Henry stepped forward, still carrying Lily in his arms—announcing his presence to the wise magician.
As soon as Master Elias's eyes saw his figure, they gained a gleam of excitement and fondness, he immediately made his way through the crowd, passing by Alexander and Timothy without even acknowledging them.
"Henry, my boy! Look how big you've grown!" Upon reaching him, Elias, with a strength that defies his old age and frail body, managed to hug Henry and lifted both him and Lily up with stunning ease.
"Yey! Uppies!" While Lily was elated by it, Henry's eyes were wide from surprise.
His mind instantly searched for an answer and found it in a split second. Magic. Only something as outrageous and illogical can do something like this.
It's not like Henry is as heavy as an overweight man but it's impossible for a frail old man to carry him much less while carrying Lily with him, adding weight.
Once let down, Master Elias turned around and spoke before Henry could, "I appreciate the extravagant welcome, my friend. But I believe I have an important matter to discuss with you."
Seeing seriousness on the old man's face made Henry curious about it. Is it a matter concerning magical issues, perhaps? Or Kingdom matters?
———
As the royal family, along with the esteemed Court Magician left the harbour, the rest of the passerbys and Knights also dispersed and went back to mind their own businesses.
Meanwhile, Maximus and Elias stood on the front, walking side by side as they whispered to each other. On the other hand, Henry stood in the middle between Lily and their mother, Olivia Charming—walking not far behind the two.
The only ones left trailing behind them were Alexander, Timothy, and Samantha. The two former glaring at Henry's back while the latter just lazily walked beside them.
"How did the Court Magician know about Henry? I don't recall they've met before…" Alexander murmured to himself, making sure the volume of his voice was low enough to be heard only by the three of them.
Timothy scoffed and replied in a snarky tone, "Father must've introduced him to Master Elias through letters. As expected of father's blatant favouritism."
All of a sudden, Samantha, who has been quiet for the past few minutes, mocked them openly, "Oohh~ there goes our chance to sabotage our older brother. How embarrassing."
Both Alexander and Timothy's brows creased, the former shooting her a glare, "If you're not going to help us take him off the board, you might as well quit overall. It's not like you're interested in the throne, right?"
Hearing him, Timothy's eyes flashed a gleam. Although Samantha is barely considered a challenge to the competition, removing her would still be a benefit for him.
Samantha snorted, "If only it's possible. Why not try convincing my mother instead? She's the one who wants it more than me anyway."
Hearing her words, Alexander shook his head in disappointment. As expected, Samantha is not the one who is after the crown but her mother instead.
Even though Samantha's support from both the noble houses and citizens of the Kingdom is less than Alexander's and Timothy's, her mother's perseverance to increase that support is both annoying and concerning.
Unlike her, Alexander and Timothy combined have almost 30% of the Kingdom's noble houses in their pockets, supporting them either from behind the scenes or openly.
As for the rest of them, including the Dukes and Duchesses, especially the Grand Duke Holliway himself? All in favour of the first Prince, Henry Charming.
Timothy, who has been quiet since he last spoke, finally opened his mouth, "Isn't he going to leave on a voyage next week?"
"Yes, why? Do you have a plan?" Alexander was the one who replied.
"I think I might just have…"
———
Back in the castle, Henry found himself surprised when his father invited him to the study along with Master Elias.
Giving Lily to his mother's embrace, he made his way to the room and entered.
"Father. Master Elias." Henry slightly bowed his upper body in a perfectly practiced courtesy.
Maximus nodded his head in approval and prompted for the Court Magician to speak, "Master Elias."
Elias nodded his wrinkly head, "Right." and approached Henry with unhurried steps, "Henry, were there times when you felt…Let's say, disturbances in yourself or your surroundings?"
Albeit confused by the question, Henry took his time to delve into his memories and try to recall any.
"I'm not sure if this is the answer you're looking for but I think it happened a few years ago when Alex threw a pebble at my head. I'm not sure what happened next but I simply glared at him and he tripped, face-first on the ground. I simply listed it as karma catching up to him."
While narrating, Henry was slightly nervous. He's not sure if what he's telling them is the one Master Elias is looking for.
To his surprise, Master Elias nodded sagely, "As I expected."
Both Maximus and Henry looked up to him expectedly. The former is curious and the latter is excited.
After all, who wouldn't want to have the possibility of using the wonders of magic? Not to mention his talent, he might even have a personal teacher—that is if he accepts him.
Caressing his long white beard, Master Elias spoke with certainty, "You have the talent to harness magic, my boy. We'll just have to see if you have the will and determination to learn it."
Master Elias turned to Maximus and told him, "If you'll allow me to take young Henry here to my tower, I'll test his aptitude for magic along with his affinities."
Maximus was about to nod his head in agreement but then remembered that Henry must have a say about this. So he first turned to Henry, "What do you think, son?"
A smile crept up to Henry's face and he nodded his head like a chicken pecking his head.
Master Elias smiled at this and patted Henry's shoulder, "You'll be my seventh student, my boy. Come with me, we'll use the teleportation circle."
———
The afternoon arrived and so did Henry and Master Elias in his personal study.
"Whoa." Henry's eyes widened in surprise. First of all, he didn't know that the magician had his own study, second, it could only be unlocked using the old man's stuff—whereas he witnessed him use the butt of his staff to tap a few certain spots on the surface of the door and ended it with a small chant that sounded gibberish to him.
The Court Magician gave him a side glance as they entered and puffed his chest with pride.
Henry didn't notice it, instead, his gaze was focused on what was inside the room. Unlike his father's study room, Master Elias's was not only filled with books but the space of the room itself seemed to stretch far enough to fit an entire football stadium.
Obviously, there's no way something as big as this can be accommodated by the castle. The castle may be big but not big enough to have a room as large as this. So Henry listed this as part of magic, space magic perhaps.
Seeing the look on Henry's face, Master Elias spoke, "If you trained long enough in the art of magic, you'll soon achieve what I achieved, maybe even go beyond." For some reason, a look of melancholy and regret flashed within his eyes which vanished soon after before Henry could notice.
They walked a few more meters forward, giving Henry the time to absorb the mysteries of the room. Such as floating candles in the air, brooms automatically sweeping the floor, and even thick tomes rearranging around the shelves.
Despite the dark and gloomy look of the study, Henry could feel the magical atmosphere. Something inside him seemed to be thumping from being exposed to magic.
"That's your Magic Hymn responding once exposed to Magic." Master Elias spoke, his voice seemingly containing vast amounts of wisdom and experience in the specific field.
Henry, curious as ever, asked him, "What's Magic Hymn?"
"It's your latent Magical senses. Think of your own Magic as an ocean and magic itself as water. If a drop of water is dropped in the middle, ripple waves are formed. Turn it into a bucket of water and it'll cause an enormous reaction. That's your Magic Hymn."
"I see," Henry murmured.
Soon they arrived at what Henry can only describe as a magic circle with several gibberish letters inscribed all over the floor.
"No need to try to understand it. You need the knowledge and experience to know what it is." Master Elias noticed the squint of Henry's eyes and poured a cold bucket of water over his head.
He continued, pointing his staff at the middle of the circle, "Go stand in the middle of it."
Henry did as told and soon, Master Elias held his wooden staff with both hands and started chanting the same gibberish he had been hearing since earlier.
As soon as he was done, the magic circle's lines and characters started to glow. Master Elias stood by his side as they were whisked away by its awe-inspiring mystical ability.
———
"That was…a bit suffocating. Is that really teleportation? I thought they're supposed to be instant or something? I felt like I was underwater for 5 seconds." As soon as they landed on the other side, Henry released a sigh of relief.
Although he can hold his breath for an entire minute and a half, that is only if he's prepared and knows what's coming.
"You'll get used to it. The longer the distance, the longer you'll endure that phase." Master Elias shrugged his shoulders and replied.
"So how long did we go from? Don't tell me we're halfway across the continent? Heh." He said jokingly. However, seeing the surprised look on Master Elias's face made his laugh fade instantly.
"You're joking."
Master Elias shook his head, "You're really talented as your father says."
"You're telling me, that we're halfway across the continent? That's like…half a year-long travel using a horse and boarding a ship!" Henry was wide-eyed. Both amazed and scared at the capabilities of magic.
No wonder his father, despite being the King of a Kingdom holds a huge amount of respect towards the Court Magician. They're truly not someone to be messed with.
And that someone in particular would become his magical teacher. All because he has the talent for magic.
"Look out the window, my boy. See the beauty of the outside world with your own eyes."
Prompted by him, Henry finally saw his surroundings. It was a small room, wooden floor that creaked under his weight along with paintings on the walls and scattered papers and books on the floor. He pulled himself towards the only window that was serving as the room's source of light and what he saw widened his eyes.
A vast plain field with nothing but grasses and a few mountains in the distance, their tips slightly covered by the foggy clouds.
Looking down, he saw how far he was from the ground. If he were to make an estimation, it would be around 50 meters high.
A real wizard tower like the ones mentioned in the books. A structure that he once thought was a mere myth and yet, he's now standing inside one.
"Hold this." Henry was snapped out of his thoughts when Master Elias handed him a ball made of glass, almost the size of his head.
His brows creased, "What's this, Master?" From now on, he'll start addressing the old man as such.
"That has many names over the course of history but I like to call it Crystal Sphere. Holding it would show your aptitude in magic."
"May I ask what is aptitude?"
Master Elias took his time to think before answering, "Your aptitude is a quantitative measurement of how strong and natural you are in the ways of magic. The brighter the Crystal Sphere shines, the better."
Henry nodded his head in understanding before shifting his focus to the crystal ball. A brief moment later, a spark of white light appeared in the middle. It starts small, like a star in the night sky before eventually increasing in size and brightness.
Fwooomm!
It didn't take long before that small spark turned into a light bulb, and then into something akin to the sun.
Then it stayed still. No more reactions or anything like the crystal ball cracking due to his sheer amount of talent or anything. It's not like he was expecting it to do so.
Or maybe just a little. You can't blame him, there are times when Henry would wonder if he's some kind of main character in a fantasy story, after all, he's born with everything everyone could only hope for. His high talent is the last nail in a coffin.
"Fascinating." Master Elias's words snapped him out of his thoughts.
Henry looked up to him and asked, "How is it?"
Master Elias was silent, his eyes closed as if trying to figure out how to form his words properly, "…"
'Am I really that talented?' Henry couldn't help but gulp his saliva hard. Just the thought of what Master Elias's next words would make him both excited and palpitate.
"Above average." Only for it to be doused as soon as the said words hit his ears.
"What? But the light was very bright and large!"
"I mean, back in my days, it would be a good thing but not anymore." There was a mysterious glint in Master Elias's eyes but before Henry could notice them, he turned around and continued.
"Follow me. I'll send a message to your father that you'll be staying with me for a few days to have you get a grasp on the basics of magic. We'll also be testing your magic affinity."
Albeit disappointed that his talent in magic doesn't seem to be that good according to his teacher's standards, Henry didn't let it get to him.
If his magical talent is average compared to most, then he'll make it up with his determination and hard work. Not to mention, he's quick to pick things up and learn.
As they descended the flight of stairs, Henry's mind went towards the Kingdom of Arendelle and the first Princess's Ice powers.
"Master Elias. If you don't mind me asking…"
"Go ahead. Curiosity is a good thing for a wizard."
With a little bit of hesitation, he asked, "…Have you heard of Arendelle Kingdom?"
His words instantly stopped the old man in his tracks, turning around to look directly into Henry's eyes, "I do. Why do you ask?"
Not knowing if the magician could tell between truth and lies, Henry decided to tell only half the truth, "I'm just curious. I'm not sure if you're already aware but next week, I'm going on a voyage, to explore the world before I eventually become the King. I decided to make Arendelle my first stop."
Master Elias caressed his beard, squinting his eyes not in suspicion but in contemplation.
After a brief moment, he finally spoke, "Whatever I'm about to tell you must not come out of this tower, understood?"
"Yes!" Henry straightened, his knighthood training instincts taking over in an instant.
"Good. A few years ago, I had an old friend who asked for my help and advice about a certain Princess with...mystical problems."
"His name is Pabbie and he's a Troll that is as old as the earth."