Mana around my body fluttered as I absorbed some of them into my body and purified it into qi. The leftover mana was used to further construct the magic circle around my heart.

I’m currently sitting under the tree where I usually sit to train. I successfully reached the 2nd circle after a week of training. Harry said that it usually takes at least months to reach the 2nd circle but I did it in less than even half of that.

I accepted the fact that I have tremendous talent, but I don’t want to get conceited. It’s just a waste of talent to laze around when I could push myself and reach greater heights.

However, there’s really nothing else to do around here other than training. I’m getting bored already.

I stopped my training and head towards Harry’s tower. Mana is still being diligently absorbed and purified in my body but it’s far less efficient than doing it while meditating. But it’s this practice that helped me reach the 2nd circle in a week.

I reached the tower and headed straight to the lab. He’s doing his research as usual. A truly diligent mage. The lab was also a mess just like any other day. Papers were scattered across the room and the writing board was filled with scribbles.

“Yo Harry.” I politely greeted.

“Good morning to you too, young master.” Harry greeted back.

“Let’s venture to the outside world.”

I got straight to the point. Harry looked at me with surprise.

“What brought that on?”

“I’m bored.”

“Of course, it’s the young master after all. I’m surprised it took you this long. But that is something you should ask the Count himself.”

“I know that. I’m just inviting you first.”

“Well, I’m honored for that. However, I don’t think we could do that.”

“Why?”

“Have you forgotten? Next week is the young master’s birthday. And I still need to work on the presentation of the young master’s discovery.”

“Is that so.”

I was reminded of the unfamiliar date that is my birthday. It’s the first time since I got the memories of my past life back. I forgot about it since I don’t usually celebrate my birthday in my past life. So that’s why I heard people around the manor talking about a party. My parents also kept asking about what I want. Turns out it’s my birthday.

“Well, we could always do it after everything is done. How much longer until the presentation?” I asked Harry.

“The preparations are done and we’re planning to release invitations after the young master’s birthday celebration and hold the presentation in about a month.”

“Hmm.” I nodded.

Everything should be done in a month. I’ll hang around until then.

“We’ll have an adventure after the presentation. I’ll tell father about it. Keep working hard.” I said while walking towards the exit.

I headed towards my father’s room after I exited the tower to ask for his permission to travel.

***

“I want to go outside the manor to travel.” I bluntly told my father the purpose of seeing him.

My father didn’t look surprised as he looked at me.

“I predicted you would ask me this.”

“Do I have your permission then?”

“I won’t stop you, but I’m assigning a guard to go with you.”

“Can I bring Harry then?”

“You can.”

“Yes,” I said while pumping my fist.

“Thank you, father.”

And then I exited my father’s room.

***

Swish Swish

I swung my sword at the training ground. The soldiers and knights were also training there as usual. There’s one person, in particular, working harder than everyone else.

Chris. That’s the name of the vice-captain that was training harder than the other knights. He was a talented swordsman, having reached the vice-captain position at the age of 20. He might be no less talented than I am. Having devoted himself to training swordsmanship since he was a child, he was an example of being hardworking and talented.

I admired his tenacity, that’s why I always accept when he challenges me to a duel. Although he never won, he never gave up. But his skills have been growing rapidly, he was also the first one to successfully cultivate qi among the group chosen by Henderson to pass on the breathing technique. The way he utilized his qi during our duels amazed me.

And just as he finished his intense training, he came up to me to challenge me. I accepted as always.

The soldiers stopped training and gathered as if they anticipated the event. I could see Henderson’s excited face in the crowd.

Oi! What is that man doing! He’s acting as immature as the others. I guess it’s not his fault, even I’m looking forward to Chris’ growth.

Chris faced me with determined eyes. I held my wooden sword and took my stance. Henderson announced from the crowd.

“Ready! Start!”

Immediately, Chris reduced the distance between us. He swung at me with ridiculous speed. However, I could already see where he’s aiming and defended accordingly.

Ttaak!

Our swords collided and I swiftly swung my sword to deliver a counter. Chris reacted to the counter however and we traded multiple blows in a matter of seconds.

It looked like Chris defended all of my attacks from an outsider's perspective, but in reality, a few of my attacks actually connected. Chris’ posture quickly crumbled and he was being pushed back.

I immediately saw an opening and aimed for his defenseless spot. Chris tried to intercept my sword with incredible reflex but failed to do so. He was knocked out by the blow, unable to endure the impact.

It was a short fight as always, but Chris’ growth was apparent. Despite always being knocked out only after a few hits, he was actually able to defend against my sword for a short time.

“The young master is amazing as usual.” one of the soldiers said.

“Vice-captain was great too, being able to defend against the young master’s attacks.”

Similar conversations sprouted from the other soldiers at the training ground as I walked towards Chris and held out my hand.

Chris looked at me and sighed before taking my hand. I pulled him up and said.

“Good work today.”

“Still wasn’t enough to beat you.”

He’s a bit too competitive, but he’s actually nice.

“You’ll get there.”

“Hmm.”

Chris sighed again and walked away. I smiled at his attitude and turned my head towards Henderson.

“You seemed like you had fun.”

“Hahaha, it was exciting to watch two talented swordsmen grow through a fight. I couldn’t help myself.”

Henderson laughed while rubbing the back of his head. I shook my head helplessly.

***

A week has passed since then and I woke up to the noisy chirping of the birds outside. It was my birthday. I’m turning 10 today. Sometimes I forgot I’m in the body of a child.

Knock Knock

A maid knocked on the door and I told her to come in. Mrs. Anne was my personal maid that took care of me since I was a toddler. Although I don’t talk to her that much, she treated me like her own grandson so I have a good opinion of her.

She brought in the outfit I was supposed to wear for the party.

“Thank you, I’ll wear it myself before the party starts later,” I said smilingly.

“Alright, young master.” she retreated and exited the room.

I looked at the outfit Mrs. Anne brought me. It was a fancy suit befitting of a noble. It looked stylish as well. I’d like to put it on now but the party’s later at night.

I decided to put on my normal outfit first and headed to the dining room to have breakfast. My parents both congratulated me at the dining table and Rodwell was too shy to say anything to me although he looked happy too as if celebrating with the whole family.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Rodwell’s voice before. Oh well, I’ll wait until he opens up to me. I don’t know how to handle this anyway, I never had a sibling before.

The atmosphere in the dining room was festive as if my birthday party had already started.

***

That afternoon, everyone was busy setting up the venue. The family chefs went all out in making the best food for the party. I thought about sharing my knowledge of food from my past life with the chefs but it seems the food culture in this world had advance enough to be comparable to the previous world.

They even have something similar to chocolate here. I could only give a few suggestions that I don’t know if it would even be helpful to the chefs.

I was walking around the house helping in whatever way I could but everyone said that it’s my birthday and I should just relax until the party. I helplessly backed off and went to the tower to hang out with Harry.

I brought chocolate to the tower and we sat down eating chocolate while conversing about magic and some other stuff. Suddenly I remembered something and I asked.

“What circle mage are you right now?”

“Oh, the young master doesn’t know? I’m a 7th circle mage. I’m still far from the level of the Count but I’m one of the best mages of the continent besides the 6 Great Mages.”

“That’s impressive. Also, there are 6 Great Mages?”

I never knew how many Great Mages there were. So I asked Harry about it.

“Un. 3 of them belongs to the Gaja Empire and 2 comes from Arcadia including the Count himself. The remaining one is a wandering mage that belongs to no power in the continent.”

“So there’s something like that.”

No wonder Arcadia stood strong compared to the neighboring kingdoms against the Empire despite its smaller size.

“Who is the other Great Mage of Arcadia?”

“It’s Larry Pottre, he’s my older brother.”

“Oh yeah, you told me you’re from the family of mages. That’s quite something, to have a Great Mage among the family members.”

“He was a talented mage.” Harry nodded at my statement.

We continued eating chocolate and talked about a bunch of things after that. Then suddenly a servant knocked on the door and slowly opened it.

“Young Master, the master called for you.”

It seems that my father wanted to see me. I stood up and looked at Harry.

“Are you going to the party tonight?”

“Of course I will, it’s the young master’s birthday after all.”

“Bring some good presents with you,” I said jokingly with a smile.

“Sure,” Harry replied.

Oh, he’s confident. It’s getting my hopes up. I followed the servant to see my father.

***

I entered the room and saw Duke Franz with his wife. There’s also the adorable Elise beside them.

I was surprised to see them.

“You’re early,” I said politely.

I looked at Duke Franz and saw no difference. He’s still handsome. I was getting kind of sick of his face to be honest.

“Oh? What’s with that uninterested expression?” Duke Franz noticed my look.

I ignored him and looked at his wife that I met for the first time. As expected from Elise’s mother, she’s very beautiful. Her beauty could rival even mother’s.

But of course, my mother’s still the best. She’s my mother after all. I bowed slightly and politely greeted.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.”

The duchess smiled at my greeting and greeted me back.

“Nice to finally meet you too Richard.”

I turned to my father and said.

“I’m assuming you called me for them?”

“Yes, since they’re here already, why don’t you spend time with Elise?”

“Of course. Then excuse me.”

I brought Elise out of the room and went back to the tower where we ate chocolate until the party was about to start. Elise seemed to really like the chocolate.