Chapter 3: A Prodigy?

It was early in the morning, the sun rising on the horizon was a scene that comforted the hearts of many and terrified the hearts of others as a new day started, and it was time to get up.

In the same room from the day before, Alaric calmly slept in his wooden crib. The first rays of light slowly shone over him as he then woke up, now realizing that both his parents were no longer in the room.

(Isn't it slightly irresponsible of them to leave a baby on its own?) Alaric asked, seeing that his parents were no longer present in the room. (Well, they must've had something important to do) He concluded.

The warm sunlight was bathing him as he thought of what to do next, (Hum, I guess I should continue my mana link training now. It's not like I have anything better to do anyway.)

Having decided on what he'd focus on since he found nothing else to do, Alaric started his training the same way he did the last time, expanding his mind to the world around him.

(This doesn't seem to be as effective as I expected, maybe things are different in this new reality when compared to Absolute Fantasy…) Alaric hypothesized and then decided that it might be best to ask the system. (Sophia, how does mana work? and What exactly is it?)

[Mana functions as the energy source or fuel to all magic-related phenomenon, the law of magic by Zeltris, states that all magic, has an inferior effect when compared to its cost, so all magic is in the end a waste of mana.

[His quote is "For every magic spell, there's an energy conversion from mana to something else, and during that conversation, most of it is lost, so stop wasting it with magic and do something productive with it!" which led to the dissatisfaction of most magicians, and his law was disbelieved for centuries before being proven correct by Gustav the Great Sage.]

(I see, that's just what I thought… It seems things are as they should be so far…) Alaric was satisfied with this piece of information and then said, (You'll have to elaborate on how exactly this loss in mana happens.)

[Yes, Master of course! Whenever a magical spell is used, a certain amount of mana is consumed, if an individual uses 15 MP for a spell, from those 15 used only a certain percentage goes to the actual effect of the spell while the rest is wasted.

[Zeltris said in the past that no matter how well-versed in magic one is, there will always be a mana waste of at least 0.1%.]

(Good, it's exactly what I wanted to hear… I guess I was worrying for nothing. Just one more to be sure, though.) Alaric came to his conclusions, then decided to ask one more thing. (If that's the case, does the waste vary from person to person?)

[Yes, every individual has their particular mana waste per spell, defined by their mastery of mana and how much mana they use for a specific spell when it's cast.]

(Yup, and I still have this stuff, it could have been so much more simple. I got here, might as well get to the bottom of it.) Alaric said then let out a sigh of relief, and another question surfaced. (So, how exactly is mana used?)

[Mana is a form of energy present in every being of Mirth, and to control it, an individual must first be able to sense it, then slowly adapt to its flow.

[Once that is done, it will be possible to use the spell casting method by Gustav. Which states that spell casting is divided into 3 steps, namely spell genesis, determination of power, and activation.

[Which can be used for most of the many casting types, like chanting, magicraft, and silent. The exception being with player casting, spirit casting, and rune casting.]

(That's quite some information there, it is similar to stories I've read in the past, but also not quite the same. However, it doesn't seem like Cilcon has made his discoveries yet.) Alaric was almost fully satisfied, deciding to continue his training.

Alaric started practicing mana link at that moment, and he felt nothing. He tried, again and again, to feel this so-called magical energy that surrounded him, but he felt nothing.

As he kept trying, he started to doubt his ability to do so. While he trained for the mana link's first step to perceive mana through meditation, a woman with short straight brown hair and an expression that transmits nothing would appear outside the room from time to time, she was wearing a full-on black dress with a white apron on it.

Alaric's training to perceive mana continued, and this woman would come and go without him even noticing her presence since he was inside the wooden crib.

After 2 hours of none productive training, Alaric was feeling very hungry and could not resist his instincts as a baby, so.

"Waaaaa!!!" The cries Alaric let out were easily heard throughout the room and possibly the corridor.

Almost immediately the woman with brown hair came inside and walked to the wooden crib at a fast pace, she got close enough a leaned in, then with both arms, she picked up Alaric by his armpits, and then she pulled him in before she put him in a proper carrying position laid on one of her arms with his head on her elbow and his body close to her chest.

Her physique wasn't anything out of the ordinary her body is slim and doesn't seem very tall, and she doesn't even have any noticeable muscle, her skin being quite pale and making it like she rarely ever got exposed to the sun.

Her yellow eyes were one of her most notable traits as they stuck out, from her rather ordinary look, and made her seem unveiled in secrets and whether she had them or not is something unknown. Her skin was dark, and her ears were pointy.

Alaric looked at her eyes with no sign of focus or anything, and if someone saw him now, they might've inferred he was hypnotized, he was just curious and hungry, enough to distract the mind.

"Do you like my eyes?", The woman asked him with a monotone voice and blank expression after she realized his glare.

Alaric would have nodded his head if he could, but he couldn't, so he smiled at her to which, she smiled back.

Not long after this short exchange between both of them, they so reached another room.

There were bookshelves on the four corners of the room, and some vases with plants, some antique-looking small statues, cabinets, and even a wine cabinet; in the center of the room there was a couch with a small tea table with a tea set on it in front of it.

On the wall on the other side of the room, there are big windows that lead to the view of the backyard. The house was not quite noble but was by no means that of a simple commoner.

Now seated on one of the couches was mother, Amora, who was now holding a piece of parchment in her left hand, while her right hand had a cup of warm tea in it. She sips on the cup of tea before laying it down on a small plate and focusing on the parchment with a wrinkly expression and her right hand now holding the side of her face.

Then she turned her face to the left only to see the brown-haired woman carrying Alaric to her.

"Oh, Sylvia, you're here?... I got so distracted with this I forgot Alaric must be hungry by now." Mom said as she hit on her own head with her right hand softly while smiling, upon realizing her mistake.

"Miss Amora, you shouldn't worry. I've kept an eye on the young master just as you ordered, and only a few seconds ago, did he start crying.", Sylvia said as she could see the expression on Mom's face and narrowed her eyes while shaking her head.

She then handed Alaric to Mom, then Mom breastfed him while complaining about her current problems.

"I'm so envious of you, my little star, you can just be cute, eat, and sleep while mom has to deal with these matters of the magical academy!

"I wasn't even a part of it, but since I am connected to their best student, they somehow think they can just ask for my help every time something goes wrong, and I almost regret meeting her at times like these." Mom ranted about her problems to her child believing he couldn't understand her.

(Didn't she just give birth to me? Why on earth would they just throw work at her like that? Life really doesn't stop even in another world... Well, I guess I can only cheer, you can do it, Mom!) Alaric thought after hearing the situation, after all, he too understood the frustration of situations like those.

Seeing her child smile at her, made Amora feel much better about herself.

Sylvia just stood there on the side with a very small smile.

Once Alaric was full, he once again fell asleep against his will.

Then Sylvia Carried him back to his crib.

*Sigh* "I really don't want to get involved in politics and now they want me to help them start a war? I wasn't made for this!" Mom continued to rant about her the situation to herself while she drank tea.

The contents of the parchment were those of a letter written to her by the current principal of the Magic Academy of Sage Gustav, the same person who taught her best friend magic.

"I guess I have four years to think..." Mom said while laying herself back on the couch with a thoughtful expression.

-In The Bedroom-

Back in the room, 6 hours after getting breastfed, Alaric just woke up.

(I wonder if my mother's ok? Well, I can't do anything about it, so I will focus on my training) He thought right after waking up.

The sun was still high up in the sky as it seems to be midday.

He focused and tried to mentally visualize the mana flowing through his body, as he pulled it towards him.

Even though the first time he did this he didn't get any results for hours, this time a tingly feeling started emerging in his hand as he felt something tickle and his hand went numb.

(Progress! This is amazing, I didn't expect it to be this fast.) Alaric said with a smile that could melt hearts.

Then he continued to try but never got to experience that same phenomenon again until he eventually fell asleep.

-Later-

While Alaric was once again waking up from his sleep on his crib, he felt hungry as would be expected from a baby. Just when he was about to once more succumb to his instincts, both his parents came inside the room.

"I'm so tired! Why don't we have more time to rest or sleep? I would give anything for one more hour of sleep." Mom said as she entered the room and immediately let herself fall on the bed.

"You already have 9 hours of sleep? Isn't that enough?" Dad asked with a smile on his face seeing his wife's behavior.

"A day has 33 hours, and you're telling me that having only 9 of them to sleep is enough?! That's not even a 3rd of the day!" Mom kept blustering.

(Even the weird time of the game was translated to this new reality… 33 hours, huh… Man, I'm hungry… being a baby is way too inconvenient.) Alaric nodded his head internally.

"You don't usually complain like that unless you're worried about something, what happened?" Dad asked now having a serious expression.

"Nothing really... Please, check to see if little Alaric's already awake. If he is bring him to me." Mom said with a tired voice.

Dad didn't insist and just did what she asked then he found that Alaric was awake and with a present, so she picked Alaric up and then put him down in a clean piece of cloth to start changing his diaper.

"What are you doing?" Mom said seeing Dad change Alaric's diaper.

"I'm changing his diapers." Dad said calmly.

"Yes, I see that. But today should be my night turn." Mom said in response.

"You're tired, besides, you're the one who's going to feed him anyway." Dad said as he finished changing Alaric's diaper and handed him to Mom, then left to dispose of the diaper.

Mom smiled and then started breastfeeding Alaric.

After a while, Dad came back, and once Alaric was done she took him to his crib.

Alaric then continued his training to be able to feel mana until he once again fell asleep.

-On The Next Day-

Alaric once again woke up in his crib with no one around, then continued his training to sense mana.

This time after a few tries the tingly feeling from before came back to Alaric, this time he was able to grasp it, and the feeling slowly extended to his arm as a warm feeling started to emerge in his whole body bit by bit, he could feel the flow of something he never felt before like it was something that was always part of him. His blue eyes glew slightly and then a screen window popped up.

[The skill Mana Sense has been acquired]

[Mana sense- This skill is given to individuals who can now sense the flow of mana in them and the existence of mana around them. From this point on the utilization or acquisition of the skills of Mana Manipulation and Mana Operation is possible.]

(Amazing! I never thought it would be this easy!) Alaric grew excited as his first step into becoming something more in this world was complete.

Just as Alaric was celebrating his success. Dad and two other people came in like a bullet and immediately looked around with a very worried expression.

"Who's there?! It seems… it's fine, there's nobody here…" Dad shouted at the surroundings and then sighed in what seemed to be a relief.

Not long after Mom came in holding a white staff with a dark blue orb on its end and immediately asked Dad.

"How many and where?!" Mom had a very serious and angry expression as she asked this.

"I don't know! Whoever it was they already escaped but it seems they didn't take anything. It actually looks like no one was here." Dad said with a very serious expression.

"How can it be?! We all clearly felt a mana fluctuation coming from this room!" Mom said as she got progressively more worried.

"I don't know, we'll have to make sure Alaric and the girls are under constant surveillance. It's a good thing your parents are back." Dad said as he looked around with the two people behind him.

"I just came here to see my beautiful grandson and this happens, what exactly are you two doing to attract this kind of problem?" A very tall woman with six arms came in and walked to the crib to look at Alaric with a smile. "Look at you, my blessing be! Finally, another grandson to pamper. This family already has too many women, you'll balance things out my little Alaric."

"Would you look at that, the little one has strong eyes, just as expected of a Nyx! I guess there was a reason, I loved so long, it was to see my second grandson!" Another woman this one looking more like a typical human woman with the same hair as Mom

While those two were gushing over Alaric, Sylvia came up to Dad.

"Hm... Mister Lofn, I might know what happened..." She said in a shy manner.

"Speak, what did you see?" Dad said seriously and coldly, as she looked at Sylvia.

"I believe... The one who caused the mana fluctuation to have been the young master." Sylvia said slightly hesitant.

"What? How would a newborn be capable of that?!... Don't tell me you betrayed us after all these years, Sylvia?" Dad immediately refuted Sylvia's claim and instead started suspecting her.

"Calm down, Loralaine! We can't make rash decisions... Sylvia, why do you think it was Alaric?" Mom said and then asked Sylvia.

"The young master's eyes were glowing right before I ran to call you, and the mana fluctuation came from his crib... Also, the Silverheart is known for being a household of geniuses, so maybe..." Sylvia explained.

"Are you going to buy this nonsense?!" Dad exclaimed frustrated.

*Sigh* "You really shouldn't be so overprotective, I'm also worried but we have to look at the situation calmly. Let me try something." Mom said as she moved closer to Alaric's crib.

A blue light came from Mom's staff and then a purple line formed in the air went from her staff in loops and circles right onto Alaric's hand.

"You tend to forget when you're mad. I'm pretty resourceful when I have this thing." Mom said with a smile as she held the staff up.

Dad's eyes widen, and her expression turns dumb, and no words leave her mouth.

Sylvia seems to be just as dumbfounded as Dad as her eyes are also wide open and her composure none existent. The same could be said about the two people gushing about Alaric just a second ago.

"Impossible!" Dad couldn't believe what she just witnessed.

"It seems our child is a genius in magic. I guess we'll have to get someone to train Alaric eventually." Mom said in a manner that seemed nonchalant, but her trembling body gave her out.

The shock on Dad's face did not disappear even after a few moments, and the same for Sylvia, even though she was the one who suggested the possibility, she didn't even think it would be possible.

(Did I just mentally break my parents?... It's expected, I don't know how I would feel if a newborn did something this absurd.) Alaric who saw all of this happen in a few seconds was left feeling somewhat guilty for the whole situation.

Chapter end