River awoke in a large bed in an unfamiliar room. As he sat up he felt for the deep scratches on his leg and the scrap he got from the rook earlier that day. Neither were there. The skin was smooth and without a blemish on it. Could it have been a dream? No, there was no way it all was a dream.

On the chair next to him were his shirt and pants. He didn't know how it happened but the blood stains and rips were gone. After putting his clothes on he exited the room slowly being cautious.

As he walked towards the den he saw the tall old man he had seen just before he passed out. He was throwing wood on a fire and cooking some stew in a pot held above it. Without turning around the old man asked “how are you feeling?”

River was silent for a moment and then said “I'm feeling good, thank you”.

“The stew will be ready in a little while. You should eat something before you leave”. He said this stirring the pot with his right arm, still not turning around. His other arm was covered by a long sleeve that went so far down River couldn't even see his left hand

River asked the old man “Why are my injuries gone?

The old man finally turned and said “I take it you already have a guess. Why don't you tell me what you think?”

River softly said “magic?”

The old man said “If I told you anything different would you believe me?” River stood silently for a moment and then shook his head. The old man said “then I suppose there was no need to ask in the first place was there boy?”

River again looked to the spot his injuries would have been. “So magic can heal injuries?”

The old man said “Some injuries it can. It is more accurate to say magic allows your body to heal itself faster and better. It isn't like it can heal everything though”.

River asked “So how did you get the blood out of my clothes?”

The old man said “water magic, if one is so inclined, can be used to clean things by washing them.”

The boy asked “Then how did you fix the holes in my shirt?”

The old man turned and walked slowly towards the boy towering over and looking down on him. The wrinkles on his face made him appear ancient and all knowing. He raised his right arm to the sky and looked upward “my boy, that is the greatest power of all!” Then he bent down to look at the River and said “Nothing less than my famous buttonhole stitch!”

River stood there dumbfounded “are you serious?”

The old man said “of course, look at that stitch work, if you can even see it! It blends so well into the clothes that it's all but invisible. I've thought about letting the world know about my talents but after careful consideration I think it be too much of a bother. Consider yourself lucky to be graced with such an honor. Leaves you speechless, does it not?”

River was speechless. He couldn't believe this old man he was in such awe of earlier for his ability to heal could be such an idiot. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs out and said “it's wonderful, thank you”.

The old man looked back to his stew and gave it a stir. Seeing the fire was dying down a bit he made a small fire spell and cast it under the pot. The boy was it shock. Yes it was a tiny spell but magic was magic! If he ever wanted to learn how to do magic he couldn't let this chance slip through his fingers.

River said “excuse me sir.” The old man turned to face him. River continued “if it isn't too much trouble would you mind.... could you please teach me!”

The old man thought to himself for a moment and after a long time said “very well, if that is what you really want, then wait here.”

River couldn't believe his good luck! Finally he would learn the secrets of magic! It was something he had dreamed about his whole life and worked hard at for every day and now he would finally have his chance.

The old man returned with some fabric and a box and set it all on the small table in front of River. He opened the box in which was an assortment of needles and thread. The old man said “the first rule about stitching is you must remember to be careful not to stick yourself. After that it is a matter of concentration and making sure each stitch is equal distance apart.”

The boy interrupted and said “um, thank you sir for the thought but I actually was wondering about learning magic perhaps?”

The old man stood there silently for a moment and then laughed “oh, of course that is what you meant, how silly of me!” As he laughed River laughed too more to be polite than because he found it funny.

The old man said “Oh I should have known that is what you meant, I can't believe I made such a foolish mistake. Well my dear boy, of course I won't teach you magic”. He then went back to stirring his stew.

River again was in shock “do you mind if I ask why not?”

The old man said “Oh, I don't mind you asking at all dear boy. The answer is I don't wish to teach you or anyone else about magic. This stew is really smelling good!”

River said “But magic is something I have been wanting to learn for a very long time”.

The old man laughed “A boy as young as you has the nerve to say 'a very long time'? I will have you know I have had trips to the bathroom that have taken longer than you have been alive”.

River said “I can pay you!”

The old man said “Oh you can? How much can you pay me?”

River thought for a moment and said “two frogs!”

The old man said "I already took those, they are in the stew right now”.

River said “but they're mine!”

The old man said “Well considering I saved your life, healed your injuries, fixed your clothes and plan to feed you; I would say for me to call 2 frogs even would be very generous”.

River had no idea what to say to this. Obviously he couldn't say he was wrong. He only weakly uttered “I can bring you more frogs!”

The old man laughed and said “Okay my dear boy, if you bring me one thousand frogs then maybe I will consider teaching you magic”.

River yelled “But that isn't possible!”

The old man said “really?” he mocked . “Well then it sounds like the perfect amount!”

The old man gave him some stew and said “You should eat this and go. It will be getting dark soon and your parents will start to worry”.

River ate his soup but felt defeated. Here he had a chance to finally learn magic and this stubborn old man wouldn't teach him a thing. He felt for the first time in his life he would never be able to achieve his dream. They ate the rest of the meal in silence and quickly.

The old man walked River to his front door and pointed out a little used path for him. “You can go down this path safely. You have no need to worry about large cats or bears or anything else. They are usually not in this part of the woods and I have made it so they will not appear again. I would walk you out of the forest myself, but as you can see I'm an old man and like to be left alone. So good luck with your search for learning magic, goodbye!”

With that the old man shut the door. River stood still for a moment hoping the old man would pop out and say 'of course I shall teach you magic'. It didn't happen, so he started to walk. Who knows when he would meet someone else who had magic. Would he ever? Certainly magic was more common in other parts of the continent but in poor farming areas such as this or neighboring towns it was incredibly rare.

If he wanted to learn he was sure the old man was the way. How could he get the old man to teach him though? He hated that old man's self satisfied laugh and his joke about needing 1000 frogs to teach him. River stopped for a moment and got an idea. A wide big white grinned appeared on his face. That was it!

River skipped home the rest of the way, getting home just before it got dark. When asked about his day by his parents he left out the parts about the old man, the bullies and the big cat. That night he enjoyed his boar stew and went soundly to bed.

The next day he woke up with a vigor his parents had never seen before. He got ready in a hurry and started to rush to finish his chores one after another. Then he went to help his father with farming and got his usual day's work done by lunch time. After he ate he asked his parents if he could go out to play. Seeing he got everything done they wanted him to do today they decided to let him.

He went down to the stream and into the woods to hunt for frogs; as many as he could find. When he saw Al he stopped a bit to play together. Al decided to show him a few basic fighting moves and stances. They agreed to meet there tomorrow to play and train.

By the time he was done Lee found 12 frogs. It would get dark soon so he decided he should set off now. He walked into the forest and onto the path he took to leave the old mans house yesterday. Reversing his steps he soon found himself on the front door and knocked.

After a moment the old man opened the door and looked down “oh, its you again. Something you want? Perhaps to thank me for yesterday with sweets made by your mother? That would be very nice and all but really, I just prefer to be left alone”.

River said “No, I am not here to thank you. I am here cause I want to learn magic!”

The old man laughed and said “It seems you forgot about our talk yesterday. I have no plans to teach you or anyone else magic. Now if you'll excuse me-”

River interrupted “You said if I got you 1000 frogs you'd teach me magic?”

The old man asked “What?”

River took the sack by his side and emptied it on the old man's steps. Out fell 12 frogs, River said “that's 12. I will be back tomorrow with more”.

The old man said “You didn't listen too closely. I said maybe I’d consider teaching you. I never said I would. Even if you bring me 1000 frogs I am not going to teach you anything so you may as well give up. I don't want 1000 frogs in any case so this bribe won't work”

River said “You promised to consider it if I did... are you a liar?”

The old man for the first time looked mad “you should be careful with your words boy! I am no liar”.

River said “Neither am I!” I will being you 1000 frogs and make you consider it!”

The old man said “I will just consider it and say no.”

River said “Then I will bring you 1000 more frogs and make you consider it again”

The old man said “If you wish to waste your time that is fine by me!” and closed the door.

River yelled “I will make you consider it again and again and again until you teach me!” and left.

The next day was the same. River did his chores then his helped his father with work on the farm. Again he was finished by lunch. He went off to find frogs and trained with Al. After saying goodbye he gathered frogs and went back to the old man's house.

He knocked on the door “go away boy, I am busy and will not teach you!”

River said “I have 15 more frogs. I guess I will just leave them on your steps if you won't answer. See you tomorrow!”

The old man yelled “don't come back!”

The next day River did his chores and farm work. He trained and played with Al and brought more frogs to the old. The old man didn't say anything when he knocked this time. River yelled “I know you're there and I am leaving the frogs. This brings the total up to 37”.

Days repeated like this over and over again. Once the old man realized silence wouldn't work he said “keep this up and I will tell your parents you are harassing an old man!”

River said “Then I will tell them and everyone else you use magic!”

The old man said “Why would they believe you?”

River said “Cause like I said before, I don't lie. Why would they believe you over their own son?” With that he dumped frogs on his step and left.

This continued for a month. River was getting pretty good at sparing with Al and he was now up to 341 frogs with the old man.

This time when he knocked the old man answered “why do you want to learn magic from me so much? Surely you could find someone else who would teach. With all the effort you put into bugging me I'm sure if you put the same effort into finding someone else you could”.

River said “There is no one else. No one knows magic around here but you. The few people in the town that pass through that know magic would charge too much. My parents can't afford that”.

The old man said “listen, I'm an old man. I just want to be left alone. Surely you understand that. All I hear at night now are these damn frog croaking. When I walk outside I am liable to step on them if I'm not careful. Can't you stop bringing them here?”

River said “I will if you agree to teach me magic”

The old man paced back and forth looking at the boy. He had not slept well in a week and saw the determination in the boys eyes. How long would he keep this up? Surely he would give up at some point right? Still the walk here and back and the finding of the frogs, how many hours did that take? No, he would need to come up with something different if he wanted the boy to leave him alone.

“Fine!” the old man said “I will consider teaching you but you need to pass my test to prove you are serious and worthy of being my student. If you do that I'll teach you!”

River said “Name it, I am sure I can accomplish anything you give me if it's fair!”

The old man said “Okay there are a few things you need to do. The first is remove all these frogs from my house and property. You will come back every day to remove them until I don't hear a peep. That is the easy part though. The next part will be difficult... more difficult than anything you have ever attempted before. I think it will no doubt break your spirit if you dare attempt it. This is your last chance to turn back!”

River said “I am ready for anything you give me sir!”

The old man said “Okay, wait here...” He left to go get something from his room and came back. He dropped a thick heavy book on the floor in front of River “There it is”.

River picked up the heavy book and said “I don't understand”

The old man retorted “What do you mean you don't understand? This is what you must do. You must memorize every single part of this book. Did you think magic was all flashy spells and explosions?” The old man laughed.

“No! It involves more than anything else learning principles and studying. This is a book I wrote myself about the beginning principles of magic. It's only the the basics though and pretty simple to be honest. Once you learn that book I have many other books for you to learn. But you must memorize them all. Read them cover to cover, over and over again until you know everything by heart”.

River said “That isn't fair! You said it be fair!”

The old man laughed and said “Open the book and pick a page and paragraph”.

The boy picked page 453 and the 4th paragraph down. The old man said unable to see the book “let me see... oh I know... that is on the basis of water magic theory.

It says 'Water magic is based on the elements of hydrogen and oxygen. When matter transforms to create water all matter is sucked in and transformed equally. Where many wizards make a mistake is the failure to recognize the oxygen they use to create water is already present in the air. Therefore in theory if one were use the oxygen in the air to make water the mana saved by doing so would be significant'

Does that sound about right boy?”

River looked at the lines on the page. It was word for word correct. “How did you do that?”

The old man laughed “I memorized it. No magic, no tricks, just hard work. Did you think being a wizard would be easy?

River said “of course not!”

The old man said “good, after you get the frogs out of here you are to take that book home and read it over and over until you can quote it verbatim just like I did!”

River asked “verbatim?”

The old man say “it means word for word”. The old man left for a second time and came back with a large dictionary. “That contains the meaning of every word. If you don't know what a word means then look it up. Reading without understanding is pointless”.

River held both books. Together they weighed a lot for his 8 year old frame.

The old man said “well want to give up yet boy?”

River said “no chance!”

The old man watched the boy go outside to gather frogs and thought to himself “The boy has guts, I'll give him that. He'll give up after a while I'm sure...”