7 A breakthrough

'Is that thing even gonna move?!' Laudat thought to himself as he stared blankly at the run-down sad excuse of a cart. The wood was stained from the rain, the slabs on the side clearly eaten up by the ropes and cargo over the years. It also seemed to have been made out of very low quality wood, unlike that of his home. 'I wonder whether our financial situation worsened over the years, or whether this was all we could find around home…' Lau fought back the urge, but ended up scratching his head like an old man, which could be considered not fitting for a baby.

""Awwwww~!"" But a choir of awwing voices made the baby close his eyelids and roll his eyes.

'Do these girls find everything cute?' he asked himself, yawning, as his father helped his mom up the back of the cart.

"Can we go? You guys need to arrive there by noon, no?" Laudat heard an unfamiliar voice, that of an old man. He seemed weathered and callous, but something about his voice gave him a sense of security. He wasn't cold, yet kept his distance enough to not feel overly familiar either. But more importantly, 'An old man driving a family with a donkey cart… Could this get any more stereotypical?' the baby thought to himself, looking at the scenery around.

"Just a second, Uncle, we're almost ready," He heard his father's voice call out to him, and his mom and sisters trying to find a most comfortable way to fit everyone, but since he was facing out of the cart I couldn't really see it.

In front of him, a large plain was laid. Many fields filled with different crops, each, most likely planted by a different person. His family's fields his mother had taken him to watch his sisters and father tend to were all behind the house, so these must belong to others. Or if belonged to them, he hadn't seen anyone working on these yet. Behind, a tall mountain range contrasted with the otherwise plain scenery, its snowy peaks peacefully overlooking the whole place.

"We're done!" his father exclaimed, his voice followed by the crackling of a whip, and the rusty sound of the cart slowly gaining speed.

'This is…' Yet, despite his best hopes, it seemed he had been right all along. 'a lot slower than I expected.'

Slow and steady, the cart made its way out of his family's farm and onto the dirt road. And Lau was bored to death. He kept staring at the plants and nature for a few, but the matter of fact was, the cart was too small for that to be anywhere near amusing. Rather, he was staring at basically the same thing for minutes on end,

'I wonder if…' he mused, focusing inwardly instead. Closing his eyes, he relaxed his body to the utmost, enjoying the fact that his mother would hold him tight and safe. His attention focused inwardly, he started to feel the occasional tingling, of magic particles running into and through his body. 'May if—' Laudat focused on his mana organ, and the flow inside it. He could notice that his mana would twirl in a chaotic way, and wondered whether this was why he couldn't hold onto a lot of it. 'Let's try," he devised a pastime.

At first, he struggled to do any more than focusing on it, but after some time, he felt a sudden change; he'd learned how to control his mana. It was like trying to move a finger while your arm is numb, but he slowly managed to change the chaotic flow into a smooth and more orderly one. His mana spiraling in a deformed circle, since his organ was not totally full, but smooth. And then, he tried the unthinkable. He focused a lot more, straining his mine, and compressing his mana into a smaller volume. At first, it behaved, becoming ever so slightly smaller, but after a while, he felt an immense pressure he'd never imagined before coming from his chest. 'Oh, crap,' the mana burst, he'd overdone it, and it exploded outwards.

A pain he only imagined assaulted his entire body as mana shot with a huge pressure through some vessels. 'Wait! Those are not—' But the vessels were not the mana veins from before. Those were another set of them, flowing up towards his head. 'Those are mana arteries,' he concluded, since there was no other explanation, and focused on driving this mana somewhere. 'If I let it escape I'll just lose it. Maybe I can use it to enhance,' he focused on bringing that mana to his head, following the course without losses, and imagined how to use thata mana to strengthen himself.

Almost as if magic, the mana from his head jumped onto his body, and he felt his muscles tear and rebuild for a split second. It was over quickly, but he noticed it. 'This magic stuff is not just buffs, it can alter reality for good…' he pondered, understanding the deep implications of it, but a voice called him to reality.

"Lau?! Lau?! Are you okay, dear?" it was his mother's, desperately calling for him.

He looked up, indifferent, only to realize his body was drenched in sweat and feverish. 'Damn, I may have overdone it," he thought to himself, smiling towards his mother's worried face, and opening his mouth, "Mama!" he said, making hers and everyone's worries melt away.

"See, I told you he was fine. He's just a little hot from the clothes and the sun, and took some rest," his father said, leaning towards his mom, who gave him the other face. "Hey! Don't be mean, give me a good kiss." His father put his hand on his mother's face, pulling her for a kiss, and Lau averted his eyes as a "Ewww!" choir formed from his youngest sisters.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look! It's the city!" Kau called him out, making Laudat look too. In the distance, the walls of a rampart were slowly appearing on the top of a distant hill.