I woke up just like any other day, got up from bed, and walked over to the mirror just off to the side. "How much have I grown today?"
We lived on an island that was about 3 hour boat ride from the main land. It wasn't that big of an island, if I had to estimate.... About 2/3rds the size of Ice land. We lived in a little cottage towards the center of the island next to a lake.
It was about a 3 years ago now, when mother had brought me home. In this world they don't celebrate birthdays, in my old life I have never celebrated a birthday once, so it didn't effect me.
Mother had told me about my birth and that I was born in an Incubator, and that my body was still experiencing side effects of the nutrients they had been feeding me, and that there would be other changes that would show later as well. I should start growing at the normal rate when I hit the age of 16, we decided when that time comes, that's how old I will be. Besides with the rate my body is growing it's unprecedented to say that I am a year a little over a couple of years old when someone asks my age... So I am quite thankful for this.
After that there wasn't much else to be said, she did tell me that I had Elf heritage, but she didn't say anything about me having a father, and left the fact that I was also a Humonculus hidden from me for some time.
Every couple of months since I have lived there, Uncle Brow and Aunt Marina would come to visit us. Uncle Brow was a Dwarf, we all called him this because of his big bushy eye brows, he was shorter than my mom by a good couple of feet, but he was a burly man.
To give you an example, Elves are quite tall and slim, fully grown male elves are about 6'5" in height. While females stop growing around 6'.
Uncle Brow was 4'8", while he was much bigger standing next to other dwarves, he hailed in comparison to my mothers height.
As for Aunt Marina, she was a Demon with very light pink skin, and would always be wearing very revealing clothing underneath a lab coat. Today it was a stylish black button dress shirt, that was revealing an insane amount of cleavage, a beige khaki skirt, and black heals. She had blonde hair, ruby red irises, horns curling off the sides of her head, in the shape of a set of ram's horns.
When I first saw her, I thought she was a Succubus...
Uncle Brow would play with me, and tell me all sorts of stories. While Aunt Marina was, I guess you could say my doctor, mom had asked her to monitor my growth and development, after leaving the incubator.
She would hook me up to this weird looking computer that had a crystal suspended in a glass tube, connected to it and me through wires. Over the course of a couple of minutes, a couple of beeps could be heard, and the crystal would light up brightly then dim back down. Inside the crystal you could visibly see some kind of energy floating around. Aunt Marina would tell me I was done and have Uncle Brow come and get me to play. While Mom and Aunt Marina had a serious conversation.
I was curious as to what they were doing, and talking about, but didn't think much of it. I figured they will tell me when I am ready to know.
Like that, my new life carried on.
Now my body looks to be about 12 or 13, the muscles on my body had started to develop from my mother's rather spontaneous training courses, she never said why I had to train. All she would tell me was, that it was for my own good. Never asking her what I was training for, or why, I knew she had the best intentions for me.
I mean, after every training session we would cook a nice hearty meal together by campfire. If I had ever gotten a scrape or injury, she would come running over immediately to make sure I was okay. Seeing this honestly made me feel something I haven't felt in a long time; it was a mother's love...
In my previous life I was born to an unwed highschool drop out who decided to give me up for adoption after keeping me for 2 years, because her new boyfriend didn't want kids... That's where we will leave that..
Thankfully as for the accidental self inflicted injuries I would get, they would be healed almost immediately as the injury had occurred. Mother was a bit relieved, but had her worries as well.
I had also noticed that after growing my skin's tone had also changed from the dark ash gray it was when I had come out of the incubation chamber. Now it's a smokey brown just like mother's. The "Zero-Zee" Tattoo under my left eye is still prominent as ever.
Being my Mother, she had also noticed the changes, but quickly dismissed it as a side effect.
Mother had started teaching me about Manacules, Elemental Essence, as well as Cultivation.
Yes, you heard right. There is a "Form" of Cultivation in this world.
Manacules are another name for the raw Energy that flows throughout the cells in all of existence. They empower all life forms with the ability to channel and store Essence.
She had me do meditation first, to understand and get a feel for my body and Manacules. I had to imagine a blank empty space, next I have to try to manifest my Manacules. This was a bit hard at first without an exact mental image of what to do, mother had said to imagine a flower.
Without realizing it I had burst out into laughter in front of her. Unfortunately for me she had a quick temper, she had punched me in the back of the head, and made me cook dinner that night...
After a week I had finally found a method of visualization that had worked for me. My growth was incredible, mother had said that my Manacule density had surpassed her's. I had doubts about this honestly.
Elves have a long life span, no matter what world or story, it's always the same. Elves can live for hundred of years. So there was no telling how old she was, nor was I going to ask, but if I had a higher density than her only after a year of being in this world, something is wrong. It's not as though she had never had any intention on never telling me. Now was just not the right time I guess...
Elemental Essence are the purest form of Manacules that have received an attribute from retrospective areas in natural environments.
According to mother, through Cultivation one can store Elemental Essence in their body by channeling it through their body's Manacules, increasing their affinity with a specific element. Also increasing their Manacules retrospectively.
Again, I needed to meditate for this one, but this one was a lot easier to focus. She had given me what was known as an Scope Crystal, this crystal is able to show you the density of Manacules as well as your attribute. This must be like that crystal that was suspended in the glass tube like Aunt Marina uses.
After injecting Manacules into the crystal, exactly the way she had explained, the cells in my body had faintly become electrified. Soon after, arcs of beautiful neon streams had shot from the crystal, covering my body in a purple and a faded black electrified aura.
She stood there and just stared at me for a few minutes, she looked like she had something she wanted to say, but I had asked her what the crystal results were breaking her out of her trance. She walked over and stared intently looking at the crystal, she had muttered something, then began to speak prominently.
I have the Lightning Essence Manacules, no surprise there. Before I had gotten rid of that cheat system I was able to at least discern that much with the information it had provided.
Inside the crystal there were to 2 defined colors, a dark amethyst purple electrical current was circulating the crystal, that was my Lightning Essence.
Though in the middle of the amethyst electrical current there was a black circular sphere emitting a black fog like aura. The more you looked into the sphere, the feeling of being sucked into an endless black void would immediately send the body into a fight or flight response.
When mother had seen the second Essence and its properties, her eyes watering, and her expression was pained. She couldn't tell me the name of the Essence, but that it was a one of a kind Essence, and that I should keep it hidden.
Remembering it now, after Aunt Marina would perform her test, she would go and have a discussion with mom, then after she left with Uncle Brow. Mom would lock herself in her study....
Something is itching me wrong here, but I can't do anything if they won't tell me... At this point all I can do is get stronger...
A couple of months later, I had started training and cultivating Essence on my own.
Maybe it's time I experiment...