"Mama! Mama! Can we go outside and use them now?!"
Aka bounced around in front of me, the falchion firmly pointed down towards the ground and relatively stationary as she beamed up at me, all of her energy welling up in her excitement as she waited for an answer.
Ehretia and Ipoala returned swiftly from their Dama - who they had rushed back to after thanking me, showing their gifts off again to Rhefia, who just smiled at them lovingly - to mirror their sister, repeating what she said and giving me their best, hardest to resist gaze.
Longing and love filled their eyes, and their hopeful smiles as they stood in front of me with the various other forms of excitement showing through made it hard to say anything besides yes.
Aka's tail swished behind her, Ehretia's tail was trembling as she bounced up and down, while Ipoala's wings flapped randomly behind her, which when paired with those eyes...
"Yes, yes... Rhefia, Sari?"
Sari just smirked as she stood up, attracting the attention of our kit again as Aka rushed over to her, looking at her Dama with a grin that was far too innocent to understand what was about to happen... though I had a feeling she wouldn't mind it as much as a 'normal' child would.
Rhefia stood up as well, though she looked towards Kalia and asked "Did you want to show them magic as well? I'm... passable with it, after all."
I wasn't offended that I wasn't asked, since while I could display raw mana easily enough, even that would be tinted with a slightly sinister feeling as my Blood Mana and Dark Mana would try to make themselves known, which... still unsettled the others even as they became adults.
Sari and Rhefia were unsettled by it as well, and they were the ones with actual experience with life and death in far more intimate circumstances than any of us could claim to be.
So... while it was a tad unfortunate, for now I would need to just watch on, though that itself was a blessing since it would give me some time to do some other things on the compound as I watched them from afar.
Besides, when they got more mature and could be alright with seeing and sensing my unique ,ana - without the threat of nightmares and general childish terrors - I could help teach them then, but for now I could instead have some fun on my own~!
So, I followed them outside and watched as Sari took Aka towards the sand pit meant for physical training, whilst Rhefia and Kalia took the other two towards the edge of the pit, where they could do a little bit of training with both their wands and their knives.
I did want them to learn how to at least use a knife in a basic regard for combat, since it could prove helpful for them in any sort of regard, but I had a feeling they would both prefer and rather utilize their mana for... anything and everything.
To start, Sari began to have Aka lift and hold the blade steady in front of her in a basic stance, which the kit initially thought was stupid only to watch in awe as her Dama swiftly slapped her falchion away, surprising her and showing her the importance of being able to just hold the weapon without strain.
It was a simple start, but considering the sheer look of determination on Aka's face as she just... lifted the blade up and tried to not have it shake too much, well, it was just what she needed.
Meanwhile, Ehretia and Ipoala were sitting in front of Kalia, wanting to learn about their magic before anything regarding their blades, which made Rhefia smile wryly before she shrugged, sitting down a few steps away and watching them closely, doing everything that Kalia said as they began to touch and interact with the Weave.
I chuckled as I thought back to when I did the same with Kalia, the Dark Elf showing them how to take those threads and begin to weave them together create something new; it took some finesse and patience to harness the Weave like that, and since they were both children, well...
Watching as a burst of colorless threads filled the air around them, I shook my head with a smile, only to nod as they went back to it a moment later, staring at their older half sister as she showed off her ability.
A flower made from emerald green threads was in her hand, and when she placed it against the soil, a bud sprouted out before blossoming into a brilliant flower, its purple petals speckled with red unique enough that both the children looked towards me, making Kalia blush as she remained transparent with her magic, as always.
Waving to them, I winked at Kalia before making my way towards the orchard, perusing the various fruits hanging from the trees and picking the ones that were ripe, adding them to my inventory before making my way towards the small field of crops we had planted a while ago, checking the various crops - wheat, corn, tea, and more - and harvesting what was ripe, before sprinkling the seeds of what I harvested back into the soil, allowing a new batch to begin to grow immediately.
Then I made my way over to the Geri, who were all lounging around in a stable and dozing beneath the sun, enjoying their 'house' as they sprawled around inside it and outside of it.
When I approached, they all lifted their heads and stared at me with interest, the three eyed wolves no longer as scary as I once thought; not only because they were weaker than me now, but also because my Geri were docile, lovable balls of fluff, who deserved all sorts of treats~!
Pulling out some chunks of meat, I tossed them to the Geri and fed them some more, before replenishing their water trough and enjoying their soft fur as I gave them each a hug, earning myself a few licks and nuzzles in return.
All in all, as the children became more enamored with their new 'toys', I got some chores done around the compound as I watched them from afar, enjoying the way they all seemed to be lost inside those new 'toys' and striving to learn how to use them.
Something they viewed as fun and entertaining now, but would eventually become the foundation of how they were able to protect themselves in the future, which made me happy that I had decided to make these gifts now instead of later.