as he thought his father might put him into a tight hold again, but he was amazed when no such pressure came. Instead, he felt the warmth of his parent and knew he loved him, causing him to move forward a little and hug his father back.

“Me too, dad. I’m glad you’re my parent,” said Alex warmly with a happy smile on his face.

As the father and son hugged each other, a warm gesture of their close bond as father and son, Lucia watched them from the side. She was smiling softly at them, feeling both happy at how close they were and a little envious of them because of it.

“If I and my dad had been this close, maybe things would’ve turned out differently for me,” she thought, smiling sadly at the regret she had about the disjointed relationship she maintained with her father.

A few seconds later, the parent and son broke away from each other, and Samuel sat on the bed to ask his son, “How’s your head feeling? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, dad,” replied Alex, and he lifted his clenched fist in the air to show his father that he was perfectly fine.

Lucia could not help but laugh at their exchange and commented, “You know, Sam, I think that’s the first thing you should’ve asked him before giving him that bone crushing hug.”

He nodded in agreement to her statement and said, “Yes. You’re right, Lucia. I’m‒.”

As he was about to apologise, Alex raised a finger in seriousness and said in a firm voice, “Dad!” At being called with such a serious voice made Samuel flinch and look at his son in surprise. “No. Stop apologizing, otherwise, I’d have to complain to mother that you’re troubling me!”

That remark left a great impact on Samuel, making him chuckle as he raised both of his hands in defeat and replied, “Okay. Okay. I won’t do it again. Relax. Please?”

To that, Alex nodded and returned to smiling at his father while Samuel inwardly sighed while smiling on the outside. He was amazed just how strong of a voice his son possessed, making him relate his recent behaviour with Alex’s mother, which made him smile wryly.

“Son and mother are so alike,” he thought while feeling very happy. Then he looked at him and Lucia before asking them, “So, what have you two been talking about before I came in?”

Before either of them could say anything, they heard Alex’s mother, Sarah, calling for her husband.

“Sam! Sam!”

There were hurried footsteps before she walking into the room looking very worried. She was about to say something when she saw her son sitting upright and looking at her with a smile on his face. All thought about her hurry vanished, and she rushed forward to hug her son tightly by wrapping both of her arms around him.

“Alex…! I’m so glad… you’re okay! I’m so happy…! So… relieved!” She said, breaking away and beginning to check him all around. “How are you feeling? How’s your head injury? Is it hurting? Do you need any medicine? I suppose medicine is a waste since Lucia can heal you straight away, but what about your muscles? Are you sore anywhere? Don’t hesitate to tell me, okay? I’ll make sure to give you a good massage to make you relax, alright?”

“Mom!” Alex said while chuckling at her worried behaviour. “I’m completely fine. My head injury has been taken care of thanks to Miss Lucia, and I’m not feeling sore at all. I’m feeling good as new,” and he raised his fist into the air as a gesture to reinforce those words.

“Oh… Okay…” she said slowly, stopping to check on him and hugged him once more, gently this time. “Still, I’m glad you’re alright.”

Beside her, Samuel shook his head wearily at his wife and said, “Seriously, Sarah! Don’t bombard him like that. You’ll needlessly cause him stress.”

“Stress?!” Sarah exclaimed, shooting a sharp look at her husband. “What stress? The one where you force two children fight each other, or witness your son get slammed against the wall, or think of going to the hospital when we have a capable magician right here? That part of anything I did could cause him stress when compared to your actions, Sam?”

Her sharp words made him go weak and look depressed while muttering, “I… didn’t mean for… for this to happen…”

Sarah shook her head and said, “When you’re going to complain about someone else, make sure you don’t have any faults in you first. Alright?”

Samuel nodded meekly at her while she stared daggers at her husband while Lucia watched them in amazement. It was vividly clear to everyone in the room that the mother cherished her son more than her husband, which was only natural considering he was their only son. Alex understood this, but he did not like his parents hurting one another, so he asked his mother in order to distract her away from his father.

“So, mom, what did you come here for in such a hurry?”

“Oh!” His mother said, looking surprised and nodding as she remembered. “I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Al!” She smiled at her son and ruffled his hair affectionately before turning to look worriedly at her husband as she said, “Sam, it’s Luna! She’s not coming out of her room!”