Kai sat on his bed, fingers twitching as he focused on the shadows pooling beneath his hands.
Mari spent most nights with the church for the past year, learning her future cleric duties, so Kai woke up early to practice magic every morning.
A tendril of darkness slithered out from his fingertips, coiling and shifting, forming into the small, goblin-like shape he had been practicing with for weeks.
'Shade. An appropriate name.'
The shadow creature now stood as tall as Kai, its form, usually fluid and shifting, had been trained to look like a goblin from the games he'd played in his last life.
Its body maintained a pseudo physical form that existed not as a shadow on the objects around the world, but as a pit of darkness taking up physical space.
'This really is weird magic.'
It had no true eyes or mouth, yet Kai could feel its attention on him every time he brought it into existence.
He willed it to move, and it obeyed, darting across the wooden floor with eerie silence.
A small grin tugged at Kai's lips.
"Alright, let's try to increase the difficulty."
He pointed at a wooden spoon on his desk.
Usually, there would be a feather, a piece of parchment, or another very light object for the experiment, but Kai felt confident.
Shade slithered up the leg of the table, its inky form stretching unnaturally before wrapping itself around the handle. With a flick of Kai's thoughts, the spoon lifted into the air. Shade wobbled slightly but adjusted, floating it over to Kai's waiting hand. He caught it easily and nodded in approval.
"Good. Let's try something heavier."
An hour passed as Kai experimented, pushing Shade's limits. It could wrap around objects, retrieve them, even mimic simple gestures. But the more he used it, the more he felt a strange pull in his chest, like the magic inside him wanted to spill out, to grow.
'I need to be careful. My magic isn't like Mari's. I don't know what an explosive burst of my mana would do.'
No one knew about Shade. Not his mother, his father, nor his siblings.
In the last year, Peter was born into the Tensen family. A baby brother.
Kai remembered watching the shocked look on his father's face when they found out Lila was pregnant. He laughed to himself while remembering it fondly.
Peter slept in Kai's old crib in their parents' room, waking them up occasionally throughout the night.
'They got it easy with me. Even if I woke up, I wouldn't wake them up when I was a baby. Now they have to remember what it's like to have a normal child.'
His family had been nothing but kind to him, but he knew he was different.
His magic wasn't like theirs. He couldn't mend damaged items like his father's side of the family, or traditionally heal injuries like his mother's side.
His power was quiet, cold, strange.
And in a world where clerics and heroes and priest hunted down anything strange, being strange was dangerous.
A sharp bark cut through his thoughts.
Kai flinched, Shade instantly dissolving into the room's natural darkness. He rushed to the window and peered out.
Bert was snarling and snapping, his once-friendly eyes, now wild and unfocused. A shredded carcass lay at his feet. A goat from the neighbouring farm, dark blood soaking into the dirt.
Villagers stood at a distance, some clutching farm tools, others whispering in hushed, anxious voices.
Kai's father, Garrett, stepped forward.
"Bert?"
The dog lunged.
Chaos erupted.
People screamed.
Garrett almost failed to dodge in time, stumbling backward as Bert's jaws snapped where his arm had been.
The Tensen family's dog, once loyal and full of love, now turned on the closest living beings around it while red foam frothed in its mouth.
Rael walked forward from the crowd, iron sword in hand.
'Rael, I don't think that'll do anything...'
Kai watched, anxiously.
Subconsciously, Kai assisted Bert in dodging Rael's strikes from his sword, the two of them dancing back and forth as though they were playing. But this wasn't a game.
Then came a voice of authority.
"Enough!"
The village's religious leader and head priest of the church, Father Aldric, strode into the square. His long white robes trailed behind him while he approached Bert.
Father Aldric had trained many clerics and priests in his lifetime. Healers, users of divine magic, and devout souls all flocked to him in his church, and he held more power than the mayor himself. Between that power, his communication with the gods, and his divine magic, almost everyone respected him.
The villagers stepped aside as he walked towards Rael and Bert.
His expression was grim, but there was no fear in his eyes, just a look of judgement.
"This beast is possessed."
'Possessed? That might actually be accurate.'
Kai rushed to the front door, passing Lila nursing Peter who was watching the commotion from their bedroom window, with Mari nowhere to be seen. Once exiting the house, he ran towards the commotion.
The murmurs intensified.
Father Aldric raised a hand, golden light radiating from his palm. The brilliance was blinding, a warmth that pressed against Kai's skin even from a distance.
"No!" Kai's mother, Lila, clutched Garrett's arm. "He's sick! We can—"
"Silence." Aldric's voice rang with finality. "It is a demon's corruption. It must be purged."
Before anyone could protest further, the priest thrust his hand forward.
"Mari, this would be a perfect chance to use your practiced gifts!"
Mari stepped forward, looking at each of her family members with a conflicted expression.
'You evil bastard. Making Mari kill her own dog? Are you testing her loyalty?'
A bolt of divine energy shot from her fingertips, striking Bert square in the head.
The dog let out a chilling, inhuman howl before collapsing. His body shimmered for a brief moment, light consuming him from the inside out.
Then...nothing.
Only dust remained where Bert had been.
Mari shook slightly. Kai saw it. She felt guilty, sadness, and possibly frustration.
Silence settled over the village. Then the whispers began.
"Did you see how crazed it was?"
"A demon… living in our village."
"Isn't the family cursed? That boy—"
Kai felt their eyes on him before he heard the words. He shrank back from the crowd before more people could spot him.
His heart hammering in his chest and his parents stood firm, their faces grim.
But Kai felt it.
Something had changed.
The next few days confirmed his fears.
Neighbours who had once greeted his family with warm smiles now hesitated. Conversations cut short when he entered a building. The baker who used to slip him extra pastries now barely met his eyes. Even the children in the village gave him a wider berth than before.
His family, too, felt the shift.
Lila carried herself stiffly, forced smiles hiding her worry. Garrett worked longer hours, avoiding unnecessary interactions. Mari noticed, but didn't understand why.
Kai understood.
Their family was different. He was different. And in a village where faith dictated right from wrong, where light was good and shadows were evil…
Kai knew he had to be careful.
[Name: Kai Tensen | Age: 4 Years | Languages Translated: Imerian | Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Tempering, Mana Sense, Advanced Shadow Manipulation, Minor Strengthening Magic, Minor Elemental Magic, Intermediate Combat Arts | Spellcasting: Novice | Spells: Rejuvenate, Thrall Control, Shadow Conjuring, Bull's Strength, Frozen Touch (Contact), Frozen Zone (Area) | Specialisation: ??? - To be revealed upon Magical Assessment]
Shade slithered from his palm in the darkness of his room, curling around his wrist like a silent comfort.
'They don't need to know.'
'They can't know.'