Three months had passed since his birth,

Maple trees were shedding its leaves,

Ryuu was looking outside the house from the open window, while her mom was attending to one of the customer looking around for medicine. She let the baby do what he want at that place while looking from behind.

She couldn’t help but to smile, ever since the child was around. Her days were no longer as lonely. He would accompany her during the time as a shopkeeper without fail. The child’s eyes were serene and in complete focus, like he was connected with the sky above him.

There was a book where Ryuu’s left arm was resting on the cover; it was a thick book that Taiyou had been writing, the [Alchemic Journal].

Despite the fancy name, the book was actually nothing more than the findings that he made in regards to medicine and brewing principles. The baby will open the journal at times, tried to understand the content, but it wouldn’t last long before he closed it and continued to look over the window once again.

He would try to make up words while he was reading the book, but was not able to articulate the words correctly, a child was only able to speak soundly after he reached one year old anyway.

It was obvious that the book contain foreign language that is ancient to the baby.

When she looked at the baby like this, a great worry surfaced from her mind. The baby was did things unthinkable for someone at his age, his attitude and actions simply unnatural.

Everyday in the past, Hana saw him in difficulty reaching for the windows with the support of his two frail hands; she would quickly helped him to reach the window at first.

At other times, he would spark an unusual curiosity towards the books that were lying around the shelf. He also preferred to lie himself in the empty spot on the counter, the same place where she would serve the customer during the day.

In all, he would never cause her any trouble to the surrounding; the only time he cried was when he was born and ever since there was no sign of him crying anymore.

A conclusion starts to appear within her mind,

‘This type of personality, as if he had commenced his [Soul Link]’

She shook her head afterward,

‘Impossible, it supposed to happen when a child reach 5 or 6 years’

‘But, this child had acted not like his age. I couldn’t simply ignore the chances…’

As she pondered about her child, another customer come and broke her train of thought.

“Ah, welcome”

She attended to another consumer with a big smile and brush her current thought at halt.

‘I will consult this with my husband later…’

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At night that day,

Ryuu woke up while his parents were in deep sleep.

He observed their movement before he confirmed that they wouldn’t wake up.

After that he whispered.

“[Flight]”

His body lightens and floated on the air, with no difficulties he hop over the wooden bar that prevented him from falling down from his bed and slowly descending his body to the floor underneath.

He let his feet reaching the ground first, followed by his hand.

‘Seriously, being a baby is too difficult.’

His weight returned to its normal state as he sighed a little about his own physical body.

After a little rest, he gazed at the bookshelves which was located in the living area and crawled towards it.

‘Where was it again…’

He inspected bookshelves and gazed at the selections located on the lowest layer before he stopped at a particular book.

‘This is the one…’

Ryuu pulled the book out from the shelves to the ground and then it floated around him like what happened to his body earlier.

With the book, he crawled towards the small hole in the door where people would put their package and pass through it to the outside.

The season at the moment caused the backyard of the house to be filled with fallen maple leaves and well dry trees.

On the terrace, Ryuu searched for the brightest area and put the book under the moonlight. It was then the cover book could be seen clearer, the wording was now recognizable.

The title of the book was [Basic Theory of Magic].

‘It’s a little bit hard with the amount of lighting, but I can’t complain much...’

‘The language is much harder to understand, too…’

He grumbled as he slowly looks at the words inside the book.

He read the book swiftly as he tried to understand the part he could with his linguistic skills and grasp the basic concept of the book he chose. The saving grace was that he had the knowledge of the world he previously lived at. Thus, he could interpret the pictures in the book rather easily.

Within 10 minutes, he closed the book as he came to a conclusion.

Then he lay down, while his face was looking at the sky.

He muttered a soft word as he raised his hand

“[Spirit Sight]”

Then, a bluish sphere start to float on his right hand and he pushed it onto his eyes.

The sphere starts to disintegrate into white dusts and absorbed into his pupil.

Opening his eyes, the original reddish pupil had turned into bluish ones.

At the same moment, he could now see changes within his vision.

He could see green streams of energy swirling around; it was something he was familiar with.

It was called [Spirit] in his old world. But the world here had called it [Mana].

Ryuu raised his left hand and the streams had been sucked like a vortex on top of his palm and it was clustered into a dense concentration. After few moments, the stream dispersed and then clustered again.

He repeated the process for a few times before lowering his hand to rest.

‘Even the idea behind it is so similar. I think it’s safe to say they are the same thing’

After confirming this, he raised both of his hands.

The stream was absorbed into his body and transformed into a feeling of heaviness in his mind.

‘The spirit is heavier… Than expected. My physical body wouldn’t be able to stand it much longer’

Ryuu was surprised by his own weak capability even though it was far from a point where he would lose control the mana.

The feeling of fullness was contained within his body and he let it filled him for a moment.

Before he chanted a spell with his mouth in his own language, although the articulation was really bad.

“[Icicle]”

An explosive emission of blue dust was released from his small body.

Few ice spears were hovering above his hand,

He turned his head towards the outside and then he controlled the ice to flow outside the wooden house.

The icicle moved towards the targeted area and made a dent to a charred tree.

Ryuu looked at the icicle, then after a while. The icicle had dissipated into the thin air and turned into the green stream.

‘I guess that confirmed it for now.’

Ryuu’s irises went back into the usual reddish color and lost the ability to see the stream.

With satisfaction he rolled his body and crawled back into the door.

He put back the book to its original position and flew back to his bed after he fulfilled all the ‘tasks’ he wanted to do today. A surge of exhaustion was welling in his body, in addition to a relief that he was able to take a rest now.

He took a look at the sleeping parents on his side.

They were peacefully sleeping, after that he went to look up to the ceiling and raised his right hand.

‘This isn’t a dream… Transported into another world as a baby, unbelievable...’

‘I am certain I was called here with a purpose in mind.’

He was skeptical about his arrival himself, the situation he was in was something too extraordinary for him to digest and believe at face value…

‘I think what I can do now is to enjoy this new life and while at that train my body, while preparing for the future.’

‘After all, without strength, one could not protect what he wanted’

As he pondered many more thoughts and indulged in it

Before long, he was asleep.

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#Optional

Ever since that night,

I took every opportunity I had to go out when my parents sleep at night.

It had become a night routine for me to go out at this time for only during this time I had complete freedom at what I could do, without prying eyes.

The reason behind my action is due to two things, which are on my priority list.

One of them was language learning; another was for [Mana Training]

Thus, the books that I read recently were fairly of the same type. They were picture books that had a small description on the pictures underneath written in the language that people use in this part of the area.

My father brought these books one time when he had to go to other town to procure materials that were not existed surrounding forest. They were intended for me, to learn language, as soon I was able to understand words.

I had a mixed feeling the first time I saw the childish books laying in front of me, sad for I was treated like a baby even though I had lived for a long time. Delighted due to the fact that they were the best materials to tidy up the scrambles of words I learned so far...

‘Well… Today’s book is about…’

I peeked at the book cover as I took the place with the highest light intensity and a heavy feeling starts to hang over my mind.

The cover title was [Princess’s Daily Life] and it was drawn with a beautiful letters with princess sitting down having her tea break with the cup on her mouth.

‘Dad… What do you expect me to be, reading this story?’

It took me a while before I was able to calm myself down and opened the book heavy-heartedly and finished the book.

…

…

Haa~

I dropped the book and then put it away as I released all of the tension I had from the obligation of reading had done for the night.

“So that’s how the royal princess do in their free time huh…” I had picked up the moral of the story of the book and roll down to lay the back of my head to the ground

“It’s quite different from the royalty I know off, they are much more aggressive with extreme hobbies.” I tried to reminisce the people I recognized in the past and tried to compare them before I closed my eyes.

‘That’s enough reading… Now for the other task…’

After taking a few deep breathe, the story seemed to melt from my memory and passed like a fleeting wind, leaving nothing but a void inside my mind.

Indulging in this void for a few seconds was all I need to shift my state of mind,

Opening my eyes and rising from my sleeping posture, my body didn’t seem to coordinate that well; the movement was more sluggish and limited.

It makes you think how difficult life as a baby.

However, it didn’t really take long for me to take the same position when I was releasing the [Icicle] spell.

I put myself on sitting position and then mutter a phrase in my mind.

My eyes changed its color from reddish to blue.

Right now, I could utilize them without any external help

[Spirit Sight]

It was a skill that could sense the flow of mana.

I commanded my body and the mana flow was absorbed into my body like a vacuum, the speed itself was somehow unprecedented and quick.

A feeling of heaviness could be felt as more of the mist absorbed into my body.

After a while, I was unable to hold the heaviness and then I pointed my finger to the burnt tree nearby the house. 5 ice spears had been formed and was launched at pinpoint accuracy. Hitting the bark of the tree mercilessly, before they dissipated into particles of mana.

After the act, there was a certain heaviness lingered due to the usage of magic. I took this time to revise at the practice as I was waiting my body to recover from fatigue.

15 seconds

That was roughly the maximum time I could absorb mana at before it starts to take a toll to my physical body.

People and some creatures in the world were able to wield the pure energy called mana to a certain extent. This pure energy could be transformed and applied into other elements temporarily by absorbing the energy and release them in different form, this application was known as [Magic].

However, due to the incompatibility and capacity of the vessel, utilizing mana will result in exhaustion in soul and physique, this is the general truth.

To overcome this limitation, one way was to engage in [Mana Training]

The act simply was the constant subjecting of oneself with mana, interacting with them and let the soul and body adapt with the violent nature for a longer time.

The direct benefit of the training was divided into two.

- Increased tolerance to mana (Soul), improving mental focus when controlling them.

- Physical Reinforcement (Physique), little bits of mana converted into nourishment for the body. Increasing body resilience as well mana capacity.

After I realized my fatigue had recovered to a certain extent, I resumed my training and absorbed the mana from the surrounding.

…

After the long night of training, my morning would start by the sweet smell of my mother’s cooking. At this point of time, the prison bar that usually prevented me from slipping to the floor was opened, thus freeing me from the trouble of opening manually.

Without fail, I would approach the kitchen table and stood by the open window as ventilation. I could smell the chilling autumn wind mixed with the food scent, the weather themselves was milder than the past weeks as the season was transforming into spring at any moment.

I could sense the glances my mother made from my antics, which was worrying her at first. Remembering the first time she almost screamed when I approached the window was unbearable to see.

I did realize my act was unlike a baby, at all.

However, I stopped caring much about it after I realized I would stay in this damnable prison bed for years if I were to act normal baby and starts to climb the kitchen table for a better view.

Recently, those worrying gaze had turned into a delightful smile, perhaps due to my persistence.

At some point, she would leave the pot behind in the process and quickly approached the bedroom area, which was just 15 meters away from the kitchen.

“Taiyou, wake up”

She gently rustled the body of a young male that was sleeping soundly.

“Uhhh, give me 5 minutes”

“Sleepyhead, didn’t you say you wanted to harvest [Fall Orchid] today?”

…

My father was someone who is not a morning person,

Thus a discussion like this would ensue quite often.

After mother spent a great effort,

He would wake up while yawning most of the times due to sleepiness.

Mother then would prepare the breakfast and we would eat together.

She would spoon-feed me, as I was unable to do delicate control as to use spoon.

The food I could eat was also limited to soggy bread and a jug of milk with the lack of teeth in my mouth.

After we finished our breakfast, they would bring me outside from the backdoor. Father would be the one responsible to carry me while we were outside.

He had a rough body, especially his hand. However, I paid no heed and enjoyed the free ride.

The backyard was very close to the riverside, perhaps only 50 meters apart from the house, this would also be the place where we would clean ourselves. My father would clean me off while he cleaned himself together.

At first, it took me surprised looking at him naked. But, I became immune with it after few days and adapt with the inescapable situation of having to see my father naked every now and then.

Personally, I would prefer a woman to wash my body.

Then my mother would be next in line, where she does it alone.

At this time, my father would prepare his tools that were brought in his backpack and prepared me before my mother finished changing.

After that, we would separate our ways.

As father would usually took the way to the northern mountain while we took the way back to the shop.

After all, my father was the sole chemist in the village and therefore responsible with the general health of the village alongside grandma Ena.

The morning sun usually rose by the time we got back home,

She would open the shop door and starts cleaning the area, where the places would get a lot of dust.

Her house holding skill was really good, as if she was tuned for these tasks.

Customer would come while she was sweeping and request some medicines.

The demand for [Warm Lotion] and [Cold Potion] was at peak at this point of time in preparation for winter.

Mother would be happily served the customer and remembered them all.

There was no problem remembering the people in small villages like Fuku.

Some of them would kindly give food to us for free or in exchange for some other goods.

At this time, I would spend my time lying down in the counter while remembering the faces of the town.

Though this changes at one time as I took an interest of my father’s profession and started to look at the shop catalog and as my mother realized my interest in the book.

She decided to lend me some more to distract my attention while she tend the customers.

Thus, I learnt some basics information regarding chemistry and brewing.

Of course, I would fall into sleep in the middle of reading, as I felt so tired and drowsy.

The shop would close when the sun was setting down,

At this time, I would either be awake or will be awaken by my mother.

Either way, she would clean the shop and put the medicines on display to the storage area.

As much I would like to help, I was only able to make her job difficult at this point so I decided to read more and leave her to her engine.

Soon enough, the stuff had been done and my father would have come at this point of time.

“Hello! Im back!” He would cheerfully said that every single time without fail

“Taiyou! Welcome home” She would always stood in front of the house and bowed to him, without fail.

I would also raise my hand and said some words, although my mouth was unable to articulate sound that well and my sound was gibberish when it’s heard.

Dinner is usually prepared after we took a dip in the river,

While mother is cooking, my father would usually checked on his [Harvest] and started to explain to me his finding.

Then he would process these materials in front of me.

Although language was still difficult to understand, I could grasp a little bit of his words and made meaning out of it.

Conclusions would appear sometimes,

Like in the old world, there was no [Chemist], instead there were [Healer] who is proficient in healing spells and subscribing medicinal herbs.

In this world, [Healer] was a loose term of anyone that has a healing spell, while [Chemist] is the one who manufacture [Potions] and other tools that could save people from disease.

Through looking at this man, I learn the concept of Chemistry and potion brewing and truthfully, the person who is doing it was someone incredible.

Of course, I had no comparison as of yet.

Dinner would be lavish and fulfilling because my father was someone with a huge appetite and he would exhaust himself with the work he had to do.

Chatter would be at its rowdiest during this time.

I enjoyed this type of chatter and thankful for it.

Then, night came.

I would hear another lesson with my father or I would just sat down in the window area and looked at the sky outside.

I had always admired the moon that could be seen at this time, they were brighter than the pale moon I see in my old world.

Then, as the family went to deep sleep.

The routine restarts once again, like an infinite loop

#Optional End