Chapter 5

The days passed like this for another year. One of the highlights of that year, were Daelyn’s first words, his first word was mapa. As Lyvia and Grey heard this, they could only smile at the little guy. They were a little competitive about who would be Daelyn’s first word. But hearing this, they could only smile at the innocence of the little guy.

Daelyn was able to speak more and more words and his articulation increased by leaps and bounds in a short time, however he still did not know how to read and write. He played games with his mother, she read to him from books, and at the end of the day Daelyn learnt to read. However, the language was hard to understand, because there could be a huge difference how something is written and how something is said.

They had a basic alphabet and they had different symbols for numbers, but the words and the sentence structure could be very hard to learn. Daelyn was greatly frustrated at this, because he wanted to discover more about this world, and being illiterate would not help with that. He tried again and again to learn the written language, but it escaped him every time.

The language Lyvia was teaching Daelyn was the common language. This language is used in a lot of places, due to the influence of the adventurers, merchant and mages guild. This is because it is a lot easier for them to do business with or to learn information from people who spoke the same language so that they wouldn’t misunderstand each other. The only places that the common language was not spoken, were some places on the frontier, and savages who were never introduced to the other societies present in this world.

Lyvia watched on with pride as she saw Daelyn try to learn the language. Since the day he had chosen a book over a toy, she had been convinced that he was a gifted individual and would become a very strong or important figure later in his live. However, she did not know that he, at the age of 1, already had the conscious mind of a young adult, and the learning ability of a child. Making for a very powerful combination of a wise and knowledgeable child.

However, as he learned how to speak, he also learned how to ask questions. Questions that were hard for Lyvia and Grey to answer. They decided to tell him everything, why they were different, why he was adopted, and that they had no idea who his real parents were.

Daelyn’s reaction to this was quite unexpected, he accepted it.

Daelyn stared back at them, took a stance of defiance, and shouted from the bottom of his lungs with all the conviction he could bring up: “Even if you aren’t my real parents, I still see you as them. You are my real parents!”

Upon hearing this, Grey and Lyvia could not help but cry tears of joy and hug Daelyn. They were so worried about his reaction, while they knew that the reaction of a child is one without a full understanding, they were still very happy with this reaction. This not only cemented their decision to support Daelyn, it also strengthened the bonds in the family.

Besides learning, Daelyn had been trying to increase the space he could comprehend in the void. While he had not yet succeeded expanding his comprehension into the void, he had become a lot better at comprehending his own being in the void. While he was not able to comprehend the void itself, he was able to comprehend something else. He noticed that there were two spheres in the void on either side of him, these spheres had different colours and different intents. He was able to comprehend the intent that radiated of those spheres and touched his being in the void.

Besides these two sphere-like objects, he had also become more aware of the composition of his being. It wasn’t a solid structure like he thought it was, instead it is a sphere made from thousands upon thousands small threads, making it comparable to a ball of very fine cloth. As he tried to influence these threads, he noticed that it was very hard. It was not only hard to move them only a little bit, but also very straining on the mind. Daelyn did not know why, but he continued doing this, hoping that it would enable him to touch the void with these threads.

He felt that he would be able to finally comprehend the void that changed from black to white, the void that seemed endless, and comprehend the objects within the void. He hoped that he would be able to receive these answers.

These exercises strained his mind greatly, but enabled it to improve, and enabled his awareness inside the void to grow greatly in comparison to the beginning. While being unable to touch the void, he did notice that these exercises influenced his intelligence, because he noticed that it became easier to remember information and that he was able to absorb information at a faster rate. While it was not a lot of difference, it was still noticeable, and Daelyn was very glad about this progress.

Besides improving his mental capabilities, Daelyn was planning on improving his physical capabilities. He wanted to start training when he was old enough, or when he could finally stand on two legs, without falling over after crossing only a few meters. Damn you, legs! Why don’t you obey me!

His bodily state had severely limited him until now, he was not able to exercise properly, nor was he able to improve his physical capabilities because that would most likely do more damage than it would do good.

Like this two years had passed, Daelyn grew quite a bit, he was just under a meter long, his hair had really come through, resulting in a lush flock of curly hair trimmed around the edges. He had become able to do more and more with his body, since he had not only been growing but also training his body. While climbing the tree to get to the forest floor was out of the question of his mother, he had been able to do it under her guidance, and was able to do it almost perfectly now. Almost that is, he sometimes lost his grip and this made his mother very hesitant with trusting him with going out on his own. He had been able to traverse the path in the trees quite easily however, and was overjoyed with this, because that meant his trips to the library would come more often.

The people in the community knew who he was, but they did not bother him. He had never spoken to any dark elf except for his parents, and he did not care to speak to one. This caused him to become quite desolate, he would never play or even talk with other children, and the adults in the village mostly ignored him. Except for the librarian who was regularly shocked by the quantity and quality of the books Daelyn read. For his behaviour and thirst for knowledge, he was quickly dubbed ‘the Hermit’ by the dark elves of the village. A nickname that would stick with him for a long time.

There was only a change in Daelyn’s life on his third birthday, his mother and father decided that only learning the general information would not help him, and Grey proposed to have him learn the basics of alchemy. While normal children normally go to the local school, the school was more a day-care for children under 5 years old, and knowing Daelyn, he would not like being locked up in such a place. Grey was very enthusiastic about alchemy and hoped that Daelyn would share the same passion. While the higher levels of alchemy might not be possible for Daelyn if he did not have the magic affinity, he could still learn the basics.

Despite this, his mother and father had looked on with worry as he had dived into studying instead of playing. Whereas most children had already had playdates with other, Daelyn only studied either at home, or when they went to the village, he would sometimes spend the afternoon there in the library. Much to the shock of the local librarian who had never seen such a young boy read books that didn’t have any pictures in them.

Seeing this, they decided that besides learning alchemy, it would be good if Daelyn had some interaction with his peers, otherwise he would might become a social outcast. They wanted to relegate that possibility as soon as possible.

While Daelyn was glad that his father was going to teach him alchemy and was as enthusiastic about it as Grey had hoped, Daelyn only had one reaction towards the playdate.

“If I can continue reading there, it’s okay.”

While his parents had already expected such an answer, they could not help but exchange glances at each other. They were starting to become desperate with Daelyn, and wanted him to be more social towards his peers. Lyvia looked at him with a soft gaze, and started her argument off with a soft yet compromising tone.

“Dear, while we are happy that you enjoy reading so much, we think it might be good if you play with some other children.”

Daelyn could only stare back at her, and answer in all honesty.

“But, learning is fun.”

Grey had not really expected such a short answer, and asked him with a calm tone.

“Yes, but don’t you want to do anything else than learn?”

Daelyn looked Grey in the eyes and stated with a quick yet clear tone.

“Yes, read.”

Lyvia and Grey were a bit taken aback by this answer, they did not expect him to give such an answer. Lyvia asked with a soft yet inquisitive tone: “What do you mean?”

Daelyn replied with the same quick and clear tone: “Reading stories.”

Hearing this answer, they could only sigh. Daelyn’s vocabulary had been steadily increasing over the years, but he could still be unclear about what he meant. Grey asked Daelyn in his low voice: “Reading might be fun, but you know those stories are the stories of others, right?”

Daelyn could only nod in agreement and say: “Yes.”

Grey knew that he had his son’s interest, and asked him a question with a clear and calm tone.

“But what about your own story?”

Hearing this last statement, Daelyn was perplexed. He had never thought about it like this, his life is only so long. He should try and make the best of it! But, how? He turned towards Grey and asked with an inquisitive tone.

“But how do I make my story?”

Grey could only smile as he saw the internal struggle displayed on his son’s face, and he stated with a wise and explaining voice: “Simple, you make your story by doing your best, and by being yourself. Do these two things, and you will make a greater story than you can ever read in a book.”

Hearing this last statement, Daelyn’s mind blurred. He saw an image of an old man in an unknown house, sitting in a wooden chair with a smile on his face. He couldn’t hear the man’s voice, but Daelyn knew what he said: “Be yourself”, before starting to laugh as the image faded away. Daelyn was flabbergasted, who was that? He knew that he had some unusual information, but he did not expect this. From the bizarreness of the situation he could only conclude one thing, it was good advice.

Daelyn looked back towards his father and mother as he stopped his train of thoughts, and say with certainty in his voice: “Okay, I will try to make my own story.”

Hearing this, both Grey and Lyvia were overjoyed. The rest of the day was spent trying to explain to Daelyn how such a playdate would go, but this information was generic. They mostly talked about what Daelyn could expect, they really wanted this to go well.

Daelyn was a bit perplexed and asked his mother and father with a questioning yet innocent voice: “Mommy, daddy, why are you explaining so much?”

Hearing this, both Grey and Lyvia sighed. They realised they had gone overboard in their stress. They might as well tell Daelyn, he was at the centre of it after all.

Lyvia started off with a sweet and soothing voice: “Sweety, you know that you are different from us, right?”

Daelyn stared at his mother and said with a reaffirming and factual voice: “Yes, you are dark elves and I’m a human, but why does that matter?”

Grey replied to his question with a firm tone: “It matters, because not everyone is as openhearted towards you as we are. Most dark elves dislike humans because of the things they have done to the dark elves in the past. They might resent you for that.”

Daelyn’s face was one of confusion, and so was his voice filled with it: “But I grew up here, why would they hate me for something I can do nothing about?”

Once again, they saw the product of the bright mind of their child. They could do nothing but feel helpless at the combination of intelligence and innocence of a gifted child.

Grey could only sigh as he turned to his son and say with a factual tone in his voice: “They don’t care if you are connected to other humans or not, they dislike humans and therefore they dislike you. While the adults will not openly denounce you, or undertake violence against you, the children are another story. They are easily influenced by their parents and they will most likely take their opinions to the extreme, especially the Tyrrith family.”

Daelyn’s interest was piqued by this, and asked with a curious voice: “Why them especially?”

Grey answered with a voice filled with regret and understanding: “They lost multiple family members due to humans, and their son was sold into slavery after he was kidnapped. They still morn their deaths to this day, and I doubt they would be able to forgive any human. While this is all very complicated and scary sounding, remember one thing, we will be there for you. We will not abandon you under any circumstance, if there is something, say it. Understood?”

Daelyn could only smile at his father’s last remark, and answer with a firm voice: “Yes sir!”

Grey smiled and replied with a soft voice: “Good boy, if there is something still bothering you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Daelyn seemed to hesitate a moment before asking with a shy tone: “Well, ummm…. There is one thing. When will I be able to use magic, and when will I know what kind of affinity I have?”

Grey was not perplexed at this question, Daelyn had always been interested in magic, but this information was not really recorded in the books they had. Grey replied to his question with a firm and soothing voice: “Well, to use magic a being needs a magic core. These cores develop in different stages, but a core is formed in the early years of a creatures’ life. For a dark elf, it is normally around the seventh-year due to their long lifespan. For humans it is, ehmmm”

Lyvia quickly supported him with a loving and caring voice: “It is around five years, dear.”

Grey looked at his wife with gratitude and said with a thankful and soft tone: “Thank you Lyvia, so there you have it. Any other questions?”

Daelyn once again had a tone of hesitation: “Well, yes. When I sit down and meditate, I normally go into a white void. This void seems to be endless, and has two small objects in it besides myself.”

Lyvia was perplexed at this and could not hide her emotions in her voice, causing her to have a surprised tone and a perplexed expression.

“Wha-what do you mean. An endless white void? And you can escape into it by meditating?”

Daelyn looked up at her, and said with a hopeful tone: “Yes, do you know what it is?”

Both Grey and Lyvia stood there with gaping mouths, they were shocked. How did he know about the white void? Never mind that, he could enter it!

Lyvia regained her composure and answered his question with a sweet voice: “Sweety, that white void is a part of you. The white void itself is your magic, the two objects in it are most likely your affinities, and what you described as your being inside the white void is most likely your soul. Sweety, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

Daelyn answered her question with a straightforward tone: “I thought that if I have it, others also have it?”

Grey could only sigh and reply to his statement with a heavy voice: “Daelyn, you dropped quite a bomb there. Well, while others do have it, almost everyone has one of their own, it is very hard to enter it. Most mages who are able to enter their white void on purpose are mages who specialize in either the manipulation of pure mana, or mages who use souls for different purposes.”

“Mommy, is it weird that I can do this?” asked Daelyn nervously.

Lyvia replied to him with a calm and loving voice: “For you, no. We knew you are quite special, we did not expect this, but we are not very surprised, right dear?”

While Grey knew they were both perplexed, he knew that it was better to calm the nerves of the three-year-old.

Grey regained his spirit and said with a pride and stern voice: “Yes, but you can’t tell anyone else about this, okay?”

Daelyn replied with a firm and enthusiastic voice: “Yes, sir!”

Those were his last words before he scurried off to read more on the basic magic theory.

Lyvia and Grey were worried. They had not expected him to have such a talent. Lyvia started the conversation off after Dealyn had left with a worried tone.

“What are we going to do now? We need to find a teacher for when his mana core forms.”

Grey replied to her with a calm and logical voice: “We could ask Elrieden to teach him curse magic, he is quite a good teacher I hear.”

Lyvia said with a hesitant and wondering tone: “While I’m not completely comfortable with Elrieden, we could ask him if anyone knows someone who can help. He isn’t very talented in the manipulation of the soul, a mage with a power like that would be very helpful.”

Grey replied with a questioning yet firm voice: “Let’s start by asking Elrieden, okay?”

“Yes.”

They were profoundly worried about Daelyn, they had a child with such potential. But, how would the world react? Talent was normally praised, but it could also be a source of jealousy, and they still had unfinished business in the capital. They could only hope that Daelyn is not taken from them, or worse.