My older brother and sister had such sad faces when they were granted the reward of attending the royal academy, so much so that I felt hate for the Redveins despite never seeing them with my own eyes.
"I have to figure out a way to get back those bastards, but I'm still too young now." I thought to myself.
As the mood was rather depressing, I said the few words I could to lighten it.
"Mommy, Mommy! Fire!"
"Oh, my baby, you want mommy to make you a fire?"
"Yes!"
My mother opened her hand.
"Sparnum"
A small fire appeared in the middle of her palm and moved like it was alive. My mother was a 5th-circle mage, and though she wasn't very strong offensively, I was still amazed by her magic every time she used it.
"Wow Mommy! I wanna do it!"
This time I wanted to try doing it, so I opened my hand the same way she did and spoke the same word.
"Sparnum!"
Everyone in the room around me burst out laughing.
"My son is so cute hahahaha!"
"That was a good attempt, little bro! Hehehe"
"Now now, don't make fun of him for trying. Here my son let mommy help you."
My mother put her hand under mine.
"Say it with mommy, Sparnum!"
"Sparnum!"
I said the words and I could feel a surge of energy coming from my mother's palm into my heart and out through my palm in the form of a small flame.
The feeling was simply fantastic like a spring was flowing through my veins.
"Wow!! Mommy I'm doing it!"
A notification panel appeared.
[You have learned and used 1st-Circle flame magic [Sparnum]. A passive will be granted.]
[All stats +15]
[Passive [Chantless Magic] Granted.]
The system thought I was the one using the magic due to my mother's help and granted me the rewards.
"So I could cheat it like this?" I thought.
Suddenly, my father walked over and placed his palm below my mother's.
"Our current situation might not be the best, but as long as we have each other, we'll always burn bright!"
The flame suddenly tripled in size.
"Father, I wanna do it too!"
"Me too"
My father removed his hand and my older brother and sisters placed their palms below my mother's, and when he returned his palm the flame doubled once again!
"Wow! We made a fire Mommy!"
Time moved quickly once again and another round of years had already passed. This time however I had managed to gather a large amount of information and I could finally figure out my next step.
Bordeaux where I was born also happened to be the second city when it came to characters important to the plot of the novel.
A FEW YEARS LATER.
The sun was bright and the skies were clear as I sat in the grassy backyard of the large fellsword estate. After growing enough to wander around the estate unsupervised and collecting as much information as I could, I found out many things.
"I now understand everything that's going on with the family. the family used to have much more money and power before the war against blank but my father was injured and the estate was damaged. In good faith, my father sent word to the king for help in a final plea to saveguard the family, but the red ein duke intercepted the message and came to make a deal with my father on the false narrative that the king refused to help him." I summarized in my own mind.
"In the end, my injured father who was too weak to fight back, was pressured into signing a contract, saving the family in the short term but pushing us into a large debt that would be hard to repay. All of these factors caused the family's current decline."
I could only sigh.
"Ever since then, the redveins have harassed the family with 'interest' and they've been doing their best to limit the region our duchy governs' income from farming, crafting and the sort, in essence making it so we can never fully repay the debt."
I continued to contemplate a solution, even though my mind surpassed the normal man, the issue was rather difficult.
"I'll have to solve the debt first before I can do anything else otherwise the family'll be destroyed and I'll die before I can see the ending. Speaking of which, an interesting coincidence, my mother is originally from the Balank kingdom and she happens to be the aunt of the novel's main character, James Rend, I found this out when she went to visit 2 years ago, but I'm not sure of how I can use that information yet."
I knew exactly what I needed to do and the system helped.
"What I need now is strength or I won't be able to do anything in this world, the story of the novel hasn't started yet so I have at least several years to prepare but once the 'Event' occurs I won't be able to protect my new and first family."
A notification panel suddenly appeared:
NEW MAIN QUEST!: [A Path To Basic Strength]: You require strength, so train hard!.
Condition: Complete All Side Quests.
Time Limit:4 Years.
Rewards:+100 All Stats, Inventory Function, System Eye Function, 3 randomized passives.
Goal: Achieve the 3rd circle of mana and the level of of sword novice.
[Main-Quest started.]
"Interesting, this is becoming a game now, I wonder where this is from, why it's on me, and how it works.."
[1st Act of Main-Quest part 1/5 [Find The Mage's Guidebook]: Your mother might be able to help you with your magical endeavors.]
"Let's go ask mother about this guidebook. Before that let me try again, Sparnum!"
A notification panel appeared.
[Unable to use Magic! At least 1-Circle Is required to utilize mana.]
"I guess that won't change."
I had on a dark purple set of patterned clothes my mother had picked for me as I ran through the grass back into the estate…