The day was peaceful, a typical day in the small house in the heart of the forest. The sun gently shone through the leaves of the trees, creating light patterns that danced across the grass.
In the center of this calm scene, Kael, only one year old, sat on the ground, his tiny fingers gripping the magic book Elion had given him.
His eyes, shining with determination, scanned the words on the page, but his mind couldn't focus.
He wasn't an ordinary baby; he already had an impressive understanding of the words and concepts the book was trying to convey. But his frustration only grew, as he couldn't apply what he was reading.
The book was there, open in front of him, but all he could feel was an increasing weight in his mind.
He wanted to use magic.
He wanted to see the power his mother used so often, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing happened. His tiny fingers curled into fists, and his expression, which had been one of curiosity and hope, soon turned into frustration. He huffed, trying again, forcing his mind to produce that power.
But once again, nothing.
'I've read this whole book! I've tried everything! But NOTHING!' He thought, trying not to scream with his voice and scare anyone.
Kael started to squirm, his anger growing as he tried to make the magic work.
He wanted to explode, wanted to see the fire, wanted to feel the air around him being shaped by the force of his will.
But instead, he felt powerless.
His eyes were fixed on the book, but all he could do was clench his teeth in a desperate effort.
Every second, frustration took over him, until, finally, he threw himself back onto the grass, kicking his feet against the ground in anger.
"Why doesn't it work?!" He shouted into the emptiness around him, as if the trees or the wind could give him an answer.
He didn't want to be weak, he didn't want to be soone who only watched while others used magic effortlessly. But he was beginning to wonder if this was sothing he would never be able to understand.
It was at that mont that Sylphie appeared.
She was walking through the forest, her gaze calm and serene, as if she were part of the natural surroundings around her. She stopped when she saw Kael on the ground, visibly frustrated.
She hesitated for a mont, observing the baby with an expression that mixed curiosity and compassion. She already knew Kael wasn't an ordinary child, but the intensity of his frustration was sothing she hadn't seen before.
Sylphie approached with gentle steps, feeling the ground beneath her feet almost instinctively. What she felt inside was a reflection of what the wind, the earth, and the trees seed to tell her. She knew that the connection with nature could be sothing powerful, but she still didn't know how it could be used.
However, upon seeing Kael so distressed, sothing inside her awakened. It was like an instinct, sothing deeper that she couldn't fully understand.
"Let see." She said softly, with a calm voice, as if it were natural, as if she knew exactly what to do. Sylphie crouched in front of Kael, gently took the book from his hands, and, in an instinctive gesture, began to flip through the pages.
Kael, still with anger on his face, looked at her with a surprised expression. He was skeptical, but sothing inside him also wanted to see if she could do what he couldn't.
Sylphie read for a few seconds, her eyes quickly moving over the words in the book.
It was as if the words weren't just symbols to her, but a kind of song that she could hear and understand.
Her mind seed to absorb every detail almost automatically, as if she had been made for this.
Sothing inside her seed to awaken, an energy that connected with the essence of the book and the nature around her.
She closed her eyes for a mont, and when she opened them again, sothing had changed. There was a calmness in the air, as if the very environnt had tuned itself to her magic. Without any effort, Sylphie extended her hands, and a gentle breeze began to blow around her. It was as if nature was responding to her, reacting to her call.
The grass around her moved slightly, and even the trees seed to bend toward her. In her palm, a small orb of light began to form, floating delicately.
The light wasn't warm, but it seed to vibrate with a pure and calm energy, as if it was a reflection of nature itself.
Kael watched with wide eyes, the frustration on his face now replaced by a mixture of astonishnt and admiration. He had read about magic, had seen his mother use it, but he had never witnessed anything so... natural.
Sylphie was manipulating sothing he couldn't understand, sothing beyond what he had read in books.
"How... how did you do that?" Kael asked, his voice full of childlike curiosity, but also genuine admiration. He still didn't fully understand what was happening, but he felt a sense of reverence toward the magic that manifested so effortlessly in Sylphie.
She smiled, but there was a gentle sadness in her gaze. "I'm not exactly sure. I didn't learn like you. But nature... it speaks to . It's in everything around us, in every tree, in every drop of water, in the wind. I just... feel it."
She extended her hand toward him, the orb of light floating gently to him. "You can learn too, Kael. Magic isn't just about reading and practicing, it's about feeling what's around you, it's about connecting with what you are." She lightly touched his forehead with the tip of her fingers, and he felt a soft warmth, as if Sylphie's magic was transferring to him, or maybe it was a perception she had that he still didn't possess.
Kael looked at the orb of light in his hands, feeling the energy flow. Sothing was different. He still didn't know how she did it, but he felt there was sothing inside him that, perhaps with ti and patience, he could master. He looked at Sylphie, but his eyes actually landed on the ssage beneath her face, his eyes full of surprise as he read.
[Confird. You have received the blessing of the 『World Tree』]
"You... What did you do?" he asked, with a shy curiosity in his voice. He knew the answer wouldn't be easy, but there was sothing in Sylphie's gaze that gave him the certainty that, perhaps, with her, he could learn in a way that wasn't forced or frustrating.
Sylphie looked at him for a mont, the smile widening on her face. "I don't know, I just wanted to teach you. Maybe we can learn together."
The wind blew gently, as if the forest itself were agreeing with her words. They both sat on the grass, the book still between them, and for the first ti, Kael felt that perhaps magic wasn't just sothing he had to conquer with effort. Maybe it was sothing he needed to feel and understand, sothing deeper, sothing he could discover alongside Sylphie.
And in that mont, in the heart of the forest, sothing new began to grow.
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