A few more months had passed, and spring had arrived, alongside my birth month, March.

Ever since Maia’s birthday, she spent most of her time reading the books dad bought her. Unlike the previous one she had told me the content of though, those were a bit harder for her to understand, so she reread them until she understood them.

Her training with Aldric was postponed due to the cold winter temperature, and also since he had also gifted Maia an archery guide, so she had to study that first to understand the technical part of archery first.

It was about a week before my birthday that her training was finally going to start.

“Maiaaa! Aldric came to pick you up!”

Mom had called her downstairs, and since I was already with her she also took me down with her.

“Yo! You ready for your first day of training?”

Aldric was a pretty tall man, with blonde long hair that he tied in a man bun, and green eyes.

“I’ve been waiting months for this day! I finally finished and understood all of the books too”

Both of them seemed equally excited, which I expected from Maia but not really from Aldric. Although it did make sense considering that in the entire village there was no one else that had even the slightest interest in archery, let alone actually be able to use a bow.

I guess I’ll have to stay home with mom, huh? Well it can’t be helped..

But right when I thought that, dad had opened the front door looking both excited and a bit pissed at the moment.

“Aldric, how long are you going to keep me waiting?”

“Sorry sorry, we were about to come your way now”

Dad took a deep breath then sighed once before continuing.

“Let’s not waste any more time, I want to come home before it gets completely dark”

“You’re right, we should get going”

I didn’t really understand why dad was here and what they were talking about, but since I didn’t think I’d be coming with them I didn’t try and ask, which is why I was especially surprised when dad walked towards Maia and took me from her arms instead.

“You’re coming with us little man, I’m sure you’re also curious to see your sister’s training for the first time”

He then put me on his shoulders, so I started holding his head with my arms, and after he properly grabbed my legs we started walking outside.

“See you later honey! We’ll be back before dinner”

“Take care”

After mom’s last reply, dad closed the door behind and we started walking.

“Where are we going?”

I was able to talk even though minimally at this point, which came out pretty useful like in this case as I asked dad.

“Behind your village there’s a forest, so we can’t exercise there.”

“Why?”

“Though it’s not my speciality, I’ll also teach Maia the basics of magic, and just like your mother, Fire seems to be her most affinate element… we don’t want to risk burning the forest down, you know? Haha”

“Then where are we going?”

“As I said, behind the village there’s a forest, but in front of it there’s a rocky hill, so that’s where we’re going. I was already there preparing the spot for the training, and told aldric to come pick you both up, but he was taking too long so I also came.”

He was glaring at him while saying the second part, but I understood why honestly.

I haven’t Asked Maia about the magic book yet, so I didn’t really get what dad meant by affinity to fire magic, but it wasn’t necessarily something that needed an explanation at the end of the day. I could guess what it meant in this context.

It was about half a hour of walking, but we eventually got there. Dad had prepared a few targets for Maia to train her archery on, a few seats made with a few logs and a table.

“Alright, you can go first Aldric, me and Cael will watch for now”

He put me down from his shoulders in the meaning, and sat on one of the seats then sat me on his legs, which was pretty comfortable but besides the point.

Aldric took out arrows he had taken with him from the bag he was carrying, and laid them on the table, waiting for Maia to take out her stuff which mom had already prepared before we left, and she took with us. It was her books and bow.

“I don’t think I need to explain the basics to you, do I?”

“No, I know the basic technical parts.”

“Alright then”

He took one arrow from the table, and showed Maia how far to stand from the target, which in this case was about 7 meters.

“I won’t go easy on you just because your dad is here, I hope you know that”

“That’s exactly what I wanted.”

She then loaded the arrow, and got in position.

“Straighten your back.”

Maia obeyed Aldric’s words without a moment of hesitation, which wasn’t something anyone would accept right away, but she knew he was right.

“Relax your knees.”

She again did as he said without a complaint.

he’s completely different from the usual Aldric… his glare alone could probably make someone faint if they’re too weak mentally..

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I looked up to my dad, but he was expectedly unfazed. They’ve known each other since they were kids, so this was probably nothing new to him.

“When Aldric gets serious he’s one heck of a pain in the ass you know? Always so strict and annoying”

Though dad was openly mocking him, Aldric didn’t seem angry whatsoever, or rather he actually smirked for a second, then got back into serious mode.

“Relax your knees, and keep your feet on the same level.”

Maia again did as he said without a word.

“Alright, you finally have a decent stance, now load the arrow.”

“Heh, you’re saying she has a “decent” pose even when you’re this excited?”

I looked at dad after he spoke, because no matter how much I looked at Aldric, his face seemed as serious as one could be.

“He says Maia’s stance is decent, but even I can tell. Her stance right now is perfect. And I’m not saying it because I’m her father either. Aldric is trying to not let his excitement in seeing such perfect stance slip out to try and look cool, but he cannot fool me”

are you sure you’re not misunderstanding…? His face seems like a perfect poker face to m-

But my thoughts had been cut short the next moment, because Aldric wasn’t smirking like earlier, but he was actually smiling.

“I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“I’m your best friend after all”

Although I was enjoying their friendly exchange, Maia wasn’t annoyed like I’d expect her to be when her teacher pays more attention to his best friend than her. She was still 100% focused, and didn’t move a single muscle from the stance she was directed into.

“Your concentration is also perfect. I’ve never seen an 8 year old that can stay focused like you, let alone while keeping a perfect archery stance.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

He seemed pleased with Maia’s answer to his praise, and at this point he stopped trying to hide his expressions which made it easier to follow.

“Your stance is perfect, your concentration is perfect, all that’s left to test is the blow itself.”

“Yes!”

Maia then fired her arrow, which left each of us besides her speechless. Even though it was only from 7 meters, the arrow hit the target almost instantly, with a force and accuracy so immense that not only she hit the perfect center of it, but the arrow completely passed through the target, leaving a clean hole behind.

is she really an 8 years old girl…?

“How was it!? How was it!?”

Her excitement while asking the obvious made it even harder for any of us to comment, because she genuinely thought an opinion was needed even though it should’ve been obvious.

“Aldric… let’s switch to magic training”

“Yeah…”

you gotta be joking… right?

Aldric was way too stunned to answer Maia, so dad did it instead.

“Maia… normally you don’t leave a hole in the target to begin with. Let alone on your first try… that shouldn’t even be possible for an 8 years old”

“I’m sure Aldric can do better than me though!?”

“He can, probably.”

“Probably..?”

At that point Aldric had already taken a seat, but it seemed as if he was questions his whole archery career because of it. We decided to ignore it though, and dad handed me to him to get up and switch to magic practice.

“I’ll go over the basics even though you already read the book, it’s just to make sure. Alright?”

Maia nodded, and remained silent to let dad speak.

“Everything in this world is made out of energy. We’re all born with a certain amount of it inside of us, which can grow with training, but usually most people don’t even bother to do so since anyone born with a large amount is guarantee to be strong, and it takes a lot of work to increase it.”

this is the first time I hear about it, I didn’t ask Maia after all.. it’s getting interesting

“Magic is the phenomena we call when someone materializes part of their energy into one of the 4 elements. Usually an average human can use just one element which is the one they gave the highest affinity to, but in some cases they can use 2 if not all 4.”

seems like your classic magic system for now, though it’s still interesting in its own way

“Some people are also born with special types of magic outside of elemental ones, but they are fairly rare. Only about 1 in 1000 people. You should be able to feel it if you concentrate enough. Try it out Maia”

“Alright..”

She then closed her eyes, and seemed to be really focused. Not that I could know though but still. Keeping that focused state for a few moments, the silence was so prominent it was almost loud, but it was eventually broken by Maia with a sigh.

“I don’t think I do… but I can feel it. I can tell what element I can use”

“Hm? I think I could guess it, but I’ll let you say it”

“Just like mom, it’s fire”

She seemed pretty happy about it, which also released some of the tension from her ridiculously powerful first arrow.

“I thought so”

Dad also had a proud grin on his face as he patted Maia’s head.

“I can use fire magic, but it’s not my highest affinity, So I can’t directly help you. But magic in general works the same for all of them.”

“Feel the mana, imagine it materializing, and release it. Right?”

“Correct. But there’s another aspect of it that I don’t think the book included.”

“Really?!”

Maia seemed particularly excited about it.

“Really. You see, the books say that you can only create elements, but in reality you can also manipulate the actual natural ones.”

wouldn’t that need you to manipulate the mana in the actual element though?

But dad quickly answered my thoughts.

“I’m sure you’re thinking something like “wouldn’t that need to manipulate energy outside of your body?” And you would be correct to ask yourself that. So I’ll answer it. To make it short, no. While manipulating natural energy is possible, it’s not something humans are born with. Usually elves are naturally born with that ability. But humans can also do a similar version which consists in extending your own mana and overwriting the mana in what you’re trying to manipulate with your own will.”

“Uhm… I don’t really get it..”

Maia’s confusion was understandable. Though her early display might say otherwise, she was still only 8 after all.

“I’ll explain it in a easier way then. When you materialize an element you extend your internal mana outside of your body, and shape it with your will to create whatever attack you’re looking for. This isn’t any different. Let’s use earth magic as an example. Instead of materializing a rock with your mana, you can extend it in a precise area on the ground, and manipulate it the same way you materialize earth magic.”

“So… instead of materializing the mana, I use it to change the shape of an already existent element?”

“Correct. Everything is made out of mana after all. Though we cannot use the natural mana like elves do, we can manipulate it to a certain extent, which is limited to our affinate element, but still better than nothing.”

”better than nothing” my ass! That could be ridiculously useful!

Maia seemed to have the same thought as me, since her next question matched my thoughts.

“So If a fire breaks out naturally… does that mean I can just disperse it?”

“Technically, If you manage to control the mana In it, yes it’s possible. I guess better than nothing wasn’t the right thing to say haha”

that’s cool an all…. But it still doesn’t explain how he cut that tree that day… but i was only around a month old, it would be weird for me to ask about it..

“The book also spoke about a different system from magic, that also works with mana though, what about that?”

Maia’s timing was genuinely so perfect it almost scared me, but nonetheless I was extremely interested in the answer, so I didn’t think much of it.

“Ohh, that? It’s actually what I’m better at myself”

“Is that so? What is it exactly? The book didn’t explain it well..”

“You can also use mana to strengthen objects, or even yourself. As an example, when I cut down trees, I infuse my mana into my axe, which strengthens it exponentially. You can also release your raw mana from a weapon, without materializing it into an element. It has a way higher damage output, but it’s extremely hard to learn. It takes a level of mastery of your mana flow pair to that of an average Recruit of the Sentinels of Ascendancy.”

does that mean… I could shoot out getsuga tenshous?!

Dad went on to explain a bit more about how it works, but the general explanation was that you could use your raw mana without materializing it to enhance your body’s strength, speed, senses and even fly and some other stuff that I didn’t care enough to remember. I wasn’t really interested anymore at that point.

the only part I cared about at that point was being able to release it with a weapon. Why’s that? Because it meant I could technically shoot out a getsuga Tenshou. Just like him. That was probably the best discovery I’ve made ever since I got reincarnated.

After explaining the basics to Maia which she already knew the most of from the book, he had her try make a simple fire spell and launch it towards one of those archery targets prepared earlier, and of course she did it without problems.

At that point it was clear for all 3 of us, Maia was a prodigy. And there was no denying to it.

Being a prodigy in archery, and easily being able to use magic and strength, those were not characteristics of an 8 years old girl.

That day we all knew, that Maia was going to bypass both of them very soon. And personally I had no idea if I could ever compare to her.