It All Started With Lightning

The Choice Ceremony

The day everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was quite hot today. The sun looked like a giant firefly in the sky, scorching the air. There were hardly any clouds. Instead of being inside the castle in this hot weather, they decided to do this little activity in the garden. The garden of the castle used by the baron was quite large. You could ride dozens of horses in it if you wanted, but it was still very spacious. William went out for the first time. It was the first time his skin was exposed to the sun of the world. Before that, his parents had avoided everything in the excitement of being their first son.

When he saw the blue sky and the warm sun, he thought of the days when he went with his family to pick olives in their garden one summer day. Again, a feeling of longing flooded his body. After a while, when his mother took him from her lap, this feeling quickly disappeared. At a long banquet table, dozens of noble guests stared into his eyes. Thinking he should show some embarrassment, he grabbed his mother's long skirt and blushed. 'I'm pretty good at acting,' he thought.

When his mother took him back into her arms, he saw the long platform behind the banquet table. It was the same one he had seen the last time, but they had moved it to the garden. Theo rose from his chair. He raised his glass of wine and said, "First of all, I would like to thank you all for accepting my invitation. Today is my son's choice day. Now, with your permission, let's choose without keeping you waiting any longer." He said, pointing to the platform behind him.

All the nobles stood up. Meanwhile, the servants immediately moved the chairs and arranged them in a crescent shape in front of the choice table. When all the nobles were seated again, Theo, with his enormous size, took William from Sophia's lap. He took William and placed him at the far end of the rectangular table. Then he shouted, "You can choose anything you want."

William was excited in front of the audience. At first, he tried to walk, but he gave up because he thought it might attract attention and started to crawl. When he reached the end of the rectangular table, he had to be careful with his choices because the items he saw would determine his personality. In general, most children would choose candy or food, and some would choose toys. But William knew he would disappoint his parents if he made that choice.

He turned to look behind him and saw Theo's excited face and Seth's cunning gaze. From the first time he saw this man, he was irritated. He decided to play a game, after all, he was still a child. They weren't going to beat him, were they? (It would be really funny.)

First, he reached out his hand to the rows of candy balls. Then he turned to look back, and Seth's face was also excited. It's like, 'Choose it,' he shouted inwardly. When he turned around again, he was grinning. His hand kept going back and forth between candy, toys, and food, but never touched anything. Even when he didn't turn around, he could feel the disgusted faces of Seth and the other barons looking at him. He felt that he should not continue. But at the same time, he didn't want to draw attention to himself. From the novels he read, he always knew it was good to be a low-profile person.

Besides, he didn't want to choose just one. He had greed in him just like everyone else. That's why he chose a book first. Everyone who was eagerly waiting for him was relieved to see that he had chosen the book. But William did not stop there. Even though he knew that he was a prisoner of greed, he placed the wooden sword on the right side of the book and the stick with a single green leaf on the left side of the book. He took the three together and turned to his father. At first, Theo was disappointed that he had chosen the book. His teacher, Zimo, was ecstatic as he watched from the sidelines. However, when they saw that he was greedy and chose all three, they were awakened from their other feelings and began to feel resentment.

Greed was often found in the personality of the child who chose more than one. This was one of the worst behaviors according to the things they believed in. Seth and his friends were happy with this last situation. This Choice Ceremony generally pointed to the ninety percent truth. So they were no longer worried. Even the thought of killing little William slipped from their minds. "How much trouble could such a greedy brat cause them?" they thought. Like his father, they got the idea that his brain was full of muscles or something.

William's reason for choosing was quite different. He too was saddened to see the disappointed faces. But how could he know? His main goal was to show that he was a mage, a warrior, and an intelligent person at the same time. He was completely misunderstood. But he quickly pushed his sadness aside. 'Whatever...' he thought. 'It doesn't matter what they think. What matters is what I want.' He said from inside.

Theo scowled and took him from the table. He began to hold him like a dog. The servants cleared the table immediately. Sophia's mother began to draw a magic circle on the floor of the raised table.

This magic circle was drawn as a circle two meters by two meters. It looked like a windshield wiper. (Car's) In the middle was a metal rod that even William didn't know about. The rod's texture is ebony. 'This world is different,' he thought. The tip of the rod was sharp. She began to write something on the outermost ring of the circle at regular intervals from the end of the rod. He didn't know what the words meant. There was no such writing in the language Zimo had taught him. He added this to his list of questions. In the inner large circle, various shapes were drawn. Again, she drew a flame, a drop of water, a mountain shape, a tree, and a sword shape, in order. Finally, she had drawn a wind, a cloud being pushed by the wind, a circle resembling the sun with a letter he did not know, another sun that looked like a copy of the one next to it but with a different letter inside the circle, and finally a door.

William had some idea of what these symbols meant. He thought they represented the elements. When his grandmother finished, Theo placed him in the center of the circle. The crowd was even more excited this time because they didn't always see things like this.

His grandmother said, "Just stand there, don't move." William waited silently. He was excited too, but he didn't want all the hard work and his family's hard work to go to waste because of one little mistake.

His grandmother started speaking words in a language he did not know, he thought she was doing magic. He was right, both his grandmother and his mother were mages. Besides, his grandmother was better than his mother.

After a while, William felt his body begin to relax. Warmth radiated through his body, starting from his stomach. He closed his eyes and savored the moment. He hadn't felt this relaxed since the last time he was in the womb. When he opened his eyes, he saw everyone around him looking at him with happy eyes. Some of the drawn symbols beside him were glowing, and the rod had moved by itself. It was showing the fourth inscription on the back left. Of the symbols, the flame symbol glowed red and the sword symbol glowed metallic gray. After a while, the glow went out and everything went back to normal. Even though he didn't know what the inscriptions meant yet, he could understand that the rod's side was a good sign.

Theo joyfully lifted him from the center of the circle. Holding his waist with both hands, he said, "My lion boy! I knew you would be a strong warrior like your father. Perhaps you will become a golden warrior as shown in the test and fulfill my dreams. From today, add the blood and flesh of a bronze-level jade tiger to his food!" He said and kissed him on the cheek. (face) Then he turned to the audience and said, "Don't leave until you're drunk today. The servants set the table. Bring the Vargos Wine. We'll have fun today."

After giving William to Sophia, he returned to the banquet table to join the other nobles. The servants had already put the chairs back in their places.

Sophia took him inside. His teacher, Zimo, was waiting for him with an offended face. He didn't care that William was a warrior. It was enough that he chose the book. 'At least he chose the book. Greed is not necessarily a bad thing in a scholar,' he thought. "Come on, William." He took him from his mother and they walked together to the room reserved for the study.

For Seth and the other two barons, however, things turned around again. The thought that this brat might one day become a gold-level warrior scared them a little. The two standing next to him looked at Seth, wondering what to do. He motioned for them to be quiet and wait without saying anything. He pulled out a small piece of paper he had prepared just in case and took it in his hands. After a while, one of the maids poured the wine from Vargos into his glass and he quickly put the paper in her pocket. He sighed in relief when the two watching him realized the situation. Now they could drink without worrying. Since the three of them had been best friends since childhood, there weren't many secrets they didn't know about each other. Besides, they were the top three barons in the western region. They didn't have much to fear. Together, they were sure that they could fight against an earl.

But even though they thought they were hiding what they were doing at the banquet table from the others, William was in his mother's arms, so he could see everything Seth was doing. As he rested his head on Sophia's shoulder, he saw the maid and Seth put something in her pocket. Though he didn't know what it was, it struck him as extraordinarily odd that someone not of his family would give something to his family's maid. He sensed malice but remained silent.

That was how it ended today, despite the constant mood swings. William still had no idea what a warrior was like, how to use the elements, and what a martial art looked like, but he was sure he would learn when the time came. For now, he was in no hurry. He was only one year old. Even if he wanted to, what could he do with his weak body?

A few days later, in his mother's bedroom, William tried to study. It took him a long time to do the homework his teacher, Zimo, gave him because he could not read much yet. So he studied at a small table in her room when he had to ask his mother for help from time to time. Theo had this table made especially for him. It was made of sandalwood from the Black Forest. With its fragrance and airiness, it allowed him to concentrate at all times.

While he was studying, the door knocked and his mother said, "Come in. At her word, the maid, to whom Seth had given something, came in. She was holding a large wooden tray. When Sophia and William studied, they ate dinner together in the bedroom. William, who had already had enough milk, was already eating normal meals. He could also eat some of the magic creature meat his father had given him with his little teeth. He especially liked the blood of the jade tiger. It might have tasted a little bad, but even a drop of blood diluted in a glass was enough to restore all of his energy, making him feel a little stronger every time.

William saw despair and remorse in the maid's eyes. He knew those eyes, for he had lived once. He was sure that this was his face when he wandered through the cosmos as a soul. He was very afraid of those eyes because he knew that the person with those eyes could do anything. After all, they had nothing to lose. Therefore, he stood up without putting the food on his mother's lap, and with all his strength he hit the maid's leg, who could not see him because of the tray. The maid immediately lost her balance and spilled the hot soup on herself. Not a drop of soup was spilled on the bed, on Sophia, or on William. The soup was the perfect disguise for the poison. Confident in his performance, William said, "Hahaha, look, Mom, I'm so strong already." He beat his chest. Even killing a servant wouldn't make him a criminal. For her life already belonged to him.

Sophia was so lost in thought that she did not notice William's movements. By the time she noticed, it was too late. Hot soup spilled over the maid's upper body, including her face. She immediately got out of bed and screamed. "William, even if she is a maid, you cannot do this to her!"

"But Mother, I feel so strong after yesterday's meal. I wanted to try, sorry." He said and began to rub both of his eyes. He tried his best to look sad. There were no tears in his eyes, but he was rubbing them red.

Sophia said, "Anyway, it doesn't matter. You don't have to cry." She comforted him. Then she turned to the maid who was lying on the floor, remaining silent even as the hot soup was spilled on her. When the maid felt her gaze, she immediately got up and began to clean up the spilled soup, bowls, and plates.

Her back was turned to Sophia. She didn't dare look at her face.

"Zelia, it's okay, you can go." She said and began to speak magic words again in a language William did not know. A ball of water formed in Sophia's hand, and after it grew to the size of a soccer ball, it began to coil like a snake. It swept the soup and remains on the floor. Finally, after it had cleaned up Zelia's soup spill and healed her minor burns, it disappeared.

It was the first time William had seen a spell in such detail and clarity. He thought Sophia was so cool. For a long time, he had been fascinated by magic. So much so that he hadn't even noticed the maid coming out of the room, apologizing and bowing.

After a while, Sophia's voice brought him to his senses. "What is this, William? Did you like magic much?"

William's eyes stared blankly at Sophia's smiling face. "Mom, you are so cool. This is really fascinating. So that's what magic is. I'm going to be a mage when I grow up, too!" he said.

"Of course you can, honey, but magic doesn't appear until you're sixteen, so you'll have to wait until then."

"Uh-huh," he shook his head. He was still replaying in his head the moment his mother cast a spell. 'I need to grow up as soon as possible,' he thought. Then he thought of the maid from before.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I did it on purpose." He said, bowing his head.

"It doesn't matter, son. But why did you do it?" Sophia was surprised. She hadn't expected him to be so honest.

"On the day of the choice, I saw one of the bad-looking guys put something in her pocket. Your back was turned, but I could see it because I was in your arms. And I was afraid it was poison, like in the stories my grandfather used to tell. Because that's how they always kill good people," he said sadly. His head was still tilted forward.

Sophia was stunned by his words, her wide eyes staring at the door that had just closed. Then she took her little son in her arms to soothe his worries. "Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll tell your father. If there is such a thing, he knows how to deal with it."

William, on the other hand, did not want to continue acting, but since his body sometimes did not listen to him, he fell asleep in his mother's tender arms.

After Sophia put him to bed, she went to Theo in the study and told him the story. When Theo heard Sophia's words, he was furious but managed to remain calm. He gave an order to his servant, Hurim, who was standing next to him. Half an hour later, Hurim brought a small glass bottle with a white liquid inside and a small piece of paper in his hand. This was the suspected poison. The paper simply said, "It's time to pay your debt."

After a while, two strong men grabbed Zelia by both arms and dragged her inside. Zelia kept begging for mercy.

"Sir, please! I didn't want to! I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"Enough! Shut up, if you open your mouth before I ask again..." He looked at the two guards beside her. "Kill her instantly!" Theo said angrily.

"Now I will ask and you will answer! Who made you do this?"

Zelia said tearfully, "Sir, the Baron...it was Baron Seth."

"Why!?"

"Sir, because he saved me and my family when I was a child. He told me that he wanted me to join you as a maid. He asked me to do one thing as my debt to him, and that thing was this."

"You have been eating our bread all these years, tell me! Have we ever done you any harm?"

"Sorry! Neither did I! I swear, I even put in so little poison that I didn't want anything to happen. Just enough to cure with Miss Sophia's magic! Sir, I'm sorry!" She cried with regret.

"Then, since you are so merciful, I will have mercy on you! My men will go to Baron Seth's land, if your family is alive, I will kill you, after all, you tried to take two lives. Two lives in return, but if your parents are already dead, I'll let you go, I'm sure you'll understand what kind of man Baron Seth is. Take her away!" he said to the two guards. He asked Hurim to send someone to find her family.

Sophia frowned at Theo's decision. "Are you sure? I think you should have killed her."

"If you want, I will kill her right now! But what do we get? Her family is probably dead anyway, so this is a good opportunity to buy her loyalty. If her family is still alive, I will kill her anyway. So win-win."

"Wow, look at my husband. How smart is that?" Sophia got up from her chair and walked over to Theo. Since there was no one else in the room, she slowly began to provoke him with her flirtatious words.

"Hehe, what did you think?" He said and sat Sophia, who came over to him, on his lap and straightened his chair.

They began to kiss lightly.

After a while, Sophia looked into Theo's eyes and said, "What are we going to do with William? Are you going to teach him?"

After thinking for a while, Theo said, "It's too early, even if I give him a wooden sword, he can't hold it. Let's wait until he's three years old. He'll be a bit older then and we'll think about the rest later." He said and pressed her to his lips again. After a while various moaning sounds came from the room.

Hurim was about to come and knock on the door when he heard the voices coming from inside, he went too far to hear and started his long waiting shift.

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