Indra’s hurried footsteps echoed across the wall. He was in a rush to get to the nature spire. My father followed close behind him, chatting with Marv, and I was deep in thought.

It had never occurred to me how unnatural my mana pool was. Indra freaked out after seeing that I had gotten to level two in earth creation, questioning how much mana I had and how it was possible.

His issue came down to my stats. I had ignored them until now, and they hadn’t changed since I’d first seen them. That meant that I missed an obvious detail.

Wisdom didn’t increase mana. Intelligence did. I had fifteen intelligence points, so my mana pool held one hundred and fifty mana.

Indra thought that I had a high wisdom stat and Jackson thought I had the [wisdom] skill that William, the super smart sword baby, had. Indra’s mutterings told me that neither of those things would have given me a higher mana pool.

Then there was the extra mana given to me by the Mark of Crijik. There was a total of one hundred maximum mana added to my pool by the skill. That meant I had the mana pool of a person with twenty-five intelligence points.

It was too much for a baby.

I forgot that a normal baby was dumb. Their intelligence would probably match their stamina, a lower single digit. Even if I could shoot dirt, I wouldn’t be able to do it for long.

I’d done general studies in my previous world, and I’d lived a full-ish life, meaning that I had the intelligence of an average adult. That kind of knowledge didn’t appear in children. Not unless they were abnormal.

We blazed through the entrance of the spire, the door liquifying at Indra’s touch and reforming when it was behind us. We made our way to the cultivation room, and my dad stepped back as we found ourselves outside the door.

I remembered that he would die if he entered.

“That’s not a problem when I’m with you.” Indra’s tone was brisk. “Come. I don’t want to separate him from his father.”

My father took a hesitant step inside the room and the dirt parted to let him through. The room was exactly as I remembered it; a slice of nature pasted into a field of orange mana. The wisps of power stayed away from my father, and Indra moved three large rocks towards us.

He took a seat at the head rock, and my father sat behind him. Marv sat on the final rock, but then Indra held out a hand and stopped him.

“That one was for the baby.” Indra said dryly.

Marv looked at him, and then at me, and coughed. He slid off the rock and I reached out to pat his arm. He lifted me up from my father’s arms and placed me gently on the rock. Then he stepped away and watched Indra’s back with mischievous eyes.

He was going to pay back the nature mage for this, sooner or later.

Indra’s stone was in front of my father and I, and he turned to face us like a teacher would with students. “I wasn’t planning on having this talk with you for a while, but from here on out, I will treat you as I would any other apprentice.”

Indra motioned towards the ground and a patch of the room shifted aside, exposing the stone floor underneath. Wisps of orange mana circled the floor, searching for something to crawl into.

“May you please create as much dirt as possible. Only stop when you are on the verge of using up all of your mana. I’ll be able to determine how much mana you have as a result.”

“However, remember that nobody can ever force you to reveal your skills and abilities.” He was serious. “If you wish to hide some of your mana, or do not wish to accept this activity then that’s fine.”

“I do.” I gurgled.

I was able to get out basic words.

I wanted to do it. I raised my hand and let out a steady stream of dirt and pebbles. I had to activate the skill multiple times, it didn’t come out as a steady stream, and the patch quickly filled up to the brim. I heard Marv cough behind me as I ran out of space.

Indra’s face was expressionless. “Is that all?”

I shot out more dirt in response. The patch had been filled before I’d gotten through half my mana. Indra gestured with his hand again, and a new section cleared up. This time he gave me a bigger space.

I created enough earth to fill that one as well, my mana almost running out after covering the last stone tile. I had the tiniest bit of it left for emergencies. I didn’t want to suffer the pain of an empty mana pool.

“Okay.” Indra’s eyes closed.

The dirt I’d created began to twist. They formed tendrils that rose into the air around the nature mage, rotating around his body. Small pieces separated from the tendrils, forming constructs of their own, and I realised it was the pebbles. Once all the dirt I’d created had been separated I could see how my skill had changed.

For every pebble there was twenty times the dirt. Indra moved the dirt and pebbles to form into two separate cubes. The cubes fell to the ground, intact and completely smooth. He’d merged all the materials together.

“You kept a tiny bit of mana to avoid emptying your pool, correct?” Indra asked. I nodded. “One meter… two c…” Indra muttered to himself as he sorted the dirt into different sections and counted them. That means you have two hundred and fifty mana.”

“Holy mother of Fue!” A shout resounded from behind us.

I turned around to find Marv with his mouth hanging open. He looked at me as though I had grown three heads. He grabbed the end of his robe with pale fists.

“You’re joking, right?” He asked Indra.

“You’re the joker.” Indra raised an eyebrow. “How did you think he got to level two in earth creation? With pure determination?”

Marv threw his hands into the air. “Sue me. I don’t have earth creation. I don’t even know anyone with a creation skill. I didn’t think he’d have this much mana.” He turned towards my father. “Teral what have you been feeding this kid?

My father frowned. “Nothing special… We did cover him in dirt. We wanted him to be closer to his element. He even sleeps on it.”

Father was telling them about my terrible living circumstances. I wanted to hide in shame. I looked at Indra and Marv to see what they thought.

To my dismay they were all looking pensive.

No.

You’re all getting the wrong idea. Shoving me in dirt absolutely didn’t help my mana pool.

I shook my head and the three looked at me.

“No.” The single word came out clearly.

“How old are you?” Marv asked. I shrugged and shook my head. Mark turned to my dad. “How old is he?”

“Hitting five months next week.” My father replied. “And growing every day.”

“His mana pool is way too big.” Marv said. “This isn’t good.”

Now he was just being petty. Then I saw Indra nodding at Marv’s words. Now I was worried. Is there a problem with having too much mana?

“Is that a problem?” My father asked the same question.

“A big problem.” Marv paced from one end of the room to the other. “We have to let Jackson know. He’ll put in the order for a company-wide silence.”

My father’s face darkened. “Is my son in danger?”

“Not from us. And not from himself.” Marv stopped. “Don’t worry little guy, you’re not gonna explode from having too much mana.”

That had been a legitimate concern I’d had. My fingers curled in relief, and my shoulders relaxed. As long as I wasn’t doing permanent damage to myself then I was sure everything else could be dealt with.

“Who else is there?” My father asked sharply.

Marv’s strange wording hadn’t escaped his attention.

Marv raised his hand to pacify him. “It’s not a question of who, but why. You know what I do, right?”

I didn’t. I have wondered what Marv did here. I’d seen him using ice magic, and I’d also seen him powering the teleportation crystal. He was a bronze mask, but for some reason the other bronze masks all deferred to him.

I’d entertained the idea that he was some sort of mascot.

“Vice commander of Zodiac’s Yêlat division.” My father said calmly. “Your duties are in different sectors than mine. I always assumed you created military tactics. Or were a mascot of some kind.”

Like father, like son. My father and I were in sync.

“My main job is recruiting people you as-” Marv looked at me and coughed into his hand. “In a city like this there’s not much to do in the day-to-day operations. My point is, I know what people look for in a recruit.” He nodded at me. “For magicians we look at their age first, and then what skills they have, and their mana pool.”

Marv looked at me. “We were still confirming your skill when we got interrupted, but now that it’s confirmed to be earth creation. Well, it’s rare to get a creation ability. Even after the first night. There’s a reason we aren’t drowning in mountains or oceans that magicians made. Add in your mana pool and you’re the best-looking recruit I’ve seen in years.”

Damn right I’m the best-looking recruit around. My chest puffed out with pride. Then I saw my father frowning.

“So, he’s like a walking mound of gold to the companies?” My father’s knuckles paled.

“Gold? It’s like a pile of orichalcum just dropped into our lap.” Marv resumed pacing. “Corporations, governments, the guilds. Everyone is going to want you. The answer to who would want to harm you…” He looked at me, “Is whoever you don’t join. Each and every organisation in the country will see you as being with them or against them. And you don’t want to be their enemy.”

I could see the problem. Even if everyone wanted to recruit me, only one group was going to get me. Even if I took my time, I would have to choose someone eventually, and then the others would strike. After all, it’s easier to get rid of an enemy before they grow up.

This wasn’t good.

My heartbeat quickened, pulsating against my chest. My smile dropped, and my legs felt weak. I’d just wanted to be a powerful baby.

“Then there’s no problem.” My father’s tone was soft. “We can say that he’ll work at Zodiac like I am.”

I didn’t object to that. My intention had been to join Zodiac from the beginning. I wouldn’t have shown them this much if I didn’t trust them.

“That’s not going to work out how you think it will.” Indra said from the side. “Even if you did join us officially, we would be forced to move you to a different city. Yêlat isn’t fortified enough to defend a baby.”

My father and I looked to Marv for confirmation.

Marv nodded. “Normally, the job of vice commander is a silver mask position, and the commander position is taken by a gold mask. Obviously, Jackson isn’t a gold mask and I’m not a silver mask.” Marv tapped the mask that was strapped to the side of his robe. “This is because we’re a peaceful city. The main headquarters would want the little guy to relocate there so that a gold mask could protect him… Without you or your wife joining him.”

“Because of… that?” My father looked at me and his words trailed off.

“Yes. Because of that.” Marv sighed.

Hey. That’s not fair. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wanted to protest. The two were keeping something from me. Something that was stopping my parents from going to live in the Zodiac headquarters

“What do?” I got the words out.

I didn’t want the others deciding the course of my life without my input.

“The only option we have is to keep it a secret.” Marv’s arms crossed. “Until you're old enough to protect yourself. We can’t tell the other Zodiac compounds, and we can’t let a single whisper get out.”

My father leaned forward. “But he still needs to come here to learn and practice. If what you’re saying is true, we can’t let him keep making dirt at home, eventually someone is going to notice the new hill we’re making.”

“Yeah.” I agreed.

Marv tapped his mask as he thought. “Then we need an excuse to get him here every day. Something inconspicuous, and not directly magic-related.”

Marv looked at my father, and then at me. “I heard you want to be a scriber.”

“Ah.” I knew what he was thinking.

There was an excuse I could use to come here every day, it was natural and magic-adjacent.

I clapped my hands and giggled. “Yes.”

It could work.

His back straightened. “Yeah. That’ll work. Why don’t we tell everyone he’s following in his father’s footsteps? How does that sound? An apprentice scriber has to come in every day to learn.”

I nodded my head, and my father smiled. Marv held out a hand towards me. I took it, and we shook.

“Welcome to Zodiac’s scribing division, little guy.”