"Cael Ashval" He said.
"Alright, and i still don't know why you have kept that a secret" Kev commented.
"You will know soon enough, although i had to expect a child didn't know about me"
He then stood up from his seat and gestured him to come closer.
"I wish you to be my apprentice, that's why i took you in this place, though you will need to be educated first" he then paused "i will teach you about magic but for everything else you will be on your own, this library here has every book you need. Your first task is to read every single one of them and learn what they have to teach: history, etiquette, general knowledge and the common language. Servants will come to the tower once a day at dawn so if you need something ask them. I will leave now and i will come back in a week, then i will ask you to tell me everything you learned, that way you cannot slack off. You will not learn anything about magic until im satisfied with you".
He then left Kev on his own in the study, and he started to wander around a bit; there where information about everything here and he was excited to read. Never before he got an opportunity like this and he was trilled to take advantage of it.
Time seemed to slow down while he was reading, he got immersed in an history book almost immediately. He read until he fell asleep on the desk and the next day, when he woke up he found food in front of him; like yesterday, a servant brought some.
What intrested him was the fact that no one else spoke to him, even when he asked a question or tired getting a servant's attention, after a while he simply gave up and treated them like they didn't exist. The books where far more entertaining anyway.
Like that a week went by and the old man finally returned, they chatted a bit and he got asked about what he learned, after a couple of hours, Cael seemed satisfied enough and left.
***
This routine went on for 8 months, and he was only half way done.
He learned about Geography: the empire on the west, the first kingdom of the east, the nomads who populated the central desert and about the six allied city states on the south coast.
He learned about etiquette: how to behave while eating, how to address nobles properly, how to be respectful and how to express himself correctly and respectfully in every setting.
He then learned about History: the past wars and the treaties, the traditions and folklore.
Every week Cael would come and check on his progress, if he was satisfied he would just leave, if he thought that Kev didn't learn enough he would scold him and spank him. Kev oftentimes would curse at him and for that he would get even more beatings.
"shut up you old twat! Why should i care about how to cut a chicken correctly? let me read about magic already" Kev one day said.
"what did you call me?, you little brat!" he retorted while reaching for his walking cane;"don't ask questions and just learn about that, one day you will need it"
They would frequently banter like that and the time went by…
***
One day, Kev was given by Cael a book, titled "history of the imperial family" and that was when he finally realised, the surname Ashval was the emperor's as well. He the inquired:"Are you the emperor's brother or something?" The question was thrown like that in the middle of a casual conversation, and Cael looked amused. He then said:" I'm his father you moron, i was the emperor fifty years ago".
Kev was astounded. First because that meant the old man was older than he thought possible, more than 150 years old for sure. Second because why the hell didn't he tell him something like this sooner?.
With this newfound knowledge, Kev started to think and act differently. He realised that his status as the official disciple of a presumable immortal and the emperor's father, made him more important than 95% of the nobles in the entire empire.
What he didn't understand though, was why the old man kept him locked up in his tower all day and didn't even teach him magic. Heck he didn't even teach him anything himself, for now he studied the books alone and was only checked upon.
That changed really quickly. Kev was now 9 years old and one day after the usual check up routine, Cael told him:"Starting tomorrow I'll teach you about magic, meet me at the entrance at 9am"
***
The next day arrived, master and apprentice left the tower premises and headed for a table under the shade of a big tree nearby.
It had been more than a year since Kev stepped out of those cursed halls and he was finally allowed a bit of fresh air, he complained often about it with the servants but as always his words where met with silence.
"Do you know why I kept you here during the past year?" Asked Cael, breaking the silence.
"I thought about it but I'm not sure, probably because you didn't want anyone to find out about me?" Said Kev.
"That's right, the fact that you're my direct apprentice will have gathered a lot of attention from a lot of people, and between those, my enemies as well." Cael explained."Your age is also a problem, since I would have found it difficult to explain where I found I kid with a core already formed".
"I don't understand about that though, is it that surprising?" Said Kev with skepticism.
"I will tell you now" Cael started explaining himself, "Every mage is divided in to 4 tiers, and each tier has 3 stages"
He went on to explain the mages ranking system, the first tier was called the "Adept" realm. He explained that even normal humans where part of this tier, "Adept realm early stage" to be exact.
To put it simply it went like this:
Tier 1: Adept
Tier 2: True mage
Tier 3: Master mage
Tier 4: Archmage
Every tier had three stages also: Early, middle and Peak stage.
Cael then pointed out "Mana cores are what makes a true mage, that's why I was worried to reveal you to the world".
He then explained how usually, a person would never grow a core if they didn't train or weren't talented enough, often times a talented individual would be able to reach the true mage tier at around 18-19 years of age. That was the reason he didn't want to bring Kev around other people, since apparently he was extremely talented.
"No one ever noticed before, since you didn't hang around strong people, you were lucky you didn't get killed, after all, having a high tier but no fight experience is basically a death sentence…"
Cael paused and looked deeply into Kev eyes, as if to make the next statement more important.
"Kid, this world is one of blood and battlefields. War is the normality, and death comes easy. It will be up to you, either you survive or you will be a stepping stone for others."
Kev took the words to heart and reflected a lot during that night…