Time passed quickly for Mika; before she knew it, it was already her first birthday. Which on Planet Eoburos was only 10 months or 300 days.
Over the past year, she’d wanted to develop a Mana Cultivation Technique that would suit her Mana Pathways and Core and bring her talent to its fullest potential, but she’s just been too tired.
Of course, with how perfectly she formed her Mana Circuit, Mika doesn’t need a Cultivation Technique to cultivate as her body will do that passively. Unfortunately, the speed at which her body cultivates is meager.
Although Mika might not know much about Mana, she knew that having a specialized Technique, no matter which area of expertise, is better than not having one.
The only problem is that she needed to learn more about Mana, Cultivation, and techniques to even think about creating one herself.
The System wasn’t much help concerning this subject as well. It only told her to find everything out herself.
She tried using her [Mind Space] skill to test her various theories, but even if you disregard her lack of knowledge on the subject, she could barely stay awake long enough to use it!
Fortunately, things are different now! Not only can Mika awake for several hours if she pushes herself, but she now has enough energy to walk around!
That’s right; she can walk now!
Well, actually, since the first day she was born, Mika could walk.
She’s just never done it because it uses too much energy.
Another thing she’s learned over the past year is that the System isn’t only there to make her a stronger swordsman but has other functions as well.
One of these functions can actually help her learn the language her family speaks so she can finally understand what they’re saying!
The keyword is: help.
In reality, it’s just a glorified translator. Mika still has to learn the language on her own, but now she doesn’t have to guess what each word means, as the System will at least provide her with a definition.
It’s not like she suddenly understood the entire language instantly, but she can at least understand what her family is saying.
Normally, Mika wouldn’t want to rely on the System like this as she still didn’t completely trust it.
Mika believed that anything given to her by the System could be taken away by it as well. While she didn’t know if the things she learned without the System’s help would stay, she liked to think that way, whether it was true or not.
However, other than being a great warrior and swordswoman, she’s as dumb as a rock with anything else.
She can discern an enemy’s weaknesses with ease, but learning math? War tactics? Figuring out another language? Nope. Not happening. At least not without ample time to practice.
Hell, she could barely read and write in her native language from her previous life! How could she possibly learn a brand new one when she barely learned the one she spoke for 45 years?
Thus, even after a year, she could only speak in short sentences, which sounded weird as her vocal cords weren’t fully developed, but none of that mattered to her. She was just happy she no longer had to poke, bang, or even spit on people to get their attention!
.
.
.
Right now, Mika was sitting in a booster seat with her family and a cake in front of her. Today, it’s been exactly one year since her birth, and her family decided to celebrate the occasion.
Mika felt a bit nostalgic today because the last time she celebrated her birthday with her family was decades ago.
Her previous life’s Mother and Father were impoverished and couldn’t afford anything fancy for her birthday, but none of that mattered to her.
She was happy as long as they could spend a nice, relaxing day with each other.
Though, Mika still remembers the day she got her first wooden sword for her birthday.
That day changed her life forever and even granted her the opportunity at another life.
Mika let out a smile just thinking about those days, and luckily her family misinterpreted her smile as they thought she was excited about it being her birthday.
“Happy Birthday, Mika!!”
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“Happy Birthday, Mika!!”
“Happy Birthday, Mika!!”
“Happy Birthday, Mika!!”
“Happy Birthday, Mika!!”
Her parents and siblings all yelled simultaneously, shaking Mika out of her thoughts. She looked around and saw the giant smiles on her family’s faces, and she returned their smiles, but she wasn’t sure what to do now.
‘Can I start eating the cake?’ Mika wondered.
With a bit of hesitation, she reached out to grab a piece of the cake, but before her hand could reach it, her Mother held her hand.
Mika tilted her head and gave her Mother a questioning look.
“...Mom?”
“Fufu~ Sweetie, you are supposed to blow out the candle on the cake while making a wish. Only then can you start eating the cake.”
Mika didn’t quite understand why, but she nodded and did as her Mother said. She closed her eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candle.
*Clap!**Clap!**Clap!*
Her family started clapping after the fire on the candle was extinguished.
She then reached out to grab a piece of cake, but her Mother beat her to it and had already started slicing and plating the cake. Seeing the slice of cake in front of her, Mika understood that this was how you eat cake. She picked up the fork and began eating.
She was amazed that the cake wasn’t as sweet or sugary as she had heard it was back in her previous life. Instead, it tasted fruity, similar to the baby food she usually ate, but a tad sweeter and much lighter.
While she was enjoying her cake, Olivia walked up to her.
“What did you wish for, Little Mika? Don’t worry. Your Big Sister will fulfill your wish for you! Hehe~”
“Oi! Olivia, don’t you know it’s bad lu-”
Mika paused and looked at her Sister for a few seconds without paying any attention to what her Eldest Brother was saying before answering.
“Sword.”
“Eh?”
“I wished for a sword.”
“…”
The room went silent when Mika said her wish. Although everyone was curious what her wish might be, even her parents, that was probably the last thing they thought a 1-year-old child might wish for.
They thought she might say she wanted toys to play with, a friend, or maybe a new pair of clothes, but a sword? Such a thought never crossed their minds.
While they’ve all known for a while that Mika was different from other babies, this was on a whole other level.
She always had a particular look in her eyes that showed a level of maturity or understanding that a normal baby shouldn’t have. Still, they just brushed it off as her being different due to her natural talent.
After all, one's mental capabilities are enhanced when one forms their Mana Pathways and Core. It’s not much for a Stage 1 Black Core like Mika, but she’s still a baby, so they can’t really fault her.
Not only that, but she’s been in that Realm for about a year and a half now. Who knows, her mental capabilities could have been enhanced more than they thought since she’s so young.
But for her to wish for a sword?
That really caught them off guard. It also didn’t make sense because the Zoller Household doesn’t usually wield cold weapons. Generally, the Zoller House people are Mages fighting from the backline.
Even Olivia, who has a talent for hand-to-hand combat, would end up following the same path as her predecessors. In contrast, her hand-to-hand combat talent would be secondary and an added form of protection just in case she needs to get up close and personal.
Cain and Elizabeth were the first to recover and started asking her questions.
“Sweetie, why do you want a sword? No, do you even know what a sword is? Or was this just a word you heard from your siblings?”
Cain asked as gently as possible, but Mika could sense the seriousness behind his words.
She didn’t open her mouth because she didn’t know what to say. Not only was she still learning the language and didn’t know what words to use, but even if she did, she still wouldn’t know how to explain herself.
As she was thinking, her siblings looked at their Father, feeling wronged, and they were about to say something, but Cain looked at them, signaling them to be quiet and wait for Mika to talk.
Mika was still trying to think of what to say before she eventually gave up.
‘Whatever. Since I don’t know how to explain it, I’ll show them. It’s not like I can keep it a secret for much longer, and I want to start training already! Being a baby is so boring!’
Mika thought to herself, and without anybody being able to react, her hand swiftly grabbed a knife on the table.
“Mika! Put that down! That’s dangerous!”
“That’s right! Listen to your Mother! You could hurt yourself with that!”
Her Mother and Father freaked out and were already trying to take the knife away right after she grabbed it, but Mika paid them no mind.
Mika closed her eyes and thought back to all those times she swung her sword in her past life.
The times she practiced until her hands bled. The technique she created to suit her body and fighting style.
She pictured the knife in her hands as a sword, and with her body size, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that a knife in her hands was no different than an adult-sized short sword.
Mika raised the knife above her head.
‘What would a perfect slash look like with this body of mine?’
She thought, and it didn’t take long for her to grasp the strength and angle of a downward strike that would unleash her body’s full potential.
A moment later, she swung the knife.
Suddenly, it felt like something clicked in her mind, and she had an epiphany, causing her comprehension to spike. It felt like a door to a higher realm, which was locked until this point, opened up.
In Mika’s mind, it felt like she was experiencing a lifetime's worth of sword swings all in one slash. Suddenly, she felt an ethereal force wrap around that sword slash, and as a swordsman herself, she instinctively knew what it was.
Sword Intent!
That’s right! Mika was currently comprehending Sword Intent!