Starting the next week, Alastia took the children to work with her every day. And I, so as not to be left alone, started teaching again.
And so it went.
In the morning, the children went with her to the hall, and then the day would unravel on its own into the shouts of students, magic, exhaustion, and returning home.
Alastia very quickly became strict with Naya. Too strict, if you ask me.
She demanded that Naya begin gathering a large mana reserve as early as possible. She constantly forced her to reach out, to feel, to hold it, not to let it dissipate.
And yet Naya didn't even really understand what it was all for. She is only one year old.
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But Alastia looked at it differently. The earlier you start, the better.
I couldn't really argue with her on that. Although at times I wanted to say: "She's a child, not a new magical reservoir."
Naya, truthfully, grasped things surprisingly fast. Not everything. Not deeply. But her body already understood where to reach. Sometimes she did what was needed almost by accident, and Alastia immediately seized upon it and forced her to repeat it over and over again.
At first, Naya got angry. Then she acted stubbornly. Then she would start trying simply because her mother looked too serious.
With Art, it was simpler for now.
He just stayed close and absorbed everything indiscriminately. He watched, listened, memorized intonations, movements, the rhythm. I still didn't know what would come of him.
Most likely, he will learn verbal magic.
Well, what can you do if non-verbal isn't working out yet. It will have to be like this. Through words. Through repetition.
He, by the way, already liked repeating everything out loud himself, even if he didn't fully understand what exactly he was saying. So, maybe this really is his path.
For now, that was enough.