Chapter 13: Chapter 12 - Choice
Everyone seems a lot livelier since Alex joined our household.
Luckily no one was against it.
In fact when Clarissa heard about what Alex had been through. she started tearing up and without hesitation welcomed him into our home. I even noticed Annette struggling more than usual to hide her emotions.
Contrary to my initial impressions, Alex was in fact a girl. Apparently those kidnappers cut her hair so she'd be easier to clean. Plus, kids are pretty androgynous so it's hard to tell sometimes.
At first, Alex wanted to sleep in the same room as me, and though they were hesitant at first, my parents eventually agreed.
That is, until Annette took Alex to show her how to bathe.
When Annette found out Alex was a girl, she immediately told my parents and the three unanimously decided to move her into another room.
I could see how hard my parents were trying to deny her as she pouted, but they remained adamant in their decision. Thankfully she didn't make it too hard on my parents and reluctantly gave in.
So now Alex is sleeping in the room next to mine.
Not that I can tell.
She's always hanging around me, from when I wake up to before I go to sleep.
I think the reason she sticks to me so much is because we're the only children here. It's probably easier for her to get along with someone her age. Apparently in her clan she was quite popular with the other kids too.
She doesn't speak much at all. When the adults are around, she hides behind me and only opens her mouth when they ask her questions. She's probably still suffering from the trauma of her kidnapping, so I do my best to look after her.
When we're alone, which is most of the time, she likes to stare at me. At first when I noticed it I thought she wanted to ask me something, but whenever I tried asking her what was wrong, she just covered her face and shook her head.
Am I that scary?
Even when I tried asking in a gentler tone, I still got the same response.
I didn't want to frighten her, so now when I notice it I just pretend not to. If it can help her get over some of her fears, I'm more than happy to oblige.
A week after Alex had first moved in, she took the initiative to ask me something.
She wanted to join me in my training sessions.
When I asked why, she said that she wanted to become stronger. Since I had no reason to refuse, and I felt that she would be too scared to ask herself, I asked Abraham on her behalf. But upon hearing my request he made a complicated face.
Apparently the tribe she comes from has their own set of training methods, and they might find it disrespectful if she learnt from someone else.
When I told her, she looked devastated.
Even though she begged me to ask my father again, I knew him well enough. When it came to matters like these, it was impossible to change his mind.
Perhaps I was too soft, or maybe it was because she reminded me of myself in my past life, but I really didn't want to let this pitiful child who was all alone feel sad. So I told her that even though I couldn't teach her about magic or swordsmanship, I could try and teach her about cultivating.
At first she was ecstatic. It was the happiest I'd seen her since she arrived. But as she digested the meaning behind my words, her expression gradually turned to shock.
She couldn't believe that I was a warrior at the age of three.
Wait till she hears that I actually started when I was only six months old. Not that I'd actually tell her of course.
Even when I showed her my warrior abilities, she could hardly believe it.
Is this what an appropriate reaction looks like? Clarissa and Abraham could learn a thing or two from her.
I know they're both doting parents, but still, there should be a limit to some things no?
Anyway, after that Alex started staring at me even more intensely, only this time with more admiration in her eyes. To be honest, it sort of feels like I have a pet cat now.
It was after my last lesson of the day with Clarissa. Spurred on by Alex's arrival, I wanted to learn more about the children of other races. According to her, it was only creatures like Humans or Beastmen who didn't have mana organs that could reproduce quickly.
Faeries and high-ranking demons couldn't do so as freely.
The reason why is because when a baby is born with a mana organ, one of the side effects of its ability to passively absorb mana is that it absorbs mana from the mother. Even though this benefits the babies, letting them be born at tiers going up to 5, it causes a huge strain on the mother.
The mana lost from the mother has to be recultivated, essentially causing them to lose hundreds of years of lifespan and cultivation, and a lot of the mana lost from the mother is lost as waste. Thus having a baby for them is a monumental decision.
Reflecting on what I'd just learnt, I headed behind the house into the garden where we first met and try to help Alex sense the mana within her, though since it was my first time doing this sort of thing, progress was slow.
Alex didn't know how to cultivate, nor could she sense mana, however she told me that in her clan they were able to activate their warrior potential early with the help of a high tier warrior.
Unfortunately I wasn't a high tier at all. Even after cultivating since I was six months old, I was still a tier 0 novice. At first I thought my rate of advancement was far too slow, but after getting my mana capacity measured, it all made sense.
Although my mother and father were tier 5 and 6 respectively, I don't think they'd agree to help Alex become a warrior after not allowing her to learn from them in the first place, and since I had already given Alex my word, I was left with no choice but to do my best to find a way.
Since using warrior methods wouldn't work, maybe I could do something as a mage.
The first few days were spent experimenting. I had practically no time at all to practice my magic control, instead spending all of it on trying to figure something out. Still, after five days of constant research there were still no results. No matter how hard we tried, Alex still couldn't find her mana sea.
Today I will be trying out my last ditch effort attempt.
I head out from the front door and walk towards the garden.
Sigh.
'I really didn't want it to come to this, but unfortunately I'm out of options.'
After almost a week, this was the best idea I could think of. In fact, I'd had this idea earlier, but I didn't want to be forced to use it so soon. I was just hoping for something else to work.
Turning the corner, I see Alex sitting there looking in my direction. It seems she's been waiting for me.
I sit down next to her and take a deep breath.
Just as I'm about to speak, she cuts me off and looks deeply into my eyes.
"Umm! Cain. It's... It's okay. You don't have to waste more time on me. I know I'll never be as talented as you are... And that's fine! But, I don't want to stop you from training."
I can't help but smile at those words. What a cute child.
I was hesitant before, but now I think that even if it turns out badly, I'll take responsibility for it.
"Don't worry. There's still one more thing left to try."
I take another deep breath.
"Just repeat after me and say this word. 'LIGHT'."
She does her best to imitate me, and after a couple of tries it works. A small glowing orb appears in front of her, lighting up her face which was showing an expression of shock and wonder.
Then, she faints.
'Looks like she couldn't control her mana output and ended up using it all. Reminds me of when I first discovered mana.'
My plan was to see if she could cast magic, and hopefully once it succeeded she would remember the feeling of mana flowing through her. Though it would reveal one of my greatest secrets, she had already seen me casting before, and till now she hadn't revealed anything.
Otherwise I would never have chosen this option even if all else failed.
As I look at her defenceless sleeping posture, I can't help but wonder.
'I hope you don't make me regret my decision.'
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