Our family of now seven people really needed an expansion as the current house was getting somewhat cramped, especially since Cilia was crawling around like a menace. I don't know what allowed her to do that, but she could crawl fast. Since Cilia was growing bigger by the day, we eventually called a family meeting on how we should expand. Having been working on Earth magic, I suggested that I could try building an expansion. I was fairly confident in my skills, but, out of an abundance of caution, I would practice building a storage shed in the backyard. I think that was fair, and I would be able to showcase my architectural abilities.
After doing some quick research using the Akashic Tome to make sure that Earth magic wouldn't fade away over time, I drew out a quick plan of the storage shed. It would have two rooms, and a garage like door for things that couldn't fit through a normal door. It would be built mainly out of wood, but I opted for waist-height stone cobbling on the corners and pillars of the building to add some class. I needed to impress my sponsors, y'know.
In mere hours, I summoned a wooden wall to use as my raw materials, a smaller wall of stone cobble, and some sand to be smelted into glass. Using wind magic to lift and mold the stone cobble into place, I created a foundation for the building. Using a different wind spell to chop the lumber, I built a frame with metal screws I materialized. With magic, this process only took a few hours and I was proud of my work, but I was getting tired. I still wasn't used to using my magic constantly for hours, so this was actually good endurance practice as well.
The next day, I had quickly attached the side walls and insulation material, as well as door and window frames. As fire magic was my specialty, smelting the sand into glass was a breeze and the windows were installed in no time. The doors were made to be a bit heavier duty, and the large fold-out garage door was finally installed in the last hours of the day.
On the third and final day of building the storage shed, I put in stone flooring, lamps, and other accessories in the buildings and unveiled my work to the rest of the family by lunchtime. The storeroom stood tall in the shade of the treeline, so it didn't intrude on our typical views while also being close enough to the house to be useful.
"Wow! This thing is awesome! And sturdy!" Kris exclaimed, jumping on the walls. I was confident that it wouldn't collapse, so I let her bounce off the walls. My father walked up to one of the corner struts and gripped it, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"Seems sturdy enough to me. Good job."
With that, I was given the greenlight to build the house expansion. Or rather, a second house for me, Kris, and Leora. And eventually Cilia when she grew old enough, but for now, she was relegated to the nursery. Excited, I got to work planning the main layout and materials I wanted to use. Both my father and I were talking about wanting a workshop too, so that was one of my main focuses. I needed four bedrooms, and I took this opportunity to build a proper bath. Since I was custom designing this building, I could engineer the water supply to use the same source for both indoor and outdoor use. If I kept the hot water circulating, I didn't have to worry about heating it from the bottom either. I was so excited about this plan that I fell asleep at the table and slept until morning.
^^^^^^^^^
Once again waking up in the Sanctuary, I floated towards the gazebo where Sakurai and I always have tea. This scene is one that I've gotten used to fairly quickly, and I enjoyed it.
"You should build me a tea house or something, Mr. Architect."
"Huh? Why? Can't you do that on your own here?"
"I can, but it would just look worse. I like your style."
"Oh, do you want a little pet room or something?"
"Pfft. No. I'll just commandeer your room again."
"Ha. Whatever."
Our conversations nowadays were that of old friends bantering, which was relaxing and refreshing. I couldn't banter like this in the real world because, well, physically, I was a bit young for that.
"You know, if the whole world wasn't resting on your shoulders, you could probably make a fortune just being a magical architect."
"That's a thing?"
"Yeah. And it pays well."
"Probably. Maybe I'll make that a side hustle."
"If you have the time, that is."
"Yes…if I have the time…"
^^^^^^^^^
I awoke at the table, drooling over all my plans. Though they were still legible, I scrambled to dry them before anyone noticed, as that would be kind of embarrassing. Once the plans were sufficiently dry, I went outside to survey the area in which I would build the second building. Leveling and grading the area tucked away near some trees near the storehouse with gravel, I noticed Leora watching me from a distance. Like normal.
Summoning the same materials I used from the storehouse, I quickly got into a flow. With the foundation laid, I got to work designating the spot for the water and fire stones to be used as a water supply and convection style heating element. I didn't have the stones on hand, but I ordered them with the money I had made from hunting monsters with my father. I wanted this to be a surprise after all.
Over the next few days, the house was built rather quickly with large glass panels, wooden and stone pillars, and overhangs for open-air balconies. A workshop spanned the entire first floor save for the equipment for the baths. The second floor had four bedrooms as well as the indoor bath along with a balcony. Granite countertops were installed and our furniture was moved into that building. When the magic stones arrived, I hurriedly rushed into town, stuffed them in my bag, and installed them in the equipment room for the bath and let it fill.
Showing off my accomplishment after about a week's time, Krisven and Leora were absolutely stoked. Dad was also happy with the new workshop which had room for both of us to work in at the same time. For some reason though, I felt as if Mom was slightly apprehensive of the whole situation. At least until she tried using the outdoor bath.
When I first tested it out, I felt like I melted into bliss. It has been almost six years since I had a nice, hot, almost scalding bath. Especially one outdoors. The sweat and grime was washed away from my body almost immediately, and it was much more effective than just using a damp towel. And much more comfortable than a lukewarm bath. It really was paradise. But I knew this couldn't last forever.
^^^^^^^^^
Though we had a separate building, most of the time, we hung out in the family room of the first house. About a week or so after the second building had been completed and Kris, Leora, and I moved in, my mom pulled me aside and asked to go on a quick hike with me. I quickly packed a bag and slung it around my shoulder and headed out the door with her.
Following her out the door, we hiked up a trail to a small crest where we could overlook our property from the other side of the road. The houses looked like little wooden shacks in the distance being swallowed by the treeline, and the azure lakewater lapped the golden shore behind the trees. After admiring the scenery for a couple of minutes, Freya finally broke the silence.
"Phoenix. Can I ask you a question?"
"Uh, yeah. Anytime, mom."
"Well, let me preface this by saying no matter your answer, I am still your mother and I love you very much."
I awkwardly laughed, saying "That's foreboding."
"Are you an otherworlder? Like somebody who's been reincarnated?"
After a few seconds of silence, I nodded in the affirmative.
"My intuition told me you were. After all, you seem a tad too mature for your age."
"Yeah. I am. I died at the age of thirty in the previous world, so mentally, I'm thirty-five or so."
"Ah, I see."
"I can tell you a bit about my previous world, if you'd like…"
"Sure. That would be nice…"
"All that I ask is that you keep this info on the down low. Especially with my sisters."
"Of course. I wasn't going to tell anyone anyway."
"Alright, thanks. Where should I start…"
After pondering for a few seconds, I told her about the main glaring difference between our world and my previous world.
"So. Most obvious, at-a-glance thing is that magic doesn't exist in my world. Yet we were far more advanced as a civilization in spite of that. We had buildings that touched the sky, we had underground railroads to transport passengers, and we had possibly far more destructive weapons."
"Oh, I see. Were there a lot of people?"
"Yes. More than Eight Billion to be precise."
"Wow, that's a lot."
"In my previous world, I was a soldier. Can you guess how we fought without magic?"
"Swords?"
"Nope. We used these," I said, pulling out that M45A1 that somehow materialized next to me all those months ago. "This is a gun. Well, more specifically, this is a pistol. We often used these as secondary weapons. Our primary weapons were much larger and much more potent than this. But this can still kill someone in a flash."
"That's an interesting weapon. How'd you get it?"
"Well, this one kind of just materialized on me while I was sleeping. But, previously, this was the same one I used back in the previous world. See these battle scars? And this serial number?"
She nodded, and I continued on.
"We would fight each other with these, and with vehicles and explosives hundreds and even thousands of times more powerful. In fact, we had a class of weapons called WMDs. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Though these haven't been used in eighty years. Overall, even with these weapons, the world was as peaceful as it's ever been. Our ancestors with swords were much more violent and valued the conquering of land. In fact, our species has even reached space."
"Space?"
"Yep. That's what's above the sky. It's where all the night stars are located. Millions of kilometers away. It can take years, even centuries for the light from those stars to reach us. Who knows if the stars we are looking at are already dead. We could be looking at their post-mortem afterimages."
"Interesting…" she said, lost in thought.
"Yeah, there's a lot of things like that in my previous world. Like the land we are sitting on is actually moving. Albeit extremely slowly. They are called tectonic plates, and earthquakes are caused when they rub on each other."
"Wow…"
"Yeah. That's just a little snippet of the memories I've retained from the previous world. But that stuff doesn't really matter right now. Right now, all that matters is that I'm your son."
Freya smiled at me, and nodded.
"Thanks, mom…"
"No problem, son…"