The image of the shimmering spear, the divine weapon, burned in Kurt's mind. He could think of nothing else. The casual grace with which the noble had summoned and wielded such power filled him with a mixture of awe and a burning desire to understand.
The walk back to the cabin felt endless. He fidgeted, his small legs carrying him as quickly as they could, his mind racing with questions. He couldn't wait to tell Thomas what he had seen.
As soon as they arrived home, Kurt, bursting with excitement, tugged at Thomas's hand. "Father! Father! I saw a hunter in the woods! A noble! And he… he made a spear appear! Out of thin air! It was all glowy and powerful, and he used it to…" Kurt struggled to find the words, his childish vocabulary failing to capture the magnificence of what he had witnessed. "He made it appear and then threw it, and it hit the deer!"
Thomas, who had been chopping wood outside, listened with a patient smile, though his expression soon shifted to a more somber one. He knelt down, his large hands resting gently on Kurt's small shoulders.
"A noble, you say?" he asked, his voice low.
Kurt nodded eagerly, his eyes shining with remembered wonder. "Yes! He just… whoosh! It was there! And it was so bright and strong!"
He tried to mimic the noble's gesture, waving his tiny hand in the air, but the image in his mind was far grander than his clumsy imitation.
"Could… could I do that?" Kurt asked, his voice filled with a desperate hope. "Could I learn to do that too?"
Thomas's smile faded. He looked at Kurt, his eyes filled with a complicated mix of affection and sadness. He sighed, a heavy sound that seemed to carry the weight of something unspoken.
"No, little one," he said, his voice gentle but firm. "That… that is not for us."
Kurt's face fell. "What? Why not?"
Thomas hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "The nobles… they are the only ones who are taught such things. The knowledge of how to summon those weapons, those… those divine weapons, is called Astra Knowledge. It is said that only they have the blood, the lineage, to access such power."
He paused, stroking Kurt's hair. "We commoners, we peasants… we are never taught. It is not our way."
The words hung in the air, a heavy pronouncement that seemed to close a door before Kurt had even known it was there. He stared at Thomas, his initial excitement replaced by a crushing disappointment.
"But… but that's not fair!" Kurt protested, his voice small but filled with a growing anger. "Why can't I learn? Why can't we learn?"
Thomas held him close, his embrace offering a small comfort. "It is the way of the world, little one," he said, his voice filled with a resignation that Kurt couldn't understand. "It has always been so."
But Kurt was not comforted. He pulled away slightly, his small face set with a stubborn determination. He looked at Thomas, and though he was still just a child, there was a new fire in his eyes.
"I will learn," he declared, his voice firm despite its childish tone. "I will learn Astra Knowledge. Somehow. Someway."
The image of the shimmering spear was no longer just a source of wonder. It was a challenge, a symbol of something he was denied. And Kurt, despite his circumstances, despite his limitations, had just set himself on a path. A path that would lead him far beyond the quiet cabin in the Eldorian forest.