A soft voice echoed through the house, coming from a room beside the staircase, lit up and warmed by a blazing fire in the hearth. A blonde woman in white robe held a book, of seemingly fairy tales, reading it passionately to the boy in the bed.

The boy, although having the body of a 3-year-old, possessed the mind of an adult human, a subject of reincarnation. He was named "Aydem". During these 3 years, Aydem learned how to property communicate with his parents, while secretly teaching himself how to read. He also spied on the parents and the neighbors to find out useful information about the world, plus what people in the town generally believed in.

His family didn't have rich blood. They were just low-born peasants. Nobodies whom nobody cared anything about. The father, Xander, from whom Aydem got his dark, gloomy hair, worked in a farm all day and transported goods during the night, when almost no one would take such a job. The mother, Emine, on the other hand, didn't have to work, because of her husband's excessive efforts during the day and night.

Emine had a stunning look and appearance unlike Xander who appeared quite disheveled. It was hard to imagine a woman like her to live with such a man. He would bet she has some kind of royal blood in her veins, but apparently, she was also a peasant.

Aydem didn't get a lot of information from Xander since the guy would work himself to death, being completely worn out when getting back home. In any case, Aydem didn't think that his dad has any valuable knowledge to offer. I don't intend to be a farmer or a transporter, so I'm afraid daddy's advice will be of no use to me.

They had a high opinion of Aydem, considering him a genius. Still, Aydem couldn't directly go to his mother and ask, "Hey! Can you tell me more about magic?" that would be too suspicious. The execution had to be smooth and fit into what an actual 3-year-old boy would do.

"Tonight's story is 'Fiend's Three Hurdles,'" she said, leaning beside her boy on the bed.

"Woah! That seems awesome!" he said, looking excited.

"Once upon a time, there lived an evil fiend. It would attack people and harm them. The commoners, who could no longer put up with the fiend's raids, decided to ask for the help of two famous knights.

"The two knights accepted to help the people. They searched for the fiend, but it was smart and deceptive. Fiend knew that facing the two knights meant defeat, so it decided to speak to them while hiding from their eyes. 'Hello you mighty knights! If you accept and come out victorious in my three hurdles, I will no longer attack people,' the fiend said, and they agreed.

"The fiend, feeling smug, said, 'The first one is simple. You must find my shadow.' The knights searched day and night for fiend's shadow. After a week, they finally found it, but both looked exhausted. One of them suggested that they use magic to imprison the fiend's shadow secretly, and the other knight agreed. 'Excellent!' the fiend said. 'Now for the second one, you must find me.'

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"The knights searched weeks and weeks for the fiend. After a month, they finally found it, but both of them looked worn out. Fiend, proud of his deception, said, 'The final hurdle is to defeat me.' But the two knights were out of strength because of the previous two hurdles. They could hardly fight the fiend.

"Without any notice, the fiend came after the two knights, thinking it can defeat them in their conditions. However, the knights used their remaining strength to summon the fiend's imprisoned shadow. The fiend was doomed to fight its own shadow forever.

"Safe from fiend's attacks, the commoners lived happily ever after."

She looked vivacious while narrating the tale, as always when doing something for her son, like in this case, telling him bedtime stories.

Although Aydem found the story boring and full of fairytale tropes, he couldn't let that feeling become apparent through his face, trying his best to look animated.

"That was so cool!" he said, "The fiend got busted really cool."

Emine smiled in a tender manner, showing happiness that her son had enjoyed the tale.

"By the way, mom..." Aydem said, in a lower voice than before.

"Hum? What's that?" she responded, curious what her son intended to say.

"What is that thing called magic? How did the knights imprison fiend's shadows?"

"You see, sweetheart, magic allows people to do wonderful stuff. Stuff that seems impossible to do."

"So can I use magic too?"

She hesitated a little bit, continuing, "Of course, sweetheart! Did you take a liking to it?"

"Yes! It is so cool!"

"That's amazing! I'm sure you're going to become a famous wizard in the future!"

That discussion didn't add anything substantial. The same conversation could happen in the previous world he lived in. Aydem knew that this world did have magic according to the promise made with the goddess, but he didn't know how widespread it was.

His mother had a huge love for her son, and she didn't particularly seem to be of the religious type. These facts, along with the constantly-growing impatience, made him attempt to speed things up.

"Mom," he said, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said.

"You're telling me the truth, right?"

Emine looked confused for a moment, but she did respond after a second of delay, "Of course, darling!"

"You're telling me the actual truth and not what I like to be the truth?"

That sentence immediately froze her in place. Her son didn't seem to be a typical 3-year-old. He could see through the trickeries of the adults.

"You see, mom, I intend to actually learn this thing called magic. I'm serious about it. Not in fairy tales, not in my imagination, but actually in the reality."

She still remained silent, carrying a surprised mild face instead of the usual smiling one. He couldn't recall when was the previous time she didn't stare at him with a gentle smile.

"You see, mom, if this magic thing is not real, or if it's impossible for me to learn it, then I would be devastated. I'd like you to tell me the truth right now and not later."

Breaking into tears, her soft, gentle smile once again appeared on her face. She touched Aydem's hair in a tender manner, getting closer to him.

"You are my magic, mommy's genius little boy! And of course it is real, and of course you can learn it. My clever son can do much more than that, much much more!"