The following morning, After having breakfast, Sylvia carried Alden to the nearby forest while his dad rushed off somewhere before they even woke up. The entire way, Sylvia kept asking Alden questions about his condition.
"Al, are you really okay? Do you feel hurt anywhere? You look really tired ever since morning, mom is worried so please tell me if anything feels odd, okay?"
"....Am okey mahter."
Alden was, in fact, not okay in the slightest. After last night's shock, Alden felt the need to stay awake and come up with an urgent solution. Unfortunately, pulling an all-nighter was something beyond his 1.3 baby stamina and he soon passed out. He woke up feeling like trash and a gloomy look hung on his face ever since. Sylvia's comment woke him up to reality as he hurriedly smile, reassuring his mom.
Sylvia smiled back at him gently.
"...I understand, Al is really strong. But we will go to the forest just in case, ok? Our forest is really nice too, moms will bring you there often from now on."
'Why the forest though…'
As soon as Alden raised that question in his head, they arrived. All of the sudden, he felt a warm strength surge up from inside out of nowhere. He suddenly felt safe and protected just by standing in the rear of the forest, reminding him of the time he first woke up. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, enough for Sylvia to notice.
'Fufu, this is the first time I have seen Alden's colorful expression like this, thank the gods. He must felt it too, the forest protection.'
Sylvia smiled softly and speak.
"Do you want to go in Al? There are plenty of fairies inside!"
"Uhhh…Oh, yass! Mahter, lets, go en!"
"Okay!"
As Sylvia carried Alden and headed deeper inside the forest, the warmth and relaxedness he felt also continued to increase.
'What magical buff is this!? If the status window is correct, I gained 7 points for all attributes except mana affinity, luck and charm! Just by taking a stroll inside the forest, this 3-year-old is already stronger than my hardworking past self, it still raising too!?'
While Alden was trying to make sense of the situation, a fairy indeed came. It was the green one again.
"Quickly Sylvia! Is there something wrong with little Al still?! I have already prepared the fairies to do a full-on blessing! Quickly move those stick legs of yours!"
"Tch, you are being too much Idril, Al says he is fine. I have already examined him in the morning. He looks a bit tired so I am taking him on a stroll, don't curse his health with your needless worries like that!"
The fairy, Idril, froze in mid-air, then she breathe a sigh of relief and flew toward Alden, who is tilting his head.
"Phew, I see… Then at least stay here a couple of hours, he should be at his peak in here, father says so to- hmm?"
Suddenly, she stopped around a centimeter in front of Alden, seemingly confused. Another couple of seconds passed before she show a mysterious and knowing smirk, then spoke casually.
"Alden, do you remember this auntie? This auntie must have taken care of you half of the time in your irresponsible parent's stead!"
"Stop spewing nonsense sister! He is still at a sensitive age, what if he really ends up believing you? Liam will stuff you in a lamp!"
"I speak of no lies, let's see if that buffalo dar-"
The quarrels disrupt Alden's peace of mind, who is in the middle of fully enjoying the forest buff. He looks up in curiosity and fixes his facial expression to an innocent child before shooting his baby act.
"Parries? I donte renember you parries…"
"Oh! it is ok Alden, you are too young and curse- ahahem, excuse me. Let me introduce myself. I am Idril, the most majestic queen of the fairies, fufufu! But I am your aunt and your mother's sister too, so you don't have to care about all that, cute niece!"
Glancing at his mother's twitching face, Alden confirms that Idril's introduction is indeed shameless. At least his common sense still works!
'They are sisters?... How though? No, I probably shouldn't ask yet?'
There are already too many strange things that he couldn't possibly accept with the old mindset ever since he got to this world, It is best just to accept everything now, then confirm it by himself later. Alden quickly processed the information and nodded happily.
"I see, your really preete perrie!"
"Ohhh! I am indeed! But Sylvia, why is he talking so weird, is this an aftereffect…"
"Hahh…We don't think so, Liam said that Alden is half-human so he is growing normal for his age and started talking recently. What we are concerned about is… where does his's vocabulary come from though, he only just woke up but already knows so many wo- "
'Damn!' Alden flinches and cuss in his mind. His face froze as he try his best to stop the cold sweats, feigning ignorant.
'My act is still too sloppy, this is so hard! Maybe I shouldn't have allowed the system to translate the language here…"
A bit scared of any further slips of tongue, he then awkwardly climbs down from his mother's embrace and toddles to the nearby trees, and the sisters did not stop him. For some reason, Sylvia seems to be more comfortable letting him play around in the forest than at home, and Alden suspected that it has something to do with the magical buff.
'System, can you perhaps analyze the buff?'
[Understood, processing…]
With a satisfied nod, Alden left the work for the system and proceed to act like a child, play around and touch all the weird greenery.
Last night, while stressing over the endless problems, there is only one positive that Alden got back, but it was huge. Yes, It was none other than a System update! Just thinking about it makes Alden giggles in happiness.
Although the update this time only added 1 sub-function 'Analyze', under the information tab. As long as there is sufficient time, the system can gather samples and analyze almost anything! Regarding to the language, it has long been analyzed perfectly by using the samples of Alden's baby brain, unconsciously learning the alphabet in his slumber. Right now, if not for his still undeveloped vocal cord, Alden would already be speaking like an 80-year-old native.
He had already urgently ordered an analysis on the curse of the world, but sadly, it is currently impossible. But this new function's usefulness alone is already satisfactory enough.
Besides, what's really amazing is the stress over the words 'currently impossible'!
That is right! After the update, the now livelier system informs him that there are still, more chances of evolving! This is because of how it fundamentally works and it truly surprised Alden.
Because it is essentially a privilege originating from the universe's power, every time it booted or collects new information, the system actually accesses and directly reads the general data written in the universe, instead of manually gathering information to update its intelligence!
This is akin to kidnapping the world's top geniuses to cheat on a highschool exam! A truly overpowered way of operating that made even Asta surprised, expressing his jealousy through useless white tabs. Giving Alden a satisfying warmth.
Anyway, this privilege will continue to grow in the future by itself and update after a certain point. But Alden could actually speed up this process by manually collecting information and feeding it to the system.
'Currently, the information displayed about the current world is still rudimentary and lacking. So in the future, I could focus on updating these.'
- World: Pridevion - A fantasy world of swords and magic. It is dominated by the law of the jungle, where the strong lives and the weak die. A resident here has a high chance of triggering race mutation. Being on high alert at all times is recommended.
Alden takes a peak again at the world's general information, then sighs.
'Truly… A savage world! What kind of living condition does this world own to have a monstrous 14.2% mutation rate! Even under the universe's pov, this is just too much!'
Compare to earth, where there is only 0.0000028% of mutation probability according to the system, and is considered a stable world. Pridevion is a living disorganized disaster! Just by living normally, 7 out of 50 people will go through mutation! The race 'Conqueror' of Liam is also a unique race that evolved through mutation from the human race.
'Well, I am also a conqueror now. Hahhh, luckily this race seems to have higher potential than a normal human. I should thank Liam.'
While Alden was playing with a rainbow mushroom that seems to be alive, swaying left and right, dodging his hand. The millennial finally stopped chatting.
"Oh my, look at the sun. We should get going now, Liam should be home soon. I heard there is a monster outbreak all of the sudden so he rushed out to help. He would probably make a fuss without knowing if Al is really ok once he returns. Do you want to join us for lunch sister?"
"Oh sure, I'm bored anyway. But before that, ehrm Sylvia… Why don't I sense mana inside cute Al? I notice it just now, it this also a human thing?"
The air froze in an instant, and the cheerful and harmonious atmosphere earlier disappear without a trace.
'Here it is!' Alden secretly cheer. He was wondering why his new stat Mana Affinity is an astounding -10 since last night. But he just doesn't know how to ask. Now that it has suddenly popped up, Alden could only cheer and wish for success. 'Good job, auntie!'.
The question startled Sylvia as her face darkens and hung down powerlessly.
Idril seems to be a carefree and cheerful fairy, but she is not inconsiderate. She notice Sylvia's mood right away and wore a similar expression.
"...I see. This is the real after-effect. Any clues on how to treat it?"
"Not yet. Liam has already asked some people we know but there is nothing so far…It is our fault…We are too selfish..."
Idril sighed loudly and speak.
"Stupid woman, you stayed with that buffalo for too long. How is any of this your fault? I understand, it seems like I won't be joining you for lunch. I will also try searching for a solution. Father is wise, he should know of a way."
She sighs again at the silent Sylvia and patted Alden, who looks all confused while holding his mother's hand. Idril then laughs cheekily and speaks.
"What a problematic child! fufufu. Auntie will see you later adorable Al! You are welcome to look for me anytime, this forest will be an absolute safe space for only you. You seem to have a lot of worries too, so call me whenever!"
"Okey perrie! I will!'
"No, call me auntie! I already know you can spell it."
"...auntee."
"Fufufu, adorable. Goodbye then, Sylvia and little Al."
She then touches a nearby tree. A huge red flower immediately blooms where she gently touched.
Its body surged out and the petals fluttered around like it was a newborn creature, the flower's bright red color made it seem like a sudden raging fire. Soon, it finished blooming and showed off a magnificent beauty for a split second before the petals quickly went back to work, enveloping Idril's small body, forming almost like a closed lotus bud and quickly shrink back into the tree's body.
All of this happen in an instant, before Alden could even be in awe, Idril had already disappeared with a slight smirk. The scene makes his mother very annoyed.
"Tch…Don't be fooled Al, she doesn't always make a dramatic exit like that. She normally just flew away, maybe she wants to show off to you a bit. Let us head back too, Al."
"...Uhm, yah."
As the mother and the son leisurely stroll back to the manor, after analyzing for while, a system notice finally pops up before they leave the forest's premises.
[The effect has successfully been analyzed. It has been classified as 'racial trait', and is given a name.]
[You have discovered the existence of, 'The Blessing of the Forefather.']