"So… Aspects are wild beasts similar to monsters, and Kindred are Aspects that have been tamed by people called Alumni… But every human also starts with a Kindred born from inside them? This doesn't make any sense…" Ain hummed.
He sat on the second floor of an extensive library that was connected to Marie's house.
The young boy, now 2 years old, continued looking at the picture book with great interest.
It gave him many answers to questions he had.
The name of this world was Evolution. An odd name, but one that probably has a history behind it. It comprised almost exclusively islands, with landmasses large enough to be considered continents nearly non-existent.
And Aspects! He had finally found out what Core was. Rather, Core was a Kindred, but the change in classification didn't mean much as far as he was aware.
Apparently, all living creatures had something called an Aspect Heart. It worked similarly to cores of the Undead or Elemental spirits, allowing them to utilize Mana.
Humans, however, have a unique Aspect Heart. Rather than a singular organ that allowed for the use of magic, theirs were split into two. The first half was an egg that would hatch into their first Kindred, and the other a jewel that did… Something.
None of the picture books went into any detail on it, and unfortunately, anything more complex than a colorful graphic was too much for him to decipher currently.
While he was no longer an infant, he was still cursed with the inability to read, which was a whole separate can of worms. He had no idea why he could understand the language they spoke like it was his own but couldn't read the words they wrote.
While it was certainly something he wanted to look into eventually, it was of less importance and interest than the Kindred.
From what Ain could tell, it allowed humans to tame other Aspects and had a bonus feature that allowed them to grow faster alongside their Kindred.
"But what could possibly cause such a bizarre evolution?" Ain questioned.
While he appreciated having answers about the strange objects in his Inner World, he still ended up with countless new questions.
"No, no. That's probably wrong. The Aspect Heart has to be related to the World Law, so maybe it's closer to a mutation rather than an evolution?" He continued his musings with a large smile.
"An Alumni, huh? Becoming one of those is the first step to learning more about this world."
He didn't hate more questions revealing themselves to him. At least he wouldn't be bored for a while.
Unfortunately, becoming an Alumni was a ways off. A Kindred could only be awakened via a ceremony at some point after 5 years of age, and even then, there's no guarantee it will awaken. Many children have to wait until they're upwards of 11 years old before they can successfully awaken.
And even after that, he had to get some sort of identification, which he had no idea about.
"Ainie! Ainie!" A high-pitched voice called out, rushing through the glass doors.
A cute 2-year-old girl looked around vigorously until she found Ain.
"Found you!" She cheered.
"I wasn't hiding, though?" Ain said, closing his book.
He put away the book he had just finished and grabbed a new one from the small pile beside him. Then, he slid down the ladder toward the child.
He could remove most of the friction between him and the wooden ladder by coating his hand and feet in a thin layer of Mana.
"And you know you're supposed to be quiet in a library, right Annalise?"
"Woah! So cool!" She ignored his words, far more focused on the maneuver he just pulled.
In response, Ain sighed. He wasn't interested in acting like a young child in front of her. He had more than enough of that while around Maria and Core.
It's not like Annalise was a remarkably normal child, either.
"So. What's up?"
"Ah!" She said, being broken out of her enamored state.
"Granny said to hurry up and get shoes on! We're leaving!"
Ain's brow raised.
"Leaving? Where?"
Up till this point, Maria hadn't let them leave the house. It made sense; she seemed to only go out for errands, and Ain couldn't imagine her wanting to watch two idiotic children while handling important affairs.
"Dunno! Let's go!" Annalise cheered before running back out of the library.
Ain certainly wouldn't want to watch Annalise while handling important affairs.
He followed behind her in no particular hurry. Instead, he created a small orb of Silverish-blue Mana in his hand.
'The world law doesn't inhibit Mana use, obviously. Have they just not learned how to use their Dantians due to having an alternative way to use it?'
That was the greatest blessing. If he couldn't even use Mana on his own, he'd have no hope of recovering his Celestial Energy.
He did have a backup plan if Mana was out of the question, but he was glad it wasn't forced on him.
Stretching as he walked, the duo found their way to the entrance rather quickly, where Maria and Core were waiting for them.
"Here, brat. Put on these shoes. Core will help you," Maria said without wasting any time.
"Please sit on the stairs." Core said, grabbing the shoes from Maria.
"Uhm… Where are we going?" Ain asked once again.
"You two are going to the park with Core while I deal with… Guests." She let out an irritated groan.
'Holy shit… Who's coming that they managed to piss off the old bat?' Ain wondered inwardly.
Maria always had a resting bitch face, but for her to actually seem annoyed was a new one; even in the two years that Ain has been here, he hadn't that.
"WOOOO! THE PARK! THE PARK! DID YOU HEAR THAT AINIE! WE'RE GOING TO THE PARK!"
As Core put on his shoes, Ain nodded.
'If I didn't before, I certainly did now. Thank you, Annalise.' She chuckled inwardly.
Although he didn't say much, Ain was definitely excited. He'd only had the chance to see the city from the second-story windows, so an opportunity to explore the town properly wasn't something he'd let go to waste.
"Thank you, Granny."
Maria looked at Ain with a curious expression.
"Hou? Who taught this brat manners?" She asked sarcastically.
Ain smiled happily.
"Oh! Granny! Can I bring this book with me?" Ain asked, presenting the book.
Maria was a little surprised. She vaguely knew that Ain was in the library quite often, but even more often, he followed Core around like a baby duck.
Core was in charge of keeping track of the books in the library, so she never put too much thought into Ain, who was already into reading books.
"Heh, it seems this brat might shape up to be a genius." Maria laughed.
She thought about it for a few moments before nodding. The book wasn't a particularly rare one, being a relatively common fairy tale, so even if it were lost outside, it wouldn't be much of an issue.
"Alright, well, be off now. You runts better have fun."
"Okay!!!"