I was surprised to see such a side of my mother. She was always standing strong, even in the face of my father when he got mad over something, she would always win. She was like a war maiden from the heavens who came to vanquish the demons who plagued the land. While I missed my parents from my past life, in this life, Lilith Cyrilia was my mother and a loving and caring one at that. She was the reason I could grow up happy even though I was different from the others. And seeing her like this did not sit well with me. I hugged her tighter and buried my face in the nape of her neck. "You are far from being weak. Only a strong mother could have birthed my brother."
"Pfft!" My mother seemed to find my jab at my brother funny. "Faith, no matter what happens in the future, your family will always be behind you."
"Mmm… I know. I just know I do not have much time before I reach adulthood and want to be ready. I can not always weigh you and father down. I will need to venture out into the world and find a place where I can work and settle down." It felt saddening to say such things, but it was the truth. While I still had a solid eight years left, that was still only eight years. I needed to prepare for what was to come way in advance.
My mother looked at me with watery eyes and let out another sigh. This was something she does a lot as of late, and it was mostly because of me. "You are right…. You need to begin to understand the world around you more. While I can teach you things, without actual experience, you will never be able to truly understand the world you live in. I will not restrict you anymore. But Faith, promise me you will never go too far. I know you wish to be stronger, but you must never use a spell that is too powerful. Otherwise, you will end up exhausting your mana, and without anyone around, you could be left vulnerable or die altogether. So always be careful and make sure you keep a close eye on how much mana you have left. Always keep some in reserve to use wind rush so you can run away."
Hearing my mother's words, I almost jumped for joy, knowing I could now go out on my own, but I knew now was no time to be celebrating. My mother was saying all these things because of how much she cared about me. There was no way I would not be emotional even if I was excited at the same time. "I will make sure I always have plenty of mana to spare." I think this was one promise I would never need to break, at least I hoped for the time being.
I spent the next few days sticking to my mother like glue, helping her with whatever I could. Although she did kick me outside a few times. But the soft smile on her lips showed that she knew I was doing it for her. I just wanted her to know that I was not trying to grow up too fast and that I still wish to be by her side. She was my mother, after all.
Today was a new day, and the songbirds were once again singing. It was one of the things I liked about waking up around here was the sound of these birds. It made me feel at home, at peace. I was not sure how the sounds of other places were but in this small house where my father, my mother, and my brother lived, it was a place that made me feel safe.
Today's goal was to head out to the wheat field to visit my father. I never got to see him much, so I planned to go out and visit him, even if it is for only a few minutes. I just hoped those working with him do not start saying anything bad to me. But knowing my father and how he was, he would probably beat them up if they did. When he heard that Trent was calling me names over the fence, my mother and brother had to hold him back and talk him down from racing over to the brat's house and giving him a good spanking. He was not a violent person unless it came to his family, and it seemed the villagers went out of their way to not anger him.
"Mother, I'm leaving," I yelled out to my mom as soon as I put my boots on. I was just about to open the door when I was yanked back by the scruff of my shirt.
"You need to eat breakfast first. The outside world will be there when you are done. Plus, I need you to bring something to your father and brother for me." My mother pulled me right to the kitchen and made me sit down. I could only purse my lips and eat my breakfast.
Now I know what she said was true, but I just couldn't wait. I wanted to see my father and then begin exploring. My task today that I had laid out for myself was to head out to the forest. I had to find out if I could level up or not. And I also needed to actually see just how strong I truly was. I mean, if I got to level two or four today, wouldn't that mean I could triple my stats if I let my mana trickle out? Just thinking about it excited me.
After a quick breakfast and kissing my mother goodbye, I raced off towards the wheat fields. They were not far from my house, only a little ways down the road. In fact, they were on the same road my house resided on. I made my way past Auntie Finna's house and quickly arrived at the wheat field owned by my family.
The tall golden field of wheat made it almost impossible to find anyone in it. Especially for me who was…. Well... Short. I really didn't know how to find them, so I could only walk back and forth trying to see if I could see them, but I ended up having to resort to jumping up and down until I saw my father on the left side of the field. "Father!" I yelled out while jumping and waving.
I guess my voice carried over well because I saw my father look in my direction, and when he saw me, his lips curled up into a big smile. "Faith, stay there. I will be right over!"
Hearing my father's words, I stopped jumping up and down and waited patiently. In no time at all, I saw my father running over, and before I could even react, he picked me right up and lifted me into the air, spinning me around. "Ahhh! Hehe!"
"My baby girl is getting so big!" My father wrapped his big muscular arms around me, almost squeezing me to death. But I still loved it. I might not get to see him much, but I would sometimes hear my father coming home, and the first thing he would ask was how I was doing. He was always concerned about my well being. I wrapped my skinny arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. This action seemed to tickle his funny bone because he had a huge grin on his face as he let out a loud laugh.
"What brings you out here today?" My father asked as he looked at the basket that was sitting on the ground.
"Well, I wanted to come see you, and since I was already coming, Mother gave me this basket to give to you. She said it was yours and brother's breakfast." I answered with a sweet smile.
"Hmmm? She even made the brat some food too?" My father pursed his lips as he turned to look out over the field. "Brat get over here! Your sister brought us breakfast!"
"Faith did!?" I heard my brother's voice from within the wheat field and soon saw his head poke up. He was almost as tall as my father, and he was only twelve. I was starting to feel left behind.
My short stature compared to the rest of my family was starting to become a kind of issue for me. I had learned that demi human's growth was slower than others. My father told me that dragonkin have a longer lifespan than humans. At first, this bothered me, but gradually, I slowly began to accept it. But then I heard from my mother that those with high mana also live longer lives. If you take into consideration that my mana had a big fat infinity sign on it, wouldn't that mean I could basically live forever? Of course, I did not wish to die too soon, but the thought of living forever…. I was not sure how I felt about that just yet. I guess I will only know by trying it once.
After chatting while my father and brother had their breakfast, I took the basket back to the house and headed out once more. My next destination was the forest! The only thing was I needed to somehow sneak my way there. If the other villagers see me going towards the forest, they will know that I am up to something. So I can only try to find a way around the entire village without being caught. And the only way I know of is to run along the cliff down the backside of the far side of the village. If I use wind rush, I should be able to arrive in no time at all as long as I do not run into anyone that is.