Chapter 4 – Magic

“Kris, you little rascal, where do you think you are going!”

Mother pick me up from the stone floor as I try to crawl outside the house, put me back in the corner of the kitchen and resume to cook dinner.

Damn it! Another failed attempt. I probably won’t be able to go outside until I’m able to walk on my own but it won’t probably happen this summer. I look around and pick up a carved wooden horse. It’s one of my toys. I’ve formed a habit of playing with toys whenever my mother or father are around after a certain incident. The thing is, until I was eight months old I haven’t really behaved like a child. I had had some toys my parent given me but you don’t expect an adult man playing with toys right? I guess to my parents it looked like I’m sick or something because they have called over a doctor. But it was no doctor I tell you! More like a con artist. He held his hand on my head and muttered something. Then he assured my parents that everything is fine with me, took some money and left. Seriously!? Just some ‘pain, pain go away’ and that’s it!? I have no idea why mother looked so relieved. I have a feeling my parents are a bit too naïve. Because of that I realized that I have to behave more like a baby.

Anyway, back to the present. I hope mother’s not cooking that disgusting green vegetables again. I can now eat normal food since I’m about ten months old so mother often prepare dishes considered ‘healthy for children’ in this world. Among them there is one that I hate. A vegetable that looks like a friggin green tomato but taste like a rotten fish. If you wonder why I know how a rotten fish taste then remember I was a student in my previous life.

We are currently in the kitchen of our house. It’s a small house with a kitchen, storeroom and a small living room on the ground floor and my room, father workroom, parents’ bedroom and the bathroom on the floor.

As I try to make my wooden horse do a backflip on his own when I sense a black aura approaching my house. My ability to sense aura got stronger over the last months. I can now sense anyone within ten meter radius even if it’s someone directly behind me. It’s like seeing something out of the corner of your eye. I turn my head in a direction of that aura and see my father. He’s back from his work for dinner.

He quietly approach mother, embrace her from behind and kiss her on her neck.

“Hi honey.”

Mother’s not surprised, it looks like she noticed him beforehand.

“Hi sweetie, dinner will be ready in five minutes so wait for a bit”

“Mhmm.”

He walks up to me, squat beside and reach his hands to me.

“And look who we got here. Our very own little devil. Come to papa.”

Looks like I have no choice.

“Papa!”

Lately I’ve began to use simple words to accustom my parents to the idea of me talking earlier than normal children.

He take a seat at the table with me and we wait for the dinner.

Around the time when that fake doctor came I learned what my father do for a living. It turns out that our family owns a few bookstores. Father manage bookstores in our city. Grandfather and uncle are more of a merchants. They specialize in trading books to other towns and countries. Father also helps them when they need it. If I’m not mistaken grandfather should be on his way from some distant city north from ours. He went there two weeks ago to protect the cargo as it makes its way here. I guess grandfather really is as badass as he looks like. Uncle is also gone. He went to the city of Aran, wherever it is, to establish a branch bookstore there. I don’t know what grandma do but she’s probably also in the business.

We wait for a few minutes more and then mother bring us a pot of stew. Thanks god! It’s not those goddamn veggies. Mother takes me from father and feed me a meatless version of the stew. As we eat father talk about his work. I don’t really pay attention but when I hear a certain word I completely focus on him.

“… books. Seriously, where will I find such amount of magic books? That principal is crazy. Crazy I tell you!.”

There is it again! I hope it’s what I think it is. I try to somehow confirm it.

“Magik?”

“Hohoo. Could be that our little devil want to be a mage? Well, who knows, maybe you will be a great mage. It’s still far in the future though.”

After that he resume to bitch about his work some more. But what’s important is that I somehow confirmed it. There’s magic in this world! I want! I mean it’s like, magic right? Who doesn’t want shoot fireballs and shit? I only hope it’s not like you have to be a noble or have some natural talent to use magic.

Rest of the day passed by like a flash. All I could think about was magic. The only problem is that I don’t know a shit about magic. Sure, I’ve played some games back on earth but I always preferred warriors over magicians. No way in hell I will be the exercise type a second time. I was forced to be a sportsman once but not again. But I digress. I can only hope that my ability to see auras is somehow connected to my magic abilities. The problem is I never had a chance to confirm if anybody else also can see it.

Next day I tried to ask mother about magic but I couldn’t without using full phrases and complicated words that a child my age shouldn’t be able to say so I stopped after the third failed attempt. My only second option are books. Thanks to mother reading me books since I was three months old I somehow managed to learn how to read by looking over her shoulder when she was reading for me.

There are books in our house, most in father workroom, but the problem is I can’t just crawl there without mother noticing it.

OK. Time for plan A.

I wait for my midday nap time. Mother usually go out for shopping when I sleep. I fake my sleep until she is convinced I’m asleep. When I hear the sound of the closing front doors I open my eyes.

Good. Phase 1 cleared. Time for phase 2.

Using all of my motor abilities I somehow manage to climb the crib but just as I’m at the top and I try so slid down the other side I stumble and fall to the ground.

Aghrrr! Fuck! Fuck! My fucking head! Jesus, did I just spilled my brain all over the floor? That would be a lame way to go.

After the pain finally subdued I somehow am able to crawl again. My heads seems fine but I will have a huge lump for sure. I push my hand against the doors and enter the hallway. I don’t know how much time I still have because I never been awake long enough to hear my mother return so I make my haste to father workroom. I push my hand against the doors again but they won’t budge. Shit! What’s wrong? I look up and see a knob. Damn it. It’s different type of doors. There’s no way I can open them. Looks like plan A failed.

I slowly make my way back to the crib to conserve stamina. When I’m halfway back I hear mother opening front doors. Shit! I jump into higher gears and accelerate like a bullet. Ok, a really slow bullet. I’m about to climb the crib again when I hear mother on the stairs, she’s coming up to check on me. Fuck! If she find me here she will never leave me alone again. I quickly climb the crib again. When I’m at the highest point of crib bars the same thing happen. I fall but this time inside the crib. I lose consciousness as mother enter the room.

That day mother was very surprised that I slept like a log for half a day.

Next day. Damn it. Plan A was a fail. It’s a shame but plan B failed even before I could initiate him. Plan B was for me to somehow persuade father to let me into his workroom. Unfortunately father is an idiot so every time I try to somehow lead him to his workroom he thinks I just want to play tag so he catch me and put me down back in my corner of the living room where I usually play.

I either have to walk there myself or ask someone to bring me. Both of these options needs me to be older. I think walking or talking should be ok when I’m one and a half.

Sighhh. It’s going to be a boring eight months.