The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) (17 page)

My father wraps his arm around the man’s
shoulder.

“Arthur, this is Vincent, my old friend and the
person I work for.  This is his house so introduce yourself before we
start wrecking it.” He grins broadly.

Bowing to a ninety-degree angle, I introduce
myself.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.  My name is Arthur Leywin.
 I’m not sure what my family has told you about me, but I was in contact
with them for a while back.  I was also the one that told them to not tell
anyone until I got back, so I apologize for the confusion.  Thank you for
taking care of my family all of this time.”  This man was the one that
housed my family in their toughest time.  As far as I was concerned, I
owed him and his family dearly.

“Y-yeah, It’s really no problem.  I’m glad
that you’re alive and back.”  He just scratched his head, still confused.
 “Meet my wife Tabitha and my daughter Lilia.” He continues, pushing them
forward so they were in front of him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am, Lilia” I
bow again at them.  Sylvie introduces herself too with a “Kyu!”

Tabitha bows slightly with a warm smile,
saying, “Great to have you in the house Arthur.  Say hi Lilia! Arthur is
your age so don’t be shy.”

The girl named Lilia speaks up now, pointing at
the creature on my head. “W-what’s that! It’s so cute.”

“This is an infant mana beast that I’m
contracted with.  Her name is Sylvie.  Sylvie, get down and say hi.”

Sylvie jumps down and mews at Lilia.

“Oh my gosh!” Lilia squeals.

“Rey, what did you mean by wrecking my house?”
Vincent asks curiously while my father’s arm was still around his shoulders.

“We were just on our way to the backyard.
 Arthur and I are going to have a little spar.  Want to come?” He
chuckles.

Vincent sputters incredulously,  “W-what?
Are you serious?  Your son can’t be older than eight.  What are you
going to spar with him for?”

“HAHA! Don’t let my son’s appearance fool you!
He’s already a dark orange stage Augmenter!” My father harrumphs proudly.

Vincent just shakes his head. “Don’t be
ridiculous Rey.  Your 8-year-old son is already in the orange stage?
 Even the snobby genius brats that get admitted into Xyrus academy are
barely at the dark red stage, and they’re usually 11-12!”

My father just laughs louder and leads us all
to the backyard.

“Ready when you are Dad!” I smile, setting
Sylvie off to the side, next to the audience, which were the Helstea family and
my mother and sister.

“Be careful Art! Your old man got better since
the last time!”  He pounds his two fists together, smiling.

Vince was still shaking his head in disbelief.

“GO!” My father announces, getting in an
offensive stance.

Let’s see how much my training with Grandpa
Virion paid off.

I explode a burst of mana from my feet as I
dash towards him.

“What in the…” I faintly hear from Vincent
along with several gasps.

“HAHA!” My father wills mana into his body and
narrows his eyes.

After attributing my mana into my bones and
muscles, my body may look like a normal fit 8-year-old child’s but my strength
and agility was several times greater.

My right kick is met with my father’s left arm as
he guards his head.

Shaping his right hand into a chop, he swings
it towards my body.

Using the force from the kick, I change
direction and twist my body midair to dodge the chop and I land next to his
feet.

I feint a punch to his side so he curls up in
defense, but I pivot at an incredible speed thanks to my enhanced body and
throw a spinning back elbow using the momentum.

At that moment, my father brings up his right
leg and my elbow clashes with his knee.

I dashed back to get out of range.

“Good good! Your old man’s going to get serious
now! Be careful.” He smiles.

The thing about mana in the earlier stages is
that it’s very different depending on how Augmenters and Conjurers use it.

While both types of mages can be tested using a
special device to see what element that they’re adept at, a Conjurer’s
attribute is very noticeable depending on what type of elements they have an
easier time casting.

For Augmenters, it is a lot less obvious
because most of their attacks are focused on using mana to enhance their
bodies.  That’s only the basics though.

While it differs per person, after a certain
threshold, the mana core becomes pure enough to actually pertain to the user’s
attribute.  For Conjurers, this means that they’re able to slowly get away
from the training wheels of chanting, and start shortening their verses in the
element that they’re adept at.

For Augmenters, it is a lot more noticeable
because at this stage, their mana can now manifest into their element
attribute.

For example, before breaking through, a fire
attribute Augmenters attacks just had a more powerful burst that seemed like it
exploded, while wind attribute made their attacks faster and sharper.

However, after the orange stage, an Augmenter’s
element attribute actually influences their attacks physically.  Earth
Augmenters can learn to produce a gauntlet of earth and can even learn to
create small seismic shocks by stomping their foot, while Wind Augmenters can
be taught to release small blades of wind and create a vacuum effect in their
punches, and so on.  All of these are essentially techniques in
controlling the type of mana that you channel.

Of course, Conjurers still had the major
advantage of being able to influence a lot more of their surroundings.
 Their range was also a lot farther, but their weakness is still the
vulnerability that they have in the process of chanting as well as their bodies
that aren’t protected by mana.

Because of these differences, both types of
mages that can break the threshold are much stronger than mages that can’t, and
ultimately determines the talent and future accomplishments they can achieve.

While Conjurers can innately control elements
because of how proficient they are at absorbing nature’s mana with their mana
veins, Augmenters are different.

For every one attribute Augmenters there are,
there are ten that aren’t.  There are cases of attribute Augmenters that
never break the threshold and become fully-fledged Elemental attribute
Augmenters but usually they still have better talent than those who don’t have
any attributes.

I learned early on that my father was a fire
attribute mage, but after reaching a bottleneck for years while being busy as a
father, he finally reached the orange stage and also his own threshold, dubbing
him now as an official Elemental Augmenter, or Elemental for short.

His two fists start glowing and are ignited
into a glowing red flame.  His whole body is steaming a little as the fire
attribute mana is flowing throughout his body.

I grin and turn serious as well.

“Try not to be too surprised Dad!”

In the world I came from, Elemental Augmenters
were just practitioners of different Sects.   The Earth, Fire, Water, and
Wind Sects consisted of their own techniques that utilized their element.

What allowed me to become King in my old world
was by knowing how to fight in all 4 different practices of the elements.
 Translate that here and I’d be a sort of Quadra Elemental, if that even
existed.  Of course I did have my preferences.  My weakest was Earth
and Wind and my strongest was Fire and Water.  I hardly used Earth and
Wind except for slight support.  No.  I was feared in battle because
of my mastery in the two complete opposite elements of Water and Fire.

While I was training with Gramps, I tested out
a bunch of different theories.  One thing I learned very quickly was that
I had absolutely no talent for conjuring.  Grandpa brought over an elf
Conjurer one day when I asked him to get someone to teach me the basics and I ended
up nearly killing myself.  Augmenting and Conjuring are very different.
 I just regret that I had to learn that the hard way.  Another thing
I tested out was my ability as a potential deviant.  Grandpa Virion and
Tess were both already nearly shocked to death when they found out I could
manipulate all 4 elements but after the four months of trying to see if I can
control any of the higher elements, I got mixed results.

___________________________________________

“Try not to be too surprised Dad!”

*Crackle* *ZiiiiZiiiii*

My hair stood on its end by the electric
current coursing through me.  There were crackles of yellow lightning
popping around me as I prepared to attack.

“What the…” My father almost stopped his attack
from his concentration wavering.
 
Before
giving him the chance to recover, I dash towards him, leaving a trail of
charred grass and earth behind me.  I flash behind him and concentrate the
lightning into the blade of my hand and I chop at his sides.

*BOOM!! *

My father managed to block my attack with his
burning fist but the recoil made him crash into a nearby tree.

*Whew* I will the lightning current to settle
down but my hair still looks a little crazy from the static.  During the 4
months of training after the affirmation stage, I was able to start controlling
Lightning and Ice.  Of course, I’m still a beginner at both though.
 I can probably keep up my Lightning form for about a minute or two, which
was why I wanted to end it quick.  For Ice, it’s even harder for me.

The reason why only very few mages are able to
transcend the basic element that they’re adept at and into its higher form is
that the higher form is completely different and incomparably more difficult.
 Of course, me being able to learn both Lightning and Ice within 4 months
probably doesn’t back up this point, but trust me, I’m a complete beginner in
these higher forms of elements.
 
My
old world experiences didn’t prepare me in becoming a deviant after all.

As for Sound and Gravity, I’ve yet to produce
any favorable results. In order to even take the first step, a mage needs to
understand the link between the basic elements into its higher form.
 After that, your body needs to be able to naturally understand this link
and harmonize the structure of the mana from the basic element to its higher
form.  For Wind and Earth, even if I somehow become able to feel the link
between the basic to its higher form, my body wouldn’t be able to change the
structure.

My theory held true in that I wasn’t compatible
to Wind and Earth both in my old world and here.

The energy from my body is drained and I
collapse on my behind, sweating profusely.  I notice the dead silence so I
look around.

My father is already up and his face is in
utter disbelief.  The only one that seems fascinated is my sister, but
that’s only because she doesn’t really get what’s going on.  She was
probably used to seeing Father fight so nothing outside of that really
registered.  Vincent and Tabitha’s faces are all in sync, faces pale, jaws
slack, eyes wide.  My mother has her hands covering her mouth in surprise
while even Lilia knew that what I did isn’t normal.

This reaction was within my expectations.

“Haha… Surprise!” I throw up my arms, laughing
weakly.

“Kuu~!” Sylvie scampers towards me and gives me
a concerned gaze, as if asking, ‘are you okay Papa?’

Vincent is the first to speak up.

“D-deviant!” He spews.

“My god…” Tabitha just sighs in astonishment.

“Art, Holy cr… when did you learn to do that?”
My father shakes his head while making his way towards me.

“Not too long ago Dad.  I can barely
control it though.”  I say sheepishly.

We made our way back into the living room and
we were all situated around the dining table.

“Rey, y-your son.  Do you realize the kind
of future he has?  He’s only 8 but he’s already stronger than a veteran B
rank Adventurer.” Vincent says, hardly able to contain his excitement.

My father scratched his head, “This is crazy.
 I thought that him awakening at the age of three was already terrifying
but to think he was deviant as well.”

“What?  He awakened at the age of three
?!
”  Tabitha cried while standing up.

My mother just nods at this, saying, “Arthur
managed to blow up most of our house in the process.”

Both my father and Vincent lean back, sinking
in their chair, just sighing.

“Papa? Are yoo okay?” Eleanor pokes her father
in the cheek.

Laughing, Father picks her up off of Mother’s
lap, “Haha yeah I’m okay princess.”

Vincent gets up from his chair now and looks
seriously at us, but arms stretched out on the table.

“Rey, how about enrolling your son in Xyrus
Academy?”

“What? You can’t be serious right Vince?
 He’s only eight!” My father sits up now.

Tabitha chimes in now, “Rey, Alice, I think
your child is more than capable of exceeding at Xyrus.”

“I thought that only noble geniuses were
allowed to attend Xyrus Academy?” Alice responds with concern etched into her
face.

Excitedly, Vincent chimes in, “I can handle
that! I do a lot of business with the Director of Xyrus Academy so he’ll be
lenient in the enrollment process.”

“B-but the school fees are much too extravagant
for us to handle.” Rebuts Mother, still not certain about this.

“Alice.  That should be the least of your
worries.  We will be glad to pay for the fees.  Arthur’s talent is
immeasurable.  Who knows what he can accomplish.
 
Even if we don’t pay, I’m sure he’ll be
able to find nobles who’d beg to sponsor him.” Tabitha grabs Alice’s hands in
comfort.

“Ahem! Do you mind if I have a say in this?”
People seem to forget that the person that they’re talking about is right here
with them.

“I have just arrived back home today.  Can
I spend a bit of time with my family before I decide whether to go to school or
not?” I fix my gaze on Vincent.

“O-of course.  I apologize.  Haha. I
guess I was too excited there for a moment.”

He just laughs weakly before sitting back down.

“Thank you.” I give the Helstea family a smile.

I turn my head to face my mother. “Mom, where
do I sleep?”

“Oh yes! I almost forgot! You’ll have your room
next to Eleanor’s in the left wing.  Come on, let’s all go up now, it’s
getting late.”

Sylvie was already sleeping on my head and my
baby sister was nodding in and out of dream world while we were discussing my
future.

Today was a long day.

Mother and Father lead me to the room I’ll be
living in from today onwards.  It was a lot larger than my room in Ashber
but still minimally decorated.  This sat fine with me.  I needed some
space to train anyway.

As I settled Sylvie down on the bed, Mother and
Father sat down next to me.

“We’ll go shopping together tomorrow.  We
need to get you some clothes.” My mother pets my head.

My father squats down in front of me and grabs
my arm.  “Arthur, whether you’re a genius or not, you’re still my son and
I’ll be proud of you and love you regardless of circumstances.”  His face
was serious.

I quietly nod.  I think telling them that
about the extent of my abilities can be put off until next time.

Before he gets up, he pats me cheek and gives
me an evil smile.  “Besides, you only caught me by surprise with your
lightning magic today.  Don’t think you’ll be able to win so easily next
time!”

My mother just chortles at this, “I swear.
 All you guys think about is fighting.”

She looks at me with a comforting smile in her
eyes, “Your father is right though.  No matter what kind of genius you
are, you’ll still be my baby boy.”

“Haha.  Can’t I be your adolescent boy
now? I’m eight and a half now Mom!” I just grin at her.

“Nope! You can’t!” She just retorts before the
both of them leave my room.

“Get some rest now.  Let’s go shopping
with your sister tomorrow.  It’ll be a great chance for you guys to bond.”
 My mother says before closing the door to my room.

I don’t even have the energy to wash up.
 I just plop into bed, bouncing the slumbering Sylvie, who whines at me
before nodding off to sleep.

Today was a long day.  It was a good, long
day.

With a smile plastered on my face, I follow
Sylvie into dreamland.

______________________________________

I woke up from my baby dragon licking my face.

“Haha I’m up Sylv, I’m up!”

“Kyu~!” She was hopping up and down on top of
me, a feeling of excitement radiating from her.

I thought of Tess.  I never thought I
would miss being woken up by her Spartan methods.  I wonder how she’s
doing?

Tess has become my closest friend growing up,
and while she has turned a bit fierce, she was still the same kindhearted Tess
that worried about me and took care of me while I was in Elenoir.

I took a quick shower, dragging the smelly
dragon with me.  She cried in distress at the warm water drenching her but
I didn’t relent and soon after, we were both sparkling clean.

“…
kyu
” Sylvie moaned,
laying down on my bed,  exhausted from struggling.

“Don’t complain! Both of us were filthy and we
didn’t wash yesterday either.”

*Knock* *Knock*

“Coming!” I say, while my shirt was still over
my head.

Opening the door, I look down to spot a shy
Eleanor, looking down, with her foot rubbing something on the ground.

“Well hello there, Ellie.” I squat down so I’m
eye level with her, giving her a smile.