Several months had passed since Lukas’s first birthday.
Ti, which had once seed to crawl like cold honey during the first months of his life, viscous, endless, every minute an eternity of boredom and helplessness, now flowed with an almost frightening speed.
The days followed one another at a pace Lukas could barely keep up with. Mornings of study in the inner garden, afternoons of exploration around the estate, and nights spent reading in bed before sleep.
Lukas had reached one year and four months of age.
Sixteen months in this world. Nearly four hundred and eighty days since he had first opened his eyes and seen Aurora’s face, bathed in tears of exhaustion and happiness.
His small body continued to grow at a healthy pace, nothing abnormal, nothing that would attract unwanted attention. He no longer looked like a baby. He was a small child, with snow-white hair and deep violet eyes that seed to see beyond what lay before them.
But what truly impressed the family was his ntal developnt.
Lukas now spoke with even greater fluency. No longer the short, hesitant sentences of his first months, he now conversed like an adult.
He built complex sentences with ease, used rare words that Aurora did not even know he knew, and asked questions that left even Clavor scratching his beard in confusion.
"Mother, what is the difference between a common beast and a divine beast?" He asked one morning during breakfast.
Aurora blinked.
"Where did you hear about that?"
"In a book."
Aurora sighed deeply and looked at Clavor, who rely chuckled quietly.
Tilbo and Prata were now inseparable parts of his daily routine.
The tallic ant, larger than ever, her body now asuring almost ten centiters in length, about the size of an adult’s palm, spent most of her ti on his left shoulder. Her black carapace glead with an intense tallic sheen, bronze and silver, with veins forming patterns resembling waves and stylized flas. Her legs were sturdy, equipped with small bristles that helped her cling to the fabric of Lukas’s tunic without damaging it.
Prata, the black-carapaced spider with silver threads, preferred his right shoulder or arm. Her body was now the size of a large walnut, her long articulated legs stretching several centiters in every direction. The silver hairs on her legs shimred under sunlight, and her multiple eyes, eight glossy black points, reflected Lukas’s face whenever he looked at her.
The servants of the mansion had already grown accustod to the strange sight of the young master walking through the halls with two exotic creatures as constant companions.
Helga, the cook, who at first had dropped an entire pot of soup upon seeing the spider on Lukas’s shoulder, now simply waved and asked,
"Are the little ones hungry? I have so leftover fruit here."
Tilbo enjoyed pieces of apple. Prata preferred live insects, though Helga did not provide those.
Clavor trained Judite more diligently now.
The girl, now five and a half years old, was showing real progress in her "Enhanced Mana" ability.
Small flas danced in her hands with greater stability, no longer the trembling flas that threatened to extinguish themselves at any mont, but small, steady fires that burned for several seconds before fading away.
She had also learned to create a sphere of mana, a translucent ball of bluish energy that floated above her palm. At first, the sphere lasted only one or two seconds. Now, after weeks of practice, she could maintain it for nearly ten seconds.
"Ten seconds!" She celebrated, jumping in place after a training session.
"Dad, did you see? Ten seconds!"
"I did." Clavor replied proudly.
"Tomorrow we’ll try for fifteen."
"I can do it!"
"I know you can."
Lukas watched the training sessions with interest, but he still showed no desire to learn swordsmanship.
’Not now.’ He thought as Judite launched small flas into the air.
’Not yet.’
Life in the mansion continued at a comfortable pace.
Lukas spent his mornings studying in the inner garden. He sat on a stone bench near the fountain, with Tilbo on his left shoulder and Prata on his right arm, reading the books he found in the mansion’s small library. The one open to family mbers, not the locked one in the western corridor.
He had already read every children’s book available. Now he had moved on to more advanced texts. History of the Kingdom of Rhyne, geography of the continent, and introductions to magical theory.
He wrote everything down in his small leather notebook.
"Kingdom of Rhyne: founded approximately 400 years ago by King Aldric the Unifier. Originally, three smaller kingdoms united through conquest and marriage alliances."
"Mana: life energy present in all living beings. It can be manipulated by humans with proper training. So animals and plants also possess mana, to a greater or lesser degree."
He spent his afternoons exploring the estate with Tilbo and Prata.
Clavor had relaxed the restrictions, not completely, but enough that Lukas could walk through the gardens and nearby woods without constant supervision, provided he did not wander too far.
He knew every corner of the estate by now.
The inner garden, with its exotic flowers and crystal-clear fountain. The empty stables, slling of dry hay and animals long gone. The vegetable garden, where Helga cultivated herbs and vegetables. The small woodland, where birds sang and tiny insects lived beneath the stones.
He captured insects to feed Prata and observed birds with improvised binoculars, two lenses he had found in a drawer and tied together with string.
Evenings were spent in the library or the main hall, reading or talking with his family.
It was a sunny morning when a servant knocked on the door of Lukas’s room.
Three short knocks. A pause. Then two more.
"Young Master." Said the servant, his voice muffled through the wood.
"A letter has arrived for you. From Young Master Asmon."
Lukas, who was sitting on the floor while Prata explored his hand, the spider walking across his fingers with a lightness he knew well, her delicate legs touching his skin like feathers, quickly raised his head.
His violet eyes lit up.
"Please bring it in."
User Comments
0 comments from readers