Three years have passed since my birth into this world. As always, my adaptability proved to be fast. My growth has increased a lot, especially because I understand my new language (the language of this world, more specifically of my race).
My motor coordination has also proven to be decent; I quickly started walking without falling, my steps are getting more and more perfect, and I finally don't need to crawl anymore. But I won't deny Damian's emotional support. He has been helping me a lot during this period of growth.
Damian has been teaching me how to read—yes, I know it sounds ridiculous. A three-year-old learning to read? Pretty ridiculous, right? However, as incredible as it may seem, I can identify the characters. Each character is a letter, and each letter means something and can form a sentence from them.
Damian doesn't know that I'm actually paying attention and learning. He teaches me just to pass the time, to spend more time with me, and because he once saw me fiddling with some books.
But he doesn't teach me in the place where he studies, that closed room called the office. No, he teaches me in my room. With textbooks meant to teach reading. Books that were his when he was learning as a child.
Putting all that aside, now everything I wanted to do can be done. And that thing would be learning about that light.
They call that light a spell. And to use it, it's necessary to use mana and recite the spell. The type of spell from that time was one from the healing branch. After I learned to read and write with my brother, I could already understand a good amount of words spoken by others.
Incredibly, there are several branches of spells. They call them elemental spells. Branches of water, earth, air, and fire. That's what I heard some elders say.
That's quite interesting because imagine being somewhere without water and, with the power of magic, making water appear out of nowhere to drink?
Well, since I can move around and I know how to read, I'm going to look for something in my house that has more information about spells and mana.
I am currently sitting on a sofa. More specifically, in the living room of the house.
With my baby body, I get down from the sofa where I am—or at least I try. I didn't reach the floor. Thank heavens Damian came to help me. He took me off the sofa and placed me in his arms. He carried me to my room. He went up the stairs to the second floor, where my room is.
He placed me on my bed and left.
I don't know why he took me to my room, especially carrying me. Even though I'm three years old and small as I am—so small that I can't even get off the sofa—I can still walk very well. Even for my age.
Well, he helped me a lot by bringing me to this floor, at least. The first place I wanted to check was the closed room, my parents' office, and Damian's study place. There must be something there to help me, since there are some bookshelves.
I try to get down from my bed, but again, I don't reach the floor. The only thing left is to jump. And I jump. Result: I fell on my butt and hit my head on the floor.
It hurt. It hurt a lot, but let's leave that aside. I want to run and check the office as fast as possible. Ahh, what a treasure. I wipe my drool with my hand.
Crawling, I make my way from my room to my parents' office.
The door is ajar, so with a push it opens easily. This time I can push it without using any strength.
I see shelves and shelves of books on the walls around the office. My mouth starts drooling again. I don't know why. Actually, I do. It's obviously because of the books.
From the door, I go to the nearest shelf and start reading the titles of the books on display.
I found some about tales. Even though they weren't about mana or spells, I found them interesting.
The next title was the one that caught my attention the most: "The Concept of Mana, Spells, and Their Principles."
I pulled it out from the pile of books and got thrown backward with the book when I removed it.
With the book in my hands, I placed it on the floor and opened it. Dust was on the pages, and with a blow, the dust flew straight into my nose, making me exhale strongly.
The first page had a short text written by a writer about the book. I wasn't interested in the content, so I skipped it.
The first part of the book began with the concept of mana.
Concept of mana:
It is a supernatural power present in objects, people, or places. A power or life force that permeates all things in nature. Present in everything. The great and immaculate magical power.
And right after that, the author explains how mana works.
"As the concept explains, mana is a supernatural power that also functions as life force for a mage. The mage uses it as a tool for various purposes, from making their breakfast to killing someone in the worst possible way."
He also adds that it's a book for beginners and ignorants about the magical world. Which, to be fair, is actually true. There's no point in being offended by the author's arrogance and carelessness.
"How to use magic, you ask me? Simple: by learning and memorizing incantations. And by using a specialized wand or staff, to support an exact amount of mana to perform the incantations."
"What is the purpose of a magic wand/staff? The staff serves to amplify the magic of an experienced mage. And for a beginner, it helps to learn how to control and use mana properly."
The author emphasizes a part he considers important and also adds key information about the exact amount of mana each human has.
"Each human being is born with a different amount of mana. For example: a glass holds a limited amount of water, unlike a jar or a pool. However, this amount can grow until adulthood, but only very slightly. If you have 100 mana, you might reach 110. That is for common human mages."
"Uncommon mages? Yes, they are mages with extremely incomparable talent to a normal mage, or with a special physique geared toward pure mana."
"Incantations? Words with magical meaning for beginner mages, until they learn to control their mana."
Part one of the book (it is divided into three parts) ended, and those were the things I learned about mana.
Part two began talking about spells.
Concept of spells:
"Spells are magical techniques that use mana as a power to influence events, people, or objects through words, gestures, or specific ritual objects. They are often associated with the practice of sorcery, witchcraft, and magic in general. The concept of spells varies depending on the culture and tradition in which they are practiced."
The author simply goes on to talk about the fundamentals of spells. This is the part I was most looking forward to.
"Spells are the magic we perform with mana. Depending on the spell, a specific amount of mana may be used."
"Spells are based on the four main elements: water, air, earth, and fire—and their variations: lava, lightning, gravity, mud, stone, and ice."
These were the only interesting parts of part two of the book.
Part three was talking about the races of this world. I didn't read about them; I only memorized the names and appearances.
"Races: Humans, Elves, High Elves, Half-Elves, Demons, High Demons, Half-Demons, Nephilim, Demon King, Dwarves, Wyverns, Dragons, Magical Beasts, Fairies, and Spirits."
"Fairies and spirits are a legend nonetheless. However, I cannot fail to mention them."
The world is truly vast. But I prefer to study magic.
And I just came across something interesting at the end of the book. The author wrote a bit about mages.
"There is a small difference between mages, sorcerers, and witches. So let's start with the most classic of all: mages. Mages are beings capable of influencing mana in various ways, both inside and outside the body. Mages can absorb or share mana. In other words, a mage has greater intimacy and freedom when dealing with mana."
"On the other hand, sorcerers can only manipulate the mana granted to them by another being, or influence external mana. Their use is quite limited. But when I say that an individual can share power with a sorcerer, I mean it more like a temporary sharing to increase the sorcerer's powers for a limited time, since sorcerers do not have a mana reservoir."
"And finally, witches. Witches are beings transmuted through transmutative alchemy of living beings. There's not much to say about witches since they have been extinct for several millennia. The only information we have is that if they still existed, they would be thousands of years old, and the few that might still exist would not have been able to reproduce."
I closed the book and put it back in its place. I started searching for more books about magic and noticed there were more history and storybooks than spell books here.
Damn, I wanted to find a self-study book. I really wanted to learn how to use magic. To cast spells.
Since I didn't find anything that interested me, I flipped through the book again and again. Then I got tired. I picked up a storybook and started reading it.
"Once there was a great man who did not yet know he would become someone important in the future. He lived in an isolated place with his family, away from human civilization or any other. One day of clear skies and blazing sun turned into a day of closed skies with large dark clouds; thunder could be easily heard across many parts of the planet. A heavy and relentless rain began, bringing an end to a long afternoon of work for the man. The rain lasted for days, and the man couldn't work during it. However, after many long days, the rain stopped for a moment. The clouds, however, remained. The sound of thunder was constantly heard. It never ceased. One of those thunderbolts struck the man's house, destroying it completely. However, the man and his family survived without any harm. In the middle of the house was a mystical sword, spitting small sparks of electricity. The man stood up and grabbed the sword by reflex. The sword called to him. He tried to pull it out, but he couldn't. When his will reached its limit, and all he wanted was to have the sword, it allowed itself to be taken. The sword fused with the man's soul, granting him an eternal title. And that brought him much more than just a title. He became a hero to save the world—and he did. The debt the world owed him was enormous. His end was tragic: when he was about to kill what the world called the Demon King, the hero was struck by a poisonous spell from his enemy, causing his premature death moments after killing the Demon King. No one knows what happened to his family. Rumors say that when they learned of the hero's death, they isolated themselves once again, far from any civilization."
Wow, this story is really cool. Why has no one ever read this to me before? This story is extraordinary.
— Wait, hold on. I didn't read the title of the book. — I said.
I quickly closed the book and looked at its cover. The name written was: The Hero of Heroes.
The sound of the door suddenly opening startled me.
— Oh, dear. You're here?
My mother. She came over to me and picked me up in her arms.
— This book… — she murmured. — Oh, sorry, dear. Were you curious about the story? I'll ask your father to read it to you later. Now it's time for dinner.
I don't know why, but I feel a bit strange when I'm with her. Is this the so-called motherly charm? It's so comfortable and soft to sleep in her lap.
My mother took me to the kitchen and gave me food. Dad wasn't there, nor was Damian.
I looked out the window in the kitchen, and it was dark. I think they went to sleep.
— Hua!
I yawned. I'm so tired.
— Do you want to sleep, Ryo? Then finish eating, and I'll put you to bed.