Grandpa Golex sat beside me, his gigantic body dwarfing my small form. Joining us today were my pregnant Aunt Fiya and not pregnant Uncle Baston. Not that we were actually related, they were my parents' friends and party members from back during their Adventurer days.

Neither of them were human.

Aunt Fiya was of a race of people called a fountan. A species capable of producing usable mana. She shared a lot of the same features as that of a human, and it was hard to even pick her apart at first glance, aside from the bright sky-blue hair that Fountans were known to have.

Notably, Fiya did not have a right hand. In its place was a wooden prosthetic overgrown with vines and leaves. The plantlife growing on the wood wriggled and writhed, likely because of the mana-producing organ underneath that did not stop beating like a heart. This was not unique to her, but a feature that all fountans shared.

Uncle Baston also looked very much like a human, but with very different proportions. In particular, his limbs were way too short but very muscular. Another difference was the size of his eyes, ears, and nose. They were very big. Baston was of a species of people called the ishkawtans.

The four of us were relaxing nicely on our front lawn, drinking juice and exchanging stories. Further down the hill, my parents were having a fight.

Not one that was angry or anything. They were literally going to fight, as in a friendly spar. My dad was armed with a greatsword, while my mom had a heavy staff, topped with a large crystal shaped into some sort of helix structure of various colors. Red, blue, brown, and a nearly white green.

They both had metal-plated leather armor on, but it did not cover everything. Large parts of their back were exposed, revealing the roomy tunic within, and only the outer or forward-facing parts of their limbs were armored.

“Why wittle armur…” I blushed upon messing up my words.

Grandpa immediately perked up. “So you noticed! That’s because we’re humans! Less clothing is better for our sweat to do its work.”

“Veri smelly!”

“Indeed!”

The confrontation happening down the hill continued.

“Oh, I’m sorry Rallem, but I’m going to have to utterly destroy you,” Mom told her husband in a heartbroken tone. “I must show Haell how cool her mother is. So I’m afraid I must beat you up.”

She raised her large staff, and the design of it made me think of various natural disaster working in harmony.

Dad chuckled and shook his head. “I suppose I must give my level best too. Show Haell what’s out there, or at least a part of it.” He didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic but he raised his gigantic sword regardless. And by gigantic, I meant relative to my three-meter-tall father. The weapon was decorated with various sigils and carvings depicting patience and a measured approach to battle. “I apologize in advance, for the embarrassment that will follow.”

“Yours.”

“No you.”

“No you.”

The two temporarily retired adventurers taunted each other some more. I was bouncing on my seat in excitement and anticipation for the fight to come.

Grandpa Golex laughed boisterously. "That's how adventurers are supposed to be! Not these Angel-suckers that now run the guilds! Have some pride! Be free! HUMANITY FUCK YEAH!"

"WOOOO!!" I also cheered, raising up my two chubby little arms. I'd rather be a demon though. But still. WOOOOO FUCK YEAH!!!

"Golex!" Mom shouted with a furious look on her face. It looked as if she was about to start shooting fireballs at the old man. "What the fuck are you saying in front of my daughter!?"

Dad snorted, but tried to hide his laughter. He failed.

"What!?" Mom snapped at him next.

"Dear. You also cursed."

Her expression froze for a moment, before she clamped both hands over her own mouth. "I-it's all your fault! Both of you! I forgot I wasn't supposed to either! Argh!"

"You're just dumb!" Fiya laughed from my side, and I spilled some juice on her for insulting my mom. "Hey!"

Baston laughed. "That was your fault, honey. You shouldn't say such things out loud, even if they're true." He found some juice spilled all over him too. "Oof. Clever, this one."

"Hah! See! My baby's on my side!" Mom pointed the butt of her staff back at her husband. "Now fight! I'll show Haell one H(a)ell of a show!" She turned to me briefly. "Ah! But make sure to remember that you can be whatever you want when you grow up! You don't gotta be an adventurer! It's very cool though! Except when it’s not! Which is often!"

I nodded in understanding, grateful for the reminder even if I didn’t need it. That they didn’t wish to twist me to their own ideals made me happy, even if that really should have been the bare minimum.

Mom’s jovial smile remained, but both her and Dad’s eyes sharpened. They watched each other like evileyes. (A species of monster that could extend their magic’s range through the medium of sight.)

With a nod, they exploded into motion. I could barely follow their movements, and I only understood the general idea of what was going on.

Dad charged at Mom, and she dislodged and shaped the soil to pelt him with spikes and bullets of stone. He pushed through and tanked a few of them, while blocking and swatting away the majority with his oversized sword. It was when he got closer that the magic came to life much faster. The earth underneath him hampered his movements, and a storm of fire manifested to surround him.

Dad was damaged, injured by the display, but he was not surprised. It must have been painful but he continued his advance. He slashed down at my mom, but the sword was parried away by the weight of her staff and a magical gale of wind. All the other magics stopped and a massive burst of fire manifested right next to Dad’s face, an attack that clearly missed on purpose. But it was not fast enough as in the same moment, Dad had regained his balance and slammed the flat of his sword onto Mom’s side. There was a crack and an impact, before she was tossed away and forced to her knees.

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The view of the battlefield suddenly disappeared, and I looked up at Grandpa in confusion, for he had blocked my way with his massive hand. It took a few moments of us staring at each other, before the reality finally caught up to me.

I had been so transfixed, that I had started subconsciously crawling towards them.

"Exciting isn't it!?" Grandpa chuckled loudly. "But you best stay back. It's dangerous for you yet. Wait til you grow big and strong! Like me!"

YEAH!! I nodded with sparkling eyes, and then fell back.

Mom groaned and writhed on the ground for a short while, until she was able to sit back up and heal herself with a spare wand. The dancing and lengthening of the grass around her hinted that it was nature magic.

"You'd be dead if it hit. Burnt." Mom was the first to speak up.

Dad took a deep breath. "So would you if I used the sharp end."

"Yeah!" Mom agreed, annoyed. "And that's going to be a fucking pain to fix! My attack didn't leave your equipment damaged! I even missed it on purpose! Unfair!

Dad smirked. "So mine was stronger then?"

"We would've both died." She stressed.

"Yes. But my attack was still stronger."

"That's not how it works!"

"I think it is! Go brawn!" Fiya pumped her fist up.

"I'm obligated to go for brains then," Baston said. "Us mages gotta stick together."

Mom and Dad digested the words of their friends, and then they both turned to me with eyes full of hope, looking to a baby to settle the debate.

I then turned to gramps to try and foist this terrible role on him instead.

"Gahahaha! I wanna hear what you'd say to get out of this situation!"

What!? That was some terrible reasoning, so I blew him a raspberry and turned back to my hopeful parents.

"...Luv. Both!"

That's what I settled for, and it had the intended effect. Their hearts both melted, and they squeezed me in between their hard metal armor. The hug was less than comfortable, but I returned it regardless.

They went for another round of fighting, after a short break.

"It was a tie and you know it." Mom readied her stance. "Now time for my victory.

"You're right. It is indeed time for my victory," Dad simply stated and charged. He sped through the clearing like a raging bull, kicking up grass and ground as he ran. Mom also began to run away, this time making sure to keep her distance while peppering my father with projectiles of fire and earth from afar. She also mixed in some sharp winds and thin slicing beams of water into her barrage. The former in specific was hard to keep track of and easy to land, but they didn’t cut quite as deep as highly pressurized water.

It quickly became apparent how much more agile my mom was. She ran around with grace and speed, switching directions on a dime, meanwhile, my dad could just barely keep up in actual speed, but he was left behind with every turn. He swatted away what projectiles he could, but minor injuries began to appear on his exposed limbs. Mom almost got caught in some vines that Dad tried to use to pin her down because he was able to use magic too. Which was confusing because I knew it required a focus and magic apparatus… Aha! It's in his belt with a crowning green jewel at the center. Probably.

No wait! I looked at Dad's boots, and found them to be studded with gems and enchantments, same as his belt. That too! Whichever one!

The vines did slow my mom down a bit, but not nearly enough. She was able to step away from them, and either burn or leave the offending plantlife behind.

I crawled closer and closer towards the action to get a better look, until my grandpa had to pick me up and pull me back.

I did not let that dissuade me, as I watched their fight and began imagining myself in the same scenario.

I swung at the air. I pretended to cast magic. I bounced around and rolled.

I made all of those motions while crawling at the edge of Grandpa's large lap.

The battle raged on and on, it showed no signs of stopping. The two combatants were a blur as they circled around our hill without pause.

Dad stomped and charged after my mother, and she in turn made sure to always be a step ahead of him lest she be caught out. And then she failed to take that one step ahead and was caught, her magic momentarily failing–except it was all a ploy and Dad’s feet suddenly sunk into the now muddy ground! The man was momentarily put off balance, and Mom’s barrage of magic returned with a renewed vigor now that Dad was at close range.

My father swiped and swatted around him through the pain, but Mom deftly dodged and parried the clumsy swipes. My dad moved to get out of the mud pit, which was an easy endeavor for someone as strong as he was, it really only served to briefly put him off balance. But it was enough.

Something happened, and Dad immediately stumbled again just after getting out.

Mom had taken out a dagger and sliced at his exposed legs, all the while continuing to cast with her staff on the other hand. She immediately jumped away when Dad whirled around to catch her with his weapon. The magic then stopped for a mere moment, only for a large spike of earth to spear out of the ground and barely miss my father.

"I win." Mom announced.

Dad took a deep breath, as if about to argue, but he relented in the end. "Yeah. You win that one."

"Hah! See that Haell! Your mom's better!"

"A fluke." Dad protested, his breathing heavy. Blood dripped from every bit of exposed skin.

Mom shrugged. "Sure."

“We both need a rest.” He slumped down to the ground, and vines began writing around him as he used healing magic.

Mom decided to help him out, taking out a separate wand. A bright light shone in between them, causing their wounds to glow in turn and heal faster.

Mom and Dad fought again after a short break, and this time Dad did not immediately rush in. He chased after Mom like before, but with a far more controlled pace. He remained on the defensive, parrying and dodging the woman's magic while trying to corner her somewhere within the wide reach of his weapon.

I found myself crawling again, mind alight with the possibilities. Grandpa picked me up and put me in his lap so that I may no longer be able to wander off, but I still found my way down from there, dropping clumsily back onto the grass.

The fight continued as Dad weathered more and more projectiles. He made sure to always be moving and looking for an opportunity to pounce on my mother. The woman was forced to react to even the lightest of stabs, for it was a very heavy weapon wielded by an equally heavy man.

A swing of Dad's greatsword went wide, and Mom immediately fell back and ran while channeling a great beam of water. Dad shifted his stance and used his greatsword as a moving shield or to swat away the stone projectiles that still occasionally shot out of the ground.

I got up from my crouch and tried to mimic their movements. From the way Mom twirled her staff, to the flow of magic; the sword, and the martial arts of it. Slowly, on wobbling legs I stood, as multiple vines snaked from the grass, which Mom was still able to dodge, but it limited her movements and herded her toward where my father wanted her to be. That was when Dad suddenly threw his sword and sprinted, narrowing my mom's options even more. She swung her staff, gathering flames around her, but Dad only dove through the fire and crashed into the woman, sending both their bodies rolling upon the grass.

My parents both turned to me at that moment, and then they squealed.

"Haell!"

"Haell you're walking!"

They rushed forward, having forgotten entirely about the spar or its conclusion. They had excited looks on their faces as they removed their helmets, stopping just short of me.

"That's it Haell! You can do it!" Mom cheered.

"Come on! Just one step in front of the other!" Dad demonstrated with his own feet.

I looked up at them, and scrunched my brow. I understood what they wanted, so I took control of my body, forcing my tiny legs to support my tiny weight.

Come on!

Slowly, shakily, I pushed my foot forward. I took a single step, and then my hearing was entirely and completely overwhelmed.

“YES!”

“HAELL’S WALKING!”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

“OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!”

“OUR BABY GIRL IS GROWING UP!!!”

Mom and Dad cheered like crazy, jumping up and hugging each other, before they scooped me up and sandwiched me in between their embrace.

I returned the courtesy of course, happy about the milestone, and overjoyed that I could make them happy. Grandpa too was crying and cheering in the background. Fiya and Baston had kind smiles on their faces.

I was so happy for their support, and I'd be looking forward to receiving more of it once I begin my training proper. I had seen what was possible, and now, armed with the ultimate ability to toddle; I must go further beyond! For there was no way a demon's martial and magical prowess would lag behind.