I woke up the next morning only to see Arthur hugging me. He was muttering the whole night about weird stuff and since he was speaking a different language it was difficult to understand what he was saying.

He was also trembling the whole night. I wake up sometimes during the night, it’s a habit of my body in this world and the previous one.

The house seems awfully quiet for a weekday morning.

“Hey.”

“Mmmm…”

His grip was so tight that I could barely escape.

His eyes fluttered open.

“Morning~” he said with a yawn and stretched. I rubbed my sides that were gripped by him last night.

“Ah, sorry for that…” He seemed to notice. “I used to have a stuffed animal to cuddle with…”

He blushed and meekly lowered his head.

“Haha. It’s fine.”

..

We came out of the room after taking off our sleepwear and noticed how quiet the house was.

“Morning~!”

“M-Mother?”

My mother’s head peeked out of the kitchen. She had a big grin on her face and was wearing her usual frilly apron. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail and swayed as she danced while cooking.

“We have a surprise for you, little Clyde~”

I tilted my head in confusion.

‘It’s not my birthday though?’

I sat at the table with Arthur still wondering what mother meant.

-----!!!

I heard horses neighing outside and the galloping of hooves.

“Oh~? Look who’s up~”

Father came inside with a big grin on his face.

His hands was behind his back.

‘This is getting really frustrating!’

“Clyde, is there something you would like to tell us~?”

Mother’s hands were on my shoulders. She had a wide smile on her face as if daring me to lie.

“W-What do you mean?”

I averted my eyes.

“Ara? You didn’t think you could hide it from your mother who’s also a mage, did you? I thought it was strange why you always read my old magic spells books. And to think your mana is far more than mine…”

She laughed in amusement.

‘Kuh. So they knew all along?’

I was intending to keep this a secret. I heard that children who can cast magic spells are extremely valuable in the slave market or to nobles. I was afraid that someone might hurt my parents and steal me forcibly. That’s why I’ve been training in secret. I’m just a commoner after all. We have no power to protect ourselves against nobles. My father also can’t be borrowing the power of his uncle after brazenly declaring that he’ll live independent from the family.

“I can see what you’re worried about, son.” Father patted my head. “You seem to be far more mature than I when we moved here. So‐”

He brought the thing from behind his back to his front. It was an object with the length of a pole wrapped in cloth. He removed the cloth gently.

“!”

What I saw next was a giant jade ruby when he removed from the top. The ruby was so beautiful that I was mesmerized by the color.

A staff. And an expensive looking one at that.

“This is the new addition to the Hermit Sage collection.” Father placed it on the table in front of me, “This will help with you in the future when you become a splendid mage.”

I felt my chest tighten and my eyes water.

“Your uncle said that he can arrange a teacher for you, but you’ll have to stay at their mansion for a while… ugh ,I should’ve chosen a place closer to the capital–“

“Hic…”

A sob came from my throat.

‘They did all this for me… how much did this even cost…?’

This is the love I never received from my previous life. I used to force this love on my girlfriend because I wanted the same thing…

“Haha..” my father laughed softly,” to think I’d see my son who didn’t even cry his whole life, cry now…”

His also wiped his eyes.

“…don’t cry…”

Arthur hugged me from the side.

“You’ll be a splendid mage, my little boy.”

Mother kissed my cheek and wiped my eyes.

“T-T-Thank you, mother… father… I love you... I’ll call it Redheart…”

◇

The atmosphere turned bright again during our time of eating breakfast. My father told me that Duke Luxembourg, his uncle and also Arielle’s father offered to let me stay at his manor. He also said in the letter that after my training, I’d be allowed to enroll in the Academy. But that’s only in 6 years since I’m still 7 years old. For that duration I’d be staying over there.

Arthur was also given permission to train under a Sword master that the duke will be hiring for him.

‘They went really far for me. And to think they even thought of Arthur as well…”

..

Over the next few days, I came to the forest every day to practice my magic spells. I’ve noticed that there’s an abnormality in my mana. I’m not even sure why that is…

Today at my usual spot, I noticed some strange lights flickering around.

‘Fireflies? That’s weird…’

I never expected to see such bright lights during the day.

I just shrugged and opened the magic book.

“elementary magic… alright, I think I got it-[Flame burst]... Huh?”

I formed the magic circle but something was weird. The lights were floating around the magic spell for some reason.

“What is this?”

My hand was starting to get hot from holding the spell for so long, so I fired the spell across the river.

WOOOOONG

BOOM

BOOM

BOOOM

“Aaah!”

My spell was for some reason far powerful than the previous time I casted it.

“What the hell was that?”

-Kyaayayayaya~

-Mudamudamudamuda~!

“Huh?”

Flickering lights were encircling me. They seem to have… voices?

I was about to freak out but then remembered the kind of world I was born in.

-Praise me! Praise me!

-Play!

Voices of little children filled my ears.

“What are you guys…?”

I wasn’t expecting an answer when I asked.

-Spi~rits

“Spirits?”

-Mama is calling~

--Bye, bye, master~

“Eh?”

Who is this “mama” they spoke of? What the heck are these things? Aren’t spirits supposed to be like ghosts and supernatural things?

They gradually disappeared leaving the brushing of trees as the only sound in the forest.

–Clyde!

I heard Arthur’s voice a little ways away.

“Coming!”

I ran through the trees still wondering about what happened before.

“Ah…”

When I came back, I saw Arthur waving at me. But what formed a frown on my face was the fact that that same carriage that visited last time stood majestically in front of our house.

Duke Luxembourg’s crest was embedded on the back of the carriage. And also…

“Not her again…”

A beautiful-no more like cute girl with silver hair stood all high and mighty on the front lawn of our house while the servants throw a red mat for her to walk on.

“Um…. Who’s that?” Arthur came up to me and asked.

“She’s my cousin. My father’s uncle’s daughter…”

I put my hands on my face reimagining that scene where I was toppled over.

“Ara? There you are!”

She seemed to have noticed me standing here.

She walked up to me with a straightened back and had this air of confidence around her.

“Speak your name, mutt.”

‘This brat doesn’t even remember my name!?’

“Clyde…”

“I see. Seeing as how father has allowed you to live with our esteemed family, I will no longer further deny your existence.”

Her face was looking proud while saying that.

“Thanks?”

“Do not speak back from now on. Do you understand? Your only worth is your magic. Humph!”

Her silvery hair slapped me in the face when she turned around. Her way of walking was prideful and elegant.

“Who is this bitch?”

I couldn’t quite hear what Arthur mumbled to himself.

◇

“Thank you, Kimberly. I appreciate your support.”

Father said to the second wife while mother was busy packing our things.

“No need. We are family after all. I was originally planning on sending Clyde to a school to learn politics with your permission. To think a mage would be born in our families.”

“Are mages rare for our bloodline?” I asked her.

“Yes. Never once have there been a mage in the Luxembourg bloodline. They say it’s like a curse since the first ancestor wielded a sword instead of pursuing magic.” She smiled at me. “ But you are one of the few children to be born this way. It might be Eleanor’s blood. I think the last mage to be born was two hundred years ago. ”

She then patted my head.

It seems the only way for them to have mages in the family bloodline was to marry nobles capable of magic. Aunt Kimberly seems to also be a somewhat capable mage herself.

Mages are ranked based on the color of their mana. Black mana stage is the weakest while Perfect white is the strongest. There are, at the moment only four white stage mages in our Kingdom. They are the people who protect the Colchis Kingdom.

The other nations also have four white mana stage mages, each. Together they form “The Order”-people who take on disaster monsters and beings. They are called when adventurers and the Holy Knights cannot defeat a calamity.

“Now, then. Francis, please proceed. I will trust your husband’s judgement on Arthur-kun’s talent for the sword.”

My aunt brought a Magic Tower senior mage today to measure my exact stage of mana.

“Certainly, Madam. Please prick your finger with this.”

The old man took an orb onto his wrinkly hands. He then stabbed a sharp little needle into my index finger. The pain subsided after a few seconds.

GLOOP

A sound similar to water dropping came from the orb.

WHOOOSH

“…eh?”

The old man looked at the orb sharply.

“Francis? What’s the matter?”

My aunt asked.

“H-He… he has…”

The old man had sweat drip down his face. His face was painted with disbelief.

“Francis!”

“Yes! Just a moment, madam!”

The old man grabbed my shoulder.

“Boy, you said you’ve recently started using magic, right?”

“Y-Yes.”

I was confused at his vigor after checking my mana.

“Hold on. I’ll quickly disperse the barrier.”

A barrier forms around the orb when someone’s aptitude is checked. Only tower mages can see it.

“What!?”

“Dual Cores!?”

Both mother and aunt Kimberly, jumped from their seats.

“Eleanor, your boy’s potential…”

“I can’t believe it…” My mother covered her face with her hands.

**

“Two cores?”

I asked the old man when we sat down. Arthur was looking at me with sparkling eyes while Arielle was looking at everyone’s faces in confusion.

“That’s correct,” Francis wiped the sweat on his face with a handkerchief. “you are capable of both regular magic and spirit magic. The other core besides your mana core is what we call a spirit core.”

“Spirit magic? What is that?” Arielle spoke up with a clueless look on her face.

“This boy has the same power as the Great Sage that lived 900 years ago. In summary, he has power that will someday be able to change the state of a war.” The old man laughed heartily. “To think such a splendid mage was born out here. His potential is indeed limitless.”

He then looked at everyone seriously.

“For now, keep this a secret. Many complications might arise while this boy is still in his growing phase. His spirit mana stage is White indeed, but it’s still in the Imperfect form. He cannot use spirit magic without using his normal magic to activate it. So I suggest not using those two together even if your regular mana is in the Yellow stage. Difficult obstacles shouldn’t be a problem for you since your mana pool is one of the largest I’ve recorded to this date.”

‘To activate it? Wasn’t that the same thing I did earlier?’

Yellow stage is the third stage after Green. How it goes is Black, Green, Yellow, Orange, Silver and then White. The more pure your mana, the stronger you become during the refining process.

“El, you can trust that Francis will keep this a secret.” My mother looked unsure, noticing that, aunt Kim reassured her.

“Yes, please trust me. I’ll do a Slave ritual if it’s what you require to gain my trust.”

He stuck out his chest.

“N-No. Thank you, senior Francis.”

We talked about Arthur’s future as well. They were trying to steer the conversation to something else since the shock of my potential was so great.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?” My mother came up to me.

I wore noble son’s clothing since it would be embarrassing to be seen wearing commoner clothes. My hair was also patted down with some gel since it was always so spiky. My staff was in my hand, still wrapped.

Meanwhile, Arthur also wore noble clothing which was a short and an undercoat over his shirt. He looked completely different from his unkempt appearance from last week.

“Yes, mother.”

I responded and put my luggage on the carriage.

Mother seemed to be holding in her tears.

I hugged her and then she patted my head.

“I’ll be sure to send letters, mother. And also, tell father that he shouldn’t worry.”

“I’ll be expecting your results. Your sisters won’t be seeing their brother so much as they grow…”

..

We departed after Arthur did his farewells as well. The carriage began moving after the coachman lashed the reins.

I looked over at Arielle, my distant cousin. She has silvery white hair compared to Arthur’s gunmetal hair, her skin is white and looks youthful, almost as if she bathes in milk. The hair ornament does its job right by making her hair more dazzling.

She has thin red lips and big blue eyes. Her body which has already gone through its growth process will certainly transform her into a curvy woman one day.

All I can say is that this girl is gorgeous.

“What are you looking at?” Arielle stopped my train of thought. Her face was looking at me as if smelling a heap of trash.

‘ I was looking for too long.’

“It seems Clyde-kun has fallen in love, fufu~”

“Wha–!? That’s not–!”

I tried refuting. Arielle’s face warped.

“Disgusting.”

I fell on the seat crestfallen.

‘Guh…!’

“Hey, now Arielle. You can’t say that to a boy as his first love. There might be a chance. You two haven’t known each other for long anyway.” Auntie proceeds with the misunderstanding that I’ve fallen in love.

“Tch.”

“Hurge is the city my husband’s retainers rule.”

Aunt Kimberly pointed to the city in the distance.

“We still need to stop by a shop to get you boys new clothes.”

Hurge is a city located 20 kilometers away from the capital. It specializes in diamond trade and has one of the biggest mines on the continent. Despite this, its economy isn’t as developed as it should be. Why? Because the fief lords and the Kingdom own it. The noble’s family who built the city had no choice but to give up on it and instead accept the money from the people who bought their mines. Duke Luxembourg obviously monopolizes these profits the most since he owns about 2000 acres of this land.

It’s like some countries in my world. The big bosses take over the businesses of the original owners in order to profit. It seems it’s the same in every world. That’s why some countries stay developing countries while others thrive.

“There are the gates, Madam!”

The coachman shouted and then I leaned out of the window with Arthur.

We arrived at Hurge-city of diamonds….