Kai spent most of his days in the forest away from the village and where the hunters would go to catch their game. The entire village treated him as though he didn't exist.
Maribel and the other housewives were the first to give him the cold shoulder. Garrik and his crew were the second. They were within Kai's expectations, though. Rael came as a surprise. An outsider, just like Kai, he expected to resume his combat arts training but was let down when Rael raised his sharpened steel sword to Kai's face and threatened him to keep his distance.
With his only connections to the village torn, he felt no need to stay there.
He practiced his combat arts with wood tied to ropes he crafted by threading bark. When he wasn't swinging his wooden sword at the suspended targets, he played around with Shade and his other magical abilities.
Shade constantly stayed hidden within Kai's shadow, no longer tiring him out from simply existing. The creature grew stronger and more defined, slipping in and out of the darkness like a living wisp of smoke.
It no longer needed to be called out, conjured, or summoned. It was simply there, lurking.
Sometimes, Shade whispered to him.
Nothing coherent, just impressions of thoughts and urges.
A nudge when Kai faltered, or a whisper when he hesitated.
Kai understood that the shadow had no will of its own, not a thought in its empty head. It acted as an extension of his subconscious mind and acted faster than he could, physically and emotionally.
The longer he stayed in the forest, the more he felt the change deep within himself.
His hunger diminished; normal food felt like ash in his mouth. Meat still retained some semblance of flavour. Water no longer refreshed him, either. He'd lost track of when it started, but he now slept far less than usual.
He'd remain awake, eyes fixed on the twisted branches overhead, ears tuned to the forest's nocturnal sounds.
Several nights in a row, Kai stayed out all night, and when he returned, his family acted as if he'd been out for an afternoon stroll.
'It's not like the cold of winter affects my body anymore.'
Kai stood in the clearing, his breath even despite the exertion of the last few hours. Three square wooden targets, precisely carved with impossible details only Shade's claws could make, stood in a row before him. Every engraving showed an identical, clean, symmetrical bullseye, surrounded by swirling patterns like ancient symbols.
'I never asked Shade to carve those symbols, and I have never seen them before.'
Kai rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers. The cold was always there, waiting just beneath his skin. It had taken time to understand it, to wield it rather than let it drain him. Now, he embraced it, pulling from that chilling well within his core.
He raised his hand, and a thin layer of frost crackled across his fingertips. Snowflake-like patterns wrapped themselves around his fingers, hands, and climbed up his arm. Mist swirled at his feet as the air grew colder around him. His attention zeroed in on the first target; he felt a tightening in his chest, a surge of energy.
'Hold it steady…'
With a sharp exhale, he released.
A spear of ice, nearly as long as his arm, shot forward. It struck the target dead centre, embedding itself with a satisfying thunk. A spiderweb of frost spread from the point of impact, cracking through the wood like veins of frozen lightning.
Shade, who had been resting in Kai's shadow, let out a pleased rumble.
Kai smirked. "Not bad, huh?"
He raised his hand again, conjuring another javelin. This time, he adjusted his phantom grip.
From sneaking around in the forest, he witnessed the village hunters throw javelins numerous times, but Kai didn't have the long limbs needed for it. Instead, he mimicked the best he could and stepped into the throw, shifting his weight to his front foot, and released.
The ice spear flew faster this time, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle before slamming into the second target. The force of it sent a few splinters of ice and wood flying.
A thrill ran through him.
'I'm getting stronger! But there has to be a better way to do this.'
Kai set another spear-head to float in the air. He pictured his previous movements and simplified them. Keeping only his middle and index fingers extended, he lifted his hand up, and waved it towards the target like he'd seen people command archers to fire in movies.
With even more precision than before, the ice bore through the thin wooden target, leaving a gaping hole through the bullseye.
'Perfect.'
After several more successful throws, Kai let the ice melt. He warmed his icy hands by rubbing them against his clothes. The sharp chill still clung to his skin, but creating and manipulating ice no longer exhausted him like it had before.
'Next time, I'll try multiple at the same time.'
But now, an opposing energy, just as strong, pulsed in the air.
'Heat?'
Kai turned his attention away from the frozen targets, focusing instead on the fallen leaves that littered the ground nearby and the sun's rays that warmed them ever so slightly.
Fire magic had been trickier to grasp. Unlike ice, which had always felt like second nature, fire had taken patience, trial and error, and more than a few singed sleeves.
'I can't even make a flame as small as a lighter.'
But as the pieces fit together, he finally grasped the concept.
He knelt down, pressing his palm against the damp earth. He imagined the warmth of the sun, the way its rays felt against his skin during the height of summer.
That warmth existed inside him, too. It just needed to be drawn out.
Slowly, a small flicker of orange light sparked beneath his palm. It wavered, unsteady, but Kai fed it more focus, more intent.
An explosion of flame erupted from beneath his hand, and instinctively, Kai stood up and produced an equal amount of ice to extinguish the torrent of fire.
'Shit. That is how all of the other magic I've started using ended up. I should have anticipated it.'
Kai bundled another bunch of leaves up and knelt down again. Instead of imagining something, he remembered a time from highschool before dropping out. To gain popularity, he sprayed his hand with deodorant and set it ablaze. He lost the hair on his other palm, becoming less, not more, popular, but the memory fired up his imagination.
He set his hand on the leaves, and smoke rose up. The warmth on Kai's hand soothed his mind.
The flame grew.
As he lifted his hand, and the fire followed. It coiled around his fingers like a living thing, dancing along his knuckles without burning him.
Kai grinned.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent the fire outward. A low wave of flame swept across the ground, licking at the leaves and reducing them to glowing embers.
'It doesn't seem like I can shoot it like the icicles. Not yet, at least.'
He stood, feeling the heat settle into his bones. This power was like breathing in sunlight and exhaling fire.
His gaze flicked toward the remaining target.
He extended his hand, fingers curling slightly.
'What about this, then?'
The air around him shimmered as a wall of fire erupted before him, stretching up to his chest. It roared, wild yet controlled, crackling as if eager to consume everything in its path.
'It worked. A wall of flame. Not bad.'
Kai held it there, watching the flames dance, feeling their warmth wrap around him.
He tried to stretch the wall high enough to set the targets on fire, but had no luck. The flames only reached half of his height.
"I'll get the hang of this."
---
His presence, once unnoticed by the animals, now caused them to act strangely. Birds fell silent when he approached. Sensing danger, small creatures scattered. Even the wolves and some smaller predators hesitated when they spotted him with their glowing eyes, sensing something else from him.
Something that frightened predators that would happily tear apart a five-year-old boy for dinner.
The world shifted on its axis, the ground tilting beneath his feet as Kai stood at the centre of an unnatural, unsettling energy.
An energy that nobody else around him experienced.
One evening, as he sat by the river, running his fingers through the frigid water, he noticed something odd. Along with the frozen chunks of water floating downstream, there were several fish in the water, bellies up.
Kai yanked his hand away, breath catching in his throat.
"Shade," he murmured, glancing at the shadow that rippled beneath him. "Was that me?"
Shade flickered, shifting, curling around his form like smoke in the wind.
'Of course, being just an extension of myself, you won't answer. But you're my only companion now.'
A feeling stirred in Kai's chest. Something of an understanding, not words but instinct.
Yes.
It was him.
It had always been him.
Kai clenched his fists. He had always known he was different, but the realisation that everything around him—life itself—withered at his touch sent a sickening feeling deep into his gut.
Yet, a part of him felt something else.
A cold thrill.
He had power.
Power that could protect him, and his family.
The village had abandoned him, cast him aside as if he were already dead. But he wasn't. He was stronger now than ever before.
Still, the isolation gnawed at him. He missed Mari. He missed the warmth of his home, the quiet moments when Lila would hum as she cooked, when Garrett would tell him stories of far-off lands.
'But what sort of home is left for someone like me to return to?'
Kai pulled his knees to his chest, staring at his reflection in the darkened water of the river. Subtle changes to his face had surfaced.
The change wasn't stopping. If anything, it was only speeding up.
Shade shifted beside him, a quiet presence.
Kai closed his eyes. The whispers that plagued his mind never ceased, murmuring in the back of his mind, waiting
Always waiting.
And he was listening.
[Name: Kai Tensen | Age: 4 Years and 11 Months | Languages Translated: Imerian | Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Tempering, Mana Sense, Advanced Shadow Manipulation, Minor Strengthening Magic, Minor Elemental Magic, Intermediate Combat Arts, Novice Concealment, Shadowmeld, Precision Targeting | Spellcasting: Novice | Spells: Rejuvenate, Thrall Control, Shadow Conjuring, Bull's Strength, Frozen Touch (Contact), Frozen Zone (Area), Icicle Javelins (Ranged), Searing Touch (Contact), Wall of Flame (Minor) | Specialisation: ??? - To be revealed upon Magical Assessment]