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Elizabeth had the potential to surpass him. He was heralded as the strongest Magi of his time and believed impassible. And she had the potential to eclipse him, such was the Magick that lay in her blood. He had seen the power that slept inside of his daughter on the day she was born. In spite of this, he had found himself hoping that she never awakened her Magick. He remembered his own childhood in Elondri.

Certainly, the customs had changed over the centuries. The children were no longer carted off to serve the military at the first sight of Magick. Instead they were told to study when they could and try to make use of their gift for the betterment of the world itself. Ionescu sometimes envied the people of this era. They knew not the horrors that he had seen in his extended lifetime.

Karteley was happy as can be when she had told him about the small incident in the kitchen later that night. He had only given her a smile and replied that he would begin instructing Elizabeth in the coming weeks. While the Magi in Prycrest were certainly skilled and had quite the ability to teach, he was better. He was the only one that would get to instruct her to perfect her burden. Or so he told himself.

Her mother hadn't complained and had even liked the idea. It was more time to spend on herself instead of looking after Elizabeth. Kart hadn't had the opportunity since Elizabeth was born. Not for the first time, Dragomir had hated himself because of his workaholic nature. He liked to spend his time at work. It was something that called to his very existence. To spend his time instructing the next generation in the many possibilities of Magick.

But he was beginning to reach his limitation.

He was beginning to miss the rest of the Pedrolino-Ionescu household. Not even the pleasant sensation of seeing his students progress had quelled the aching in his heart. Rebria herself could probably suspect that he was thinking of retirement, which in itself was shocking. He had only worked for the last decade or so, ever since the journey had ended and he was gifted with the return of his mortality. It was unlikely that he would receive retirement.

Then of course he reminded himself that he was currently the foremost expert on Magick in the world. Putting a textbook together was child's play for him and the school board would no doubt pay him with quite the pretty amount for the right to use them. He had something to fall back on, was the point that he was trying to reach. It wasn't required for him to spend the rest of his life away from his family, working, just to make them stay afloat.

On to another, more important matter...

Elizabeth had just turned seven last month and had excelled in her studies. It was scary to see how much information that she just seemed to absorb. The subjects that took him at least two weeks to comprehend, she only needed four days. Ionescu had looked at her and pouted. To say that the next generation surpassed the last one was rather quite the understatement when it came to his daughter. By the time she was fourteen, she would've probably learned very lesson that he had to give.

Except for the more Forbidden subjects, of course.

Ionescu had no plans on letting her study that particular branch of Magick and wouldn't tolerate that sort of thing, either. He had knowledge that many would kill for and had killed for in the past. Time-Space and Mind Control being one of many that he had learned over the course of the war. Nothing that would threaten the peace and sanctity of the world at large. 'That is complete bull**** and I know it.'

"Papa?"

His eyes blinked away the haze that had settled over his vision and settled on the older form of his daughter. The edges of his mouth twisted upward in a smile as he noticed just how much she resembled her mother. Elizabeth was destined to break more than her fair share of hearts and he was going to break the will of many a boyfriend before he ever decided to approve. Nobody would touch his little girl if he had his way.

Karteley would probably tell him that she was in charge of her own life or whatever, trying to make him seem like the bad guy. "You already finished the Vita spell?"

Vita was the ancient Elondri word for Life and primarily dealt with such matters. While it wasn't capable of reviving the dead or creating a being from nothing but the essentials, it was perfect for gardening. Vita drew in the energy of the planet itself to revive a plant from the brink of death. In other words, bringing the plant back to the land of the living. Most of the Magi community believed it was useless for the most part... he, on the other hand, not so much.

It was one of the first spells of the age old Elondri Magick. Most of the Magi in his era had known the spell and it was one of the reasons why the forest that surrounded the country was still around today. It hadn't really seen extensive use until the Material War when the Morecast invaders had killed off or attempted to kill off a good chunk of the plant life. One of the more powerful spells, Vastitas or Devastation, enabled the user to actually control the forest itself.

All of the Magi of Elondri knew the spell. It was considered unpatriotic to not learn the spell, even though only a handful had the reserves and the affinity to utilize it on a grand scale. Ionescu himself had used Vastitas to devastating affect in the war and had butchered hundreds in the name of his country! The brunette shuddered at the memori- "Yup!"

Dragomir frowned as he reminded himself to stop getting lost in thought, the last thing he needed was to be caught unaware if his daughter made a mistake. He needed to remain vigilant in case he was needed. His own master had learned that early on when he had nearly burned his study down. It also meant that the rest of his Elemental spells were practiced outside where he couldn't ruin almost two millennia of Magick studies. "I guess we need to put that to the test, don't we?"

He walked across the backyard of his house and pressed his palm against the small mahogany tree that he had planted years before. Magick swelled around him as he beckoned, flowing into the large source of life in front of him. In the span of several seconds the tree had withered to almost nothing. This was the Morior spell or Decay. The effect was self explanatory.

"Alright. Eli, I want you to use the Vita spell to revive this tree. I'll decide if you are ready for the next lesson afterwards."

Elizabeth looked up at her father and nodded, her little green eyes filled with determination that only he could match in intensity. She walked up next to him and pressed her little hand against the tree, her brow wrinkling as she forced her Magick to the surface. It was quite the show. Wisps of purple energy seemed to radiate from the Ionescu child as she began the spell.

"Vita," she whispered.

Dragomir almost had a heart attack at what happened next.

His shadow was engulfed by that of the rapidly growing tree in front of him, reaching thirty feet in the span of two minutes. And it was still growing. By the time his daughter had stopped the spell, the once five foot mahogany tree now stood well over fifty feet in the air. Not once in his entire lifetime had he seen someone use that spell to such devastating effect. Had she been anyone else, he would've felt unadulterated fear for the first time in his life.

But this...

This was his little girl.

The only emotion he felt right now was the overwhelming feel of parental pride, one that came with seeing your child surpass you.

"D-Did I pass, Papa?"

Dragomir positively grinned as he swept his baby into his arms and raced back into the house. "Yes! We totally have to show Momma. I can't wait to see her reaction when she notices the giant tree in the backyard."

Elizabeth merely giggled as she allowed herself to be carried. 'Silly Papa..."

"Kart! Kart! Kart!"

"What are you shouting about this time, honey?"

"You need to come see this!"