"Alex do you want to be an Adventurer?" Helen asked me dead serious.
I was completely caught off guard, I thought I would have to wait longer but then Again Arthur became an Adventurer when he was 9 which is how old I Am right now, well 10 years old in 2 months, But I had already made up my mind about this since I got reincarnated here.
"Of Course I would! Iv wanted to go on an adventure with you all for my entire life." I answered excitedly, My eyes visibly glowing.
"Well, then let's get the brat some gear then!!" Adam shouted, Durden surprisingly agreed with him.
"I heard that the Helstea's 10th-anniversary auction is coming up, maybe we can find something good for him" Angela commented to which everyone agreed.
After that, I had a Quick spar with Adam to Sharpen up my skills with a spear. I ended up losing to him but the spar lasted 5 minutes and I learned a "Terrifying" amount of his spear fighting skills, he said that at my level I could have beat him before he trained the whole 3 years after I and art fell off the cliff, and this was no minor compliment he was an A-Rank adventurer at that time.
"Al the speed that you learn is crazy you will probably be able to fight us all at the same time if you were an Adult," Adam confessed.
"Really?"
"without a doubt, kid"
"Adam I just a Small tip, I'm about 90 percent sure that you have a water affinity, So If you want to try and use an element you can start from there."
The rest of us walked into the manor except for Adam who was acting like he had 8th grader syndrome trying to cast water magic.
"What? He awakened at the age of three?!" Tabitha cried out, bolting up from her seat.
Alice just nodded at this. "Arthur managed to blow up a chunk of the woods the size of our house"
"And Al blew up a Section twice as big and if Durden and Angela hadn't made barriers the explosion would have killed them." Alice continued on
Both Reynolds and Vincent leaned back, sinking in their chair as they let out a synced sigh..
"Papa? Are yoo okay?" Eleanor poked Father in the cheek.
Laughing, Rey picked her up off of Mother's lap, "Haha, yeah I'm okay princess."
Vincent got up from his chair now and looked seriously at us, arms stretched out on the table.
"Ah, how was the Spar you guys?" Vincent asked curiously
"I Lost both times against Adam and Jasmine but nearly won both of them."
Rey, Vincent, And Alice were all shocked that I nearly won the fights.
"Rey, Helen how about enrolling your sons in Xyrus Academy?"
"What? You can't be serious, right? He's only eight!" my Rey refuted, sitting up on his chair.
"I'd be concerned for the other students with Al there." Helen echoed
Tabitha chimed in. "Rey, Alice, Hellen I think your boys are more than capable of exceeding at Xyrus."
"I thought that only noble geniuses were allowed to attend Xyrus Academy?" Alice and Helen responded concern etched into Alice's face.
Excitedly, Vincent voiced out, "I can handle that! I do a lot of business with the Director of Xyrus Academy so she'll be lenient in the enrollment process."
"B-but the school fees are much too extravagant for us to handle," Mother argued, still doubtful of the idea of sending me.
"Alice Helen, that should be the least of your worries. We will be glad to pay for the fees. Arthur's and Alexander's talent is immeasurable. Who knows what he can accomplish. Even if we don't pay, I'm sure he'd find nobles that would beg to sponsor him." Tabitha held their hands in her own for reassurance.
"Ahem! Do you mind if I have a say in this?" Me and Art butted in.
"I have just arrived back home today. Can I spend a bit of time with my family before I decide whether to go to school or not?" I gave a meaningful gaze to Vincent.
"Personally Id only go to xyrus if Art did, I feel like my learning speed might be faster than years of school," I said flatly while focusing on an ice blade I was making trying to make it as detailed as possible to train my mana control.
"O-of course. I apologize. Haha. I guess I was too excited there for a moment."
He just laughed weakly before sitting back down.
"Thank you for the offer I greatly appreciate it." I gave the Helstea family a smile.
I turned my head to face my auntie. "Alice, where do I sleep?"
"Oh yes! I almost forgot! You'll have your room next to Arthur's in the left-wing. Come on, let's all go up now, it's getting late."
Sylvie was passed the hell out on Arthurs's head, while Zeph was about to fall asleep as he was wrapped around me like a scarf.
Today had been a Fun day.
Alice lead me to the room I'd be living in for a while until I become an adventurer. It was a lot larger than my room in Arthurs house in Ashber but still decorated in the same homey fashion. While the furnishings did leave a lot of open space, it worked perfectly for since I needed some space to train.
As I settled Zeph down on the bed, I thought of revealing the full extent of my abilities but I decided that it might be safer to do it in baby steps, my deviances were enough, for now, Storm magic, Stasis, and my beast will would have to wait-
Didn't Boreas say that after I got a strong enough beast will the Blessing shard would Combine with it over time?
I hurriedly sat up on the bed and meditated on my core focusing on the blessing and Bahamut's will, My empty mind was a black void and After a bit, I saw the massive dragon that represented Bahamut's will, and a massive shard of ethereal looking ice Radiating power.
I saw all the excess power coming off the Shard getting pulled towards my beast will, Focusing harder I sensed the power of my will becoming more and more like a Mixture of Boreas and Bahamut. not something less but something more than the two of them on their own.
What if I use my beast will? With that thought I Activated my beast will to its second stage, the second I did this My will brightened in This mind Space and the process sped up, I tried speeding it up willing it to combine faster than the Stasis particles moved towards my core.
the instant the Stasis Particles in my blue layer exited it and entered my core and were being absorbed by the Blessing and My beast will. My core Ached and my body was immediately strained as if I had just Fought Virion for 5 hours straight, And I used mana till I had a severe backlash. the Pain nearly knocked me out cold but I held on slowly but agonizingly acclimating to the pain and strain.
why did I keep going even though I felt like one wrong breath would knock me out? because I could feel my body growing stronger like a time-lapse of muscles being torn and growing back bigger and stronger.
After I held on as long as I could, My body felt like a rusty joint creaking with every bend of a joint, it was as if I had died again in the same way as before, Frozen to the bone, my blood stabbing me after turning into ice, and My body covered in frost and my frozen blood, tears, and sweat.
Slowly moving my body I felt a layer of frost on me? When I opened my eyes The room was frozen solid, the bed, the walls, hell even air felt cold to me, And last time I checked it took -50c for me to feel a Chill when I'm using my beast will.
It seems like the Aura of Ice mana that came off me normally during my second phase was enhanced or had been left to build up for at least half an hour, I guess this is what happens when I use stasis, it enhanced my magic even though it was unconscious use.
The Mana within 5 meters of me had stopped moving like it normally does, there wasn't any movement in it at all.
I willed the mana to form a small wind current around my hand, the mana didn't move like how It normally did. The mana had went moved in a way of least resistance in the path I wanted it to.
'Although it was wind mana it moved like lightning magic?' as that observation crossed my mind I remembered something that a certain God told me.
I Willed the water and Ice mana in the room to come to my hand, and like before they moved erratically through the air like Lightning mana and rushed to my palm forming a ball of barely contained mana the size of my body, I forced the Ice mana in my hand to condense, Smaller, tighter, denser.
I poured my whole focus into this for what seemed like an hour making sure it didn't leak at all. eventually, I crammed it all together into a ball the size of my head, It resembled a massive mana core with an extremely weak outer shell just strong enough to contain the contents of pure ice mana that looked like ice, but that's because the ice mana was condensed to the point it was solid, but with a slight hit it would probably blow up the whole manor.
I willed the mana inside to move erratically like lightning compressing it a bit more, then it happened. the mana in the shell started crackling like electricity.
I put my hand on it and siphoned some of it out, it coiled around my arm and left little frost marks on my arm where it touched but what surprised me is that is felt like I had just walked into a warm room after freezing in a storm, It was extremely cold but it felt like I was on fire where it left.
Looks like Boreas wasn't lying when he told me that my condensed ice magic became lightning after a certain stage, although this was probably only because of the insight that my beast will give's me.
The pain from my core came back with a throbbing pain 10 times worse than before causing my lightning to dispel, I deactivated my beast will and then the cold hit me the room was absolutely freezing, I opened the window that I had to pry open and rushed all the cold air out the window as well.
I Picked up the Artificial mana core I made, I tried to absorb the mana in it and it came right out and filled up my core, It didn't even need to be purified at all, even weirder is that although it was Pure ice mana that had the properties of lightning and ice mana when I absorbed it became purified mana before it even got to my core.
After draining about half of the core It topped off my mana core, I willed it to condense again and it was the size of a golf ball, I made sure not to condense it further for fear of it exploding when broken.
After that, I laid down and pet Zeph who was perfectly fine, and through the mental link, I could tell he liked the artic level of cold, thoroughly sore from that experiment I laid down and slept like a log.
_____________________________________________________
I woke up the next morning to my baby Storm dragon licking furiously at my face.
"Haha I'm up Zeph, I'm up!"
"Wra~!" he was hopping up and down on top of me, a feeling of excitement radiating from her.
I hear a knock on my door, so I quickly put on the rest of my clothes.
"Coming!" I said, my shirt still over my head.
Opening the door, I looked down to spot a shy Eleanor, looking down, with her foot rubbing something on the ground.
"Well hello there, Ellie." I squatted down so I was at eye level with her, giving her the most gentle smile I could muster.
"G-g'morning Cuzzin . Mama told me to w-wake you up." She muttered her head still down.
"Haha! Thank you Ellie," I exclaimed while patting her head. This seemed to get a good response out of her as she started blushing a little.
"Can you take me down to the kitchen?" I asked, holding out my hand.
"En!" She nods excitedly and while she hesitated for a second, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
Art followed behind us, Half awake.
"Sleep well Art?"
"Al, I had to use fire magic to not freeze to death."
"Sorry about that I was training my beast will."
"its not normally that cold right?"
"yea I don't know why ether it just was." sorry about the lie Art ill tell you later on.
I'm met with a pleasant smell of bacon as we entered the kitchen. Inside, I spotted Tabitha and my mother cooking something as they chatted. Lilia was sitting down at the table already, her legs swinging, obviously waiting for breakfast.
"Good morning Auntie, Ma'am, Lilia!" I announced.
"G'morning!" "Kyu!" Both Ellie, art and Sylvie echo.
"Ah! Ellie managed to wake you up! I remembered having the hardest time waking you up even when you were a baby, Art. I swear you slept like a log." his mother chuckled as she placed some eggs into a large plate.
"Did you sleep well?" Smiled Tabitha as she tossed the bowl of salad she had in her hands.
"I slept great, Mrs. Helstea."
"Arthur not so much." I said as she spotted him with a slight shiver.
"Hi, Ellie! G-good morning Arthur... " Lilia softly said as her voice trailed off.
I smiled then dug into my food.
The breakfast was great. Alice mentioned that usually the maids are the ones to cook but she wanted to cook today for me. It had been too long since I had Her cooking and I now realized how dearly I had missed it. I made sure to give some of the meat to Zeph who didn't hesitate to gobble whatever entered her mouth, including my finger. Eventually, Ellie and Lilia both wanted to try feeding him so I told them to go ahead. Needless to say, Zeph warmed up to both of them a bit more after being fed by them.
During the blessings assimilation last night although it went faster it should take at least 3-4 years. I did notice that my body got stronger more so than I expected my body felt light it wasn't too noticeable but I did need to get used to it as I nearly spilled juice on myself because I wasn't used to the difference.
"The carriage is waiting out front so just leave the dishes in the sink and let's head out!" announced Tabitha.
Xyrus was a beautiful city. I couldn't help but stare at the different sights that came into view as we traveled down the main road. I could see magic shops, armories, spell books, and even beast core shops! There was everything a mage could ask for. Adults and children were all dressed extravagantly while luxurious carriages passed alongside ours. Some buildings were several stories high, making this city seem a lot bigger and denser than Ashber. I could also see children a couple of years older than me all wearing similar uniforms, some black while some grey and red. I could only assume by their pretentious demeanor that they were students of Xyrus Academy. While uniforms in my old world were meant to protect the financial backgrounds to lessen discrimination, here, it seemed that the uniforms themselves worked as a sort of gold medallion that they could show off to the rest of the world.
We had eventually reached the fashion district of Xyrus. It was here I learned that shopping for clothes with females was worse than I remembered in my past life, It took a harder toll on my body than training with Grandpa Virion, and even the thought of his training regimen had left me in a cold sweat.
Me and Art were used as a mannequin for each of the girl's own preferences in style. Alice wanted to dress me in simple clothes, while Tabitha wanted to transform me into some sort of prince which I didn't mind I looked good. Even Lilia and Ellie made me try on some clothes.
"You need to look good since you're my couzzin!" She announced loudly, her hands on her hips.
Zeph and Sylv could feel the exhaustion radiating from us so they comfortingly perched on our heads as if to gloat.
we ended up with ten different sets of clothes, half from Alice and the other half from Tabitha. Alice tried to stop Tabitha from buying me anything but she scolded us, playfully said, "Just think of it as an investment. Besides, I've always wanted a son," while winking.
We looked around more after towing our bags of clothes into the carriage. I was excited to see the armory. I could tell Art wanted a sword and to be fair I wanted a Staff or maybe a spear with a wand's gem in the blade if I could find one. The girls didn't want that, though, and We were forced to go into different jewelry and gem stores instead. I guess I would have to visit the armory with the Twin horns next time.
Eventually, we arrived back home, my physical and mental strength was depleted by the time I walked in the doors
"How was your day?" Rey chuckled, taking a seat next to me at the dining table.
"I never thought shopping could be so utterly tiring," Art groaned.
My body gave out and I just face-planted straight on the hardwood.
"Just leave me here for a bit" I groaned out,
As if hearing my complaints, Vincent and Tabitha sat down across from us.
"HAHA! I heard you got beat up by a bunch of women today, Arthur!-" Vincent exclaimed.
"..."
"What happened to Alex?" Vincent asked
ARTHUR LEYWIN POV
Alex just covered himself in an ice layer then picked himself up with water magic and carried himself to the couch, and covered himself in a sound barrier-
"Did he just make a sound barrier to sleep?" Hellen, Angela, Father, And mother all said in disbelief.
"yea I understand that feeling." Me, Vincent, and my father agreed at the same time.
"I will admit that a woman's endurance can not be matched when they're out shopping." I just wryly said.
My father and Vincent laughed harder at this and nodded their head in agreement.
The sound of a doorbell followed by a couple of knocks gets everyone's attention.
"Ah! Looks like she's here!" Vincent perked up.
The look on everyone else's face told me that Vincent was the only one who knew what was going on.
Vincent came back, leading an elderly woman into dining room.
"Rey, Alice, Arthur, I know you guys said that you want to put off school for later but I just couldn't hold it in. Everyone. Meet Cynthia Goodsky! She's the Director of Xyrus Academy."
Noticing the slight twinge of annoyance on my face, Vincent immediately said, "Don't worry, I didn't bring her here to make you go to school right away. I just wanted her to meet you."
The Director gave me a smile that I couldn't quite understand the meaning of and held out her hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Arthur."