Chapter 3: Passing Years(1)

As I looked at the big-breasted individual smiling at me right now and then at my mother, I couldn't help but to have cursed thoughts.

(What?! Why is my father so hot?!) I was surprised by the reveal.

"Hi little Zandrius, I'm sorry I'm late, a lot happened today, but I'm very happy to have you! Just look at him! He has mine and your eyes! Oh and look his cute little chubby checks! He's the most adorable baby ever! Truly could only be my son!" She burst with excitement as she began playing with my checks.

"Your son? How bold of you to say that after coming here late. It seems someone is a bit too brave for their own good. What do you think little Zandrius? Should we kick her out? We could give your dad a week outside to help her clear her thoughts." Mom said with a very forced smile to the point I think I could see a few veins popping out.

(So, my dad is a futa? How dastardly of G to do this... ) I was a bit surprised by the development, but it wasn't something that uncommon in the Endless Fantasy world. I just didn't expect it to happen...

"I think we're being a bit hasty here. Our son will surely be sad if his father has to wander the streets for a whole week... I mean, who knows what could happen? It's not safe out there." Dad began snuggling onto mother while caressing her hair with a weak smile on her face.

"Hmph! Of course, I'm not going to let you wander out in the streets for a whole week, you're too much of a lost case to trust with that. But you're going to have to reschedule whatever plans you had for the rest of the week, we're spending that time with little Zandrius." Despite how she sounded, mom had a small smile on while she was being caressed, she seemed to appreciate the attention.

"Amora, my love... I understand how you feel, but isn't that a bit too drastic? I have a few important meetings scheduled for this week and probably won't have that much free time until next year... But I promise that by then we'll be able to spend all time we want together as a family with everyone back at home." Dad increased her movements as she talked and began slowly kissing mom on her checks and slowly to her neck while her hands were being used to smooth mom's milkers.

"I... I mean... Uhm... It's not that hah... Not that bad to wait a bit of... No! What am I saying?! No! Not this time! You're smoothing me into letting you get away with this one! It's already decided and you have to choose, work or m- I mean family!" Mother was slowly being lulled into letting it go before she pushed dad away and began scolding her again. It was an odd situation to be in the middle of as a baby of all things.

"How cruel... You don't really leave me with much of a choice, but you're right, I've had you waiting for long enough. One week with the family won't exactly destroy the business anyway." Unable to retort, father conceded as she got pulled into a hug by mom.

From then on the two of them started talking more casually and I learned that I'm now part of a pretty full house. Back at home, there are my grandparents and two sisters. That aside two of my siblings, a brother, and a sister are currently studying at a prestigious magic academy. Honestly, I don't know what's more concerning, the number of family members from a single house or how many cliches got booted into my background. My parents even talked about dad's business as she's a merchant and a few other people, it seems I have a two aunts and an uncle just from mom's side of the family... Just how big is this family?!

Father seemed to avoid talking about her side of the family throughout their conversation up until I fell asleep due to this infant body.

Eventually, I woke up in a crater and a different room. Obviously, I had been taken home and put in bed. Having nothing more pressing to worry about, I began meditating to expand my consciousness to the world around me, but this time something unexpected happened. The moment I did so, I could immediately feel the stream of mana in the atmosphere surrounding me, and just like that, the first step to creating a mana link was completed.

Now, it was time to move to the second step, Core Rebirth, which consists of filling up one's mana cores... Well with mana to the point of re-emergence. Doing so only requires you to use what you've learned through meditation in the first step, and let yourself open for the mana to come in. It takes time and your skill in meditation affects your efficiency, but patience is the key in these initial stages. Normally this process happens naturally on a much smaller scale for every sentient being, though it usually takes about 14 to 16 years to fill up that way, that also being the reason most apprentices in magic schools or towers are in that age range when they get recruited.

Similar to the first step it's also possible to ease this one a bit by receiving help from a proficient mage, as it can cut the time in half to do so.

The body of every living being has at least one mana core but in the case of humans and humanoids of a similar structure, there are 2 mana cores. One in the heart and the other in the solar plexus, which both should be filled with mana during the process of the second step to create a mana link. Unfortunately filling both is a hard task and tends to take double the normal time to do, so people avoid doing it or just ignore it and move on. Why not just do the second one later? I asked myself when I first learned of this and the answer is pretty simple, you can't.

Once you activate one of your mana cores, the body begins functioning with that taken into account. Two processes begin occurring naturally, one is the circulation of mana into your body as it now constantly intakes mana for your core and the rejection or readjustment of variables contradicting that in the body. That variable is your inactive core, since it would still be trying to intake mana for itself it's interfering with the now active mana core, so the body rejects it and gets rid of it as it is serving no purpose other than wasting mana, after all, you yourself already rejected the inactive core when you activated the other one on its own. The process is called core shedding and is said to be very painful.

Being rather short-lived in comparison to the other humanoid races, humans can't really afford to casually spend from 28 to 32 years trying to activate both their cores. This led to it being common for humans to only have one core, and being known to be less proficient in magic than the other humanoid races.

Having organized my thoughts on the second step, I moved on to once again meditate and advance my training.

Time went by in a flash and before I knew it, 4 years went by just like that in the blink of an eye.

I had grown and gotten aquatinted with every in the house for a while now. My progress when it came to training was outstanding and completely outside of my expectations, as I was already halfway through with both of my mana cores. Aside from that, I started getting tutored at home by mom it's honestly nothing too hard because of my <Eidetic Memory> skill, all academics became a bit trivial since I could just site everything in the books and change a word or two, done.

Talking about skills, I actually asked Sophia about all my skills during this time, and the results were:

Body Control(self): It seems to allow me to control my body far beyond the level most would be able, as I can command my body freely and perform all kinds of moments with no effort. That as well as the fact that it seems to help me control emotions, senses, and even something like bullet time at will. Unfortunately, I can't use it to just modify my body, but maybe I will someday.

Omnilingualism: It literally just lets me speak, read and write in any and all languages with extremely high proficiency. Even things like dialects are picked up.

Eidetic Memory: Pretty self-explanatory, it allows me to remember things way more clearly and for far longer. My current mind is more of a library I can access now, than the messy place it used to be.

Gluttony: By eating things, I can improve myself, and even learn new abilities. There doesn't seem to be a restriction on what I can and can't eat for the effect, which is passive.

Sloth: By being lazy and basically doing nothing, I'm able to boost myself the longer I can maintain that state, but the catch is that more energy is built up, so if I don't release it in any way, I might just blow up. Though it is still an overpowered ability, unfortunately, I can't just spam it and have to be lazy for a day before I can use it again.

Pride: This skill allows me to induce fear and even knock out anyone weaker than me, while also weakening those who are stronger. Now for the broken part, once a day, I can make myself invulnerable to all damage for 10 seconds.

Greed: This one is a plunder-type skill since it allows me to take others' abilities as mine, so long as I know what they are and do, so basically, if I know their abilities I can have them for myself.

Envy: This one debuffs the enemies by making their abilities have less effect on me, and absorbs their energy to feed it to me as the battle goes on. It's quite scary actually.

Wrath: This one turns my anger into a buff, and makes me stronger the longer I'm angry, so long as I still have mana left and once my mana runs out, the effect wears off. There doesn't seem to be an upper limit to how strong it can make me.

Lust: It vastly increases sexual pleasure, sensitivity, and arousal. The user will always be able to have safe sex being extent from sickness or unwanted pregnancy. Lastly, my libido became unmatched and I can improve myself and even learn skills by having sex with others.

Meditation: Is as known, to improve one's ability to focus and connect with the world around. It accelerates the speed at which one thinks, and or interacts with mana, but is ultimately not combat-suited.

Enhanced Condition: This is the skill I got because of Gluttony, after consuming various animal's meat, all my capabilities overall improved, from the speed at which I can think, to my five senses, to my body overall, it is actually quite frightening. Now I know things that might have been better unknown.

These are all the abilities I have right now. It's a considerable arsenal and I can definitely already cause some damage even with this child body.

From then on, I continued with my training, and more time passed. I was now 8 years old and had finally convinced my parents to let me begin my physical training, besides the tutoring and my mana training. They refused to let me train with an instructor until I'm 10, but I can at least train myself unbothered. My training routine would start with the basic exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a long run and then go on to some gymnastics, flexibility training, improvised weight lifting, and the only thing my parents insisted on, dancing lessons.

My days grew tiring and it took time for my muscles to get used to it, honestly, I wanted to give up multiple times when I started this, but I pushed through for my future as a ruler of the Omniverse and for my harem, I can't be weak if I want those things. Vomiting a little and constant muscle pain won't be enough to stop me!

That aside, my mana training is reaching its apex and is almost complete, I'm sure that in a few months, I'll be able to activate both my mana cores.

Just as I had predicted, months later, I was able to fill both mana cores and began the activation of both. I felt the heat inside my heart and solar plexus as the mana build up inside, until it ultimately expanded and I felt a wave of it go through all my body.

It is now time, for the third step of creating a mana link. Unblocking your mana circuits, also known as circuit activation. All living beings have circuits in their bodies that allow them to fortify their body with mana as well as use it with ease, but those are naturally clogged and have to be unclogged before you create your mana link for better magical efficiency.

The process to unclog them is pretty easy, I have to use the mana in my cores to unclog the path, as my cores are directly connected to my mana circuit. The only thing about doing this was that it was much riskier than the other steps, because it was extremely painful and straining for the body's muscles, so I would have to go without physical training until I finish this part, or I might seriously damage my body.

Focusing on the new part of my mana training, I continued with the same routine of lessons without physical training until I became 10 years old.

Finally! I unclogged my mana circuits completely, it was much faster than the second step, but also much more painful as I could still feel my body ache in pain. Thanks to this, I basically burned all the unnecessary fat in my body, giving me an unnecessarily toned 10-year-old body. It's like I never stopped my physical training at all. Aside from vomiting blood every now and then as well as the never-ending muscular pain and spasms, there wasn't anything too concerning about the process.

It was now, the moment of the truth. Time to create my mana link. This part is probably the easiest out of all the things you do, as it consists of simply meditating and opening your cores to the outside mana, completely. That being exactly what I did.

Just then a whirlwind of mana formed around me as the flow connecting me to mana was established and I could now communicate with it, in other words, use magic.

[Master! You have gained the skills mana manipulation and mana operation!]

[Congratulations master! You have just completed the first quest!

Quest#0(Hidden)- Create a mana link

Objective: Create a mana link

Failure condition- Never create a mana link or destroy your mana cores.

Reward: Mana affinity]

As soon as the second message popped up, the amount of mana flowing around me just increased a lot to the point where it was almost suffocating.

(I have quests?) I asked.

[Yes! But quests just active on their own.]

(Then forget it. Anything else you haven't told me yet?) I decided to ask as a precaution.

[hum?... Yeah! I have Vectis' soul in containment just in case master needs or wants it for something.]

(You what?... like, Vectis as in my character from Endless Fantasy?) I couldn't help but rub my forehead.

[Yes! That one, he was very rude and even dared to badmouth Master!]

(Of course, he did, I made him that way. Let me talk to him.) I ordered.

[Of course! As Master wishes!]

{Finally! I'm out of that measly prison, what type of barbarians are you? Not even having the most basic of commodities in your cells. It's my fault for expecting any more from third-rate opportunists.} Immediately Vectis started rambling, and I started questioning if I didn't make him a bit insufferable.

(Your provocations won't work if you want anything to improve, you better be cooperative.) I kept it simple and direct.

{How unsightly! Do you have no concept of subtlety? Honestly, I'm surprised anyone could survive with that attitude, but then again you're young, so I'll give you that.} He insisted on acting difficult.

(It seems we won't be able to reach an agreement as of now, so I'll give it a few more years and we'll talk then.) I said with a smile.

{Ok, Ok, well done, you got me. Now, let us move to more pressing matters. I want my freedom and a body, what exactly do you expect to obtain from me in my current state?} He cracked, a bit unexpected, I thought I would actually have to come back a few years later.

(Not too much, I want you to serve me.) Despite how foul-mouthed he can be, Vectis is a very loyal individual who will always repay his debts and will be satisfied as long as I let him have his affairs... So long as he stays away from my harem, I don't really care... Though I'll definitely have to discipline early on to make sure no incidents happen.

{Not happening. I would rather rot in this barbaric prison.} As expected.

(What if I tell you that I'm one of the Omniverse Ruler Candidates?) And the bait is out.

{Am I supposed to be impressed? I could claim to have slept with G herself and we would be on the same plainfield, don't waste my time child.} A reasonable reaction considering my claim.

(I have proof of it. Unfortunately, it won't serve us much right now. I don't have any way to give you a body yet, so I hope you think about it until the next time we talk. Bye.) I smiled as I closed the connection before he could say anything in return.

With that, I can now move on to continue my physical training, especially considering that now my parents would have to let me get an instructor. It would also be nice to get someone to teach me magic, as it would speed up the process, but that's unrealistic, as not only would it be expensive, it would also take a lot of work to get someone from a magic academy or a mage tower to come tutor privately.

The other option would be to hire adventurers, but that's a bit risky since mages adventuring don't tend to be the best ones, I mean as a mage there are many other jobs that would pay way better unless they actually managed to become a high ranking adventurer, but is that really worth the risk for a mage who could work safely and make bank... I don't think so. Most mages who adventure are incompetent in some regard and the few that aren't are going to after fame, glory, or some complicated personal reason.

In short, it wouldn't be that easy to get a magic tutor. Even though my family isn't noble, my dad being a merchant makes her fair share. That and mom's bakery keep us above most commoners but still below any nobility financially.

That's beyond the point, let's go talk to dad about getting me an instructor.