EdgarFig
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[ 2 ] Months Later
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 23:45:25 +0000 UTC“Mom, do you kn-” Kal said, turning his big bright eyes as a metal clang interrupted his thought.
“Y-you talked,” Yandi muttered, standing frozen between the kitchen and the living room, with the hearth crackling behind her. In front of her, Kal sat upright on the hardwood floors in front of an open book, his mother's trembling finger pointed at him.
“Huh.” She's right, I did, didn’t I? I guess these vocal cords have finally decided to wake up. Welp, it’s a bit late now. I may as well roll with it.
“Mom?”
“He did it again,” her teeth chattered. “My three-month-old son really is talking—I guess he is a genius,” she added as if she didn’t believe the words coming out of her own mouth.
“Hey there, beautiful,” Daedrik said, pulling Yandi into a hug from behind as he stepped inside from the yard. “What is that delectable smell coming from the kitchen?” He inhaled and buried his face into Yandi’s neck. “It's almost as good as you.”
“K-K-Kal,” she stammered, still pointing at the diaper-wearing baby Kal.
“Huh, what’s up with Kal?” He replied, turning to look at his son with a raised brow.
“Oh, hi Dad,” Kal waved nonchalantly.
“He-he speaks now?” Daedrik’s jaw dropped. “When did this happen?”
Bloodline Trait Unlocked: Budding Linguist +1 Wisdom | +3 Charisma.
“It would seem so,” Yandi murmured.
“Hey Dad, what is glyph binding? It says here that it can be used to concentrate mana for more efficient spell casting,” Kal pressed his index against the book’s page.
“How did you…” Daedrik shook his head and swallowed as his mouth went dry. “He’s not just talking but asking about magic. H-h-how is that possible? Di-did you know about this, Yandi?”
Yandi wordlessly shook her head.
They’re really struggling with this, aren’t they? Oh well, it's a bit late now. I’m not about to pretend to be some dumb baby for the next few years just to ease them into it. Besides, it’s not like they’re gonna think I’m some reincarnated forty-two-year-old from another world—well, probably not. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard. Ah, screw it, I’m still their son. I’m sure they won’t send me to freak prison or anything like that… well, I hope not.
“So, glyph-binding?” Kal repeated, unable to help himself. I already asked once. Is doing it again really testing fate or just rolling with the cards I’ve been dealt? Maybe a three-month-old baby asking about mildly advanced mage skills wasn’t wise, but learning about magic was just too hard to resist. Not just because Kal was determined to make the most of this second chance but because he was kinda obsessed.
In his previous life, Kal had loved the idea of magic. It had dulled a little as he got older, alongside his imagination, but it had never entirely died. Even before he died, indulging in role-playing games that involved magic had been one of the few pastimes he actually enjoyed outside of work, and every time he did, he rolled a mage or something similar.
“Forget warrior mage. At this rate, our son is going to be the next Archmage.” Daedrik’s lower lip trembled.
“Dad?”
“I’m getting to it, Kal. Just give me a moment to process,” Daedrik swallowed. “Then, I’ll teach you all about glyph binding. Did I seriously just say I’m going to teach my infant son glyph binding, or am I going insane?”
“You definitely said that,” Yandi nodded.
***
Kal sat beside Daedrik in his father’s office, a small room adjoining the library. Glass windows lined the dividing wall between them and the library, making the office feel part of it. The hardwood desk they sat at had intricately woven patterns across it, making Kal wonder if it had some kind of magical original like everything else that adorned his father’s office.
“Where did you get all this stuff?” Kal asked, slacked-jawed as he looked around. It was the first time he had been allowed to enter the room, and the various magical nicknacks, like a self-spinning globe and a monstrously large skull with an oversized underbite, were hard to pull his little eyes away from.
“They’re mostly from my time as an adventurer—or rather—Demon Hunter. That’s a Woolly Babarack,” Daedrik said, eyeing the skull that Kal’s gaze was glued to. “Vicious monsters. Stronger than any man. Heck, they’re stronger than any ogre, I’m pretty sure. This big guy ambushed my party high in the Tigrel mountains while we were searching for a demon that had been plaguing the nearby villages. They rarely leave their territory but can be quite vicious to anyone unlucky enough to enter it. There were eight of us, led by me and one other mage. It was quite the battle, but we managed to take it down without any casualties.”
“Wow,” Kal murmured. This really is some kind of fantasy world, and my dad was a real—Demon Hunter?
“Oh, it’s not all that special. I was still trying to earn my fully accredited magic license back then, and demon hunting was the fastest way to do that.”
From the sounds of it, this world must have a real problem with its demon infestation.
“Anyway, enough of that,” Deadrik said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “If you want to know more about those tales, I can tell you at bedtime, but you have to keep it between us. Your mother doesn’t think that kind of thing is appropriate at your age.”
Kal looked up at Daedrik and nodded.
“Okay, let’s get back to this lesson, shall we.”
**Daedrik**
Hours later…
“See, with the use of glyph binding; mages can impart a fraction of their mana or even entire spells into mana-sensitive objects. It's also the method mages use to summon great and powerful spells. It can even be used by multiple mages to tether their mana together, allowing them to cast far stronger spells than they ever could alone,” Daedrik said, pointing to diagrams on a book he had stretched out in front of them with the end of his quill.
“Wow,” Kal murmured.
“Yes, very much; wow,” Daedrik said, turning the page.
How is it possible that a baby that just learned to speak a month ago is not just following along with a lesson about glyph binding but seems to grasp the concept? Not only that, but his mana core’s stats are way too high for an infant. All of this isn’t just incredible, it's impossible. Maybe he has been possessed by a demon wanting revenge against me? No, that can't be. I've probed too deeply into his core; a fiend would have noticed.
Daedrik eyed his son suspiciously. None of this made any sense. He was almost certain baby Kal wasn't a demon, but he couldn't be human either. His core was simply growing too fast. Not to mention his behavior. If he closed his eyes, he could mistaken Kal for one of his teenage students.
He has to be a magical being; there’s no other way any of this makes sense. Could he be an Aeon? That's if they even exist.
Daedrik shook his head.
“Something wrong, Dad?” Kal looked up.
“No, nothing,” Daedrik cleared his throat. “As I was saying–”
Daedrik knew he had to tame his runaway thoughts. There was nowhere near enough evidence to be jumping to such conclusions. There wasn’t even any credible evidence that Aeons existed, and talking about them was one way to get laughed out of academia. For now, he would continue to monitor his son's growth and keep him safe. It might have been foolish, but Kal was his son, and after all, he still held out hope his son was just extremely gifted—as unlikely as that might seem. The Kingdom of Lyssia needed their next Archmage to be great; maybe the gods had sent Kal down to them for that purpose. It was far-fetched, but Daedrik had to hope for the best as his father.
Thumbing a core prober he held in his pocket, Daedrik fought the intrusive thought away. Probing Kal’s core with such a device while he was so young could do permanent damage, even kill him—and that wasn’t something he was about to risk.
He’s not a demon, you idiot. He’s your son. Don’t even think about it.
**Kal**
I've had enough crawling for a lifetime. If I'm going to be a great mage, I'm going to need to learn to walk. Now, come on, little baby legs, you can do this!
Kal pushed up through a squat and stood shakily, arms extended.
Since when was walking ever this damn difficult? However, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even have the strength or dexterity for this if it weren’t for my Bloodline Traits.
Carefully, he placed one foot after the other, slowly making his way across the sun-drenched living room.
Bloodline Trait unlocked: Trailblazer +2 Strength | +2 Agility.
And another one. I’m on fire. I wonder if anyone else gets these things? Come to think of it, it’s kind of strange that I’ve seen no mention of Bloodline Traits in any of the papers or books I’ve seen in my father's collection. Kal thought, gritting his teeth as he drowned out the ringing that blasted through his ears and drilled into his brain, threatening to bring on a headache.
I’ve got to do something about this tinnitus—maybe I can learn a spell to cure it.
“And now he’s walking,” Daedrik said, shaking his head and massaging between his eyes as he entered the living room.
“Hey, check me out, Dad,” Kal called out as he walked.
“I can see. Walking at five months of age. It’s unbelievable. What can’t my little man do?” He said with a cautious undertone.
“Magic. I can’t cast spells,” Kal huffed, his gaze laser-focused on the living room floor like some kind of baby tightrope walker.
“Magic? You’ve got plenty of time for that. Don't try to rush it all at once.”
“H-he’s walking,” Yandi stammered, stepping in from the kitchen.
“We can’t look away for even a moment, can we?” Daedrik turned his head to her, forcing a smile. “He really is amazing.”
**Daedrik**
“I know you're worried, Daedrik, but what can we do? He's our son. And as you said, the capital would hide him away in some laboratory doing tests on him. You know I'm not about to let that happen to our son.”
“I know, Yandi. I never suggested that we should do that,” Daedrik placed a hand on her shoulder as they sat on the edge of their bed. “I’m just worried. If something like this got out, I'd lose my license. And who knows what else? We could even end up in prison for something of this magnitude.”
“Licence, prison? You can't be serious, Daedrik. This is our son's life you're talking about.”
Daedrik looked into his wife's eyes as they swelled, and her lower lip trembled. “I'm sorry, forget I said anything. We're just going to have to be careful.”
“Do you mean that?” Yandi’s gaze thinned defiantly as she sniffled.
“I do. I'll do anything to protect the both of you.”
“Oh, Daedrik,” Yandi said, wrapping her arms around him. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, my dearest,” he said, gazing distantly across her shoulder as they embraced. “So much.”
***
What was I thinking? Abandoning Kal? I'm a despicable father. If he can already understand the concept of glyphs, I suppose he's ready to start learning magic. It's early, but it’s the only way to hide his core.
Daedrik told himself that it was to protect his son. He wanted to believe it, too, as much for his own peace of mind as for Yandi’s, but the truth was that he wanted to protect them all. Yandi simply did not understand what it would mean if they got caught hiding Kal from the government mages.
At the rear of his library, Daedrik pressed his hand against the cold stone, and a second later, magical glyphs lit up across it. In seconds, the shape of an arched doorway appeared on the wall, outlined by glowing light. A second later, the stone within the archway flickered out of existence and left behind a passage that disappeared into shadow.
Daedrik glanced over his shoulder and entered. Once he passed through the doorway, the stone flickered back into existence to cover the passage.
Golden light filled Daedrik’s eyes as he walked through the darkness, and he followed a spiraling staircase down. A moment later, he reached a small room with a golden-trimmed chest on one side and a table on the other, which was adorned with several delicately marked boxes. Carefully, Daedrik opened one of the velvet-lined boxes and eyed the smooth metal balls within. They were mana spheres from Dunrune. The ancient treasures could store vast quantities of mana thanks to the powerful glyphs that marked them and the precious metal they were made of. They were particularly valued by wealthy people who lacked magical talent—allowing them to tap spells at their convenience. But Daedrik had another plan for tiny orbs.
Waiting until midnight, he went into their yard and dug holes in each quarter of their square block. He placed these holes beside the neatly trimmed hedges that bordered their cozy home. When the holes were dug, he dropped one sphere into each.
The spell he had imparted on the spheres would be strengthened by the four spheres working in tandem. It was a special protection spell that would hide all mana within an imperceivable dome it cast over the house.
The spell was risky. If someone were to notice it, they would no doubt suspect something; however, only a handful of people in Ebenshire could even use magic, let alone decipher a spell cast by someone at Daedrik’s level. Not only that, but their home sat at the town’s fringe, beside the surrounding forests and out of the way of any major roads or paths.
Exhaling, Daedrik looked around once more, unsure if what he had just done was wise.
The sooner Kal awoke his mana core and learned the basic magic required to hide it, the sooner he could remove the protection spell and the safer they would be.
Don’t let me down now, Son.
