"Looks like I need to speak to mum."

Kyle's mother was a bit of an anomaly in this border city. As a mage she should have been taken to the capital of the empire to be trained in the imperial academy. This was done as mages are classed as if they are a weapon of the empire. As mages are low in number in comparison to warriors the higher levels like to keep them around the capital and train them themselves to try and enforce loyalty and in most cases mages are married into the upper status families such as the imperial family or into a duke's family.

Kyle's family had the noble rank of earl which gave them overall authority over New Grange city but they were overseen by an imperial governor who held no noble title but had the authority to enact imperial edicts, intervene in conflicts between nobles and finally ensure the tithes from the noble families were collected in full and on time. The imperial governor is backed by the imperial garrison and if needed he can request reinforcement from the imperial army who are based in the capital.

Mages are treated as tactical weapons by the empire as a single mage used in the correct way can rival an entire legion of warriors, thus the imperial family is unwilling to allow too many mages to escape their clutches.

Maria Powell managed to avoid being dragged to the capital by being a dual mage/sorcerer and was protected by her them teacher. Maria's teacher was a second stage third level sorcerer whose speciality was a form of future sight. In battle this future sight could be used to predict an enemies plan and movements before they thought of them. This isn't why the empire was cautious around them, it was because in addition to short span sight Maria's teacher also was able exert a further sight and could make predictions which had saved many cities throughout the empire from impending disasters, earning them the respect of most of the commoner population and if they were directed towards imperial assets, could do irreparable damage.

Obviously this action would cause more harm than the teacher was willing but just the ability to galvanise the populace in this way caused the imperial family to tread carefully and they also couldn't remove them as they still needed their assistance. So when Maria came into her abilities in New Grange city where her teacher resided she was protected. How Maria become this Sorcerer's student Kyle didn't know but he did know his parents married for love rather than for gain which made his opinion of them raise.

Deciding that he would need to find his mother Kyle thought for a minute to try and remember if she would be anywhere specifically at this time. He decided the most obvious place would be the gardens as she usually took tea there when it was around midday and looking at the sun it appeared to be around noon.

Standing up and inspecting his self in the mirror Kyle straightened his. Looking back he could see a slightly pale Caucasian child with dark green eyes and dark auburn hair looking back. He had high cheekbones a straight nose but still with a little baby fat around his face making him look cute. Seeing this Kyle thought 'Not bad I can work with this'.

Deciding that he looked okay and nothing appeared out of place he quickly ran over what he was going to say and ask his mother before moving to the door. Standing outside of the door Kyle almost crashed into a little girl who was waiting outside. She seemed to have been waiting for a while as she was slightly moving from one foot to another to keep her legs from aching while looking supremely bored. When Kyle came out of the room the young girl stopped fidgeting and stood at attention.

"My lord" the young girl said while bowing her head.

Looking her over Kyle quickly remembered that this was Miranda who was his personal maid and would follow him in case he needed assistance with anything. Miranda came from a commoner family and she came to work at the family 2 years ago with several other y trainees of the same age. When Kyle's mother was inspecting the new maids she saw or felt something in Miranda and decided to follow her instinct by appointing her as her son's trainee maid.

The personal attendants of the Powell family would receive better training and resources than they would otherwise be able to receive if they weren't in the employ of the family hence why many people apply when positions appear. This isn't to say all noble families treat their people well or to the same degree, as many cannot be bothered to waste resources and funds helping the lower levels of society. Remembering this Kyle was once again impressed by his family as by doing this they ensured a certain degree of loyalty from their people without having to enforce this through fear.

"Hello Miranda, do you know if my mother is in the gardens at the moment?" Kyle asked unknowingly he had a mild smile on his face when talking to Miranda.

"Yes my lord I saw the lady heading down from the residence about a half hour ago." Miranda went slightly red when speaking to Kyle as he rarely spoke to her except to give her directions and orders.

"Oh excellent let's head there now as I need to speak with her." Saying this Kyle unconsciously took Miranda's hand and started to lead the way. When he took her hand Kyle's soul sight kicked in again causing him to pause as he started to see into Miranda's spirit realm. Miranda's spirit realm was rather barren in comparison to Kyle's. The river that flows through Kyle was only a tiny trickle in Miranda and her nodes were all blocked and were also smaller than Kyle's even before the expansion. Thinking about these things Kyle conjectured this was due to Miranda not having starting her training yet as commoners don't begin until they are 10 and she was still only 8.

The pause in Kyle's step was only for a second until he recovered his soul sight. Turning to Miranda who was bright red from Kyle taking her hand, Kyle smiled again and said "I think I'll ask mother if we can start your foundation training early as it will be helpful to you" what Kyle didn't say was 'you can be my guinea pig'. Kyle needed to understand the process of cultivation these people used and all the details he could find in the manuals that were read previously only told the how and not the why. It can be taken as if you are reading a manual for a TV, you can understand how to use the TV but you wouldn't understand the ins and outs to repair it. Taking this analogy Kyle needed to see this cultivation from the start to understand the process.

However Kyle isn't a psychopath and he wouldn't hurt a child so while Miranda was his guinea pig he would only use tried and tested methods currently in circulation at least until he could get a handle on what he needs to understand.

Miranda didn't think about any of this. When she heard Kyle wanted her to start cultivating early she got excited as this means he had accepted her into his household and she and her family would be protected by the current head and scion of the top family in the city. Thinking about this Miranda got some tears in her eyes as there are many situations with noble families where staff are dismissed for no reason and with no assistance. Once people are dismissed from noble houses they will find themselves struggling to find work as business owners would fear the retaliation of the noble house, meaning that nine times out of ten these families will find themselves sent to the slum area of the city with no means of recovering.

Miranda couldn't wait to tell her parents what Kyle had said as he wouldn't throw her away if he was willing to give her a training manual even if she ceased being his personal maid the family would keep her employed. This was one of the advantages of being raised by a noble house as their training manuals, even the low level ones are much better and effective than the manuals which are provided by the city.

Kyle who was rushing now towards the gardens with a smile on his face as he can start to investigate his problem realised he was dragging a dazed Miranda behind him. Slowing down he looked at Miranda with some concern

"Are you alright? You aren't feeling unwell?"

Shaking herself from the daze, she looked at Kyle and said

"No my lord I'm fine, and thank you."

Grinning Kyle only said

"Don't mention it, now hurry up we need to see mother."

Rushing away again but this time with Miranda keeping up, Kyle rushed through the halls as if he had run through them a thousand times until he reached the open air and could see the sun shining down on an elegant woman reading a book while sipping tea.

"Hi mum."magic