Mother Earth

I woke up in my own bed, surrounded by the familiar wooden walls and roof of my room. My personal books, which I had kept safe for the past four years, were neatly arranged on the shelves. As I looked around, a sense of relief washed over me. The pain I had felt earlier was gone, and I actually felt better than I ever had in both of my lives. I quickly got into a meditative position and checked my body.

I searched near my solar plexus and found my mana core, which was dark red in color and at the lowest stage. Despite this, I couldn't help but feel excited. I now had the ability to use magic, something I had never dreamed of in my past life. I held out my hand and attempted to use magic, but nothing happened.

Then I remembered what my mother had told Myla about awakening. I couldn't use magic for 1-3 months. I let out a sigh and got out of bed, heading towards the kitchen. There, I saw my whole family sitting at the dining table.

"You're awake! My baby, how do you feel?" my mother asked as she rushed towards me, with Myla and father right behind her.

"I'm fine, mom. Actually, I feel better than ever," I replied as the whole family hugged me tightly.

After a while, they let go. My mother had tears rolling down her face and my sister was smiling. "Well of course you do, son. You've awakened!" said my father, with a big grin on his face. "I'm going to get the affinity orb. Faliya, you should get something for Fal to eat. He's been asleep for two days. He must be hungry."

I was shocked at my father's words. I had been asleep for two days? Now that I thought about it, I was really hungry. At the thought of food, my stomach let out a loud growl. "It seems you're hungry. Lucky you, I already have a pot of soup cooking. It will be done in about five minutes. But for now, eat this." My mother wiped away her tears and handed me a loaf of bread and a cup of water.

As I was eating, my father walked back into the kitchen with a clear crystal orb in his hands. "Here, son. Place your palm on this and push mana into it. You probably don't know what I mean, but since you're awakened, it should come naturally."

I did as my father asked, putting my cup of water down and placing my hand on the orb. I pushed the foreign energy into my palm and into the orb.

As I pushed the energy through my hand and into the orb, it felt natural, just as my father had said. The orb began to glow and many colors spun inside it before disappearing. Green and black smoke filled the orb, swirling around inside it slowly.

My father raised an eyebrow and said, "Wind and dark elements, huh?" He turned to my mother and said, "Reminds me of someone, doesn't it, Faliya?"

My mother laughed and replied, "Yes, I'll have to call Zeph and tell him about it. He's been wanting to meet the kids for a while now."

Myla and I were curious and asked, "Who's Zeph?"

"You'll find out when he gets here, it shouldn't take long," my father said. "In the meantime, Falyn, how about training with your old man starting tomorrow?"

"Mel, he has just awakened. Let him rest for a couple of days before you start putting him through training," my mother intervened. "We don't even know if he wants to become a mage."

"You're right, honey. I guess I got a little ahead of myself. I'm sorry, little Fal. It's just that you've awakened at the age of four, son, and your sister has compatible natural elements for a sui generis form of magic. You both have very bright futures if you decide to become mages," my father responded, with a hint of pride in his voice.

I pondered over his words. Becoming a mage had been my main goal since coming to this world, and over these past years, I had grown fond of this family. In my past life, I had no family members that I knew of or visited. It had bothered me a little when I was a kid, but as I grew older, I became cold and stopped caring about the people closest to me. But in this life, I wanted to change that.

"I want to become a mage, Dad," Myla said, raising her hand like a child in a classroom.

My father ruffled her hair and said, "I figured you did. You're just like your mother, so competitive."

"I also want to become a mage," I said.

"That's my boy!" my father exclaimed, more excited than a kid getting ice cream. "So tomorrow, we'll get up bright and early and start training-"

Before my father could finish his words, my mother sent a gust of wind knocking him on his butt. "I told you, Mel, Fal will rest for at least a couple of days!"

A cold sweat ran down my father's face. "My apologies, honey. I forgot."

Myla and I laughed at this.

When dinner was ready, we ate and began talking about my awakening and how Myla was doing in her training. Soon after, we called it a night.

The next couple of days consisted of me resting while Myla continued her training. After a few days of rest, my mother finally approved of the training.

My father and I walked past the backyard and into a flat grass field.

"Dad, why don't we train closer to the house like Myla and Mom do?" I asked, curious about why we were training so far away.

"Well, son, my magic tends to mess up the yard. You know how tidy your mother likes to keep the house. Honestly, I don't know how she puts up with my clumsiness," he replied.

I smiled at this and thought back to the past four years, where every time my father made a mess, my mother freaked out. Even so, you could see that they truly loved one another.

"Alright son, this should be good."

We were in the middle of the grass field, a good distance from the house.

"Before we start, do you have any questions or need anything? Like a weapon or shield?" My father asked.

I pondered for a moment. In my past life, I fought hand-to-hand and always preferred it. Occasionally, I would carry a dagger just in case.

Since I was in this four-year-old body, it wouldn't hurt to put some of my old dagger skills to use.

"Yeah, can I get a dagger if we have one?" I replied.

"A dagger, huh?" My father rubbed his chin, a smile forming on his face. "Yeah, I can do that." He placed his five fingers on the lush green grass. "[Mother Earth's Craft]."

After he said these words, an earthen dagger shot from the ground and into his palms. "This should do. At your level, if you learn how to formally enhance your body and weapon with mana, the weapon should still be able to withstand it."

He handed me the dagger. Its weight and balance were great, and the details were amazing. I got into my most comfortable fighting stance, holding the dagger in a reverse grip.

"Whoa, there son!" My father laughed. "Your stance is amazing and all, especially for your first time training, but you won't be fighting me."

I relaxed my guard. "What do you mean?"

"Watch." My father lightly tapped his foot on the grass, and an earth golem sprouted up from the ground like an undead zombie, completely destroying the landscape.

The golem was the same height as me but had no distinct features. In fact, it didn't even have a face, just arms, legs, and a head. "You will be fighting my golem here."

I smirked and looked at the ground. "I see why Mom would be mad if you did this in the yard."

My father laughed at this as I got back into my fighting stance.

"You ready?" My father asked.

"Yeah." I responded.

I dashed toward the golem as it did the same. The golem was getting ready to throw a punch with its right arm, its form was sloppy and easy to read, so I was ready.

As soon as it threw its right punch, I ducked and performed a low kick to sweep it off its feet. It fell over on its stomach. I swiftly made my way to the golem, its body still on the ground, and stabbed my dagger in the back of its head.

I was a little surprised to see the golem slowly crumble from hard rock to soft dirt in a matter of seconds.

"Great job, son!" my father yelled from afar. "I only conjured a low-level golem because I didn't want it to be too hard on you, but I see you're tougher than I thought."

It took me a minute to respond as I had to catch my breath. Even small movements required a lot of energy from my body. I realized I needed some serious conditioning.

At that moment, an idea popped into my head. Well, there's no time like the present, right?

"Dad, you said it was low-level?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Can you conjure one that's three times stronger than that one?"

"Are you sure?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "This is just training, son. It's okay to take it slow."

"Yes, that first one was too easy, and even if something does happen, can't you just cancel the spell?" I urged. "I want to see what my limits are."

"Well, yes, I guess you have a point," he said, giving a light smile. "My son is only four years old, but he already has so much fire."

My father lightly tapped his foot on the ground, and a golem started forming from the earth below him. When the golem was fully manifested, it stood at least two feet taller than me. I almost regretted my choice to fight this thing before my body was conditioned, but my senses were too excited by the idea of a good fight.

In my old world, it was rare to find people on my level, and being here in front of an opponent that I knew was stronger than me was a feeling I had long since forgotten.

My father must have mistaken my emotions for nervousness and shouted some advice. "Remember this, son: the bigger they are, the harder they fall."