“Happy Birthday, Aria!” That’s the greeting my parents gave me as I walk down from the second floor, half drowsy from just waking up a few minutes ago. It seems that breakfast had just finished being prepared, since my dad was currently laying it out on the table while my mother and I took our seats.
“Quickly, Aria, let’s eat! Today’s the day that you finally get your [Status Card!]” Obviously excited, my mother quickly starts eating her breakfast.
“Calm down, Hana, the [Guild Hall] isn’t going to run away. It only takes but half an hour to obtain a status card from there.” Having just finished making his own breakfast, my father sits down at the table and starts eating while my mother was already halfway finished.
“But there’s plenty of other things I want to do with Aria throughout the day~! Besides, I want to know how much talent our little girl has, since she’s such a smart kid!”
“Eating faster won’t make get us there faster, since you can only go when Aria and I are finish. May as well enjoy your meal.” Upon hearing this, my mother does slow down, but a hint of restlessness was still in her expression.
When we all leave the house after we finish eating, heading towards the [Guild Hall] via my father’s red hatchback. It wasn’t anything special compared to the other citizens in the city, since my dad didn’t really like splurging his money on pointless things. As he whistles to a song being played on the radio, my mother decides to start ask me a question to relieve her boredom.
“Hey, hey, Aria, do you have any idea on what you want to be when you grow up? Maybe be a mage like your dad, or a soldier like mommy here?” She asks me, who was sitting in the backseat of the car.
“Don’t ask her questions like that, she’s a bit too young to know what kind of career she’ll pursue. Maybe she wants to do something related to books, since she loves to read. Perhaps a librarian or a writer? A job as a soldier of the country is a bit dangerous, after all.”
“Muu… she’s our daughter, so don’t you think she’d have inherited our qualities? Like my bravery and strength, or your willpower and concentration! Besides, if she does know what she wants to be, we could send her to a specialized school to give her a head start against her peers and rivals!”
“Ah, that’d be nice, though I’m not so sure about sending her to a school here in Forlin. Most of the school here tend to accommodate a lot of nobles, both native and foreign nobles. I’d rather not let our little girl go to a place like that, where she may be harassed for being a middle class citizen. Besides, I think she’s too young to have developed enough mana for magic, I think it’d be best for her to wait a few years before choosing a specialized school, just like a normal child.” The car enters a parking lot as he says this, and I see a very large building that I assumed to be the [Guild Hall].
“We’re here now, so let’s save this conversation for later and head inside, shall we?” My father says as he parks the car, not allowing my mother the chance to reply as he shuts down the car engine.
We enter the [Guild Hall] together, a place that I’ve never been to before, and I was amazed at the architecture inside. It looked so much more amazing compared to the grand castles I’ve been invited to as the [Hero] in the past; more detailed, much larger, and extremely extravagant. My parents smile upon seeing me restlessly look around. They decide to leave me alone for a bit and head towards the receptionist desk.
As I wander around the place to examine everything, another family of three enters the building. Normally I would look away and ignore anyone that I wasn't familiar with, but someone there caught my eye. A young boy who seemed to be around my age, had an appearance that I was very familiar with. Short black hair, dark brown eyes, and a mole on the left cheek. This boy looked exactly like I did in my previous life.
“Oh, Captain, what a coincidence! You're here as well, along with Kieran!” The mother immediately greets my mom, which surprised me. The fact that she called my mother ‘Captain’ meant that she was a soldier working under her command in the past.
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“Lisa? Wow, it's been so long! You've changed so much now!” My mother heads over to the woman called Lisa, and exchanged greetings with their family. I stayed where I was, too shy to go over and join them since my mother would most likely try to make me speak to them. A few minutes later, my father finishes filling out all the necessary paperwork, and calls me over.
“Aria, here, hold this.” He hands me a metal card as I come up to him, and I could see that it was completely blank. Upon touching it though, I felt a something similar to an electrical shock run through my body for a split second, and the card finally displayed my status information.
Name Aria Brynhildr Age 8 Years Old Gender Female Level 3 Health 5,250 Mana 7,280 Strength 65 Agility 67 Arcanery 62
To my convenience, a lot of information had been left out, such as my titles and my classes. Although they might be confused about why I'm already level three, I'm sure they'll make their own conclusions about it. The biggest problem here is my actual stats that are clearly higher than what a child had. Perhaps I could try to cast an illusion spell to change the information before they see it?
“So, what does the card say? Let me have a look.” Standing behind me to peek over my shoulder, my father examines my card, before his expression freezes.
“Wait, Aria received her [Status Card] already? Why didn't you tell me! Let me see, let me see!” My mother comes over shortly afterwards, and grabs the card out of my hands. Just like her husband, as soon as she saw the information displayed, she froze on the spot. Confused, the receptionist also walked over and took a peek at the card, only to react the same way.
“Kieran. This is a dream, isn't it? I'll be waking up any moment now, and then we'll be taking Aria to the [Guild Hall] to get her [Status Card] for real, then we'll-”
“Hana, this is real. Our daughter has a status of an average, working adult at the age of eight years old.”
“...” An awkward moment of silence between us and the receptionist fills the air, before things got wild.
“Kieran! Kieran! Our little girl is an amazing prodigy! Despite being wrapped in those terrible bandages, she still has such a status! It's almost like she's been blessed!” Pulling me into a tight hug, my mother begins to spin me around in joy. The receptionist quickly went back behind the counter as to not disturb us and proceeds to help the other family with whatever they needed.
“A blessing, huh? That may be the reason why she has those stats. Perhaps it's also negating the power of the bandages, so she isn't affected by it at all.” How lucky of me, my parents seems to have come to their own conclusion about my abilities.
“What should we do, Kieran? Actually, wait, Aria, what do you want to do? Is there anything you want to be when you grow up? It's important to tell us early so we can help you however we can while you're still young!” Finally stopping her spinning, my mother puts me down and asks me a question that I already had the answer to.
“Don't pressure her, Hana, give her some time to think of a choice. She won't be able to-”
“An adventurer.” Interrupting my father, I state my decision to the both of them without hesitation. Both of them were taken aback from how loudly and confidently I spoke, since I’ve never projected my voice like this before.
“That should be fine.” My mother answers me first, surprising me at how fast it came without any hesitation.
“Eh!? Hana, are you sure about this!? Being an adventurer is far more dangerous than any other occupation out there!”
“Don’t be such a coward, dear. We both pursued dangerous careers revolved around combat as well, she shouldn’t deny our own child her chance to do so as well. Can’t you tell how set she is on becoming one?” For the first time, I see a serious side of my mother that displayed wisdom from her own life experience. My father stops hesitating after seeing this, and simply accepts my choice as well.
“Then the decision is over! Now, let’s leave this talk for later at home, now I just want to eat some ice cream with my daughter on her birthday!” Reverting back to her normal self, my mother dashes out the [Guild Hall], with my father and I following behind. We spent the rest of the day happily celebrating my birthday, and by the time we finally returned home, I was feeling tired from all the walking we did today. I really enjoyed the time I spent with these two, and I can only hope that these happy times will last the next few years I stay with him.