It's been a little over 4 years now. After the birth of my little sister. She was stuck to me. She'd never leave my side. As a newborn and now when she cries she always calms down when i'm around or i comfort her. I don't know why. Maybe in the future, once she's older, she can tell me.

I was in the front yard training. Mia was close by looking at me.

I've been doing good on increasing my magic power. I have a lot more mana than before. i can go for hours launching basic spells.

I sat down on the grass to take a break. As i listened to the sounds of nature around me. I heard a 'whoosh' sound, and heave breathing. I got curious and went to check it out. Mia followed behind me. When i got there i found out that It was Leon swinging a sword.

'what? A sword? I didn't know he was a swordsman.'

Now that i think about it he did mention once before about teaching me the sword. Before labeling me a failure.

Mother was sitting down looking at him. I walked a bit closer, and couldn't take my eyes off him. The way he swung the sword, and got into different stances. It was such an elegant performance. Then with impossible speed he dashed forward and sliced a boulder in half. I was left speechless. there where many other boulders sliced in different ways too.

'where'd he get so many?'

He then relaxed. Mother went up to him and handed him a towel and a glass of water. He gulped the water down fast, and as he was wiping the sweat off his face. I spoke up.

"uh umm . . . Father. Can you teach me how to use a sword." My voice coming out weaker than i had intended to. I was nervous, and my legs were shaking. I didn't know how they would react. Mia, hearing my shaky voice, came from behind and held my hand to comfort me.

They both looked at me with a blank expression. Leon dropped the cup and towel, he didn't seem to notice though. And they stayed quiet for a moment. Until i broke the silence again.

"Or not." i said calmer this time. then turned away to leave. Pulling Mia along with me.

"w-wait." Leon said in a puzzling tone.

I turned at his call. "hmm." i hummed a response.

"H-how can y-you hear and talk?" He asked stuttering, with a pale face and wide eyes.

Mother was at a loss for words.

"I've always been able to." I said.

"But the doctor said that you couldn't hear anything?" He said, still struggling to believe what was happening.

"I was ignoring to the doctor back then." I said.

"why didn't you speak before the doctors visit? And why have you always looked so miserable? And that day why did you glare at me? Have you been willingly ignoring us all this time?" He asked these questions still stunned, with a hint of annoyance too.

"I . . . didn't mean to stay silent. It just Turned out this way. I wanted to speak up, but the more time passed the more difficult it was." I bowed down " Im sorry for ignoring you all this time"

Leon didn't know what to say. Mother was crying but she didn't look sad, in fact, she was smiling.

"It's okay Arata. You might have your reasons, but i'm just happy that you're normal."she said with happy tears, and gave me a hug.

She's probably happy that i won't be left behind wherever they're going later on.

"Leon. Please don't question Arata any longer. Let's just give home some space until he's comfortable to tell us what happened." Mother said.

"hmm. . . Fine." he said hesitantly. "It will take time to get used to, for sure." He paused. "so you want me to teach you the sword. huh. . . Why?"

"Because i've been stuck. I learned to manipulate mana two years ago. I've been training my magic ever since then. But i can only manipulate mana externally."

"Now i want to learn how to manipulate it internally, But i've been unsuccessful at it."

"I read on book from your study that since swordsman fight in close combat, by controlling their mana internally, they gain greater strength and speed."

"But if a beginner hopes to accomplish this. They need to learn to manipulate it subconsciously by being in constant battle. And the more they do this they'll eventually be able to control it at will."

Both mother and Leon looked at me with a blank expression again.

"How old are you again." Leon asked genuinely.

"i don't know" i said calmly. "And that doesn't matter right now. does it?"

"So you expect me to believe that you." He paused and looked at mother. "How old is he?" he asked.

"four." Mother said in frustration. because neither of us knew my age.

well i did know my age but i didn't want to waste my time by answering pointless questions.

Leon continued "You expect me to believe that a four year old learned to manipulate mana."

I then compressed fire magic at the tip of my finger and launched it at him. fire bullet.

But as expected he dodged it. Mother let out a gasp in surprise.

"do you believe me now." i said

He looked at me for a moment, probably thinking something through "All right, i'll teach you. But it won't be easy. so prepare yourself. I expect an explanation later." He paused "Wait here a moment."He said. Then started walking away.

He came back with a wooden sword.

"take this." He tossed me the sword. "swing it up and down 100 times. Put your left leg forward, with your foot straight and your right leg back. Once you're done i'll teach you the stances"

I didn't question him and did as he told me. I took a swing.

"don't tilt the sword, keep it straight. here." he came and adjusted the sword in my hands.

After i finished the 100 swings, he was teaching me some stances. And after that.

"Okay, now charge at me." he said.

I did as he told me and swung the wooden sword at him. he blocked it and i fell over.

"Don't swing the sword thoughtlessly. You want to swing it about half way and let the momentum do the work. Then keep yourself balanced so you don't fall over. Again." he said.

I repeatedly attacked him and he corrected me from time to time.

"Okay now i'll be the attacker. Defend with the defensive stances I taught you."

I nodded and got ready. He came at me with repetitive strikes paired together one after another. He was holding back but it still hurt a little after each strike. We continued switching between defender and attacker, and every time, i tried to recreate the way he attacked and defended. We took small breaks in between, but after a few a hours he called it a day.

"well that's all for today" he said. He still had strength to keep going, but i didn't. "we'll continue tomorrow."

"Alright." I said still catching my breath.

"It's time for lunch." Mother came out to tell us.

I quickly got up and and went to the table. After the training today i was hungry. We sat in our usual spots. Hanna was already there, and Mia sat next to me.

"Hey Hanna, How are you doing today?" i asked

She looked at me with a blank expression, and dropped her spoon.

"how can yo- YOU CAN TALK!!" she said loudly.

She looks more mad than shocked.

"I told you my secret thinking you couldn't hear me." she said angrily.

"yeah about that i'm sorry." i said and bowed

"you're going to make this up to me, but i won't easily forgive you." she said.

"okay what do you want me to do?" i asked

"I don't know i need to think about it." She stayed quiet 'thinking about it'.

"It sure was a surprise knowing you could hear and talk." Leon said as he was coming inside "And you can use magic already. When did you learn to do that again?"

"Two years ago when i snuck inside your study and borrowed one of your books" i said eating my food.

For the first time the food wasn't bad, or maybe i was just hungry.

"So you learned to use magic when you were two years old?" he said shocked. "Wait you snuck inside my stu-"

"YOU CAN USE MAGIC?!?!" Hanna said cutting off Leon.

"yes." i said. making a fire float above my hand.

she gasped excitedly "Ohh wow. that's so cool." She paused as if she had just thought of something. "if you teach me magic i'll forgive you." She said.

"sure, that's fine." I said as i finished my food. "when do you want to start."

"Right now!" she grabbed my hand and took me to the living room.

"hey wait. slow down."

"come on tell me what to do!" she said excitedly as she sat down on the floor

"okay, fine. Calm down."

I told her all the steps to follow. She should be able to follow them. She is 7 years old that's the normal age where people start to manipulate mana.

After a while of her meditating. she let out a small yell.

"haah." she said as she opened her eyes. "huh? Nothing happened." she looked at me "why did nothing happen? did i do something wrong?"

"Haha." i started laughing

"what. what's so funny!!" she said angrily as she started shaking me.

"Of course nothing happened. Did you really expect it to work on your first try" I said as i calmed down. "Just try again"

After several tries she got annoyed. Mother, Mia, and Leon came to sit down on the living room to watch.

"Are you sure this is the right way to do this?" she said while stretching.

"Yup. For normal kids this takes days to achieve. probably even weeks. You have to be patient, so if you get annoyed or stressed it won't work." I said.

"Why do you talk like if you aren't a kid yourself? Anyway how long did it take you?" She asked.

"About half a day." I answered.

I heard Mother and Leon gasp in shock, but they didn't ask any questions.

"What!! but you said that this takes days." she said confused.

"that's right, there's no time to waste. So try again." I told her.

"fine." she said.

So she tried again and again. With every failed attempt she got more annoyed.

"Let's call it a day." i said

"what why?" she asked.

"Because you need to get your mind off this for a while and try again later. You won't achieve what you want if you keep getting annoyed at failing. You'll get it eventually. You just need to be patient. try again tonight and if you fail try again in the morning. Continue this process every day. okay."

"hmm yeah okay." she said as she walked out the room.

I looked at Leon both him and Mother looked at me with surprise.

"Father is it okay if i borrow some books from your study." I asked Leon.

"It's okay, but for what" he asked curiously.

"I want to learn healing magic." i said simply.

"go ahead." I went to his study as soon as he said that. Mia followed.

I got to the study and looked through the books. There wasn't that many. And found one on healing which is also from the capital. I opened the book and began reading.

According to the book to preform healing magic you have to use your mana to activate cells speeding up the recovery process. it takes a lot of practice and concentration to do. So the doctors in this word dedicate their lives on this profession.

For beginners like me before i start attempting to heal an injury or illness. I have to learn how to restore fatigue and sore muscles. There was no way to learn without someone to test it out on. so i went back to the living room, only Leon was there this time reading a book.

"hey father are you tired or have any sore muscles." i asked.

He looked at me for a second before responding "No, Not at the moment."

"well okay. where's mother?"

He pointed to the back yard "Outside doing the laundry."

"well okay then. See you later."

then i made my way to the backyard. when I got there mother was hanging clothes for them to dry in the sun.

"Hey mother are you tired or have any sore muscles." I asked the same question.

"hmm. Actually yes, my feet are kind of sore." she said

"Let me see." I bent over to get a closer look.

"okay fine, just let me finish this real quick." She said with a smile.

After she finished we sat down on the grass and she took of her shoes.

"Okay where exactly is it sore" i asked

"Here at the back" she said pointing at her heels.

I squeezed it and she frowned in displeasure. "well here goes nothing." i said as i focused my mana to her heel. Small motes of green manifested but nothing else happened "Again." More motes came out this time but i failed again. I drew my mana back and took a breath. "One more time." i tried again and then a green aura manifested from my hand and engulfed her foot. then after around ten seconds it subsided. Then i looked at her "How does it feel"

She then squeezed her foot and began tapping it "Much better, the soreness is now gone. Thank you." She then patted my head.

"Can i go outside for a while." i asked

"sure but let your father know." she said with a smile.

As i was making my way towards the front door i passed Leon "Hey father im going out for a bit."

"Okay but don't stay out to late." he said waving at me.

okay i managed to relieve her soreness but i used more mana than necessary. Back When the doctor used healing on me it only took him a second to finish, and my whole body instantly felt better. But It took me over ten seconds to finish getting rid of sorenesses from one part of the body.

With better mana control i can use healing magic more often, and heal bigger wounds while using less mana.

I want to get better at healing, it might help me in the future if i start now. So i'm going to look for people practice on.

I made my way to the woods where i found a cabin. Behind the cabin were chopped logs and people resting. This is where people that chopped trees brought the logs to sell them, and also a place they rested.

There were about 10 people surrounding a cooking pot. They were eating food in a group while talking and laughing. They seemed exhausted. This is the best place to practice my healing magic.

I walked up to them until one noticed me.

"hey look it's a kid." the man pointed at me, and the rest of the group looked towards my direction.

I waved at them "Hello there. Can i ask you all a question?"

One of the men, probably the leader of the group, stood and said "what is it?"

"Are you tired or have any sore muscles?" i asked

"What's all this about kid?" The man asked. More

confused than anything.

"well i want to practice my healing magic, but i need people to practice on. That's all. We both gain from this." I said

"Can you really use magic." The man asked unconvinced.

I then made a fire float above my hand. All the men had wide eyes and some gasped in shock. I heard some whisper to each other too.

'Is a kid wielding magic rare'

"hmm well i guess it's not a problem. so why not." The man said still shocked

"okay then are you sore anywhere?" I asked

"yes both my shoulders have been sore for a couple of days now." he said

"all right." He sat on the floor so i could reach his shoulders. I then focused my mana and a green glow emerged. I could feel it. This time it's more efficient than last time. After finished healing both his shoulders he got up.

"Ohh wow the soreness is actually gone, i can move my arms more freely now. Thanks kid." the man said happily. "my name is jack. what's yours." he said and extended out his hand

I took his hand "I'm Arata."

"Nice to meet you kid" He said

"Yeah same here. well that's all for today i'm almost out of mana. I'll come back soon"

Some of the men appeared to be looking forward to my treatment because some of their faces looked down after i said that.

"well okay. we'll be here waiting."

"see you later then." I said as i started walking away.

I spent too much mana on my mother and jack that i'm almost out. A lot of it seemed to leak out instead of flowing into the spell.

One morning four days later i woke up hearing my name being called

"arata!!" the voice called

"come here quickly!" it said

"ARATA HURRY UP!!" the voice got louder

'ahh let me sleep dammit' i said quietly then I quickly got up and ran towards the yelling voice who was my older sister.

I saw my parents standing outside her room. Then i looked inside and saw her surrounded by a white aura.

"look i did it!" she said excitedly. "I drew all the mana out"

Then the mana dispersed and she looked tired and fell backwards.

"Good job sister. Now get ready it's going to get more exciting from here" i said

"got it" she replied tiredly.

"Well then shall we get started" Leon said as mother went to congratulate Hanna.

These past for days i've been training with Leon in the mornings, and healing in the afternoon with the guys at the woods. I can heal three people before running out of mana now. So that's some progress

I smiled "let's go."