(Julian)
The beginning. I found myself sent to the beginning of Tou's memories. I wasn't experiencing it from his point of view but rather as a spectator.
However, something felt strange. A forest? Where was Tou?
"Coo..."
A soft, quiet voice, almost missed by my senses. Inside the bushes, Tou lay, completely exposed, without any covering.
This was truly pitiful.
The baby crawled out of the bush and onto the stone pathway in the forest.
This wasn't going to work. I needed to fast forward a bit, or else I would never uncover the truth.
Wait a minute.
"A child. Seems like it's an orphan. Guess I can eat today."
A wandering demi-human approached. He had large muscles, sharp teeth, and the head of a wolf. His eyes locked onto the baby.
No way. This is a newborn! There's no way he's going to die right now!
The demi-human swung his axe with intense strength, creating a powerful gust of wind.
[Cast: Split]
The infant simply lifted his hand, palm stretched open, and glared intently at the axe. It split.
What an interesting baby.
"Tch! You brat! That cost a lot!" the demi-human yelled, raising his left arm for another strike.
[Cast: Frostbite Chains]
A cold breeze blew by, and chains made of ice materialized out of thin air, wrapping around the demi-human's left arm, squeezing tightly.
"Gah! I-It's gonna fall off! Let go of me, you brat!"
Tou sat there, still raising his arm, even giggling a bit.
"Goo... ga!"
[Cast: Stormdraw]
Clouds started to roll in, darkening the sky as the sun was obscured, its light barely peeking through the nimbostratus clouds.
"W-Wait... you don't want to do this, k-kid-"
[Cast: Tempest Guillotine]
Lightning came down, like an execution from the heavens. The demi-human's head fell to the ground, blood spraying across the area until the pressure finally dissipated.
I could see it in Tou's eyes. No, I could hear his thoughts.
"Exhilarating."
He repeated the word over and over in his head. How does a baby even know a word like that?
In fact, how could a baby kill so easily?
Immediately, the baby started crawling on the stone path, continuing for hours, with his hands and feet getting more and more bruised.
I watched the baby's journey. Throughout it, several people passed by, but nobody stopped to help.
Why was that?
Ah, this is Venichian, in Northern Spain, a human-majority kingdom.
Tou is an elf, an outsider, an anomaly.
It makes sense.
But where was he going?
Night fell, and Tou kept on walking. As a baby, he had no sense of direction, so he was wandering aimlessly on the outskirts of Requin, Venichian's capital.
I was born in Venichian too. Well, was I really born there?
So many memories, most of them bad, though. Slavery, getting pushed off a boat, drowning.
But that's not important right now.
An orc was approaching. An intelligent one, obviously. It held a greatsword in one hand and a shield in the other.
What was an intelligent orc doing alone? From my knowledge, they usually traveled in groups.
Ah, well. It would be interesting to see what Tou would do in this situation, considering what he did to the demi-human.
The orc swung its greatsword down, but Tou wasn't moving.
As his memories played out, I could control the flow of time. I stopped everything as the blade neared Tou's head.
Just 4 inches away? No way... How could Tou possibly dodge this?
I slowed time down to see how this would play out.
[Cast: Stone Form]
His skin hardened, and it turned grey. The heavy greatsword collided with the baby's head, but it had no effect!
"Erh?" the orc grumbled. The baby moved to the side, and the greatsword fell into the dirt. It would take quite some energy to pull something so heavy out of the ground.
But it was an orc, so it was done fairly easily.
Again, the orc slashed at the baby.
[Cast: Blink Step]
Gracefully and elegantly, the baby leaped out of the way in a movement so fast that my eyes couldn't have followed it if it weren't for the slowed-down time.
[Cast: Stormdraw]
The clouds rolled up, and an intense rain fell onto the ground. It was so sudden that nobody likely noticed it.
[Cast: Molten Grasp]
Cracks in the ground started to form, and the dirt began to rise, with steam following. Then, the lava popped out in the form of a hand, grabbing the orc.
"Agh!" the orc yelled out in pain.
"Baa..."
[Cast: Tempest Guillotine]
Dead.
When I controlled Tou's body, I knew he was strong, from his swordsmanship. But his control of mana? His casting speed, all of that? It's... insane! It's monstrous!
Tou... this guy is something special.