The first year of my life went by in a blur, I spent every possible moment circulating my mana and absorbing ki, the only event that drew my attention was the announcement only a few months after my birth that the Lady of Redsword house was once again pregnant.

Wow! Isn't it a little dangerous to enter into pregnancy so soon after the previous birth?

Well, I guess this is a more medieval time period, where heirs are very important, and to my coldly calculating parents, the gains of such a valuable pawn was probably well worth the risks.

Hmmm, I actually feel kind of sorry for their kid, with that kind of parents, he/she'll probably end up like the typical noble brat, extremely prideful and conniving, with no true friends.

Ah well, I'll still need to defeat them, so back to training!

Unfortunately, in my eagerness, I am ashamed to admit, I made a rookie mistake.

The revelation of my misstep came into the house one fine spring day about one month after my birthday (Luckily I wasn't bothered because they only celebrate on a child's sixteenth birthday, when they're acknowledged as a fully fledged adult.).

The birds were singing happily, the sun pleasantly warmed the floorboards of my room, and the wind brought the refreshing scent of flowers into the house.

I, of course, only noted these things in the back of my mind, as I was far too busy working on my rise to world domination *cough* *cough* I mean training...

*Ahem* As I was saying, I was hard at work when my mother's now familiar embrace suddenly scooped me off the floor of my and Aaron's room, interrupting my training.

She carried me downstairs, then settled me back on the the floor.

What was that for Mom!!!???

I was perfectly comfortable sitting on the floor upstairs you know, What's the point of taking me downstairs if I'm just going to do the same thing???

Well, whatever, I'll just go back to training. I rapidly honed back in on my ki and mana centers, they had both grown considerably in the past year.

My old ki center was comparable to the size of a pebble, while now it was the size of a small rock, several times larger than how it would have grown naturally.

Similarly my mana core was the size of my small fist, where it had previously been comparable to a large drop of water, most children my age would have a mana core comparable to a small marble.

My ki center, while having started larger than my mana core, was growing more slowly, though the whole core now glowed a brilliant purple equal to the shine of my mana core.

I easily began circulating my mana and then started pulling small wisps of energy towards my ki center.

But just a few minutes later, I was once again interrupted by my mother's embrace, only this time, she spoke.

"You see Lisa? He just sits there all the time, he hasn't even tried to crawl, while Aaron's been walking for a couple of months now. I know he's blind, but that shouldn't stop him from moving should it? I don't know what to do any more sister."

AH! Blast The Dark Forces Of The Universe!!!!

I forgot to act like a normal baby!!!

Uuuuuuuu, I just want to roll over and die of shame, my pride as a reincarnation pro is ruined, to make such a rookie mistake, I can even feel Fate laughing at me.

A new voice interrupted my internal agony, it shared the same lilt as my mother, but it was a shade deeper in tone.

"You just have to be patient little sister, not all children develop at the same pace, and I imagine it’s even harder for my little nephew Felix with his blindness, it must be scary to not know what's around you. When he's sitting, however, he can be sure the spot all around him is safe, so he's more comfortable there, I suggest you just keep moving him around and get Felix used to new spaces."

"Ah! As expected of the mother of six children, elder sister is very wise and skilled in such matters, I'll do just that then."

*Phew* I'm saved! Thanks Auntie!

For a moment there I was recalling the experiences of my early reincarnations involving angry mobs demanding the death of the demon child, priests performing countless rituals to free the possessed child, and the like.

Really though, you would think I'd remember to act properly after all of those experiences, but I guess I just got too excited this time.

Yes, enough excitement to last a whole entire year.....

Guuuu, I have no excuses......

Eh, but wait, if she's going to keep moving me around, it'll interrupt my training!

That cannot be allowed to happen, hmmmm, so how to stop her...

Ah! I got it!

I quickly began squirming in my mother's arms, signaling that I wanted to be let down. Adrianne, wrapped in conversation, absent mindlessly let me down, having already been well trained by Aaron for such situations.

I sneakily began to crawl away. The two women wrapped in conversation weren't expecting me to move and so didn't notice me.

My crawl was steady, my body having been strengthened by all my ki training, as I moved to the area I was fairly sure my mother had first placed me (I remembered the general direction and distance)

Once in position, I sat back down and waited.

After what felt like an eternity of endless chatter, my mother finally noticed I was no longer by her feet.

"Wha! Where is Felix!?"

"Ah! Look Adri, he's back over where you first left him!"

"Wait, that means he must have crawled there!"

With my audience's attention captured, I then began to crawl again, straight towards the stairs.

The women were too startled to stop me, so I began the trek up the stairs without interruption, showing off my skillful crawling skills.

"Ah, Lisa, do you think he understood what we were saying and is trying to show us he's fine? My son is a genius!!"

Yep, the typical new parent reaction, but I was counting on the experienced aunt of six children to stop that thought in its tracks.

"What!? No! If anything its the opposite, children are supposed to be walking at the age of one, not just crawling. That little Aaron of yours is a real ball of energy right? What probably happened was that the times Felix was crawling, you were distracted by whatever mischief Aaron had gotten himself into and didn't notice. From what I've seen here today, your Felix is more of a quiet type, so its easier to lose track of them, especially in your case with Aaron."

A perfectly logical explanation, excellent work Auntie Lisa,though it seems some credit will have to be given to my mischievous brat of a brother. He has a seemingly endless supply of energy that runs my mother ragged.

"But then why is he always sitting in the same spot whenever I do see him, if he is moving around, then he should at least be seen in different places."

Ah! I didn't expect her to notice that inconsistency.

Mom can be quite sharp in some places, despite her various quirks....

Lucky aunt Lisa just waved it off.

"Its probably his favorite spot to sit, you said it was right by his window correct? The sun's warmth is probably very comfortable for him. I don't think there's any need for you to worry."

"Ah, I see..."

My mother was forced to concede defeat.

By then I had made it to the top of the stairs, not a bit out of breath, and was eavesdropping on their conversation.

My plan was a success!

With this, my mother would feel no need to move me around, training would no longer be interrupted!

I had also been reminded to act a bit more normal from this experience, luckily, my next stage of training would have me moving around a lot more.

It was time to start sharpening my senses.

Let the second stage to stardom BEGIN!!!