After learning that Lakshman could use magic, Indra called for a family meeting. A while later they were seated in the living room. Lakshman was sitting next to his mother, Lakshmi, and looked worriedly at his father.

“Indra, what’s the matter? Why did you call a family meeting all of a sudden?” Lakshmi asked her husband as she gently patted her son on the head.

Indra was not looking at them. Instead, he had his eyes closed and arms crossed. It seemed like he was thinking because his eyebrows kept twitching up and down. A moment later, he opened his eyes and unfolded his arms as he looked at his wife and son.

“Lakshmi, I just discovered something a few minutes ago,” he told her in a flat voice. “Okay...? And? What is it?”

Indra paused for a moment to think what he was about to say. He sighed and flatly said “Lakshman can use magic.”

For a moment, those words did not sink in. Lakshmi simply looked at him blankly and asked “What? Come on, Indra. That’s a silly joke, even from you. How can Lucky know how to use magic at such a young age? We never taught him any because you decided not to let him

train with magic, right?”

“It’s not a joke!” he said firmly which startled her.

Her eyes widened slightly in realisation and she turned to look at her son. Lakshman, sensing her gaze, turned his head to look back at her.

“Lucky...?” “Yes, mum?”

“I-Is it true that you used magic?”

Lakshman simply looked at her blankly and asked, “Magic? What’s magic?”

Lakshmi, hearing those words, leaned back and gasped. Indra’s eyes widened in surprise and he said, “Lucky! When you healed the cat, what you used there was magic!”

“Oh...! So that’s magic!” Lakshman said as he finally understood what magic was. “You have to be kidding me,” Indra muttered in disbelief.

“How did you know to use that spell, Lucky? Did anyone teach you how to do it?” Lakshmi asked in a puzzled voice.

“Well... I remember you using it on me when I got sick. Because I got better after that, I thought I should do the same for that cat. That’s why I used that... um...”

“Magic spell. You used words of incantation and then said the magic spell’s name to execute it,” Indra said in an exasperated voice.

“So you really did use magic then?” Lakshmi asked in a hushed voice.

When Lakshman nodded, she seemed to become stiff for a moment. Then a wide smile suddenly spread across her face and she hugged her son tightly.

“Awesome, awesome, awesome! That’s my boy! Wow! You used magic when you’re only seven! Hahaha! You’re more like your mother than your father, Lucky! I’m so proud of you!”

“M-Mum?” Lakshman asked in a puzzled voice as he was hugged by her.

Lakshmi was very excited for a few more seconds and looked at her husband and said “See,

Indra! I told you there was the possibility he had it in him to use magic! Now here’s the proof!”

Indra simply looked at her and shook his head. Then he said, “No, Lakshmi. We’ve been through this when Lucky was born. I’m not letting my son master magic. Got it?”

“Oh, come on, Indra! He’s got talent! If he gets trained, he will—!” Lakshmi said but stopped talking when he raised his hand to stop her.

“Whether he becomes strong or not with magic, I don’t care. I’m not letting Lucky master magic. It is completely useless,” Indra said flatly.

Lakshmi’s eyes widened in shock and she asked “What do you mean by ‘useless’?”

Indra sighed and said “Like I said, magic is useless. Magicians need to stand around and speak out those incantations correctly using the Magic Force. Then they have to shout out the name of the spell to execute them. That is a total waste of time when close combat solves everything!”

“W-What?! Are you stupid?! Using magic spells would only take around five to ten seconds! How can you say it’ll take longer and everything?!”

“Well then! That’s such a waste of five to ten seconds! In those five to ten seconds, Lucky could’ve been able to destroy plenty of monsters and inflict lots of physical damage! Magic only takes away the precious time a warrior needs to fight to the fullest!”

“Yet, magic is what gives you the advantage if your opponent is also a magician! What if the spells they use stop you from getting to them quickly enough to deliver a blow?”

“Then Lucky just needs to learn to use Weapon Force and Energy Force. I think you know that my master, Darian Ronald, only uses the Weapon Force and never once bothered to learn Energy Force and Magic Force.”

“That’s because your master is really strong and is a King ranked warrior!

“He’ll master them regardless of whether he learns magic or not, but it comes in handy when he cannot use normal strikes!”

They continued to argue on and on about how useful magic is or how a waste of time it is. Lakshman watched his parents argue in amazement. He had witnessed his parents sometimes argue, but this was the first time he had seen them arguing so heatedly.

A while later, it seemed the couple have become tired of arguing. They were out of breath and were breathing quickly. Indra was even sweating, although this was due to his concern that he might lose his arguing ground.

“W-Why... are you so... against Lucky learning... magic?” Lakshmi asked finally.

“Like I keep saying, it’s pointless. You magicians need to study these ridiculously long and powerful spells, practice with them until you master them. He just needs to master the sword and live with it. If he trains rigorously, he’ll become strong and he might even surpass me!” Indra said confidently.

“B-But... Magic is not so useless. Aren’t you forgetting that I’m a healer and using healing magic is what I specialise in?”

“For you, I understand, but I won’t let my son be the same. I want him to be a warrior that fights in the front lines. Magicians fight from the back of the line and they take forever to get their spells ready!”

“Then he just needs to master Voiceless Incantations—!”

Unable to face her teary face, he rose to his feet and said, “Lucky will not study magic! Is that clear?!”

With no choice in the matter, Lakshmi just nodded her head at him. Satisfied with the response, he left the room with a displeased look on his face. A few minutes later, they heard a whinny noise of a horse. Lakshman guessed that his father was going out while riding on his horse.

Lakshmi was crying as she put her hands over her face. Lakshman did not know what to do to stop his mother from crying.

Wanting to do something, he tentatively said “Mum, please stop crying...”

“Ah! I’m not really crying!” Lakshmi quickly said and she wiped the tears from her face. “B-But...”

“I’m just annoyed at how foolish your father is, Lucky. He thinks so little of the magicians, it makes me feel sad. Many of our friends are warriors, but there are also others who were magicians. It’s annoying that he keeps reminding himself about how our friends died when they could not protect themselves.”

“Does dad not want me to learn magic because he thinks I will die like them?”

“I am also thinking the same thing, Lucky. That man is just no brainer and all brawn. He trusts his strength and skills only in battle. So he fears what might happen to you if you learn magic.”

“What if I learn secretly?” Lakshman asked and he suddenly looked eager, but Lakshmi looked unhappy.

“Even if you did, I don’t know any other magic apart from healing type magic spells. You’ll need to be tutored in magic lessons, but I can’t do it. I would ask Mariana, but she doesn’t know about magic.”

They remained silent and, as time passed, Lakshmi finally got up. She smiled sadly at her son and left the room. Lakshman was troubled because of what just happened. He wanted to make his father happy, but seeing his crying mother just made him feel complicated.

After that, a few days went by silently. Indra and Lakshman continued their daily training early in the morning as per schedule. Then the remainder of time, Lakshman would study

while supervised by Mariana. During the times that they met, Indra and Lakshmi talked normally.

It seemed like they put the argument behind them, although there was a slight rift between them.

When Lakshman talked about it with Mariana, she simply said “This is normal between couples. Sometimes they argue and sometimes they are all lovey-dovey. It’s just a natural thing to happen when both of them get angry when opinions clash, but they get back together later! Just give them time and they’ll start smiling happily again.”

Lakshman believed her words and thought his parents will come together later. So, just like Mariana told him, he just let it go and left it to his parents to sort out. Then something happened that changed the course of his life.

It was a few weeks later and Lakshman was training with his father when a villager rushed in.

“Indra, there are a few monsters attacking the villages nearby!” the villager said hurriedly. “Okay! I’ll be there!” Indra said and he rushed into his house.

He immediately changed into his fighting clothes, put on his armour and left riding on his horse. Before leaving, he had told Lakshman to inform Lakshmi when she came home from work. Then he rode into the distance with the villager sitting behind him. Lakshman did as he was told and informed his mother later when she returned home.

“What?! Indra went after to fight several monsters in a nearby village?” Lakshmi exclaimed in shock.

Fearing trouble, she got onto another horse they owned and rode into town. She intended to go into town and alert the authorities to send help for her husband. Meanwhile, Lakshman and Marian stayed home in case someone came by to help.

An hour passed with no one coming to see them. Lakshman was pacing outside the house worriedly since he did not know what to do. Mariana asked him to sit inside several times, but his nervousness made him not feel like sitting still.

A few minutes later, he heard a neighing sound of a horse coming towards him. He ran towards the entrance gate and saw a figure, covered by a cloak, riding a horse towards them. The figure brought the horse to a stop and jumped down.

Lakshman was amazed at how tall the person was. The person was wearing a black hat, and had a body that was slim and was around one-eighty centimetres tall. The person was wearing a cloak that covered their body and face as they looked down at him.

“Is this the Reddy family house that requested assistance with a monster problem?” the person said and Lakshman was startled to hear the voice of a woman.

“Y-Yes! Dad went off in that direction to fight off some monsters that apparently attacked the nearby village!” Lakshman said quickly.

“I see, but unfortunately I don’t know the way around this area. Would you mind showing me the way?” the woman asked politely.

“I’ll show you the way!” Lakshman said firmly.

She helped him to sit on the back of the horse by easily swinging him up onto its back. Then she put the horse into a gallop and they sped away. The woman was good at handling the horse as she directed the horse where to go and it did as it was told.

With Lakshman’s guidance of the map and directions, they reached the nearby village in less than thirty minutes. When they got there, they saw that several of the buildings were smoking while others had partially been destroyed.

“Excuse me, but has anyone seen a certain warrior named Indra” the woman asked once she got down to speak to the local.

“Ah! Do you mean the warrior that chased out the hounds that attacked us?” a village girl asked and the woman nodded in reply. The village girl turned and pointed in a direction as she said, “He chased them away in that direction. I think he went to deal with them.”

“Understood,” the woman said and she jumped back on the horse and put it into a gallop in the indicated direction.

The horse raced in the direction the village girl pointed them in. As they raced in that direction, they could hear the sound of combat getting louder.

“It looks like your father is fighting just ahead!” the woman said and Lakshman nodded.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a spot and saw something amazing. Indra was fighting with several monsters with two heads at incredible speed. Although he was fighting them so quickly, he did not seem to be inflicting damage to them.

“Stay here!” the woman said as they jumped off the horse.

She extended her hand from under her cloak and a staff suddenly materialised out of thin air. She gripped it tightly and silently walked towards the combat. Indra was fighting really hard against the monsters while keeping away from getting hurt.

When she was in the right position, she began to prepare her spell before executing it. “Spirits of earth, solidify the earth and grab the enemies of my ally. Earth Bind!”

After saying the magic words, she tapped the ground with her staff. The next instance, the ground began to shake slightly. Indra and the dogs stumbled as the ground shook beneath them. Then the earth suddenly rose up the monster’s legs and bound them to the ground.

With the monster dogs unable to move from their positions, they no longer looked that dangerous. Indra looked at the leg bound monsters in confusion before looking around. When he spotted the woman, he nodded at her and rushed in to kill the monsters.

Once the fight was over, Indra arrived at where they were and whistled. From the distance, they heard hooves sound as the horse that Indra rose in galloped towards them.

“That’s one fine horse you have there,” the woman said and they saw her smile where her cloak did not cover her mouth.

“He and I have been partners for a long time!” Indra said proudly and he patted his horse affectionately.

Then the woman explained what happened for her to be there. Indra nodded in understanding and thanked her for coming to help. Then, together, they got back on their horse and rode back the way they came.

The villagers thanked Indra and the woman for helping. They were also curious about Lakshman, who had been hiding behind his father’s legs. Laughing at his son’s fearfulness, they got back on the horses and left for home.

“You’re safe!” was the first thing Lakshmi exclaimed when she saw them.

Lakshmi rushed towards them and hugged Lakshman. Indra eyed her with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t you worried about me?” he asked curiously.

“I was at first, but when I came home and Mariana told me that Lakshman went as a guide to the assisting woman, I became more worried about my son!” Lakshmi said in a firm voice and she glared at him.

Indra shook his head at her in exasperation. Then he turned and thanked the woman for her assistance once more. She told him it was her pleasure and was glad nothing bad happened to them.

“So how much would you like me to pay, Miss Magician?” Indra asked her. “Um...” the woman said and hesitated uncertainly.

Suddenly, Lakshmi looked up and was interested in the woman. After hearing her husband call her ‘Miss Magician’, she suddenly realised the woman was a magician. Taking this opportunity, she pushed past her husband and clasped the woman’s hands with hers.

“Please, miss! Can you please tell my stubborn husband that learning magic is not a bad thing? Please!” Lakshmi pleaded with the woman desperately.

“Lakshmi! What are you doing?!” Indra said in an annoyed voice and he dragged his wife away from her. Then he came back and said “I’m sorry, but my wife is a little stupid. Don’t mind her.”

The woman was not listening to him. The words that Lakshmi pleaded with her were ringing through her mind. At that moment, she realised the man of the house seemed to be not letting her son study magic.

“What she said...? Are you not letting your son study magic?” the woman asked curiously.

“No, but there’s really no need for—!” Indra began, but was interrupted by Lakshmi’s loud voice.

“Lucky was able to use an Advanced Ranked Healing Spell which I only was able to master when I was sixteen! That show should tell you that he is talented or not!” Lakshmi said loudly as she spoke over her husband.

“Lakshmi! Zip it! Outsiders don’t need to know about these sorts of things!” Indra said angrily.

“But you’re not even giving him a chance to learn! You’re just using your own prejudice that magic is useless, pointless and all those things you said a while ago!” Lakshmi said as tears formed in her eyes.

“Lakshmi...! Not now!” Indra muttered through gritted teeth.

“And then you went on saying how stupid and defenceless a magician is when it comes to physical combat! I’m a healer who specialises in healing magic! How am I supposed to feel about that?”

“Lakshmi! That’s enough!” Indra suddenly said angrily and he glared at her fiercely.

Seeing the sharp gaze he put her through, Lakshmi fell silent, but tears streamed down her face. Indra’s hand shook slightly as he turned back to speak with the magician woman. He tried to speak politely while wearing a smile.

“Please don’t mind what you just saw here. My wife’s a little stupid and doesn’t know what she’s talking about at all!” Indra said to the magician woman.

The woman remained quiet for a moment. Then she shifted as if she was looking at him and said “On the contrary, I am now even more inclined to see what your problem is.”

Indra, finally at his wits end, impatiently said “Look! You’re a stranger and this is our family issue. I’ll decide what is best for my son to learn! I don’t need the word of a stranger to tell me anything!”

“Even if it’s the word from a magic oriented race?” the woman said and she removed her cloak that was covering her face.

Lakshmi gasped by what she saw and Indra’s eyes widened in surprise. Lakshman, on the other hand, was mesmerised by the appearance of the woman.

The woman had blue diamond shaped eyes and long blue hair that fell down to her waist. Then there was the blue diamond-shaped crystal embedded on the centre of her forehead. Just from looking at her, Lakshman could only think of one word that described her; beautiful.

The woman ran her hand through her long blue hair and stared at him through her blue diamond shaped eyes. Indra was frozen for a moment before shaking his head to recover.

“You are...?” he said slowly as he tried to figure out her identity. “Sumara Manjuvad. I’m from the Manjuvad Demon Clan.”