Around six months have passed since my reincarnation.
Throughout these months, I continued exhausting my mana every day, then I'd mindfully meditate for the reminder of the time I was awake, and I was serious about it.
After another five months, equal to a whole 150 days, my mana capacity seems to have grown hundreds of times compared to what it was before.
If my mana capacity was around the size of a bathtub five months ago, then now it was probably the size of an olypmipc pool.
In the very beginning my total mana seemed to double each day I exhausted my MP.
While I don't think this rate of relative improvement was maintained for long, I was still progressing at a very fast pace. As my total mana amount became larger, my growth with each day that passed also increased.
At that same time, my 'mana output' naturally improved as well and by now I was able to send out a river of mana through my hands, akin to a real small river.
Because both my mana pool and mana output increased simultaneously, I was still able to use the simple method of pure mana manipulation to exhaust my mana without problems, even though my time required for it was increasing as my mana pool grew.
Either way, my method of training remained viable for the time being, and hopefully will be until I begin learning real magic.
Five months ago I have also included into my schedule a slightly special mana output practice.
It didn't take me too long to release all of my mana through my hands, and then I had a lot of free time each day.
Given that I had a lot of free time, I began to spend a portion of it by releasing a part of my mana through my mouth instead of my arms.
It was not the most efficient method, but it did not matter, since I had the time.
My hope was that by training these magic pathways I might be able to develop them to the point that one day they can be used for casting real magic, just like through a regular person's hands.
I could release my mana through my entire body as well, but I felt that this method was way too disorderly, chaotic and significantly too inefficient to eventually make it viable for casting spells.
I had a strong feeling that I had to choose a single body part to focus on developing, and I eventually picked the throat.
The mana flow to all body parts apart from my hands was equally terrible and didn't seem to be improving. If I at least picked the throat, it might allow me to be a bit better at using Howling Magic. At least, I knew that it was something that's possible from reading the novel, unlike casting magic directly from the feet.
If I became too greedy and tried to accomplish something that was too ridiculous, I might just be wasting my time on an impossible task and accomplish nothing in the end.
All this time I also continued my mindful meditation practice when I was out of mana.
In conclusion, each day I would still mindfully meditate for a few hours while focusing on my breath, a peaceful state of mind and the condition of my body, as well as exhaust my mana at full power through my hands, but a portion of my mana I would always also release through my throat, attempting to 'strengthen the mana pathways' in that area.
In the meantime, while listening to Paul and Zenith's conversations during the last half-year, I started to understand the new language a little bit.
To be honest, it was very difficult for me to grasp this new language just by listening to the limited conversations around me while having no basic knowledge of the grammar or vocabulary.
It was also unlike the languages I knew.
Rudeus seemed to have learned it fairly easily in the novel, but I believe he compared it to Japanese at one point.
And if it really is based on Japanese, then I'm out of luck, because I simply don't know Japanese!
And so, it seems that learning this world's language will be a drag.
By now, I am only able to understand some simple words as I try to grasp the basic grammar.
Apart from this, over the last 6 months my body grew up a little and by now I had enough control to be able to crawl.
I would crawl all around the house with a smile and explore it when I'm let out of the cradle, acting like a curious and cute child.
I was able to send out my mana even while moving, so crawling didn't impede my training.
Instead, I viewed it as a chance to improve my mana control as I practiced how to expel mana as quickly as possible while moving my body and being conscious of my surroundings.
Zenith, Lilia and Paul all seem happy and excited with me being so active.
I knew that I was really doted on and loved.
["He will run off somewhere once I move my eyes from him."]
["Isn't it good that he's active? I was worried that he didn't cry at all when he was born."]
["And that's why you tossed him into the air?"]
["Haha, don't remind me of that... I told you, he's my son too, so he'd be fine!"]
["But even now, he rarely cries. He almost only does it when his diaper is full."]
["Yes, but I would prefer if he also didn't cry at night though, haha."]
I wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but Zenith and Paul had a discussion when they saw me crawling everywhere.
In truth, I was aware that in the original Rudues got away with being even more suspicious, but since I already only cried when I had a full diaper, I decided to also cry at night to appear more like a normal baby.
Otherwise it would just be too strange for my taste and safety.
In addition, I developed a rather nasty rash after delaying to report things the first time around, so that's another reason.
A child's skin is quite sensitive, I suppose.
Fortunately, Zenith seemed to have healed it with healing magic soon after at that time.
Afterwards, I would always cry out more often and not worry about it.
At this moment, I wanted to try something new.
It was walking.
Apart from growing my mana pool, these days I also wanted to start training my body from a young age.
I remember that it was said in the novel that swordsmen awaken their Battle Aura instinctively through the training of their bodies.
Perhaps 'training' as a toddler would normally be silly, but it was the world of swords and magic, so I couldn't completely trust the usual logic.
There was still a chance that beginning to train my entire body as early as possible might be beneficial.
At the very least, I knew that it would not be detrimental to be simply active as long as I did things safely and in moderation.
It would help my growth.
In general, I tried to eat a lot to grow well, so doing some activity to burn the excess calories might also be good, so I don't grow too fat as a kid.
Right now, I grabbed the leg of a table, which in my tiny hand appeared more like a giant wooden pillar, and slowly pulled myself up while also using my strength to straighten up my legs.
Soon enough, I shakily stood on my two legs.
It was very shaky and I had to support myself by holding onto the table's leg, but I was able to stand.
["Oh, my! Look! Seraph can already stand up!"] I heard my mother's excited voice.
As I held onto the table's leg, a focused and serious expression appeared on my baby face.
This is it. Even if I fall flat on my face, I'll do my best.
It was said in the legends that the A-grade genius Gu Yue Fang Yuan started walking at 4 months old.
It was about time for me to get serious as well.
My legs were shaking and I felt slightly afraid because of this, but I still let go of the table.
And then I took my first few shaky steps.
One, two, three.
["Go, go! You can do it!"] Paul cheered.
Four, five…
Pam!
And then I fell as I was unable to keep my balance on my undeveloped legs.
Before falling, I put my hands before my chest and protected it as I fell forward, rising my heavy head up to avoid it hitting the floor.
"Auch."
It still hurt a little.
But of course, I did not cry. I was not mentally at an age where I would cry due to the smallest reasons.
["Seraph! Are you okay?"] My mother spoke up and rushed over to me.
She then picked me up by my hips, but I saw that her expression was more happy than worried.
After all, it wasn't like I suffered any serious injuries.
I reflected a gentle smile as I looked back at her.
She then lifted up my hands by the wrists and said, ["Your hands are bruised, let me heal them... Divine power is rich and nourishing. It offers the strength to rise again to those who have lost their strength. Healing."]
As her hand emitted a dim light, I felt faint foreign energy enter my body.
"Pretty!" I called out while watching the shiny lights.
The external mana flowed through me a little forcefully, and in an instant the pain on my hands disappeared.
"Whoa!"
["See, it's okay now. After all, your mom was a renowned adventurer,"] my mother said in a boastful manner while smiling.
I smiled.
Yes. I wasn't wrong after all. It was the world of swords and magic!
And I couldn't wait to begin learning real magic myself.
…
Around 1 year has passed in total.
There is no calendar anywhere in the house, but at one point I heard my parents talking about how I'm 1 *year* old, so there's that.
At least, that's what I think they were talking about.
Around that time I also discovered that my full name is Seraphim Greyrat.
'Seraph' was simply a shortened version of my name that my parents often use to call me.
Of course, over the last 6 months I continued meditating and exhausting my mana every day without fail both through my hands and also throat.
If my mana capacity used to be the size of a pool half a year ago, was it the size of a large lake by now?
It was hard to say, but my mana pool had surely once again grown by a lot.
Even if these days my mana capacity would only increase by a few percent of the total size each day, given the large size of my total mana pool, I was still making great gains every day and over time.
The time required for me to release all of my mana increased to around 3 hours of continuous release each day, so I was still far from reaching a bottleneck in my training.
And this made me ponder.
I have been exercising my mana reserves for a full year already, but I didn't reach a bottleneck even though I haven't yet even begun learning real magic.
In contrast, in the novel Rudeus seemed to have reached a bottleneck after training for one year in the beginning and was unable to exhaust his mana even when casting beginner level spells for a full day. At that point he needed to move onto Intermediate rank spells and accidentally blew up a hole in the rooftop.
As for me, no matter what, I have been exhausting my mana fully every day, so it isn't like I could train harder.
Because of this I felt that my method was simply more time-efficient than casting low-rank spells, so I haven't run into a bottleneck yet.
I simply had no way to know the truth.
Nonetheless, I decided that it was about time for me to begin showing interest in magic and books.
Once I learn how to read, or once I'm directly taught magic, I can figure out my situation.
For this, I formulated a small plan.
One day I bruised my knee and then came up to Zenith to get it treated.
I showed an amazed expression when seeing the lights heal my wound, just like before.
After that, I would often come to her. It would point at my knee enthusiastically with a meaningful expression, and it didn't take long for her to realize that I wanted to 'see the pretty lights again'.
As this happened a few times and as I showed my interest in magic, Zenith began to show me various other small spells apart from just healing magic.
Wind magic, Water magic, Fire magic and others…
These were probably all the lowest level spells, but she could still do them.
However, perhaps she didn't remember all of the incantations, because she sometimes read them out of a book.
And the one time she took out a book is what I used as my chance. While pointing at the book in her hand, I said, "Mom, teach me!"
At this, Zenith looked at me with a smile and asked, "Oh, you want to learn magic?"
I enthusiastically nodded my head.
Zenith softly said, "I'm sorry, angel, but you're too young to learn magic just yet."
Seeing Zenith give me an apologetic face, I widened my eyes and showed her the cutest sad expression I could.
Pretty please…
"Aaah, don't do this face. Mama just won't handle it!"
Twinkle, twinkle.
I blinked my eyes as I looked up at her while acting like Puss in Boots, imagining them shining.
"Okay, okay! But first you have to learn how to read. How about that? This should take you a few years."
After seeing Zenith's defeated expression, I knew that the operation was a success.
Like this, from that moment onwards, I began learning this world's alphabet with Zenith, whereas Paul would often read me a fairy tale before bedtime while pointing at various words in the book.
Lilia would also often actively help me to learn various new words by pointing at different items around the house and the garden.
The entire family worked together to help me learn the language and they seemed to be very happy with my enthusiasm toward learning.
I remember that Rudeus had to decipher the magic guide book after he learned how to read in secret by himself, so I certainly had an advantage when it came to my learning resources.
A few years to learn how to read?
Challenge accepted!