I slowly opened my eyes while rubbing them to try and clear the groggy feeling away. I licked my dry lips to try and banish the desert that was my mouth. I need so water.
I went to roll out of bed and realized where I was. I was in an unfamiliar room, alone. I was lying in a double-wide bed in what I assud to be Grandpa’s personal room. I’ve never actually been in here. It was one of the few rooms in this house I had never been into.
Grandpa’s room was… spartan, I guess. Almost no decorations or anything. It was just a clean bedroom. As I took in my surroundings, I had an odd feeling that I couldn’t place. I know I’m not sick anymore as I feel fine, perhaps a little tired, but that was all.
I attempted to understand the feeling I was currently experiencing, but I’ve never really felt like this before. I feel… how should I describe this? Empty, perhaps?
But why would I be feeling like this?
I racked my brain for a bit ignoring my insatiable need to quench my thirst. I tried to think what was different about waking up today but I could only co up with two different guesses.
One, I woke up in an unfamiliar place. But that doesn’t make sense. I know this is Grandpa’s room and I’m in his house right now so that can’t be it.
So it has to be because I’m alone right now.
Now that I think about it, I’ve gotten so used to waking up with soone near that it’s beco commonplace. Whether it’s Grandpa, Mom, Dad, or even Cerila, I’ve woken up almost every day these last six years in the presence of another person.
What an odd and illogical feeling this is.
I know I’m not alone, alone. Even now I can hear sobody moving about in the building. Normally when I experience a new emotion I try to understand it as best as I can but I can’t seem to grasp this one. Well, at least I know I don’t like it and I understand that it makes little sense, since I’m not alone. But still…
Bah, whatever. I need water.
I noticed my clothes had been laid out at the foot of the bed and got dressed. I walked out of the room, smacking my cracked lips and attempting to generate so saliva when I walked into the kitchen.
Grandpa was cooking over a stove and gave a side-eye. “You sleep well?” he asked.
“Yes,” I croaked.
Grandpa just grinned and summoned a water ball and sent it flying towards . I opened my mouth and snatched the water ball out of the air, swishing it around my mouth coating my dry throat.
“That was pretty good…” Grandpa comnted with a hint of awe.
However, I was not satisfied.
“Can I get so more, please?”
“Sure thing, kid,” Grandpa moved away from the stove and grabbed a wooden pitcher, filling it with water magic and handing it to .
I greedily gulped down the water all the way to the last drop. The water's cold temperature surprised a bit, but it didn’t deter from my chug fest. Amazing. Water is literally the best liquid in the world.
Who would want to drink anything else?
Finally, I wiped the excess water from my mouth and had to stop myself from asking for another pitcher. I honestly feel like I could down another pitcher, maybe even two or three more.
“Would you care for so lunch? After all, you haven’t eaten in an entire day,” Grandpa asked .
The sunlight beaming through the windows suggested it was still in the afternoon, about the sa ti I departed to co here. “How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“A whole day, give or take a few hours,” Grandpa said nonchalantly.
“An entire day?!”
Had I been asleep for that long? But why do I still feel so tired?
“Sure did. Padraic carried you in here yesterday afternoon, and you were as sick as a dog. I fed you so dicine, gave you a bit of healing and you passed out in no ti. Cerila and Padraic stayed here almost the entire day. I finally had to force them away from you with magic lessons so you could rest. But, even after lessons, they wanted to stay. So I kicked them both out and told them you would be better tomorrow,” Grandpa said with a far-off look in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just didn’t think I’d be afraid of two children in my lifeti is all,” he said quickly. “Anyways, the stew is done. Co eat, boy.”
Grandpa served both of us a helping of the stew and I wasted no ti digging in. Grandpa’s stew tasted like how his room was decorated, simple.
Actually, the only defining taste of this entire dish was the taste of salt. And I rember him scoffing at when Padraic and I said we couldn’t cook.
Psh, I could make this.
“How does it taste?” Grandpa asked .
“Good, just a little salty...”
“Of course, that’s how I like it. I love the taste of salt. I’ve been eating salted rations for almost my entire life. Let tell you a secret, Kaladin. The secret to living a long life isn’t being a powerful mage with lots of mana. It’s actually salt. If you eat as much salt as , I promise you will live a long life.” Grandpa spoke with such reverence that I thought he might drop to his knees and start praying to the salt god.
I an I enjoyed the taste of salt just as much as the next guy but this was overkill.
How has this old man not had a heart attack yet? Wait… he just heals himself doesn't he? He consus tric tons of salt and to avoid having a heart attack he just heals himself. And now he is telling to consu copious amounts of salt.
What a mad man.
“Okay, Grandpa…” I said nervously.
I wonder what would happen if I told him that consuming large amounts of sodium was terrible for his health. Actually, I wonder if he knows that already but just doesn’t care. Would he even stop? Probably not.
We finished our lunch and I helped Grandpa with the dishes. In the anti, I had downed another pitcher of water. I just couldn’t seem to quench my thirst today no matter how much water I drank.
“I take it you are going back ho?” Grandpa asked .
“Yes. I should probably let my family know I’m okay now.”
“Are you going to co back later for lessons? You did miss them yesterday and I know you hate missing lessons.”
“Mhm. I’ll go ho for a bit then co back later if that’s okay.”
“Of course. Don’t forget to bring the other two along.” I just nodded.
I disliked missing magic lessons. It was one of the only new things in this world I could dive into headfirst. I learned sothing new almost every day, and practicing magic was very different from working out.
It was fun and I enjoyed it. I think having Padraic and Cerila around made it more fun as well since it’s sothing new for all of us.
—
The walk ho was as usual. I stopped by the bakery and got myself an entire roll of sweetbread with my lunch money. It’s been a while since I’ve had this stuff but I’ve been craving it recently.
Upon arriving ho it seems I’m yet again alone. Mom should have been off work today so she might be shopping with Cerila. Dad’s bow is missing so he must be working today.
Eh, it’s kind of weird being alone at ho. And lonely…
Rather than sitting alone in an empty house, I decided to get so physical activity in. I was still a little groggy from the dicine and from sleeping a full day, so I figured so exercise would help expel the haze. So, I grabbed my bow and a quiver of arrows and set out to do so archery practice.
I’ve gotten a bit better at archery. I hit my targets more often now but I’m still pretty inconsistent. I guess I’m just not a natural with the bow, but then again using a bow was very difficult.
I didn’t struggle with a stationary target; it was when my targets were moving that I struggled the most. My skills with firearms didn’t help all that much with a bow. So many little details went into shooting a bow compared to a gun. I guess I also just need more practice with bows. Maybe I’ll get better with so more training under my belt.
I set up a makeshift range with earth magic while erecting a wall of earth. I then softened the wall till it was almost sand. I did this, so I didn’t lose any arrows and a regular stone wall would just destroy my arrows. Unfortunately, the first ti I did this, I broke a lot of arrows and well…
Dad wasn’t very pleased with . So I learned my lesson.
I even created a makeshift clay pigeon launcher as well. Well, it was a crude imitation but it did the job. I raised a piece of stone and sharpened it as much as possible. Then I sent a disk of earth into it, splitting the disk into two or three parts that I tried to snipe down. The splintered disks were inconstant in their trajectories but that just added to the challenge.
I practiced until I was too sore to move my shoulders. It was hot again today so I probably shouldn’t stay out much longer. But I had an idea.
I wonder… can I put magic on my arrows?
I’m not sure if it made much sense, since why would I put magic on an arrow when I could just cast a spell. But I thought back to my fight with Dad when he coated his swords in wind and water and sliced through my spells.
I got up and readied myself. On second thought, I should layer my wall up just in case. So I erected another sandy barrier in front of my first one and a solid stone wall behind the original.
You can never be too safe.
Before I drew my arrow, I concentrated on the image I desired. I wanted to create a spell core at the tip of my arrow, turning my arrow into a fireball. I took a deep breath and drew the bow.
I focused and created my fireball, but I just didn’t imagine a simple fireball. I wanted my arrow to beco the fireball. The tip of my practice arrow began to heat up as a fla sprouted out from it.
I released and watched my arrow fly straight into my makeshift target, leaving an orange streak in the air. I was expecting an imdiate explosion upon impact, but nothing happened. Then a few seconds too late, I noticed the small hole I made in the target, then a small boom off in the distance.
Oh, crap.
I dashed for my stone walls hoping I had misheard what I knew to be true. All three of my walls had an arrow size hole through them that was burnt black. I sprinted off into the distance as fast as my little mana-enhanced legs could take and found the small explosion I had made.
Thankfully the fire was small, and the wet grass made it difficult to spread. I conjured a bunch of dirt to suffocate the fire. My arrow was… just gone. It must have just exploded or incinerated itself.
Oops.
Gazing around, I was hoping nobody had seen . Thankfully it seems I’m in the clear. That could have been disastrous. If I didn’t put up those extra two walls, I would have been in serious trouble. I had not expected my arrow to pack that much punch to pierce through my stone walls.
But the real question is, how did I even do that?
My normal fireball spell might have been able to take down the sand walls but not the third stone wall. It seed the spell took more mana than I had anticipated as well. I didn’t an for it to be so powerful. I needed a more professional opinion on this. I’ll just ask Grandpa when I go over later today.
I walked back over to my walls to destroy the evidence of nearly burning the jungle down. As I was about to destroy the stone wall, I heard a pair of almost silent footsteps.
She used to be able to sneak up on as she made almost no sound at all. But I’ve been living with her long enough to know now. She rounded the corner of the house and just stopped dead in her tracks.
She probably hadn’t been expecting to notice her, but Cerila’s eyes drifted towards my stone walls as she gazed at the scorched hole my arrow left. I hastily disintegrated my walls and looked right into her eyes.
Cerila pondered my request for a mont, then just shot a thumbs up.
You’re the best.
—
Cerila asked on the way to Grandpa’s office.
Cerila scowled a bit as she signed.
I just smiled at her, and she quickly averted her gaze as she skipped away from .
Cerila twirled around and smiled at . I asked.
The sly grin Cerila had on her face as she looked back at said otherwise. So I just narrowed my eyes at her.
I can only imagine.
Cerila was walking in front of , twirling around in what I’m guessing is a new dress she got. It was lavender with tiny white flowers crisscrossing her chest. Of course, I could already tell my mom had made it for her.
I’ve really been demoted to the second favorite child. I’m not sad about it or anything…
I eventually asked Cerila. Even though she was dancing around, she kept glaring at occasionally.
she asked with a tint of… embarrassnt?
Uh…
This was the wrong sothing, apparently. Cerila’s glare intensified. I imagine she was trying to cut right through with her eyes. Thankfully those implants don’t exist in this world.
I signed with confusion.
Cerila has taken it upon herself to do everyone’s laundry for them. It was difficult for to help my mom since I couldn’t use water or wind magic, but Cerila could use both. I'm only good at incinerating trash or other waste and keeping the house clean.
Cerila tried to harrumph at , but it sounded a little funny since she couldn’t hear herself. I managed to hold in my laugh, but she still glared at .
I shouldn’t be laughing at that. She can’t help it.
I pleaded. I was out of ideas. I didn’t understand what she wanted from .
She signed then started facing forward, ignoring .
I could only sigh. It was clearly sothing bothering her, but Cerila either can not or will not tell .
How am I supposed to know what it is if she doesn’t tell ? I don’t understand.
—
Cerila didn’t speak to the rest of the way to Grandpa's office. Upon entering the office, Grandpa greeted us. Grandpa signed to us with a smile.
I couldn’t see Cerila’s face until she turned to and stuck her tongue out at while skipping away.
What did I do?
“What did you do to her?” Grandpa asked .
“I- I… didn’t do anything,” I groaned. Grandpa just gave a look of pity. “What did I do wrong?”
Grandpa patted my shoulder and gave a look of helplessness. “Not even I have the answers to that question, son. You are still too young, but it’s best to take your losses early and do your best next ti. Just rember, she will never forget this day. Just don’t make this sa mistake twice, okay?”
I don’t understand! What kind of answer is that?! How am I supposed to learn about these things if nobody tells , and what did I even do wrong!
Grandpa set Cerila and up with our usual workload of reading magical literature. All in all, these books were rather informative. Perhaps a bit wordy at tis, but that was to be expected.
They went into great detail on the process of forming spell cores for the various schools of elental magic, starting from conception, production, and eventually launching. Cerila left to go to the bathroom, so I decided to ask my personal question.
“So, Grandpa. I did sothing today, and I need help.”
Hopefully, this old geezer will answer at least my magic-related questions today.
“Mmm, what is it?” he asked, eyeing suspiciously.
“Well, I was practicing with my bow and decided I wanted to turn my arrow into a fireball. And it didn’t go how I wanted it to.”
“Walk through the process from start to finish.”
I told him exactly what I did. I imagined my arrow becoming a fireball, forming the spell core, and launching it.
“Interesting. Well, you simply didn’t put enough thought into your spell. You changed your fireball spell's core so much that it was barely even the sa spell anymore. And you should know best. When you don’t have enough mana for a spell, the core takes it anyways and creates itself. It’s the sa if you don’t provide enough information for the core as well. Since you altered the core and provided insufficient information, the core filled in the blanks itself, a spell core like that will always try to make itself as strong as possible. So next ti, be more thorough with your thoughts. Go deeper with your imagination. Form the core exactly how you want it, everything from the size to the heat and how strong you want it. And in regards to an arrow explosion, do you want it to explode on impact or pierce through the target.”
I see. That makes sense. Kind of…
“Why did my spell core form the way it did? Why not cause an enormous explosion instead of the piercing property it took on?” I asked.
“Didn’t you say you made extra walls for safety?” Grandpa asked . I nodded in affirmative. “Rember, you are the one forming the spell core. Your spell core filled in the information using your thoughts and knowledge. I can’t be for sure, but your spell core probably thought it needed the capability to punch through those walls. So, it used your knowledge on how best to do that. That’s why I want all of you to learn and read about spells as much as you can. The more you understand your spells and the world around you, the stronger you will be. Having a big source of mana doesn’t make you strong, Kaladin. I’d take a mage with a small mana pool who understands a single school of magic to near perfection than a mage with a large mana pool and diocre knowledge in twenty schools,” Grandpa’s tone was soft as he explained the finer points of magic to . It was tis like this that he just seed so reliable and intelligent.
Where was this side of him an hour ago?
But this was… troubling information. I did not know that spell cores acted like this. It was almost like they were intelligent entities that pulled from my knowledge, which was dangerous.
Now it makes sense. My arrow didn’t act like an arrow at all. It moved so fast it was more like an armor-piercing bullet than a wooden practice arrow. So, I need to be extrely careful in the future when casting altered spells.
Should I weaponize this? Use this to my advantage? No… no why would I even want to do that? If I allow spell cores to form with the knowledge of my previous life, I don’t even want to think about what I could accidentally do. I don’t need to think like this anymore. My ti fighting is long over.
Grandpa was staring kindly at as I completed my thoughts. His swirling erald green eyes were so warm. Then I rembered I never did ask why our eyes swirl like this, I thought about it when I was younger, but it’s beco second nature to that I barely rember what “normal” eyes are supposed to look like. It can’t hurt to ask today, though.
Better late than never.
“Grandpa? Why do our eyes swirl around?”
His warm look was replaced with one of confusion as he just chuckled. “How did we go from the finer points of magic to this… what goes on inside that head of yours?” I just shrugged and activated curious child mode as I looked up at him expectantly. “It’s just how it is,” he said nonchalantly.
I sighed deeply and audibly. How did this man go from an informative ntor to this in less than a sentence?
But apparently, my sigh got to him as he began to elaborate this ti. “Most people just don’t think about it. So subscribe to the fact it’s due to their gods that our eyes are like this.”
“What do you think?” I asked curiously.
“Well… I can’t say what’s right for sure, but personally, I believe it has to do with mana. It makes sense to at least that the reason our eyes are like this is because of the presence of mana inside of us. I’ve seen things that aren’t alive, and they lack the swirling eyes we have co to associate with life.”
“What kind of things?”
Grandpa just grimaced and closed his eyes. It seed he was pondering telling his true feelings on the matter. I, too, believe the swirling of our eyes has to do with the existence of mana. After all, my eyes didn’t act like this in my previous life and I had hundreds of other races to compare to.
Grandpa just sighed and opened his eyes. “You really are a handful, you know that?”
I just smiled. “I know, Grandpa.”
Grandpa resigned himself and continued, “One instance is the undead. If they even have eyes, minor undead won’t have the swirling effect. Higher undead like a lich has mana swirling around in their skulls that mimic eyes, but it isn’t the sa. So I believe it has to do with the fact we have mana and that we are alive, that those two in combination make our eyes act the way they do.” Grandpa’s expression seed dark as he spoke about the undead.
So the monsters in the book are real. To think undead creatures actually exist, then again, here I am, so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.
“Another instance is Vampires. They don’t have eyes like us.” Grandpa’s tone almost made it seem like he was warning rather than informing .
“So, does that an they aren’t alive?”
“Depends on who you ask. I won’t lie to you, boy. I have my bias against those damn bloodsuckers. They might walk and talk like us, but they aren’t anything like us. I don’t care if you are a Human or an Elf but be wary around them, you understand ?” I simply nodded, taken aback by his harsh words.
I hadn’t expected such callous remarks from Grandpa. He never speaks ill about anyone, let alone an entire group of people. But Grandpa has never lied to and he is clearly speaking from experience. Perhaps I should heed his warning.
Hopefully, I'll just never have to deal with them. Vampires have one of the smallest populations and apparently never leave the other continent, so it’s unlikely I’ll co face to face with one. I’d probably run into a Dragon before I ran into a Vampire.
“I understand, Grandpa.”
It seems I have a lot to think about now.
“GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE!” yelled a familiar Dwarf.
So much for thinking.
—
Our studying went well into dusk today. With Padraic being a little late to the party and everyone missing yesterday’s lessons, we decided to spend a little extra ti today to make up for the lost ti. Of course, none of us wanted to go ho either, so we opted for spending so ti outside.
Cerila, Padraic, and I were sitting in a small park in the village, talking and enjoying each other’s company. The cool air was beginning to roll in as the sun began to set. The sun of this world was more orange and red compared to the sun I was used to on Mars.
Having such a large moon was different as well. Not only that, having four more moons of similar size was sothing else. Mars’ moons were so small and shaped so haphazardly that you could barely call them a moon.
I imagine the smaller moons were more in line with what Humans were used to on Earth. The moon here was also much bigger and more of an off-white color than a yellow. It was also much… much closer to this world.
It’s a sha I never got to visit Earth. I think I would have liked to see it at least once. But that opportunity never ca.
Padraic poked .
Padraic bobbed his head back and forth as he tried to finish his thoughts. He finished.
Do I really look sad? I don’t think I am. Disappointed, perhaps, but not sad.
Cerila signed. It was the first ti she spoke to since earlier today.
I asked. Both of them just nodded at with concern in their eyes.
Mmm, I’m lucky to have these two as friends.
I reassured them. I don’t think they believe judging by the concern they still had on their faces, but they didn’t press .
I guess looking up at the stars stirs old mories for . I always look up into the night sky and think about my previous life. It’s a bad habit, but I don’t do it on purpose. It just seems to happen.
Part of is wondering if Hades Squad is out there, fighting an intergalactic war without . And the other part of hopes that is the farthest thing from the truth. I don’t want that war ever to co near here, ever.
I do wonder, though, if they are doing okay? I hope they are.
It's awful that I only rember them at convenient tis like this as I enjoy my new peaceful life when I know they are suffering and fighting every day. And it’s not like I can do anything for them anyway. I can only hope they are using what I taught them to protect themselves so they can live to see another day.
I wonder what they would think if they all saw right now? Sitting at a park bench in another world with two non-Humans. Hell, even I don’t look Human anymore.
Does that an I consider myself to be a Human now? Was I a Human back then... maybe, just maybe, I was starting to turn into one at the end.
But that doesn’t matter. That’s all in the past now. From the bottom of my heart, I hope they all find happiness as I have. I gazed into the deep expanse of the night sky and made a wish.
May you find this sa happiness; Artemis, Apollo, Hephaestus, Heimdall, and Suárez.
And Nyx, wherever you are now, I hope you are resting in paradise. You deserve it the most, old friend, and thank you for staying with till the end.
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