Learning Magic

It has been three years since young master Rudeus' birth.

The first impression she had of the young master was 'how could something this adorable exist?'

The young master inherited the best of both Zenith and Paul's genetics, practically assuring he would become a lady killer when he grew up. But even before he matured, Rudeus still had a perfect mixture of grace, charm and cuteness it seemed.

Most parents would think their child was the cutest in the world, but even Lilia, being an objective third party, would agree with Zenith and Paul's observation.

However, despite the young master's cuteness, Lilia always tried to remain professional by acting the part of a stern caretaker. She would not let herself be pushed over by capitulating to his cuteness or relenting to his large dewy eyes.

As the young master grew up, it was readily apparent that he was not like other babies she had seen before. Not in a bad way though. Rudeus appeared intelligent. Perhaps even too intelligent at times.

When the three adults conversed, sometimes it looked to her like the baby was actually paying attention, as if he too could understand what they were saying or was trying to comprehend it.

Where most babies would concern themselves with their next meal or their next nap, young master Rudeus was already self-aware enough to look around the world with unabashed curiosity.

It was a fascinating sight to see the wonder, intrigue and keen intellect behind the eyes of one so young. And not just in his eyes either. When Rudeus first learned how to crawl, it was like he couldn't get enough of it.

Nearly every waking moment was spent crawling around the house, touching anything and everything in sight with rampant curiosity and endless energy, or engaging in duplicitous stratagems to get away from her and Zenith's surveillance.

It was still manageable since Rudeus was confined to their house, no matter how much he crawled. He wasn't tall enough or smart enough (though Lilia had doubts about that) to open doors at the tender age of 6 months, so it wasn't difficult to find him even if he got out of sight.

Except that one time Paul left the door open and Rudeus was able to get out like a runaway pet.

Lilia would never forget the look of wonder and childish delight the first time the young master saw the outside world. Calling it cute would be a massive statement. One way to describe that look would be a captivating expression; one that made others feel like they ought to be as excited as the owner of that gaze.

Hahh… the young master was really too adorable sometimes.

Lilia found it hard at times to maintain her stoic professionalism, especially when Rudeus occasionally cooed and reached out for her attention. Any sane individual who could resist such a sight would need to get their heads checked since Rudeus' cuteness was obviously out of this world.

Lilia was a maid of the Greyrat household, so she was obligated to serve both Zenith and Paul as well as their child. But rather than just a servant, Lilia also felt her heart tug and pull with the desire to protect.

Indeed, young master Rudeus must be protected at all costs. Even from his own parents if necessary.

It wasn't as if Zenith and Paul were bad parents. Not at all. Zenith was a great mother who loved and doted on her child intensely. Whereas Paul was… clumsy at times and rough around the edges, which was admittedly part of his charm, but he had nothing but the best intentions for Rudeus.

However… their overactive sex life was definitely something Rudeus needed to be protected from.

Seeing the young master's intelligence, even if he couldn't understand what was happening whenever his parents did the deed in front of him, it could still leave a subconscious trauma in his developing mind when he grew up!

Moreover, it wasn't a stretch to label Paul as scummy. Though behaviour like his was largely tolerated in this patriarchal, male dominated society, Lilia would never allow the young master to be corrupted like his father.

She couldn't allow that, so she had actually approached Zenith and Paul to ask if they would allow Rudy to sleep in her room from now on. Of course she did not say it was to protect Rudy from his nightly, ravenous sex his parents engaged in, since that would be a tough subject to broach even for a professional maid like herself.

Lilia instead gave reasons like it was part of her duties and wanted to let Zenith and Paul have more restful sleep.

Paul was more than willing to go along with Lilia's request, since it seemed that young master Rudeus had more occasionally cried just when they were about to make love at night.

Lilia nodded approvingly. The young master was wise enough to know what his parents did at night in front of him was unhealthy after all.

Zenith on the other hand was a bit more reluctant, but still relented under Paul's cajoling.

And that's how young master Rudeus started sleeping in Lilia's room. Their relationship became than one between caretaker and ward. Lilia felt her role towards Rudeus was somewhere between an older sister and a second mother, if that made sense.

Indeed, Rudeus was a handful when he learned how to crawl. When he started to walk and run, however… That opened up a whole new meaning to the world energetic. It was as if young master Rudeus was making up for the time he spent with limited mobility as a new born baby, and now wanted to use his developing motor control as much as was possible.

Lilia could already foresee all sorts of havoc Rudeus would cause once he grew older and started displaying that inexhaustible energy young children were known to have.

Though blessed with a healthy and energetic body, Rudeus' mind was not lacking in any way either.

If Paul was someone born with the talent for the sword, Rudy was someone born with precocious intellect.

The boy seemed to be able to understand their words when he was just a few months old. He could already speak, albeit slowly and in fragmented sentences, even before he was a year old.

Zenith started teaching him to read not long after that, when he expressed his interest to learn magic.

Which other child who weren't even at the age of 1 could not only express themselves with enough articulation to learn both how to read and write as well as how to cast magic.

If Rudeus was not a precocious little genius, no other child in the world was as well. This Lilia knew to be true.

Rudeus took a little longer to fully comprehend the written language only being fully capable of it when he was three, even if he could speak and understand perfectly fluently before that.

But still, being able to read and understand complex magic tomes when he was three years old? Who would believe it even they publicised this information. A month or two after Rudeus demonstrated his proficiency in reading and writing the Human Language, Zenith had no choice but to relent and teach him magic as she had promised, despite being slightly reluctant due to his age.

(POV end)

The first time Rudeus casted a spell was under the watchful eyes of Zenith and Paul.

Though Paul was at first reluctant to let Rudeus learn magic, he was persuaded by the boy himself who expressed equivalent or even greater interest in swordsmanship.

But since his body was still too young to start learning the martial ways of his father, his parents decided to let Rudeus learn magic first.

And thus, Rudeus casted his first spell - Water Ball.

His first attempt went awry, with him tripping over the incantation at the last part, failing to properly activate the spell.

His second attempt was finally successful.

The look of pride on all the three adults present, and the expression of sheer joy and happiness on Rudeus' face was also something unforgettable for them.

Following which, Rudeus practiced more and more with spell casting. The common sense of the world when it came to magic and spell casting was that every individual had a fixed mana pool which was determined at birth. No one really thought of this as untrue.

However, once more, Rudeus shattered preconceived expectations and long held beliefs about the world when he proved that assumption to be false. Because how else could one explain his mana pool growing day after day of magic training?

By creating water balls as many times as he could often to the brink of exhaustion Rudeus was able to increase the maximum number of times he could cast the spell.

"A genius! My son is a magic genius!" Zenith had loudly exclaimed with unabashed pride. "We need to find a magic tutor for Rudy!"

"Wait, didn't we agree that his learning magic would only be a temporary thing before he starts on swordsmanship? He's going to be a swordsman, not a magician!"

"What? Even after you witnessed Rudy's talent in magic, you still want him to be a swordsman? It would be a waste of his talent if he doesn't learn magic!"

"So what? We said that if we had a son he would be a swordsman. A promise is a promise."

'Hahh how stubborn is this old man of mine. My mom too, she can be obstinate at times. Why can't I learn both at the same time?'

Rudeus approached the arguing couple and tugged on both their sleeves, getting their attention and causing them to look down at me.

"Mom, dad, don't fight. I want to learn both! I want to be a magic swordsman!"

Paul's eyes lit up.

"A magic swordsman...? That... sounds... SO COOL! A sword style that incorporates magic huh? I approve! I approve!"

Zenith also put on a pensive appearance, muttering to herself, "Hmm a magician's weakness has always been close ranged melee. If Rudy learns swordsmanship as well, he will be able to protect himself from those threats too... I suppose it would be for the best."

That is how they decided Rudeus' curriculum. They decided it would be best to hold off on hiring a magic tutor, since Zenith was knowledgeable enough about magic fundamentals to teach Beginner to Intermediate Magic to Rudeus. Only once he reached that point would they contact a magic tutor.

While Rudeus would learn the basics of magic from Zenith from late afternoon to evening, he would also learn the basics of swordsmanship from Paul from morning to early noon. A lot of it was theory, physical conditioning as well as light drills like swinging the practice wooden sword downwards a hundred times and then a forward thrust a hundred times.

Paul was a bad teacher, Rudeus realised. At first he thought his explanations were half-hearted because he didn't want Rudeus to imitate and hurt himself. But it turns out those weren't half hearted explanations. It was purely how Paul understood his own techniques.

But that was something Rudeus could relate to as well, since that was how he approached sports, and specifically soccer when he still played competitively in his previous life. For those in the highest tier of pro-players in any physical sport, it stopped being about putting thought into their every move.

It became more about instinct, albeit trained instincts.

In other words, instead of thinking through every single action, it became more of "just do it like this." It became harder and harder for top athletes to explain their every movement in the field/ring/court, without falling back on "it was just my intuition".

This was similar to how Paul looked at swordsmanship, and that was not something Rudeus was unfamiliar with.

Rudeus, when he was Noel and not Rudeus, was often told he was a natural athlete.

His nickname, when he played soccer competitively, was 'The Prodigy' for a reason. All the tricks and techniques he displayed on the field, was imitated by him through mimicry either from online videos or seeing it person from a fair distance. It was his talent, being able to recreate a technique or move just by watching.

So when Paul demonstrated the basic Sword God combo, Rudeus was able to recreate it perfectly on his first try.

"A genius! My son is a martial genius!"

Paul excitedly announced to the rest of the family

"Don't tell me you want to find a swordsman instructor for Rudy as well... We can't afford to hire two tutors." Zenith worriedly pointed out.

"A tutor? Not necessary. Swordsmanship is not like magic. Rudy is a genius, so he doesn't need to be study swordsmanship like he does magic. Just by watching me he can learn how to reach the advanced stage in all three sword styles!"

"Huh? But he's still so young, is that even possible?"

"Of course physically he won't be able to contend with even an average Beginner level swordsman. But technique wise, I'm confident in his comprehension abilities. Aside from bodily strength and technique, what Rudeus will also need is practical experience. That is also something I can provide, so there's no need for a tutor."

"Our Rudy is so amazing!" Zenith declared to no one's surprise and enveloped the tiny three year old in her bosom.

'I can't breathe...'

Rudeus pushed himself out of her twin peaks and deep valley. Zenith's affections, while well intentioned, tended to suffocate him in more ways than once.

Being stuffed between her breasts might have excited him before his reincarnation, but the years he spent in this world he had already come to recognise Zenith as his mom. What kind of pervert would get excited from touching his mom's chest at three years old!?

Lilia's hugs on the other hand, that was a different story. He never really looked at her with that kind of interest but when Lilia occasionally picked him up and carried him while he was tucked between her breasts, he had to shamefully that got him a little more flustered.

Lilia was different from Zenith. He had Zenith's blood flowing in his veins, whereas Lilia wore a French maid costume every day.

But even if he was flustered, it would only be on an emotional level. Physically, there was still no reaction from his still arguably infantile body.