Two weeks went by like a flash of light. I can cast all of the spells I've learned so far without any incantation, and that's including the earth spell I had difficulty learning at first.

This morning mother and father had a small argument about whether or not I should learn 2nd circle spells today or whether I should learn more 1st circle spells. “He should learn at least a few spells of the other elements before diving into 2nd circle magic.” My father had his arms crossed which was something he did when he was being stubborn or when he was trying to convey some form of seriousness, but he looked a little funny trying to be serious with a small dab of syrup in his beard. “Darien, he should learn as much as he can while he can, he’s got the talent to go further!” Mother had a piece of meat at the end of her fork while she banged the table, I approved. “Elaine, he has the talent and that’s exactly why he should establish a strong foundation first, in just two more weeks he’ll have far more spells and experience under his belt that will be crucial when he starts learning more difficult magic... Elaine, learning magic outside of your affinity will help with your primary element. You know this even better than me.” A look of resignation came over my mother, she bit her lips before shouting, “Arghhh fine! But he’s ready now, he can learn! I want to teach him!” Flames covered my mother's fork before she aggressively bit the meat right off the end of it.

After the bickering, my parents decided I would need to learn at least a few 1st circle spells of all the elements before diving into 2nd circle magic. I was slightly disappointed, but I could understand my father's point of view. I was and still am a cultivator, after all, setting up a strong foundation is what we do. However, looking at my mother she seemed more upset over the decision than I did.

A few hours passed, and it was just past 12. My father began his rare afternoon lesson, “Son, rock hand is a more useful 1st circle magic than flame wick. Flame wick is only useful for setting things on fire or can be used for giving off a little bit of light, but rock hand can be used offensively or even defensively by mages of my level.” My father showed me his hand upturned as he chanted, “Spirit of the earth grant me your touch, rock hand!” Rocks seemed to come out of the air itself as the earth fit itself into a thick glove starting from my father's wrist to the tips of his fingers. “This is a good spell to use in a pinch, as you can quickly block a weapon even if you’ve almost run out of mana." "I'm sure there's much better defensive magic for earth mages than a 1st circle spell dad." "Of course there are, but this spell has saved my life before, it's the only 1st circle spell that has." “Really?” “Yes, when I was younger. Anyway, let’s see if you can cast it at least once before dinner .”

I felt a tingle travel up my spine as I prepared to cast the spell, “Spirit of the earth grant me your touch, rock hand!” A rock appeared and stuck itself to my knuckle but that was all the spell did. I was unhappy with the result, but my father seemed pleased, “Incredible... if you can do it perfectly you can have chocolate cake tonight after dinner.” “I can!?” I absolutely love chocolate cake. It was my favorite dish in the last 300 years! “Hah! yes son you can have a big piece of cake if you do your best.” My motivation to execute the spell grew even greater! I chanted the incantation again and again and my father went over my mistakes after every single failure. He was always patient with me. “You're focusing too much on speed, Darius, speed comes with practice. Right now just focus on shaping the mana, and shaping the hand itself, don't worry about anything else.”

With an explanation that would normally be difficult for an average two-year-old to understand I tried again. I close my eyes focusing on the image I wanted to form. I unconsciously thought of my hand. My hand that had been trained for centuries, my hand that had slain both man and beast, my hand that had gone through a thousand battles, my hand. “Spirit of the earth, grant me your touch rock hand.” The image of my calloused and scarred hand grew more and more vivid. It was my hand, I’m just shaping my hand. I drew in as much mana as I could into my hand. I didn’t hear my father’s shouting until he grabbed my shoulders.

“Darius stop! That’s enough stop gathering mana!” When I opened my eyes an incredibly lifelike hand made of earth had attached itself to my arm starting from my forearm and continuing way past my fingers. It was a massive hand when compared to my baby arm. It was over twice the size of my whole body! I got dizzy all of a sudden and fell on my butt. My father waved his hand and the rocky hand shattered, he scooped me up with a single motion and lifted me onto his shoulders. “Alright, alright that’s enough let’s head in for dinner. If you push it too hard you could get mana sick. You need to be more careful.” “Yes, father.” I nodded my head groggily in response. I lay my head down on his shoulder and quickly fell asleep. I didn’t end up getting that piece of chocolate cake in the end.

Darien POV

What the hell was that? The spell started slowly creating a normal 1st circle rock hand until Darius' mana went berzerk. That usually only happens when someone has such a strong visual representation of a spell that they can change its very essence. I showed an example of this a little over a week ago when I made a flame serpent blow apart into dozens of smaller serpents. That’s only possible because I’ve practiced and battled with that spell for over a decade now.

Darius used the rock hand spell less than 20 times before he did that. The hand that appeared was intimidating, I looked down at my hand which had been calloused and cut from fighting on the front lines, and a warm feeling spread throughout my whole body. Could he have such a strong image because he was looking at my hand? My son is adorable! He can perform magic like that because he's thinking of me? I couldn’t help, but tear up a little bit. I've gotten really lucky to have such an outstanding son. I'll have the chefs make him something special.

As Darien was having his own misunderstandings Elaine was planning out Darius’s lesson plan. “If he can master the easy spells in a week I can start teaching him the advanced stuff 1 week earlier!” No one was there to correct her on what was so easy about that. “Maybe we can start even sooner!” As Darius' family was excited by his growth the boy in question had fallen asleep due to overexertion. Darius’s parents decided to let him sleep in.