I Ask You, What Is Magic?

"Give me three reasons as to why you want to be a stonesmith and why I should be supporting you." Eloise sternly asked Tristan who sat opposite her at the dinner table.

Ryan and Oliver sat at the sidelines on the couch, silently sipping their morning tea while the head of the house interrogated the eldest son of the house, as if he was asking for money to buy more drugs.

"So, uh... I want to be a stonesmith because, uh... " Tristan stuttered as he fidgeted around in his seat, looking everywhere but at his mother.

[He's nervous.]

'Yeah, no shit. I couldn't even tell.' Ryan thought back sarcastically. He could see his brother twiddling his thumbs beneath the table.

"Look me in the eyes." Eloise told Tristan sternly, knocking on the table in front of her.

"I don't think I've seen her *this* mad before in my life." Oliver leaned closer and whispered in Ryan's ears, to which he just nodded slowly, not wanting to bring her wrath unto himself.

Tristan, being the most mature out of them, tried to gain his cool back by sitting up straighter and looked straight into Eloise's eyes.

"I want to build," He said slowly as first, "I want to build stronger buildings."

With each word he spoke, he gained more confidence until there was a sputtering flame in his eyes.

"I want to protect every one of you, and building a stronger home is the very first step. If at all possible, I want to build a bastion — an impenetrable bastion. And I believe stonesmithing is what I can do best, so I want to be of use. Those are my three reasons." He finished with a serious face, sitting straight and his fists clenched tightly.

*Clap clap clap*

Ryan clapped from his spot on the couch, slowly standing up.

"Mom, I don't know what you were looking for, but I fully support Triss." He said as he walked over to Tristan and sat beside him, slapping him on the back with a wide grin, "That was an awesome speech!"

In response, Tristan deflated like a balloon, as if embarrassed, unaware of their mother smiling at both of them proudly.

"I wanted to make sure that you knew what you were getting yourself into. Every trade is a hard earned one, but Stonesmithing is an especially labor intensive work. Of course I approve of your choice. What, did you think I wouldn't?" She laughed, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

Ryan and Tristan looked at each other, slightly dumbfounded at being played, as Oliver walked over to them.

"Wow, that was kind of both unexpected and expected. Glad I got a demo first. Nice words though, elder brother. I want a new house too. You're gonna build me one, yeah?" He teased Tristan with a smile while reaching his arms up and strongly patting his brother's shoulder, making the other two break out in smirks for different reasons.

Ryan chipped in: "Me too, big brother, I want a cool house too!"

"You guys..." Tristan raised a hand to cover his reddened face, embarrassed.

Eloise stepped back out of the kitchen with the breakfast on a tray in her gloved hands, sprinkling *just* the right amount of salt on his wounds.

"Don't forget about your promise, either. I want my bastion as well." She smiled, setting up the table with loaves of bread, butter and jam.

Under this light atmosphere, they ate breakfast, continually teasing the poor Triss.

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Soon after breakfast and some light banter, Eloise, Oliver and young Ryan were walking the once again nervous Tristan to the headsman's house near the center of the village's residential area.

An year ago, Eloise had deemed it safe enough to walk Ryan outside the boundary of their cozy home.

On his first outing, Ryan was awed throughout the way — first at the giant, rounded stone to the side of the eatery's entrance, then at the sparsity of both technology and people, the big farms and the greenery everywhere.

That day, he saw firsthand the wonder of magic — fields tilling themselves, water being pulled from the ground and made safe to drink, and so on.

But sadly, seeing it all was not as rewarding as it had first seemed. As he still needed to attain what Tristan was going to in the coming days.

Amidst thoughts and anticipation, Ryan and the rest reached the headsman's house, one of the three multi-storey buildings in the entire village, standing two storeys tall. Also, headsman's was one of the very few houses to be built completely out of stone, instead of wood.

Attached to the left of the building was a small hall with a single entryway, guarded by a well-groomed young man seated on a wooden chair, engrossed in a book. A pair of thin-rimmed spectacles rested on his nose-bridge, lending him an air of quiet sophistication.

Noticing our approach, he carefully placed a bookmark between the pages before closing the book with deliberate precision. Rising smoothly to his feet, he adjusted his glasses and offered a courteous nod.

"It is a pleasure to see you, Lady Eloise," he greeted, his voice measured and refined. A polite smile accompanied his words as he made a subtle bow. Then, shifting his gaze to Tristan, he extended a hand with practiced grace. "And you must be young Tristan."

Slightly overwhelmed by part nervousness and part excitement, Tristan returned the handshake with a reserved smile.

"Lovely to see you as well, Quin," Eloise responded with a smile, her tone warm yet composed. "Would you mind if we accompanied him inside?"

"Naturally," Quin replied smoothly, stepping aside with an elegant gesture. "Terry, Cloe, and Lola have already made their selections. Only a handful of children remain, and I expect the last of them to finish by sundown." He delivered a quick rundown of this year's Beast Soul selection with effortless poise as he lead us into the hall.

[Well, well, well. Isn't this a treasure trove of data.] Codex cackled like a gremlin in Ryan's head.

The hall had display shelves on all three opposite walls, showcasing about twenty perfectly round orbs, each resting on a soft cushion with a wooden plaque in front of it.

"I would not recommend disturbing them, Oliver." Quin, with his hands behind his back, called out calmly to the curious hand reaching out to a orb on the lower shelf pulsing in a blue hue, making Oliver back down, and making Ryan give up on his own plans to examine them.

Still, he moved near one of the shelves and tried to sink into light meditation without drawing much attention to himself.

At the front, Eloise turned to his eldest and softly said, "I am just here as your advisor, sweetie. It's your choice on what to pick, I'm sure you will make the right choice."

In response, Tristan wordlessly nodded and moved towards the nearest shelf and started inspecting the plaques.

--Rainbow Chameleon--

--A slow creature capable of blending in with the environment as long as it stays still--

--Only the body colors are affected, no change in smell or noise produced.--

Just reading the first sentence on the plaque, Tristan immediately lost interest and moved onto the second one.

Whereas, his youngest brother was looking at something truly magical.