From Makoto's perspective:
Waking up, as usual, to my sister's voice coming from somewhere on the first floor, I got up slowly from bed, rubbed my eyes, took clothes from the wardrobe and put on my usual black tunic and black pants. Walking toward Rey's bed at the opposite end of the room, I saw he was still asleep, so I began waking him up.
"Five more minutes," he mumbled sleepily, turning his back to me.
After a long yawn, a funny idea came to me and I began to giggle quietly. Drawing a drop of grayous from the node into my index finger, a small scarlet spark flickered on its tip. Touching Rey's shoulder with it, he began to twitch and spark as his blond hair stood on end all over his body.
"Are you insane? What are you doing?!" Rey yelled angrily, jumping out of bed.
It was so funny to see him flickering like that, I grabbed my stomach laughing. "You look like a burnt out light bulb!" I said, laughing so hard tears came out.
"You have lost your mind first thing in the morning," Rey grumbled with an offended expression.
"It is your own fault you did not get up when I woke you," I answered, calming down a bit.
Rey stayed silent, sat down on his bed and began trying to channel vis through his node.
Watching him meditate, I thought it was time to give him the first volume. I went to the small wooden nightstand to the left of my bed, opened the top drawer, took out the book I used to learn vis, and returned to Rey.
"I am done with it already, now it is your turn," I said, handing him a small brown leather bound book about vis control written by my mother for me.
He smiled slightly and thanked me shyly. "Thanks..." he said, opening the first page.
"Read later, let us go eat or my stomach will explode," I pushed Rey to finally get dressed.
"Alright, alright, you go first," Rey muttered.
"Quickly and then training," I said.
Before I even reached the door, we heard fast running up the stairs followed by knocking. I opened the door and saw Shiro.
"Big brother, why so long? Mom already left and you promised to spend the whole day with us yesterday!" Shiro complained, puffing her cheeks like a hamster which made me laugh.
"Shiro, we just woke up. Let me finish my stuff and then we will go out together, okay?" I asked with a small smile.
"Okay then..." she sniffed sadly and turned to go back downstairs.
"How does Shiro wake up so early? I do not get it... It is only around eight in the morning..." Rey's voice sounded behind me.
"Who knows. Mom also wakes up very early," I shrugged.
We went downstairs, reached the end of the hallway and turned left into the kitchen. It was empty. Only two bowls of cold milk porridge were waiting on the wooden table.
Even cold, it tasted good. I love Mom's cooking. Too bad Dad, as usual, was already at the guild. I wish he could spend more time at home with us, but feeding six mouths isn't easy. If the guild had missions ranked for someone like Dad, he wouldn't have to break his back for pennies. And even with how bad things are at work, he always gives us everything we want. He takes any job as long as they pay. I guess I should be happy he always comes home alive.
"Rey, do you even understand what the book is about?" I asked skeptically, watching the blond who did not stop reading even while eating.
"Of course I do. But hey, Mako... can you help me with the vis channels?" he asked with a pleading look.
"Let me finish eating first, then I will help," I agreed, already halfway through the food.
After we finished, I put the dishes in the sink and went out to the backyard for morning warm up. Rey followed on my right.
He still didn't put the book away even while walking. "Rey, put the book away and take your position already!" I said, tired of waiting.
He placed the book into the pouch on his belt and stood about ten steps in front of me.
Taking out a copper coin from my pocket, I tossed it into the air as usual, a sort of tradition. When it lands, the sparring begins.
Rey became serious as soon as he saw the coin. It had barely hit the ground when he was already in front of me with his fist raised.
I stepped right immediately, dodging the blow. Taking the chance, I spun and kicked at Rey's ribs, but he blocked with his arms just in time. Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I switched to offense. Quickly closing the distance, I tried to grab him but of course he was ready. I wrapped my arms around his torso trying to throw him over, but then I took a knee to the stomach and an elbow to the spine. Rey tried to grab me afterward, but that was a mistake. I dropped under him and swept his legs. He fell. I won.
"Hey, that was clever. I didn't got it at first," Rey said, taking my hand to stand up.
He surprises me every time. I always have to come up with something new to avoid losing, even though he trains less than me. That is talent.
"Another round or done for today?" I asked.
"Next time. I want to finish the vis channels," he said, walking inside and pulling out the book.
Sighing loudly, I followed. Once in our room, he sat down and continued reading.
"It is written clearly. You take vis and pull it through yourself, that is how you create wis channels. Watch," I demonstrated.
Rey watched silently and then began gathering vis. I felt him directing it into his body when suddenly he screamed in pain.
"Why does it hurt so much?!" he asked, gasping.
"Endure it. You will be a chief one day," I said.
"What is a chief?" he asked.
"Never mind. Just keep going," I changed the subject.
Another pause, then Rey tried again. One channel, two, three, four... and again screaming. At this rate it will take forever.
"Bite into the pillow or blanket and keep going," I suggested. He did just that.
Clenching his teeth into the blue blanket, he now lasted ten seconds. Judging by the vis flow, he was trying to make channels all over his body at once.
"Do not do all at once. Focus on one. The rest can wait," I said, walking out. "Come downstairs when you are done."
How is Dad doing? I hope he is fine... I thought as I entered the living room. It was already nine. Mom would be home in an hour. As usual, Shiro and Kuro were playing together like inseparable troublemakers.
This time, from Mira Barasu's perspective:
"Are you sure about this?" I asked the muscular silver haired man who looked around forty.
The whole world seemed to go silent after what I heard. The only thought in my head was simply oh fuck.
The man exhaled and scratched the back of his head with one hand. He looked at me with pity in his eyes. "Yes, Mira. Ka found out everything herself. She plans to descend temporarily. I fear Ayami will also be required depending on the situation. He had another revelation... damned fox," he cursed.
My expression darkened. Clenching my fists, my nails pierced my skin and blood began to drip. My heart raced faster and faster. My blood boiled while my head stayed cold. How did it come to this? Why now? Not this... The children. I must protect the children. There is no time. I forced myself to act.
"Kaiser and Shini are still with you?" I asked, removing my tight black fingerless gloves that were suppressors for vis. If there is so little time left, I must at least seal the first gates.
"You decided to remove the seals? I am surprised you did not ask about Ashuramaru. Are you sure you can handle them again with a blocker on your node?" he said, reaching into a spatial crack where two swords materialized in dim orange light.
The first sword was made of thousands of small blade fragments as if carved from darkness itself. Deep violet gleams shifted like a living abyss inside. Phantom sparks ran along the edge like remnants of forgotten magic. Kaiser.
The second sword seemed forged from pure void, radiating cold unearthly light. The large blue black blade shimmered as if silent shadows flowed inside it while ghostly pulses ran across the guard like the breathing of a trapped soul. Even space around it trembled in fear. Shini. I fastened Kaiser to my belt and Shini onto my back.
"If he succeeds, it's over. There is no choice. I will send a letter to Karasta. Keep Ashuramaru for the eldest, just deactivate it. Time is running in seconds. We move now," I explained firmly.
Swinging Shini, a shockwave split the sky and space cracked open. A rupture in reality. Cold soft colors filled the area from within the dimensional break.
"Seems I still have some skill left. Do not fall behind," I nodded to my friend and stepped into the spatial rift.
Moving through space and time across a short bridge of shifting indigo, I hurried to think the situation over. I can't let everything I have worked toward collapse. I must inform Them. Disgust for myself and helpless dread filled me. It was my failure, my weakness, and the realization that everything could soon rely on my eldest son. All I could do was hope everything would turn out alright.
From Makoto's perspective:
"Big brother, are we going?" Shiro asked while playing with Kuro, stacking a little pyramid of blocks.
A strange, unpleasant shiver ran down my spine. I froze for a moment, unable to understand why I felt suddenly uneasy, until Kuro called out to me, "Brother?"
"Oh… yeah. Go get dressed, we're going for a walk," I said once I finally came back to my senses. I didn't know why, but my intuition was telling me something was off.
Kuro and Shiro rushed upstairs to their room to change. Meanwhile, Rey came toward me, stepping over the toys the kids had left scattered across the floor.
"Help me clean up," I told Rey, and he sighed in annoyance.
A couple of minutes of cleaning later, the kids came back downstairs already dressed in warmer clothes. We were just about to head out when the front door opened and a voice said:
"I'm home."
"You're early today, Mom. We're going for a walk, okay?" I asked.
"All right, but not for too long, be home by lunchtime," she instructed.
"Okay," I agreed, stepping outside.
I'm a rather antisocial person. I tried going out before, walking around the village, playing with other kids, but they were always… weird. No one wanted to play with me, and sometimes they pointed fingers at me. The adults didn't seem to like me either, though I had no idea why.
So aside from wandering the forest and training, I had nothing to do outside. Even with Rey, we rarely left the house, only for groceries, then straight back. I've supposedly lived in this village for nine years, yet it still feels foreign to me. Like it isn't my home. Like my real home is somewhere far away, somewhere else entirely.
"So, brats, where are we going?" I asked, pulling out five silver coins from my pocket, money I earned helping Father in the dungeons. One gold coin equals ten silver, and one silver equals ten copper coins. A small house in our village costs no less than 250 gold, and this region is considered cheap. To understand how expensive that is, such a house costs about as much as feeding a family of six for two years four full meals a day with dessert.
On average, daily food for one person costs 4–5 copper coins. A kilo of meat is around 3 copper. Potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables from farmers, 1–2 copper. Bread around 2 copper. Meanwhile, even the most basic sword can cost 2 gold.
"Maybe we just walk around the village and eat something sweet?" suggested Rey the sweet-tooth.
"I want ice cream!" Shiro exclaimed.
"I… wouldn't mind caramel apples…" Kuro mumbled shyly.
There are so many sweets in this world that didn't exist in my past one and honestly, they're all surprisingly delicious. But I still prefer something chocolately and cold… like ice cream.
"Only a little, we still have lunch ahead of us," I said, leading us toward the village center.
While the word "village" might sound primitive or old-fashioned, here it's different. Neat pathways branch out in every direction. The architecture is refined, every house looks similar yet unique. The streets are clean and well-maintained. This world is far more advanced than my previous one. There is electricity not just as a form of Vis, but as an energy stored inside crystallized batteries, created through the combined effort of thaumaturges and engineers. Homes are lit with wireless power no candles needed. And thanks to systems designed by capital architects and engineers, there is sewage, water reservoirs, purification facilities, and so much more.
Honestly, I admire how people here have plenty of clean water, a roof over their heads, enough food, an abundance of medicine, a clean environment and most importantly, warm homes and clothing in winter.
Walking down the path slowly but confidently, we eventually reached the main road filled with noise and life. Carriages and wagons passed by, crowds of people in different yet similar clothing walked with purpose or strolled with family. There were many homes and shops where you could buy food or clothing.
Deciding to visit our favorite sweets shop where Rey and I often go after completing quests with Father, I suddenly felt a strange sensation amid the chaos… Like someone was watching me. I slowly scanned my surroundings, trying to pinpoint who it could be.
When I finally looked ahead, among the distant crowd I noticed a tall man, strange and unusual. Unusual clothes… long scarlet hair… and eyes just as red. An odd necklace, and a tattoo visible from under his kimono. And the most surprising part, he was smiling at us sincerely. It was as if seeing us relieved him. His lips moved, he was saying something but he stood too far away for me to read it.
I took a step toward him and a carriage rushed by in front of me. When it passed the man was gone. As if he had never been there.
"Is something wrong?" Rey noticed my uneasiness.
Snapping back to reality, I looked at him and replied:
"No… just thought I saw something."