Leinad awoke to the sound of knocking at his door.

"I'll be out in a bit," he called out as he slowly got out of bed.

"Okay, we'll make breakfast together and eat before we head to see Du'Vel," his mother called back from behind the door. 

Leinad went out to shower and then back to dress, making sure the shower was quick so he wouldn't use up the fire mana his mother had mentioned previously. Once in the kitchen he joined his mother at the stove where she guided him through the process of making eggs over easy. 

-You've cooked a meal-

Isabella prepared some toast and bacon for them after. They ate together and cleaned up. Isabella took a minute in her room before they she came out and they both left the house. The both walked along a dirt path down towards the center of the Manthenill. There was a brook they crossed over using a wood bridge and Leinad heard the laughter of children. He saw his mother wave to the left, but the range of his vision didn't allow him to see who she was waving at. He was more interested in what was within view anyways, so he just admired the flow of the water as they moved over the bridge. He realized that he probably would have had trouble getting around without someone to lead the way, but he put that in the back of his mind for now. 

After a few minutes of walking through town, where several people stopped to say hi to Isabella and to talk for a bit about the how the farm was. Only one of the three people said hi to Leinad. He thought she was very polite given the other two people hadn't bothered. Her name was Bel and she was shorter than Leinad and had long ears. 

"Bel owns the tavern in town," Isabella told Leinad as they kept walking. "Her family is very important and she actually is how we are able to sell most of our goods." 

Leinad took in the information with a nod. Bel seemed to be their source of income for the family and so he took a special mental note to remember how she appeared and her name. For some reason he was really curious about the tavern as well.

"Can we visit the tavern?" he asked his mother as the moved towards a building that was larger than the others.

"The tavern isn't really for children," she said.

She looked down at Leinad's disappointed face and sighed.

"But we can visit to say hi to her later," she said, enjoying the sight of her son smiling at the news.

They came up to the doors of the large building with a stone base and large wooden pillars. Leinad saw that it was much more orante than the others. Isabella used the door knock, tapping it just enough to where she believed she'd get someone's attention. A moment later the left door opened and Du'Vel greeted them.

Isabella waved Leinad inside so he entered to the room. The room didn't have much in it, it seemed more like it was just a small hall for the entrance. He turned back to Isabella who looked at him. 

"Du'Vel will give you instruction for a few hours and I'll be back to pick you before the sleep hours begin," she said. "Then we can visit Bel."

She said her goodbyes and walked away and out of his range.

De'Vel turned and led Leinad back through through two large doors and a large circular room. It was dark and dimly lit by small lanterns hanging around the room. Several chairs and benches circled around the center of the room. At the center of the room there were several small tables also placed in a circle. 

Leinad could glowing lines of a diagram on the floor. There was a circle, a square and a triangle drawn out in the middle. The small tables were set on at each point.

"Well Leinad," Du'Vel said as he walked over to on of the tables at the end of the room. "For these waking hours I'll be teaching you about Casting and Magic."

Leinad walked over to De'Vul's side and looked at a stone sitting at the top of the table.

"Casting is how the people of Lirenth interact with the world around them," Du'Vel said. "The great master scholars like to say that our souls are infinite and our bodies contain a limit them. Casting is how we can escape beyond and move beyond the body. Every Lirenthian can Cast, and each has an affinity to a particular Element or Essence."

He waved over the center of the room at the diagram and the tables.

"This diagram is one used to help determine which element or essence you have an affinity for," he said. "We'll start here, the northern end of the circle, on the table you'll see an Air Mana stone and a feather."

Leinad moved up to the table and to see the mana stone and feather. The stone itself was glowing, waves of energy vibrating inside of it.

"Place you hand on the stone and try to use the mana within to create air and move the feather," Du'Vel said.

Leinad placed on hand on the stone and tried to focus on the waves of energy within it. He could feel a slight tingle that vibrated in time with the waves within the stone, but didn't feel any way to interact with it. Before he could ask for some kind of guidance Du'Vel started moving to the next table.

"The eastern point holds Fire," Du'Vel said. "Here you'll have a fire mana stone and a small flame."

Leinad saw the mana stone on the table and a small candle burning. 

"Try to increase the yield of the flame using the mana within the stone," Du'Vel instructed.

Leinad placed his hand on the stone and focused on the fire. The fire mana stone was the first stone to feel a little different, the waves of energy inside seemed to push out a sort of heat within the stone, but the fire itself was drawing his attention more than the mana stone. He could see waves around it, but it felt like each wave was layered. He tried to focus on it, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Perhaps," Du'Vel said as he put his hand near the fire. "It felt like it brightened a bit, but I don't feel any additional heat. This test is usually very obvious. Well, lets move on to the South, where we have Earth"

Leinad gave up on the fire mana stone and walked over.

"Is there some sort of trick to it?" Leinad asked before placing his hand on the mana stone and trying to focus on the waves of energy within it.

"It should come naturally," Du'Vel said. "There are very few who find this difficult. The circle itself is meant to help draw out casting abilities."

Leinad nodded as he focused on the earth mana stone and the rock besides it. Again, nothing happened.

"Well that's actually surprising," Du'Vel said. "Your father said you took to Farming right away. That skill is highly tied to Earth and Nature."

Du'Vel moved to the next table and Leinad followed him.

Leinad tried his hand at manipulating a bowl of water, but nothing seemed to happen. Du'Vel moved to a table a little more in the center of the circle between the water and earth tables.

"This is the essence of nature," Du'Vel said. "It rests between water and earth, and it embodies things that grow. The forest, the animals and how they interact with the world. Try using the mana with the stone to create change in the plant."

Leinad saw a small potted sprout next to the mana stone. He placed his hand on it and again nothing happened. He felt more disappointed at this attempt than the others. Du'Vel seemed to frown a bit too.

He moved towards the table a little more east.

"This is the essence of heart," Du'Vel explained. "It deals with the emotional spectrum. Love, Fear, Hate, and Sadness. Everything you feel embodies this essence. Try using the mana in this stone to effect me in any way you feel is natural."

Leinad placed on hand on the mana stone and the other in Du'Vel's hand. This also felt different from the other stones, but still familiar.

"This is the type of caster Julia is?" he asked Du'Vel.

"Yes it is," Du'Vel nodded. "Julia is a matchmaker, a profession that requires Heart Casting and Heart Magic."

Leinad tried focusing on Du'Vel, trying to impart the feeling of joy on him, but he felt nothing from the stone beyond the familiarity of its energy.

Du'Vel drew his hand back and walked to the table set next to the air table.

"This last element of Ice," Du'Vel said. "A bit different from the other elements, it functions a lot more like an essence. It embodies loss and the removal of energy. The mana itself actually can cancel out other energies. Take this mana stone and try to use it on the fire mana stone next to it."

Leinad placed a hand on the ice mana stone and actually felt something wrong. His body started to feel weak and he even felt a little nauseous. He let go of it immediately.

Du'Vel shook his head.

"That's fine," Du'Vel said. "There are some elements and essences that lay in between the main elements, but they require a special test. Lets try going through these main one again."

Leinad looked over at the candle and the flame.

"Can we try fire right away again?" Leinad said. "I felt like i was getting somewhere with that."

Du'Vuel ran his fingers through his beard, "Well, it did brighten up, but that's not usually the effect that occurs with Fire Casters."

The moved over and Leinad held the stone and focused on the flame again, noticing the waves of energy emitting from it. He tried focusing on the feeling he had before when looking at the waves.

"There the brightening again," Du'Vel said. "What are you feeling from the mana stone?"

"Nothing," Leinad said. "I think what I'm feeling is coming from the candle flame itself."

Du'Vel looked at at the flame closer.

"Forget the mana stone," he said grabbing it from Leinad. "Focus on the flame. Your father told me about your abilities with your eyes, maybe that's the key to your casting."

Leinad moved his hands around the fire and focused on the waves, letting them hit his hands. The waves seemed to just be the heat produced by the fire. But as he focused on it he started to see the difference within the waves, the waves of heat were on thing, but there was another wavs mixed into it, harder for him to notice, but starting to grow more intense.

Du'Vel put his hand up to block the light from the flame as it suddenly grew far brighter than the size of the flame would normally create. The was a small flash and as Du'Vel put his hand down he saw Leinad moving away form the candle. A small glowing orb floating above his palms.

"This is it," Leinad said.

"Not fire," Du'Vel said surprised. "But the light itself."

Leinad saw the little light in his hands, waves of not very noticeable energy coming of it. He noticed his own mana and stamina start to slowly fall.

"My mana and stamina are falling," he said to Du'Vel.

Du'Vel seemed to snap out of a trance. 

"Put the light out!" he said quickly.

Leinad stopped focusing on it and the light blinked out of existence. 

"Casting can take mana and stamina from you in order to manipulate the physical element or essence itself," Du'Vel said as he put a hand on Leinad's shoulder. "It looks like you might have a subclass of fire casting. This is very rare and even though I've heard of people being able to manipulate heat instead of the fire, this is the first I've heard of someone being able to manipulate light without a flame or even heat."

Du'Vel smiled at Leinad.

"Well, I think we know the type of caster you are now," Du'Vel said. "Leinad, you're a Light Caster."