“Magic. Parlor-Tricks magic or real magic?”, I asked.

“Real magic”, Jakob said, his smile still standing.

I lean back against the wall, trying to take it all in. Was I actually dreaming? No, still not possible. She debunked that. Cant be brain damage either, so that leaves one thing. But, am I ready to accept it. I still think that he´s bluffing, and is just using illusions. Maybe… I need an example.

“I don't really believe you. Could… you prove it. Maybe do some magic”, I said, uncertainty in my voice. Would it be impolite to ask people about such a thing?

“Sure. Aphi, could you make a little example”, Jakob asked.

“Okay”, the woman on the chair, who I know knew the name, said, getting up from her chair, while looking over at me. “Look closely”

She took out her arm, and her eyes began glossing over. After ten seconds, I wanted to ask if she was okay, but I decided not to. It would be rude if it actually was real magic.

Another five seconds pass by, and I begin thinking about the shamans of old. The only reason they thought they were magical, was because of all the drugs they took. Maybe it was the same thing here? I mean, her eyes were very unfocused.

Then, something happend. Something magical.

My eyes bulge out in shock. Pulsing from her fingertips is a strange, bright light. I watch it flicker, changing colors from amber, to ruby, then back to gold. It begins levitating from her hand, rotating color faster and faster until it becomes a myriad of colors. The light duplicated into three and began rotating around her. Each light changed color in sync with the others. It was beautiful. The lights would duplicate again and again until the room was filled with colors. Every color I could think of was here. One time the rainbow would flutter by, while in the other, a simulated river would slide by, obscuring all else. If I could, I would watch this hour on end. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

And with that, it was gone. No trace of the lights remained.

Aphi´s eyes stopped being glossed over, and she began to smile.

I looked over at her.

“That was… beautiful”, I said to her, with an amazed voice.

“I know”, she said, with a carefree voice.

“Well, then, was that enough of a example?”, Jakob asked.

I look over at him. Before, I didn't believe him. Magic was something I had only heard of in fantasy. Now, though, I knew it was as real as I was.

“Definetly”, I said.

“Great! Let's get started”, Jakob said, clapping his hands together.

It was now ten minutes later. A servant had come in with some clothes for me, allowing me some kind of dignity. After I had put them on, we moved the discussion to a more… nice place. We were sitting inside a room that reminded me a lot of the Victorian era. If they told me it was the Victorian era, I would have believed them. Magic was real, after all.

“So”, Jakob said, sitting down in a comfy-looking chair. “Where do I start?”

He thought about it, for a couple of seconds, before deciding.

“Let's start with how you arrived here. Many years ago, the patriarch of our clan got a weird idea. What if, instead of going through years of training with people without any talent, you can just summon one with immense talent? He became infatuated with this idea and quickly began crafting the spell for it. Unfortunately, he was only halfway, in finishing it, when he passed away. At that time, we were not in need of it, so we just put it in the archives. This last year, though, this became different. A war between the major families, Carrow and Rowl, has begun. All of the minor families, like us, are forced to pick a side, lest we will most likely be exterminated. Our family is in a bit of a hiccup. The family is split between which side we want to join. We know that if we choose the losing side, we are doomed. It was a fifty-fifty chance, really. That's when one of the Archivers proposed an idea. What if, we choose a third. We stay neutral for as long as possible, and just before the loser is determined, we join the winning side. It sounded like a terrible idea. We didn't have the power to defend against the people who wanted to kill us, for staying neutral. That's when the Archiver brought up a detail. What if we used the summoning ritual? It wasn't anywhere near done, but if it worked, we would almost certainly win.

We spent many months working on the ritual. The family was split up in three. The first worked on the ritual, perfecting it as best as they could. The second began making defenses, in preparation for the coming war. The third began making enchanted weapons, also in preparation for the coming war.

Like this, six months go by, and the first wave of the attacks had begun. The families began demanding the Minor families to join them. While we had finished the ritual, there were many flaws in it. That didn't matter though. We knew that we needed to do it now, or just go down without even be capable of putting up a fight.

We spent many resources performing the ritual. We even used an Artifact-level crystal ball that had been in our family for over a hundred years. We performed the ritual, and out you came. We had assumed that what came out of the ritual had some degree of magical knowledge. You didn't, though. If I'm right, that speaks a lot about your talent.

Now, are you following everything?”

I nod to his question.

“Good. Now, we need to find out what your talent is. Before we start with that, though, let me start by saying what a Talent is. There are MANY different Talents. Each talent represents some kind of magic. There are Healing, Space, and even Diviner talents. The possibilities are in the millions. Let's continue. Many years ago, you would be forced to find a Seer, which is just about impossible now, and let him see into you, without putting up any kind of barrier. That was not only risky but also inaccurate. Over time, just about every mage had some relation to the other. Because of that, almost every mage had every talent. Just a small one though. Now enough to actually use. With us having so many talents, the Seer´s couldn't discern which one we had the most talent in. We had to move onto different methods. Enchanters spent many years studying the talents before they finally got results. Don't ask me how, cause I don't know, but they made a machine, purely with enchanting, that could tell which Talent you were most talented in. I actually have one with me”

Jakob pulls out a small device from his pocket, and pushes one of the buttons. Out of the side of the device comes a small needle.

“Now, I just need some of your blood, and we are good to go”, he said, while handing the small device over to me.

I take it, and carefully prick myself in the arm with it. I feel it taking a small bit of my blood before a small *ding* sound is heard.

“Now, give it back, so I can see”, Jakob said.

I give it back, and he waits a couple of seconds. After a while he looks up at me.

“Aren't you a rarity? You´re a hybrid. Soul and Summoning. I wonder how that's gonna turn out”