In the sitting room of the Avantus home, several days after Lieve received the sheet of paper from the Varinius Magician School recruiter, Andric finally succeeded in orating the words Lieve had copied onto his slate.

He spoke, clearly and fluently, “Growth from longevity. Eternally cast upon the veil of advancement. With bound nail to produce infinity.”

Earlier, just a moment before saying the chant, Andric had mentally prepared himself to see his fingernails grow, as they had done when Lieve said the chant, and he wasn’t prepared for a blistering headache to assault his brain. Sure, his fingernails grew, but his head might have grown horns.

Ignoring his longer nails, Andric slapped his hands to his forehead and laid back. With his small frame, he could easily lay down on his family’s large, cushioned chairs, and it allowed him to wholly experience the migraine that suddenly appeared at the end of his chant.

Lieve walked into the room at a brisk pace, attracted by Andric’s unintentional groans, but slowed down when she saw him holding his head. She said, “I can’t do anything about that, sorry,” and took the slate from where Andric dropped it.

When Lieve picked up the slate, Andric reached one hand out for it, while keeping his other hand on his forehead. Lieve looked at Andric’s pained face, then the slate, and then Andric’s hand and said, “Alright, but wait until that headache calms down.”

Before Lieve left, she palmed her own forehead, which made Andric know that she knew that kind of pain he was in. He didn’t understand the word ‘headache’ when she spoke, but he did know ‘wait’ and was intending to do that even without Lieve’s advice. He placed the slate between him and the chair’s backrest, then promptly fell asleep.

Among the many complications that Andric’s new body inherently carried, it seemed to have an uncanny about to sleep whenever and wherever. He only needed to close his eyes and focus for a few minutes, and sleep would naturally overtake him.

Sometime later, Lieve woke Andric up for dinner. Judging by the light that came through the window, several hours had passed, but Andric’s headache had not passed. It had calmed down some, though, so, after eating Lieve’s soup, Andric returned to the sitting room and sat back up with his slate.

He readied for mind for the next headache, then said “Growth from longevity. Eternally cast upon the veil of advancement. With bound nail to produce infinity.”

Andric hadn’t noticed when his nails returned to their original size, but they quickly grew again, and the headache returned in full force. Like if having nails driven into his skull, Andric saw white and collapsed in pain.

He had just slept for several hours; sleeping again, so soon after the first time, would be more difficult, but possible. He willed it to happen, and thus went to sleep.

When he woke up, it was night, and someone had placed him in his bed on the second floor of the house. He had his own room, but it was mostly barren. Besides a mattress on the floor, he only had a few blankets and wood and stone toys. Moonlight shone through his bedroom window, and his headache still persisted. For the time being, Andric would need to hold off on learning how to use magic and let his headache settle down.

Andric went back to sleep, and he didn’t wake up again until morning. Wolter came home late at night and left for work shortly before early lunch, which meant he could spend most of the morning with Andric. Though Lieve took up most of the responsibility of teaching Andric, Wolter still liked to have his own contributions.

“Breath, Andric, Breath,” Wolter spoke and made exaggerated breathing movements. He raised his chest up, then lowered it down and blew air out his mouth. He then said, “Growth from longevity. Eternally cast upon the veil of advancement. With bound nail to produce infinity,” while holding out the back of his hand to Andric.

Andric sat in a chair in the sitting room, and Wolter stood a few feet in front of him. When Wolter finished the chant, his nails grew wildly and in my directions. They curved and twisted, which Wolter thought was hilarious, but Andric didn’t laugh.

His headache was gone, and he was ready to try again with a fresh mind. In his hands, he held his slate, and he read, “Growth from longevity. Eternally cast upon the veil of advancement. With bound nail to produce infinity.”

Exactly like the day before, Andric’s nails grew and his skull radiated with mental pain. However, the new headache surged lesser than the day before, and Andric could feel a strange, uniquely mysterious, tingle in his brain. The tingling feeling quickly dissipated, but it was definitely there.

That mysterious feeling in his brain, like rain pouring on him, had to be related to using magic, Andric was sure of it - hopeful beyond anything else. He had never felt anything like the sensation of a mystical substance flowing out from his brain.

A lesser man would have thought something was wrong with him, as if his brain might be liquefying from the pain of the headaches, but Andric felt no such fear. In the wake of his experiences at the end of his previous life, Andric had no room for emotions such as terror or horror.

If Andric had his brain melt due to his quest for power: such is life.