Chapter 33: Sent To The Capital

Greyson felt his heart leap to his throat as he was handed the letter from Lyle. He obviously knew what the inside of the letter was about after seeing the sender was the painting association. Hesitating, he felt unsure of whether to open it. Underneath his calm exterior, he had a lot of desire to win this regional part of the competition and make his teacher proud. This could be his first real accomplishment in any of his occupations, so he wanted to do well. After pausing for a minute, Greyson took a deep breath and ripped open the letter. In beautiful penmanship were the large letters of 'Congratulations.' Sighing in relief, he continued reading the rest until he reached his placement. First! He had really placed first for the Academy City painting association branch! Suddenly, he felt that all his efforts were paying off. He was proud that he had put so much thought into his painting. Calming his emotions, he read the rest of the letter. As first place, his painting would be sent to the capital for further judging. It would be in the running for the larger competition for the Dalia Kingdom. If his painting placed in the top 3, then one month later he would receive a notification and be invited to the capital city for his awards.

Finishing the letter, Greyson couldn't help but look forward to a month later. Although he was proud and confident, he felt nervous about his placement in the larger Dalia Kingdom. Painting required no magic, thus painters were not as rare. There were thousands of citizens in the kingdom who were in the running for this competition and even Greyson did not know where he would fall in the pool of young talents.

Shaking his head, he left these thoughts to the back of his mind. Now, it was time to celebrate the small victories! The first person to know the news was his roommate Lyle who had handed him the letter. Afterwards, he had to tell Castiel next. Running to the familiar painting workshop, Greyson burst through the doors and showed the letter to his teacher.

"Teacher, I won! My painting will move on to the capital for the rest of the competition!" Smiling widely, he looked towards his teacher with eyes nearly dripping with anticipation for praise. Castiel took a look at his apprentice after reading the letter and giggled. He felt if Greyson had a tail, it would be wagging right now. Even he could tell his apprentice was adorable.

Freezing for a moment, Greyson was shocked to even hear a noise come from his teacher's mouth. Castiel then grabbed a piece of paper and wrote, "Congratulations, I knew you could do it! I was never worried. I can't wait to see it later after the competition is over." A warm smile spread over his face as he pet Greyson's head. Happiness spilled through Greyson reading his message. His shock furthered when Castiel told him to stay at the workshop and eat dinner. Even when he had made his way back to his dorm, he was still in shock at his teacher's cooking skill. He felt kind of guilty for thinking it, but Greyson couldn't help but feel that Castiel's cooking was even better than Sister Lily's.

Falling asleep smiling, he had an amazing night's rest.

The next day, before his lesson with Old Man Thraec, he ran to tell the good news to all his teachers to hear their praise. He knew he was being childish while fishing for compliments, but his teachers were always stingy with praise and he did not hear it often. The congratulations gave him a feeling of gratification for all his hard work and practice thus far. It was not like he actually enjoyed meditating and practicing all the time. He also wanted to go out and play and do stupid things. At the church, he had always been free to do whatever. However, he knew that he must work hard to further his power and achieve his goals. In moments like this, the pleasure of accomplishment was a type of confirmation that his perseverance was worth it.

After spending some time with all his teachers, he finally headed over to the blacksmith association to Thraec's workshop. Once again hit by a familiar wave of heat, he saw his sweating teacher hammering away to shape the metal. Almost forgetting why he came, Greyson paused in fascination. Unlike his initial thoughts, the hammering was not just about strength. It was a precise art, and it took Greyson a year's worth of guidance to barely understand. To this day, he still needed his teacher to point out where to hit down for certain metals and tools that he was not yet used to making. His teacher was quickly finished as a sharp sword came into shape. Placing the sword to the side, he finally noticed Greyson's presence.

"Hmph, just because I cut you some slack for the painting competition, you think it's okay to come late to your lessons now?" He angrily huffed.

"Ah? No, that's not it! I went to my other teacher's earlier to tell them the good news. Guess what, old man! I won! My painting is being sent to the capital for judging." Greyson quickly explained while puffing out his chest in pride by the end. He waited and waited, but his expected congratulations did not come. Opening his eyes, he looked over at his teacher in confusion. Although he knew the old man did not like giving out compliments, he still expected a halfhearted 'congrats' with some kind of sarcastic complaint. Thraec completely spaced out in deep thought.

"Hey, old man! Are you alright?" Greyson spoke out finally. Snapped out from his thoughts, Thraec finally realized he had been silent this entire time.

"Ah, oh, right. Congrats, Grey. Hopefully you can do well at the capital competition, as well."

"Haha, I'm not sure how I'll do, but I'm hoping for good results. But, teacher, what made you pause all of a sudden?"

"Hmm? Just a thought passed by..." His voice trailed off, before determination showed in his eyes as he seemed to come to a decision.

"You know what, Grey. I am going to teach you the level two engravings. As an intermediate level magician, you have been ready for awhile. I only realized now that I might have been too obsessed with giving you strong basics, that I have been holding you back. The next month of lessons, we will spend learning about the level two engravings and you can decide what kind of magic tool you will create."

"Wait, really?! You'll let me make a level two magic tool?" Greyson shouted feeling elated.

"Have I ever joked with you about stuff like this? Get a hold of yourself now, boy. It's only level two engravings, no need to make such a fuss." He coughed out.

"Thank you, thank you! I'll have to start thinking about what to make!" Already lost in his imagination, Greyson felt excited about what kind of tool he should make.