章節 35: Young Child – Keep it Cool
It was the dead of winter. The clear blue sky was nowhere to be seen and the sun was hidden behind a veil of gray clouds. The wind howled, carrying with it a flurry of snow as well as reducing visibility.
And in this terrible weather... I was on the run.
An unexpected result. It had been fine in the other seasons, but the moment that snowfall came down, a monster was born.
A flash of white from the corner of my eye.
I tumbled to the right, narrowly avoiding the monster's attack.
An explosion erupted in front of me, white powder exploding in every direction and obscuring my vision.
But I didn't stop moving. While I couldn't see, the monster could.
And I felt it.
Faint ripples in mana. A tiny breeze from my left. Barely visible bubbles that were the same size as the snowflakes falling from the sky-
Wait.
My eyes widened and I flung out my left hand, quickly forming magic barriers.
Loud cracks echoed. Rapid-fire attacks from the monster, pelting hundreds of icy barrages at me in the span of a few seconds.
This wouldn't work. At this rate-
"Got you!" A cute girl's voice echoed from behind me.
I jumped and quickly cast a wind spell to launch me away. But the moment I tried to gather the mana to do that, a gust of frosty wind pushed me backwards and into the monster's arms.
Sylphy giggled and then pulled me in for a hug. After that, she stepped back and smiled. "That was fun, Rudy! I had to think real hard on how to catch you!"
I laughed. "Yeah. I had to think real hard on how to run away too. Good job!" After saying that, I ruffled Sylphy's hair.
"Heehee..." She smiled and then leaned into my hand, shifting beneath it.
Since some time had passed, Sylphy's short green hair had grown out a bit. Instead of being a tomboyish haircut like the past where she could be mistaken for a pretty boy, it was shoulder length, making her an unmistakably cute young girl.
Which also made me wonder why she was hanging around a boring guy like me all the time. But since she hung around and happily played along with my makeshift mana training, I wasn't about to complain.
I drew out the snow and water from the scarf that Mama Lily knitted for me. After that, I looked at Sylphy and said, "Are you cold?"
"Hm?" Sylphy blinked and said, "No? I feel fine, Rudy. Are you?"
"...No. I'm good."
...Or so I said. But of course I was cold!
I was wearing my scarf, a full fur coat, and thick trousers along with boots. But even then, I had just been running around in the freezing wind trying to dodge an endless barrage of ice attacks from a monster of a magician who was practically invincible in the winter! Who the heck wouldn't be cold after all of that?
Seriously!
I knew that Sylphy was good at wind and water magic. And she definitely had a natural affinity for wind and water mana too. But I absolutely did not even think about the fact that she could just casually use literally ALL THE SNOW IN SIGHT to attack me.
Even I couldn't do that! Me! The guy with enough mana that I was about 90% sure I was a walking nuclear bomb!
Was she part ice elf or something? Or the reincarnation of El*a from Fro*en?
Like, what the hell?
Sylphy was only wearing a thin white blouse, a pair of trousers, and boots. No coat, no hat... nothing.
But she was fine. Completely fine.
And she wasn't lying about not being cold. Nope. I could actually see that.
It wasn't that she was radiating a bunch of heat or warming herself up. It was just that the cold refused to touch her.
Like *HOW*?!
Was it because her mana was blue and green? Was she innately attuned to wind and water, and in combination ice and snow? Did she become attuned to it because those were her favorite magic branches and she kept using that sort of mana?
Argh! Why did mana have to keep *NOT MAKING SENSE!?*
It was like some asshole kept changing up the rules the moment I got close to figuring something out just to throw me off.
"Rudy?" Sylphy leaned in close and stared into my eyes. "Are you alright?"
I blinked and then sighed. "I'm fine, Sylphy." I smiled and patted her head. "Thanks for worrying."
Sylphy looked a bit disappointed. But then she smiled and said, "As long as you're fine. But, um..." She looked around and said, "Should we clean this up?"
I followed her gaze.
It was a mess. No, it was a warzone.
Because Sylphy kept sending all the snow after me, there were swathes of land where it was just the yellow and frozen grass without a speck of white. And then there were others where there were giant hills of snow tall enough to bury like a dozen bodies.
Then there were also a bunch of craters and dirt piles where I tried to make some bunkers that Sylphy couldn't just rip apart with her absolute control over snow...
"...It's fine." I shook my head and said, "My parents will probably get a kick out of seeing it anyway."
Sylphy giggled and said, "That's true. Your dad will definitely make fun of you when he gets back from patrolling. Though..." She frowned and said, "Won't your mom be mad? She likes things neat and tidy, doesn't she?"
"..."
"Rudy?"
"...It's fine. If it's really a problem, I'll fix it up later."
"Mm... If you say so." Sylphy grabbed my right hand with her left and then started swinging it back and forth. "So what now?" She looked around and said, "Should we head back home? We went out pretty far to play today. And I think it's getting late?"
"I-"
A faint breeze from behind. Not just that, but killing intent as well.
My eyes widened and I pulled Sylphy close before leaping back, kicking off the ground with a gust of wind.
"R-Rudy!?" Sylphy clung tight to me as we flew through the air. "What's going on?"
I touched down and then quickly formed a blade in my right hand from the snow around me, packing it tight. After that, I made sure to reinforce it with my mana, causing the blade to vibrate and turn red like a certain infamous sci-fi weapon.
Of course, it wasn't that dangerous or effective of a weapon, but it wouldn't break at least.
After arming myself, I said, "Nothing serious. Seems like someone got imp-"
A flicker of brown rushing towards my skull.
I clicked my tongue and then swung my blade to intercept it.
A *swoosh* echoed as my sword cut through the air. And then a loud clatter echoed as the projectile landed on the ground beside me.
A wooden sword. A familiar one too.
"Eh?" Sylphy stared at the sword and blinked. "Um... Isn't that your practice sword, Rudy?"
"Yep." I nodded and scanned the surroundings, holding my sword up in front of me to guard against sudden attacks.
There was low visibility. Because of the snow, I couldn't see anything-
No. I could see something. A silver blur, flickering amidst the flurry.
It flashed, suddenly shooting towards me.
Sylphy gasped and said, "Rudy! Watch out!"
A brown blur shooting towards my head. Sword God style, a blinding slash to take me out.
But I wasn't fooled.
Instead of blocking it, I leaned back to avoid it and swung my sword to the side.
"Oho~?" An annoyingly familiar voice and figure. But before I could think any further on that, I got face full of snow.
"Gah!" I quickly got rid of it by using mana, but the moment I did a fist was flying towards my face.
I tumbled back, using my left arm to do a back handspring. At the same time, I swung my sword up at the fist.
But I didn't feel any resistance. There was a faint brush as my sword touched my attacker's sleeve, but that was gone in an instant.
And then right after that, the same annoyingly familiar voice called out. "Nice, nice! Getting better reflexes, Rudy!"
I landed on my feet and pointed my sword at my attacker.
My dad laughed, shaking snow off his left hand.
"Eh?" Sylphy walked over to me and then said, "Mister Paul? Why are you here?"
"Well." My dad brushed his left hand off against his brown fur coat and said, "You two were out for a while and Rudy here is officially late for his sword lessons." He shrugged and said, "Since you seemed to be having fun, I thought I'd join in."
I sighed and then lowered my sword. "You couldn't have just said hello like a normal person? What kind of dad rushes at his six year old kid with killing intent like that?"
My dad hung the wooden sword he was using at his side. After that, he walked over to mine, still laying in the snow.
And then promptly chucked it at my face.
I tilted my head to the side to avoid getting hit and then grabbed it by the hilt with my left hand as it flew past. "Seriously? I thought you hated North God style, but you seem to be using it more and more often these days, Dad. Didn't you say it was just a way to fight with a sword and not sword fighting?"
He laughed and said, "Well, when my smart son is scary enough to take obsessive notes on every single swing I make in our little spars, I have to change things up a bit somehow, right?"
I clicked my tongue and then crossed my arms. "Mama Lily showed you my notebook, didn't she?"
I knew I shouldn't have left that lying out in my room...
My dad laughed and said, "Don't worry. I didn't read through your diary that much. Just the parts about your secret techniques combining the different styles." He grinned and said, "You don't mind if I take some notes, right?"
I sighed.
...Well. Back to the drawing board.
...And back to trying to desperately dodge my dad's attacks for the next few week while I figured out whatever new BS he came up with.
Like that impossible simultaneous triple slash thing he did last time.
Dammit. I still hadn't figured that out yet, and now I had to prep for some other crazy attacks.
What, was he going to suddenly figure out how to stab at my foot and then suddenly shift to stabbing at my heart within a split second or something?
...Actually, scratch that. Knowing him, he'd probably figure a way how to make that work...
Sylphy frowned and said, "That's rude, Mister Paul. Even if you're Rudy's dad, you shouldn't be looking through his belongings like that."
"Fine, fine." My dad waved his hand and said, "Since a pretty girl like Sylphy asked me to, I'll stop."
I rolled my eyes and dissolved my snow sword. After that, I made a makeshift holster for my wooden sword and hung it on my waist. "Even now you're only doing things because pretty girls tell you too, huh, Dad?"
My dad shrugged and said, "What can I say? Your mom and Lily trained me well." He crouched on all fours and said, "Now I'm just a good little doggy. Arf."
Sylphy giggled.
I sighed and said, "You have no shame."
"And I'm proud of it!"
"That doesn't- Never mind." I sighed and then waved my hand, wrapping myself in a thread of fire mana.
That helped get rid of the cold. Unlike Sylphy who I was now 100% sure was just built different from the rest of us and my dad who was used to extreme weather conditions from his time adventuring, I was still just an ordinary kid.
...Well, I was pretty shredded for a kid considering all the <Healing> that I abused growing up, but still, just an ordinary kid. And one who didn't have the luxury of fat to keep me insulated because I was so shredded.
Fire mana it was.
My dad stood up and brushed off his hands. After that, he said, "Anyway... You kids actually have been out for a while though. Zenith and Lily made some warm stew and bread for lunch, so how about we head back to eat? Or are you two too cool to hang out with this old man now?"
I groaned. "Really, Dad?"
Sylphy nodded and said, "That's fine, Mister Paul! U-Um... I think it would be pretty n-ice."
Paul snapped his fingers and pointed at Sylphy. "I see what you did there! Hi-five!" He walked over and held out his hand.
Sylphy giggled and then hi-fived him.
"...I'm leaving."
"A-Ah! Wait for me, Rudy!" Sylphy ran to my right side and grabbed my hand.
My dad laughed and then walked over to my left side. As he did, he plopped his hand on my head and said, "You shouldn't be in so much of a rush, Kiddo! Snow way you're ever going to look cool in front of girls when you're plowing ahead like that."
"Don't make me drench you in water."
"Rudy!" Sylphy tugged my hand and said, "That's dangerous!"
"Dad's been through worse."
"Still!"
I sighed. "Fine. I won't."
"Oho? Whipped al- Ga-hah!?"
"...I'll just chuck a snowball at him instead."
Sylphy shook her head in disapproval... or what seemed like disapproval. But she wasn't hiding that smile from me.
My dad rubbed the snow off his face and sighed. "Rudy's growing up so fast, already treating his dad like chopped liver to impress a girl..."
"You're just going to get worse as I grow up, aren't you?"
My dad laughed and then rustled my hair. "Dad's just trying to get you to loosen up, Rudy. You know that, right?"
I sighed. "I know, I know. Love you too, Dad."
My dad suddenly stumbled and face planted into the snow.
Sylphy gasped and said, "Mister Paul! Are you alright? Here!" She pulled out her wand and waved it, sending my dad back on his feet and removing all the snow.
"T-Thanks, Sylphy." My dad shook his head and then turned towards me.
"What?"
"Oh come here you little bastard!"
"H-Hey! Stop that!"
My dad pulled me into a headlock and said, "Guys don't say that to other guys, alright? Especially so casually! It's weird! Weird, I tell you!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh!" I squirmed out from his grasp and straightened out my clothes. "Fine. I'll just tell Mom and Mama Lily how much I love them instead. Jerk."
"Ah, wait. I take it back."
"Too late, Dad." I stuck out my tongue at him and then ran off.
"You little bastard! Get back here!"
"I'm telling Mom~!"
"Don't you dare!"
I laughed and then kicked off the ground, blasting myself into the air with a gust of wind.
"RUDY!"
Sylphy's giggles echoed from beneath me.
I smiled and then decided to head back home first.
That was fun... but seriously. It wasn't good for me to be out in the cold for this long.
So, with a few more gusts of wind... and carefully placed barrier magic spells to make sure I didn't turn into a red paste if I made a mistake, I landed back at the gate to our house.
Walking to the front door, I pushed it open and said, "Mom! Mama Lily! I'm back!"
Silence.
I blinked.
That was weird... They always answered me when I got back.
I pulled off my scarf and then walked over to the kitchen. Dad said they were cooking, so they should be there, right? "Mom- Hm?"
My mom was standing there, her hands clasped over her mouth while tears streamed down her face.
Mama Lily was knelt down on the ground, leaning against Mom's stomach and listening to something with a serious expression.
Seeing that, I felt a pit form in my stomach. I tossed off my coat and then walked over, looking between the two. "W-What's wrong? Is Mom sick? Something wrong with her stomach? What's wrong? Can I help?"
My mom looked at me and then shook her head. "N-No. Mommy's fine, Rudy. I-It's just..."
"It's just what? You're not dying are you? Please tell me you're not dying!" I looked at Mama Lily and said, "Mom's not dying, right? Right?"
Mama Lily stood up and smiled. "Everything is fine, Rudy."
"Then why were you so serious?! Don't lie to me! I'll know if you lie!"
My mom laughed and then walked over to me, pulling me into a hug. "Calm down, Rudy. Mommy's fine."
A warm and relaxed hug.
Feeling that, the pit in my stomach started to fade. But still...
"...Then why were you crying?"
My mom patted my back and said, "That's because Mommy's really happy. You see... Rudy's going to be a big brother now."
Eh?
...Eh?
...EH?!?!?!
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