“Hey, Soleil! Hello? WOI!”

“Wh-wuh?!”

“Stop eating! That’s your third slab of meat already! What the hell?”

“O… Ah… Oops, apologies! This meat… apparently tastes really good.”

“... What the hell are you talking about?”

Soleil looked up in a daze. She saw her friends gathered around a campfire, eating meat and making merry.

Matthias, the unreliable leader of the party, had his hand on her shoulder. The joint felt quite sore. He must have shaken her hard to get her attention. If only he wasn’t holding a drumstick of his own, then being asked to stop would have carried a bit more gravity to it.

Manna sat beside him, uncaring. She was drinking ale while leaning on Matthias’ shoulder. The look on her face showed how content she was at that moment. Truly the loyal type; she probably wouldn’t have minded if they just ended the night there so long as everybody could stay where they were.

Then, there was Nail’s party. They had taken different places around the campfire, like birds on a tall tree. Nail was on a log with Mie by his side, while Kilo crouched next to the fire to tend to it. In the distance, she saw Ujel standing by a tent, acting as the lookout. It was kind of funny how she was doing so with a drumstick in her right hand and a cup of ale in the other. As for Egan, he was at the table cutting up more meat to grill.

She remembered. They were there to celebrate their first major quest and their promotion. It was supposed to have been only the three of them there, but Nail and his party suddenly appeared out of nowhere and joined in on the fun. By then, it had become crowded, and even Sharon, the receptionist who had helped them from the start, had been called to take part.

“What’s the deal? Spacing out like that… Did you even hear my story?”

“Ah…” she mumbled. She racked her brain for an answer, but nothing came up. That was strange. She was usually very attentive when it came to stories. “Again, my apologies. I must have fallen asleep.”

“What? Man. I’m not going to repeat that.”

Manna giggled beside him. “He’s too embarrassed. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”

“Oh shut up.”

Everybody laughed. Except for Mie. She seemed like a person that was hard to please. In fact, she looked like she didn’t even want to be there.

“Anyway! It’s your turn. Tell us a story.”

“A story? About what?”

“Your childhood. Come on. Give us something to work with, here.”

Well, Matthias looked grumpy. The story he shared must have been quite the shameful one judging by Manna’s mischievous look. But that put Soleil in a predicament. What kind of story would be nice to share?

Her mind blanked out. Weird.

“Tell us about a trauma. Something that still haunts you to this day.”

She couldn’t refuse.

----------------------------------------

"“Get up, sleepy!”

She heard a voice. It was faint but barely perceptible.

“It’s time for breakfast!”

It was a nostalgic voice. It brought warmth and comfort to her heart.

“Come on! The food’s going to get cold!”

The voice was like a lullaby, pulling her deeper into slumber. She sunk further into the soft bed while cuddling her beloved pillow.

“Soleil?”

Her name was called. She didn’t know why, but her name being enunciated by that voice felt so natural and comforting. She felt her lips loosen into a smile.

“Mom…” she called out to the voice. “I miss you…”

“Aww… that’s cute. NOW GET UP!”

Soleil suddenly felt more comfortable than ever before. It was like she had been freed from the bounds of gravity. The feeling of softness was unparalleled. Her drowsiness increased twofold and she found herself falling deeper into the throes of slumber.

–and onto the floor.

Soleil’s days followed a consistent schedule. She would always wake up right as the sun passed through her windows, wash her face at the well, and then head to the dining room for breakfast. Most of the time she would eat with both her mother and father. That was the only leisure time she had for the rest of the day until lunchtime. After that, her mother would train her for several hours in martial arts until Soleil collapsed or her mother became bored; whichever came first. And yes, there would be no break until they stopped. Whenever she took a seat or leaned on a tree, her mother would always beat her silly.

It was truly a spartan kind of training.

The remaining couple-odd hours before lunch was for magic training with her father. They allotted a much shorter time for it because of Soleil’s relative ineptitude. All she had to do was practice augmenting her body.

After lunch, the rest of the day was left for her to spend however she pleased. It was during that time when both of her parents would leave for work.

Roughly two hours before dusk, her mother would come back with the day’s spoils. She expected Soleil to be back at home from whatever it was that she did that afternoon. By then, they would butcher the animal together and get everything cleaned up before her father arrived at sunset. Her father would arrive sometime later before sunset, and the family would have dinner together and end the day.

“Dad! Good morning!”

“Ah, Soleil. Good morn… ing… what happened? Why do you have a bump on your head?”

Her father placed the scroll he was reading down on the table and rubbed her head gently. She snuggled up against his hand in response.

He, Mayes, was a former adventurer who filled the role of a mage. After retiring from his party, he decided to spend the rest of his days as a shopkeeper in a remote village by the sea. He was also the only person in the house who knew how to cook since her mother had difficulty controlling her strength, while Soleil was just naturally uninterested in learning anything other than how to fight.

It was a cause of major concern for him.

“Listen, dad! Mom, she–”

“Oh? What about me, sweetie?”

Her mother yanked her away and held the top of her head in a vice grip. The pressure she exerted was enough to cause Soleil to want to yelp in pain. But she knew well enough that if she did, her mother would absolutely wallop her once the day’s training started.

Speaking of which, Hilda, her mother, was also a former adventurer. She was a warrior who specialized in both a sword and a lance, but as a “Weapon Master” she could basically use every other weapon there is… or turn what isn’t a weapon into one. Apparently, she was part of the same party as her father and retired at the same time as him. Though part of the reason why they moved to such a distant area was that they wanted to escape prying eyes, another part was because her mother was secretly inept with anything other than fighting, so the outskirts were their only choice so she could make a living as a hunter.

The fact that Soleil had taken on a lot of her mother’s qualities was another severely concerning matter to the father.

“Guh! N… never mind…”

“I thought so. Now, go and eat breakfast. We have a lot of training to do.”

She didn’t like how her mother said those words. It felt like a threat. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure about surviving another day anymore.

That was why she needed to appreciate that day’s meal properly. It might be her last meal.

Thankfully, when she saw what her father made, her face instantly lit up. It was a decadent meal of pancakes and bacon, with fish soup on the side. There was freshly-baked bread on the side with fruit jam and butter. They even had some milk and eggs, which was rare because they usually sold all of it in the village.

Soleil exclaimed her excitement.

“Glad you like it,” her father said with a smile. “Now, eat up. There’s more where that came from.”

“Really?!”

“Of course. Anything for my daughter.”

“Thanks, dad!”

Upon hearing those words, her smile grew so wide that her cheeks started to hurt.

“You’re welcome. But this time, your mom helped out too. She baked the bread.”

“...”

Soleil’s face froze. Everybody could tell that she was shocked. Her mother became indignant because of her reaction, shouting that she did her best. But to Soleil, that didn’t matter. Her mother was a disaster in the kitchen. The last time she tried to cook something, the meatloaf had turned into a miniature volcano.

There was no way her mother could be trusted in the kitchen!

Or at least, that was what she wanted to say. But… the bread actually smelled nice. She could tell even from a distance. And looking at her mother’s hands, it had burn marks on them that she couldn’t hide by just clenching her fists.

… Her father probably helped out, regardless. Still–

“You too, mom! Thanks!”

She couldn’t wait anymore. After fighting with her inner demons, she finally decided to start with the bread first. She used her fork to stuff a piece of bacon and an egg between two loaves slathered with jam and butter. The scent alone caused her mouth to water uncontrollably. She carefully took her first bite.

Of course, it was delicious. She did not have to say it out loud. Her face, melting with pleasure, told her parents everything they needed to know. As for them, they just sat there and watched Soleil with tender, amused expressions while she slowly savored every bite.

----------------------------------------

“Wipe that smirk off your face, brat. You’re stumbling around like a crippled pig.”

Soleil felt something hit her head hard; it was her mother’s practice sword. Even though she held back, it was still painful for a woman with gorilla-like strength to hit a little girl on the head. She flinched and fell to her butt from the pain.

“Ow! Mom! That hurts!”

“Of course, it did! If this was a real fight, it wouldn’t just “hurt”, kid! Your head would be rolling on the dirt!”

Her mother stabbed the wooden sword into the ground. Her strength was such that the material creaked threateningly when she did as if crying out in pain of its own.

“Now, let’s go! One more hour!”

That was how Soleil spent the vast majority of her mornings; training. But to say that it was “training” was difficult, because most of the time it was just her being beaten up. Her mother showed her no mercy. Even though Soleil preferred to use her fists, her mother took up both a wooden sword and spear. Despite having little experience with using physical augmentation, her mother reinforced hers to the limit. And whenever she was given a chance, her mother would take it as well as she possibly could, often resulting in horrible bruises and sometimes even broken bones.

If his father didn’t always have several healing scrolls in stock, then Soleil would have been a broken mess early on.

Unlike her mother, who was used to wielding weapons, Soleil was a much more up-close-and-personal kind of character. By that point, she knew that the best way to attack a sword, and especially a spear user, was to get close enough so that they couldn’t use the additional range of the weapons to their advantage. To that end, she trained how to dodge and weave through attacks extensively. Since her mother was proficient in more than just her preferred sword-and-lance combination of weapons, she would sometimes train her as a club wielder, a bow user, or anything else that they could think of. As a brawler, though, her objective always remained the same; get in to attack where the other party couldn’t.

And she had become quite good at it. Nothing beats having such a strong enemy as your sparring partner every single day.

“Step in faster! As long as my weight is still in front, you can keep forcing your way in!”

“Yes!”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Plus, she was also a great teacher. She could accurately point out Soleil’s flaws and immediately give suggestions on how to improve.

“Do it again! A real warrior always leads the charge!”

“Got it”

“Still too slow!”

Soleil yelped in pain. The punishment for failure was a hit to the head. And it was the kind of attack that her mother didn’t make for training. It was always way beyond Soleil’s capability to dodge. No doubt, if her mother intended to fight for real, she wouldn’t even get in one hit.

It wasn’t always sparring. Sometimes her mother would take her to run around the woods to work on her stamina. When they had first started when she was 7, ten minutes was all she could manage before she collapsed like a wet rag. But after a few years of non-stop training with her life on the line, she was able to do four hours of non-stop jogging already, half that if she was to do so in full sprint.

Besides that, there was strength training. There were also ones for speed, reflexes, flexibility, and whatnot. Her mother trained her in almost every aspect she could imagine as long as it helped her fight.

Afterward, once Soleil couldn’t move anymore or her mother had grown too bored, they would wash at the nearby river. Those several hours were their kind of “mother-daughter bonding” moments, and the only ones they could have. After that, she had to “study” magic under her father, before everyone would leave after taking lunch.

“You did well, sweetie. You fought much better than you did last week. But you’re still too stiff and hesitate too often when you try going in. All you have to do is to defend the important bits and push your advantage… are you sure you still don’t want to use a weapon?”

“Yes, I’m sure mom… I told you a hundred times already, ugh!”

While normal mothers and daughters would gossip about everyday life and the people around them, that wasn’t how Soleil and her mother worked. Both of them liked fighting so much that her father was concerned about it. And instead, they often talked about how the training went while they bathed. Oftentimes her mother would relate their training sessions with her own experience in the past. Soleil was very interested in those stories, especially since she hadn’t seen any of the world at large yet.

For much of her entire life, her world was limited to their home, the forest, and the nearby sea. That was it.

“Carving? You can carve stuff, mom?”

“Yup. Wanna see?”

“Mm!”

Her mother took a smooth pebble from the riverbed and went to work. But without a chisel, the only things she could rely on were her nails. Using her unreasonable strength, she was able to shape the stone into the shape of a duck. Soleil gasped at the intricate work her mother had made.

“See? Quite good, yeah?”

“Yeah! It’s cute!”

“Haha! That’s what I like to hear. Would you trust me more in the kitchen now?”

“No way!”

“Guh!”

That was how they spent their time together. Despite being short-tempered, her mother rarely if ever became angry. She was quick to cool down and turn her head around. That was why Soleil loved to pick on her.

“Damn you, rascal!”

She was also very physical in expressing her affection. Her mother loved to pick her up to squeeze her in a tight embrace, and at one time almost crushed her ribs in the process. Sometimes, she would lift her and swing her around like a ragdoll. Or perhaps it was because both of them were girls, so their interaction involved more skinship? Perhaps that was so. Soleil didn’t know. Her mother always told her that she was special and that she shouldn’t do the same to other people especially those of the opposite sex.

It wasn’t like Soleil had ever seen someone like that besides her father, anyway. But she agreed nonetheless.

“By the way, what’s your plan after lunch? Going out somewhere?”

Soleil thought for a while and shook her head.

“Maybe… go fish here later? I want to train some more later, though.”

“Haha! That’s the spirit!” Her mother laughed joyfully, proud at the direction her daughter was growing in. “But come back early today, okay? I’ll go and carve you a big, cute dog. Then we can put it in your room, all right?”

“Okay! But… can you give me something else?”

Her mother blinked in surprise. She tilted her head and asked what it was she wanted. To that, Soleil answered happily

“I want a little sister!”

Hilda, her mother, the tyrant of the training yard, the sadist of the swords, choked spectacularly.

“Y… you know I can’t do that!”

“Yes, I know,” she answered laughingly. It was just a joke anyway. But her mother would always react the same way regardless of how many times she brought it up. She was also aware that this was one of her mother’s insecurities in life. So, even if she really, really wanted a sibling, she didn’t push for it.

“You rascal…”

A pet was fine. Even if it was just a statue, that was exciting enough for her. Unfortunately, her parents forbid her from keeping an actual one, so it was likely that that was all she could have.

“Oh, hey… Soleil?”

“Yes, mom?”

“I love you. So much.”

----------------------------------------

After physical training came magic.

Unfortunately for her, they discovered quite early that despite having a huge magical reserve, Soleil did not have the talent nor the blessing to be a good spell caster. That was a shame. But it was a waste to let such a large mana pool unutilized. So instead, to make use of it, her father decided to teach her how to use it for physical augmentation, just like her mother did.

While her mother was able to use that skill far better than her father could, the former couldn’t teach at all. All her mother could do was tell her to “feel it” or “use your imagination”, which was obviously not very helpful. But perhaps that was the problem with someone who was born gifted.

“You know, your mother’s actually better at being a mage than me. But she doesn’t like staying at the back, always saying that it’s a cowardly thing to do. Doesn’t that mean she thinks I’m a coward?”

“But she still married you, dad.”

“Well, not officially. But you’re right. Anyway, let’s start.”

Though she was practicing how to use augmentation magic, the way her father spent their time together wasn’t by training her on using that particular skill. Instead, he would have her lie in a pool of warm water. Using his magic, he ensured that she would be suspended right below the surface, with only a small air hole to breathe through. Soaking there for a while in complete darkness and silence deprived her of most of her senses. She couldn’t see, hear, taste, feel, or smell anything. But there was at least one sensation that remained.

Her father, from a distance, stimulated the flow of mana inside her body. With all of her other senses gone, her brain was forced to place all of its attention on that current of energy. She felt power gather in her chest, and circulate in her torso, before finally dissipating through her limbs.

According to her father, the best way to get used to the feeling of magic inside their own body was through that method. And he was right.

At first, it was a completely alien sensation to her. She had panicked the first few times she did it and almost drowned. But eventually, she became used to feeling mana course through her body. It was a fascinating sensation that she thought she would never have felt if it wasn’t for her father’s guidance. It took her two years to become comfortable with the feeling. Then, her father told her to try manipulating it herself.

“Your mana is like your own body. You can control it consciously. But the feeling is very subtle. Usually, your five senses take up all the space in your mind to process. And that’s why we remove those when practicing.”

That, too, used up quite some time to learn, even with being deprived of her senses. It was like trying to teach someone to make their heart beat by command. But, she found that it was much easier than simply trying to feel for it. In a way, one can describe “sensing the flow of magic” to be similar to “feeling the blood in your veins,” while “controlling the flow” was like “moving your blood vessels.”

It took her a year to learn. And the hard part hadn’t even started yet.

Body augmentation, according to the books that her father forced her to read, was the process of strengthening your body with mana. That was the general idea about it. From its name, that was what she thought so as well.

“Well, you’re right. And you’re also wrong,” her father laughingly said. “You’re correct when you say that you’re using mana to make your body stronger. But, there’s an even higher level than that. Let’s take your mother as an example. She’s quite the lean person. Even if you used magic to strengthen her muscles to the limit, there’s still no way she could lift that unreasonably heavy lance of hers. Her muscles would tear. But she’s fine, right?”

He placed his hand on top of her head and lovingly explained.

“Instead of getting used to that way of doing it, try this instead; shape your mana into a hand. Then, make it overlap with your own; both in your mind and in reality. When you move, do so with both your mana and your hand. Make sure they’re always in sync. The effect isn’t just a simple multiple of your strength. It’s an exponential result. Now, both your mana and your body can interact with the physical world, all the while your mana is strengthening each muscle on your body without waste. And at the same time, your body serves as an anchor to your mana. This merging of both can be called true “Body Augmentation”.”

That was the reason why his father chose to take so much time teaching her the basics.

Body augmentation while being deprived of her senses was an altogether different and wild experience. Before long, she was able to complete a form of her own body in exact detail and overlap it with her own. It allowed her to augment every single part of her body at the same time. And if need be, she could concentrate everything into one part for incredible power.

“You’re becoming good at this! It’s like you’re a natural. I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, dad! But… why can’t I beat mom yet?”

He coughed.

“Well, dear… your mom’s a monster…Wait! Don’t tell her I said that!”

They laughed.

That was how they spent most of their time together. Just like with her mother, they were only together during training and meals. But that was enough.

She loved her father’s loving caresses on her head. She loved it when he went into lengthy lectures about the human body, even if she couldn’t understand most of it. She loved it when he heaped praises on her whenever she accomplished something. That was because, in those simple actions, she really felt the affection he had for her.

Those few moments with her parents were irreplaceable treasures.

“Oh, by the way. Are you going somewhere after lunch, Soleil?” her father suddenly asked. She almost didn’t notice it and had to take a moment to process what she had heard.

“I wanted to go fishing by the river, but after that, I’ll just stay at home.”

“That’s great.” Her father looked elated. “Make sure you come back early, all right? Dinner’s going to be even better than breakfast.”

She gasped. “Promise?”

“Pinky swear.”

He held up her pinky finger towards her, and Soleil immediately wrapped hers around it. It wasn’t as calloused as her mother’s, but it was still quite rough after spending years minding his wares and cooking for the family. But she didn’t mind. It was still her beloved father’s hand. She smiled happily, expecting more to come at night.

"Hey. Soleil?"

"Mm?"

"Daddy loves you. So much."

"Me too!"

She knew her father wouldn't let her down.

----------------------------------------

“Ah, shi–I mean, damn. Got away again…”

During midday, the summer sun was at its hottest. Without any clouds to cushion the sun’s wrath, staying directly underneath it for a prolonged period was suicide. Fortunately for Soleil, the river where she often took a bath and fished had a section that ran directly through the forest. Compared to being directly blasted by the sunlight, the difference was like night and day… even though it was still hot.

Well, that time had already passed. But since it was troublesome to move, she stayed there for the better part of the afternoon. By that time, it was a few hours before sunset, and she reckoned that she had no more than an hour before she had to pack her things up and leave. It wasn’t like she would have any trouble doing so anyway.

After all, she hadn’t caught a single fish since she started.

“Maaaaaan…! Bummer!”

It was the first disappointment of what should have been the perfect day for her. And what really salted her eggs was that she had committed to the deed since the afternoon started. She was supposed to have come back after a couple of hours of fishing, but after having caught nothing by that point, she told herself “Maybe just a few more tries”. She should have known better. When does “a few more tries” end? Before he knew it, she had spent a grand total of six hours sitting on the riverside, throwing curses and cries at the fish that didn’t want to cooperate.

“I should have just gone to sleep earlier…”

She sighed long and hard. The fatigue from that morning’s training usually wasn’t enough to tire her out, but somehow the disappointment over not succeeding in something she overcommitted to made her feel very lethargic.

But, after finally coming to her senses, she realized that she could not continue to linger. Besides, she had lost interest the moment she was distracted by her thoughts. Such was a child’s limited attention span. Still, it was a shame. She had wanted to bring back a nice catch for her father to cook on that very special day.

Yes. She knew that there was something good in store for her later. Even though her parents tried to hide it from her, she was old enough to know what was going on. After all, they had done the same thing year after year.

“Hmhm!” she giggled. “I wonder what gifts they’ll get me…”

It was her birthday; the most special time of the year; a day that was hers alone.

For one day every year, her parents would splurge on everything she liked. To be fair to them, all she was interested in were food, fighting, and cute toys, so they really didn’t have to make much effort. Compared to Soleil, her mother was much more demanding, as she would require her father to get her a brand-new weapon every time their “anniversary” came up.

–whatever that was.

She was sure that her parents would come home early that day, each with their presents in hand. Together, they would greet her with a “happy 11th birthday!”. Then, they would eat a big, delicious dinner and talk with big smiles on their faces.

Soleil felt her cheeks loosen. If only there was a way to skip ahead to that time. But she also told herself to be patient. The longer she waited, the more satisfying it would be in the end.

“Okay!”

She slapped her cheeks back to reality. First, she had to clean up. The basket she was using was the only one in their house, and her mother would notice it was missing if she just left it there by the river. As for the rod, she could just leave it anywhere. Except for the string, the shaft itself was just a long branch she snapped off of a nearby tree. Then, her waterskin, and lastly the leftover smoked meat.

After eating the last of the bread she had used as bait, she stood up to leave when–

“... Ah…?”

“Oh, uhh… hello.”

She saw someone.

…

Her heart started racing. Her brain almost fried itself in its attempt to determine what to do.

It wasn’t her mother; the other person was a male. It wasn’t her father; the other person had black hair instead of blonde. It was a simple enough deduction that even her brain could do quickly enough.

But as for what to do, she had no idea. Her body did recognize the other person as a threat. That was generally true for any strange thing she encountered. However, her mind couldn’t decide between its fight-or-flight reactions. Should she fight? But, it’s a human. So, should she run away, then? But… it’s a human…

Soleil was severely unprepared for suddenly having to deal with a bipedal primate that wasn’t her parents. That caused her to freeze and tremble, with flapping jaws like a fish out of water.

“Uhh… kid? Are you alright?”

“M-m-m-mnn guh! Umm… Y-yes…!?”

Even she could not understand what she just said.

The man, in an apparent effort to make himself as non-threatening as possible, raised his hands over his shoulders and crouched down to her level.

“It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. See? I don’t have any weapons with me.”

He slowly turned around for Soleil to see his entire body. Sure enough, the man didn’t even have a dagger with him. How did he get there, then? There should be small monsters between her home and the nearest village. Maybe he just avoided all of them?

Her doubts only increased. But, seeing that the stranger wasn’t holding onto any weapons allowed her to relax somewhat, at least.

“Hey uhh… are you perhaps, Mayes and Hilda’s kid?”

“...! You know… mom and dad?”

The man laughed.

“Yes, I do. In fact, I’m a good friend of theirs. I used to travel with them as an adventurer. My name is Kyle. Have they… mentioned me before?”

Soleil’s eyes widened as she exclaimed from memory; “Yes! Bedwetter!”

Suddenly, Kyle punched the tree near him. The trunk trembled violently from the force he delivered, which had gouged a good chunk of the tree clean off.

“Bastard! Mayes! You promised me you wouldn’t tell anyoooooone!!”"