"Hello? Hellooo? Sir are you alright?"
"Hm? Oh apologies. Seems I spaced out. What did you say?"
As I spoke my voice took on a semi-static tone to it. A while back a certain... friend had made special necklaces to help the voiceless speak. There weren't many of us without a voice, but we were very happy to speak with our own voice.
I looked at the man on the other side of the counter. I called him a man but he looked more boyish. Probably around 15 to 16 years old, but at the same time I should know better than anyone not to judge age by looks. He had green hair and sparkling blue eyes. Around his head was a small creature slowly floating around him. It's main body was small and sort of spherical. Coming out of its back were 4 luminescent wing like limbs. A Mesmer.
"Yes. I was checking on my order. For Lotus Migurdia?"
"Lotus you say? Is that a family name?"
I questioned the teen as I made my way to the oven and peaked inside. I took out the large cinnamon roll, and sat it behind the counter.
"Of course it is. No one would be foolish enough to use that name unless they were his descendant."
"I see." I started applying vanilla glaze on the roll. "So what are you? Great nephew? Great great grandson?"
"Just Grandson actually."
"Oh? I didn't know any of his children were left."
"Just my dad, but... he's not looking to good nowadays. Being part elf and part Migurdian has him living long, but... well old age comes for everyone."
"If only."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Here. That'll be 1 large copper."
I placed the cinnamon roll on a plate and sat it in front of him.
"The sign says 2 large coppers though."
"I'm giving you a discount. You seem like a pretty good kid. Besides. It's been a while seen I've seen someone so closely related to Khaos. Might as well treat them well."
"Khaos? Father said that only his friends could call him that. You knew him?"
The teen looked quizzically at me. I could tell from the expression on his face that he was either going to bombard me with questions or get violent based on my answer.
"He was a good friend. I'd say he was taken to soon. Left me all alone on the day he died. That he did."
"Wait so you really knew him? Like actually?!"
"I did. Lotus Migurdia. A man who couldn't speak, yet when his voice was created he could move nations. He could do that both figuratively and literally. You interested in hearing some stories? Not many come around this season and even fewer come around this time of day."
"Really?! I'd love to! But... I'll have to come back in a bit. I actually came to get this roll for my dad. This place is his favorite."
"Really? Glad to hear some people still have good taste. Take this. It'll let you through the door once you get back."
I handed Lotus a small stone marble. It had a green stripe running across it horizontally, a black stripe running vertically, and a blue dot on each spot where the lines touched.
"I based the design off of Lotus's family. With his permission of course. See you soon, kiddo."
"Th-thank you."
The teen left and as the door closed I felt a small tear fall down my cheek.
"Oh? I thought I was all out of these."
"Um sir? I'm back!"
"Just a moment!"
I went back into the main area and brushed my hands against each other.
"My apologies. I'm afraid my cat made a bit of a mess."
"Oh it's fine. Uh here. The key thingie."
I took the marble back from the the boy and put it in the topmost pocket on the inside of my coat.
"Thank you. Now what would you like to know about your grandfather?"
"Um. Everything?"
"Hah! That'll take a while. Do you have the time for that?"
"Um. Maybe?"
"I'll tell you everything there is to know about your grandfather in due time. For now let's start at the beginning. I'll skim through the first parts of his life. Once we get to his real story I'll start giving more details. Ahem. Chapter 1: The Birth of a Sea Empress."
A long long time ago. In a world different from this one. A world called Earth. A child was born on a sea vessel. Being born in dangerous waters at the worst of times the boy was given the name Khaos. Khaos Konton grew up in one of the very few families that used magic on earth. Only 4,000 people on earth knew of magic's existance, and only 3,500 of those people could use it.
The boy was quiet and would often go months on end without speaking, but when it came to raw magical talent the boy had no rival. Khaos was brought up in a family of water and summoning mages. As the boy grew older he started combining the two magics. One day he broke taboo and created life instead of summoning it forth.
Thanks to his families high position in magic society he was able to be spared from execution, and instead he was banished. Taking along the creation he made he went back to the waters of his birthplace. Any other person would simply say it was some random spot in the middle of the ocean. But Khaos travelled down and on the sea floor he made it his home. He named the life he created Leviathans, and he dubbed his first creation the Sea Empress. Once he successfully built a barrier to protect himself from prying eyes Khaos began further experimentations. He'd make new life and more of already existing lives. He grew the barrier and eventually created an entire ecosystem in his own little world.
Leviathans were odd in many ways. They all had a humanoid form, and they also had their leviathan form. Some leviathans lacked sentience and acted more like wild animals. Those types were always stuck in leviathan form.
He taught the sea empress how to create life, and one day planted a little bit of himself into a lifeless body. A body yet to be grown. The people of Earth called it a Zygote. He entrusted the egg to the sea empress and left for the surface world. It didn't take long before he was found and killed by other mages looking to collect a bounty that had been placed on his head. No one knows why he went to the surface, or what he could have been looking for.
"Um sir? That's very interesting, but what does this have to do with my grandfather?"
"We're getting there. Don't you worry your little head about it. Now onto the last half of his first chapter."
On the day that Khaos died the Zygote holding the last bit of her master started to fade away. Terrified the Sea Empress defied her master's orders. Instead of finding a human woman to hold the Zygote, and birth the resulting baby. The Sea Empress put it in herself instead. Little did she know how that one choice would change the world. As the fetus grew the empress grew weaker. She aged much faster than she was meant to.
Later a prophecy was spoken. 5 children would be born on the same day and at the same time of day their mothers' waters would all break. Those children would grow powerful and become new gods to govern Earth. The day came and the children born were named Phoebe Osore, Raion Okami, Kuroi Hane, Pin Hane, and Khaos Konton. Knowing that mages and gods alike would be suspicious of him the Sea Empress gave Khaos a cover name. Thorn. Due to her now aged body she adopted the name "Granny" to watch over the leviathans while their master grew back up.
Though there were 2 things that the sea empress found odd. He was born a Leviathan. A Void Chelicerate to be specific. With the Zygote having been made before hand the sea empress had assumed that boy would have been born human as planned. The other thing was that he never made a sound. Anytime he tried to speak no sound came out. Not even a babble.
As the boy grew he seemed to carry a more child like personality than before. He even gained the ability to use telepathy to communicate with others. The empress stated that since his body was having to grow again. His mentality could be affected to be more child like. He took an interest in the new books found in the library and became friends with another leviathan who often went there to read. That leviathan was named Lare, the Ghost Leviathan. Similar to Khaos the girl didn't speak. Khaos also gained a friend with the creation of Scy, the Reaper leviathan.
Something had gone wrong during her creation, and the girl was born blind. She learnt to see through echo location, and Khaos even blessed her with the ability to see people's auras. She often followed him around because he had a "truly beautiful" aura.
In preparation for whenever the gods would come to collect him. Khaos and Granny worked together to craft an illusion spell to make Khaos look human. In his humanoid form he had pale skin with grey hair. Mandibles grew from his cheeks and covered his mouth like a mask. They finished it right on time.
On his fifth birthday a man wearing golden armor appeared in front of the barrier. After questioning the man and getting Khaos's approval Drake, the sea dragon, let the man in. The man introduced himself as Millis, God of Light. He claimed that he was there to teach Thorn and raise him to Godhood alongside the other Godkin. Not wanting to cause trouble Khaos agreed and went with Millis, on the grounds that when he had a break Khaos could go back to the leviathans. Millis agreed and brought Khaos to meet the other Godkin.
Millis introduced Thorn to Phoebe, Raion, Pin, and Kuroi. Raion, Pin, and Kuroi all formed a little friend group and pulled Phoebe and Thorn into it. They tried sealing the deal with a group hug that Thorn immediately dodged by turning his body to void and dashing backwards. He revealed to them that physical contact with others made him uncomfortable.
They would train separately for a week, and then get a week off to do whatever they wanted. Raion, Pin, and Kuroi all did stuff together and often tried to rope Phoebe and Khaos to go with them. Khaos went every now and then, but mostly stayed with the Leviathans. Over time he started to go out with them more and more though.
On their 7th birthday they threw a small party in the woods to celebrate. At one point Khaos saw Phoebe walk into the woods. Seeing that the others hadn't noticed Khaos decided to go follow her.
*-Khaos-*
I followed after Phoebe, as she crept through the woods. She stopped once she reached a cliff side overlooking the sea, and with trembling hands she started crying and fell to her knees. Whenever 5 minutes passed and she hadn't stopped crying I decided to make myself known.
I stepped into the small grove and cleared my throat.
"Whatever it is... just leave. I want to be alone right now."
Well that was quick. Unfortunately Phoebe I'm afraid that some would describe me as a "stubborn bastard."
I walked forward and sat beside Phoebe. She sighed and held her knees to her chest as I looked towards the sea. I watched every wave of minor disturbance in the water as we sat there in silence. Eventually she decided to speak up.
"I don't belong. Not here. Not at home. I don't belong anywhere. I'm a monster and a freak. Once you and the others see that you'll all look at me with those disgusted looks just like everyone else. I don't understand why you're still here anyway. What do you want?"
A freak and a monster? Hah! Please.
I stood up and walked over to the cliff side. I turned around and faced Phoebe.
"What are you doing? Get away from there you'll fall."
Her tone was dismissive, but her eyes were shaking as she watched me stand on the cliff's edge. I waved my hand through the air in a greeting sort of way, and then hopped backwards.
"Thorn?!"
Aaaaah. How long has it been since I've felt the wind through my hair. Oh hey she jumped too. Now that Phoebe wasn't curled into a ball I could understand what she meant when she said monstrous. The areas around her eyes were cracking and were pink, and her fingers were shining pink and looked more like claws. If the bar is low enough for that to make her a "monster." Then what would the Leviathans and I be considered if society knew about us? Oh hey I'm about to hit the water.
Let me show you what a real monster looks like.
I let go of my illusion and felt myself grow slightly. A soul-shaking roar pierced through the ocean as I called forth a Void Chelicerate. Just as Phoebe hit the water I was pulled back up by telekinesis. She protected herself with a barrier. Impressive.
I could see through the eye of the VC down there that Phoebe was looking for me. I also got to see the look of fear on her face whenever it uncloaked. Slowly the VC rose from the ocean and telekinetically pulled Phoebe with it. I pulled 2 more VCs from the Void and had them fly around me high in the sky. I fully transformed into my humanoid leviathan form. A pure white cloak wrapped around me, and a black sweater and black pants kept me cozy. Mandibles grew from my faces and crossed over my mouth acting like a mask.
Phoebe was sat back down on the cliff and the other VC flew up to join me. She followed it and eventually saw me, but I was likely too high up to be actually seen properly. I slowly came down and stood in front of Phoebe.
"W-what's going on? Is that you, Thorn?"
'If you're a freak, or a monster. Then I'm terrified to think of what that makes me. You want to know the harsh reality of this world, Phoebe? Everyone's a monster. Everyone's a freak. It's just that some people look different, and because of that we're discriminated against. These characteristics that make us "monsters" are what makes us stronger than them. So what do they do? They hate us. Put us against each other, and make us the enemy of "the normal people." Their scared that once we stop being scared we'll rise against them, but that's not going to happen. There are some people who look completely normal. They aren't born with mandibles, or glowing eyes. But you know what those people do?'
"What?"
'They slaughter people. They beat people. They eat people. Why? Because they find it fun. And whenever those in power find out about it they stick them into the same group as us. They refuse to acknowledge the fact that they're cut from the same cloth, and find it easier to just compare them to us. That's the harsh reality of things. So what if we look different? At least we don't kill the innocent for craps and cackles.'
"I... I didn't know you could talk this much."
'I usually don't. But you're pretty cool. And relatable. To me at least. You know what it's like to be ostracized. You know the pain of having people look at you with nothing but disgust, so what do you say? Wanna be friends?'
Phoebe just sat there looking shocked. She looked down at her feet, and then stared at her hands. I've reached my telepathic limit for the day. Welp only one thing to do now.
I walked forward and pulled Phoebe into a hug.
"I thought you hated these?"
She slowly hugged me back.
'I do. But sometimes I just have to deal with it. I heard that these are pretty good at cheering people up.'
Now whenever Khaos didn't go out with his friends on break weeks Phoebe would visit the Leviathan home. She became good friends with everyone there. The two teamed up to make a communication device. Through some teamwork Phoebe and Khaos created something called a Pocket. It was a combination of a Kumu and void magic that allowed the user to send messages and make calls to other Pocket wielders. It took the form of a black orb about the size of a softball. It would sink into its owner's hand and could be summoned at will. It told the current time based on your location. Kumu still communicated better, but with a pocket Khaos was able to speak to multiple people out loud without expanding to much mana.
With Phoebe's help Khaos gave the Leviathans pockets and even hooked some up around the bio-dome to make announcements and play music.
One day however Phoebe went missing. All that Khaos got was a message on his pocket.
Help.
He threw himself into a search for his friend, and with the help of the other leviathans and new life he made, he was able to track her down in 4 months. She was being kept underground in a cave in the Sahara dessert. Followed by Scy and Drake Khaos quickly breached the cave and saved Phoebe. Once he ensured her safety with Scy and Drake Khaos decided to let the slave traders see the "monster" they were dealing with.
He went back inside and slaughtered every living being in the cave out of rage. He exited that cave with no regrets, and his actions wouldn't find a way to haunt him. No matter how hard they tried.
On their 10th birthday the Godkin were meant to take a sort of test designed by their masters to determine if they were ready for Godhood. Instead the gods betrayed the Godkin. His friends were killed too fast for him to do anything, but before they could kill him Khaos let down all his limiters. His mana physically exploded, and he continued to slaughter the gods Zeus, Erebus, Daeos, Ares, Kemono, and Helios. The gods domains tried crumbling without them, but Khaos didn't let that happen. He consumed their flesh and gained their powers. He took their thrones and sat on the rumble that remained. He gave himself the title God of Nothing, and by rules of the Void. His domain was everything, because everything has a little bit of nothing inside of it.
If that confuses you then I can give you a proper lesson of Void magic later.
He grieved for his friends, and refused to move from that rubble. He only knew them for 5 years, and yet he was blind to how much they meant to him. That is until they were taken from him. Despite their best efforts the leviathans were unable to get their master to leave the throne of pain and guilt he had built for himself. He told them to live well, and to live freely. Unable to disobey him they followed his orders. 10 years later he got an odd visitor.
She introduced herself as Death, and gave Khaos a proposition. Work for her for 20 years and be reborn into a new world to get another chance at another life. Thinking back on the life he was starting to waste he agreed. He became Death's broadcaster. He'd make announcements and send messages for her, as well as play music for her if she found herself bored. Sometimes he'd even sing to her himself. To say that their relationship was strictly professional would be a complete lie.
After spending so much time together the 2 grew close. They formed a relationship, and Khaos quickly became her left hand man. Her Angel was a little to efficient at his job as her right hand. Khaos simple couldn't work as quickly or as efficiently as he could. Khaos even admitted that himself. At the 15 year mark the two even married and had a pair of twins. They were named Shi and Dae. Though eventually the 20 years passed and it was time for Khaos's reincarnation. The reincarnation would happen automatically once time ran out, and since their deal was made through magic contract they couldn't stop it. They were able to slightly adjust things however.
*-Khaos-*
"D-do you really have to go Papa?"
'I'm afraid there's nothing we can do Dae. But there's no need to cry. Wanna know why?'
"Why?"
I knelt down and pulled Dae into a hug. Shi grabbed my arm and I pulled her into the hug as well.
'Because no matter what happens I'll end up back here. No matter the timeline or the world all living things find themselves drawn to Death at the end of it all.'
"But we don't want Papa to go!"
Both Shi and Dae started crying as they held onto me. I pet there heads and slowly managed to get them to calm down.
I rose up and faced Death. She slowly passed a hand over the veil that dropped from her hat. It split and allowed me to see her face. Lipstick black as the night sky coated her lips, and as I stared into her silver eyes I could feel my body heat drop to dangerously low levels. But hey. Void Chelicerates are made for subzero degrees.
"I suppose this is the last time we shall see each other in our physical forms for quite some time. If I miss you too much I may find a replacement for myself and reincarnate to join you."
'As much as I'd love that there are very few who could take up Death's mantle.'
"True. But only being able to see my songbird once a month is going to make me quite sad you know."
'I know. But at least you'll have these two to keep you company.'
I brushed the twins heads as they continued to hold onto my coat.
'Shall we run through the plan one more time?'
"You will be reborn into a new world. Where you will be I have no idea. Then every new moon you will be able to meet up with me via astral projection, and we shall dance under the stars. Sound good?"
'Yep.'
Black mist started swirling around me. I was fast enough to give Death a kiss before the mist fully enveloped me. She told me I could marry other women in this life, and that she'd be glad to meet and accept those who were able to "break through my walls." She told me to let myself be wild and not hold back if I wanted. Whatever that meant. Guess I'd have to find out.
"That's sad."
"I never said his story was a happy one."
"Are we almost to the part about my grandpa? It's going to be dinner time soon. I wouldn't want you to miss any customers because of me."
"What do you mean? We've been talking about him this whole time. Besides I'm giving the readers a prologue. And don't worry about that. We usually never get customers in the after noon. People only really come here for breakfast, coffee runs, or our midday pastries."
"The what?"
"You start seeing them once your wise enough. Now then. Chapter 2: The Disheveled Rose Blooms Again.
*-Khaos-*
I opened my eyes and looked around. I was somewhere underground. I opened my mouth to try and speak, and found that my voice was still gone. Looking at my body I found that multiple wounds were closing up. I was surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies. All of them had blue hair, and were all the size of children. Their ages ranged from 10 to 11, but I looked like I was 5 or 6.
I could sense multiple aggressive life forms around me. Why are there children in a place like this? What time was it? I couldn't even call out for help. I miss my Pocket. As my wounds closed fully I felt a wave of nausea hit me. Seems I needed a nap. I was drained.
*-Roxy Migurdia-*
My name is Roxy Migurdia. I'm a Saint ranked water mage and a fresh graduate from the Ranoa University of Magic. I was currently traveling around the central continent as an adventurer and had just entered a dungeon. As a solo adventurer I usually didn't do these since it was recommended that you had a full party with you, but rumors were that this labyrinth was abnormally weak and small.
All the monsters seemed to be babies of monsters you'd find on the surface. You have Assault Wolf Pups and twigs that acted like little Treants. I was getting bored since everything could be killed with a simple water ball whenever an adult assault wolf suddenly jumped at me. I managed to barely dodge and spoke an incantation and shot icicles through its throat.
Peaking around the corner I saw what looked to be a group of fellow Migurdians. I got closer and saw that they were all dead. There was one alive however. Feeling around I could sense that the mana was unusually thin here. Labyrinths are actually monsters. They exude large amounts of mana, and have large mana crystals at the base of the dungeon. The mana attracts monsters and adventurers that the Labyrinth feeds on if they die inside. As I approached the boy I could feel the mana getting thinner and thinner around me. His eyelids were closed but I could faintly see glowing lights behind his eyelids.
I couldn't tell how old the others were. They were past the age where Migurdians stopped physically growing, but the boy seemed to be about 5 or 6. I figured that their guard was down like mine was. It's just that they were more unfortunate than me.
I loaded him onto my back and started walking back outside. Once I got to the outside I could feel the boy start stirring on my back.
"Just hold on. I'll get you back to my room. I'm sure you'll be more comfortable there."
It had been about 4 days since I got the boy to an inn. I had gone back and managed to clear the labyrinth. The boss was a Terminate Boar with 2 Assault Wolves. Considering the fact that the central continent had many of these monsters, and packs of Assault wolves held 5 wolves and were led by a terminate boar this couldn't really be considered a boss. I got a good couple of magic stones though. Nothing crazy like a stone the size of my head, but I could definitely sell these for a good price. Well once I got to an actual city that is. I don't think anyone in this small town could afford these.
Once I got back to my room I saw that the boy had woken up and was sitting in the bed rubbing his eyes.
"Oh you're awake. Here let me get you something to eat."
I put my bags down and went downstairs to ask the receptionist for some food. Luckily this inn doubled as a restaurant and bar.
"Yes can I get a salad and a... sandwich please."
"Alright dear. Gimme just a sec."
As I sat and waited I heard the chair beside me get pulled back. I looked over and was surprised to see the boy sitting beside me looking at me. His eyes glowed an unnatural shade of light blue.
"You shouldn't be up! You're injured! Or you were but still."
"Here you go sweetie. Little brother of yours?"
The bar maid sat a salad and sandwich on the bar and watched the two of us.
"No. I found him in a dungeon. It seems his party was killed. They probably heard how weak it was and decided to bring him with them."
"I see. Well wait here a second."
The bar maid left. I looked down at the boy.
"So... what's your name?"
The boy stared at me.
"Um hello?"
The boys held tilted slightly.
"Can you understand me?"
He squinted and put his hands over his ears. There was a faint blue light and he moved his hands away. He motioned towards me and then did a thumbs up and then thumbs down.
"Uh. Was that magic?"
Thumbs up.
"But you didn't use an incantation. How?"
The boy took his hands and made an "X" shape. He then repeated the thumbs up and thumbs down motion again.
"I think he's trying to tell you to ask yes or no questions sweetie."
The boy gave a thumbs up and the bar maid set a plate down in front of him. It was some kind of meat cooked inside of baked bread.
"It's on the house. I've got a soft spot for lost souls like you two. If you ever need somethin' then come back here and tell 'em your lookin for Rosie."
"Thank you."
The boy started devouring the bread and meat on the plate. He then continued to eat the sandwich I had gotten him as well. He ate so fast I barely got through half of my salad when he was done.
"So yes or no questions?"
Thumbs up.
"Okay. So can you speak?"
Thumbs down.
"Do you remember what you and your party were doing in that labyrinth?"
Another thumbs down.
"Okaaay. Are you able to think of any other forms of communication? Are you literate?"
I got a thumbs up for the first one, and almost for the second one as well but that was changed to a thumbs down.
"Are you able to use those communications?"
He scratched his chin and do a thumbs down, and after that mimicked a clock with his hands.
"Not now but later?"
He gave another thumbs up and yawned. Guess he was still tired.
"Okay come on. I was hoping to turn in for the night anyways."
It's been a month since I saved Lotus. I had successfully taught him how to read and write the demon god tongue. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge. It took him 4 weeks to learn to read the language, but once he got that down he started writing in less than 3 days.
It took us the first couple of weeks to come up with a name for him. I just listed off a bunch of names that started with Lo and Ro, since that was the common Migurdian naming system. Eventually I got a thumbs up on the name Lotus.
He communicated through a journal we bought after I sold some of the magic crystals from the dungeon. I couldn't sell all of them so I still had some leftover. Lotus actually asked if he could keep some for later use. I let him keep some of the smaller ones. He attached them to each other and made a sort of bracelet. When he put it on they rotated and orbited around his wrist. It seemed to act like magic staff, but it was significantly weaker. He wrote that he should have a new way to communicate once he can get his hands on some more materials.
I asked him about his magic once, and he told me that the earliest thing he remembers is waking up in the labyrinth severely injured. His injuries healed themselves but once they were done he passed out. Next thing he knew he was at the inn. He claimed to not remember being taught the magic, but the knowledge was all there. Like knowing 2 plus 2 equals 4, but not remembering your teacher telling you about it.
We were currently on our way to Roa. We had spent a large majority of our money, and were hoping to find a store that could buy these magic stones. Maybe I could even find a job tutoring a kid, and make some more money.
Once we got off the carriage we went to the adventurers guild. There we were able to sell the magic stones, but I opted to keep some of the smaller ones and one of the large ones. I call it large, but it was pretty small. About the size of my thumbnail in height and the size of my thumb in width. While looking over the coins the merchant gave me I felt a tug on my sleeve. Lotus led me over to the missions board and pointed out a tutoring request from some low knight in a place called Buena village.
"Sounds like it could work. You think so?"
He simply nodded at my answer.
"Alright then." I took the request and headed over to the receptionist. "I'd like to take this request please."
The next day we were on our way to Buena.
*-Lotus-*
Lotus. I liked it.
I was currently running with an amnesiac story for when Roxy asked about my past. I felt a little bad lying to her, and I figured I'd tell her eventually. For now though I'd keep my past lives a secret. I was communicating by writing to her in a book. She taught me the demon god tongue and had started teaching me the human god tongue as well. I figured I'd be able to learn it faster. It sounded like a weird mix between English and Japanese so I figured it wouldn't take long. I could already write most of the letters so as long as I didn't have to do complicated words I'd be fine.
I just want my Pocket back. I couldn't talk and while I preferred not to talk anyway it made certain things difficult to communicate. Even if I barely used it the Pocket was so useful. I just needed a little more mana and some materials and I'd be able to create my own version. I couldn't perfectly replicate the fear magic used for it, but I could get close. I had fear magic from Daeos's domain, but I didn't know how Phoebe configured it in the pocket.
At one point during the previous month after I had gone to bed my soul was whisked out of its body. I flew up into the sky and met Death. We danced along the clouds as I told her about everything that had happened so far. As the sun came up my soul was pulled back down into my body.
"So what made you so interested in this job anyway?"
I looked in front of me at Roxy. I grabbed my notebook from beside me and started writing. Since we were in carriages a lot I had been using void magic to create ink. This also helped cut down on costs since we didn't have to buy any ink.
You like teaching right? You smile a bunch when you help me learn to read and write, and you sometimes repeat lectures in your sleep.
"Oh I uh. I didn't know I did that. Sorry."
Roxy blushed as she scratched behind her ear.
It's fine.
"I still find it crazy that you can just do that."
Incantationless magic. Something that Roxy says only the strongest magicians can achieve. I knew that it was just old world magic, but Roxy had a theory it was related to my eyes. Apparently they were abnormally light blue and would even glow in the dark. She called them "demon eyes." She told me a story about a demon emperor who would give demon eyes to those they had a debt to pay. Some people were born with them, and she said I seemed to be absorbing mana in the labyrinth when she found me, so it was a pretty good theory. Even I didn't know why my eyes did that. As far as I was aware they weren't doing anything special.
She had heard of multiple kinds of demon eyes but this was her first time hearing about eyes that let you freely use magic. Welp the world is full of surprises. Plus this makes for an easy excuse.
"Is your hair causing you any trouble? I know cutting was... ineffective but if we try I'm sure we can find a way to shorten it."
I simply shook my head and felt my hair. It was silky smooth. It had grown at an unusually rapid rate. It had already gotten to the middle of my back in length. I kept it in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, but I'd sometimes let Roxy braid it. We tried cutting it once, but the scissors shattered. My hair wasn't the only thing that grew quickly. When I woke up I was a little past Roxy's hip in height, but now I reached her a little under her shoulder.
After a while we arrived in Buena village. It was a pretty small village. Definitely no more than 300 people lived here and that was being generous. I sent a Void Chelicerate over the village to look around a bit. I found that I could still summon my leviathans, but I was limited to the animals. I couldn't get in contact with the actual people. I felt bad about how I cast them off. I wanted to apologize, but I guess I'd have to wait till I die. People couldn't see these leviathans either. Anytime Roxy and I rode through a particularly dangerous area I had a Reaper leviathan travel above us. It's roars allowed it to use echo location over large areas and inform me of nearby monsters. You'd think she'd glance at it at least once, but nope. It was completely invincible and inaudible to others.
Annoyingly I couldn't use my telepathy. Any time I tried all my mana seemed to be ready to disappear in seconds. I'd just have to keep growing my mana reserves. It was a skill that required a lot of mana to activate but then basically none to actually use. Plus it only had to be activated once and then it stayed active for the rest of your life. I did find it odd how Roxy said that a person's mana capacity was locked at birth, but mine seemed to grow everyday. I just had to deplete my mana before going to bed. It would double the next day. We got to the address and I dismissed my leviathan as Roxy knocked on the door.
*-Rudeus-*
I was a 34 year old NEET at the end of my life. Back in high school I ended up sticking up to the wrong people, and was horribly humiliated. I ended up shutting myself in my room, and since that day I had no intention of ever leaving it. My parents brought me food anytime I hit the wall, and they would buy me plenty of manga, lightnovels, and computers in the hopes I would one day leave my room. It was pathetic. Even I'll admit that.
One day there was an accident and both my parents died. When my siblings caught me jackin it instead of going to the funeral they broke my computer and kicked me out. I wandered aimlessly for a bit until I heard what sounded like an argument. My curiosity got the better of me and I went over to check it out.
3 high schoolers seemed to be in an argument of sorts. It looked like a girl was arguing with a boy while the boy's friend was in between them trying to deescalate the situation. They were so caught up in the argument that they didn't notice the truck spinning out of control. I tried calling out to them, but my voice failed me after going so long without being used.
I ran forward and managed to push one of the boys out of the way. I grabbed the other boy's arm and yanked him out of the way, but ended up swapping places with him. The truck barreled forward and slammed into me and the girl with black hair.
Not to long after that people who I think were paramedics swarmed around me and the girl. I couldn't really tell since everything was blurred, but I eventually recognized the feeling of being inside a speeding vehicle. My consciousness faded, and when I woke up I found myself on some kind of table surrounding by doctors with a bright light shining down on me. They were trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear them. I faded away again, and this time woke up in some kind of old timey home. A women with blonde hair, blue eyes, and big tits looked down smiling at me. Not long after a man with sandy brown hair and green eyes entered my vision and picked me up.
I was reincarnated. After a couple of months I had learnt to crawl and understand what my parents and our family's maid was saying. Yeah that's right we had a maid as well. And based on her chest size I could see the kind of women my father surrounds himself with. My mom's name was Zenith, my dad was Paul, and the maid was Lilia. Lilia seemed disturbed by me and tried to exercise me once. I should probably be nicer huh? My name was Rudeus.
I fell off a stool while watching my dad train in the yard and learned about Magic's existence here after my mom cast a healing spell on me. Thanks to her and dad reading to me every night I was slowly picking up the written language.
Once I turned two years old I tried using a magic textbook I found upstairs to cast magic, and successfully cast the beginner level water spell water ball. Shortly afterward I found out how to skip the incantation.
Once I was three I tried out an intermediate level spell, and blew a whole in the wall. My mom convinced my dad to get me a magic tutor so long as I also learnt swordsmanship. That was fine by me. If I'm really getting a second chance then I don't want to waste it. I won't hold myself back like before.
*-Lotus-*
We stood there awkwardly as a man and woman stared at us awkwardly in the door way.
"Um oh! Are you the... magic tutor?"
Roxy bowed her head and I quickly followed her example.
"Yes ma'am. I am Roxy Migurdia. This is my companion Lotus Migurdia. I came here interested in the position."
The man spoke next.
"Really? Aren't you a little... uh..."
"They're little!" Exclaimed the boy being held in his mothers arms.
"Oh you're one to talk!" Roxy snapped back at him and the boy giggled.
Roxy really didn't like it when people talked about her stature. All I could do was sigh as she questioned the parents.
"So where is this student of mine?"
"Oh! He's right here!"
The women proudly hefted up her son. He smiled and waved at us. The way he smiled at us was... off putting. Roxy glanced over to me with a thoughtful look.
"Alright. Shall we get started?"
"Mhm!"
The boy hopped down from his mother's arms.
"Oh where are my manners?! I'm Zenith. This is my husband Paul. The boy's name is Rudeus."
"Okay then. Let's start over here Rudeus."
"Actually Roxy. Could we talk to you and Lotus for a second?"
Paul beckoned for me and Roxy to come inside. A maid introduced herself as Lilia and took our bags. Rudeus and Zenith both stayed outside.
The three of us sat down at a table.
"Okay to be straight forward I don't believe that we can house both of you. We can afford to feed an extra mouth, but feeding two would complications things. There's also the issue of payment. I can only pay one person. I don't want my family barely scraping by on funds. I've already had that life as an adventurer, and I'm not putting my son through that at 3 years old."
I took out my book and started writing stuff down.
"What's that for?"
"Lotus can't speak. He's been like that ever since I found him. We still don't know why."
I flipped the book around and let Paul read what I wrote.
You don't have to worry about paying or feeding me sir. I suggested this job request to Roxy for her love of teaching, and I had no intentions of being paid. I still have things I believe I might be able to teach Rudeus, so all I ask is to be able to sleep here. I can handle food on my own.
"Uuuh... putting the food comment aside we only have one spare bed."
"Lotus and I share a bed on our travels. We'll be fine."
"And how do you plan to feed yourself exactly."
Paul looked at me with an upturned eyebrow. Roxy was also looking at me confused. Over the past month after Roxy fell asleep I had been slowly turning my body's composition from a physical flesh and bone one to a magic and void one. At this point I had no need for food, and was only eating to keep up appearances. I could also travel through shadows, summon void spawn, and was actually using the void to contain my leviathans. It was a never ending expanse and since the leviathans were extremely territorial I just spaced them literal galaxies apart.
Magic.
It was the best answer I've got okay.
"Well so long as you aren't putting us in debt your free to stay."
Well he took that well.
"Alright. Is that everything?"
"Yep."
Roxy and I went back outside to see Rudy sitting in Zenith's lap. He perked up once he saw us exit the house.
"You're back! Is everything okay?"
When he wasn't looking at us with that creepy smile he was actually a pretty cute kid. I smiled and pat his head.
"We're fine. Your dad just wanted to ask us a few things."
"Okay! Can we start our lesson?"
"Yes. Here this should be a good spot."
Zenith sat up and went inside once the lesson started. Taking out a small reference book for A Textbook for Magic Roxy went over the basics with Rudy. She briefed me on magic back when I learnt the demon god language. I couldn't learn anything from the book since it was just a supplementary guide and not the real book, so it didn't have any incantations or magic circles in it. Roxy did say that A Textbook for Magic had magic circles in it so even though I can't speak I'd still be able to learn magic. I'd just need to memorize magic circles.
"Alright, that covers that. Now if your parents put up a request for a tutor than I'm assuming you must have some magic knowledge. Watch what I do and copy me."
Roxy aimed her staff at a tree in the yard.
"Let the great protection of water be on the place thou seekest. I call a refreshing burbling stream here and now. Water Ball."
A water ball shot from the tip of Roxy's staff and snapped a tree right in half.
"So? What do you think?"
"I think my moms gonna be pretty angry. She cares a lot for those trees since their her favorite."
"Huh?!"
I quickly dashed over and used a sprinkle of life magic to reattach the tree. Roxy sighed as I returned and sat back on the ground.
"Woah. What was that?"
I flipped to the back of my book. I had some pages that held some key phrases. Like yes, no, maybe, please, thank you. Those sorts of things. I flipped to the one that detailed magic and pointed at "life magic."
"I've never heard of that one. Is it supposed to be healing magic?"
I shook my head. From what Roxy and I discovered Healing magic and Life magic were similar and different. Healing magic could heal wounds and mend plants, while Life magic was very ineffective at healing wounds but was perfect when it came to healing plants. Reattach the tree limbs, apply some life magic, and boom! You'd never know it had been harmed.
I flipped to a different and pointed to another spot.
Healing magic is for people and plants.
Life magic is just plants, but really good for plants.
"Oh. Will I be able to learn it?"
I shrugged my shoulders and started writing on a new page.
Roxy is your teacher for now. We'll find out whether or not I can teach you later.
Really it just boiled down to whether or not he could cast silently, but if it was as difficult as Roxy was saying it was then I doubted he could.
"Thank you Lotus." Roxy started mumbling to herself. "Come on Roxy. It's your first day here. You can't blow it this early."
Both Rudy and I patted her shoulder at the same time.
"Don't worry miss. Think of it as an opportunity to let you grow."
I gave him a thumbs up as Roxy calmed down.
"Try doing what I just did."
Rudy stepped forward and held out his hand.
"Let the great protection of water be on the place thou seekest. I- woah!"
A sudden gust of wind shot through the yard around us. Roxy's skirt blew up allowing for a perfect view of her panties for the world to see.
A water ball flew and hit the same tree again. I rushed over and fixed the tree just as Ms.Zenith came outside with a tray of refreshments.
"I brought some refreshments. How's it going?"
I smiled and gave a thumbs up as I took a sandwich from the tray.
"It's great mom! Their amazing!"
"I wouldn't say amazing. For me at least. All I did was cast water ball. If you want amazing then look at Lotus that's where there real amazing stuff is."
I flipped to the back of the book and pointed to a phrase I had originally thought wouldn't be counted as essential.
You're putting yourself down again. You are plenty cool.
I wrote that down in the back after writing it for the fifth time.
"If you say so."
Bruh.
And who here is the Saint ranked water mage?
"I can't argue with that one."
Why do I have to argue with you about how strong you are?! You're a Saint level mage! If your numbers are right then you are in the top 5%. Why can't you credit yourself more?
"Whoa miss. Your a Saint rank water mage? Will you show me what a Saint rank spell looks like?"
"In due time. It's actually going to be the last thing I teach you. Once I teach you the Saint ranked spell cumulonimbus you'll have graduated from my teachings."
Rudy pumped his fist and looked determined.
You remember your question from earlier?
"Which one?"
Me teaching you life magic. I can. Since you can cast spells without incantations I just need to get you to understand how to control your mana.
"Now hold on. He cut the incantation short. He didn't fully speak it incantationlessly."
"Actually miss. I do usually skip the incantations. I just said that one because our magic textbook said incantations were required."
"Sigh. I see. Alright then. We'll alternate days on when I teach you and when Lotus teaches you. Since I went today they'll try teaching you tomorrow."
"M'kay!"
Rudy pumped his fists again. This time he seemed to have stars in his eyes.
You have a magic textbook?
"Yeah. A Textbook for Magic. Why do you ask?"
If it would be alright with you do you think I could look at it when you find yourself busy? Since I can't speak I need to learn the magic circles for spells.
"Really? But you already know so many."
Never stop growing your strength Rudy. If you fill a glass half full and drink it your thirst wont be as quenched. If you have the ability then you should always try and grow.
Rudy looked puzzled but then got a determined look on his face.
"I will! Here you can read it while I have sword practice with dad in the afternoon."
Thank you very much.
During the evening Rudy had sword practice with his father. Since his body was so small he couldn't go through actual training so it was really just Paul showing him some exercises and sword stances.
During this practice I used the regular ink I had to copy some of the magic circles down in my notebook. I didn't use void magic since the mana in that magic would've made the magic circle power on. Magic circles had to be drawn with mana infused ink so that the mana for the spell can circulate well.
That night we had a feast and let me tell you the food was amazing! Still wasn't as good as Rosie's though. At the end of the night after Roxy went to bed I used shadow travel to go visit an old friend.
Stepping through Rosie's inn at night was a bit off putting, but I had literally walked through Death's palace before. I could hear what sounded like chewing noises coming from the kitchen. I walked through holding my book. Hunched over a plate Rosie was scarfing down some kind of meat. It looked raw.
I knocked on the counter and held up my book.
Rosie quickly turned to me with wide eyes. Her gaze softened as she seemed to recognize me.
Isn't it bad to eat raw meat? Please don't get sick Ms.Rosie. I can cook it for you if you'd like.
Using a towel Rosie wiped the blood of her mouth and hands.
"Oh now don't you worry like that little one. Ol' Aunt Rosie will be just fine. Now how'd you get here? I thought you and Roxy were goin to Roa."
I shadow traveled. As long as I've been somewhere before I can travel there if a shadow that's large enough is present.
"Well that's a nifty little skill to have isn't it. Careful who you tell though. Teleportation magic is strictly taboo. You'll have some wackos come afta ya if you let that little secret out."
Thank you for telling me. I had no idea.
Close call. It was a good idea to come here.
"Here. I just brewed some."
Rosie poured us both some tea. She hesitated before picking up my cup.
"Look... little one. I know I told you to come here if you need anything, but well... how do I explain what I'm eating to a child?"
You're a cannibal?
Yeah I knew human muscle when I saw it. Perfectly thin yet thick. Long and juicy enough. I'd say the calf muscle of a man in his mid 20s.
"Now how does a young man like yourself know what a cannibal is?"
I hopped up onto the counter and ate one of the pre-cut bits on the plate.
Sorry for stealing the food. It's just been a while since I've had some.
Yeah sue me. So I occasionally partook in some cannibalism. It's not like I did it everyday. It was like a treat I could enjoy every couple of years. Besides I'm part leviathan, and I literally gained any special power or magic from the people I eat. Eating meat is basically one whole thing. Even if my body wasn't physically part leviathan I didn't see the point in ignoring instincts. Rosie's eyes widened as she saw me swallow the muscle bit.
"Well I can't say I was expecting this now."
She put my cup back down. Sipping it I could barely taste the blood in the tea.
"Well I'm not one to judge. If you don't ask questions I won't ask questions. So what've you been up to?"
Rosie and I talked the night away as we enjoyed multiple cups of blood tea. At around midnight I made a request.
Question.
"Go ahead dear. I've come to enjoy your company."
If I were to provide the payment could you get me some iron and copper?
"Oh that? That's easy. Heck the stuffs so cheap I'll do it free of charge. Does the iron have to be mana made or can it be natural?"
Mana made?
"Yeah. It's iron that mages make from earth magic. Way more durable than real iron. Way more expensive too. So many people would rather the good stuff that natural iron is dirt cheap!"
It can be natural. It doesn't have to be too durable.
"Alright. Come by next week and I might have some for ya."
Thank you very much.
"Oh please. Ya companies enough thanks for me."
I stepped into a shadow and was transported back into Roxy and I's room. I slipped into the bed careful not to wake up Roxy. The bed was smaller than the ones found in the inns. When we stayed at an inn Roxy would get us one bed rooms since those were cheap. The beds were typically large enough so we could sleep comfortably without touching each other. At some point I had informed her about my discomfort when it came to physical contact.
This bed was much smaller and as I laid down Roxy wrapped her arms around me and snuggled me. Despite the fact that we were very close to each other I wasn't getting that uncomfortable feeling that usually ran through my body. It was actually quite comfortable. I fell asleep in seconds.