Living with a curs isn’t that bad. My body is developing faster that before. At least there are some visible muscles on my body, by the looks of it this body was built for agility and by absorbing magic I increase my overall toughness.

Another unimportant piece of information: today is my birthday so I’m supposed to go with Ellen to the general store and choose something as a gift. I don’t think I will find anything worth buying but it’s not like I have anything important to do.

“Come on kid, sit down and eat.”

“What’s with you, Kraft? You look tired, well more tired than before.”

“Good morning Ali. You see the last night was quite intense.”

"Don't you think I am a little too young for this type of conversation."

“In Vollmond it’s considered a humiliation for a 10 year old boy to be a virgin. And if we don’t take your personality into consideration your mental age is about 20 years old. This is an estimation I made seeing you and I don’t want my first son to be embarrassed by these kinds of conversations and then fail to find a girl for him.”

“That escalated quickly but more importantly what’s wrong with my personality.”

“Well, you act before you think and only when there’s something in for you. Also you are a rude kid and you should exercise your manners.”

“Neah, I just like this because I love you.”

“Then can you say that you removed my curse and healed my wounds out of love for me?”

“Well, not entirely. I tried using the power to heal you not knowing if it will work.”

“All things considered I am going to believe that you actually love us as your parents.”

“Except that you are the only one who loves Kraft.”

“How about you sit down and eat kid, today we are starting combat training and I’m going to beat you up.”

After breakfast the three of us went to the village. Kraft was going to meet some knights about the monsters in this region. Now I was walking towards the general store. There really aren’t any kids here. I hope people don’t think I’m mentally challenged because I’m staying here.

I went inside the shop. There were a few magic crystals, some tableware and some books. Oh shit, that’s a fucking pocket watch. Do they even have that kind of technology? Let’s try scanning that. Scan results: Prototype portable watch built by dwarf grandmaster and master smith Gr’ham. Materials used Inconel and white gold. Approximate age 2000 years old. Fully functional. Accessories include a hunter case and watch chain. Mass 2 kilograms.

The next time I see a dwarf I’m going to give him a few drinks. I always wanted a pocket watch mainly because I had a tendency of wanting to know exactly what time it was at any given moment.

“Ellen, can I have that?”

The shopkeeper took the pocket watch from the shelf and gave it to Ellen.

“This is a time telling device made out of iron and quite old. It’s quite old and might be broken. If you desire I will sell you this item for the price of 50 gold coins.

“Ali, are you sure you want it?”

So it has come to this, I will have to use my feminine charms to convince Ellen. I looked at her with puppy eyes a pleading face and I tried imitation a girl’s voice as well as I could.

“Please mommy, can you buy that device for me?”

In the next instant Ellen made three different facial expressions. I bet a normal human wouldn’t be capable of seeing her face change that fast, but I was different. She went from shocked to angry and then an “I give up” expression. It seems my plan actually worked better than expected and by the way my voice sounded really cute.

Ellen took a coin bag out of nowhere again and paid the man 50 gold coins. Can’t people count faster? I heard each coin in that bag. In the end he counted the money and we left the shop.

“What exactly is that thing anyway? It doesn’t look like much but you wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t something special.”

“What do you know about Inconel?”

“It’s the strongest metal on this planet which can be used only by a dwarven master smith. You can’t be serious?”

That was when she realized what she just purchased.

“Is that thing really made of Inconel?”

“And white gold. This is a portable prototype of a self-sustaining time-telling device. The device is silent and accurate. And that idiot just sold something like this for 50 gold coins. I suppose he just made the worst mistake he could. Really talk about bad decisions. “

“So your eyes could tell you that much about this device.”

“Fun fact, I used one third of my magic to scan that watch. I even know how to dismantle it and put it back together.”

“So the matter with your birthday present has been solved.”

“Yeah, this is something I really wanted. Now I know that we are on the 21-st day of the 8-th month year 2116 and it’s exactly 12:34.”

“I heard that time perception is a useful tool for those who practice dark magic.”

“You said you knew nothing about dark magic.”

“I can’t teach you but I know a few things that help a magic user. Fire magic users fight better when around fires, water magic users fight better near lakes and places with water and so on.”

“How does time perception help me?”

“The ancient scrolls tell a story about an assassin who could go inside shadows and move inside them. It is said the she could enter another world where she could see everything that was happening in the universe enabling her to find her target and kill her without leaving any trace of her presence.”

“Another story based on legends, hope you don’t want me to do that too.”

“Though your expression inside the shop was cute, you are a boy so I don’t expect you to do that.”

“That’s discrimination!”

“Can you do any of that?”

“I’m just going to keep walking now and I’m dropping this subject.”

When we arrived at the carriage, Kraft told me to run back home instead of riding the carriage.

I arrived home and I went to the kitchen where I saw Ellen and Kraft. Kraft was holding a greatsword in his hands.

“Ali, give me the device.”

“If you think I’m giving you the watch you are crazy!”

I wanted to test my storage powers after I got home so the watch was still in my hands. Ellen took the watch form my hands and gave it to Kraft and then she pinned me down. I could feel how powerful she was, as expected for a level 6, I can’t even think of breaking free.

Kraft put the watch on the table and he took a stance. He raised his sword and with a battle cry he swung the sword on my poor watch. When the dust settled I saw a cut in the ceiling. The floor and the table had been completely destroyed but the rest of the room was intact.

Kraft put his sword down and went to search for the watch. I saw a surprised look on his face. He took the watch out from the rubble, the watch didn’t have a scratch on it, it actually looked better. The scan showed that the watch suffered no damage from the attack.

“How about that bitch? That watch is stronger than you will ever be. Good job on destroying the kitchen! Now give me my watch back!”

“Fine, take your stupid watch back.”

When he said that he threw the watch towards the floor and the floor broke when the watch landed. Ellen released me and I took the watch and absorbed it. When I absorbed the watch I was transported inside my inner mind. The watch was floating in the air. So the more magic I have, the more things I can store.

“What was this shit about Ellen? If you wanted to make fools of yourselves I would have given you the watch.”

“I thought you wouldn’t risk it but I needed to know if what you said is true.”

“I have a feeling this wasn’t about the watch but something bigger and you are not going to tell me even if I ask you.”

“Yes, I am sorry but this is something I had to know. The watch and you absorbing it were two of the things I had to make sure of.”

“I hope you will tell me what that was about when the time comes.”

I could see Ellen sulking. I have a feeling I know what this is about.

“Let’s forget this, Ellen you are supposed to teach me unarmed combat so let’s start.”

The only thing I could do was to give up for the moment but I have a feeling that the answer will come to me.