XENOS POV:

Ok! Finally, I am five years old today. So that means today is my birthday.

Yahoo!

If you are thinking that I am this happy because today is my birthday and I have just turned five then my friend you are right in a way but you are also wrong in a certain way. I am this happy because today is the day when I will be checked for my magic ability and other abilities. Let's hope its something awesome.

I am will be going to the village leader’s house with my parents the since the priest will come there and check my attributes and abilities. I am so excited. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot I bet you must be excited about knowing what happened in this four and half months that you missed. So, don’t fear because I will tell you everything while going to the village leader’s house.

(Ashia): “Xenos. Lets go we will be late.We should not let others wait for us.”

(Ymir): “Is he again doing one of his internal monologues? Haaaa….He is getting weirder and weirder. Hey Xenos, let's go already or I will give you those bear hugs that you hate so much.”

(Xenos): “*Shiver* Coming mom. Coming dad. I was just reading the books in the library.”

“You and your library” replied mom with a gentle and doting expression.

“Stop the nonsense of reading the books. We all know that you were just dozing off. If you don’t stop dozing off from time to time then I will just have to give hugs on a regular basis to keep you to your senses.” dad said to my exclaim with a smug face.

Remembering those bear hugs from my dad when I was little, sends a chill down my spine. I mean he would just call me cute and squeeze me to his heart’s content and then rub his spiky beards on my cheeks. *shiver*

“No no, I was really reading books. Let's go I am ready now.” I had to reply with a wry smile.

“Well enough talking. Let's go you too.” Seeing us bickering with each other mom watched with a love filled expression and started to walk towards the village leader’s house while having a glint of sad look which looked she was reminiscing something from the past but she got rid of that expression soon. Unknown to her I noticed that look but I just shrugged it off since if mom did not want to say something, you cannot make her talk.

“Yeah coming honey. Let's go Xenos” While I was thinking dad started following mom and I followed them.

Alright, now that we are on our way, let me tell you about the things you missed in this four and six months. Sometimes I think who am I even talking to? I really need to stop doing it. It freaks me out too. Anyways let this be my last monologue that I am going to tell some imaginary person.

(Author: Yeah let's hope ≖‿≖ )

FLASHBACK:

So the day when I finally learned about the races from the books in the library, two days after that I said my first words. I mean I tried my best since I needed to do some incantation and for doing that I needed to be able to speak. So I tried my best and spoke my first words while mom was carrying me.

And the first word that I spoke was Mama. Well, when mom heard me saying my first words and them being mama, she just squealed like a little girl and started showering kisses on me while hugging me more tightly.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

When dad got bac home in the afternoon, he heard that I finally spoke my first words and e got really happy. And then he started asking me to call him Dada. Well I really don't mind saying it and it was also helpful for my vocal chord to develop easily if I said new words. Thinking this far i finally said Dada.

That was one of my greatest regrets in my life. That was the day that he gave me my first ever Bear Hug. I still remember that dreadful feeling of getting squeezed and getting your cheeks rubbed by beard. The pain that I tolerated that day, scarred me. While I was making that pitiful expression, mother just ignored it and happily sat there and my did kept giving me the bear hug. That was also the day when I saw how my mom betrayed me.

Enough about this rambling. As I was saying I started practicing saying many new things though most of them did not get pronounced correctly but I still stuck to it. Hoping that I will be able to speak earlier than others and may even able to start my magic training from an early age.

And at last, when I became one-year-old I was finally capable of speaking simple words. And it was also that time when I went outside of my house. I finally saw how beautiful this world looked and how magnificent the vast land that my dad cultivated was. Vast lands of a field full of crops which were swaying ever so lightly in the mild wind. At the end of the field, there was a vast forest which encircled our village completely and the only thing that separated the forest from our village was a simple fence that the villagers created. It was truly a sight to behold. Looking at my mesmerized look, mom and dad made fun of me and I had to return to reality. But it was truly magnificent. I finally felt like after one year of roaming in the house, I am finally free.

Our house was on a little hilltop which was near the centre of the village where the village chief lived with his family. And because of that I got a clear view of the village. The houses in the village were spread across a vast land which made the village look very big. The village was surrounded by mountains in the four sides which were spread across after where the forest ends. Truly my village was beautiful.

My parents carried me across the village and bragged to other villagers who were very happy to see me. I found out that my father was one of the supporting pillars of our village and the lead hunter. So everyone was respectful towards him. They were truly humble and kind. I am really happy to see the place I was born in has such kind and warming people.

After introducing me to literally every person in our village they brought me to the chief’s place. The chief was an old man with a grandfather vibe. He had a hunched back and used a stick to walk as the old age got to him. And surprisingly the old lady who helped me at my birth, Tesmania was the chief’s wife who helped pregnant women of the village to give birth. The chief did not have any children so they loved the children of the village as their own grandchildren. The chief and Tesmania were really happy to see me. They cuddled me and gave me sweets to eat. But as I was too little to eat sweets, I could not enjoy them.

After talking to them, my parents took me back to our house and later I came to know that the name of the chief was Claus. When we reached our home, my parents congratulated me on my first birthday and unexpectedly there was no concept of celebrating birthdays among commoners. Only nobles and royalties celebrated their birthdays.

After dinner both mom and dad made me sit in a chair and they sat in the opposite direction where I was sitting while facing towards me. The exuded a serious atmosphere, so I also paid attention to what they were about to say.

(Ymir): “Listen very carefully Xenos the reason why you were not allowed to leave the house before you were one year old is because there are dangerous monsters roaming outside the fence. They are called phantoms and they feed on the mana essence. And the infants before turning one year old, they have raw mana essence inside of them. And that attracts the phantoms towards them. In cities it is safe but in secluded villages like ours it is not that safe so they are only allowed to leave their house before the mana essence inside their body starts to concentrate when they turn one year old and form their mana core which is also the mana reserve. That’s why we did not let you leave the house before you turned one.

But you need to remember that even though no raw mana is flowing inside you, that does not mean that the phantoms will not attack you. So you are not allowed to leave the boundary of the village.”

“I understand father.” I nodded seriously to my dad’s words. I already knew it by reading about it in the books and that is also one of the reasons why I wanted to be able to speak since I have my mana reserve at the age of one and I will try to use magic.

*Ahem*

My mother coughed a little to get our attention.

(Ashia): “I know that you understand Xenos but remember one thing that you should not try to use any magic before you become five years old. I know that you like to read, since you always let us read the books in the library. But you must remember that if you used magic before you turned five then your body will not be able to withstand the influx of the magic and it will vaporize. So no magic before five years old.”

*Gulp* I unknowingly gulped the saliva that was being stored in my mouth. So that’s why all the books mentioned practicing magic after the age of five. There goes my perfect planning o practicing magic ahead of everyone of my generation. I guess it was a good thing that I childishly asked my parents to read me books from the library by pointing at them because of which I could read the books which were at the upper shelves and out of my reach.

(Ashia): “Do you understand my words, Xenos?”

(Xenos): “I understand and will remember mom.”

(Ashia): “Good, as long as you understand.”

After that conversation, we went to sleep and I spent the rest of my time before turning five in the library, reading the books. Even though I could not use magic tat does not mean that I should not store as much knowledge as I can.

FLASHBACK ENDS

While I was reminiscing about the past years, we finally reached the village chief’s house.

Let's enter it and find out what my future beholds.