The Mage’s Path of Dreams

Three days later. 

The boy finally caught the rabbits!

Though they leapt out of his hands when he tried to hold them and ran away, so it was yet another day of no harvest. 

The boy wasn't discouraged. He learnt that he needed tools to capture the rabbits after putting them into a trap.

The witch could see that he was a fast learner. His intelligence was starting to garner her attention. 

Two more days later.

"Aha! Look what I brought you, witch!" The boy, covered in dirt and grass, dashed out of the woods holding a pair of speared rabbits. 

Within two days, he found some sharp rocks and made stone spears to kill the rabbits in the ditch. 

He may have seen the spears in the past to make out that they could be used in these circumstances. Still, to actually tie up the rocks to sticks and hunt the aggressively hopping rabbits… it was quite the feat. 

The witch was a being who had seen everything there was in the universe. There was nothing that could amuse her. Yet, right now, she couldn't help but commend the boy for his wits. 

Of course, she did not have any change of emotions on her face. She simply took the rabbits from the boy and gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement. 

The boy smiled at her approval and went back into the house, tired and ready to sleep. 

A month passed by.

The boy and the witch sat by an open fire in front of their house, under the dark starry sky.

The fire crackled and the aroma of roast rabbits spread through the surroundings. 

The boy gazed at the fire while hugging his knees, his expression somber.

The witch sat beside him.

"You know… it has been a month…"

The boy slowly opened up. 

The witch was not a threat, he had realized it long ago. However, it took him quite some time to actually say what was bottled up in his heart. 

"…my family's castle was burned… and my mom, my dad, and…"

Drip. Drip. 

Tears gushed out like waterfall from the boy's eyes as he absentmindedly stared at the fire. 

He felt a lump in his throat and couldn't explain any further. 

The witch did not need any explanation. She knew everything that had happened with him. 

"…my younger sister Lula… they all… they all…"

The witch let her staff go and pulled the boy in her embrace, gently wrapping herself around him in a warm hug.

The boy's sobs intensified as the emotionless witch comforted him. 

All his bottled up emotions erupted and hugged the lady tighter, wailing and crying his heart out in her embrace. 

The witch rubbed the boy's back and placed her chin on top of his head. The corner of her lips curved down and her emotionless face wasn't as emotionless anymore. 

…..

A month later.

"Hey! Look what I found!" The boy brought four eggs the size of his head.

"Hahaha! Today we'll have omelett—"

Roaaarrrrr!

A beast roared from the jungle and ran towards the boy. . 

"Uwaaa!" The boy shouted and made a run in a random direction. He could tell that his house would be destroyed by the beast if he ran there.

The witch took note of it and was amused again. 

…..

Another month passed by.

"You know… my name… no, forget my name… you never told me your name… actually no… you've never said a single full sentence to me… do you not want to talk to me?" 

The boy and the witch sat by the lake, fishing, and the boy conversed. 

The witch merely extended her hand out and ruffled his red hair, not answering his question. 

"Hmph! Then so be it!" The boy harrumphed. "I am not like you. I am a better person. Since I am better, I will tell you my name."

The witch's ears perked up. She was interested.

"It's Lorentz Volhard Von Hell. My first name is Lorentz Volhard, and my family name is Von Hell." The boy said with a proud expression. 

The lady looked at the not even four foot tall boy from head to toe, a question lingering in her mind:

Wasn't the name too grand for such a small kid?

…and wait… did he say his first name is Lorentz Volhard?

There's two words in the first name?

The witch could not understand the naming conventions of humans of this world. She found them to be quite strange. 

"…well, now that I said my name… shouldn't you state yours too? Isn't it fair?" Lorentz Volhard questioned. 

The witch merely shook her head, making the boy pout. 

"I can't just call you a witch every time…" he mumbled under his breath. 

Despite understanding his struggle, the lady was helpless and did not know what she should tell him to refer to her. 

It was for the first time that a being like her was under such a difficult situation. 

…..

Six months later. 

It was winter, the boy was sick and at bed rest. 

His body was burning with high fever and it felt like someone had kept a boulder on his head. 

"Mom… mom…" the boy kept mumbling as his hazy vision stared at the ceiling. 

The witch sat beside him, peeling an apple. She wasn't worried about his sickness or condition. She knew it would go away in a while. 

She had the power to immediately cure him, but she did not. 

She had her reasons. 

Whatever the case be, under her supervision, no harm would come to the child anyway. 

"Mom…" tears leaked down the boy's eyes as he stared at the empty ceiling. He had never felt so alone and miserable in his short five years of life. 

The witch couldn't sit still and watch the boy cry like that. She put the knife down and held his hand, rubbing the back of his palm with her thumb.

The boy turned to her and peered into her clear purple eyes with his blurred red ones.

"Mom…" he called out in a sob. "You… you are finally… here…"

He mustered up strength to get up and hug her. The witch leaned down herself and let him hold her. 

No matter how wise or how strong he seemed, at the end of the day, he was still just a child. 

He dearly missed his family and kept remembering the day everything was set on fire. 

It was his strong mental fortitude that kept him going, but today, it seemed like he couldn't hold on for long if he did not get a supporting pillar. 

The witch thus decided to intervene.

"Mom… I missed you… I really really missed you…"

The boy sobbed and wailed loudly, soaking the witch's robe with tears and snot.

The only thing the witch worried about was the boy's wellbeing. 

She caressed his hair and tried to calm him down. 

The boy eventually cried until he fell asleep. 

In a few days, his fever went down, and he was back to normal.

From that day however, he began calling the witch as 'mom'. It was as if it was only natural for him to do so. 

The witch, being a witch, had cast her magic on him to make him not feel embarrassed or worried for calling her as his mom. That's about it. 

Unknowingly, the witch did not realize it, but due to the child, her own dormant motherly instincts were now flaring up.

She looked forward to how things would be in the future.