"Please, please, please can I go? I promised!"
I glance up at my mother, who crouches down and looks me in the eye.
"I want you to go, but I don't trust you." She tells me, putting her hands on my shoulder.
"But I was fine yesterday! It was probably a one off thing! And the nightmares are most likely to be unrelated..." I unconfidently reason.
To be honest, I wasn't fine yesterday. That small trigger of blood was enough to make me feel dazed. And those nightmares are just a repeat of my past life, over and over again.
"You should let him go. I don't think it's right to keep his little girlfriend waiting." My father adds. "And as long as he doesn't make any more promises on a whim!"
"But Aaron, what wou-"
"Come on now, Rei. I'll distract your mother,"
I make a wide smile at my father, who was looking down at me with pride. He gives me a wink and I quickly get out of the house.
I wander past many houses and villagers, but for the first time, I didn't pay attention to any of it. I just kept my focus on the dirt road in front of me.
So in no time, I was facing the colour-painted flower field. And of course, there was a dainty girl in the middle of it.
I jump the fence and she briskly turns her head. Her eyes and widen as I approach.
"You came!"
"Haha, yeah. A promise is a promise."
"Quickly, come and have a seat!" She exclaims as she pats the ground in front of her.
I awkwardly grin and sit down.
Alice was clothed in a lavender dress fringed with a dark lace. Her hair was out, but there were a few symmetrical braids decorating it. She also seemed to have some sort of small purse hung over her shoulder.
"Ah, that's right, I wanted to show you these!"
She pulls her purse and tips out its contents onto the grass. There were a variety of miscellaneous items; all shapes and sizes.
But, what caught my eye the most was the recorder which was split into two parts. And it was one of the well-made wooden ones, too. I had to try to contain my overly broad smile which desperately begged to appear. While the recorder isn't the best instrument, it was better than nothing.
"Rei, look at this!" She says, while picking up a silver spoon lined with sparkling jewels.
"This spoon is from a Duke somewhere in the east. My father lent it to me!"
Honestly, the spoon was cool. But it baffled me as to why someone would put something as precious as jewels on it. But, I still couldn't take my eyes off the recorder.
Alice seems to of noticed my glances at it, since she picks the recorder up.
"Do you want to see this? It's called a recorder! All you have to do it blow into it and cover some holes." She explains as she puts the recorder together.
'Well, how could I not know...'
She gives it to me and waits in anticipation to play.
I hold it out in front of me and I avert my eyes to look at her. Alice was intently watching my every move with her big eyes, and so I felt my face start to heat up.
'I guess it won't hurt to show off...'
I put the recorder to my mouth and blow. My fingers shift up and down and I make a melody that flourishes in the light breeze. While I only just smiled while playing, it doesn't even compare to the actual joy I was feeling. The exhilaration of hearing the sound of music after so long was thrilling.
I was playing the Concerto in C Major for the Soprano Recorder, which I learnt when I was about 14. I would've thought I'd forgotten it by now, but I guess my memory skill can come in handy.
Are you surprised I can play the recorder so well? I can play many other instruments as well. While violin is my main instrument, I'm also good at the piano, cello, flute and trumpet. And because I learnt the trumpet, I can practically play any other brass instrument. Same also applies to some woodwind instruments. Anyways, enough ranting.
I finish playing only a short while in and I hand the recorder back to Alice.
Her mouth was unironically hanging open and her eyes were wide.
I scratch my nape submissively.
"It's because of one of my talents, you see..." I mumble.
Her face finally seems to unfreeze and she gasps.
"No. Way! You played strikingly! So, it's a skill? Can I see it?" She asks, absolutely flabbergasted.
I've seen this type of reaction many times before, and I've always felt awkward. But this time, not only did I feel awkward, but also delighted with her praise.
"Here, see?"
I open up my menu and she reads it.
"...Musical Genius? As in, the skill that only about 5 people have ever had?!"
'She's asking a lot of rhetorical questions... I guess it's one of her quirks.' But I was a bit shocked. I didn't think it was that rare that only 5 people have ever had it.
But when I heard that she's gone quiet, I look to my side and see all the colour had disappeared from her face.
This was when I remembered what my mother once said to me: 'Don't ever show your stats or skills to anyone who you aren't close to.'.
'I'm sorry, mum. I may of disobeyed you.'
I grit my teeth as I await what Alice was to say.
"Y-your intelligence... Have you done magic before?" She asked, stuttering.
"No, why?"
"My god..." She covers her mouth with her hand.
'Was my magic stat that bad? Or good?'
She turns and faces me again.
"It's just... The normal intelligence stat for our age is about five to seven. And people who are talented range from ten to twenty." She explains.
I could feel my heart race a bit upon hearing this.
"And you haven't even practised magic before! I'm at about thirty stat-wise and I've been trained ever since I was born!" She adds.
My mouth drops.
"You are level thirty?! That's crazy..." I say.
Alice looks at me right in the eye.
"Rei, compared to you I'm nothing. You're a genius!"