I followed Richard over to the stone building. When I entered my gaze was fixed on the magic circle engraved onto the solid slate floor. It looked like something a bunch of teenage girls would use to try and summon the devil. I decided to ask him.

“We’re not summoning something right?”

He just stopped for a moment from rummaging through a wooden cabinet to the side. The room was completely dark except for the light entering through the door. I heard him snort as he went back to rummaging through the cabinet. A few seconds later he let out an “Ah…” Signalling he found were whatever he was looking for was.

“Don’t worry boy, as long as someone doesn’t use blood, no array will summon any demons.”

I let out a sigh of relief but stop when he continues.

“I think, it was my Great Uncle who made that circle and he said just to never put blood on it.”

I just slump my shoulders since I can never tell when he is joking or not. He then picks up the sword and places it in the centre of the circle and then says.

“Get in there then.”

As he gestures to it.

I comply and walk towards the centre. The magic circle is about Three metres across. It consists of an outer ring about half a meter deep which has symbols I can’t understand. Inside the ring is a geometric pattern which hurts my mind when I stare at it for too long. I sit in the central hexagon cross legged.

Richard then lays the Sword on my lap. It feels really heavy, like it will break all my bones any moment. He then leans down and pours a dark blue liquid onto the engravings. As he bends up, I hear my back snap, but he just seems to ignore it. He then instructs me what to do.

“Listen Boy, if you mess this up you won’t be able to do this again.”

I just nod my head as he continues.

“When the circle glows close your eyes and try not to think of anything. Whatever you do don’t get up or move at all, got it.”

I just nod vigorously as he turns around and walks towards the door. It creaks to a shut bathing the room in darkness. I close my eyes, trying to wait for whatever is going to happen. There is a flash that comes through my eyelids. I ignore it and try to clear my mind.

Meditation and all that crap were something far from what I could achieve in my previous life. I just had the problem that when I tried to sit around and meditate or relax, my mind would start to wonder, and it would just increase my stress levels.

But for some reason, for the first time in both my lives my mind felt clear. I heard nothing. I felt nothing, not even the sword on my lap. I had a sudden breakthrough in my head space. That trance that people had when they meditated. It felt exactly how I did when Painting or just lost in thought. It’s like I exist in every moment in my life at the same time except the present.

In my headspace which is clear and calm for the first time in my new life, I notice a cloud begin to come over it. Like the wind dragging in the storm front. The cloud went over my mind, causing me to exit the tranquillity I had found. The heavy metal of the weapon dug into me while dirtying my trousers.

With a jolt, the door opened, and I saw Richard on the other side. He smiled, having realized I’d succeeded. I shoved the sword of my lap and got up from the circle, my body drenched in sweat.

Richard then says.

“There’s a carriage waiting for you. Go home, and when you can run around your house twenty times with this in your hands then come back and I can begin to teach you.”

I just nod but decide to ask a question.

“Why don’t we start with using wooden swords instead?”

A slight frown appears on his face, but he answers anyway.

“Because if your body can’t even handle that then it won’t be able to practice any of the movements properly. It now thirty times, get out of here.”

I knew he was serious by the look in his eye, but he wasn’t angry because the tone in his voice was that of a concerned one. I just walked towards the gate in the wooden palisade which was now closed as the sun had fallen.

I wondered how long I had been in there for. As soon as I got into the carriage, Richard appeared and placed the sword on the opposite seat. As soon as the attendant closed the carriage door, he jumped onto the seat next to the driver.

As we made our way towards the estate, I struggled to stay awake. After about half an hour I dozed off.

…

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of metal being hammered which soon faded once I sat up. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before getting up.

I notice that the curtains are open, and the sun is already out of view. Meaning it is towards the later part of the morning or even past noon. For someone like me who usually wakes up before sunrise I realise the bonding ritual must have really exhausted me. I get up and head towards my dressing room to get out of these sweat covered night-clothes.

After grabbing a bite to eat I head to the rear garden. The sun is almost at noon when I reach the outdoors just as I put the last bit of bread in my mouth. I hear a unrhythmic thumping sound in the distance that I instantly recognize.

I walk towards the sound while using my tongue to check for any crumbs. In an enclosed garden surrounded by brick walls is a training range for magic.

There I find Anna and Esther. Esther is standing a few metres behind anna correcting her posture as anna tries to summon ice and send it straight at a scare-crow like construct about twenty metres away.

Anna’s feet follow an exact pattern as she waves her hand over a bucket of water below and in front of her. It still amazes me every time I see any magic or aura being used.

“Keep your back straight. No to tense. Relax.”

Esther continues to lecture anna as drops of water follow her hand and crystalize before making a beeline for the target. Sometimes hitting, but most smashing against the brick wall before she begins to repeat the movements.

Her powers seem more like something from Avatar, but I’ve seen Henri’s Magic and her barley moves when casting his lightning.

“Uhhh…”

I exclaim as I walk away from the walled garden. As much as I like my new family, I miss earth. Well mostly the music but even though I’m in a magical world I can’t learn any magic. I’m not even aloud to read any books about it.

Though I understand why. Books are expensive so why would you allow just anyone touch them. Even I have to ask to just touch a book and that is while being supervised.

I decide to go and walk around the garden. There isn’t really much else to do around here but I enjoy it non the less.

…

“Why can’t I learn magic before being baptised?”

I ask inside the library while sitting at a table with Henri sitting at the other end reading a book while I practice my writing. It like a mix between English and Brahmic. So not as hard as Kanji but harder than the Latin alphabet to write.

I can already read pretty well but I do need a dictionary for a few words. I’m copying random passages from a story book about a great hero, it’s one of many and it’s perfect for practicing.

Henri looks up from his book and speaks.

“Because the baptism that unblocks the core and allows the use of magic. If you try to learn magic before then you just end up exploding. That’s why the magic books are locked up. So, brats like you don’t kill themselves.”

I just nod while processing his words before then asking another question.

“What about auras then?”

He just let’s out a sigh before looking up from the old tome he’s halfway through. He then answers.

“Well. Auras don’t run of mana but use the spiritual energy in our surroundings to strengthen the body. Again, without proper training you’ll just explode and cause quite a mess. You wouldn’t want to burden someone with cleaning that up, would you?”

I just chuckle at his joke as I go back to practicing. He lets out a small smirk at my expression before being re-enraptured by the tome. I hate writing but it is one of those things that have to be done.

…

‘Why the fuck am I putting up with this?’

I snap out of my thoughts as a cup of tea is poured in front of me. In the last few years my caramel coloured hair has begun to darken slightly to more of a milk chocolate. Back on earth I always had wanted a sister.

But, now I was facing the consequences. The dreaded forced tea party. But this time instead of a bunch of dolls and fake tea it’s actually a bunch of teenage girls around anna’s age who is thirteen and with actual tea. I just glad I’m not in puberty or this would be pretty awkward.

Did I mention that the sun here has slight red hint instead of yellow though I don’t think that affects much other then maybe the amount of radiation we get. I slowly sip the tea while being careful to savour the flavour.

It has a hint of muscat in it probably a Darjeeling then or whatever it’s called in this world. I prefer good old English breakfast, but it probably called something different if it even exists in this world.

There is the odd giggle and bit of gossip going around as the tea party occurs. There are five other girls who I know the name of, but they are all of a lower rank and are of no importance.

I snort almost choking and the sip of tea I just took after that thought causing everyone to turn towards me…

…

“Ha, haa.”

I let out a high pitched chuckle as the gelatinous blob in front of me tries to slide away after I poked it. It is of course a slime that managed to make it into the garden. It’s only the size of a tennis ball and is a transparent blue colour. In the middle is a tiny blue crystal no bigger than a grain of rice.

‘Rice…’

I shake my head as I fight not to fall into the trap of all Isekai protagonists and worship rice for some reason. I instead should do the British thing.

‘Baked Beans…’

That’s better. I hum the tune to I’m a believer while following the slime for a while as it goes around the garden eating the odd leaf or blade of grass. At one point a fly lands on its membrane which it just sinks into, and I watch in fascination as it’s slowly dissolved.

It seems they have the ability to manipulate their insides and make their outer membrane permeable. The best theory I can come up with is that they are giant amoebas but that’s only a guess.

It fights for a few minutes before stopping to try and escape, most likely due to drowning. It will take a few hours for it to be digested. I get bored after a while and start climbing tree.