"The world of magic is not fair, my son..." Vicente's mother said, a heavy heartache evident in her words. Nevertheless, she was determined to teach her son a valuable lesson, preparing him to face the harsh reality.
Although he was very young, since Vicente had been showing signs of interest in magic as he spent too much time thinking about it, Kate had decided to address this problem once and for all.
Before he raised his dreams too high, she would cut off his wings to prevent him from attempting a 'flight' that would only cause him to fall 'face first' to the ground, leading to disappointment.
As a mother, it was her solemn duty to prepare her son for this terrible world!
"Don't expect to have extraordinary magical abilities nor to have rich mana, Vicente. Your father and I lack them, so it is unlikely for you to be privileged in that either...
Therefore, don't think too much about it. In time, you will undoubtedly be able to use magic, but you should focus on becoming a skilled merchant like your father.
That way, you can have a good life, have friends and freedom to move around."
After letting out a sigh, she smiled at her son warmly, brushing her son's hair, before hugging him. "You don't need magic to be happy. Your family loves you very much, my little boy."
Hearing those last words, Vicente felt that there was no room to complain, much less lament about the cruel truth of this world.
The mana a person would have was considerably influenced by their hereditary traits. Hence, the odds were against him.
However, wasn't that also the case on Earth? He had been born poor on Earth and, from a young age, had to live in the naturally unjust reality of that world.
Due to that experience, the weight of the harsh truth had not affected this young man too heavily.
He smiled at his mother and planted a kiss on her cheek, thinking he could carve out his own path in life, just as he had done it on Earth.
Maybe he wouldn't become a renowned magician, but he could still thrive and live well in other ways!
'Not exactly what I originally desired, but I can work with that.' Vicente thought as his mother embraced him. 'On Earth, I joined the Mazzanti family, but in this world, I can create my own family.
Along with the knowledge I already have, I am confident of putting together my own group and become an even better Don than the old man.
I just have to remain vigilant of traitors...' Vicente recalled the worm that had sent him to this world.
While he didn't despise where he was now, was there any guarantee that he would be reincarnated in another world if he were to die again?
With no guarantees that he would have the same luck, he sought to prevent the same event that had occurred on Earth from repeating itself in Polaris Realm as well.
"Now go play with your sister, Vice. Mom needs to finish what she's doing," Kate said in a gentler tone than before, releasing her son to return to his world of youthful innocence and fewer worries.
She was heartbroken that she had had to teach her son such hard things and soon she began to think about making his favorite meal later.
While she was immersed in thinking about this, little Vice ran to his sister, knowing that this young girl would play with him since she was so much fond of him.
"Vice!" Lauren exclaimed upon seeing her little brother as she concluded her etiquette lesson.
In this society, girls like Vicente's sister were groomed from an early age to become exemplary wives, mothers, and homemakers.
Although some of them became magicians and ventured out into the world, this was the life of very few. Most women followed the customs that were similar to those Vicente had read about in Earth's history books.
Their family took the responsibility to educate and train them until they could conceive a child. Eventually, their father would find a worthy man and arrange the marriage.
Usually, this arranged marriage would serve to improve the relations of both families, so the bride was hardly involved in the choice of her husband.
Since she was a child, Lauren had been learning how to behave and was being tutored in the art of refinement, striving to become a lady deserving of respect.
One day, Vicente would also undergo preparation by his family, albeit for different objectives. Unlike his sister, he would be groomed to inherit his father's profession, the most common practice for the firstborn male child.
At this point, however, Vice was still very young, and his responsibilities were few. So he had a lot of freedom and often played with his sister whenever she had free time.
And it would continue to be like this for the next several months until little Vice reached his fifth birthday!
It would be at this juncture that things would finally begin to change a little for him!
...
In the months following Vicente's discovery of the connection between mana and heredity, this boy had slowly lived a less boring life. He embarked on a journey of gradually learning more about various aspects of the world he now inhabited.
By the age of four, he had finally acquired his first set of books after persistently asking his parents for months.
His ability to speak and write properly was a requirement made by his father to give him access to these books.
Through reading these books, he learned about mana, magic, and heredity along with a dozen or so fundamental aspects of information about the kingdom and the world he was born into.
He understood that mana was an important aspect of every magician. It was a vital source of their magical power and was necessary for casting spells and activating abilities.
On the other hand, magic refers to the refinement and application of magical power for applying various spells or abilities.
Regarding heredity, he learned about how one's parents played a significant role in determining an individual's magical attribute and magical form.
Through this, he understood that he had a high probability of sharing similar characteristics with his parents and eventually achieving feats they might have had if they had focused on following a magical path.
As someone who had already understood that his parents were not versed in magic, Vicente spent the last two years without holding great expectations for his awakening.
The awakening ceremonies happened when youths turned 14, and it involved them being given something called a Magic Gem during this particular ceremony.
After their origin related to heredity, what influenced the life of a magician the most was this Magic Gem, so this was a ceremony of utmost importance.
But given his family's apparent lack of magical prowess, little Vice didn't harbor high hopes for his awakening.
Therefore, right after he turned five, he embarked on a journey to learn his father's occupation. Vice was totally focused on learning what improvements he could make in it.
While he had no intentions of becoming a merchant identical to his father, he aimed to learn Andrew's methods, believing that he could use them to his advantage when he had the chance to raise his family along Mafia lines.
With these ambitions in mind, Vicente Fuller commenced his academic journey at the onset of the year 867 of the Magical Age!
...
On this particular morning, Vice hurried to get ready after waking up and had breakfast with his family, looking forward to his first day at the only academy in Martell Village– the Academy of Stars.
At the Academy of Stars, he would begin part of his study regime, where he could learn a wide range of subjects, from the basics of the kingdom and the world he was in, to a little about magic.
While his academic pursuits would occupy his mornings, he would still continue to learn his father's profession daily by accompanying him in the afternoons, making him have a whole routine of activities starting today.
As someone eager to escape his monotonous life as a child, Vice almost forgot that he had to go with his mother on his first day at the academy.
"Where are you going, Vice?" Kate smiled at him as she noticed her son running to the exit door of this residence.
"Mom, let's go! I can't wait to go to the academy!" He said in his childish tone, but without speaking the way he used to, a few years ago.
Kate smiled and noticed that Lauren and Andrew were looking at her, clearly signaling to her that she had spoiled him too much and now, it was her responsibility to deal with this eager young son of hers.
"Sigh... It's okay," she relented, rising up from her seat and revealing her six-month pregnant belly, evidence that yet another addition to their family was growing.
And with that, Vice went to begin his first day at the academy with his mother by his side!