*-Rudeus-*

It has officially been 6 months since Roxy arrived, and I have turned 4 years old. I've mastered incantationless water and wind magic, but was still struggling with fire and earth. My clinic duties with mom have continued as normal, and I have become acquainted with all the guards and most of the farmers. I was actually one of the first to meet one of the new guards. His name was Laws. He was an elvish man who had recently moved here with his wife and child.

When we met he was shocked to see my white hair. He seemed interested but also a bit distant. After the introductions and a teensy bit of small talk dad led him back to the gate.

When it comes to magical progress there had been many advancements in the Greyrat house. Both my siblings were steadily growing their mana pools. If I had to guess I'd say they could be able to cast water ball 5 times at most. Seems like once again I just grew faster than everyone. About a month after we started our "nightly meetings" Roxy asked if I could teach her chantless magic. When talking her through it didn't work I tried the same method I had used when helping Cyrus and Aurora. She seemed to somewhat understand what she was meant to do, but was struggling to actually do it.

I was actually growing pretty well myself. Both physically and magically. Ever since Roxy and I started... dating? We didn't really know what to call it yet. But ever since I started helping her my growth seems to accelerated. I'd grown to be about 6 years old physically. I could only assume that it had something to do with my hand glowing after Roxy and I's sessions.

On the magical side of things I got Phoebe's full permission for Kumu related tests. I didn't have any intentions of making edits to already existing Kumu, since we just did that and we're still finding new results. Instead I was testing to see if I could make Kumu of my own through space and life magic. The results? I called them the Doru. They were small human-shaped wax people.

They were maybe half a foot tall and could all fly. The first one I made actually reached a full foot in height. He had a red scarf similar to my cyan one. I named him Kyandoru, or Kaya for short. They all had wax white hair and brown wood-like skin. Anytime they got excited about something tiny sparks flew around them. They all mimicked my attire and fitted themselves with sweaters and cloaks that flapped out and acted as wings for flight. It was pretty adorable.

I had made about twenty in total, and I even made a special ring I could wear for them to live in. By touching the ring I could dismiss them to a pocket dimension, or they could go there themselves. They could refuse to go in if they wanted to. Unlike Phoebe's first draft of Kumus these Doru were all fully sentient.

By making the Doru I was able to pinpoint what it was that gave my creations sentience, and had now started making our new bodies. I asked Raion if he wanted one, but he said he was fine. I couldn't get in contact with Kuroi or Pin, so I just decided to ask later. I'd still say I had another 8 months left on the bodies. Maybe a year. Phoebe was happy about the progress, and I even made her some Doru. I made her 10 and gave them to Yuki. One of those 10 was actually a special Doru like Kyandoru. I modeled her after Phoebe's old body. Yuki seemed to be able to create ice mirrors and teleport through them. I wonder if I could convince her to teach me how to do that.

The Doru lacked the ability to send information like the Kumus did, but they were able to send images and livestreams. Meaning that with a combination of Doru and Kumu we were able to have fully functioning video calls. Roxy was incredibly confused when I showed them to her. She was intrigued by the concept. Seems she's finally desensitized to my shenanigans. I started enchanting them all with invisibility spells and made it so that only I, Roxy, or Aurora could see them. I showed them to Cyrus, but he said he didn't want them flying around to distract him from his magic practice. He was really focused on his studies I'll give him that.

Due to my insanely large mana pool I had started using flying as my main mode of transportation. I only walked now whenever I was walking to or helping at the clinic.

Now when I used soul sight on people I could see age and their health condition without having to focus on them. I was also now able to use life magic to create plants without needing to touch the dirt or wood. Now I could just make them sprout from my hands. I even came up with a new idea for magic training. I made small blocks of clay and wood. I sculpted the clay with earth magic and morphed the wood with my life magic. It consumed a pretty good sum of mana and it let me get better at controlling my magic without Yoko's help.

"So what other kinds of spells are there? If there's attack, healing, and summoning magic are there any spells that would fall into a miscellaneous category?"

Since I had learned intermediate level magic we had started doing classroom styled lessons after my sword practice.

"I'm sure at one point there was. You can get combinations of spells through the use of melded magic, but I'm afraid that combat styled magic is the only main stream magic used now. Aside from summoning magic of course."

"Will you be teaching me summoning magic?"

"I'm afraid not. I can't even use summoning magic, so I can't really teach it to you."

"Oh. You said that combat and summoning magic were the only magics used now. Were there others before?"

"Of course." Roxy tipped her head upwards like she usually did when she goes into lecture mode. "A long time ago before the great human demon war. High elves entreated with forest spirits and created earth and wind magic. Magical innovation took its course and the other magic types were made. From there humans did what they do best and innovated on magic until we got the magic system we have today. And now there's a certain human pupil of mine who's gone and started casting spells silently."

"Huh. So magic was made by elves and then humans made it better?"

"Correct. Though humans mainly used the combat spells which is why any spells that may be used for something like housework were all lost to time. With your silent spell casting though I'm sure you could repurpose some other spells for it. Others would rather use some other means for housework like a feather duster or mop. The more wealthy are able to afford magical implements as well."

"I see. Thank you for indulging me and my questions Roxy."

"It's literally my job. Also." She flicked my forehead. "I told you to call me 'Miss Roxy' unless we were having... private time."

"Right sorry. So if there's elves, demons, and humans what other races are there?"

"There's the beast kin, sea folk, sky folk, dwarves, and halflings. Beast kin, dwarves, and elves mainly live on the Millis continent, sea folk live in the sea, sky folk live on the divine continent, demons live on the demon and beggarit continent, and humans live on the Millis, beggarit, and central continent. The sky folk and sea folk don't tend to leave their areas much, so it's likely you won't see them often."

"Okay."

"Oh! One more thing. You have to be very careful if you ever meet someone with green hair and a red gem on their forehead?"

Green hair?

"Um... why?"

"Their called the Superd. Back in the Laplace war they were the best warriors Laplace had. One day they suddenly grew ruthless upon their enemies and their allies. Whether it was comrade, woman, child, or man they'd slaughter them all. It's said that just looking at one could cause them to go into a frenzy, so you have to be careful."

Roxy seemed really freaked out about the Superd as she told me all this. I could see her Kumu pulsing on her wrist meaning that her fear levels were spiking.

"I'll keep that in mind. But... what about people born with green hair?"

"Its rare but sometimes a person can be born with green hair. When they are they often get bullied and cast away simply because their hair is green. I sometimes face discrimination like that, since depending on the lighting my hair could seem green. There's a myth that the closer a demon's hair is to green then the more dangerous they are."

"Oh. Have we told you that I was born with green hair?"

"You what?!"

I should also probably mention that as hard as she tries Roxy is still struggling to cast water ball silently. We believe it might have something to do with a mental barrier, and we're just taking it slow.

"How's your Kumu working? Any issues?"

Roxy looked down at her bracelet and it morphed into its full form with a little smile on its face.

"I've had no issues with it. I only really use it to talk to you or if I'm to short to reach something."

"Good good. If you'd like I can upgrade it for you."

"Upgrade?"

"Yeah. Yoko come here for a sec."

I felt a slight increase in temperature as blue flame sprouted from the floor, and Yoko walked through as if it were a door.

"What is that?!"

"This is Yoko. They were my Kumu but Phoebe and I found a way to make them stronger."

"So he used to be a Kumu?"

"They technically. There's two of them combined into one."

"I see. Sure, why not."

Roxy motioned her hand and the Kumu purred as it sat in my lap. Yoko turned into his small fox form and cuddled up to Roxy.

"Wait! This little guy and the big one are the same person?"

In the past couple of months ever since Roxy and I got close. Yoko had been acting like a strangely affectionate cat towards Roxy. Kumu always treated others the way their masters wanted to treat them, and one time Roxy actually let me lay my head in her lap. I've gotta say there are very few moments where I've been that comfortable.

"Yeah. Don't let it bother you to much. He's basically a tall cat in his grown form anyway."

I started work on Roxy's Kumu. I had it finished in about three hours.

"Alright. Now all you have do is give a form to take, or you could let it pick its own. Your choice."

"Hmmm. I'll let it pick its own for now."

The Kumu rippled and slowly drifted through the air in the shape of a koi fish. It took its spot floating just above my right shoulder. I gently pet its head as it, bubbled? I don't really know what it was doing.

"You know Rudy... Once we get through this section of melded magic and the last 4 parts of your geography lessons I'll only have one thing left to teach to you."

Oh. That's right. I had thought that I'd have a little more time, but it seems I was mistaken.

"How... How long do you think that will take?"

Roxy came over and sat by me. Yoko went back into his tall fox form and the koi fish shifted to look like a slightly smaller version of Roxy. Her hair was shorter and just like Yuki dawned a kimono. The girl took a spot on Yoko lap and Yoko pulled a brush from nowhere and started brushing her hair.

"I'd say around your 5th birthday. Probably after."

"I see. You'll stay in touch right?"

"Of course! After all how could we..."

I looked over at Roxy and saw her face was a deep deep red.

"I'm still a bit young for marriage ya know."

"Hmmmmmmmm."

Roxy put her face into her knees as her face got darker.

"If you keep talking like that I might end up taking you with me."

"Would that be a bad thing? I'm quite interested in seeing the rest of this world. I'd be delighted if you were the one to show it to me."

"Mmmm Rudy."

"I know I know. I've got stuff here in Buena. Besides I'd only slow you down."

"I'm gonna get stronger."

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna get stronger so I can stand by you once your older. We'll be strong together."

Roxy pulled her face up and had a determined look on her face.

"And it all starts with this."

She held her hand out and closed her eyes. It barely took seconds for water to start condensing on her hand. It slowly turned into a ball of water, but it was really unstable. It was rippling and looked like it was ready to fall apart at any second, but she had done it. Glancing over at Yoko and the girl I could see that the girl's eyes were shining slightly.

'Watcha doin?'

'Hello life giver. I am currently blocking my master's magic instincts. By using incantations her whole life her body is unwilling to cast silently, so I have temporarily blocked out instincts and memories related to incantations.'

'Alright. Be careful with that though. Memories are important you wouldn't want to destroy one on accidents.'

'Understood.'

I looked back at Roxy. The ball was slowly calming down and becoming more stable. She still had a focused look on her face. I was so tempting to just kiss her cheek. I mean it was right there.

And so I did.

"Wah!"

Splash!

"R-Rudy?! What are-"

"Congratulations Miss Roxy." I pointed at the wet spot on the wall. "You've successfully cast silent magic."

It was now 2 months away from my 5th birthday. Roxy was now casting all attack class spells silently at an intermediate level, and was even silently casting advanced level water spells. Both my siblings mana pools were growing well. It seems that on top of his mana training Cyrus has also been practicing with Tora.

I had also learned how to distribute my magic abilities to my creations. Before when I looked through their eyes I couldn't use my own magic eyes, but it was different now. When I looked through the static crows I could now use soul sight, the Doru now had access to both my life and my healing magic, and Yoko could use my space magic.

We got through what Roxy could teach me quicker than we thought, so now on some days we would just hang out and talk, read one of her books together, or we'd go outside and she would show me the things that she's been doing to help the villagers. Essentially training me to take up her job once she leaves. We agreed to hold my graduation the day after my fifth birthday.

It was mainly burying rocks deeper into a farm to keep them out of the way, or making it rain over the fields if it didn't rain naturally. She also helped dig ditches and elevate the farmland to make sure it didn't get too little or too much water.

I was sad that Roxy would be leaving, but I couldn't let that keep me down. I had to keep moving forward. I just hope I can have the same mentality once that day comes.

Roxy and I were walking back home from one of our excursions. It was still pretty early. Not even lunch time. There wasn't anything really of note happening today, so she was using this opportunity to give me a pop quiz.

"A drought has fallen onto Buena. What do you do?"

"Wait for two days past the regular weather cycle and if the drought continues then I should use water magic to make it rain."

"Good. A farmer struck a large rock when he's plowing the fields. What do you do?"

"Dampen the soil with water magic, turn the ground to mud, and then sink the rock down. Or alternatively I could use space magic to transmutate the rock into dirt."

"Correct again. Looks you'll do just fine once I'm gone."

"You saying stuff like that makes me sadder and sadder about you leaving ya know. You make it sound like you aren't coming back."

"Sorry. I'll be coming back though. That's a guarantee. Give it 10 years or so."

"Oh? No way I can convince you to come back sooner?"

"Who knows. We'll just have to see."

"Guess I'll have to use my silver tongue to convince you then."

"Words are strong Rudy, but like I said before. I need to get stronger and I just can't do that in Buena."

"... Who said anything about words?"

"What do... Rudeus!"

"Haha!"

"Get out of here demon scum!"

P̴̘̍͛̈́̈́a̷̛̭͆̏r̷͋̃̋͜d̸͍͑̏̔͗ỡ̴̦͐̚ṉ̸͐̀͘͘?

Roxy and I looked further up the path and saw a small child being pelted with mud. They seemed to be huddled over trying to protect something. A group of three boys all older than me were pelting mud at the kid.

"Get the hell out of here!"

"Hey! It's got treasure!"

"Whoever hits it first gets a hundred points!"

I saw one of the kids grin as he picked up a relatively large rock with a devious grin on his face. Just as Roxy moved forward to step in I couldn't hold myself back from lunging at the kid. My gold leg formed into a liquid and took on a spring-like shape and launched me towards the kids. Forming a fist with my hand a punched the kid square in the nose.

"Ow! Ah! M-my nose! It's bleeding!"

The kid brought his hands to his definitely broken nose and tried to stop the bleeding. The other two kids back away.

"W-who do you... AAAAAAH!"

"Monster! There's a monster!"

I could hear growling and a slight fizzle noise as the invisibility spell around Yoko dropped. He had morphed into a more beastial appearance, but still kept his human attributes. His hands were on either side of me. He was big enough to the point to where I was the size of one of his fangs, and he could squish me with his pinkie finger.

The three brats all ran away, and I could see that both the tallest one and the kid whose nose I broke had both peed themselves.

Looking back I could see Roxy staring at me shocked. I walked over and offered my hand to the kid.

"It's okay. They're gone."

The kid looked up at me scared. Below their hood I could see that they had red eyes, and what was likely the cause for the bullying. The kid had green hair.

"U-um. T-thank you."

As they stood up their hood fell down revealing all of their green hair. It also revealed their long ears. Kind of like how Mr.Laws' ears, but their's were longer.

"What's your name? Mine's Rudeus."

"S-Sylphiette. Are you... Are you not scared of m-my hair?"

Sylphiette looked at me with slightly teary eyes. If their position from earlier was to be any indication it wouldn't shock me if she had been beaten by those kids.

"No. I was actually born with green hair before well. This."

I motioned to my hair and her eyes widened.

"Did those kids beat you?"

The girl shyly nodded her head and whimpered as she put a hand to her side.

"Here there's a spot we can sit right over here. I'll heal your spots that hurt. Sound good?"

"Won't the other kids leave you out if they see you being nice to me though?"

"I don't want to be friends with them if that's how their gonna act. I'd much rather be friends with someone like you."

"H-huh? B-but they'll all bully you too!"

She looked back at me worried. Roxy chuckled as she sat in the grass.

"Trust me. We don't have to worry about that."

I sat next to Roxy and motioned for Sylphie to sit in front of me. I raised my hand and voicelessly cast healing while also boosting it with my life eyes.

Sylphie's eyes sparkled as the light shined from my hands. As I lowered them back down I could see a small frown appear on the girl's face as the lights disappeared.

"There. Feeling better?"

As if snapping back to reality Sylphie flinched as she started moving.

"I-it doesn't hurt?"

"It's healing magic. Lean forward a little. Im gonna get the mud out of your hair."

Sylphie looked a bit nervous but complied. Using heat in place and waterfall I poured some hot water over her head to get the mud out. I stopped the water, and started to blow dry her hair with a bit of wind magic.

I could see a look of surprise and gleefulness as I did this. Roxy was giving some little giggles every now and then as she watched the two of us.

"What?"

"Oh nothing. Just nice to see you acting your age for once."

I stopped drying Sylphie's hair and stood back up. I helped both of them back up as well.

"So what's in the basket?"

"It's my papa's lunch. T-the bullies show up sometimes w-when I go to bring it to him."

"Hmm."

'Think we can escort her to stay away from those bullies?'

'I don't see why not.'

Roxy had a smile on her face as she straightened out her robe. She always started to smile when I talked in her head.

"Alright. Let's go."

"Hm? Go where?"

"To your dad. Roxy and I will make sure those bullies don't hurt you again."

"R-really?"

"Yep.

"Mhmm."

"O-okay. Th-then we go this way."

And so we followed Sylphie past the village and towards one of the watchtowers on the road. As we walked down the road I decided to ask Sylphie about her parents. I knew her dad but hadn't met her mom. Her mom's name was Rose. She was part human and had a little bit of beast man in her, and with her father being part elf part human it seems that Sylphie and I had something in common. For some reason or another we were born with green hair.

"P-papa?! I brought lunch!"

After a small wait Laws came out from the bottom of the watch tower.

"Heya Luffy. Hmm? Ms.Roxy? Sir Rudeus? What are you doing here?"

Luffy? That's friggin adorable.

"Hello Mr.Laws. Roxy and I are making sure no more bullies try to get a hold of Sylphie."

"Oh. So they came back again, ey? I see. Thank you very much."

"Of course. Say would it actually be alright if Sylphie came over to my house to play?"

Laws knelt down and started whispering to Sylphie. She quickly nodded her head and Mr.Laws stood up with a happy smile on his face.

"I don't see why not. Just have her home by sundown."

"Yes sir. See you later."

Roxy, Sylphie, and I started walking back towards the house. We were still a bit far from it, but I could barely make out Paul's figure. Sending out a static crow I could see that he wasn't happy. Great so now I had to deal with whatever that was. And only to make things worse...

Sylphie grabbed onto my shirt and shuddered. Following her gaze I saw a group of about 7 boys. Leading the group was the little brat whose nose I had broken before, though it seemed to have been healed since then. Seems I sent my mom a customer on her day off.

"Hey demon lover!"

One of the kids in the back threw a glob of mud at me. Using a simple bit of gravity magic I blocked the ball the same way I did Roxy's water balls during her incantationless magic practice.

"Huh?"

"Stupid you missed him!"

"No I didn't it stopped in the air!"

I slowly knelt down while making sure to keep an eye on them. I slowly picked up an odd disfigured piece of mud. And believe it or not these guys seemed to come up with the crazy strategy of... get this. Putting rocks in mud. Truly these kids would be revolutionaries once they got older.

"Roxy? Why don't you take Sylphie to the house."

"Y-you're not going with us?"

Sylphie seemed to tighten her hold of my coat.

"Don't worry. Here. Yoko? Make sure they get home with no problems please."

Rising from blue fire Yoko appeared before me in a more human form than before. They now look like how the beastfolk were described in books. Like humans with animal ears and tails.

"Sylphie. This is Yoko. He's one of my most trusted friends and he's strong. If you have both him and Roxy with you then you don't have to worry about the bullies."

"O-okay."

Sylphie slowly let go of my shirt and walked off with Yoko and Roxy.

"Hey demon! Where are you going?!"

"Get back here freak!"

"Just leave already monster!"

I swung my hand before hearing any other stupid comments being made. A purple ring surrounded us stopping all noises coming in and stopping them from getting out. My mana pool was large enough to where I could afford to cast 3 spells from the old world a day.

I mean seriously. Bullying a poor innocent girl like that just becomes her hair was green?

Fucking ridiculous.

"Huh? What's this?"

"Somal you didn't say anything about this what is it?"

"Which one of you is the leader. Is it you fatboy?"

I could see the boy flinch slightly as I pointed at him.

"Y-yeah! I am! What are you gonna do abou-"

My fist once again made contact with his face. This time giving him a bruise around his eye. The other kids charged me, and I simply dodged or pushed them around using one of the water god styled techniques dad showed me.

"T-take this monster!"

I got surprised whenever both my arms got grabbed and a kid jammed a kitchen knife into my stomach.

"Ya done goofed."

I put my hand to his face and frost trailed away as I was pulled back. He fell to the ground and started shivering. Ice slowly covered his face as he started holding himself and crying. His sobs turned to shrieks as he started crying out for help. Feeling the mana quickly drain from my body my stomach started burning up as I fell backwards.

*-Paul-*

What in the world was going on today?

I was getting ready to head out for patrol when our neighbor Mrs.Eto showed up at our door. She had her son with her who had a broken nose, and demanded that our son apologize. Once we sat down and talked she claimed that Somal came home with soiled pants and a broken nose after being attacked by my quote unquote "demon loving son." Now I knew that Rudy had feelings for Roxy. I mean come on with the positions Zenith and I do I'm usually looking towards the door, and while it may stay closed thanks to the new latch I got put in. I still had the senses of a seasoned S-class adventurer.

They did their little excursions every night. Even when I let Zenith have her break when she needed it.

Though I also knew that they were smart enough to not show anything about their relationship in public.

When I asked for more details Somal got all clammy and non descriptive.

They ended up leaving after getting some healing from Zenith. After they left I made my patrol quick and got home before lunch. I stood by the door and waited for Rudy and Roxy to get back. I saw them approaching eventually, but I wasn't expecting to see a third kid walking with them. I saw one of those weird bird things that Rudy could summon perch onto the gate and stare at me. Those things make me uncomfortable.

I watched and saw something get thrown at the trio. I was to far away to hear what they were saying, but I saw as Roxy and Sylphie started walking back with another person I hadn't seen before. "Mr.Paul? What's wrong?"

"I believe that I should be asking you that. Mind telling me what happened today?"

Roxy got a slightly confused look on her face and the kid behind her looked scared as she clutched her robes.

"Fufufu~. I believe that my master's business is of none of your concern."

"And who are you? I've never seen you around here."

"Oh but you have! I was the Kumu made by the creator to serve as the master's mask and leg when they were infants. I've grown since then and got a new style, but I'm still the same Yoko that I was before."

"You say you're the slime thingie Rudy always carried around? Sure let's go with that. But when a kid and his parent come to my house with a broken nose it's literally my job to help them."

"Fine fine. So it all stated whe- gah!"

Yoko grasped his stomach as he stopped mid sentence.

"Roxy! Get Zenith! The master has been stabbed!"

"Wait what?!"

Yoko jumped into the air and fell into a purple ring. I could see the kids all start running away as Yoko's arm melted and forming some cocoon looking thing around Rudeus. Roxy ran inside calling for Zenith who got outside just as Yoko got back. Zenith ran inside and cleared the table as they laid Rudy on it. He had a pretty big stab wound in his lower stomach. Thankfully Zenith was able to heal it with some magic. We were all now sitting at the table. Sylphie and the kids were up in Rudeus's room watching him as he slept.

In the living room was the boy who stabbed him. His eyes were covered in ice and his body temperature was dangerously low. His constant screaming had stopped, but he was still whimpering constantly.

"So... he got stabbed."

"No shit Paul."

Lilia, Zenith, and I all cast surprised looks over at Roxy. She'd had a scowl on her face ever since she and Sylphie arrived.

"How about we start with what happened then. You seem to be the only one who knows all the details. Yoko?"

I looked over to the now small fox. Ever since we got Rudeus healed he's been sitting on Roxy's lap oozing with bloodlust. It was suffocating, but it didn't seem to hold any affect on Roxy.

"It be best for me to not speak. As you can sense I am struggling to contain my rage as is."

"R-right. Roxy?"

With a sigh Roxy then continued to tell us about everything that happened. Rudy breaking the kid's nose, saving the girl, and then the bullies coming back.

"So that's everything?"

"No. Due to the fact that we were all aware of it Paul I left out the part where YOUR SON WAS STABBED! What if we hadn't been with Sylphie? It doesn't take a genius to realize that the defenseless girl wouldn't stand a chance. She probably would've died! And now we're sitting here at this table when we should be up there watching over Rudy! Now if you'll excuse me."

Yoko hopped onto Roxy's shoulder as she stood up and went upstairs.

We sat in silence for a while as we thought over what Roxy told us. Lilia suddenly got up and walked towards the stairs.

"Lilia?"

"I believe that Miss Roxy is right. If the young master needs anything he'll need someone to fetch it for him."

Lilia then went up the stairs. Now it was just me and Zenny. I could see that even she was getting angry in this situation. I got up and walked over to sit beside her. I wrapped my arms around her and she leaned into me and started sobbing. Honestly with everything that's happened in the past five years I couldn't blame her.

We disbanded the party, had a son with green hair and a messed up leg, my wife was then attacked by Perugius who was trying to kill our son, Perugius killed his now girlfriend, our son fell unconscious for months, woke up and lost his leg, his arm seemed to get infected the same way his leg did, had twins, Rudy passed out for a week after saving said twins, and now he laid in his bed unconscious after being stabbed.

"Why? Why can't he just have a normal life Paul? Why'd the world have to take his leg? His arm doesn't look any better. I've seen the way he looks at it. He says nothing is wrong, but I know he's lying. Why? Why? Why are they all so cruel?"

Zenith continued crying into my arms.

"I don't know, Zenith. I don't know."

Once again I was stuck at a part in my life where I didn't have the answers.

*-Roxy Migurdia-*

I was angry. So so angry. My precious pupil sticks up for a helpless little girl who was getting bullied for something out of her control since birth. And what did that get him? A knife in the gut. I didn't help that this reminded me about my own childhood. Lost and confused. Villagers repulsed by being in your presence, and being left out and bullied for something you were born with. I guess in my case it was something I wasn't born with.

I was so angry that even when I was being suffocated by the bloodlust oozing from the fox in my lap. I simply couldn't care.

If something like this happened again then taking him with me started sounding more and more preferable. After all. If I wanted to be his wife in the next 10 or so years then I was gonna need him alive.

Yeah it was basically impossible to deny it. I loved Rudy. He made me feel things I didn't know were possible. Both physically and mentally. He had helped me find a way to use Kumu telepathically and was helping me learn to cast spells without the use of incantations. Plus me not being able to grow in Buena wasn't entirely truthful, but it wasn't wrong either. It all stemmed from Rudy. He said that with my magic reserves I could learn some of the easier magic spells from his old world. He had a theory he hadn't tested yet about using magic stones and crystals for these spells to save mana. It was a good theory but due to a lack of magic stones we couldn't test it.

I entered into Rudeus's room to find both of his siblings floating over him. They were both 2 years old and each had a worried and terrified look on their faces. Sitting beside his bed was the small girl he saved.

Bullied just because of hair. I was terrified of the Superd, and I was a bit scared when I first saw her hair. But after the first interaction I saw between her and Rudy I found it absurd to be so cruel to her like this.

"It's my fault. Isn't it?"

I looked at the girl. She had glassy eyes and had some tears going down her face.

"I don't understand everything... but Rudy got hurt. Really bad. And everyone seems really mad about it. I knew they'd hurt him if he became my friend."

Looking from her point of view I could see where she was coming from. But her view was skewed. She was only a kid after all. I walked over and pet her head.

"It's not your fault Sylphie. Sometimes the world is cruel, but Rudy is gonna be okay. Mrs.Zenith is an ex adventurer you know. He just needs rest. Though... I honestly expected Phoebe to show up. Did you not tell her?"

I looked towards the fox on my shoulder. At some point Lilia had come in and took a spot standing beside Rudy's bed.

"I did. Currently it is taking the combined forces of her guard, Mars, the North Emperor Aubor Corvette, and the royal guard to stop her from running here. I believe that she may be here within the hour."

"A North Emperor? For some reason I'm not surprised. He and his friends tend to keep dangerous company."

"Yes. Under regular circumstances my creator would have difficulty in this fight, but with assistance from myself, Yuki, and her currently never ending rage she seems to be holding her own."

"W-will big brother be alright?"

I looked to see Aurora looking back at me with tears in her eyes. Cyrus was looking back at me as well, but was mainly staring at the small scar that now rested on Rudy's stomach. Zenith said that the healing magic would get rid of it eventually.

"Yes. He's just... gonna sleep for a while. According to your mother he's done this before. He used a spell we've never seen before and it drained his mana reserves. He just needs rest."

"Ms.Roxy is right. The young master has fallen comatose like this twice before. After your birth he had used so many healing spells that he fell asleep for a week. When he was 5 months old he expanding a huge amount of magic power in a fight to save his friends, and not only did he sleep for months, but he lost a large portion of his magical power."

Cyrus, Aurora, and Sylphie all seemed to get slightly better at hearing this. The temperature in the room dropped extremely low, and ice froze over one half of the room. Walking from a clear spot in the ice Phoebe, Mars, and one other man I didn't recognize entered. He had a peacock tattoo on one side of his face, and had an odd smile as he stepped into the room. The bandages that were wrapped around Yuki's eyes when we first met were now gone and revealed eight eyes that all shined pink.

Phoebe herself didn't seem to be in good shape either. She cut multiple cuts and bruises all over her body. Her clothes were shredded and one of her arms had a tear running through it. A pink Kumu was stitching it back together.

"How is he?"

Her voice was cold. She had run out of patience, and was tired of fighting. One wrong move could spell death. Even if Rudy liked me. I couldn't rely on that to save me here.

"He's asleep, but the wound has been healed."

"And Yoko? What of the perpetrators? Why are you still in your little form?"

"My master doesn't wish for blood to be shed, and if I exit this form I will be unable to stop myself from going after the boy downstairs."

"Is that the one who stabbed him?"

"It is."

"Excuse me for a moment then ."

Phoebe tried walking to the door, but was stopped when the peacock man appeared in front of the door.

"If I may I believe it would be unwise for you to go-"

The man's irises turned pink and he suddenly started looking around. He seemed to be in a daze as he started breathing quickly.

Phoebe then walked straight past him towards the stairs.

*-Zenith-*

Why? Why couldn't Rudy just catch a break?

Ever since he was born he's been faced with hardship after hardship. I considered him to be the strongest in our house with how he was always smiling. No matter the pain or sadness he always had a smile on his face. I know I had my low moments. I was having one right now, but so did Paul and Lilia. They'd think I couldn't see it, but I'd see the determined look on Paul's face as he trained in the yard. I'd seen Lilia's silent glances towards Rudeus's fake leg. I asked Rudy about his smile once. You know what he told me?

'You're never fully dressed without one!'

So to hear Roxy describe the scowl in his face as he charged Somal hurt. It truly hurt.

I heard what sounded like stomping coming from the stairs. Pushing myself from Paul's chest I saw Phoebe descending from the stairs.

She looked horrible. Her clothes were trashed and she had wounds all over her body. Her arm seemed to be threatening to fall off any second now.

"Phoebe! Are you alright dear?!"

I quickly got out of my chair and starting casting healing magic on her. Her arm recovered faster but still wasn't fully connected. Her Kumu seemed to be fixing it though. A whimper came from the living and Phoebe quickly walked over there. She looked at the boy with nothing but pure rage. She touched the frost over his eyes and giggled slightly to herself.

"Imitating fear magic. Impressive as always Thorn, but not any where near as effective as the real thing."

Her eyes glowed pink and the frost around the boy's eyes melted away.

"Wah! I- Wuh! Where am I?"

Phoebe put on a kind smile and pat him on the head.

"Don't worry. Whatever you saw isn't going to hurt you ever again. Now go home and get some rest. You must be exhausted."

"W-who are you?"

"I'm the one who saved you. Now go."

The boy quickly got up and ran outside the house.

"Um Phoebe? How'd you help him? Was it the other world magic that you and Thorn talk about?"

"Oh it was easy. Thorn froze his eyes over and filled his head with terrors that would haunt him so long as his eyes were closed. All I did was cancel that out with some nightmares of my own."

"I see. What happened to your arm?"

"I fought a North Emperor. It was completely severed before I got here, as well as a large section of my torso. My new Akumu is patching me up though."

"You fought a what?!"

Paul was now shouting from the table.

"Without Yuki and Yoko's help I would've failed, but yes. I did fight one."

"Buncha crazy kids."

*-Rudeus-*

Ugh. My stomach is killing me.

I slowly opened my eyes and looking out the window I could see that it was the middle of the night. I found myself to be oddly warm and the reason for that was obvious. Both Roxy and Phoebe were laying with me in bed. Phoebe was on my right and Roxy on my left. Roxy was cradling my arm in a very suggestive nature. She held my shoulder blade in between her small breasts, and my hand was barely long enough to be held right in between her legs. Her head was using my neck as a pillow.

Phoebe meanwhile took a much simpler approach. She had one arm draped over my chest and her other arm held my right arm over her as she snuggled next to me.

'Yoko update.'

'Nice to see you're awake master. The creator came here whenever she heard you were injured. You used a little to much mana with your attempt at artificial fear magic and have been asleep for 3 days. I have been keeping up the progress on the creator and your new bodies. If things continue at the pace they are now then a prototype should be ready by next week. The North emperor Aubor Corvette left the house earlier today with the intent of returning to the royal palace.'

'Good. Now uh... why are there 2 girls sleeping in my bed?'

'They thought that if they stayed with you then you would wake up faster. Due to this being the fastest you've ever awoken from a mana nap it seems that their idea wasn't that bad.'

'Is the boy who stabbed me still under the effects of my spell?'

'No sir. The creator took it upon herself to overwrite it with fear magic of her own. The boy as been suffering horrid nightmares anytime he sleeps and has constant hallucinations when he's awake.'

'Good.'

The thought of someone as innocent as Sylphie being killed by some stupid kid still pissed me off. I needed to cool my head. When would dad let me spar with him again?

It's been another week and Roxy, Sylphie, my siblings, Phoebe, and I were all sitting in my room. We were all sitting in a large circle around the room. Yoko sat in the center of the circle and was holding a ball of deep purple magic. Stars and magic circles appeared and disappeared as they rotated around the sphere. It was the core for a new body, or at least the prototype for one.

"No time like the present."

I plunged my hands into the sphere and it burst into a lot of space-like liquid. It consumed me and I could feel a burning pain as my body was absorbed by the matter. My vision went black, and then returned as quick as it left. I looked around to see everyone staring at me anxiously.

I looked down at my hands. Same as before. Comparing my height to the door it was the same as well.

"Rudy?"

I looked over at Roxy. She was leaning ever so slightly forward, and she had her hair down instead of in a braid for once. Seeing her bangs cast shadows on her face was beautiful.

"Ḯ̴̢͉̘͚͈̍͛'̴̮̕m̴̢͓̃͋̂̉̽͘ ̷̨̲̘̺̯̑͑̍͠͝f̵̢̘̲̈́̊͌̒̒į̴̠̲͈̤͇̀ǹ̵̰̭̥͈͇e̷̞̝͔͎̺̰͒̍̏̕. ̸̭̯̰͚̙̌̈͗͘G̸̨͓̖̜̺̀̒͒ĩ̵̓̂̋͑͜v̵̢͚̗͛͂̽̋ͅe̶͇̠͔͙̫͘ ̶̧̡̤̿m̵͍̭̫͍̞̤̓͋̅e̷̱̊ ̸̮̍̒̔ä̴̙̙́͒ ̸̯̖͕̑̃͝ḿ̸̡̹̠̏͝o̷̙̭̩͋̈́̀m̷͎̠͉̺͛͑͊͘͠ḛ̶́̂n̴̠̫̣͙̕͜ṱ̶̢͔̯̜̩̚.̶͔̽̀͋͌͝"

Everyone flinched at my distorted voice. I put my hand to my throat and felt small amounts of heat spread through my neck.

"Testing testing one two three. There that's better."

I waved my hand and summoned a screen. I wrote down that the vocal cords needed slight adjustment upon creation as everyone sighed in relief.

Phoebe now perked up.

"So aside from that weird voice bug how is everything else?"

I stretched out my hand. Then my other hand. I stood up and stretched my legs. Good to have them both back for once. Though I couldn't help but notice that my arm was still black. Death's punishment was likely engraved into my soul, so I wasn't likely to get that fixed anytime soon.

I removed my shirt and flexed my back. An extra pair of arms grew out and clapped together. I repeated the process two more times and settling with keeping them. They sprouted just behind my real arms.

Lastly I imagined myself but taller and sure enough I grew to about Paul's height. I even looked older.

Going back to normal, still with the extra arms, I nodded.

"Yep. Once you get the vocals fixed it all works like a charm."

Everyone started smiling and laughing. Yoko pulled out another sphere and we did the same for Phoebe. She had a similar vocal issue but that was an easy fix. Everything went great. Phoebe even put her pink highlights back into her hair.

"So... how do I look?"

Phoebe was fiddling with the hims of her dress. She had made herself some new clothes and there was only one word that came to mind. Well one word that was appropriate since Sylphie and my siblings were in here.

"Lovely."

Her face turned pink as she started swaying side to side.

I could see Cyrus sigh and Aurora giggled.

Yuki appeared back in the room. She had been acting as Phoebe's line to the king since Auber left.

'We have an issue.'

Oh boy.

'What's wrong?'

Phoebe and I both looked at Yuki. Whatever it was she only deemed it important for Phoebe and I to here it.

'James Boreas Greyrat has gotten information on Mars's current location, and of sir Raion's existance. He has mobilized a small army and is marching to Roa with the intent of squashing any chances of an "uprising."'

'How far are they?'

'About 4 days away. I'm afraid I had kept my eyes off them to long. Had I seen them earlier I would have notified you sooner.'

'It's alright Yuki. Besides there's a silver lining here.'

The others got confused as Phoebe and I got some devious grins on our faces.

"We get to take these new bodies out for a test drive."

Phoebe and I looked down over the army marching through the plains of Fittoa. We had disguised ourselves as our old forms, and when I say old I also mean original. My purple skin and silver hair as well as my 4 arms, and Phoebe with pink skin under a cracked shell.

We were floating in the air with Yoko and Yuki by our sides. The army seemed to be at least a thousand strong. Using static crows to listen in on the conversations between James and his generals I was shocked to hear the names of all the Godkin. Whoever got them their information knew way to much about us. They knew what they were getting into. Or at least they thought they did. I'm afraid that their info is a little outdated.

Had this happened just a day earlier things might be different. But now?

I stopped propelling myself and let myself fall towards the army. Something extremely useful about this body was how it handled my mana. Since it ran on man it condensed it and allowed me to hold more of it than before. I could still hold the same amount proportionally, but it was different now. Say I had a limit of 100 mana units. Comparing before to now was like comparing 100 US dollars to 100 Japanese Yen. It was the same number, but it took about 148 Yen to make 1 dollar. The dollar was worth more, and now I was loaded with dough.

"What's that in the sky?"

"It's coming straight at us!"

"Prepare your defenses! Protect Master James!"

I slammed into the ground and my mana exploding into space and life magic. A shockwave of space magic made everyone float in the air and with surges of life magic about half of them were impaled by roots. I made sure to avoid James and his top 2 generals. He had 4 in total but I figured that taking 5 hostages would be a hassle. Once I got my bearings I sent a message to Phoebe as I used space magic to pull back James and his generals as they tried to flee.

'That's about half of them down. You good?'

'Yep. Raion has been made aware of the situation. Leave the rest of these chumps to us.'

'Got it. Have fun!'

"Who are you?! What are you doing?! You don't match any descriptions we were given. Do you work for my brother? Answer me!"

James was a rather loud fellow. His generals were nice enough to stay quiet at least.

"It's a pretty good disguise I know. Now let's get going. We'll be plenty acquainted later."

I walked towards the gates of Roa. I myself had only heard about them from Pin and Wandering the World. The stories didn't do them justice though. These walls were huge. Even with magic it would've taken either a lot of mages or a couple crazy powerful ones. I could probably makes walls similar in size with this body's mana condensing abilities, but if I were to copy the walls proportions I doubt they'd be as durable. As I got closer I dropped my disguise.

Once I got to the gate I was met with a tall, muscular, brown skinned beast woman. Having fit the description given to us from Raion I assumed this was his new instructor.

"Ghislaine right? Raion says your his new sword instructor."

Her nose scrunched up as I approached. Raising an eyebrow I smelled myself in confusion.

"I doubt it's something you'll be able to smell kid. Its Thorn right?"

"Yeah. But what do you mean not smell? You obviously smell something."

"I'll explain on the way."

We started walking towards a castle in the middle of the city. I got a bunch of confused stares as we walked, since I had 3 grown men all floating behind me.

"It's lust."

"Hm?"

"That smell. I smell it a lot back at the manor. It's extremely pungent there, but I've never smelt it so strong before. Even Paul never got like this."

Hmm. I looked down at my black arm. Since I hadn't made sleeves for them yet I had my extra arms in my coat folded behind me.

Focusing I gathered all the air around me and breathed. I heightened my senses and focused on the different smells in the air. At first I grew more sensitive to the spices and perfumes around us, but that was short lived as a pungent and over whelming smell washed over me. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a stench. It wasn't bad, but I'd prefer to not smell it. Especially if it was this strong.

It was also definitely coming from my arm and only my arm. We walked in silence as I slowly found a way to hide the scent. By the time we got to the manor Ghislaine said it was completely gone.

"Ghislaine! Ghislaine! You're back!"

"I told you she'd be back didn't I? Huh?"

Looking past Ghislaine I saw a girl a little taller than myself with red hair and red eyes. Following behind her was a boy similar to her age. He was slightly taller than she was and he had brown hair and red eyes. His eyes were a deeper red than the girls.

"Thorn. This is Lady Eris. The master's granddaughter, and behind her is his grandson. Though you two seem to know each other already."

Raion came over and held up a fist. I gave him a fist bump as we both smiled.

"Good to see you Thorn."

"Same to you Raion. Now where do I go to dispose of trash?"

I stepped aside and brought James and his generals through the door. Raion led me through the hallways and stopped once we reached a door. He knocked twice.

"Father! We have guests."

"Let the maids handle them I'm busy."

Peeking in with a static crow I could see that the man was in fact quite busy. He had stacks and stacks of papers on his desk. His hair was a mess and his collar was all messed up. Peaking at the papers I could see that most were actually from the capitol talking about Raion.

"I believe I can help with that sir. Please. Let us in."

"Fine. But make it quick."

Raion opened the door and his eyes went wide as he saw James and his lackeys following me.

"Let's talk business."

The man pulled a grin across his face as he put his hands together.

"Gladly."

The maids brought us tea and we were now ready to enter into discussion about a deal.

"Alright Philip I'm gonna get straight to the point. I'll give you James and his men, as well as my support in a coup to become the family head of the Boreas branch. All I ask in return is that you keep me and my family out of your political squabbles and wave the debt my father owes you. How's that sound?"

Philip sipped his tea as he looked at me through slitted eyes. It gave him an almost fox like look in his eyes. Kinda like Yoko. I'd need to tread carefully.

"It sounds like your getting the short end of the stick here. I gain pretty much everything and you get left out of power grabs? That doesn't sound fair."

"It's not about being fair. It's about wants. And I don't want anything to do with what happens once you get what you want."

"People will come after you you know. You'll need help to be safe. Help I'd be happy to provide. For a price."

"Philip I'm gonna give it to you straight. I just killed half a thousand people by falling from the sky. If people come after me I can beat them with the flick of my wrist. And besides. Knowing people like you I'm not gonna like the price you set."

"Well that's some new information." Philip now had a light film of sweat on his brow. "Would've been nice to know before hand but oh well. You sure you wouldn't want the help though. You may not need it, but it'd be a weight off your shoulders. All you'd have to do is marry my daughter."

"Father?!"

"Aha. Philip. You speak one word of marriage again and you'll be getting the same treatment as these gentlemen. Understood?"

"R-right. Apologies. I gladly accept your offer."

"Good. Now where is Phoebe?"

Looking through another static crow I saw Yoko and Yuki doing some kind of dance in the middle of the battlefield. Every step and exaggerated movement sent either a fireball or an icicle into an enemy. Above the battle Phoebe stood on a platform of Kumu as she rained down the warriors fears from above. She threw syringes filled with poisons, spiders, and even drowned men in floating orbs of water. It was complete and utter chaos.

"Busy. Welp. What should I do with these guys?"

"We don't need the generals. James is the only one that's important enough for the people to care for. Who was this Phoebe you spoke of? She is the same one who gave Raion his... Kumu I believe it's called?"

"She was. She's the blessed child of Asura, 4th princess, and my girlfriend. It's like a nice beautiful pie of titles isn't it?"

Philip seemed to be ready to have a panic attack.

"I-I suppose it is."

I left the room with James's generals in tow. I left James bound in chains with Philip and Raion. Sending a message to Roxy I let her and my family know that I'd be staying in Roa for the night, but should be back before they wake up in the morning. Thankfully Aurora was getting better about not being with me. She'd find ways to distract herself like mana practice or sleeping. Maybe I'd teach her and Cyrus water ball soon.

A maid led me to a guest room. I made myself comfy and set my new experiments on the floor. Setting up a ring of silence around the room I was now ready to try an experiment of mine. If humans bodies contained mana could you pull it out and create your own magic stones? We were about to find out.

Unfortunately the first one was a dud. He seemed to have barely any mana. Even my siblings had more mana than he did and their mana pools were growing really slow. The second one however was different. Now that was a well of mana let me tell you. I skimmed through a book about magic stones in the library, and compared the magic stone I got from the guy to the ones in the book. I'd place the stone somewhere between B-rank and A-rank. But with an interest in magic I think I found Phoebe's birthday present. Or part of it at least. I formed a small pocket dimension to keep the stone safe and went back to clean my room. Outside the door I found Ghislaine and a distressed maid.

Ghislaine glanced over to me.

"Hey Thorn. Got any idea why the smell of bloods coming from your room?"

Ghislaine's hand was on the door handle. A second too late and I would've found them in my room instead of outside it.

"I don't suppose I do. Let me take a peak."

I shifted through the door and kept it closed with my foot. In seconds I had everything spotless. Looking at it now even a beastkin wouldn't know that the walls had been painted with blood seconds before. I didn't know this world's standard on forcefully overloading someone's body with mana and then tearing out their now crystallized heart. I didn't feel like taking any chances.

Ghislaine and the maid entered. I walked over to the corner and used space magic to create a dead rat.

"Seems it was just a pest. Nothing to worry about."

Ghislaine grunted and walked off. The maid looked confused but quickly disposed of the "rat".

'All done. Gotta say Thorn you have out done yourself. I think you deserved a reward~.'

'I'll be staying in Roa. Shall I open my window for you?'

'God what is this some cheesy d*sney film? What am I gonna climb your hair?'

'Don't know. But I could pull yours.'

'Jesus Christ is this what Roxy was talking about?'

'What?'

'The extremely sexual flirting. There's no beating you, and... it's really exciting.'

'I'll keep that in mind then.'

The sun was starting to set whenever Phoebe, Yoko, and Yuki arrived. Yuki and Yoko got their own room. Phoebe declined saying she already had one which really confused the staff since she hadn't been here recently.

Later that night after dinner there was a knock on the door.

"You know Phoebe you don't have to knock to come into my room."

The door opened and Phoebe smiled as she walked inside. She closed the door and a pink crystal like substance spread across the frame.

"You know back when we started dating we said the age of our bodies could be an issue." She grew in size until she seemed to be in her late teens. Just slightly younger than mom. "I don't see that being a problem anymore."

I stood up and shifted to be around the same age. Phoebe blushed as I picked her up with magic and sat her in my lap.

"Neither do I."

Aaaaaah. Another ending for another chapter. We've officially passed the chapter numbers for interrupted reincarnation, and we definitely passed the word count by now. We get to see some angry Rudy this time around. Luckily he knows to hold back on kids. Sylphie's early introduction was something I thought about for a while, and figured that this way would work. No spicy moments in this chapter, but we end at the start of one. I'm hoping to have the first chapter of Withered Reincarnation up by Wednesday, but that depends on my schedule, and other circumstances. See you all next week!