Gin wasn’t an ordinary baby. It didn’t take long for his parents to notice this. At first they thought he was an intelligent baby, but as time passed they realized just how far of an outlier he was. For the first year it was relatively normal. He was quiet, but they realized just how smart is because he would often play with Sophia. He tried to hide it like he was a normal baby, but they could tell he was doing exactly the right things to make Sophia giggle. He seemed to know what she did and didn’t like.
For the first year they treated him like a normal child. However as the year came to a close they started to explain various things to him and Sophia. How the fridge worked, how to turn the lights on and off, and so on. However they noticed Gin was seemingly bored by these things, as if he already knew what to do. He would immediately look at the light switches when they mentioned turning the lights on and off.
It was when he was a year old that they started to teach him words and letters. He caught on fast, as soon as they introduced a word to him he seemed to understand it. It was the same with letters. He tried to hide it, but the way he did it wasn’t as smooth as he thought it was. He would often go through bursts of sudden understanding followed by days of stupidity where he understood nothing new. This amused Noel and Owari to no end.
As for Sophia, she was a lovable child. She never misbehaved, she always did what her parents told her, and she was already starting to learn words and letters early. Essentially she was smart, cute, and well behaved. She got along well with Gin who acted more like an older brother than a younger one. They caught him a few times teaching her letters, but they didn’t say anything. They had super hearing so it was easy for them to notice what he was doing even from the other side of the house. He thought he was being sneaky, but unfortunately he didn’t take into account that his parents were freaks of nature.
It took about a month for Gin to give up trying to hide his intelligence. He quickly ‘learned’ to read and speak. He would sometimes slip out words and thoughts that didn’t match his age. It was at this point that Noel and Owari realized he wasn’t just an ordinary baby. Of course they wondered for a long time what caused him to be so smart, but now they were sure. He was someone who had kept his memory from another life. It was a popular concept, reincarnation, but nobody had ever experienced it. They weren’t quick to rule out this idea either. After all Owari could literally cut through space so why couldn’t a soul transfer from one body to another?
By the time he was about one and a half they started to leave books out for him. At first it was simple books like fiction and novels. However soon they also started leaving out more complicated subjects like history and science books. He seemed incredibly interested in the history books. It was as if all of this was new to him. He would often ask questions about various things like who was who in the political world and all that. It was around the time he was two and a half that he finally asked a question they had been wondering when he would ask about.
“Who are the Silverbloods?” Of course he had happened to ask this first coincidentally, but the fact that this came first caused both Noel and Owari to laugh. “What is it?” He was shocked by their response.
“They’re your family.” Noel gently pet his head.
“Your mother is a Silverblood. They’re the number one tamer family in the world.” They used to be among the top but now that Noel and Owari were considered a part of the family they were indisputably number one. Of course he didn’t say that.
“Just like me you’re a Silverblood. Of course you don’t share the name.” After all she had taken Owari’s last name when they got married.
“Oh. But that doesn’t answer my question.” Gin was shocked, but he still didn’t know much about them.
Owari and Noel then began to explain the type of people the Silverblood family was. How they raised their children with special methods, how each one was special, and a little about the various members. This included his grandfather and great grandfather whom he had met but hadn’t interacted with much yet. They were busy men after all. He had comparably spent much more time with his grandmother on his father’s side. She would often visit from another town to see him. She was very nice, but she treated him like a child unlike his parents so he always dreaded when she would come around.
It was around the time he turned three that they introduced him to their beasts. They had been afraid before but now they were sure he and Sophia could handle meeting them. Based on his reaction to seeing them he was new to seeing such beasts in close proximity. This amused them quite a bit. However they quickly showed the two of them that the beasts were harmless. They had all evolved long ago, Draco was now a full dragon, Hebi had grown to eight heads, even Feng had grown in size, while Garm had grown a deeper shade of black and could shrink and grow. He could be as small as a house dog, or as big as a train car. Meanwhile Guillotine had an even brighter white pelt and its golden eyes shined brightly. It had also grown a bit.
They pet the giant wolf and tiger as if they were common house pets which caused Gin to drop his mouth in shock. These were powerful beasts capable of killing an ordinary adult in a single swipe. But they were so tame and ordinary in the hands of these two. Even the snake and dragon were no different save for the slightly haughty air around them. As if they were too good for such treatment, yet they didn’t refuse it. Hebi was surprisingly the most gentle with the children. When it was their turn to pet him he allowed them to pet his tails which were the furthest away from its scary faces. It seemed to be aware of this. As an eight-headed hydra, it was even smarter than a human might be.
Draco was a showoff, he was still careful but he beat his wings lightly causing their hair to flutter and eliciting a gasp from Sophia who started to clap immediately after. Gin on the other hand was in awe of this legendary beast in front of him. Noel and Owari sat off to the side watching them with warm eyes. They had always been afraid of how the kids would take meeting their beasts and vice versa, but it seemed to go well.
It was also around this time when they started to introduce mystic arts to their children. Of course they took the same stance as the Silverbloods, you had to create your own mystic art from scratch. However martial arts were a different matter entirely. They took Gin to the doctor to test his affinity and mana capacity. Normally you find out these things at a young age, but he never showed signs of manifesting an affinity. They felt this likely had to do with his unique situation as a reincarnator.
When they went to the doctor they were shocked, though they didn’t let it show. His mana capacity was twice as large as his sisters, and his affinities were among the top being space, metal, and kinetic. Some would even say they are the ultimate support, offense, and defense in order. Though any one of them could be used as a powerful weapon or shield. But to have all three, this may be the first-ever.
Sophia did well in school. Her teachers had nothing but praise for her. She was well behaved and learned quickly. She got along well with the other children and was practically the center of the class. She never let anyone feel excluded and did her best to involve everyone whenever possible. She was like an angel, and Gin often called her that. It became a nickname of sorts to call her little angel. She especially seemed to like the nickname.
It was around the time Gin turned four that they started to introduce martial arts to the two of them. Owari took Gin under his wing while Noel took Sophia. Gin however despite his usual eagerness, showed little interest in training. He would do the bare minimum asked of him from Owari. Owari couldn’t help but find it a shame, his son had so much potential, and his talent was even incredible from what little he saw. But he refused to put in the effort. A few weeks of that went by and suddenly he got more serious and focused on training seriously. Owari wondered what got into him, but he didn’t question it. He simply trained his son with everything he had.
“Now then, it’s time to begin the first major lesson.” Owari took him out to a field with boulders that were sliced in pieces. “Use this to cut this.” He stabbed a sword into the ground and pointed at a hay practice dummy set in the field.
“Alright.” Gin nodded seriously and carefully took the sword.
“No need to be afraid of the sword. You know how to handle it.” Owari had taught him how to properly hold a sword so as to not injure himself, now he just needed to remove the psychological resistance Gin felt towards wielding a dangerous weapon.
“Right.” Gin nodded and did his best to erase his nervousness.
He swung his sword at the dummy only for it to bounce back. He blinked in surprise and struck it again. The same thing happened and it bounced back. “You’re not swinging it like a sword. You’re swinging it like a bat.” Owari noted from the side. “Do it like I taught you. Put all your weight and strength into it and aim the sword at an angle so it slices properly.”
Gin nodded and took up a stance before swinging the sword like his father told him. The sword slid across the wooden stick inside and sliced it like butter. He even threw himself off balance a bit because of how easy it was. His father easily caught him so he didn’t hurt himself. With a chuckle his father went behind a more intact boulder and brought out an even thicker practice dummy.
“Next is this one. We’ll keep going until you can cut one of these.” He pointed at the boulders around the clearing.
“Cutting a boulder?” He wanted to ask what kind of cliche that was, but looking at how they were cleanly sliced he swallowed his words back down. It was clear someone had cut these boulders.
“Erica can do it.” Owari shrugged.
“Aunt Erica?” He was shocked. He knew his parents were a bit abnormal, but Erica always seemed innocent and childish.
“Right. She doesn’t even need a mystic art. And neither will you when we’re done.” Owari just laughed.
Gin nodded. He would do his best to live up to his fathers expectations. Owari slowly taught him the concepts behind his techniques one by one. Gin picked up on them rapidly, mastering them easily. By the time he turned six he could split the boulders like a hot knife through butter. Owari laughed as if it was absurd and prepared him for the next lesson.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Split the boulder with the wind.” He stated as if this was the obvious next step.
“The wind…?” Gin blinked as if he had no idea what his father was saying.
“That’s right.” Seeing him still not getting it he reached to his waist and pulled out one of the three swords on his waist. The one he pulled out was only a hilt without even an inch of blade. “Like this.” He casually swung it and the wind suddenly gathered and silently split a boulder a few meters away from him along the path of his swing.
“That…” Gin chuckled. ‘How was that possible?’ He thought.
“Give it a try.” Owari tossed him the hilt, which he quickly caught.
“How do I even begin?” He asked apprehensively.
“It’s the opposite concept of removing wind resistance. That’s all you get from me for now.” Owari jumped up and sat on a boulder and waited to see how Gin would do.
It took him one month to learn and perfect the technique. He could swing the hilt and split a boulder in front of him as easily as if he had a blade. “I did it!” He called out and looked over at his dad. “How was that?” He wondered how well he did, he wasn’t sure if he was quick or slow.
“Nice job.” Owari didn’t give away anything and merely smiled faintly. Gin put on a dissatisfied expression, his father was always like that with him. He wouldn’t praise him or anything, he merely smiled. “Now for the next lesson.” Owari cut him out of his thoughts. He pulled out another sword from his waist and tossed it into the ground. It was less a sword and more a hunk of metal. There wasn’t even an attempt to make an edge. “Cut the boulder with this.”
“It’s not even a sword.” His son refuted.
“Neither is the wind.” Owari said amusedly. Gin could only shut his mouth at that. “The peak of swordsmanship is turning yourself into the sword.” Owari walked over to a boulder and held out a finger which he poked into the boulder-like it was clay, then he swiped his hand slowly across it leaving a large gash.
Seeing that caused Gin to harden his expression. He originally only tried hard to not disappoint his father, but over time he came to desire more. He wanted to be strong. Because of this he tried as hard as he could. Because his father never told him whether he was doing good or bad he always assumed the worst as was his habit and tried even harder. Because of that he learned quickly, very quickly.
Over the next month Gin did his best to learn this new technique. It didn’t take long before he was able to split the boulder. However his father then handed him a wood practice sword and told him to cut the boulder with it. By this point he was desensitized to his father asking the impossible so he simply accepted the sword and did his best to master the technique his father asked of him. Just like this two more years passed, and by the time he was eight he had mastered all of the techniques Owari had created save for the spatial splitting ability. He could even used hand to slice a boulder in two.
When Owari had Gin show off to his mother she couldn’t help but be both dissatisfied and extremely proud. While their daughter was a quick study, she didn’t like fighting. Perhaps as a result of her kind nature, she was resistant to fighting. The only way her mother could get her to agree at all was by telling her she needed to be strong enough to protect weak people. After that she put in some work, but she was nowhere near as talented as Gin.
Having reached this point, Gin could already be considered a high silver rank, if he managed to learn mystic arts he would breakthrough and become a gold rank. Obviously once he reached the tipping point and gained some spirit arts he would become a platinum rank. Owari wondered how far he would reach before turning 16. With that in mind Owari started him on his workout schedule now that he was old enough to begin building some muscle. Of course it was rather tame at first, but by the end of the first year Gin was being run ragged.
On top of the workout training, Gin was being schooled in how to create a mystic art. It was easier than he thought. All he needed to do was stimulate his affinity through movement and allow his mana to flow along with it and it would naturally create a mystic art. Of course just creating a mystic art wasn’t the end of it. You needed to slowly perfect it and master it. According to his parents Noel created her first mystic art at about his age, while Owari had started later at 16, though they did mention that Owari had no affinity until he tamed a beast.
Gin’s first mystic art was a space one. He was most interested in his space affinity since he assumed it was the strongest. Gin stood in the middle of the clearing and swung his sword in a horizontal arc while stimulating his space affinity and mana. As he swung a ripple surged out from him. He wasn’t sure what happened, so he did it again. But this time he stood in the middle of three boulders. When the ripple spread it cut all three boulders as if he had cut them.
“Impressive.” Owari complimented him. This was one of the few times he directly complimented him, so Gin decided to work harder on his mystic arts. The next one he created was a kinetic mystic art. By doing a parry maneuver with his sword he could create a large kinetic force to surround his sword and deflect things in a larger spread. Next was a metal affinity technique. He could create a wave of metallic energy by infusing the wind with metal energy. When his father saw this he laughed.
“That’s the same as my signature technique.” He explained.
“Signature technique?” Gin asked. Was it like a special move?
“It’s the technique I use the most. It’s powerful, cost-efficient, and has good range. I recommend learning how to use this technique effectively.” Owari advised him.
“I’ll do my best.” Gin said seriously.
Other than that Gin didn’t feel he needed too many more techniques. He thought it was best to have a few powerful skills over a lot of weaker skills. So he set to mastering these techniques. One was a powerful close-range aoe, one was a powerful long range singular strike, and one was a powerful defensive technique. The only thing he really lacked was a powerful close-range technique, but for now he set that to the side. He could just use the martial arts he knew for anyone who got close after all.
Other than training there were other things going on in everyone’s lives as well. For one was Gin’s first major meeting with his grandfather and great grandfather. When he was about four years old they took him to meet them. He was feeling very antsy about it as well. Sophia was excited, she had seen them a few times as well, but she had never really met them.
When they arrived they first met with Noel’s father, Dustin. “So you finally decided to pay me a visit?” He said as soon as he saw them.
“If you wanted to see them so badly, make the time to come to us. We have to take into account their age when making long trips.” Owari replied with a chuckle.
“I don’t have a lot of time on my hands. Besides they’re your children, if a little traveling was enough to cause them problems I’d be quite worried whether they mixed up your baby or not.” He laughed back.
“Fair enough. By the way what’s been keeping you so busy?” Owari couldn’t help but ask.
“You should know. You’re about as busy as I am, otherwise you would have come out sooner.” When Dustin said this Owari could only smile. What he said was true.
Owari hadn’t sat still all these years. He had invested into all kinds of business and had a hand in every market. The problem with that was how much time it took up to keep up with everything. He left a lot of it to various aides he hired, but he still needed to keep track of some stuff to ensure it was all going smoothly.
“But you shouldn’t be as busy as him. After all you aren’t as successful in business.” Noel poured a bucket of cold water on her father.
“That’s not my fault. How am I supposed to compete with him when it comes to business? Not to mention his talent in seeing which markets to invest in at what point, the connections he has are several times greater than mine.” Dustin said depressedly.
“No need to defend yourself to me.” Noel smiled and looked at the children.
“Right, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come see you. How have they been doing in school?” Dustin asked as he bent down and ruffled Gin’s hair much to his annoyance.
“Sophia is doing wonderfully. She already knows how to read and write, and knows basic math. On top of that she likes to read quite a bit so she’s expanding her vocabulary rapidly.” Noel answered.
“As for Gin, he hasn’t entered school yet, but there isn’t really a need. He already knows how to read and write. We plan to homeschool him. Though that’s more of a front, he learns very fast so there is no need to really put him through the normal school routine.” Owari answered next.
“Right. He is still young after all. But for them to both be doing so well. How surprising. You have some intelligent children.” He was shocked honestly.
“We take good care of our children.” Noel said proud. Even though they knew Gin was a reincarnator, Sophia was a normal child and they had done a great job raising her.
“Right.” Dustin nodded. Knowing her and Owari like he did he wouldn’t be surprised if they read a bunch of books on childcare before Sophia was even a few months along. He was absolutely correct as well.
“Hello.” Sophia said shyly. She felt a bit awkward hearing them talking while excluding her.
“Hi there. It’s nice to see you again. You’ve grown.” Dustin chuckled and crouched down.
“I’ve always been grown up.” Sophia pouted. She was always told how grown up she was. She didn’t like the implication that she hadn’t always been grown.
“Right. “ Dustin just laughed. He felt she was being cute.
“Sophia, do you want to show him your favorite book?” Noel asked with a mischievous smile.
“Ohh, yeah!” Sophia seemed excited and bolted out the door. Neither Owari nor Noel stopped her.
“Well while she does that, I guess I should talk to you.” Dustin looked at Gin. “Hm…” Dustin felt something was off about Gin, he had a scowl on his face as if this was all a pain.
“Hey, stop frowning like you can’t be bothered. That’s your grandfather.” Owari pat Gin on the head causing him to frown more.
“Where’s grandmother?” He asked. Nobody ever talked about her, so he was curious.
“Well, she’s, uh…” Dustin stuttered and looked at Owari and Noel as if asking them to explain.
“She is no longer a part of the family. We disowned her.” Noel explained.
“Oh. Why?” Gin tried to stay simplistic in his speech, but he wasn’t great at it. He was sued to talking normally with his parents.
“That is a long story. We’ll tell you on the way back.” Owari answered.
“Okay.” Gin nodded. He knew they would tell him the full story on the train instead of a watered-down version for the sake of his grandfather.
“He seems quite smart.” Dustin noted.
“We told you. He already knows how to read and write. He reads a lot of books.” Noel said smugly.
“You seem quite proud.” Dustin laughed.
“He’s our son after all. What parent wouldn’t be proud of their kid when they succeed?” Owari replied.
“I just can’t wait until you have to give away your daughter.” Dustin smiled.
“I can’t wait to see what guy is brave enough to take my daughter.” Owari said seriously. This caused Gin to tilt his head but before he could ask Dustin interrupted him.
“Right. They’d have to be crazy. It seems she’s back.” At this moment Sophia rushed back into the door holding a book. “What’s that?” He took over the book she held up. It was quite thick and required all her strength to carry. “A thesaurus?” He said dumbfounded.
“Impressive right?” Noel smiled. “We had her read it one day when she asked us to teach her more words. We thought she’d hate it, but in the end she reads from it every day. She loves trying to memorize the words and whenever she does she always comes to show off to us.”
“I like the attention.” Sophia admitted.
“She’s a cute child.” Noel crouched down and hugged her tightly causing Sophia to smile brightly. Gin reached over and pet her head as well causing her to smile even more.
“It seems she is the center of the family dynamic.” Dustin noted.
“For the most part yes. We all love her a lot and she likes to bring people together and make them feel included. She’s really good at it too. Even the most antisocial of kids at school still can’t help but be pulled in.” Owari chuckled.
“I can see that.” even Dustin couldn’t help but want to focus on Sophia after seeing her smile. “Do you plan on training them?” Dustin suddenly asked.
“We already started showing them the stances and methods to grow.” Owari answered.
“Right. It was about Gin’s age when we started Noel.” Dustin nodded.
“Mhm.” Noel nodded.
After that they started to discuss the training methods to use while Dustin would occasionally talk to Gin or Sophia. Mostly he talked to Sophia who was more personable and easy to talk to. He couldn’t tell why but he felt like Gin wasn’t a big fan of him. What he didn’t know was that Gin didn’t like most adults, because he had to hide his intelligence. As for his feelings for Dustin, he didn’t know him well enough. But so far Gin had a favorable impression of him. After all anyone who treats Sophia well is fine in his books, at least until they prove to him otherwise.