Sibling Rivalry

***** Paul's POV ***** 

I came in for a bite to eat after my daily sword practice when I saw my cute little Norn sitting behind the kitchen counter cupping her hands and tensing her muscles.

'Hmm? What in the world is she doing?'

I followed her line of sight to find Rudy and Sylphy sitting on the couch together. Nothing special there. Those two love birds have been stuck together like glue ever since the schoolyear started. What was unique about today though was how they were fawning over Aisha.

'Oh yeah, that's right. Rudy had recently started working with Aisha to teach her magic. Norn must be jealous.'

I walked up beside her but she was so engrossed in trying to mimic Aisha that she didn't even notice me. I knelt down to whisper right in her ear.

"Boo!"

"Eeep!", Norn jumped up as she shrieked. Once she turned around and saw it was me she started pounding her fists against my leg. "That's mean, Daddy! Don't scare me like that!"

Rudy and Sylphiette glanced our way for a moment before turning their attention back to praising Aisha.

"Why don't you join them?", I asked Norn.

"I don't want to!"

"Are you sure? You sure looked like you wanted to."

"I don't want to! Leave me alone!"

Norn took off running back to her room.

"Hey! No running up the stairs!"

"Is everything alright", Rudy turned around and looked over the back of the couch to ask me.

"Don't worry about it. Norn just wants some attention; I'll take care of it."

I walked down the hallway towards the stairs when I caught Aisha making the condescending head shake she always does when Norn storms off like this. I wanted to yell at her to wipe that smirk off her face, but I knew that realistically she did nothing wrong.

I love both all my children more than anything else in the world, but I always find myself spoiling Norn. The poor girl is starting to develop a deep seeded sense of insecurity. She tries so hard at everything she does but everyone is always comparing her to Aisha who seems to be following in Rudy's footsteps at excelling at everything she does.

Aisha isn't the same level of overwhelming genius that Rudy was, but then again Rudy was never a normal child given his special *circumstances*. Still, that doesn't change the fact that Aisha could be called a genius in her own right. With only those two to compare to, anyone would lose confidence.

Aisha loves her sister, I can tell, but she doesn't interact with Norn as a sister would. She doesn't treat Norn as an equal. Rather, Aisha acts more like a much older sibling who always has to look after their irresponsible kid sister. The way she interacts with Norn just makes things even worse, but how do I scold her for that? It's not like she's bullying Norn or teasing her.

'Ugh... Parenting really is hard. Rudy made it way too easy for me at the start.'

*Knock, Knock*

I got to Norn's room and softly knocked on her door.

"Go away!", Norn yelled.

I opened the door anyway. Norn was sitting on her bed with her bedsheet pulled over her head. I sat down on the bed beside her.

"You know Norn, Rudy would be happy to teach you magic too if you'd just ask him."

"I can't do it...", she whimpered.

"How can you say that when you haven't even tried?", I reasoned.

"I did try. Aisha gave me the incantation when she was done with it. Even when I read the incantation I can't cast the spell."

"Hmm. I've seen that happen with mages before. Maybe you don't have enough mana for that spell? You could ask Rudy for a different one."

"Of course I don't have enough mana. I'm not good for anything!"

"Don't say that! You're good at plenty of things."

"No I'm not! What do you even need me for? Aisha's better than me at everything!"

"That's not true at all!"

"Yes it is! There isn't anything I can beat her at."

"You're the most caring and considerate person I know. Whenever somebody else is hurting you know exactly what to say to cheer them up. Not to mention, you give the best hugs in the whole world."

"...really?"

"Of course. You must have got that from your Mother", I said with a laugh.

"No... I think I got that from you", Norn said as she leaned forward and hugged me.

'She really is the best hugger... this one hug alone is enough to bring me to tears.'

"I wish I could beat Aisha at something besides just hugging though", Aisha said with a pout.

"Tell you what", I said. "How would you like to learn how to use a sword?"

"A sword?"

"Yep! You could become a master swordsman, just like your father!"

Norn got excited for a moment, but it quickly faded and she looked glum once again.

"Aisha's just going to be better than me at that too."

"I don't think so. She doesn't seem to have any interest in learning swordplay."

"Are you sure?"

"This will be something I work on only with you. Just the two of us."

"Really? Do you promise?"

"I promise!"

The next day, I bought a small, wooden training sword at the marketplace for Norn to use. The two of us spent the whole afternoon practicing together. By the time we finished, Norn's little hands were raw with blisters but she didn't complain once. Rather, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

She didn't seem especially talented with the sword but she made up for her lack of talent with hard work. I have no doubt that she'll one day be a great swordswoman.

***** Rudeus' POV *****

I became increasingly accustomed to my new routine as the months rolled by. Luna became close friends with both Halfort and Rose. For a while, Rose had continued making snide remarks just loud enough that Luna could overhear and would make fun of her behind her back. Luna, however, had overcome her nervous stuttering and never let Rose's insults bother her.

Luna's cheerful disposition and friendly personality had made her somewhat of a celebrity among the first years and eventually Rose's friends began to turn on her due to her constant belittling of Luna.

Once Rose realized that everyone was taking Luna's side, rather than doubling down she actually approached Luna in private and apologized. Rose realized that she was in the wrong and admitted that she was actually just jealous of Luna. Ever since that day, the two of them had become best friends. I even sometimes see Rose over at Therese's house when I come to visit.

Now that both Zanoba and Cliff had mastered Dragon-God tongue, we had started studying the complex magic circles engraved on the 'living doll' in earnest. I made the suggestion of starting on a smaller scale by trying to create a prosthetic glove that Zanoba could wear to control his strength. Zanoba took the lead on the project and it took us two months before we finally finished the first prototype.

The prosthetic glove worked perfectly! Zanoba was ecstatic. Although even with the glove he didn't seem to have the talent for making dolls by hand that were up to his quality standards.

This was when I told Zanoba and Cliff about my plans to create magic armor. Effectively, it will just be a prosthesis that covers my entire body. I used my earth magic to create the sturdiest and densest possible shell.

"Ungh!", Zanoba snorted.

He had picked up the centerpiece of the armor, the plate that would cover my chest.

"T-this armor is HEAVY! Are you really going to be able to wear this... ha ha."

Zanoba panted as he gently set the plate of armor back down on the floor in my research lab, but even then it cracked the stone floor below it.

The center plate he had lifted was relatively small. The armor we were currently designing would stand about 1.75 meters tall. It was a little smaller than the armor Zanoba and I had designed together in my previous life, but that's because I was building it to fit my currently smaller body.

Even though the pieces of armor were smaller than before, they were much, MUCH heavier. My control of my mana has improved over these years to a truly absurd level. I was able to make this plate so incredibly dense that I didn't even think Orsted could cut through it. Ok... he might be able to do it... but nobody else; that was for sure.

"I won't be able to wear it as is, but I figured we could find a way to inscribe magic circles that will reduce its weight."

"That's an interesting idea...", Cliff mused. "It should be possible. I'll have to think on the best way to go about it."

"With armor this heavy, you should be invincible", Zanoba said after finally catching his breath. "I don't think that even I could dent it."

"That's the idea."

"For what purpose do you want armor like this? Do you perhaps plan on going to war?", Zanoba asked as though it was something one would normally do.

"I'm already at war", I said solemnly. "Not with any tribe or nation, but rather with a god."

"With a god!?", Zanoba said in surprise. "As expected of you master! Only you would wage war with a god!"

Cliff didn't appear too shocked by my statement seeing as I had already told him my story regarding Hitogami.

"Yes. It is a truly evil god. His name is Hitogami and he is a master of deception. If anyone ever appears in your dreams claiming to be a god, do not believe anything that comes from his mouth. He will lie to your face and then laugh at your misery after he tricks you into destroying what you hold most dear."

"That sounds truly terrifying. You plan to use this armor to fight him?"

"In a way of sorts, yes. You've heard that I defeated the North God, right? It was Hitogami who misled him into challenging me. There are countless powerful people in this world and the only way for certain that I can protect my friends and family is to become stronger than all of them."

"To become the strongest in the entire world... a worthy goal", Zanoba said as he nodded in agreement.

The three of us continued our work and were making steady progress on the completion of my magic armor. Nanahoshi was also making steady progress on her summoning magic. She recently had her first breakthrough and actually managed to summon an object from Earth. It was a toaster, and a broken one by the looks of it. Still, it was undeniably from our old world.

Ariel had been making moves throughout the year to position herself to run for student council president. The election just ended last week and she won by a narrow margin. It was the first time anyone had become student council president in their first year.

Ariel had recruited Luna, who had become quite popular in her own right, as treasurer of the student council. I could tell she wanted to recruit the famous Silent Sylphy as well, but in accordance with our deal she never approached her. She also tried to recruit me but I told her that I was too busy to deal with Student Council affairs. Turns out she didn't need my help since she ended up winning anyway.

By the end of the schoolyear, the Magic Armor that Cliff, Zanoba, and I had been working on had finally reached a wearable state. Cliff had made a breakthrough on how to reduce the armor's weight and now he was focused on making it more mana efficient.

Zanoba on the other hand had been focusing on enhancing the armor's strength and speed. Currently, the armor could enhance your strength to the point that it rivaled that of the Seven Great Powers but we unfortunately haven't made much progress on enhancing speed.

At the very least, wearing this armor would make someone nigh invulnerable. It was effectively like piloting a tank, being both bulky and slow but incredibly durable and powerful. Unfortunately, the armor had the downside of draining mana at an unbelievable rate. I don't think that even my former self could have worn this for more than an hour. Thankfully, my mana reserves are currently multitudes larger than before so it wasn't an issue. I wore the armor for an entire day and I felt fine afterward other than getting hot and sweaty from being stuck inside of it all day.

As it turns out, I might end up with the perfect opportunity to give this armor its first test run. Only a week before the end of the schoolyear, Orsted appeared in my basement. It was time for my first job.