Grey's life was on repeat. He woke up early in the morning and then followed an elaborate mix of eating, training, and studying. On the 7th month of this extraordinarily mundane repetition, Fallen Star knew a change was needed.
- Grey, you should take a break. - The neutral voice sounded in his head.
- You've been training non-stop. We said that you would enjoy the intricacies of youth, but well… the situation devolved pretty quickly, didn't it? You've spent the last 7 months diligently training from 8-8. There's also your 'secret' night training for 3 hours. You require a break. It's good for the soul and body. - Although the voice was gender-neutral, and, on several occasions, almost robotic, Grey could hear a slight tint of worry in Its voice.
'Well, I wouldn't mind a break. It's not like missing a day of training is bad.' Grey decided that it would be a good idea to follow Fallen Star's advice.
---
Lucas was on the couch, watching the daily news. Today was a Saturday, so he was free from the responsibilities of his job. The only thing on his mind was the news… and his son. That boy was beyond explainable, in every aspect.
Not only was Grey almost smarter than he, but the boy had monstrous levels of mana for even Lucas. In 2 years, Lucas knew he would not have grown his pool of mana that much. On top of, that, he displayed a level of maturity that was hard to be found, even in adults.
Every so often though, he would, from the corner of his eye, catch the boy staring off into space, only for him to look down, his face contorting in anger as he clenched his fists till they turned white. The pure malice that Lucas would see in his eyes made him shiver.
Grey's world consisted of the house, the garden, and the hospital. The only people in it were Lucas, Samantha, the doctors, and the boy. He couldn't fathom who had made his son so angry, and honestly, he was scared for the poor fool.
At that moment, as the news lady was informing the masses of the death of a villain, and of the weather, Grey tiptoed behind him. The boy was so good at mana control that Lucas almost couldn't sense him. The small stream of mana that entered his eyes, however, gave him away. Lucas didn't know why Grey would pour minuscule amounts of mana into his eyes, for it wouldn't affect his vision, yet the boy seemed a little reluctant to share. Or so he thought… he had just never asked.
Just as Grey got into position, ready to scare his father, he heard a mumble and found himself in a water bubble a second later.
Standing up and turning around, his father spoke, "Hah! You thought you could sneak up on me? You're 20 years too young!" Or so Grey, assumed, for the water muffled the speech quite well.
---
About 5 minutes later, Lucas was still rambling, but Grey had had enough. Pointing to his mouth, he pretended to struggle to breathe. He could hold his breath for an hour but did not want to test if his father would talk for that long, so this seemed to be the best option.
However, it seemed that his father had seen through him. He cackled, "Don't try to fool me. I know you can hold on a lot longer than that. But… I suppose I have gone on long enough." Releasing the spell, Grey fell on the floor and glared at his dad.
"What the hell?! How do you ramble about me trying to sneak attack you, for a whole 5 MINUTES?" The annoyance in the voice of the boy was apparent, yet his father only chuckled at it.
"Well, when you get to my age, y-"
"NO! DON'T! You're not even 40 yet! Don't act old!" Grey yelled, refusing to let his father go into one of those, 'back in my day', or, 'at my age' speeches that old men would say.
"Anyway, I came to ask if I could go to the park?" He asked, "I want to take a rest day."
Lucas, unfazed by the words, sat back on the couch and without looking at Grey, waved his hand, "Go ask your mother. I'm too tired."
Knowing that Lucas would no longer listen to Grey, he sped away, muttering under his breath, "Lazy bum."
Lucas heard it, of course, for the constant use of mana had enhanced his senses. He merely chuckled at it, before shaking it off.
---
Grey stood in front of a majestic playground. Well, it seemed majestic in the eyes of Grey. It was his first time looking at one, and although it was a regular, rather average playground, he didn't know that.
Samantha had taken him to the park on 2 premises. First, he was to wear a cap at all times, to hide his awakened hair. Second, he was to tell her why he channeled mana into his eyes. It seemed that both she and Lucas were curious about it, it was just that Lucas couldn't care less.
He readily told her, asking her to look at his breathing. Seeing that he was doing mana breathing, she asked if he was seeing the particles, to which she received a no response. She was confused, knowing that doing that would have no point, yet accepted the answer. Despite not disclosing the full reason, and leaving his mother further confused, Samantha knew that it wouldn't be harmful. Why would he do it if it was, after all?
Grey and Fallen Star had decided that it was the best idea to just tell them half of what he was doing. He couldn't exactly tell her that, not only did it let him train his recharge rate, but it was also to be able to practice anywhere. No one else was capable of training through this method, after all, for they didn't have the Mana Body.
Moving on from the past discussion, Grey, with a cap that read, 'I <3 Arkus', ran to the playground. Grey, from his studies, knew that Arkus was the name of the capital city of the Central Domain. However, that was the least of his concerns.
Climbing up a ladder, Grey looked down upon a straight metal tube. It was a 'slide' and Grey immediately figured out how it worked.
Deciding that it would be his first stop, Grey got onto his bottom, wiggling towards the edge of the slide. With a little push, he set off. The slide, at a height of 3 meters, was a thrilling journey for Grey. The adrenaline he felt as he slid, the way he so smoothly slipped down the tunnel, and the exhilarating jump at the end of it, made Grey elated.
'Hell yeah! That was so much fun! Again!' Grey's thoughts were filled with the idea of going on the slide once more, so he started up the ladder again. 'It seems that my small body makes the slide much more fun.'
On the platform on top of the ladder, Grey looked towards the slide. He scooted towards it once more but wanted to look around before going back to it. His eyes glided around the park, skimming over all the apparatus. There was a 'roundabout', a 'net swing', a regular swing, 'monkey bars', and some of those 'rocking animals'. They seemed to be a [Unicorn] and a [Bicorn]. They were mythical creatures from old texts about Arkusia, and were unknown to Grey, for only demons lived in Sincia, higher or lesser versions.
His vision stopped on two extraordinary constructions. On the other end of the park, there was a giant slide, easily 15m tall, and next to it was a zip line, stretching for many tens of meters. Grey assumed that they were for the bigger kids, over the age of 10 that had awakened, but knew that his body could handle it. His usage of mana had toughened his body, as it did to all things.
He jumped off the 3m height, only slightly scaring Samantha, who had been on a bench conversing with another woman, presumably a mother as well. She was not worried, though, after seeing that it was a relatively small drop. A small smile was visible on her face as she watched Grey running around with a big smile on his face.
---
Stood in front of the giant structure, Grey felt his heart thump in excitement. His blood boiled at the thought of sliding down it. It was in a spiral format and made of some odd metal.
It was called 'weak steel' simply because it was a version of steel that had been weakened. The effects were not noteworthy, and it was almost impossible to be harmed by it. Although it was considerably weaker than most metals, it was sturdy and had high resistance to temperature change.
It had been discovered by accident by a dwarf, who had immediately deemed it perfect for kid's architecture. Even to this day, some 150 years later, people were befuddled by the dwarf's thought process.
Grey, who had been monologuing the details of the metal whilst climbing, now stood at the peak of the slide. Looking down, he was awed at the height. He couldn't wait to get on the slide, so get on he did.
Practically boosting himself down the slope, Grey found himself whizzing down the curve of the slide. Once he reached the end, he shot out of it, before skidding to a halt. His shoes had heated a tiny bit, and he knew, had his outfit not been special, it would have suffered quite a bit of damage.
The euphoria of danger he felt could not be explained, and all Grey could do was continue going on the slide to feel more of it.
As a demon, in their 'perfect' society, Grey had never felt this emotion, so he wanted to capitalize on the chance. They also didn't have playgrounds, because, again, no children existed.
---
It had been about 3 hours since Samantha and Grey had come to the park, and Grey was now resting next to his mother. It seemed the adrenaline and running had put quite a toll on him, so Samantha offered to get him a drink.
He immediately accepted, for the thirst was annoying, so Samantha found herself in the closest shop, buying 2 bottles of water. From the window of the store, she could see Grey resting on the bench, so she was not worried.
Yet it was at that moment, just as she turned her head to pay, that Grey was snatched! Checking on the boy once more, she found he was no longer on the bench and that a long black limo was speeding away.
"God fucking dammit." Was all that escaped her mouth before she stormed out.