After a long while of thoughts and deep introspection, Ray finally decided to seek more professional help.
Moving from his room, he descended the flight of stairs, each step causing him to gasp lightly for air by the time he reached the bottom. Still, this was nowhere near enough to ruin his morale.
He walked through the wooden expanse of the house, silent, pristine, and well-kept. The place carried an air of quiet prestige, with no one present but him.
His mother, Ria, and the maid had already left for the town's marketplace to purchase basic amenities. Hopefully, this time, they would bring back some meat instead of those disgusting vegetables.
He shook his head at the memory of the dish he ate yesterday. It was anything but pretty. Calling it food was already being generous.
Finally, he reached a large wooden door. The knob sat far higher than his head, forcing him to stretch on his toes just to reach it. He rolled it awkwardly until it clicked a few times, then pulled.
The door creaked open, welcoming him into the warm, fragrant embrace of the outside world.
It was bright, almost blinding. The rays of the sun reflected off the lush green grass, bathing everything in a serene glow that felt alive.
He wasted no time stepping outside, one foot at a time, before lifting his gaze and feasting his eyes upon his target.
Within the grassy field fenced around the house meant to keep the eyes of strangers off their land stood his father, Derek Greyhound.
Unfortunately the fence did not seem to be doing it's job. As Ray could see several women peeping over the wall at his father.
'This old married man still has a harem, how is that even possible,' Ray thought taking his eyes off the fence and back to his father.
The mighty man swung a large tachi through the air, moving as though envisioning an enemy before him.
His movements were nothing short of majestic, strong, powerful, and fluid. With each swing of the blade, a sharp shearing sound echoed as the air itself was forced to part.
Still, that wasn't all.
With every mighty slash from Derek Greyhound came a phenomenon that could not be ignored.
Each movement of the blade produced a violent gust of wind, thin and barely visible to the naked eye, yet undeniably present.
It carried forward for several meters, ripping grass from the earth before dissipating a few feet away, as though even the wind knew when to retreat.
"Wow… what's that?" Ray muttered slowly, unable to contain his curiosity.
Apparently, this caught his father's attention.
Derek halted his training and turned toward Ray, a large crooked smile spreading across his face.
Clearly not one of his best looks.
Ray pondered this with mild disappointment.
"You came to see me train, aye Ray!" Derek yelled, flexing his blade with a few exaggerated swings while shuffling his footwork like a peacock begging for applause.
"Show off," Ray said, smiling, contentment lacing his voice. "Can you teach me that, Daddy?"
For a moment, Derek's strange grin faded. He tilted his head slightly, reaching up to pinch the side of his neck with his free hand.
"I'm… not sure I can do that," he said carefully. "Ria would basically murder me if she finds out."
This was something Ray feared deeply too. He could already imagine his mother's reaction.
'How priceless,' he thought.
"…Not sword fighting," Ray said quickly, shaking his head fervently. "How to use magic."
Derek's eyes widened, and then a loud, boastful laugh burst from his lips.
"Ohhh, so that's it," he said. "You want to learn air magic."
Ray hesitated for a second before nodding. 'Would've preferred fire though,' he contemplated silently.
Derek raised the tachi and lodged it into the ground beside him with a solid thud. Then he closed the distance between himself and Ray.
He crouched down, bringing himself to eye level, and patted Ray on the head, scattering his neatly arranged red hair.
"I'm not sure your mother would approve," Derek said slowly, "so when I discuss—"
"Sure, that's your answer, as expected," Ray interrupted with an indifferent sigh, gently shoving his father's hand away. "You have to tell her everything. At this point, I'm not even sure who I'm supposed to call Daddy anymore."
'Damn!'
Derek's face nearly collapsed. He reacted immediately, grabbing Ray by the shoulders.
"No—no, that's not it!" he blurted. "I meant I'll tell your mother after I teach you how to do magic. I'm Daddy. Call me Daddy. Please."
Ray beamed, jumping into his father's arms and wrapping him in a warm embrace.
"I love you, Daddy," he said happily. "And when I grow old enough to have strong bones, you'll teach me sword arts."
Derek rolled his eyes at that last part, as if teaching his son magic this early wasn't already going to land him in unimaginable trouble with his wife.
A few moments later, Ray was instructed to change into more suitable clothing, a dark singlet and trousers to avoid stains.
Or, as Ray preferred to see it, to avoid getting caught by Mom.
The two sat together in the open field, Derek posed in a way that made him look genuinely dangerous, his tachi lodged firmly into the ground beside him.
Ray made sure to carve the scene into his heart and mind. After all, this was his father. His role model.
"Now," Derek said, wiping sweat from his forehead, "we only have a few hours before your mum comes back. Let this be our little secret. I want to surprise Ria when you actually learn magic before you turn five."
This façade was transparent, even to a baby.
Ray knew it.
This man was absolutely terrified of his wife.
He nodded and waited.
Derek placed a hand on Ray's stomach, holding it there for a moment before lifting his gaze to meet his son's eyes.
"Every mage has a magic core," he explained. "It's where we pull, store, and extract mana from."
"Our cores are located here."
He gestured again before withdrawing his hand.
"To use magic, all mages must have a core. That's why you can't use magic at four years old. Most cores form between the ages of five and ten. Yours might exist already, but only as a faint, barely formed sphere, still maturing."
Ray absorbed the information like a sponge.
It made sense.
The mechanics of mana storage, circulation, things books had explained, but never like this.
'Magic books are written by idiots who just want to sound smart,' he thought bitterly. 'Damn them all.'
Still, one question lingered.
"Dad?" Ray asked, concern creeping into his voice. "How do I get a core then?"
Derek stared at him.
Then shrugged.
"I have no idea, Ray."
What a waste of time.