The Hybrid Mage

Act 1: Ch.5 - Examination

"Absolutely not!" Sylvia yelled.

"But Mama I-" I began before she interrupted me.

"No buts Novarion!" She hissed, the fury of her crimson eyes instantly shutting me up before she turned to Maddox. "Maddox, did you help him in getting the idea for recruiting himself into the C.F.R military?"

I sat down at the kitchen table, my sister standing next to me as my mother interrogated her from the other end of the table, eyes narrowed to slits. Maddox eventually nodded.

"Yes, I did Sylvia however that is only because I think he's capable."

Mama looked at Maddox as if she were suddenly wearing the most ridiculous piece of clothing.

"Capable? HE'S ELEVEN YEARS OLD!!" She screeched so loud that the house shook.

My sister calmly held up her hand as my mother heaved ragged breaths while I just sat there feeling very awkward.

"With all due respect Sylvia, Diablo has been in the military for six months now."

"That's because not only has he already been an Awakened Ethereal for the past seven months, but he was a prodigy before that with ability to control chaos itself to distort reality." Mama pointed out as she lay back in a chair beside her.

"Known as The Prodigy of the Cosmos Family myself I understand why that is the case however I have observed Diablo's fighting and combat skills in person," Maddox argued. "He's mediocre at best, his punches are sloppy and there's no real thought to his attacks and his defence is just well... it's best to not talk about it. He's only ever relied on the raw power of his Ethos and the Skills and abilities it's granted him. I mean he only recently awakened and is already a Titan Rank. Sooner or later, he'll be in for a reality check on the fact that he'll be completely defeated if a significantly more skilled individual with similar power to his own decides to fight him."

Mama suddenly looked up; worry etched on her face.

"He'll die?"

"Like all soldiers in a military that is always possible however it's unlikely for Diablo as he'll always have Viro or Kara with him to get him out of such a scenario." She said which seemed to ease my mother's fears. "Back to the topic at hand, I say this since Novarion makes up for his significant lack of power with a skill for fighting and combat that is worthy of the title of prodigy. Not to mention his reflexes are off the charts. You remember their birthday."

I remembered when Diablo had made a lunge for me at a great speed during our eleventh birthday however, I had placed the Ethomite knife that Kara gave to me against his throat to stop him from doing anything else.

My mother looked at me and looked as if she wanted to protest but didn't as she couldn't. In a slightly arrogant way that filled my chest with pride in my own abilities.

Perhaps I'm not completely useless after all.

"He's still eleven Maddox." She responded to my sister, reaching for a bottle of wine before pouring a glass.

"He doesn't behave like one. If I, his half sister, have noticed then I'm sure his own mother who's always around him has also noticed too." Maddox said, causing Mama to flinch. "Novarion has always been a lot more mature and far more intelligent for his age. Not only is he smarter than other kids his own age but also experienced Ethorian warriors when it comes to such things like strategy, reading a person and even manipulation to some extent. Diablo is far stronger yes and even though he has transcended time itself, no longer bound by age, he however still behaves like a kid whilst Nova hasn't for many years."

Maddox stopped herself, realising she was raising her voice and almost yelling. She bowed her head in apology and took a deep breath.

"What I'm trying to say Sylvia is that Novarion would fit in the military perfectly and I do believe he can pass the recruitment exam," she said as Mama looked back up at her with a slightly worried expression. "And you don't have to worry about him being on the front-lines of any great battle. Unless it's an emergency or an all-out invasion using every force the Cosmos Family has he'll be performing scouting missions or guarding important supplies and cargo as it's transferred between locations. And that'll be precisely because of his weak Ethos power and Rank Title."