"What was that?" thought Arya as he woke up from his sleep. "I'm sure that I was doing it correctly, I nearly had it too. All I have to do is inhale the mana but why won't it work? Maybe there's more that I-" Arya's thoughts were interrupted when he realised that the book was missing. "Ugh! Luca must've taken it back while I was asleep. Now what am I gonna do?" thought Arya.
While Arya pondered on his recent discoveries Ava was making discoveries of her own. "Uncle Raul how come I can infuse objects like this sword with my mana but can't use any magic like Luca can?" asked Ava as her sword shone a bright blue colour.
"Well that's because you haven't awakened your elemental affinities yet. Although you have mana and are capable of utilising it, you are unable to separate it to its base properties to manifest the power of a single element." said Raul. "Although for you to be able to manipulate mana to this extent at such a young age is unheard of. This family truly is filled with monsters, she might even be more talented than her mother." thought Raul to himself as he looked at Ava's sword in awe.
"Uncle Raul why does mom hate the sword so much? Is it because she can't use one?" asked Ava as she moved her sword in what seemed to be a kata of some sort.
"You should not be mistaken young one. Your mother is one of the greatest swordsman I know, but you shouldn't tell her that I said this or she would have my head." said Raul as he corrected Ava's stance.
"Uncle I don't believe you. I've never even seen mom hold a sword. If I had to choose I'd say Dad is a better swordsman." said Ava as she redid the kata taking into consideration the corrections Raul made to it.
"You're father is a different story young one. To call him one of the greatest is an understatement. He is the only man to have ever defeated your mother with the sword, though I wouldn't say that it was a fair match to begin with." replied Raul as he looked at Ava's kata.
"What do you mean it wasn't fair? Did dad cheat?" asked Ava innocently.
"That's a story for them to tell you themselves little one. You should get going now, it's nearly lunch and your mother will be wondering where you ran off to." said Raul to Ava as he took away her sword.
"Uncle do you think I'll ever be as good as Luca?" asked Ava as she was about to walk out the door.
"Little one it's best not to compare yourself to anyone else. Everyone is a genius in their own special way. You and him will definitely walk different paths, but I believe both of you have the potential to reach unseen heights in whatever paths you decide to take." said Raul as he placed the sword back in its scabbardd.
"Sigh to be young again. If I could go back in time I would've given myself that advice. I spent so much of my time comparing myself to Lilly back then, that I never realised we walked different paths." thought Raul as he stared into the sky.
"Arya it's lunch time. Were you hungry? Don't worry little one mommy didn't forget about you. Here you go." said Lillian to Arya. "I'll never get used to this." thought Arya as Lillian's teat was placed in his mouth.
After feeding Arya Lillian joined the rest of the family in the kitchen for lunch, leaving Arya in his crib to sleep. When Arya saw that Lillian was gone he opened his eyes and began trying to inhale the mana into his body again. "Hmm seems that I wasn't dreaming. I really can't inhale mana into my body. Maybe it's because I'm still a baby." thought Arya to himself as his attempt failed again.
"If I can't inhale the mana maybe there's a different way to utilise magic instead of inhaling the mana directly. After all there are a hundred ways to skin a cat. But how am I going to find a different way to utilise magic without the book? I could always try using information from the shows back on Earth, but many of them never really explained in depth what they were doing." pondered Arya as he imitated different things he had seen on TV.
"So what were you kids doing before lunch?" asked Neel as he bit into a large chunk of meat. "Dear don't talk while you eat, you're teaching the kids bad table manners." said Lillian coldly. "Sorry Lilly." apologized Neel.
"Well I was practicing my ice magic. I haven't gotten very far but I think I'm making real progress." said Luca. Hearing that her son was already learning ice magic at an age where most kids couldn't even tell the difference between Munera and their parents brought Lillian great pain. (AN: Munera is the Merrum equivalent of Santa.)).
"Is this true Luna? Is my boy already learning ice magic?" asked Neel a bit surprised that his son was already at this level of magic. "Yes, it is true. I sensed his affinity for ice magic during one of our lessons. With enough practice he could be an ice mage capable of standing toe to toe with the greatest ice mages of this generation." said Luna. "Maybe even better than his mother." added Luna in her mind.
"What about you Ava? What did you do before lunch?" asked Lillian eager to change the subject.
"Eh-ehm. Uhm I was just playing with the neighbourhood kids. After all I have no one to play with while Luca practices his magic." said Ava lying through her teeth. Although Lillian hated the fact that Luca practiced magic, she sometimes wished that Ava had awakened as well. She felt that Ava felt neglected by her and Neel because Luca could use magic while she couldn't.
"Ugh! Nothing seems to be working. I've tried everything I can remember about magic casting from TV shows but they are all a bust. Sigh maybe I should just wait till I'm older and ask Luna. It would be cool if I could shoot beams out of my hands though. Like that other show with the blonde aliens." thought Arya. "What was it that he always shouted again? Ugh I can't remember. But here it would be something like 'Glacies trabem'." said Arya as he placed his baby hands together in a Kamehameha.
As he chanted the spell he had read in the book, the mana in the room converged on a single point in front of his palm and a frost beam shot out.
"What was that sound? Ava can you go check on your little brother." said Lillian as she collected the dishes. "Okay mom." said Ava as she walked to the room Arya was in.
"Arya what was that sound? Did you see anything? He's still asleep? Babies sure do sleep alot." said Ava as she played with her little brother's hands. "Ooo your hands are really cold. You might be catching a cold, lemme close the window for you." said Ava as she went to close the windows.
"Yes!" thought Arya in triumph as he passed out from exhaustion.