(Author's Note: Hey guys! So, this chapter is going to be from the POV of Alice's brother, Alden! Enjoy!)
My Big Sister is mean. She teases me all of the time and I don't like it at all. It's so embarrassing. She likes to stroke my hair a lot and touch my face and squeeze it. She likes snuggling into my bed and hugging me in the middle of the night. It makes me feel weird.
But she shows me a lot of fun stuff too. Like, one time, when she said we would be going out to the garden to play, she snuck out of the mansion borders and made commoner clothes appear out of nowhere. When I said that she was doing something bad, she said I should 'live a little'. What does that mean? I am alive, so...? I don't get it. But I had a lot of fun... we ate something called 'skewers' and ran around making trouble for the stall keepers.
----
Another time, when I was eight and Sister was ten, after dinner with Mother and Father, she stood up and announced that she would be taking me to her 'space'.
Mother and Father suddenly became very worried, so I was too... but before anyone could object, I heard her say weird things that I couldn't hear and then I saw a white circle appear next to me. She said it was called a portal. I hope I can learn it in class soon.
We jumped in and I saw a white space that was somehow bright everywhere. Everywhere was empty except for a big pile of stuff in front of Sister and I. There was even a big bed! I think I looked confused, because she smiled, which made me feel hot. She said, "Little Al, this is my private space! No one can get in! I once disappeared for a half a day and I couldn't get out because I didn't know what was going on! But now that I've figured it out, I can come and go as I please! Cool, right?"
I nodded a lot. It was cool, I wish I had it. Could I get a big space like this one?
"And, Little Al, you're the first one that I invited into my space! My first visitor! You're special!" She had announced. My cheeks instantly felt hot again, and my body felt uncomfortable. S-special... Is what I thought.
I looked at the pile of stuff. "B-Big Sister, can I touch them?"
She nodded, and casually replied with a loving smile on her face, "Go ahead, Little Al." I moved towards the pile and something immediately caught my eye. A worn and torn journal that was perching on top of the pile. Big Sister seemed to notice that I wanted to see it because she floated the journal down to let me see it. But when I opened it, I didn't understand what the words said.
私は今、次元の魔法を持っていることに気づきました。あのろくでなしの王子や馬鹿な捕獲対象の暗殺者に会ったら、きっと重宝するでしょう。悲しいことに、自分のスペースにポータルを召喚しようとすると、かなりのマナを消費します。いずれにせよ、後で扱います。
"Ah, sorry about that, Little Al. You won't be able to read it. It's written in my secret little language! Hehe~" Her grin made me blush again.
"C-can you teach it to me then?" I asked. Stupid stuttering. Why do I have to stutter in front of Big Sister?
"Haha~ sorry, Little Al, no can do~ But, you can always try and decode it yourself~" Big Sister answered.
Whenever Big Sister does this, though, I feel like she's hiding something from me. Maybe Big Sister will tell me later? I'll work hard to gain her trust!
----
When I became eleven, I finally realized how powerful Sister truly was.
When I went to see her get blessings and put her hand on the crystal ball, I didn't look at anyone else. Unlike Sister, who had Water, Air, Wind, Fire, Ice, Nature, Light, Darkness, Beast Taming, Physical Enhancement, Dimension (space), Creation, Destruction, Gravity, Summoning, and Descension, nobles and commoners were expected to have one low attribute. But I didn't stay to see other people's blessings, so I just left after Sister did. I thought that the information in my tutoring was just false, since Sister had so much more than one attribute.
But when I finally went to get my blessings and receive my magic, all I had was Wind, Earth, and Nature. Unlike the crowd, who were gasping in awe and reverence, I was sulking. I kept thinking, 'Sister had so many attributes, why don't I?'
I got home and asked my parents if I was weak.
My parents looked at me in confusion and Mother replied, "Now, whatever are you talking about, Alden? You have two common attributes and one rare attribute! You are a genius!"
I still kept my sullen expression and retorted, "But Sister has so many attributes! Water, Air, Wind, Fire, Ice, Nature, Light, Darkness, Beast Taming, Physical Enhancement, Dimension, Creation, Destruction, Gravity, Summoning, Descension! That's what she said she had! So why do I only have three!"
My parents chuckled nervously and kind of tiredly. They seemed to be worn out when I mentioned Sister. Are they okay? "Your sister is... a special case. You see... before she even went to the temple to get blessed, she manifested her powers." Father informed me. My jaw dropped. That is impossible!
"Huh?! That- then, when did she manifest her powers?"
"At... two." My mother whispered.
"Two years old?!" I was taken aback.
"No, Alden... two weeks old." After my father stated the truth, rubbing his temple in exasperation, I immediately collapsed from shock. S-Sister... what?
----
I woke up and saw my parents and Sister looming over me. "Oh! Little Al, you're finally awake~" She embraced me and squeezed me tight.
My father and mother had rather worried expressions on their faces. "Goodness... I haven't seen that kind of reaction to Ali's powers since..." Mother mumbled.
"Alden, you have been unconscious for two hours. Are you all right?" Father inquired.
I nodded. "So... sister manifested her powers at two weeks old? Did anything happen after that? I heard she was called a 'prodigy' by the servants. Did she do anything else?"
"Well, you see, Alden... There is much that we haven't told you, actually. Not only did she manifest air magic at two weeks, she also manifested water soon after. A few other powers came after that." My mother sighed. A few... others? What do they take magic for, to say a few?
"And... it sounds like there is more?" I probed deeper into the topic. What has Sister hid from me? I looked at her expression. She seemed to have a carefree smile on her face, one that said, 'Oops! I guess I haven't told you, huh? Oh, my bad~' I got annoyed by that expression.
"Well, you see. When she manifested her second element, Water, it was when she was four weeks old. But... she was doing that because she escaped from her crib and to the library. Sh-she was surrounded by a tower of books in the main library, and..." Father stopped.
"And...?"
"...And she was reading a book."
"R-reading? At four weeks old? Are you joking?" I was sure that I was making a very strange face right now, but I couldn't help it.
Mother just sighed, and continued on from Father. "Yes, reading. She was reading a book on Laplace's Mana Cascade Theory, and actually put it into practice after reading it."
My jaw dropped open. I mean it, my jaw literally just... dropped open. Mana Cascade... that is an extremely difficult theory to practice, and it takes a year for wizards to master it...
"Please, get over this. She had a lot of 'accidents' as a child, but there is an even greater... thing, that Ali had done during her childhood." My mother looked very tired and very vexed right now. I could see that my fearless sister was now shivering in freight from Mother's fierce aura. What happened for Mother to get so worked up?
"Sigh... You see, Alden... have you ever heard of physical enhancement using the earth element as a foundation?" I nodded. "Well... at age two, your sister was actually the person who created this concept." They didn't even give me a chance to faint again before continuing.
"Alice was gifted with the sword as well. But one day, as a novice, she accidentally broke a wooden pole. At age two." Father breathed a sigh before continuing. "You see, Alden. Alice was actually getting fed up with getting left behind by the other knights. So... on a whim, she created a new magic called Physical Strengthening. After the incident that happened before this one, your mother and I just thought that she might just be gifted... but alas, the growth of her strength was too vast in a short period of time, so we couldn't help but get suspicious... but I didn't get too worried. I thought to myself, 'What could she have possibly done?'. Yes, I thought that. But when I asked her what happened, she said, 'Well, I created a new magic, obviously.'"
I was fully confounded now. My sister... created the theory of physical strengthening... she...
"Sigh... I was so lost in the moment. I told her to write a 1000 page essay on her magic. I didn't think she would actually write one... and on a strange metal plate, no less... then after that, she showed us her dissertation on it... Ahhh, Alden, why?!"
I now felt that instead of being fed information on my sister's childhood, I was becoming a therapist for my two pathetic parents. Poor them. Having to deal with my sister... I felt my sister glaring at me. Did she hear my thoughts?
And so, my father and mother's frustrated ranting began for about one hour. My sister mostly had a sheepish smile on her face, while I just kept my flabbergasted one, as I was at a loss for words. And, by the time the session ended, I saw that my sister disappeared. Ahhh, is she worried that she'll be chastised by Father and Mother? Did she run into her space? Hahahaha... standard Sister. But my laughs (in my thoughts) were half-hearted and reluctant, and I was starting to wonder what 'standard' meant for Sister.