Chapter 10 - Birthday

Time slowly passes, day turns to weeks, weeks turns to months and now exactly 2 years have passed that Roxy has been teaching us magic while our father taught swordsmanship. In those times, I have constantly trained my ability to multicast more than one magic spell until I was able to create 15 simultaneously at the same time.

Though, their rank differed since the control required to each of them were taxing on my mind but even still I was able to perform an impossible feat. I was unsure if others could do this or because my body is special having the essence of my grandfather. 

I've tried teaching Rudeus and at most he is able to cast 5 at the same time which is already impressive. He seemed to give up comparing himself to me and just told me that common sense doesn't apply to me even Roxy was shocked to say the least upon seeing me cast more than 2 magic spells at the same time. I felt bad since it took a toll on her feeling unworthy to teach me or even Rudeus. 

Still tried her hardest to teach us the best she could do. I appreciate her effort and see that she has also started to feel the passion to improve herself in the pursuit of magic. Because for me, Roxy wasn't just a person who brought along the spell models for Advanced magic. She taught us magic theory, how magicians fought and their various tactics, even sharing more about the geography and ecology of other continents.

If it weren't for her guidance then I wouldn't have confirmed certain things since even if this is like mushokue Tensei doesn't mean there couldn't be any minor changes.

Though, I already hide most of my talent since I'm already qualified to be a saint in every element besides the element that I call Deviant. These are the Sound or vibration and the physic magic. 

The sound or vibration magic is useful since if I'm able to manipulate the frequency of sound then I can disable most people especially those who reinforce their senses meaning that the stronger my opponent then the more vulnerable they become. Though, those who have barriers and protection might resist it. 

Or even those who have thick Touki protecting them would prove troublesome to fight. Regardless, this would prove its versatility when it comes to a fight. Now for my Physic magic I can safely say that I've managed to reduce friction and inertia when performing my [ Shundō ] that finally perfected the technique. I can move in sharp turns that make me appear in different places at the same time. 

My Sword God style already peaked at Advance rank, almost at the Saint Rank where only the [ Longsword of Light ] that I needed to perform to fully become a sword saint. My skills and overall power could easily be a King and a Pseudo Emperor rank but this is base if I go all out and even then I am unsure if compared to a Real Emperor Rank since I haven't fought one yet. 

Still the [ Longsword of Silence ] easily reaches a lightning speed when I remove dragged and friction that seem to cut through nothing. Furthermore, I have learned to remove most recoil when parrying since it takes a toll on my body when I block and parry my father's sword swings. 

I already surpassed Paul in the sword style and couldn't go against my [ Shundō ] since I moved too fast for him to catch, only able to counter thanks to his North God style that adapted to our spar. It was truly an unorthodox style that was difficult to go against since you can't predict what kind of attack or movement they'll do. 

A year of training where I started to notice something about myself which was that every time I pushed myself to the brink of tearing fiber of my muscle and as soon I recovered I would instantly feel my strength had greatly improved. This led me to conclude that I have some sort of Zenkai Boost like from dragon balls that if I keep pushing my body would gradually become stronger than before. 

Though I was rarely able to push myself since my parents would scold me, I still took every opportunity I could to break myself to refine my body. No one noticed but I've placed myself in a 5 times gravity everyday until I got used to it and would increase it. Fortunately, I am already used to harsh trains since my old regime was more brutal than what I'm doing right now. 

Calling it training is a stretch and could call it more like torture both mentally and body. Though, the result shows that it always led to a perfect job when accomplishing a mission. As for my Mana core, I was able to purify it enough to reach the Solid stage Red Core that gave me better control in casting multiple magic spells at the same time as well as drawing Mana in the surrounding. 

According to Roxy, Mana or magical power reserve of a person is generally believed to be inherited and the amount one has is determined at birth. However, I know that it is possible that all people are capable of increasing their aggregate mana amount by stimulating their mana from a young age but as someone grows older it becomes a lot harder. 

Having a Mana core made it possible to continuously grow their Mana reserve and draw more Mana in the surrounding area. I was unsure if I could give my theory to my teacher but it's best that I create a formula for her to try but I'll make sure to warn her to not share it with anyone else. It will be my gift when we finally depart with each other. 

Right now, my family had prepared a birthday party when me and Rudy turned five. Being another world, this place did not have the custom of celebrating birthdays every year which probably because of cost and may only be no El privilege. People only celebrated birthdays three times in their lives: at 5, 10 and 15. Once a person turned 15, they were legally considered an adult. The party was a small but cosy affair. 

Zenith and Lilia had busied themselves the entire day to cook up a feast for the family. Roxy had also gone off somewhere to do something throughout the day. Only Paul was around to accompany him on his birthday, which suited him just fine since they spent the entire day sparring and working together to develop more Magic Sword Techniques.

They gathered for the party at dinner time and the adults revealed the presents they had prepared for us. Paul gave me and Rudeus a single iron short sword, since long swords would still be too big for us.

"Rein and Rudeus you both are undoubtedly talented. This you have heard us say to you many times and I am sure you will hear it from many others as you grow up. This gift also carries with it my hope that you will not be blinded by their praise and become neither complacent nor arrogant. A man must always have a sword to protect the people important to him. That is the purpose of this sword. I actually prepared a second sword for you as well, and it is for the purpose of protecting yourself, even if you-"

"Too long. My turn!" 

Zenith cut him off even though he was clearly giving a passionate and emotional speech that made me chuckle seeing his expression. Our mother pulled out a small brown leather jacket, meticulously tailored and lined with fur for both of us. 

"This is something I made for you, because both of you like to run around outside even when it's cold." 

Her speech was short and to the point, I don't like long speeches since they draw out too much. I've met people who have captured and believe me that they monologue like idiots, though it's rare. 

The boys received it with both hands, running his fingers along the smooth leather surface of the jacket while tracing the fur that lined the collar. He could feel the love and thought Zenith put into every stitch of the jacket.

"Thank you mama, I will remember your warmth every time I put it on." ( Rudeus )

"We love it, Mama!" ( Reinhard )

"Kyaa! Even when you two are being serious, they are just too cute!" 

Zenith cried out while stuffing me and  Rudeus' face between her mounds. I'm happy being hugged while my brother had a different reason. Next, Lilia kneels down and seems to have woven a scarf for both of us.

"I know it isn't much, young master but I hope you two accept my gift."

She wrapped around our neck as I could feel her affection woven into the fabric which made me smile softly. I had forgotten that birthday celebrations existed since I've never been in one beside our targets. 

"This is an amazing gift, Thank you, Lilia."

She gave a bow before letting Roxy present her gift and revealed what she had been working on the entire day. She held out two magic wands that had Mana crystals inside of them. 

'Huh? Why do I feel like eating the stone?'

Looking at the magic wand or more precisely at the mana crystal urged me to eat it for some unknown reason. However, I was certain this was because of my body. 

"Usually the magic teacher will craft a magic wand or staff for their pupil so that they can use Beginner magic. I forgot about it because both of you already knew how to use magic from the very beginning."

Me and Rudeus grabbed the wand with my brother's eyes glimmering while I fought the urge to just eat it right there. 

"Woah! How beautiful! Thank you, Shishou!"

"Yeah! This is amazing, Thank you, Shishou!"

Roxy expressions hint of sadness and disappointment masking her beautiful soft smile. I understand her doubt and qualification as a master who hadn't done anything groundbreaking. 

"Being able to cast advanced magic is something that you two should be proud of."

"Even if that is the case then without your guide we wouldn't be able to reach where we are today."

"Yeah, Nii-San is right. It is all thanks to you that we are able to learn advanced magic. Shishou will always be our Shishou."

She fell silent for a moment, looking at us and recalling the 2 years that we spent together and it was enough for us to get close that parting ways became difficult. Roxy patted our head while giving a reassuring smile and our parents watching close by.

"I have taught the two of you everything I could and decided tomorrow is the day that we will do our final test to determine if you two could become Saint Rank. We will do it outside and hope that you Rudy can join us."

Rudeus paused since he still hadn't gotten past her trauma of getting outside afraid of being judged and laughed at. I quickly wrapped around my arms on his shoulder to stop him from being depressed and said.

"Cheer up! We should show Shishou that whatever that comes our way we'll face it head on! Don't be sad that Shishou will have to leave us but that doesn't mean we can not meet her again. Because this is the first step in us becoming one of the Great Powers!"

"...You're right Nii-san. I'm just…. Scared going outside and I don't know why."

"It's fine, there's nothing to be afraid of. Me and Shishou will be right there with you."

He was reluctant since he was still afraid and recalled how those judging eyes often look at him. I wasn't going to babysit him but at least I could encourage him when he needed it.