What’s going on? What kind of dream is this? And why can’t I breathe?
I woke up quickly with my face covered and sothing wrapped around my head. I was struggling to breathe as well.
Ah. Just another morning…
It’s been a few months since Cerila started living with , and this scenario has beco commonplace. I slowly and gently removed Cerila’s white bushy tail from my head, trying my best not to wake her.
For so reason, her tail always seed to find itself wrapped around my dang head. I wouldn’t mind if it was anything other than my face. I took a few breaths of fresh morning air and sighed. After a while, I thought she would sleep on her own, but that scenario never ca to pass. But honestly, at this point, I’ve gotten so used to her sleeping in the sa bed with it would probably feel weird without her.
My parents didn’t even bother to get another bed for her, even though my father was more than capable of buying or even making one. Cerila has her own room, but she rarely uses it. It’s pretty much just a glorified closet for her at this point.
Also, when Dad ca ho and found Cerila living with us, he didn’t even seem the least bit shocked. My parents admitted to that they both thought about having Cerila stay with us after they figured out what she was going through. So when she asked my mother to live with us that night, she didn’t even hesitate to take her in.
So, all in all, that whole ss turned out perfectly.
Captain Amber did exactly what he promised, and the whole issue was nothing more than an insignificant report that got filed away to be forgotten. Cerila’s siblings also wanted nothing to do with her, and she wanted nothing to do with them.
I would occasionally catch Celedon’s punk ass glaring at from across the village market, but he never made any attempts at retribution against . As for the incident as a whole, well… we never really talked about it.
It seems everybody has just decided to pretend it never happened. I wasn’t sure if that was the right call, but I figured Cerila would talk about it when she felt comfortable. And I wasn’t going to be the one to pressure her to bring up painful mories of the past, especially since I’m hiding my own.
But then again, I still did have a few lingering questions. For example, what exactly happened to Cerila’s parents and just how did it lead to her own family treating her like this? Maybe I’ll find out one day.
My morning thoughts were interrupted by Cerila’s tail attempting to wrap itself around my head once more. I rolled myself away and nearly fell off my bed in the process. And of course, sobody had to witness my embarrassnt because my wonderful Dad had gone through all the trouble of hiding his presence from and is currently standing in the doorway just grinning at .
So things never change.
I released myself from the warmth of my incredible, handcrafted, manaweave sheets and did a full-body stretch with a long yawn, glorious. This morning, like nearly every morning, I would be training with Dad.
Sotis Cerila would wake up and join , but that was a rare occasion. She sleeps like a damn rock. And much like my other friend, she isn’t much of a morning person, I learned. This surprised since she would always co to my house early in the morning. But, I guess that shows just how hard she was trying.
—
I quickly got ready for this morning’s training session and t Dad outside. It’s almost dawn, so it’s still dark out. I enjoy waking up this early. It makes my days feel longer and more satisfying.
I took another deep breath of the crisp morning air and prepared myself for today’s training. My training consisted of a warm-up jog, followed by a routine of bodyweight exercises, which included but were not limited to, air squats, pushups, a plethora of abdominal workouts, and various types of lunges.
Then we would move to a sparring session and weapon drills with either my practice staff or the bow. Once I was finished with that I would wind down with another jog and so stretches.
My Dad seed very knowledgeable about working out and adequately building and maintaining not only muscle but also flexibility, stamina, and general fitness. His training regi seed to be decades ahead of its ti. If I were solo training myself at this age, I would follow a similar regint.
My father’s capabilities were astonishing, considering Elves weren’t known for being physically built, but he crushed all those notions. Since Dad has been routinely working out with for the last few years, he has gotten noticeably more in shape. He is by far the most well-built Elf I have seen so far.
He has broad shoulders and a chiseled body to match. Then again, I wasn’t sure if it was a Dark Elf thing or just my dad. I had long since decided that I wouldn’t attempt to alter this world’s course, but I was very interested to see what would happen if I introduced a proper weight training regi with a complentary diet.
I wonder just what kind of monsters could I make in this world with a bench press and squat rack?
But this would be for when I get older. Then, I shall be the world’s first bodybuilding Dark Elf. That would be incredible if I can even get half my physique back from my previous body. But I was a little too young to be lifting heavy, so wait, I must.
However, at the start of my training, I had made a critical mistake. For months I always enhanced my body with mana. I had thought it would benefit both my physical body’s growth and my mana control, but I was wrong. If I used mana, my body would not reap the benefits of getting physically stronger with exercise.
Even though, with mana enhancent, I could bring my strength, speed, and stamina to a level that wasn’t normal for soone my age, doing so would see that my body did not benefit from working out.
I could do a fantastic amount of pushups easily while enhancing my body with mana, but as soon as I stopped, I would be lucky to do thirty without my arms falling off. So now I train my body and my mana control separately. And in doing so, I’ve gotten much stronger in both categories. As a result, I might be the most in-shape six-year-old on the planet.
I also stopped using mana to enhance myself while sparring with Dad. I figured it would be good to learn the fundantals and gain muscle mory from the ground up without using mana. And even though I think this is the correct decision, it always leads to a similar situation.
With laying flat on my back in the dirt after my father promptly kicked my ass. As it should be… it’s been a long ti, afterall…
“Co on, get up, Kal. That was a nice try, but you need to lower your base more so I can’t knock you over,” my dad said with a big smile.
“Yes, Dad,” I groaned as I pushed myself up and dusted off my butt.
He calmly walked over to and helped adjust my stance. He gave easy-to-digest information and explained everything thoroughly. In the beginning, I thought he enjoyed beating down his own son. But that wasn’t the case. My dad just seed like a natural-born teacher. It appeared that he genuinely enjoyed teaching things, even if I had to learn the hard way.
I had to admit. Dad was a good teacher. He wasn’t just a natural with the spear. He was highly dedicated and disciplined with it as well. His skill with the bow was nothing to scoff at either, he might not be the world’s best archer, but the man could use a bow.
I guess that might co with his job. My knowledge of martial weapons was lackluster at best. After all, in my previous life, why would I have ever practiced with a spear or sword when I had a handheld rail gun that fired tungsten rods past the speed of sound. I knew my way around a knife, but that was for last resort monts.
“Hey, Son. Why don’t you try going all out today for a little change of pace? You can even use magic against !” Dad suggested happily with a confident smile.
Really? I’d never once cast a spell against my father while training. After all, I could only use earth and fire magic, and they were both pretty dangerous.
“Are you sure, Dad?” I asked while raising my eyebrows at him.
“Don’t give that look! You might be a young and upcoming mage, but I am still your amazing and very talented father! So whatever you can throw at , I can handle it! I promise.”
“Okay, Dad. If you say so.”
“Let’s move away from the house a bit more. Don’t want to send a stray fireball into the house. Mom might actually kill us both…”
Was that a hint of fear my father just showed ?
I know my mom could handle herself in a fight. She did go with my dad and wiped out all the monsters in the forest after I was attacked. I never did ask her about it, I felt like that was a painful mory of her first child nearly dying alone in the woods.
But I rember her using lightning magic in my concussed daze, and I’ve seen her use all the elental schools of magic besides earth. I know my dad can use water magic but other than that I wasn’t sure.
We started walking a reasonable distance away from the house when I decided to ask him. “Dad? What kind of magic can you use?”
“Mmmm, well let’s see, for the elental schools, I’m Expert level in both wind and water. However, I’m barely Interdiate in fire, and I can’t use earth magic at all.”
“Really? That’s amazing.” I said honestly.
My dad’s face reddened, and he started waving his hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s nothing really. I’m sure one day you will be an amazing mage.”
Dad was being modest. It was impressive that he was an Expert level mage in two schools. People could go their entire lives never reaching Expert in one school, let alone two. I knew he was aweso.
“What other schools can you use?” I asked curiously.
“Oh well, you see… that’s a little secret. I'm sure you will be able to use this school of magic when you are older. Although, now that I think about it, you are getting to the point where we are going to have to start braiding your hair.”
He tried to change the subject as if I wouldn’t notice. Fine by , I’m sure he has his reasons. If he didn’t want to tell , I wasn’t going to force him.
He is right, though. My hair has gotten very long. I’ve only cut it a few tis to keep it healthy and growing. But I have a love-hate relationship with my hair.
It’s a pain to wash it properly and maintain it, but I’ve grown to like it. I was bald in my previous life so having long hair was sothing fresh.
It also helped keep the thoughts of how I used to be out of my head.
“Why don’t we cut our hair, Dad?” I asked.
I figured it was sort of a traditional thing. It seed most Elves had long hair in varying lengths. But both Wood and High Elves weren’t opposed to having shorter hair from what I could see.
“It’s just the way we Dark Elves have done it for generations. Once you turn fifteen, you are recognized as an adult in the tribe. On the day of your fifteen birthday, there is a whole ceremony where I’ll braid your hair in a special way. It’s a long process, but it signifies that you are now a man and a warrior ready to take on the world.”
“I see…”
That was a lot to take in.
“But of course, you are just as much a Dark Elf as you are a High Elf. I don’t want to force you to only think of one side of your heritage. I suppose it’s just a little selfish of to want to raise you this way. At the end of the day, you can live your life any way you want, Son. No matter what choices you make, I promise you that I will always support you. But, of course, if I could just make one selfish request of you, it’s that you don’t cut your hair till that special day. I very much look forward to the day of your ceremony, Kaladin. Nothing would make happier than to be the one to usher you into manhood,” he said, brimming with a fond smile.
Although his request was selfish, it wasn’t rooted in anything malicious. It was simply a desire built from love to share a fond experience with . Dad just wanted to pass on an important tradition to as it clearly mattered very much to him.
So, of course, I would make that promise, just another one to add to the collection. A slight warmth spread through my chest as I thought about how much he really cared.
“Of course, Dad. I’ll be looking forward to that day as well.” I smiled back.
I didn’t care too much for tradition either way. Perhaps that was my knowledge of a previous life telling that traditions tend to root people down with unrealistic ideals. I was very much a victim of such poisonous thoughts, but not all tradition was bad.
This was also a tradition that I could follow. If it made Dad happy, then it would make happy. But I had another round of questions to ask Dad. Since he was in the mood, I figured now would be a good ti.
“Dad, can you tell about your family?”
My dad just smiled. “Of course, today seems like a good day. But let’s go ahead and stretch before our little bout, and we can talk. Ember Wave.”
Dad cast an altered Interdiate-level fire spell to clear out the grass. It was a simple spell that didn’t have too many uses other than starting a small fire, people typically used the spell to start a campfire or stove, but I guess this was one way to use it.
We were in a clearing a solid distance away from ho, and I watched his spell send out a small wave of fire in a circle that burned away the grass. It cleared the grass perfectly and stopped without catching anything else on fire.
It looks like he has perfect control of even his weakest school of elental magic. I’m not sure if I could even use that much precision with the sa spell, and I can cast the sa Ember spell.
“Pretty cool, huh?” he asked with a smile. I nodded in admiration. “Can you make a decent-sized stone wall in the direction of the house? I don’t want any of your spells to reach the house, but just in case, you know?”
I just looked at him and grinned. “You just don’t want Mom to see us fight, right?”
In an odd mont of clarity, I saw right through my dad. Perhaps I’m getting better at understanding people now. After all, he knew very well none of my spells would ever reach the house at this distance.
I saw a small bead of sweat roll down his face. “No, not at all. Kal, it’s just for safety,” he said, his voice wavering slightly.
“Dad…”
“Okay, yes…I don’t want your mom to see us,” he admitted.
I just smiled. “Sure thing.”
Although I didn’t have to, I placed my hands on the ground to make casting the spell easier. I also didn’t vocalize my spells, which helped many people form spell cores.
Having a proper image in your head for your spell helped decrease mana cost. Also, using existing elents for elental magic also helped reduce the price of a spell. Although so people always vocalized their spells, it didn’t make too much sense for , but I always tried to use existing materials in my spells.
After all, if you vocalized your spell your opponent knew what was coming. The only ti it made sense to to vocalize your magic was if you were in a group fighting and needed to communicate your actions with your comrades properly. But I digress. Everybody is different.
A barrier of earth erupted from the ground obscuring the clearing from our house. “Now then, let’s get ready,” my dad said cheerfully. We both plopped onto the ground and began to limber up.
“So… where to start? Well, as you already know, I am a Dark Elf. Dark Elves live in the southernmost tip of this continent. We call that area of the continent The Vast Barrens. The area is like a rolling sea of orange and yellow grass. Trees are short and sparse, but there are still plenty of them. I actually had timber specially ordered from there to make your bow. The trees have black bark and red leaves, but the timber is a mix of black and red. I personally quite like it. It’s super durable and flexible as well. It makes for so of the best bows.”
Mmm. I see, so it’s like a savanna? Open grassland that still has so trees. Also, that explains the black and red tree in front of the school.
Dad continued, “We also share the land with the Dragonkin. Although there was war and animosity amongst our races at first, it didn’t last long. We battled each other, rather than continue to wage war. We decided to fight in honor battles. Through many battles, our races grew to understand and respect each other, to the point that now we live in peace and mutual respect. Occasionally there are still honor battles, but they don’t happen too often. Of course, I’ve only visited our holand a few tis.”
Now that surprised . I knew Dad traveled before he had , but I was under the impression he grew up and spent most of his life with Dark Elves.
“You see, the Shadow Tribe, our tribe, is a nomadic tribe. aning we never really settled down anywhere. However, our kin called The Vast Barrens ho we never claid as much. The Shadow Tribe is one of the smallest tribes. However, we have forever carved our nas into history. In order to make a living, we often live as adventurers or sellswords. This lead to us earning quite the reputation. You see, mbers of our tribe who distinguish themselves as strong warriors are given the title of Shadow Dancer. Shadow Dancers are known for their combat prowess and are sought out by nearly everyone who knows about them,” he said proudly.
“So, does that an you are a Shadow Dancer?” I asked.
“Hehe, I sure am. Well, I used to be, at least. I don’t claim to be one anymore. I much prefer the title of Dad nowadays,” he said with a shy smile and scratching the back of his head.
I see. I knew my dad was amazing. To think he is such a prestigious warrior. But it brought a smile to my face knowing he preferred to be Dad to rather than a Shadow Dancer.
“To tell you the truth, I fought in the most recent war that this continent faced. I fought as a rcenary for the Old Empire against the Tel'an'duth Empire and the Krunbar Kingdom.”
I didn’t know that... I rembered that I had that other book Grandpa got for my birthday. It was a brief history of this continent. I should get around to reading it since I've only skimd through it. I’ve just been focusing on my other book, Deguzman’s Guide to Magical Monsters and More, as it was easier to read.
It's just a picture book with information on various monsters of this world. I used it as a reference for learning the Human language, but I think I’m comfortable enough now to tackle the history book. I also rembered that Mom was from Tel’an’duth as well…
“Is that how you t Mom?”
“Oh, so she told you? Well…” He trailed off and seed unsure of what to say next. Finally, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s a story for another ti. We should get this little match of ours started. Are you ready?”
Dang, just when things were getting good. Fine fine…
“Yes, sir, Shadow Dancer, sir,” I said mockingly and saluted. My dad just chuckled, and we both walked about thirty yards away from each other.
“Now, I won’t use magic offensively, but I want you to use everything you have. Even your fire magic, I promise you won’t hurt or start any fires, so just give it your all, okay?”
I was a little apprehensive about using fire magic, but if my dad said he could handle it, he probably could.
“The fight will end if I knock you down or if you land a single hit on , okay?”
“I understand,” I confird.
Just a single hit? I guess I’ve never even managed to hit my dad a single ti before.
But now that I could use magic, I can close the gap, even if it’s just a little. This might be the edge I need to beat him finally, and I plan on taking this seriously. I’m tired of getting my ass kicked by everybody who is not so punk kid.
But I had the sudden realization that this scenario was kind of weird. Surely it wasn’t normal for fathers to spar with their six-year-old child using magic and going all out?
h, I guess we are far past normal at this point. Of course, most children can’t cast magical fireballs at their fathers to begin with.
Dad has been carrying around a big bundle of blue cloth all day. I hadn’t bothered to ask him what he was carrying, but it seed I would have my answer soon enough. He unwrapped two wooden practice swords from the blue cloth and began to strap them on his belt.
“You are using swords?” I asked, confused.
I’ve never seen Dad use a sword before. He always used his work spear or his own training staff. So this was new to .
“Yup. I figured I should use so different weapons against you today since I always use a spear. I don’t want you getting any bad habits after all. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve used these bad boys, so it should be fun,” my dad responded with a smile.
I figured he was doing this to give a better chance. There was no way my dad, who dedicated so much ti to the spear, could possibly be anywhere as proficient with swords as he is with spears.
Fine by , Dad. Your hubris will be your downfall.
He swung his swords around in circles, and I did the sa with my staff. We’ve made so modifications to the staff over the last year and added iron bands around the tips to increase the weight. I still didn’t have a spear tip, but that was fine.
We locked eyes and got into our stances. “On you, Kal,” my dad smiled.
It wasn’t his usual warm smile. It was the smile he always wore before he got serious. It was the smile of a warrior about to enter battle. However, my father emitted no bloodlust whatsoever.
I’ll take any opportunity to win this. I wasted no ti and ford four fireballs and sent them blazing towards him. I didn’t hold anything back either. I felt the scorching heat as the air around burned.
They rapidly approached Dad, and I sent two slightly to his left and right, one for his chest and the other just a bit above him, hoping he would dodge into them. However, I did not expect him to run straight into them.
He coated the simple wooden practice swords in a torrent of water and sliced through three of the four fireballs, letting the one that went high sail past him as he walked towards . What the hell? Can he just cut down my spells with a wooden sword like that?
Not letting myself get distracted, I decided to try earth next. I slamd my foot into the ground and launched a dozen boulders towards my slowly advancing father. Instead of water this ti, he coated the swords in a gale of wind and carved straight through my boulders. I didn’t back down and sent more boulders and fireballs at him.
He coated each sword in either wind or water and effortlessly sliced down all my projectiles. My dad slowly closed the distance as he thodically dismantled my feeble attempts to strike him. Well, this isn’t good. Let’s get creative.
I focused more mana into my next earth spell and raised a much more enormous boulder into the air. I launched the boulder as fast as possible, but I also followed it up with a fast-moving fireball. Before the boulder reached him, the fireball crashed into its back and splintered the boulder, sending a cloud of shrapnel at him.
My dad’s calm face contorted into a smile as the shrapnel sped toward him. Before the cloud reached him, I dropped to the ground, placed my hands down, and raised a wave of earth spikes. I also sent a few extra fireballs just for good asure.
Okay, sothing HAS to hit him, right?
Wrong.
I was left slack-jawed as he just started sprinting toward . He was running straight into my barrage of spells without a care in the world, his fearless smile plastered onto his face.
A gust of wind deflected my shrapnel cloud and knocked my fireballs off course. Even though I sent tons of spikes jutting from the ground, Dad nimbly dodged them without breaking a sweat. He even used my spikes as platforms to bound towards .
Shit, I’m at half mana already, and I haven’t even scratched him.
As soon as he closed the distance, I was done for, and I knew I couldn’t match his strength even if he were using a weapon he was unfamiliar with. But judging by his confidence, it seed he was plenty comfortable swinging those swords around.
I underestimated my father again, and now my hubris would be my downfall.
I sent a few more desperate fireballs, but he just cut them down all the sa. He was nearly on top of now, so I thought I’d try sothing new. I’d never cast this spell before, but now is as good a ti as any. So I ford the core for Fire Wave and let it loose.
A wave of orange hot fire spread out in front of and advanced rapidly. I lowered myself into a fighting stance and prepared for the inevitable clash that would follow.
The wave engulfed Dad, but he didn’t co imdiately out the other side. After a few seconds, he was just standing stock, still sweat dripping down his forehead.
He almost seed afraid?
I got a bit worried and went to call out to him, but sobody beat to it. “What are you doing, dear?” my mom asked, her voice devoid of all emotion.
I hadn’t even noticed that she was here. She was standing just past my stone wall. She was smiling at my dad, but she didn’t seem all too happy.
“Well… I was uhhhh..” Dad trailed off.
I decided to save him. “It was my idea. I wanted to see how much stronger I’ve gotten!” I said quickly.
My mom turned her head and gave a genuine smile, “Oh? I see. If you say so, sweety. Just make sure you clean up when you are done, okay?”
“Yes, mom,” I replied sweetly with a smile. She gave a little wave and started walking back towards the house.
After a few minutes of silence, my dad quietly spoke, “Thanks… Kal”
I just gave him a wry smile in return. But I truly smiled at the small piece of scorched hair on the top of his head.
A shallow victory is still a victory. Thanks, Mom.
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