3 Chapter 3

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Following the path of his magic was much more complicated for Ethan because it required a deep, continued focus. Unlike with air and his respiratory system, his magic did not really have any pathways or systems to travel through his body. It was an ethereal energy after all, and as a child under 11, it simply drifted in random directions at all times within his body, not following any sense or logic.

But that was exactly why it was much more interesting for him. In the first place, Ethan sought to learn meditation to enhance his ability to control magic, so a more complicated exercise that focused more on the magical aspect would only benefit his training.

For air, Ethan could feel it at all times within his body, but the same couldn't be same about his magic. Although Ethan had grown his perception through his training, he wasn't to the point he could feel his magic at all times, but that was still better than nothing since most children seemed to join Hogwarts without having ever felt their magic.

Moreover, in this state of meditation, Ethan felt like everything was much clearer, and that was after only a few seconds. Who was to say the effects this would have with years of training.

Eventually, the goal would be to turn this ephemeral energy into something he could feel at all times, and that before his eleventh birthday.

This was quite the big project, especially considering he had just started learning meditation, but if he was right in his assumptions, then this could allow him to master his unruly magic before entering Hogwarts. And even if not that, it would always be better to have it than not.

This was something he really wanted to do, because Ethan felt that only with power would he be able to control his destiny. Even if the timeline hadn't changed, his mere presence would most certainly have changed the timeline, not to mention with Harry's parents being alive now.

Since he couldn't rely on his meta-knowledge, and would most certainly go to Hogwarts, because why would he go anywhere else than the place he had dreamed so many times of going at in his past life, then he would certainly face great threats, and Ethan didn't want to rely on Harry to face them for him.

Besides, who wouldn't want to learn magic?

So Ethan wanted to master his magic, and although he had been fumbling into the dark until now, he had finally found a path to follow.

All things said however, Ethan had long broken out of his meditation with his internal musing.

Sadanobu wasn't surprised to see Ethan break out of his meditation after only a few seconds, but he was surprised to see Ethan only try again with renewed vigour.

And so Sadanobu's care-taking suddenly became much easier than he expected it to be as Ethan became obsessed with meditation, to the point Sadanobu feared it would cause him trouble.

Fortunately, neither Helene or Henry were either surprised or mad with Ethan's new obsession, since it was something related to magic and its mastery, him falling deep into it was more of a question of when than if.

Days quickly went by, and before long, three weeks had gone by.

Ethan and his family had already been in Kyoto for a month now, and it had been quite the fruitful month for Ethan.

First, he had visited the beautiful city and learned the rudiments of Japanese, it was quite absurd how easily his young mind could absorb knowledge like a sponge. He wasn't sure whether that had to do with his progress in meditation, innate talent, if it was related to his magic or it simply could be attributed to his young brain, but he was going absurdly fast.

Ethan also made greater progress in his meditation than he could have ever dreamed, going from bouts of a few seconds to ones of five minutes.

He had also been able to confirm his theory on meditation as with the increased meditation time, Ethan not only was able to keep a sharp mind for longer periods of time outside of meditation, but also feel more of his magic, which had directly increased his control over it.

Ethan could feel that he was really close to managing to influence the physical world with his magic, he was almost able to gather enough magic to pull out a spell. All he needed was a little push, and he could feel he would be able to do it.

It would seem this last push would only be for their return to England though as Ethan didn't plan on meditating for their last day in Kyoto.

His mother had already completed the contract, and so after much begging from Ethan, she and Henry agreed to follow the monks in the taking down of an Oni.

The Oni was a fantastical beast exclusive to Japan, and was a cousin of the Troll. They were generally a little stronger than their European cousin, mainly because they were somewhat smarter.

Since they had guests with them, the monks of the temple decided to bring a few more of their members, and so a group of ten monks accompanied Ethan and his parents to go hunt an Oni.

The group moved out of the city, toward a natural cave in the forests surrounding Kyoto.

There, it did not take them long to find their prey as a twelve foot tall blue skinned humanoid roared in delight as it smelled human flesh. Onis were known for their taste for human flesh.

The Oni was bigger than a troll. It had a large mace in its hands, and several animal furs were grafted together to make a cloth for it. It was rudimentary work, but both did their jobs.

With the Oni's arrival, the monks spread out in a fan shaped formation as they all took out a small wooden stick from their hip.

Whipping it out, the stick turned into a staff as the monks had their magical focus out.

The Oni roared and swung its large mace toward the monks, who whirled their staffs up as a magical shield appeared above their heads, blocking the blow.

At the same time, those not hit by the blow ran to the Oni's side, and with a coordinated blow all struck at the same time at its legs. The force of the blow was strengthened by magic as the Oni's knees were forced to cave in.

Finally, one monk used his staff to propel himself up, jumping several meters up as he descended onto the Oni, smashing his staff down as an explosion charm was triggered as the staff smashed into the Oni's head.

Ethan watched in awe on the side as his father lowered himself to his level and informed him, "This is Martial Magic, they mix martial arts and magic to fight. It is quite the peculiar way to fight as their magic is dictated by not only their will, but also their body. I fought a few of them in my tournament day, they always were tricky to handle."

Ethan gave his father a big grin, which he returned softly, before turning his attention back to the fight.

As the dust settled, the Oni's body was revealed to be laying on the ground, now headless. Onis could be considered strong beasts in the magical world, but a single monk was supposed to be able to kill one, so ten of them fighting together to kill it was a bit of an overkill.

The Oni was an XXXX magical beast, meaning it was a dangerous beast that could hardly be domesticated, and required a skilled wizard to put down. Fortunately, the monks were all trained wizards who specialized in hunting monsters.

However, as they were about to leave, one of the beads hanging at one of the monks' robes started shining, and instantly they all put up their guard. In this bead was engraved a detection rune, meant to detect any strong lifeform in the surroundings. This was actually one of the things Ethan's mother Helene had been contracted to create.

After a moment, a lifeform did appear, but it did not look threatening to Ethan.

It was actually a small fox, probably a child considering it's size. Looking at it, Ethan couldn't help but find it quite beautiful, it's silver white fur highlighted by a few blue streaks.

Ethan almost wanted to go pet it the moment he saw it, but the monks looked even more alert than before with the Oni as their leader said in a grave voice, "Kill it!"

Ethan was shocked by the order, and looked back at the little fox, wondering what compelled the monks to kill such a cute being…

While Ethan was in deep thoughts, he felt his father harshly tug at his shirt, sending him flying backwards.

Ethan couldn't understand what was happening as he crashed into the ground and rolled to the back. His body was only four, and the fall was quite violent, violent enough to shake him.

But Ethan felt his magic circulate a little faster as the pain started fading, and he looked at the scene.

The cute little fox was still there, and looking at its alert eyes, it seemed to be as confused as Ethan. But then, as the young boy looked up, his eyes widened in shock.

Of the ten monks, six were on the ground, their head separated from their bodies. Also, right in front of his earlier position, Ethan spotted a blue magical shield, covered in cracks as it was fizzling away.

And the cause of all this was in the middle of an encirclement, the remaining monks and Ethan's parents surrounding it.

It was an extremely beautiful woman, probably the most beautiful Ethan had ever seen in both of his lives. However, this woman's hands were not human hands, but claws, covered in blood. Behind her, 7 tails danced as the woman quickly morphed into a large fox…