Chapter 2: Assimilation

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Arthur Leywin POV:

When I stepped inside our house, I could hear grandpa cooking dinner in the kitchen while little Bella was playing with her toys. Finally, she seemed to notice my arrival and ran to hug me.

"Big brother, read me another story!"

Ah yes, my little sister is already addicted to the hero stories grandpa has been reading to us, and when he is busy working or doing something else, I will read them. But, of course, a three-year-old being able to read perfectly would be suspicious. So, I would pretend not always to know some words, but during the past years, I always acted to learn things fast to avoid suspicions from grandpa. So I also played with my toys, mainly my wooden sword, which I would try to learn how to use.

I seemed to know how to wield the sword, which I believed was ROB that somehow gave me the fighting experience of Arthur Leywin without giving me his actual memories, so it felt like I knew how to use a sword, but at the same time, I knew nothing. I was broken out of my thoughts when grampa noticed my arrival.

"Ah, Arthur, you're back. Did you find a wife?"

But, of course, grampa is the same as always. What normal grandparent would tell a three-year-old kid that they should make a harem? I understand that this is Danmachi, but I never understood the idea of having a harem. I would be happy to have just one.

I decided to joke around with him and answered,

"Of course, and soon you will get a grand grandchild."

I said that while checking on the egg in my pocket, but grandpa seemed to stare at me, and then I realized that he could not feel any lie coming from me, and I knew I needed to fix it.

"Hehe, you should see your face right now, gramps. But when I was walking in the forest today, I found a dead black cat with scales that was protecting this egg, so I decided to take it with me and take care of it like a child hehe"

He seemed to sigh in relief, but the big question was how would I even do it I'm three!

"I haven't seen a cat with scales in my whole life. It seems this world still holds many mysteries."

He said while looking at the egg and knew I didn't tell the truth about how I found the egg, so I decided to divert the topic from my soon-to-be dragon daughter.

"So, gramps, did something happen today?"

"Now that you ask, a green-haired swordsman got lost and started asking for directions, but I got distracted for a while, and he disappeared."

Green-haired swordsman? I remember someone like that, but I lost the memory of him. Better not think about it.

"Let's not worry about him. He probably found what he was looking for while I will prepare the table for dinner."

Bella seemed to agree after hearing about the food, so Grandpa returned to the kitchen to finish the food while I prepared the table.

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A few days have passed. Grandpa is out and working while Bella and I are home alone. I'm meditating, trying to improve my core, while Bella is looking at the egg on my bedside table with sparkling eyes.

During the few days, I looked at my core, and the beast will attached to it. I found something interesting. The beast will hasn't fully connected to my core, and it seems it is getting close to my core. I guess ROB wanted me to have time to progress my mana core before I assimilate with the will. So I spent the last few days meditating and trying to learn Mana Rotation. The technique allows the user to continuously absorb mana from the atmosphere while moving or in combat and will be crucial when I become an adventurer.

So I continued my meditation, purifying my core while grandpa was out, playing with Bella, and trying to get used to using a sword while pretending to be playing. This routine continued for the following months.

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I woke up feeling like my whole body was burning inside out.

The last six months flew by. I'm currently four, and today is the day my beast will fully connected to my core. So now I need to start the assimilation process. It is easy but will take a few years to complete.

The assimilation is a process of slowly dispersing mana from the core and seeping it into the body, letting the muscles and bones absorb mana. It's a slow process and requires meditation. It took Arthur 3 years to completely assimilate his body with Sylvia's Will. But thanks to me being Solid Red with cracks, it should allow me to finish it quicker.

Usually, I would start it now, but not today. That's because today is Bella's birthday and the merchant will come to the village, so I need to get a birthday present for Bella. The pain in my body is nothing. Getting a gift for my cute little sister is my top priority. So I quickly put on some clothes and went outside.

I didn't spend much time outside. I was mainly training at home, but that didn't mean I never went out. Of course, I needed to keep the boys away from my sister. Does that make me an overprotective brother? Probably but who wouldn't protect that cute little rabbit?

Arriving at the center of the village I could already see the merchant cart. This merchant often comes back here while coming back from Orario. Sometimes he comes here with his daughter Lucy. She and Bella became good friends and have the same hobby of reading Hero Stories. He seems like a good guy and often tells me about what is happening in Orario.

"Hello, Mister Vince"

"Oh, Arthur here to ask more about the city?"

"Not today. I need to get a present for Bella."

"I see I have something she would love."

He looked for something inside the cart and returned with a book.

"This is a new book I got. It's about a hero for fun. The kids in Orario love it."

It looked like something Bella would love, so I bought it, and after asking some questions about the adventures like if someone leveled up and other stuff I went home. Let's say she told me I was her favorite brother. Well, I'm her only brother, but still.