The morning quickly came, and the first day of training began. Enshin held a wooden wand that terribly seemed like a stick, while his mother tutored him strictly.
"First, I need you to feel something." She said, "Inside your body is mana, if you focus hard enough you can feel it as something light in your soul."
Enshin nodded and lowered his head as he pretended he was concentrating. He had a strained expression on his face and his breathing was heavy. Back then, when he was taught magic, his teacher told him he was average and worth nothing more when it came to magic. That was the time when he was being taught how to circulate mana around his body, so he tried his best to recreate his 'average' performance from the past. Little did he know that his teacher back then was understating his abilities, in truth what he did was an act of unrivaled genius.
He wasn't taught in a formal institution, he was taught by a single person and that person passed away abruptly from the war, and so he didn't even graduate from him. He was completely ignorant about the level of magic he attained, and he was even more ignorant about what was average for a child. Right now, he thought he was completely average when in fact he was an outstanding child, and he wouldn't even know that since his mother deliberately kept him in the dark.
The moment that Eris was about to guide Enshin's mana with her own, she was surprised and overjoyed to realize that Enshin was already circulating his mana, and at a quick pace at that. Her astonishment was only visible in her eyes, she didn't voice her joy out for just like Enshin's teacher in the past, she planned to hide Enshin's brilliance. After all, if people already told you that you're brilliant what motivation would you have to strive for more?
"Did I do good, mother?"
"It's alright 'Shin, it's enough"
Enshin relaxed in his heart while her mother's heart tightened after her blatant lie. He stopped circulating his mana and obediently stood still as he waited for his mother's orders. Honestly, he thought this was a waste of time, but he couldn't disobey even when he wanted to. It felt as if his mother's words were law, before he knew it he was already out in the courtyard with his mother.
"Now, grasp the feeling of mana and gently guide it towards your wand."
Enshin nodded. He felt his body and commanded all the mana on the inside towards his right hand, he kept it there until five minutes had passed and released it out slowly.
Eris's eyes glistened with joy. His son was a genius, undoubtedly a genius and she firmed her decision to not let him know that because aside from motivation, in her life, all geniuses were arrogant and overpraised, she wanted to raise Enshin to be a humble person. She merely nodded and said with a plain tone,
"Good, good I'm glad you finally grasped it."
"Mn," Enshin nodded,
"Do not relax yet 'Shin, this is simply the beginning, the next part is what's truly difficult." She held out a hand and a glimmering cold blue light twirled around her fingers, "You need to draw your mana out."
This time, Enshin gave it his all. His combat and magic experience may have revived with him, but his body didn't. Right now his tiny body could barely fit enough mana to do what he could do in the past.
He needed to enlarge his mana veins, that way his mana reserves will be much bigger than it was in the past. This is done by repeatedly overcoming limits through overexertion. If he draws his mana out continuously until he's drained, his mana veins are empty enough to undergo modifications. The size of the mana veins will be determined by how well and how often a child does the process. Once they exceed the age of 12, they can no longer enlarge their mana veins naturally. This is why one of the primary ways to measure talent was through their mana veins.
He had discreetly done this for 4 years already, so currently his mana veins were monstrously huge for a four year old. All he had to do now was to do it openly.
A familiar surging feeling came from within, and slowly oozed its way out of his palms. A tinge of white luminescence twirled in front of him, illuminating his mother's plain neutral expression. His awareness expanded, and he can now feel the surroundings with his mana. He was content with his performance, but through his mana he felt his mother's heartbeat and it was quicker than it should have been. He paused and eventually halted his mana circulation.
"Mother, I'm sorry but I'm tired. Can I rest for a bit?" Enshin breathed heavily and slouched. He couldn't feel his mother's heartbeat since he withdrew his mana, but he could still tell that his mother was somehow in a state of agitation, even though her face was still carved in a neutral expression.
"We can continue this tomorrow then, get some rest 'Shin. Remember to constantly draw out your mana, this way you can have much more mana than you have now." Erin muttered before walking, or rather, swaggering away towards the training hall where Shinzo was currently training.
Enshin was right to think she was bothered, but it wasn't agitation. She was simply too impatient to boast to Shinzo. Erin, marched around the training hall and visibly displayed disdain and contempt towards the swordsmanship that his husband was currently displaying.
Shinzo was sparring against the wind, slashing and slicing at a pace that seemed to accelerate with each passing second. The air around him swirled gracefully as he slashed upwards, leading to a backflip and a final slash on the ground. He looked up with a dashing smile at his wife, like a man who successfully showed off his might.
Erin merely snorted in response, "Hmph! Your weak swordsmanship is dirtying my eyes. If our son did something like that I might hit him with a pot. Luckily, that will never happen!" She revealed a smug grin as she released her mana, "Our son is going to be a wizard!"
Shinzo raised an eyebrow and slowly pointed his sword to point at Erin. "I doubt that," he glanced at the entrance of the training grounds where a small head peeked, "Why don't we let him decide for himself, what's the better art."
Erin's eyes turned at the same spot and smiled before suddenly hurling a ball of fire at Shinzo, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea!"
Shinzo merely narrowed his eyes and swiped his sword at the raging fireball, but more and more fireballs followed due to his wife's relentless bursts. Shinzo slashed endlessly at the fireballs and paused for a moment. "You're quite serious about this, aren't you?" He said as he was pushed back by the raging flames.
"Of course I am! And you should be as well!" Erin replied as she gathered a barrage of fireballs behind her. The moment she finished her sentence, she motioned down with her hand and the fireballs rushed towards Shinzo like a wave of hellfire. Beads of sweat rolled down Shinzo's body, and all of a sudden he frowned as he slashed an aura-infused sword at the space in front of him. An aura blade pierced through the air and clashed head-on with the barrage of fireballs. It paused in the air before blasting away the fireballs, causing them to dissipate in the air. The aura blade managed to reach Erin but before it could touch her, she swept it away with wind.
Erin froze and furrowed her brows as she observed the intimidating aura that suddenly erupted from Shinzo. No man liked being pushed around in a battle, especially when their child is watching.
A barrier of ice abruptly erected behind Erin, where Shinzo suddenly appeared slashing down at the ice barrier with unprecedented force. The barrier merely survived for a second before exploding in pieces. Erin quickly blasted herself away with wind, pushing Shinzo into the air in the process. However, Shinzo's sword had more force to it than she thought as it erupted with a fierce burst of inertia. She flew back into the edge of the training hall and almost slammed against a wall
Shinzo landed gracefully but he waved his sword like a drunkard. His aura-infused sword slowly went back to normal and he went back to smiling like a goof. His handsome face revealed eyes that gleamed with mischief.
"Ahh, my bad. I should've known you wouldn't keep up at close range combat. Let's stop here before you get hurt, okay?" he teased,
What responded was a feminine growl, or perhaps it was the low hum of the mana being gathered in front of him. Shinzo didn't bother to find out what it was as four balls of elements hovered behind her. Water, ice, fire, and air rotated rapidly like miniature suns. The gathered balls radiated danger, and the accumulated power was chaotic to the point wherein it pulsed like a beating heart. The mana pulses traveled through the whole building causing it to tremble.
Shinzo chuckled nervously and relentlessly released his aura.
"Calm down woman! Are you planning to tear this whole building apart again?"
While Shinzo was worrying about damage control, Enshin was watching with a dazed expression. He already thought his parents were interesting but he had still severely underestimated his parent's capabilities. In the past times of war, people like them could have been platoon leaders, perhaps platoon leaders that were not far from being promoted to being generals.
Shinzo's aura wrapped around his whole body, manifesting what seemed to be golden armor. The armor was ethereal and gaseous like an illusion and yet when a wave of chaotic mana pulsed against the armor, it displayed its sturdiness as the waves were repelled easily. It could be even said that it ignored it entirely. Shinzo stood strong, not bothered by the roaring mana waves by the slightest.
"Wife! Let's talk about this!" Shinzo said, but he still raised his sword in a taunting manner, "Enshin! Haha! Come convince your mother to calm down!"
"'Shin don't even think about it!" Erin hurriedly yelled as she withdrew her elemental balls "You might get hurt! Hmph! What kind of father tells a child to barge in the middle of a spar. Courage and bravery may be the way of the sword, but isn't that too stupid!"
The elemental balls dissipated and the training hall returned to its previous calm. Even though it met outstanding force it barely sustained any damage. Their control of their respective powers could be said to be excellent to do this. A normal bystander may say that the structures were simply sturdy, but if someone told Enshin that this wooden structure could withstand a sword king and a level four wizard's attacks, he would simply scoff at that person's ignorance.
Erin narrowed her eyes at Shinzo before turning around in Enshin's direction. She paced towards him and set a delicate hand on his shoulder. She crouched to match Enshin's height and proceeded to look Enshin in the eyes.
"You decide for yourself what art you would want to pursue. You saw for yourself how unrefined you're father's swordsmanship was so I know you're going to make the right decision." She paused and stared deep into his eyes, right into his very soul. Those eyes seemed to be threatening him.
Enshin shuddered from his mother's gaze, he couldn't even reply because he felt a hand ruffling his hair. He turned to see his father suddenly behind him with a meaningful smile.
Silence followed as Enshin wore a thoughtful expression.
"Can't I just pick both?"
Erin closed her eyes and breathed deeply while Shinzo tilted his head before nodding.
"I don't see why not?" Shinzo said,
"Tsk! What nonsense are you babbling? A person can only pursue one art wholeheartedly. If a person chooses two arts, that person's attention will be divided and he will end up average on both arts. Why haven't you explained this to him yet." Erin scolded,
"I mean, isn't our son a genius anyway?" Shinzo replied,
Erin raised an eyebrow and asked, "If our son divided his attention between arts, then let's say, perhaps he would excel at both of them. However, if he focuses on one art, what level do you think he could reach? Saint level wouldn't sound so far-fetched anymore, right?" She glanced at the dazed Enshin before speaking again, "'Shin, don't get arrogant, by genius we just mean better by a little bit against your peers. I'm sure there are a lot more talented people out there, so you need to pick up one art and show them how far you can go."
"Yes, mom."
"Mn, good. Now go and help Alice prepare the dining table." She pointed at a maid in the corner of the training hall.
Enshin nodded and timidly walked away, leaving Erin and Shinzo at the training hall. Shinzo yawned as Erin narrowed her eyes at him. Erin scanned around to confirm they were alone before she opened her mouth.
"Don't call him a genius anymore husband." She lit a fire above her palm and twirled around her fingers, "I don't know how you were trained, but in the kingdom, I was trained well, and I am planning to train him the same way. It may be demoralizing but we have to do it at least until we teach him humbleness "
"Humbleness? Pfft! We don't need to teach him that. He will pick it up from us himself. It's our family's innate nature to be humble." He paused, and ran a hand through his long hair, "I mean, look at me, I could have kicked your ass from the start but I didn't. I didn't even boast about it!"
Shinzo wanted to display his 'humbleness' more but he couldn't as a fireball was hurled straight at his face.
"Now that no one's watching we can go all out!" Erin suddenly shouted and a valley of fireballs erupted behind her. "Try showing me how you can kick my ass now, husband!"
"Oh, I'll do much more than kick ass." Shinzo said as he sped through the air, appearing right behind Erin once again with a grin.
In the halls of the household, Enshin walked behind a maid with a thoughtful expression present on his face. Aside from his parents being high level combatants, Enshin was worried about his parents' comment about him being a genius. Erin may have played the word genius down a bit but it was still genius. Enshin could accept it if he was called talented, but genius?
Enshin sighed, since he had already been labeled as a genius, he should start being one, or at least act the way he had always been acting.
"Young master Enshin seems to be worried about something." The maid, Alice, said as she led Enshin towards the dining room, hand in hand. "You can trust me with anything that worries you, I will try my best to cheer you up!" She giggled like a child, looking as pure as a white flower.
They entered the dining hall and Alice offered a seat, "You can just rest here. Don't worry about preparing the table, it's my job after all," She said as she puffed out her ample chest like she was boasting about her pride. Enshin nodded and took a seat as Alice skirted away while she waved at him.
Enshin sat in contemplation. He will spend the next few months with a schedule. Morning magic practice, afternoon sword practice, and then spend the rest draining vitality and practicing attainments by hunting beasts. After that is to journey back to the Divine Lapiz Clan and initiate a massacre, well, that is if he had the strength to do so. There's no rush, he had his whole childhood to plan it and then his whole adult years to do it. Why not enjoy this life for a bit more.
A small smile appeared on his face as he peed on the floor. Alice came back and a look of frustration quickly flashed in her eyes before it was hidden behind a smile.
"Oh, you are still a child after all." She said as she glanced at Enshin who seemed to be looking at him strangely as she bent down to wipe the pee off the floor.
She thought he may have been pervertedly staring at his cleavage, but in truth, he was merely contemplating why she was acting all kind when she was in fact something entirely different inside...