// Third Point Perspective //
The newly awakened mage, Virion, slowly descends onto the soil. He curls his tose in and stretches them out. The soft and cool dirt between his toes brought a strange tingling feeling all over his body.
Everything seems so vibrant.
The wind messing with his hair feels somehow different.
It feels more stuffy... and warm.
Suddenly, a shudder shakes his core. The warmth he feels... it is coming from himself. He is sweating, and his breathing is shallow. His hands reach for his chest, grabbing onto his shirt.
It feels like he is being pestered by mosquitoes... from the inside.
But it was only for a moment.
The pestering sensation slowly being overcome by numbness. It is disorienting and weird.
Maybe the aftermath of awakening second core?
Weird, he thought.
"Brother!" Ellie interrupts his thoughts and tackles him to the ground. Despite Virion positioning his back foot to prevent falling... his leg folded under him.
"Ugh! Why are you are so sweaty?" Ellie sneers and quickly separates herself from him.
"I don't know." He sighs and lifts himself up. As he tries to stand up, but his legs starts to wobble and he almost falls again.
Definitely weird.
...
"He just turned four years old, Reynolds! And your telling he awakened as a Mage!?"
"I'm not lying." Reynolds defends. "His awakening is what destroyed your lawn."
Reynolds frustration was evident. He knew it would be hard for others to except. It is even more harder to convince non-mages because they can't see his mana core.
But he been preparing himself since Virion's birth.
And so, the bickering continues.
"Come on, Alice?"
Tabitha tries to talk sense into them. After all, it is a highly improbable situation and any sane person is inclined to not believe.
At least, not without physical proof but as non-mages... it makes it harder.
Virion sighs.
It is up to him to provide the proof and make them believers.
"Look." His squeaky voice came from deep and carries with an innocent authoritative tone.
Everyone gaze turns down on him.
"Is this enough proof?"
In his open palm, there was nothing, but something lightly tugged at his sleeve. He clenches his fist and disperses whatever it was into the air.
And everyone, could feel it brushing against them. They could hear the rustling of their clothes, whispering their thoughts.
'He is a genius.'
The fact is, he is four years old and has only just awakened but now, right after, he is already showing signs of affinity towards an element.
In that room, Reynolds understands this better than anyone. Unlike augmenters that has to advance a few stages, conjures has a natural incline towards their affinity and after a little training, it shows.
Virion did not have formal training as a conjurer and yet...
"Ha." Vincent falls against the door holding his head. "I need a drink."
Everyone needs a drink.
...
Virion went to his room complaining that his awakening tired him out. He takes a quick dip in the bath to rid himself of the sweat and stickiness.
He stays in a little longer and submerges his head under the surface of the water, and stays there.
After a while, his whole body peaks up from under the surface. He breathing shaky, "It is cold."
But he stays and closes his eyes. Diving deep into himself, he searches for his second core.
Surprisingly, it is normal.
Just as described in the orginal novel, a murky black orb.
Before he tries to channel mana from it, he dubble checks the core to make sure their is not any cracks. And he proceeds, pulling on it like a muscle you did not know you had.
He continues to pull mana but their was nothing. He continues a little longer and gradually, the seering sensation spreads throughout his body.
There is definitely something wrong.
And it is not the core.
He looks back on his original core for reference and it finally clicks.
...
Yes.
The mana veins and channels. His secondary core did not develop the full set.
Maybe because it did not reach same maturity like the other one, he thought.
In the end, he did not think it through enough. And using half-baked logic like, 'there should not be space in the sternum for a core' and 'it is based on a fictional world'.
Now, the mana pushes itself through his actual veins causing the pain. He does not know how the heat fits into all of this though. It is not like he is a machine that overloads.
There is also the disorienting feeling afterwards. Similar to when he was first learning to walk or crawl. Before he got the hang of it, he used to fall because his sense of gravity was still 'stuck' in his old body and he misplaced his weight causing him to fall.
It is weird.
I have no choice but to grow into it, he thought.
...
And so, Virion has undergone a new routine since. It bringing colour to his life that started growing static.
Train.
Eat.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Before Virion can step into the ring, he needs to build up his physical. Not only for endurance but to stay in sync with his body and not be as clumsy as Athur.
As they say, a solid foundation is key to building a tower.
"I don't have that much time though."
When Reynolds is not overseeing his training, he practices mana rotation. It significantly slows his physical training but it is a necessary sacrifice. It has barely been a month since his awakening so he has not made any note worthy progress in either field.
Maybe he is rushing too much (?).
On the bright side, his secondary core follows the mana rotation principle without manual intervention. Though, it causes him frequent discomfort on random occasions and he cannot make full use of it. Fearing he might cause internal damage.
He will just have to be patient.
In the meantime, he has also tried to deplete his primary core of mana and... he did. As suspected, his core draws on his secondary core for mana as its reserves disappears.
Though, he also observed a weird phenomena between the two spheres.
Outside the cores, they emit feint traces mana like how humans depict magnetic fields. Similarly, these traces of mana exist and they overlap briefly. It is like a clash of swords letting off sparks.
Likewise this induces a stronger reaction of mana and fills his reserves faster. At least, he has some good luck in life.
His concentration disturbed by a gentle knock coming from the door.
"Yes?"
"Virion, your presence is requested down stairs."
"Coming."
He lazily rolls of his bed. Why has his mother called him? He did not even bother putting on shoes and just drags himself out the door.
"Miss Alice is waiting in the living room."
"I told you many times that you don't have to address me so formally."
"I apologize but it makes it easier for me and it comes with the job." She curtly announces before walking off.
Virion shrugs.
...
He opens the doors to the living room and sees Rey and Alice contently hugging one another. Both their gazes directed at his sister and a boy, a little taller then them, on his knees with the same auburn hair and blue eyes as his parents.
It is Athur.
The brave little boy his mother and father tells stories about.
But Virion also knew him before that.
"Hm?" His blue eyes rolls over to Virion that is standing in the door.
Looking at Arthur now, he can see why he is often called a 'princess'.
"Ah! You're finally here." Their mother chimes and separates from Reynolds. "This is your older brother, Arthur. Ylu remember, the one we told you and Ellie about."
How should he respond?
"Uhh." He fiddles with his fingers, "I am Virion."
Virion internally face-palms himself.
Arthur seems to have recoiled at the name of his brother (went unnoticed by them).
Arthur smiles, "It is nice to meet you too, Virion."
He walks over to Virion and offers his hand for a shake but before he can grasp his hand, something jumps at him. He folds his arms to catch it and stumbles a little but Arthur catches him before he can fall.
"Kyu."
The little lizard cuddles into Virion's chest.
"This little rascal." Arthur lets go of Virion's shoulder and scolds the little lizard while Virion nervously chuckles.
"No fair." Ellie pouts. "I wanna hold it too."
The little lizard jumps out of Virion's arms and runs away from the chasing Ellie.
...
They all exchanged light banter - the three oldest ones. And Arthur tells them about his time in the Kingdom of Elves.
The little lizard, Sylvie, is now resting on Virion's head. She has quickly taken a liking to him for no apparent reason. Ellie sits next to him and surprisingly being content with just observing the cute lizard.
"So, Arthur." Reynolds pauses for dramatic affect. "What stage are you at now?"
"Seriously, is that really what you should be asking now?" Alice takes a jab with the elbow to his ribs. "Your son is finally home after four years and that is what you are worried about?"
"Ow!" He massages his ribs and mumbles, "He is in good health and safe here with us now. I don't really see the problem, honey."
"If you must know..." Arthur snickers before Alice could jab her husband again. "I am at the light red stage."
"Huh!!"
Arthur nervously chuckles at their reactions.
Ellie being mostly clueless asks, "Is that good?"
"Super!" Reynolds responds. "Your brother is amazing."
"Aw." Ellie turns her gaze to the person in question. Her eyes holding nothing but admiration.
"What about Virion?"
She innocently directed the attention to her twin brother.
This time it is Arthur that is left clueless.
"He is also super amazing!" Reynolds gave a thumbs up. Seeing her father's beaming smile, she feels a tinge of sadness deep inside.
Will she awaken too?
"But wait..."
"Oh, Art." Alice quickly catches on to her son's confusion. "Your brother also awakened around a month ago."
It took a little time to click for Arthur.
"It seems you are already living up to your name, Virion." He smiles but it did not reach his eyes.
If he could reincarnate, why couldn't others?
To his knowledge, he was only able to awaken so early due to his previous experiences. And here, in his home, sits another such an anomaly.
For now, he will keep an eye on him.
Luckily, it is the extend of his suspicion. He has not noticed the second core within him and neither has his parents.
"Hey, son." Reynolds stands up and looks at Arthur. "What do you say about a light spar?"
"Rey, let him rest." Alice protests. "He just got home."
"I'm fine, mom." Arthur reassures her with a smile. He then directs his gaze towards his father, his smile turning into a grin.
"Don't get so cocky." Reynolds snickers. "Working as the instructor for the Helstea guards, I have recently broken through to dark orange."
Just as they were about to leave the living room, Vincent bursts in followed by Tabitha and Lilia.
"Rey! I just heard that your son is alive!" His worries were nought though.
"What in the world... is happening?" He adjusts his spectacles and looks at Rey stretching and a auburn haired boy.
"Your just in time." Rey stops what he is doing and walks around the couch to them.
"Vincent and Tabitha, I'd like you to meet my other son. Can you believe it? He's really back!" Rey puts an arm over Vincent's shoulder.
"I can see that."
"Arthur, this is Vincent Helstea, who runs the Helstea Auction house and my old friend who is now my employer."
He taps Vincent's back.
"This is his house so introduce yourself before we start wrecking it"
...
"After Virion... I'm not really surprised but still..."
Vincent contemplates the authenticity of his ability to reproduce. What kind of genes did Alice and Rey carry over to their children?
After the incident (Virion), Vincent decided it is time for change. And to make sure it lasts, he went all out.
He paved the area that disappeared with slabs of stone - smooth grey marble. And circling the platform were two-row seats made of cold stone intended for spectators. The seats cuts off at opposite ends to make entrances for duelists. And stairs on the inside of the gaps for spectators to find their seats.
The seats were elevated to make this 'wall' surrounding the platform. On these walls, were intercrate engravings to make for that extra flair.
Resembling a miniature coloseum.
All of them seated - Alice, Tabitha, Vincent, Virion, Lilia and Ellie. And of course, Sylvie rested on Virion's head still.
.....
"My god." Tabitha exclaims.
"That's... your son... he's a deviant." Vincent's breath hitched in utter disbelief.
The fight had ended in a stalemate. Virion, whom had payed close attention to the spectacle has gained some valuable insight.
Arthur and Reynolds appeares to have an unorthodox way of fighting.
Meaning that they were not properly trained to fight. They just use their raw talent to react and attack. And through this, they form a crude instinct of a fighting style.
That only comes from practical experience, and something Virion lacks. And would require a lot of time to make up for.
If he were to break it down, it would be like this: gaging your opponents strength through moderate physical engagement. Then you can let a little loose and throw in surprises.
Yeah.
And if you don't do it carefully, you could just die in the process without intending to.
"Art." Rey pulls him under him arm. "When and where did you learn such a neat trick?"
"It's nothing." Arthur scratches the back of his head. "I picked it up a couple of weeks ago. I still can't properly control it."
"Are you okay, papa?" Ellie runs over to the duo while Alice walks after her.
Virion stands up with Sylvie still occupying his head. He turns around and walks back to the manor.
"I need a drink."