Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest Chapter 32: Advance

After that, for a while, my father didn't co ho at all.

Apparently, there was a massive outbreak of monsters, and he was so busy that he could use all the help he could get.

I thought that maybe, with things being so hectic, I might get called to help with the "work" too…! But as expected, because I'm still just five years old, I wasn't dragged into the job. Instead, I focused on my training at ho.

What I was doing was training with the wooden dolls, essentially beating myself up in a way that, from the outside, probably looked pretty crazy, but the results were nothing short of extraordinary.

What was so amazing about it, you ask? Well, first off, I learned how to move my feet in a way that confuses my opponent.

And if you know how to do that, you can use it to your advantage in your own footwork.

After all, if I can trick myself by moving in a way that I think would fool an opponent, then it stands to reason that an opponent who's seeing it for the first ti would be even more deceived, right? I can't wait to try it out on my father and see if I can catch him off guard.

Another thing I learned was how to attack in a way that really annoys the enemy. It's like what they say in competitive gas: winning is about pushing what the opponent doesn't want. Whether it was a strear or a pro gar who said that, I can't rember, but the sa principle applies to combat.

However, figuring out what an opponent doesn't want isn't easy if you're just attacking randomly. But through this self-training, I've been able to engrain in my body what kind of attacks I hate the most when they're done to . Understanding this on a instinctive level has made more aware of how to exploit these monts against an actual opponent.

Compared to just a few weeks ago, I now have so many more techniques at my disposal for close combat.

I'm getting stronger and stronger, and I can't wait to surprise my father when he gets back. It's like a little surprise, but thinking about it makes even more motivated in my training. Just imagining the look on his face when he sees how much I've improved fuels my determination to push even harder.

And it's not just my close combat skills that are improving.

"Itsuki, how about we try so 'healing magic' now?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

The training I've been doing with my mom, studying anatomy through picture books, is finally paying off. So now, it's ti to move from just studying to actually practicing "healing magic." This was sothing I had been looking forward to for a long ti.

Man, I've studied a lot. I might even be the most knowledgeable five-year-old in the whole country when it cos to human anatomy.

"But it's dangerous to try this on your body at first, so let's start with sothing that doesn't matter if you fail."

"Sothing that doesn't matter if I fail?"

Is there really such a place on the body? I tilted my head in confusion, and my mom kindly explained.

"Yeah, like your nails or your hair."

"Oh!"

Now that she ntions it, that makes sense.

If I ss up the healing magic on my nails or hair, I can just cut it off. Thinking about it that way, those parts of the body are safe to practice on. Of course, starting with internal organs or regenerating a cut finger would be too scary.

"First, let's try regenerating a nail. Wrap the 'Silveit Thread' around your fingertip."

"Okay."

My mom demonstrated by wrapping the 'Silveit Thread' around her fingernail. But now that I think about it, other exorcists who don't have 'True Sight' can't see this thread, right? It must be tough for them to practice…

Feeling grateful for my good fortune, I wrapped the 'Silveit Thread' around my index finger, just like my mom did.

"Did you wrap it?"

"Yeah, I did it."

"Now, perform a 'Morphological Change' within the 'Silveit Thread' and try to regenerate the nail you just cut."

"Okay!"

Following my mom's instructions, I focused on regenerating my nail. Now I understand why she had cut my nails after the bath last night—this was the reason.

Connecting the events of yesterday with what's happening today, I quickly directed my focus to my fingertip.

...Heal.

I'm not sure if regenerating a nail can be called healing, but I'm not a language teacher, so that doesn't matter. The important thing is that I consider regenerating the nail as healing.

By doing so, the 'healing magic' activates.

I felt a warmth spreading through my fingertip. The sa warmth I always feel when my mom uses healing magic on . I knew I had succeeded.

When I unraveled the 'Silveit Thread'—

"Wow! It grew!"

"Itsuki, you did great."

The nail had grown about a centiter. Seeing my success, my mom smiled and gently patted my head.

Wow, I'm so happy!

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that healing magic has been my dream magic.

I died in my previous life after being stabbed by a random attacker. If I had known healing magic back then, I wouldn't have had to endure that pain and suffering. Of course, dying brought to this world, giving a second chance at life, so it wasn't all bad, but that's beside the point.

Avoiding pain is always better.

And so, I've wanted to learn healing magic as quickly as possible as a ans to avoid suffering in this world. Now that wish has co true.

This is an incredible step forward for .

"I did it! I can use it now!"

"Itsuki, I understand you're excited, but rember, it's only on your nails for now, so you still need more practice."

"Okay!"

"Next ti you get injured, try using it, and if you fail, tell imdiately, okay?"

"Yeah!!"

I nodded energetically, my excitent still high.

There was no way I couldn't be excited.

While I was bouncing around happily, Hina sat nearby, wearing a frustrated expression.

"Mom! My magic isn't moving at all!"

"It might be a bit early for you to practice 'Kaijutsu,' Hina."

Yes, while I was practicing healing magic, Hina had started practicing 'Kaijutsu' as well.

Her magical capacity is 'Second Rank.' It's a pretty average amount, but since she has magic, she can still use spells.

It was almost certain that she would start practicing magic once she was adopted into the Kisaragi family. After I made her a dress using 'Morphological Change,' she wanted to learn magic herself, so she began practicing.

However, things weren't going well for her. She managed to grasp the feeling of magic after I taught her how to sense it by touching it with her own magic, but she was having trouble moving it.

That said, neither my mom nor I were in any hurry to push her. For exorcists, it's normal to master 'Kaijutsu' between the ages of three and five. Since Hina is only three, there's no problem if she can't use it yet.

I tried teaching her a few tips, but nothing seed to work.

I thought telling her to "mix it like miso paste when making miso soup" was a perfect analogy, but unfortunately, Hina had never made miso soup, so it didn't get through to her. In hindsight, that was a pretty obvious outco.

Just as I was wondering how to cheer up the still-frustrated Hina, my mom's phone vibrated.

"Yes, hello. This is Kaede."

Huh, a phone call. That's rare.

Even here in this version of Japan, most things are handled via LINE rather than actual phone calls.

It must be sothing important for her to get a call.

"Yes, yes. Huh? Oh, I'm fine with that. I don't think Soichiro would object either. Yes. Okay."

…Who's she talking to?

I'm not very familiar with my mom's circle of friends, so I found myself curious. But since she was on the phone, I knew better than to ask who it was. Instead, I waited quietly for her to finish.

"Yes. Yes. Huh? For Itsuki?"

Then, she handed the phone.

"Who is it?"

"You'll find out when you answer."

I looked at the screen and saw the na 'Momoka-san' displayed.

Seriously, who is this?

But since I was told I'd understand if I answered, I took the phone.

"Hello? This is Itsuki."

"Oh! Itsuki-kun! It's Aya!!"

"Aya-chan?"

Wait, is Aya-chan's real na Momoka?

No, that can't be right… Oh! I get it! This must be Aya-chan's mom's na!

In other words, this is Renji's wife's na. I didn't know that until now...

"What's up, Aya-chan?"

"Well, um..."

For so reason, her response was hesitant, so I waited patiently until she seed to gather her courage and spoke.

"Do you want to have a Christmas party on December 24th?"