Two weeks after Sera's birthday.
"Darling~! Mike and Alicia have arrived at the village entrance, so I'm going to browse their wares for a short while~ Please look after the kids properly in the meantime~"
Stopping as she opened the front door, Serena announced her brief departure to Eric.
"Of course I will. Though, Eri's sleeping, and I think Sera's too immersed in her own world to even realise you're gone."
"Ah, yes, that's right~! Dear, you should see how she is doing with it all~"
"Oh? Has she made good progress with the magic training already?"
It has only been two weeks since she started, but have there already been some noteworthy results? Eric realised for the first time that his daughter truly did possess 3-star talent.
Smirking cheekily, Serena put a finger on her lips and averted her gaze.
"Mhmm, I wonder~ Perhaps you should go see for yourself~?"
"Ha, alright. Have a good time, and make sure those two are doing well."
"I will~ See you later, Darling~! I love you~"
Serena closed the door, the last glimpses of her wide-brimmed summer hat and pretty dress reflected in Eric's eyes. Getting up, he walked out the back door that led to their vast garden.
In reality, it was basically a farm, but the couple didn't use it as such because they weren't farmers and had no intention of being so; everyone had their own roles to play in the community, anyway, and their's was not that of a farmer.
Anyhow, not far away from the house in this relatively wide area was a young girl, a small boy, and a setup of arranged stuffed practice dummies.
They were the very same dummies Serena often used to practise her own magic and Eric to sharpen his blade―though, granted, he didn't really use them since he spent a lot of his time fighting off the monsters in the surrounding forest instead.
Quietly approaching, Eric didn't want to make too much noise as the girl appeared to be in the midst of deep concentration.
"...!"
All of a sudden, she opened her eyes wide and thrusted her right hand, which held the wooden practice wand gifted to her on her birthday a week ago, and shouted with great zeal.
"―[Ignite]!"
The vigour with which she exclaimed was enough to make one think that the result would be anything of marginal magnitude, but the reality was nothing of the sort.
Poof.
"..."
It lasted for about a second―with one 'woosh', a flicker of flame materialised in the air, akin to a candle top, and almost immediately disappeared.
"Wow, you used real magic...!"
It might have looked unimpressive at a glance, but it was her first time, and she was only five years old, after all. Even without considering all that, Ray appeared amazed enough by simply seeing his sister cast magic.
Perhaps, it gave him a deeper feeling that he might be able to use it himself one day.
"Wow, was that Fire Magic I saw?" Calling out as he walked over, Eric pat Sera on the shoulder with a smile.
"It's only been a week since you began and you've already come this far? Well done, Sera! You'll become a magician renowned throughout the lands in no time at this pace."
"..."
"Are you alright? If you're worried that it was a small flame, don't be too concerned; it's only natural for a beginner, and you'll grow quickly."
She didn't seem to react even after a few seconds passed, so he crouched to see her obscured face that looked down at her hands.
"Dad...!" She suddenly shouted and flicked her head towards him. To Eric, her wide eyes appeared to glisten with wonder.
"Yes?"
"I can use magic!"
"...You can indeed."
"I can use magic! I can use magic!"
She began running and jumping around the garden, ecstatic. 'Ah, that must have been her first time actually casting the spell', he thought.
Was Serena just teaching her the basics of Mana Mastery until now? It must be so.
It was all about the fundamentals at the end of the day.
To use magic, you see, one required a certain level of Mana Mastery depending on the specific spell they wished to cast. It was something that increased with training and practice, and the higher one's level of Mana Mastery, one would gradually be able to cast higher-ranked spells.
Of course, it wasn't exactly so simple as just that, but that was the main premise of it.
And so, Serena has been training Sera's Mana Mastery for the past two weeks to reach the required level to use the most basic Fire Magic―[Ignite].
Now that she could use [Ignite], her training efficiency would witness a massive increase.
"But..."
Eric muttered to himself.
"Wouldn't it normally take much longer for a child to be able to successfully cast their first spell...?"
As a swordsman, he didn't understand too much about magic, but he did pick up some things from Serena, his wife, who was a magician.
That's why, he knew.
"Even with a three star talent, this rate of growth... It's incredible..."
Paused for a moment, the figure of Sera bouncing around the garden enthusiastically passed him by, and Eric screamed internally.
'...Serena...! Our child is a prodigy...!'
〈─────✦─────〉
A few hours later.
Serena arrived home; after being informed by Eric about Sera's accomplishment of casting magic for the first time, she smiled knowingly and asked her.
"Oh, my~ Fufu~ Is that so, Sera dear~?"
"Ahehe~! I can use magic!"
"Oh, wow~! Well done, sweetie~"
"Hm...? Did you already know?"
"I wonder~"
Eric scratched his head at her reaction. He expected her to be more surprised, but it looked like she was just putting it on, so she must have already known about it.
Considering that the majority of people who were experts in a particular field could roughly estimate the level of another person in that field with but a single glance, it should come as no shock that she already knew the level Sera had reached.
But then, since she witnessed the girl's growth first-hand, and as someone with a far more in-depth base of knowledge on the subject, shouldn't Serena be the one most overwhelmed by her daughter's unbelievable talent?
It takes that kind of expertise to recognise that level of genius this early on, after all.
"..."
"Darling, it's time for lunch~"
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Eric joined the rest of his family at the table as they began to eat.
"So, Mike and Alicia are staying in the village for a short while~"
Mike and Alicia Barros, a couple of travelling merchants who are also husband and wife. They lived travelling throughout the country of Astua and often frequented Pine Village to vendor.
"Oh, that's right; how are they?
"Mmm, Alicia's not been feeling very well, apparently..."
"That's not good. Do they know what the cause is?"
"No, just that she's had some headaches and coughs for the past couple of days... They're staying in the village for a little bit to slow themselves down, because they think they might be pushing themselves a little too hard..."
Taking a spoonful of the soup on the table to his mouth and biting into the adjacent loaf of bread, Eric replied, a little confused.
"Why don't they just go to her father for healing? He's a Viscount, right?"
Serena then put a hand softly on her cheek as if to show her concern.
"That's right, but she said that she didn't want to have to rely on her father all the time... I can't lie and say I don't understand that feeling, though~"
"A-ahaha, well..." Eric laughed awkwardly and sighed.
"We can only give them all the support they need until she recovers. Let's hope it doesn't develop into something more serious, else they might have to hire a professional healer for help."
"Yes..." Serena worriedly nodded at her husband's words.
With that line ending the conversation on the matter, the family then changed the topic and began to discuss a happier subject.