3rd POV
Well, celebrating my birthday will be different for me since it finally allowed me to get out of the home. Well, I will stay in the garden of the house, but still, it's a step forward. (Rudeus thought.)
After dinner had just finished and before Mom and Dad went off researching for new ways to get me siblings, I went and asked them to let me leave the house, which caused Mom to cry and Dad to say I'm 11 years early.
After some moments of them realizing what they had understood, I had to clarify myself. (And what's this about being able to leave home at 12? That Paul and his careless talking…)
"Mommy, Daddy, what I'm trying to say is… Can I play in the garden and explore around outside the house? Why are you crying, Mommy? Are you hurt?" (I still cringe from the overacting I'm doing, but still, I feel less awkward than usual with it. Am I really turning into an over-smart toddler?) Rudeus thought.
"Oh, that's what you meant," said Paul while scratching the back of his head. (I thought for a moment he was going to leave the house like we did.) Paul thought (fixed from "thinked").
"No, my dear, I'm fine. I just had a bad thought," said Zenith while trying to dry her tears and hide them from her child.
(Well, I have to really train myself on my grammar and words in this language. I feel like one day I will provoke fights with my bad sentence structure.) Rudeus thought.
"Mommy, Daddy, may I play outside? Please!" said the devil in disguise—a too-cute toddler with puppy eyes.
"I can't ever say no to you, Rudi!" said Mom before hugging me.
"To me... I also agree, of course." (I felt Dad was going to say something that would put me and him in trouble, but Mom's glare saved both of us—or maybe just me.) Rudeus thought.
"Young Master, remember to return to the house before sunset. At this time of the year, the nights are cold," said Lilia, as usual—the only reasonable person in the house.
"Okay, Ms. Lilia!" Rudeus said before leaving the house.
Rudeus POV
Wow, I never imagined that I would finally leave the house, even though it's only the garden. But it's a big advancement.
Well, we have two big gardens: one in front of the house and one at the back of the house. The one in the front has trees that Mom raises with love and care. Also, Dad's favorite and only horse, Caravaggio, is kept in the stable near the door. In the back garden, Mom raises some vegetables and flowers—like the front, but without trees. The back is more like a field with some vegetables and flowers planted on the sides. On the other hand, the front one is bigger and wider, but because of too many things in there, it feels less spacious.
I went to the back garden because I wanted to try my spells with freedom and try new ones too. First, I tried a Water Ball and let it fall, then looked back to see if there was anyone watching me. I found none.
Okay, time to go all out: Water Wall, Water Arrow, Stone Bullet. After I finished the three spells, all that I did was make some water puddles in the garden and a throwable stone the size of my finger. As usual, after summoning water, I looked at the water to get used to the new body of mine. I look like Paul but with dirty blonde hair. (Pretty handsome if you asked me, but I wish in this world no one would call this color dirty blonde. If it doesn't have a name in this world, I will call it light brown-blonde or tea blonde.)
Okay, enough playing around—let's focus.
"Let the great protection of fire be in place. Who seekest, I call the bold heat of torch, right here and now— Fireball! "
When I finished, as usual with every new spell, I felt the tingling sensation running from my liver to my right arm. Then, the new spell appeared in my hand—this time, a very small fire the size of a basketball. I dropped the fire spell on the water I had summoned before, since I can't figure out yet how to dispel the spells or how to throw it.
Okay, now for the chantless one. Fireball—and a new fireball appeared in my hand. I dropped it, as usual, into the water on the ground. And done. That's enough for now with fire.
The first thing is to get accustomed to using all four of my limbs. I summoned four Water Balls—one from each limb—then dropped them. Finally, to finish the day, I summoned an Ice Sword and started training by copying Paul's easy stances that he does. I kept at it until the sun started to drop from the horizon. Then, I entered the house. (Also, midway through training, the ice sword melted, so I had to switch to the alternative: an Earth Lance, which is a tall rod that's too heavy for my body to use properly in training.)
(For some reason, the training Paul does increases muscles faster than how it is supposed to be normally, but still, I train both my arms and my two sides equally to avoid having a stronger side than the other.)
If anything, the training I did helped me a lot in digesting some of the meat I ate, which was a little bit heavy for my too-young body.
I entered the room, went to the bathroom, and when I finished my business, I was just met by Mom taking me back inside to wash and bathe me. My privacy is null in this house—even though they know I have consciousness, they still don't skip some parts. And even asking won't help to make them stop. Even with the help of "Mommy" and "please," it won't make a difference. They never let me bathe alone. 😔
After that, Mom hugged me tightly, then she put me to my bed. (First day out of the crib!) After that, I waited for five minutes—just to make sure I don't get caught using magic.
As usual, I cleared my mana reserves by using double overcharged X-Healing on my chest to heal my lungs. After three minutes, I started to feel sleepy, and five seconds later, I fell asleep.
Next Day
The next day, as usual, I woke up early, and for the first time in a while, I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for breakfast—only to find Lilia at home. (So, no good conversations for the day.)
After breakfast, I thanked Lilia and went to the study on the second floor to reach the books. Now, this is a tricky situation. I want to take the magic book with me so I can read it, but at the same time, I don't want Dad to think I'm dropping the sword. Also, at the same time, I think my mana increasing every day is a waste if I stop doing it. And if I can't find new ways to waste mana, I won't be able to finish it all in one day.
I found the perfect solution. I picked the biggest book of them all—Traveling Around the World—and put the magic book inside it. I went out, but before going down, my conscience burned me alive, so I returned the books and just took the Three Swordsmen book instead, since I wanted to ask about the North God more—especially because of his gravity magic. And also, I want to gather more information about labyrinths—even though there is information about it in this book, Dad never uses it.
I went down the house with the book in my hand and went to the garden to find Dad simulating a very intense fight—going all out from attacking to defending and counterattacking. He finished the training with strange movements to close distances and increase his attack power. After that, he finished with a very fast, screeching sword slash—almost silent. (Really cool!)
Until I realized he had nicked a branch of my mother's favorite tree. (Oops, I will miss you, Dad. I hope you outlive this.)
Needless to say, Mom showed a very fake, scary smile to Dad and scolded him for hours. I used this time to summon Stone Bullets and try to throw or reshape them, which proved impossible for me.
When Mom finally finished scolding Dad very harshly and made him promise never to break any of her tree branches again, they turned around. And while Dad was putting his sword back in its sheath, a very fast Stone Bullet destroyed another branch of Mom's favorite tree. Needless to say, a punishment had been put on Dad.
(I swear it wasn't intentional! I tried reshaping the stone spell after summoning it, but when that didn't work, I brute-forced it. And by sheer coincidence, I figured out how to shoot my spells—and since I overpowered it, its speed was almost supersonic. It was a very scary experience.)
I just hope it didn't hit anyone on the way. Because if it did, I'm sure this'll be my first kill in this world. (Well, Dad, I promised you revenge for the Millis religion lessons Mom gives me because of your stupid advice. You're a free man now. I'll have to clarify things between me and Mom next time she opens this conversation again.)
Now, for the important stuff: This last spell takes about 0.5% of my mana, which was tripled from yesterday. I'd say it's at least triple the cost of X-Healing for 15 seconds. (That's scary.)
Conversation with Dad
After going to Dad and asking him to read the book with me, his spirit returned when he saw it was the Three Swordsmen and the Labyrinth book. When I asked him about the North God, he scowled—until I clarified I wanted to know how strong the man himself was and if he knew how he combined gravity magic with swordsmanship.
Then, he smiled and told me what he knew:
Apparently, the North God uses a special greatsword that can wield gravity magic—letting him fly, attract, and push things away (like a small planet?)—and even crush enemies or make people around him float. The sword also amplifies the user's power beyond just gravity magic.
What I Learned About the North God:
First North God:
Strongest in the North God style (which Dad hates but idolizes).
First appeared in Three Swordsmen; last seen killing a cruel pedophile king 40 years ago.
One of the Seven Heroes who sealed Laplace (this world's Satan).
One of only two survivors of that battle (the other being Perugius, a near-legendary figure).
Later, he solo'd the Immortal Demon King Atoferat (why "king" if she's a woman?) and married her.
Cleared many "unbeatable" labyrinths before dying fighting the Dragon King Kajakut in K65.
Second North God:
Started his journey by killing the calamity Kajakut. (Avenging his father?).
His sword, Dragon king Kajakut, uses mana to control gravity. (And gives a 100x strength boost without mana).
(Did he avenged his father's killer by turning him into a weapon?)
Also killed the Gardenia King and prime minister in the Conflict Zone.
(Wait—the first North God fought before K408 and died in K65, meaning he was at least 80. The second appeared in K70 and was last seen 40 years ago. Is this family immortal? Is that why his father survived fighting Laplace alongside Perugius?)
Dad's Sword & Training
His sword is a Labyrinth treasure weapon, and its name is the sword of Saint Millis and its special ability is that "the weight of your attack transfers into the strike's force." After an hour of Dad explaining, I finally understood:
It acts as a catalyst, converting attack weight into power of the slash.
Dad combines Sword God Style (SGS) and North God Style (NGS) to maximize this. (He claims to hate NGS, but it's his strongest school—he's triple-advanced in all sword styles. Amazing!)
(I must've said that last part out loud because Dad got a very big smug look on his face.)
He then promised that when I'm older, he'll take me to clear a labyrinth together.
(Irresponsible but cool! I'd love to try it—but would he mind if I joined as a healer or mage? I'm way stronger in magic than swordsmanship. Not that I'm dropping the sword… yet. I'm barely one year old, and my muscles are still weak. But my magic? Scary.)
Gravity Magic Experiments
I tried mimicking gravity magic in my room for an hour but failed miserably. Maybe I need more info or to apply real-world physics tomorrow.
As usual, I ended the day with double overcharged X-Healing on my chest. After 9 minutes, I felt sleepy—and five seconds later, I was out.
"Goodnight." I said it to no one in particular but to finish the day before sleeping. (My new habbit).