A year flew by in the blink of an eye, and it's now almost my second birthday. Time flies when most of it is spent passed out on the floor.

Originally, there was supposed to be a celebration on my first birthday, yet due to different quests and schedules that my parents had, this month has been the first in about a year where neither of them has anything lined up.

They're not entirely, quiet, about their plans for my birthday, but it's not exactly typical for a child this young to be able to understand his parents, so I understand the lack of secrecy. I mean, by this age a child should just be starting to form sentences right?

Apparently, in the coming days, a few of Jin and Mary's friends are going to come by for a visit. Typically family and close relatives are introduced to children on their first birthday, traditionally called an 'origin meeting'. This and a few other weirdly named things and traditions are apparently left over from when magic was considered a holy act, and was strictly controlled by the church.

That name just gives me the creeps, couldn't tell you why. Due to the messed-up schedule, that whole song and dance were pushed back to now, which is convenient for me.

After my first birthday introduction and celebration, we're to depart on a two-month journey to a far-off city, where a person only referred to as 'Old Bastard' lives and works. Apparently in this world, children usually don't show any talent or ability with magic until the age of two, when something called a 'magic nervous system' is fully developed. That, of course, is hogwash, since I've been routinely casting since I was a six-month-old, but it's probably more outdated knowledge.

Actually, thinking about magic, I've been able to ask very simple questions about magic and such. Mainly questions with answers such as 'yes' and 'no' but hey the more knowledge I can get my hands on the better, this time as a baby is years worth of advantage that I refuse to squander.

My ability to speak and ask questions has allowed me to get more information from my parents, specifically my father, regarding magic and spells. According to my father, a spell is made of three main components. An element, an effect, and a condition.

For example, the simple push of wind my father taught me. The element would be Wind, the effect would be a slight push, and the condition is the opening of my palm. With these three conditions, a spell can be created and cast.

The more powerful the element, the stronger or more detailed the effect, and the simpler the condition, the more mana and control the spell requires. Right now, all of my spells need at least two conditions attached or I pass out from raw mana throughput. For stronger spells, more stringent conditions such as charge times or certain hand movements are used to reduce mana cost and allow more control for the caster.

Thankfully I learned sooner rather than later that my "custom spells" have been constructed completely wrong. The circle drawn is meant to be used as a visualizer for the wind push, so forcing the spell to be spread across my entire back instead of out of my palm goes against the hand sign used, forcing me to use more mana and concentration.

Any idiot can cast a fireball or wind push, but it takes concentration to change the effects of a spell. Well, this is all according to the year or so I've spent pestering Jin and Mary with questions, as any good toddler should.

After learning this, I had a massive breakthrough with both Barrier and Wind magic.

Using no hand signs, simply opening my palm, I've been able to conjure a circular flat barrier, as well as a slightly concave circle! Truly a masterful display of magic from yours truly.

'Magic Practice' also known as casting until I pass out, waking up, and casting more takes up basically my entire day, which has the resulting effect of massively increasing my mana capacity. I can cast up to five barriers, or four Wind Flings.

Wind Fling is the name I made up for the technique I made to shoot myself forward with wind magic.

Although my progress in the mana capacity field has been extremely slow, I'm sure it'll start to increase exponentially as I learn more spells and more about mana. Besides, a normal baby shouldn't even be able to cast magic, let alone do the stuff I'm doing. I guess I'm a genius in this life and my last one. As expected of someone like me.

Well, maybe not in the last one, since I got caught and all, but before that, I was really damn good!

Either way, my rhythm of waking up, eating, and experimenting with magic and different spell ideas is going to be broken today. For my first birthday celebration in this world, my parent's friends came over and I got a few small gifts from them, mainly this seemed to be just a social gathering for my parents, as the other child who was brought is only about ten months old, and well, an actual baby.

Man, I wish I had friends. I wonder if Roland reincarnated over here too?

Nah probably not, mostly cause there's not a chance in hell he'd ever die.

My parent's friends were named Nezu and Rolia, a bronze-skinned man and a woman with pointy ears respectively. I'd assume elf, but there's not a chance in hell that the fantasy name for something on Earth is the same as the real name on this one. That just wouldn't make sense!

The gifts from Nezu and Rolia, included a small wooden dagger, claiming since my mother is a genius I should have some talent and a way to train, and a small golden ring, featuring a beautiful yet small emerald.

From what I can tell, it's real gold and a real emerald, a shame it's not worth much.

At least back on Earth, it wouldn't be. Those types of rings are a dime a dozen, only worth a few grand at most.

The ring apparently he found in an "A-rank" dungeon and thought it would make a nice origin gift. Apparently, he snatched it from some sorcerer, and since he couldn't put it on, the leading theory is some type of magical effect.

Holding out my small pudgy hand, the ring was dropped unceremoniously into my hand, as a cold sensation spread through my palm, down my arm, and up my spine.

"Thank you, sir," I say, giving my best childlike toothy grin.

Placing the ring on my left ring finger, I had a strange idea. This is a magic item, right? An item imbued with random properties due to the fact it was sitting in a dungeon for so long.

What would happen if I imbued it with a bit of mana?

As the adults continued to chat and discuss my magical practice, how the other child and I were growing up so fast, etc, I pumped a bit of mana into the small ring.

Instantaneously, the chilling feeling returned in force, causing a full blow shiver to run up my spine. More worryingly, the green emerald began to faintly glow and greedily suck up my mana. At the same time, the small band tightened fully around my finger, now fitting perfectly.

After what felt like exactly half my mana was drained, both the shining from the ring and the chatting from the adults in the room came to a halt.

Looking back up at everyone in the room, they all seemed to be staring at me in silence.

Wow, this uh, sucks.

Living my life as a thief and robber, having everyone stare at me is like, the absolute last thing I'd ever want. God, I wanna just run away but I know I can't. I'm not the bad guy here, I didn't do anything wrong.

Stop staring at me like that damn it!

After about another seven seconds of staring, still super weird, my father asks me sternly, "Aero. Did you do that just now?"

"No, the ring did it," I said in a more concerned tone than I realized.

"Nezu." My father said looking towards the smaller gentleman. "Did you just give my son a bound ring?"

"W well uhh, ya see... maybe?" Nezu replied sheepishly "I didn't know! I told you it was magic and that I couldn't put it on! How was I supposed to know it would bind to your son?" He protested defensively. Woohoo! Suspicion avoided!

"Dad? What's a bound ring?" I asked, genuinely curious at this point.

"Well, since you're forced to know at this point, a bound item is one that fuses to its wielder's mana signature. To tell you simply, it's a more powerful magical item usually, but once a wearer is found, you can't take it off. I'm sorry buddy, but you're gonna be stuck with uncle Nezu's ring for life." Jin said with a sigh followed by a slow shake of his head.

That's so cool! I have a permanent, unstealable ring, that has a magical effect! Why is this bad?

"Why is that bad?" I innocently asked.

"First of all, the ring could have any random effect cause it's an unidentifiable item, from an A-Rank dungeon. You could have put it on and instantly died! Secondly, if the magic is useless, or you're not compatible with it, etc. It will take up a spot on your finger permanently, being completely useless." Jin said, another reluctant sigh escaping his mouth.

Wait, is he actually mad I get a free item from a higher-tier dungeon, just because it's slightly dangerous? Seeing my confused face, he followed up.

"I'm not angry or upset with you or uncle Nezu." He said laughing and ruffling my hair. "I just got worried when I saw that happen, a friend of mine got bound to a ring that limited his total mana, so I was worried that's all. But I don't think it's bad at all for ya, it could be something really helpful." Jin said, giving me a classic dad smile before turning back and leering at Nezu.

"We have a lot to talk about after the kids go to sleep, Uncle Nezu." He said, as Nezu actively sunk back a bit in his chair.