Chapter four

"I'm pregnant."

A three-year-old Gray Grayrat stared at his mother, who was looking at him and his father expectantly.

Paul was staring at his wife, jaw hanging as he was about to take a gulp from a mug.

After a second, it sunk in.

The muscular man jumped from the chair and ran over to his wife, hugging her tightly. Carrying her in a bridal carry, he spun around, earning a giggle from the woman in his hands.

A few seconds later, the two turned their head toward him who just tilted his head.

"What's that?"

Yes, pull off the innocent act, it always works.

Zenith smiled and tapped Paul on his hand to let her down. When he did, she came over to Gray and knelt in front of him.

"It means that you are going to be a big brother."

His mouth formed an "O" and he nodded, his lips spreading into a smile.

"Okay."

In reality, he was giddy.

A little sibling, someone he could pamper, take care of, and advise about girls... Or thr-scare off any boys who tried to approach them if it was a girl.

And maybe, just maybe, they would cry loud enough so that their... Nightly activities would be interrupted.

Sometimes it was hard to fall asleep.

"You will be four by the time your little sibling arrives, so, do you want to get stronger to protect your younger sibling?"

Was he seriously manipulating a three-year-old child by using their unborn sibling to get them to train with a sword?

Or did he really want to train him to become strong for his future family member?

...

"Yes."

Zenith karate chopped Paul's head, slightly pouting.

"Dear, I thought we could see if he could use magic first."

Paul scratched the back of his head sheepishly while straightening up.

"Yeah, but it's always good to have a healthy body, we can see if he can cast spells when he can pronounce words better."

He tried to appease but Zenith stood there still pouting. Gray, however, was sitting there, slightly confused.

Was magic that impressive? It seemed common from the history books since there were more advanced mages mentioned but that could either be because it was wartime and they wanted quality over quantity or it was the "Golden age" of mages, where you could find a civilian with potential every other house.

Or it was just that no one wrote about intermediate and below mages in the books.

He was more interested in the sub-elements rather than the basic four.

Ice, lightning, gravity, and even controlling mana were more interesting than the "Basics".

However, he wouldn't deny that there were useful spells, even in the intermediate rank.

Pitfall was a good spell, for example, it created something akin to quicksand that lets the opponent's body part sink into the ground, and made it hard to pull out.

There was a higher ranking variant for it in the advanced rank named Quagmire.

He might even learn it if he got his hands on a book about advanced ranked spells.

He could see the appeal of Magic, it didn't take hard work, only diligence, and persistence.

However, if you aren't fast enough, you can not dodge an attack from a stronger swordsman. Your eyes might be accustomed to the fast movements but if the body couldn't follow, then it was pointless.

And... He could feel the shell Paul had around his body, it must have been "Touki", history told that Laplace, the demon god, had a unique one that no one could replicate, some tried and they had to bury the body in pieces.

Poor fool.

"I want to practice with a sword."

And just like that, he made his opinions clear.

Zenith sulked and Paul looked like he just won a lottery but he was comforting his wife nonetheless.

Gray just deadpanned at his parent's antics, sometimes they were so dramatic.

Absently, he wondered when he would receive his "Boon", the dumbass that laughed at him for dying to a truck in his apartment, even though he was the one that needed him there.

He didn't even get three wishes, just spin the wheel to get an advantage.

When it stopped on "Thousand Demon daggers", his mind blanked out. He didn't know what it was, he still doesn't know what it is, the closest thing he could compare it to was one of the Magic swords granted to sword god practitioners that achieved the sword king rank.

That, or either was a dagger that could change forms and each of them could have different effects.

All he said was "You will receive it when it's time" and then with a flick of a wrist, he was born...

Also, that "Light at the end of the tunnel" wasn't you glimpsing god, it was you being born.

And he didn't want to know what happened to those who survived after seeing the light.

But that was not important right now, he was going to have a younger sibling... And he was feeling like having a little brother... And then a little sister.

"Well then, I will get you a wooden sword, We can start training as soon as we can... Tomorrow, get up early."

Nodding, he went back to eating. Maybe he should advance to intermediate in healing and detoxification. The barrier magic was interesting as well.

He grinned, things would start getting interesting, at least.

___

So... This was what suffering felt like.

Gray could understand now, why his father was as built as he was. This was pure! Torture!

Suddenly, he felt a poke on his cheek.

"Come on, Gray, it's just a warm-up."

The blonde teen glared at his father, annoyance covering his face.

"A warm-up of an S-Rank adventurer?"

"Yea-... Woops."

Grabbing a pebble, he tossed it at the sadist that was wearing a mask of Paul. That prick!

"Aw, come on, don't pout, let's take a break."

No shit, he needed a break.

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