The chilly morning air of spring blew across the little hairs on my head as I played around outside of our house. A few months had passed and I was now a year old. Apart from a few boring seasons confined to the house and some of it in the garden outdoors, I was fully taking advantage of my amateur walking abilities. The experience of being confined to a crib or someone's lap for hours on end was something I dreaded even the thought of.
On a more positive note, my mana core was now fully 'filled' up. Well, to word it more precisely, it looked more as though it was actually forming by building itself piece by piece until it was a solid sphere of condensed mana...
My core was currently dark purple in color, I understood that this was likely the first stage to developing my magical abilities. I still had a long way to go if I wanted to understand the depths of magic and how far it could take me. I figured that in order to reach whatever the next stage was, I needed to get rid of impurities. Now, no matter how much I meditated and gathered mana particles, it was difficult. I needed to understand how to remove these dark blobs from my core.
I had a few theories, but none of which I could test right now without exposing myself as some sort of a monster.
In regards to spells… I understood, in theory, the basic principles on how to use them, but I didn't want to get put on a cross and burned, or labeled as an abomination of mankind! If that was even a thing here… I might have seen one too many shows back when I was on Earth. Heh…
Anyway I'll have to eventually find a secluded place or somewhere I can be alone without someone supervising me to test out my theories, but no one would leave a child alone for too long unless they were irresponsible or uncaring. But, since I was a year old…I assumed that if I asked my mother nicely (AKA using my puppy eyes), she'd let me play outside of our house.
'Ha...' I sighed in my head. The thought of doing something so disgraceful…
In any case, Diana was busy cleaning the house and getting ready to head off to work for the first time in a year. I had grown enough now to accompany her at work. She seemed excited and elated to bring me along! Also more work meant more money on the table, and more food to feed my growing body.
Heidor had promised her that she could bring me to the inn, and for better or worse, that he'd take care of me, which was surprising. He must have really liked my mother, which is understandable since who wouldn't? She had a bright personality, a nice smile, good features, and a great attitude.
"Dari, let's go," She said, locking the house behind her and carrying me in her arms.
"Ok mom." I replied back.
I had spoken my first words a few months back which surprised even my parents since I normally kept quiet. To appease their fears, I had put a lot of effort into working on my ability to speak, and with a lot of practice I had almost managed to perfect it.
Walking at a steady and rhythmic pace, we were off for Heidor Inn.
…
At the entrance of the inn, my mother let me down from her arms. It was early morning so the inn was quite quiet besides the occasional noise from the cleaning of tables and clanging of tableware. The only people inside were staffers, a few guests, Mr. Heidor, and his son Juvenis who was busy preparing for the day.
"Diana, it's great to see you again, glad you're here today," Mr. Heidor said, shaking my mother's hand.
"Good morning, Jonathan, I brought my son today," she replied.
"And you too," he added after my mother's greeting, waving at me with a big, warm smile on his face.
I waved back.
"Hello mister." I said as cutely as I could.
"Ha! Why isn't he a cute one? Diana, you can get ready for the day, I'll take good care of your boy, I can promise you that."
"Alright, behave Darian." My mother said to me before leaving.
"Ok mom."
Mr. Heidor and I stayed at the front desk, I was told to play and do whatever I wanted so long as I wasn't noisy, but I decided to stay still and get lost in thought.
I watched my mother from time to time, she was diligent and hardworking, I could finally see why Mr. Heidor wanted her back. The place was spotless, and the other staffers were listening to her every word.
She would sometimes pause and have a little conversation with Juvenis, they seemed like really good friends. My mother, to this place, was like a ray of sunshine in the dark. The inn appeared to come to life as she tended to guests and their needs, and kept things in order.
Interrupting me from my boredom was Heidor.
"Would you like to go read books upstairs, Darian?" Asked Jonathan noticing I looked bored.
"Yes, please." I replied in earnest. I was dying to read other things besides the same repeated stories from the book I was being read almost everyday.
…
Upstairs in his office was a single table made of wood, a bookshelf with a few books, 2 sofas, and a coffee table. The room looked like it served mostly to accommodate more important guests when they wanted to personally meet with Mr. Heidor.
On his desk was a pile of papers with Count Wainan's symbol. I decided not to pry, and look away, focusing my full attention at the books on his bookshelf.
"Wow!" I acted surprised. "So many books, gramps!" I said with a joyous smile that almost went from ear to ear.
"Do you like books, Darian?" Jonathan asked, patting my head.
"Yes, I love books!" I lied through my teeth.
I hated books, in fact the only reason I 'liked' reading them was because the stories my mother read were the only source of entertainment I could get besides magic, but even that was put on hold for now. I still had yet to figure out how to cast spells, and where I would practice in secret.
"Can you read?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, doubting I could.
"Yes, I can."