"My…...Talent?" I slowly came to a realization why everyone was giving me those weird looks in the library, I must've shown extreme talent in a short amount of time. Which meant that I marked myself and that's why I was here. So much for being confident in my intelligence and being a student with a 4.9 GPA. Whoops.
"You've probably realized why you're here.. I plan on being your mentor, teaching you about the nature of magic. Someone with your talent hasn't appeared for a very long time."
"Well, alright, my interest has been peaked. Where do I start?"
Merlin laughed, while walking over to some strange object.
"You start by taking a sip from this goblet. We'll be able to find your specialty"
In front of me was a metal goblet with a complex design all over it, and in the goblet was a liquid that was a disgusting black color. I looked up at him in disgust.
"I wouldn't drag you all the way here just to poison you, now drink it." Merlin said impatiently
Feeling pressured I drank from the cup, an awful metallic taste was left in my mouth. Even worse than that though was the shadows that enveloped me, I felt cold, I felt the hatred and anger of my past. As soon as it came it left, and I was left standing there in shock, I was sweating bullets but the room was freezing.
"What th-the hell w-was that?" I asked shivering
"Hmm, your specialty is Frost, and Shadow. Mostly Frost though. Do you hate the world?" Merlin asked with his back turned, he was clearly concocting something at a table but from my angle I couldn't exactly see what.
"I hate competing aimlessly, what's the point when someone is always better?" I retorted back.
"There's no point in competing, but trying your best at your own varying degree of success and talent has a point, the point is to live."
"What's the point of living when I can't leave my mark?"
"Everyone leaves their mark, just have a child. Then you've marked many generations to come. Now, enough with the foolish talk, take this."
By the time I looked up he had already shoved the cup in my face and I had no choice but to drink it. It still tasted just as horrible, except this time around I was enveloped in something warm. I no longer felt the cold I felt just before, I felt relaxed.
"Okay, now show me the little bit of magic you could do" Merlin asked with a twinkle in his eye.
I nodded and prepared to do what he asked. I changed my breathing and I pulled the energy out of me to form fire in one hand, and pull moisture out of the air and control water with the other.
"That was all I learned" I said disappointedly.
"Well, you learned what would take people days or weeks in a few minutes. You're an extraordinary talent. Now, I'm going to teach you a spell from your specialty, which will mean that it is significantly more powerful."
As he spoke all this, we headed to a different room. It was a large box shape room with the occasional target on the walls.
"Okay, read this phrase and look at the symbol, until you can fire a spell. You might want to start with turning water to ice first as a stepping stone, but it's up to you."
Merlin said this all matter of factly and just left me there thinking, he really expected it to be as simple as that? I did those other things before because they weren't spells they were the basics. How was I supposed to do this?
"I suppose I'll try.."
I picked up the purple tome and then read the page he had open. The spell was called "Undying frost"
The phrase I had to recite was "Zah Lecht Fol" The words together meant Slow Undying Frost
Once again, I changed my breathing, and I prepared to take the energy out of my body and the moisture out of the air. When I fired the spell though, it's like the moisture I took multiplied. I sent this huge storm of frost hurtling toward the target. Upon impact it shook the building and visible cracks in the walls started appearing.
I looked back at Merlin to see if that was what he expected and the look on his face was one of terror....