Steps

The following days were hell and heaven for Ivy. Forced to be fed, be naked, poop and fart in public, it was a nightmare.

On the other hand, he could manipulate the particles in the air now, although slowly, but steadily. He was getting better and better with each passing day.

At first, Ivy could barely move the particles an inch closer toward him, but now, he could do it halfway without as much as breaking a sweat.

Furthermore, the people in this world speak English, which he least expected. Nevertheless, he was grateful for that, he could understand what his parents spoke, and it wasn't pleasant to hear.

"Ana... I don't think we can eat 3 times a day anymore"

Matias spoke with a dejected expression, Ana was worried what would come out of his lips but gestured to continue, fearing the worst.

"The Nobles". He replied. "They've increased the taxes about twice the amount... You know I don't earn much as a blacksmith, there are many competitions in the village, only my friends or the neighborhood near the stores buy them... Now that the taxes are raised, I hardly earn for a day's fill"

By the end of his information, he had looked completely exhausted. Matias looked as if he hadn't slept for a week, dark bags under his eyes, with a bit of overgrown hair on his chin.

"Why is it always us commoners that are the target of those merciless Nobles? Are they not tired after all the suffering they've done to us... Why... Why us"

She wasn't sobbing or crying, but felt weak and angry.

"I don't care if we die by hunger, but... I don't want to see my baby suffer. We can eat less or die if all I care... But let's atleast work enough so that he'll make it past 5 or atleast 10, We would be relieved of our suffering by then, our son can inherit your business too, atleast he can live a daily life"

Matias shared the same feelings as her, giving their son a life was their new goal, even with their life on the line.

Ivy, on the other hand, was actually a bit surprised by their love and thoughts.

'It is always the few good people that suffer. I wish I could do something, but no point. If they manage to give me a life, I would be fully happy to give them one myself. Alas, if promises were that easy to keep...'

Ivy wasn't a good person, he wasn't that far from bad either. Though, he wasn't a jerk who wouldn't return the favor... Most of the time atleast.

If the situation called for it, he would dearly even betray his closest friend, but that was a topic that could be discussed later.

The point was, he was feeling indebted to his parents, he did not like it one bit.

"I wanted him to attend the Academy so that he could pursue whatever dream he had by then... I guess our son wasn't fated for that"

Ana said, holding Ivy in her arms with a painful smile. The toddler wasn't moved by her words, he was just pitying Ana for how ignorant she was.

'Yeah, like a commoner could live in the Academy without a care'

Ivy almost internally scoffed, the Academy was by far the most dangerous place he could imagine, for a commoner like him, it was like walking inside an active volcano.

He had plans for his future, and for that, he needed to form the Mana core as soon as possible to practice his Mana manipulation skills.

Ivy did not know what rituals or techniques this world uses to control Mana, or how they do it. He only had the basic knowledge of a Mana core and a few abilities from what he knew from his former life.

Might the technique have improved or better has been introduced, but Ivy was stuck with this without any other choice, as much as frustrating it was knowing he had no real knowledge of this world, he had to grit his non-existent teeth and bear through it.

___________