3 Years

Grey packed away his whiteboard as he listened to the last of Samantha's story.

"The magus sat in class- his double life as a student and magic researcher was like a coin. At school, he felt trapped like a bird in a cage, the content taught was beneath him, yet he had to act as if he struggled with it. His time in the research tower, however, was liberating. Like a bird free to stretch its wings and soar, Eli could spend his time as he wished. He did as he wanted, spending time doing his favorite thing; creating spells. That was what he had become a magus for."

"That ends chapter 12. Grey, I want you to read chapter 13 for tomorrow. During your Arkusian¹ lesson, please tell me what happened to Eli. Also, I want to know the name of the next spell he makes, OK?" Samantha doled out homework, ignoring the fact that she had given Grey prep for every subject.

Samantha had started by teaching Grey only Maths and Arkusian, the global language. Once he mastered the basics, she added on more subjects. It started with basic Science, then basic Geography and History. Occasionally, she would sprinkle in an art lesson, to give him a chance to de-stress. It didn't matter that he was on par with 7-8-year-olds, as Grey was only 3. He had spent the last 2 years learning and had finally reached a Grade 2 level. The story he was now reading, 'The Magi's Double Life' was a popular tale for kids and the newest thing Samantha introduced to his course. 

Grey had already reached a much higher level, yet he held back to not scare Samantha too much. Just because he was a 'genius' did not mean that a 3-year-old solving trigonometry was normal. After finding out the basics of the language, Grey had 'borrowed' a dictionary and thesaurus. After familiarizing himself with numbers, he utilized his past life's maths, and an occasional search on the tablet, to make advancements in the subject. He had done a little study on it and found that maths followed the same basic principles as it had in Sincia. This made it relatively easy.

Reminiscing, Grey thought back to the less than a year that he had spent at Asmodeus' house. He had picked up all that he was taught exceptionally easily, and it seemed that this life would follow the same road.

Grey began to skim through chapter 13 of the book he had been tasked to read. His perfect memory made it so that he barely needed to look, a glance was more than necessary to recall every detail in full 3D. He quite liked the story actually, as Grey drew many parallels between himself and the main character, Eli, for they both had things to hide. 

Grey spent his days and nights much like Eli spent his. Whilst at school, they both acted dumb, so as not to scare those around them, and at night they were free to do as they pleased. Grey spent his fixing his efficiency (he was now at 22%), and chatting to Fallen Star. The helper was not of much use these days, but Grey knew that it didn't matter. Fallen Star was his most valuable asset, Its time to shine had come once, and it would soon come again.

The topics they spoke of involved their plans. Fallen Star had given Grey full rein of his life until 10, for that was when It would need to get involved. Grey often spoke to Fallen Star of his plans. Since mana would become the principal focus after 10, Grey wanted to learn beyond trigonometry and such before that, so that he may have more time to dedicate to the art of fighting. His aspirations did not lie only in maths; Grey wanted to cram in as much of each subject as possible, gaining the maximum possible time after 10 for physical studies.

Fallen Star had suggested that Grey start ramping up his rate of 'progression' so that he may do as he desired. He had immediately agreed, naturally, yet found himself stuck. How was he meant to organically ramp up to his sought-after level? He had to be sleek, lest he found himself being hailed the greatest genius to exist, being paraded around. He was fine with just his parents knowing of his greatness.

Was he to aim higher than his current understanding at the age of 5, or 7? At that point, did the age even matter? He would be studying subjects for 16+ year-olds whilst still in the single digits.

Grey decided to leave it up to chance. He picked up a die from a simple game he liked to play in his free time. The die only went up to 6, so he would have to add 5 to the number he scored. Rolling it, the side that landed face up was 2. This gave him 7.

"I guess I start at 7."

---

Samantha stared out the kitchen door, looking at a boy running in circles. She assumed that he was training, but did not know where the idea came from. The boy stopped, his silver hair stuck to his forehead. It had grown quite a bit, so he would be needing a cut soon. 

Her assumption was soon proven correct, for the boy got down and started to do sit-ups. She almost spat out her coffee at the sight. What was this? Who taught the boy to do exercise? 

'I'll have to interrogate Lucas when he comes home.' She thought, narrowing her gaze.

A man in the supermarket suddenly sneezed. "Is someone badmouthing me?"

---

Grey was currently working out his body in the garden. He would have an hour-long window whilst Samantha was on a walk where he could exercise freely. He did a small bit here and there whilst Adam was watching over him, yet he could not fully trust the man. Not only that, but he was working for his parents, not him. 

The only other time Grey could do any exercise was at night. Fallen Star had made him focus on fixing himself whilst working out. It was challenging at the beginning, for if he channeled mana and then started, his breathing would falter, and then he could no longer do it. If he moved to start working out and then breathe, his form would be off. 

Grey had long since perfected his breathing, yet he found a problem that, once solved, would eliminate the first issue. If he was able to breathe in the correct form whilst not seeing mana, he would be able to make that method of breathing his natural breathing. By doing that, he would not be disrupted when he worked out. The disruption was caused by his breathing resetting to get the needed oxygen in after all. It was a more comfortable breathing for him, so the body thought that it gave him more. It didn't, but he couldn't exactly explain that to the body.

Right now, his goal was to breathe. Grey took a deep breath in through the mouth, then the nose. After following the next steps, Grey let out his first breath. His vision shifted once more, the bubbles that were mana becoming visible. 

Fallen Star and Grey had debated 10 methods that would allow them to accomplish what they wanted, and right now they were on method 10. 

- Okay, Grey, the goal here is to channel a small stream of mana into both your eyes. It will take a lot of concentration to do constantly but, if this works, eventually it will become instinctual. - Fallen Star lectured.

"But won't that waste my mana?" Unsure if that was feasible for long periods, Grey voiced his doubts. 

- Well, yes. But only in the beginning. As your Efficiency and Capacity rise, so will your mana recharge rate. In about 2 years, you will recharge fast enough that there is no difference. The mana this takes is so negligible. -

Grey, sighing once, decided that if Fallen Star said so, it must be true. He tried to move a slither of mana to his eyes, but his concentration snapped. His breathing faltered, his form twisted, and the bubbles disappeared. 

- First attempt; fail. Maybe you should have stopped doing exercise. Multitasking two things at once must be taxing for your child-brain. - Guessing, Fallen Star logged the first attempt and gave a suggestion that should have been obvious in hindsight. 

Standing back up, Grey turned around ready to go back inside, only to find Samantha standing in front of him. Her expression seemed to be angry, shocked, and sad all in one. 

---

Samantha had seen Grey suddenly go still. Wondering what was wrong, she saw Grey change his breathing. It looked an awful lot like the breathing done to see mana. 

It was impossible for Grey to have awakened before 10, but, just, if it was possible, then. Imagining the hurricane that such a discovery would bring, Samantha started to hyperventilate. Her baby would be taken away and experimented on. She would have no say in the matter either. All she would be able to do was pray. 

Reminding herself that the breathing only looked like mana breathing, she tried to calm down. It was only an imitation. But where had he seen it?

Focusing on the mana around her, changing her breathing, her sight shifted. All around her, bubbles appeared. She looked towards Grey and what she saw shocked her.

"M… Ma… Mana!" Collapsing with a thud, Samantha gasped, speaking the last thing that was on her mind. 

A few seconds later, she woke up. Getting off the floor, and wiping her trousers from the dirt, she looked outside again. Surely she had seen things.

Breathing in, breathing out, the world changed once more. Looking at Grey, she was dumbfounded at what she saw. The boy was indeed leaking mana. That was only possible if you could use mana. 

"I need to confront him. How is this even possible?" Stepping outside into the garden, Samantha walked towards Grey.

It was at that moment that Grey saw her. 

________

¹ = Arkusian (R-Q-SION) - English lesson equivalent. Also, the only language spoken on Arkusia, the single continent. More details in the future.