The lingering scent of ozone and scorched cedar wood still hung thick in the air.
Aegeus sat cross-legged on the floor, staring down at his reddened hands. The room was safe, the charred patch on his floorboards was still smoking.
That was entirely too close, he thought, wincing as he gently touched the raw skin of his forearm.
He closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back to the chaos earlier, dissecting every terrifying second. When that match-sized flicker had roared into a snapping beast, it hadn't just grown—it had felt ravenous. He remembered the sickening horror of watching the flames spill off his hand and hit the corner of his wooden nightstand.
The fire didn't just burn; it devoured. It ate through wood, fabric, and air with an insatiable, unnatural hunger, growing bigger and hotter with every second it fed on his magic and his room.
In pure panic, his first instinct had been to douse it. He had summoned a violent surge of water, throwing a heavy torrent straight into the inferno.
It did absolutely nothing.
The heat radiating off the hyper-charged magic flame was so intense that the water didn't even touch the fire. It instantly vaporized inches before contact, hissed into useless air, and left the beast snapping, untouched and as if mocking him.
That was when he realized that this fire wasn't afraid of water. In fact, it would gladly consume everything in the room until there was nothing left. Water couldn't kill it by contact— so he had to choke it.
Instead of throwing liquid at the fire, Aegeus had summoned a massive, thick sphere of water and collapsed it around the entire blaze, encasing it in an airless dome.
It was a feat and scale of magic like none he had ever performed before.
The reaction was brutal.
The trapped inferno fought back, thrashing against its aquatic prison. The water boiled on a violent scale, turning into a pressurized cloud of scalding, superheated steam. The vapor blasted outward, catching Aegeus directly in the chest and arms.
"Agh!" He let out a whimper, the heat scalding his skin, but he refused to drop his focus. He held the liquid wall firm, sealing off every atom of oxygen.
The flame thrashed, starved, and finally died. The water collapsed into a muddy, steaming puddle on the ruined floor, leaving him gasping for air in the damp heat.
Sitting on his bed now, looking at the blistered skin on his arms, Aegeus let out a long, shuddering sigh. Fire wasn't anything like water. Water was like a companion that followed you, but this fire was like a parasite waiting for a single moment of weakness to consume its master. He swore to himself right then and there: Respect the element, or it will digest you alive.
He rubbed his aching shoulder, a faint, wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Fortunately, he was durable enough. His thoughts drifted back to when he first teleported. He materialized on the other side of the room with nothing more than some ruined clothes and scratches on his hand. He had theorized back then— and now he was certain— that any ordinary human attempting a similar stunt wouldn't just get a scratch; he probably would have been torn to bloody pieces!
Between near-dismemberment by space-bending and near-cremation by runaway magic fire, Aegeus was starting to realize his own unnerving durability was the only reason he had survived his own reckless experimenting.
He leaned back against the headboard, feeling the lingering sting of the steam burns. He was alive, his room was mostly intact, and he had learned a very valuable lesson: never recklessly mix magic and emotions.
~~~The next day~~~
On an ordinary day at an ordinary primary school, one could see children running across the blacktop, teachers chatting by the doors, and Aegeus politely turning down a little girl's invitation to hang out after class, only for her to run away in tears.
As Aegeus grew older, he had become increasingly, conspicuously good-looking— a trait that brought its own share of minor annoyances.
"Aegeus!" someone shouted across the courtyard.
Aegeus looked up and spotted a familiar face. It was Noah, the only person he had managed to form a genuine friendship with. Forming bonds wasn't easy for Aegeus.
Smiling, Aegeus waved him over. "Hey, Noah."
"So, which secondary school are you going to?" Noah asked, trotting up alongside him.
"We still haven't decided yet," Aegeus answered, drifting deep into thought.
Aegeus didn't care which school he went to; his daily life was essentially divided into three parts. Studying, studying, and using whatever time remained to explore his magic. It wasn't that he didn't prioritize magic— quite the opposite. Magic came so naturally to him; magical practice required far less of his effort compared to academic study. (He reached the limit of what he could achieve by himself, magic-wise.)
He could teleport fairly reliably now, provided the distance wasn't too great. He could make objects fly, so long as they weren't too heavy. And he could summon and shape fire, water, and wind at will; strictly in small quantities.
"Aegeus? You still there?" Noah called, noticing his friend's distant look.
"Sorry. I was thinking about something," Aegeus apologized.
"It's okay. You still have time to decide," Noah said with a bright grin. "I just hope we end up in the same school."
"Me too, buddy," Aegeus said with a small smile.
Aegeus truly valued his one and only friend. Developing a genuine relationship had never been easy for him. It hadn't even been easy with Noah at first— when they were younger, Noah always walked around with a permanent runny nose for reasons unknown. Aegeus had struggled to look him directly in the face for a very long time— even long after the issue was resolved.
After a few final words, they bade each other goodbye.
~~~3 years later~~~
pov Aegeus
Today was his eleventh birthday. His parents were currently busy organizing their annual "surprise party"—which was, of course, a surprise to absolutely no one, it's not like you can forget your own birthday...
There was a proper cake, and Hermione had stopped blowing out his candles for him, displaying a remarkable new level of self-restraint. Though Aegeus hadn't explicitly minded her doing so, he had always felt that the silly candles-blowing act was beneath him.
"Happy birthday, Aegeus~" Jean said, offering a warm smile.
Having reached his social quota for the evening, Aegeus offered a polite, brief reply before excusing himself to bed. Believe it or not, that short exchange marked his longest interaction at his own birthday party since he learned to walk.
He simply wasn't a fan of birthdays.
[Name] Aegeus Granger
[Age] 11 years
[Strength] 14
[Intelligence] 20
[Magic] 15
[Defense] 13
[Control] C-
Skills:-
Mathematics: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Physics: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Chemistry: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Biology: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Geology: Level 10(Max) (Doctorate Level)
Geography: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Astronomy: Level 10 (Max) (Doctorate Level)
Linguistics: Level 2 (50%) (English (Doctorate Level))
Passive skills:-
Minimap
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Geography.
Perk Effect: Grants a mental 3D spatial map of his immediate surroundings (scaling up to a kilometer radius). Automatically tracks terrain, weather shifts, structure layouts, and environmental hazards in real-time.
[Self-Physiology Control]
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Biology.
Perk Effect: Allows you to alter physical appearance, hair/eye color (can also change to animal shape, but it's only a physical appearance change; you can't breathe underwater if you make gills, and you can't change size)
[Earth Sense]
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Geology.
Perk Effect: Instinctual awareness of the mineral composition and integrity of any stone, soil, or physical structure he touches.
[Human Calculator]
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Mathematics.
Perk Effect: Accelerates numerical processing to lightning-like speeds.
[Chemical Immunity]
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Chemistry.
Perk Effect: Grants passive immunity to non-magical and supernatural toxins, poisons, and corrosive gases.
[Celestial Awareness]
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 in Astronomy.
Perk Effect: Perfect internal clock and absolute celestial navigation. Passively senses lunar phases and planetary positions.
[Kinetic Vectors] Reach Level 10 in Physics
Passively senses force, mass, acceleration, and trajectory within his immediate surroundings.
_________________________________________________________________________
TO BE CONTINUED
PS: The absolute cap for humans is 20.
What do you think? If you like my story, leave a stone, if you hate my story, throw a stone, maybe it would hit my head. You never know...