Author's Notes:
This is where the fun begins. I split this into two chapters since it got too long, but I'm uploading them together.
Not every spell has math stuff in it, especially if it gets repeated often. Poor Tanya still overthinks spells and treats them like complex math equations like in her past life.
Thanks to LugawAlchemist for the Beta work. Check out their fanfic "Mushoku Tensei: Reclaiming My Birthright in Another World" for an interesting MT AU.
Chapter 4: The First Turning Point
Late K 416, Buena, Fittoa Region
Tanya Norn Greyrat
I turned three, but since birthday parties are only celebrated at five, ten, and fifteen years old, it was just a simple dinner with more desserts than usual. My family was around me, and Aisha was happily eating apple pie.
I realized that I started subconsciously referring to myself as Tanya (Norn Greyrat) rather than myself as an entity controlling said body far sooner than in my previous life. I guess resigning myself to this current fate is all I can do for now. I still spent 2/3rds of my combined life as a salaryman, and I sorely miss my old, precious body.
My flight magic in this world was a lot better than before, although it lacked precision and pinpoint accuracy. I accelerated and moved through multiple blasts of wind magic rather than constant propulsion. I felt like a hot air balloon, subject to the whims of the wind around me, although in this case, I was controlling the wind currents around me.
Now, if only I could figure out how to provide constant propulsion spells that would maneuver me around the X, Y, and Z axes.
Sylphie struggled even more; because of her limitations, her method of combining magic, casting two spells in extremely fast succession, made the flight much more unstable. Whenever she was weightless, she couldn't control her direction; whenever she cast wind spells to change her direction, she ended up falling. She was basically a glider that could elevate herself in between gliding.
I could also keep my flight magic up for 30 minutes, while Sylphie managed to go for 60 minutes, although that number was constantly climbing.
"Our little girls are growing up so fast. We're turning to old ladies already!" Zenith whined in front of Lilia.
"No, madam. You are still as young and beautiful as ever. We aren't even 30 yet," Lilia responded, reassuringly holding Zenith.
"If you ask me, you're both still as gorgeous as ever. In fact…" Paul was about to say more when the two women cut him off. Now that I knew his wives disliked him over his cheating habits, I was torn between assuming he was a chronic cheater or a chronic bisexual cheater.
"No! The only time we would share a bed together is when you're gone!" Zenith and Lilia said in unison—case in point: those long overnight trips with Laws to improve their sword fighting.
Hey, there are other people in the kitchen.
"Yeah, Daddy, the three of you won't fit in your bed together. Wouldn't it be so cramped? Tanya always complains about me bumping her ever since we started sharing a bed. You're much bigger than Mother and Miss Zenith." Aisha added, oblivious to the situation between our parents.
Ever since we outgrew the crib, we have shared a large bed in our room. Our parents thought that would be a better way to help us grow together as close sisters; we were basically non-identical twins with a shared birthdate.
We ended up getting a shared bed instead of two separate beds to fit the study tables we used.
Our parents rejected my proposal to separate us into other rooms, saying that they didn't want to touch Rudy's room and that the fifth room was for storage and guests.
"Can't you call me Mother Zenith, at least?" Zenith kept on insisting that Aisha was equally her child, just like Lilia was equally her wife. "See, Aisha's so smart, Paul, the three of us can't sleep together to fulfill whatever you're thinking about. All Lilia does is keep me warm when you stay on those prolonged expeditions with Laws. You said it's too risky to leave me out of the town overnight, but I'm an S-class adventurer, too. I'm even stronger than before. Why won't you let me stay on those overnight trips."
"How many times do I have to tell you, while we'd love a mage and healer of your skills deep in the forest, unlike daytime trips, the town would be left vulnerable if both of us were out for extended periods of time. I only make those extended trips twice a week just to reduce the number of monsters hitting Buena preemptively, but you saved the town that other month when several terminate boars approached the outskirts with your new intermediate spells. Even Lilia should stay behind because she could watch your back with her sword skills. The guardsmen need long-range support when Laws is out with me." Paul knew how to play with Zenith's pride and used it strategically. No wonder he managed to get women so well.
Having Lilia and Zenith together as a watch for the town made sense when Lilia was a sufficiently skilled bodyguard while Zenith provided the artillery. It was like a smaller-scale security patrol around artillery in the front since there was always an extra guardsman or two that stayed overnight while Paul and his group ventured into the forest.
"I'm taking a short day trip tomorrow, but I think it's your turn to teach the girls more healing magic tips," Paul said, giving me a chance to pitch what I wanted to do.
"Father, can I join? I just want to see how you hunt. You know how I can fly around; I could even scout for you when we get deeper into the forest. I'm three now; I'm a big kid." Let me try my luck; I really needed a live-fire demonstration of my skills. It was tiring to be stuck playing with kid gloves.
"You're too young!" All three parent figures shouted at the same time.
There goes my plan A, time for plan B, and compromise with a foot-in-door technique.
"Awww, never mind. When can I join? Do I need to be an intermediate-ranked mage? Or an intermediate-ranked sword fighter? I'm getting close." If I can get that commitment, perhaps I would be able to test my skills in person.
Paul, Zenith, and Lilia looked at each other, clear signs of non-verbal communication.
"If you're anything like your Father when you grow up, I think you'd wander around the forest hunting by yourself if we make you take too long," Zenith said with an exasperated tone.
"If you can move as fast as an intermediate sword fighter, you'd be able to dodge the terminator boar's attacks, as long as you are alert." Paul gave a calculated response.
"And with your chantless spells, killing them wouldn't be a challenge, especially from range." Lilia concluded.
I nodded at their decision; I needed to be as powerful and independent as soon as possible to survive any possible things that would derail my plans of a long and happy retirement in the middle of the mountains with the finest food, drinks, and lots of servants on hand.
The rest of my birthday went along smoothly.
A few days later, I was back with Sylphie doing our usual flight practice.
We played aerial tag, replacing bullets with water balls. We had our own pros and cons between each other.
Sylphie was thrice my age, had more mana than I, and had a much more resilient body. Despite my magical reinforcement, Sylphie wasn't far behind, and her nine-year-old body had a lot more endurance than mine.
On the other hand, I could maintain my anti-gravitational spell while blasting wind at myself to stay afloat. Sylphie kept falling each time she had to stop her anti-gravitational spell to correct her course with wind blasts. My aim was a lot better, and I moved a lot faster around her. I had much better control of my flight than she had.
Sylphie got hit by a lot more water balls than I did but shrugged them off easily compared to when I got hit by hers. Physics really didn't agree with a three-year-old being hit by a water ball the size of their head at 300 mph. My physical reinforcement held up, but the impact still left bruises on me. Sylphie just kept taking those hits like a tank.
It was good my healing magic was an easy, quick, and chantless way to get me back into action.
Unfortunately, Sylphie could do it too.
Still, it was a good representation of my combat days; we used rock bullets and fire balls on other days. We didn't use wind magic against each other that frequently because we needed it to maneuver ourselves.
*Splash* *Splash* *Splash* Why did I let myself get lost in my thoughts?
I got hit by three water balls in quick succession, and *Crash* … crashed to the ground. Sylphie landed beside me.
"You got me there. Now, I need to dry myself off before I get a cold." I cast a quick heal spell to remove the soreness in my torso and arms; Sylphie really got me there.
I looked around my bag for a dry towel, only to find none.
"Oh no, you don't have a dry towel. Come here, let me help you." Sylphie pulled me towards her as she suddenly blew hot air around me.
It was like a hair dryer turned into a spell.
"How did you do that? I don't remember any spells for hot air." I asked, as my body was drying up quickly from the hot air. I was getting an interesting idea.
"Oh, Rudy did this to me shortly after we first met. I was covered in mud because of some bullies, and after he scared them off, he cleaned me with his hot water magic and then dried me with the hot air spell." Sylphie was about to start her long-winded fantasies about Rudeus again; I needed to get the vital information before her brain melted into prepubescent nonsense again.
"Can you teach me the spell, please? I wanna test something out." I asked Sylphie bluntly, distracting her from her impending monologue about Rudeus.
"Sure, Rudy just said "Hot Air," and it came out of his hands; he never really said the words aside from that one time he taught me," Sylphie said casually.
"Do you think I can ask him to use that spell on me when we go out during the winter, or at least…" Sylphie was about to start fantasizing about him, and I muted that in my mind as I started casting Hot Air.
Hot air spell, 100 sq cm (15.5 sq in) from each hand, constant speed of 24 kph (15.5 mph), temperature 40C.
A pleasant, warm breeze came out of my hands, warming the slightly chilly autumn air. I willed the magic to stop and realized…
I now have proper flight magic.
My previous spell only had about 1 N force, equivalent to holding 50 grams per hand. I needed to crank up the numbers if I wanted enough force to propel me around the battle.
I reinforced my body as usual before flying.
Activate Anti-Gravity Propulsion spell, standard parameters. I felt the usual weightless feeling as I prepared my second spell.
Hot air spell, 250 sq cm (38.75 sq in) from each hand and each foot, constant speed of 144 kph (90 mph), temperature 30C (I might as well keep myself warm in the chilly skies). That should be roughly 200N, at my current weight of roughly 13 kg; this should give me about 1.5 g acceleration, nothing too ridiculous but much more manageable than blasting myself around for maneuvers. The mana drain from this type of spell felt similar to blasting myself around, too.
*Whoosh* I felt the airflow around me as I started accelerating towards the sky. Due to the increased wind resistance, I peaked at a certain speed, but it was a lot better than blasting myself around.
"This is more like it!" I shouted as I finally cracked the code.
And to think that Rudy kept such a versatile spell as a mere hair-drying trick for Sylphie. Genius kids and their brilliant inventions. Maybe he does this, too, when he flies around. Unfortunately, I still had no idea about how Rudeus was doing in Fittoa, while Sylphie said she had no reply from him when she smuggled her letter through one of the traders headed to Roa. All she got in return was a gold coin and a letter addressed to her parents.
She was surprisingly let off the hook.
It was so much easier to control my maneuvers when all I needed to do was move my arms and legs around while adjusting the parameters of the hot air spell. It even generated air at atmospheric pressure and at whatever temperature I wanted it to be. My old world limits of 10,000 meters before blacking out from the mix of the Type 95 mania and inhospitable atmosphere could possibly be avoided here.
Although my endurance is still worse in this world than in my past life, I'm still three here.
It's not like I would suddenly be sent off to a war situation; at least I was nine when I was sent to the grinder last time.
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Early K 417, Roa, Fittoa Region
"Ughhh, fine. I'll let you join us, but you have to listen to every order I give, and at the first sign of danger, I won't hesitate to order you to fly far above us for your safety." Paul groaned as he allowed me to join his monster hunt for the first time.
I beat the best guardsman that isn't Paul or Laws in a sparring match.
While I was allowed to use magic, I wasn't allowed to fly or leap higher than two meters. I was also limited to beginner-level spells to prevent larger area damage from intermediate spells and also to realistically simulate combat in a dense forest where the monster hunt would be. Intermediate spells were used when monsters were out in the open field, approaching Buena itself. The only time intermediate spells would be used in the forest would be if there were sufficient clearance for the guardsmen to avoid getting hit by the shrapnel unless, of course, they're Paul and could take it anyway. But even he doesn't enjoy being blasted in the face.
Pete was an intermediate swordfighter under the water god style, the first among the guardsmen who received such a title since training intensified last year.
Fighting a swordsman in this world was like fighting an aerial mage in melee combat in my old world; their enhanced speed and strength, as well as the ability to take Physical abuse, made it much harder to handle in close range.
I remembered how Rudy fought Paul all those years ago; he used powerful spells in quick succession and managed to slow down Paul with a spell that liquified the ground. Unfortunately, Sylphie and Zenith had no idea what that spell was.
I was limited to dodging, parrying, and countering with water ball spells. Despite the physical enhancements I had magically, I was only as strong as an average man. I was faster than one and far more resilient due to my excessive combat training with Sylphie, but a three-year-old could only get so strong magically at my level of control.
Pete may look like an average man, but with Intermediate-level skills and the corresponding physical enhancements, he fought more like Weiss, unrelenting, persistent, and disciplined. Parrying his attacks made my whole body shake and my arms numb. Fortunately, I was slightly faster than Pete and could cast spells at him when he attempted to strike at me.
I was able to cast a large water ball at his legs during his final attack, causing him to stumble.
I then relentlessly hit him with a dozen water balls until he tapped out, soaking wet and slightly bruised.
Sylphie could handle these attacks all day; be thankful she isn't the one fighting for this.
A glance at Paul and Laws showed their reluctant acceptance, while Pete walked off to the clinic to be healed by Zenith or Sylphie, or if he was unlucky, be subject to Aisha's attempts of beginner healing magic first before Zenith comes in to fix whatever Aisha does.
"Just what on earth do you and Sylphie do every other day? I had a spar with her yesterday, and despite my hard-earned efforts to become an advanced North God-style fighter, she almost caught me a couple of times. She even cratered the fields near our house." Laws looked like he was both proud and worried.
No wonder there were explosive sounds near the village yesterday. I had to prove to Zenith that not only was I able to do intermediate spells, but I also knew how to do reading and mathematics well enough to help her with her accounting. She reluctantly allowed me to prove myself to Paul today.
It was good she knew how to do Double-Entry bookkeeping. It was another thing Roxy taught Rudy; in return, he taught Zenith how to do that. It was impressive that a six-year-old managed to understand such a concept even though Zenith's ledger was relatively basic. I could add more elements to it in the future once I find ways to justify my additions to her accounting.
"That's right, she moved even faster than Rudeus did when we sparred a few years ago. Although her spellwork is still limited to intermediate spells, it is impractical to use higher-ranked spells in single combat anyway." Paul added to the conversation. "Still, she almost beat you despite the tips and tricks we learned over the last few months from Ghislaine."
"What kind of fathers are we if we can't protect our own daughters?" Laws looked despairing.
"I swear I feel like a fifty-year-old man with the kind of stress my children give me," Paul replied to Laws, ignoring the dispersing Guardsmen and my annoyed glare.
"I never expected our children to surpass us before they even turn fifteen." Laws continued to grimace.
These two men are just as dramatic as Lilia and Zenith.
*Ehem* "So when is the hunt? I'm excited to join it." I called the attention of these two men and snapped them out of their drama.
"Oh, we set out tomorrow before sunrise. They'll meet up in front of our yard." Paul explained.
That was awfully convenient, but it means they'd probably go for the easiest trail, too, based on Paul's stories during our training. That would be a good start for me as well.
I never saw them meet up at our yard for those hunts by the time I woke up since I always tried to sleep longer to make up for my lack of sleep in my previous life. As much as I value work, I also appreciate a good night's sleep in a nice, peaceful home, even though Aisha won't stop fussing so much at night.
We went home after training and saw Lilia prepare dinner for us. She told us Zenith was busy working on a project at her clinic and that she would come back later tonight.
I shrugged and enjoyed dinner while Paul looked at some letters given to him by Lilia. They moved to another corner of the house. Aisha was still with Sylphie today, so she'd have dinner later.
"Oh, ho. Looks like Zenith got what she wanted. She's gonna get really busy for the next few weeks." Paul laughed lightheartedly as he read the letter but scowled immediately after.
"So Therese still thinks I'm a lying piece of scum?" Paul looked at Lilia.
"Zenith did send her letter a few months after you cheated on her and another shortly after Rudy got sent to Roa." Lilia shrugged as I eavesdropped on their conversation.
I usually distracted myself while eating since eating the same twentieth variant of Boar meat was so tiring. We couldn't even have cows or sheep on the farms anymore because assault dogs kept killing the dumb beasts too frequently for our patrols to catch them.
.
.
.
.
I woke up earlier than usual to prepare for the monster hunt and went to the yard.
Seriously, I was about to disregard my assumption of Paul's closeted bisexuality and his secret relationship with Laws, but after seeing them practice Sword-swallowing with each other out in the yard.
I whistled a tune, which made them snap out of whatever they were doing with each other.
"It-It's not what you think," Paul told me with a slight panic as he quickly pulled the sword out of his mouth. He must be really talented to avoid injuring himself with a live blade. Although I guess he must be able to reinforce himself internally.
"Y-yeah, Paul was just teaching me how to reinforce my internal organs, something overlooked by most lower-level sword fighters. North God-style fighters need to adapt to poisons and internal attacks more than the other styles. " Laws nervously commented once he removed the knife he swallowed. He was an archer but had a long knife in case monsters came too close. Paul was focusing on the North God-style training for Laws. Laws was more of a skirmisher, with his skills in archery and stealth. He could now fight in close range with a dagger and a short sword, but he was best utilized as a scout.
This sword-swallowing exercise is one of the strangest ways I've seen someone practice their magical reinforcement.
On the other hand, I won't accept any excuse if they start training on the other end.
I had to reinforce myself magically in order to maintain the same pace as the guardsmen. We jogged closer to 20 kph and reached the forest in ten minutes. Once we entered the forest, Paul told me to prepare to fly at any given moment. By now, I could maintain my flight for closer to two hours, while Sylphie could fly for four hours; the gap between our endurance still remained, although she was far more inefficient with her flying methods.
As we progressed deeper into the forest, I could see Laws easily scale up trees and signaling Paul and the four guardsmen with us. Paul stood beside me in the center of the formation as the other men went around him.
A growling sound came from the east and then.
"To arms!"
"Three Assault dogs to your east!" Laws distinct voice said from above.
I decided to attack with Rock bullet spells in order to reduce friendly fire.
Two seconds passed, and the guardsmen parried, then stabbed the dogs. Rock bullets hit the dogs roughly at the same time.
Paul stood beside me, unmoving but vigilant.
"This is the first time monsters attacked near you; I was glad you didn't freeze up, however, the guardsmen are unused to magical attacks so close to themselves. Zenith normally attacks them from farther away." Paul explained.
I noticed two of the guardsmen flinch at my attacks while Pete seemed unaffected. Then again, he was the target of my attacks just yesterday during our spar.
"Your Rock bullets are far more accurate than any other Earth user I've met, aside from Talhand. However, we need to train the guardsmen how to work with magical attacks before you do something that close again. Now go fly twenty meters above the tree line; when there are Assault Dogs, Terminate Boars follow. Use some of your intermediate magic attacks from longer ranges to thin their numbers. We would handle the rest." Paul was a better commander than a husband, and it showed here.
I flew up and noticed the trees kept growing taller and taller as the forest got deeper to the southwest.
To the east, I saw a large team of boars two hundred meters away, running towards our direction.
"Forty Terminate Boars to the east, two hundred meters away! Dozens of Assault Dogs surrounding them too!" I shouted down.
"Damn! This is tricky; we need to retreat and fortify Buena. Tanya, fly back and warn the guards. Laws and I would delay them for a few minutes in a fighting retreat. Everyone else, follow Pete and fortify Buena!" Paul barked his orders.
"Yes, sir!" I shouted as I flew to Buena at full speed.
It took me less than half a minute to fly to Buena from our distance when I saw Lilia and the remaining guardsmen in Buena look at me.
"I take it that Paul is in trouble and asked you to fly back?" Lilia said with more expression than usual in her eyes.
"Yes, at least forty Terminate Boars and dozens of Assault dogs attacked the party. Paul and Laws are holding the boars back while the rest of the guards will arrive in a few minutes to bolster fortification here." I reported to Lilia, who stiffened as she heard the news.
"What are you waiting for? Go back there and help Paul. You're a powerful mage,, almost like Master Rudeus. Use your magic to help Paul and Laws. I'll gather the defenses here," Lilia said as she shooed me off back to the forest.
From my vantage point in the sky, handling the boars should be as easy as killing the Dacians.
Flying back to the forest, I saw the four guardsmen running back to Buena. They were unaware of my flight, although they should also be taught to watch the sky for attacks.
I saw a dozen dead Terminate Boars as well as dozens more dogs dead around Paul and Laws, who were fighting back to back as they slowly walked back towards the edge of the forest. I saw even more Terminate Boars waiting some distance away and decided to start by slowing them down.
Water Cannon, radius 10 feet, velocity 500 mph, and directed past the palm of my hands.
I hosed down the Terminate Boars, who somehow remained alive despite the high-pressure deluge of water.
I followed up with a Fire spell.
Ex-Flame, radius 6 feet, velocity 500 mph.
*Boom* *Crackle*
A large explosion and an even larger cloud of steam emerged from my targets. After that second attack, most of the boars and Assault Dogs paused. These monsters are really tough. Maybe I should hit them with anti-tank rounds. I could see a lot of heavily injured dogs, but the boars merely looked like they had first-degree burns.
Stone Bullet, 120 mm, 4,000 mph. This was the strongest spell I could cast frequently and without the rock breaking apart. I practiced this spell by reinforcing the rock bullet to be as tough as possible, likely being as strong as the rounds used by modern 21st-century tanks. Even the kinetic energy of these stone bullets should hit like an Abrams tank once the mass of the rounds cancels out the speed difference.
Casting five of them in the same number of seconds made me remember life in the trenches again.
While the shells used by artillery against the Empire were larger, the speeds were slower than modern rounds, but it still caused a lot of damage, especially with the larger shells.
I saw Paul and Laws wave their hands and call me down.
"That was awesome! You came in from above in a loud *whoosh*, and then you slowed those monsters down, and then, *bam*, you blew them up with your stone cannon spells. I'm proud of you," Paul happily told me as I landed.
I used about a fourth of my mana in those ten minutes of fighting and flying. Intermediate spells really drain me.
"Aren't you worried that your three-year-old daughter just blew up twenty Terminate Boars and even more Assault Dogs?" Laws asked something most rational people would. I would, too, if I wasn't in such a difficult situation.
"Well, Rudy blew up the attic before he turned three and started chuckling spells the size of our house by the time he was four. I'm not sure what would bother me anymore. Plus, Tanya is such an adorable little girl who looks just like a doll. Even your kid loves her, and Sylphie is shy towards most people. You have nothing to worry about." Paul just slapped Laws' back as he said that.
Laws shook his head in resignation.
"You must be tired. Come ride on my shoulders again as we go back home. I'll make the guardsmen take care of this haul. The rest of the forest monsters tend to back off for a few days after things like that happen." Paul said as I hopped on his offered shoulders.
I was tired Physically; I pushed my reinforcement to the limit when I flew back to the forest just in case.
He ran twice as fast as our jogging speed when we returned to Buena, with Laws easily keeping pace.
We returned to Buena and saw Zenith and Lilia at the head of the guardsmen. They rushed towards Paul and hugged us.
I jumped off Paul's shoulder and talked to Lilia as Zenith publicly displayed her affection to Paul to the loud cheers of the men around them.
"I knew you could do it; you have even more resolve and determination than Master Rudeus." Lilia quietly complimented me while looking at the cheering group.
I got lifted off by the happy guardsmen that were cheering me. It was nice to be the hero when it doesn't mean getting tossed into battle.
Or, in this case, I was happy to kill those boars again and again. I was so tired of eating them.
If I eliminated all these monsters, things would clear up again, and I could finally have better food!
That may be quite low on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but at this point, the sheer monotony of food was making me remember the worst of my campaigns in Russy territory. There's just a point where eating the same meal again and again feels like eating dog food, especially for one such as myself, who had the pleasure of enjoying Japanese and other global foods for a large part of my combined lives.
Once I get that settled, I can start my steps of bringing some technology and benefits of modern civilization into the world and profiting from it.
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A Mother's Insecurities - Zenith POV
K 417, Roa, Fittoa Region
I think I finally understand how Paul could feel insecure about Rudeus. At first, I thought it was just a man thing to look strong and talented compared to your son until he becomes a true man or until the father grows old.
Tanya looked like a bright mirror of my childhood: perfectly obedient, extremely intelligent, and even absorbed all the etiquette lessons like a sponge… despite being barely three.
While I know Rudy is just as smart as Tanya and that Aisha is much smarter than a normal person, Tanya was so doll-like in her perfection that I sometimes wondered if she was fully human.
She learned magic just as fast as Rudeus did, except it didn't come as naturally as it did compared to Rudy. I knew Rudy was gifted enough to understand just about any spell Roxy taught him instinctively, and he even managed to do it chantlessly himself without any help.
On the other hand, you could tell that Tanya had to think, comprehend, and visualize the spells, especially when she tried something new. She even managed to help Aisha and Sylphie even better than Rudeus did, definitely much better than I was as a teacher.
If I thought Rudy wasn't so attached to me, I fear Tanya is even more detached from me. Not once has she called me Mama, and she calls me "Mother" in such a detached way that even Aisha seemed closer to me, and Lilia kept trying to force Aisha to be a servant instead.
Rudy, for all his intelligence and legendary skills, at least showed how he was related to Paul. He was a pervert through and through with how he treated Sylphie and Eris. Lilia even secretly told me about Roxy's panties, which he hid under his bed until she caught him red-handed.
I honestly hope he didn't get off sniffing my underwear back then, or Lilia's for that matter, although Philip told me that Rudy was caught trying to steal Eris' underwear by the beast women maids. Eris made him walk in a limp that needed an advanced healer from Roa to heal over the next few days, although the delay was more of Philip and Hilda's displeasure at Rudy's unsubtle perversion.
On the other hand, he wanted to drink my milk and stared at my breasts the same way Paul did as a seven-year-old.
Tanya, on the other hand, was even more mature than I was; she felt more like the mother of the household than even Lilia. She knew how to do accounting better than Lilia and I, organized our inventories even better than I did, gave tips to rule the town to Paul, and even kept a diary that she didn't want to share at all. It was a simple, leather-bound notebook with the name "T.N. Greyrat" written on it.
I felt melancholic at the thought of how grown-up she was and how she looked like she was struggling inside.
I could tell Tanya was forcing herself too hard, even during the Etiquette classes; she perfectly does. Call it Mother's intuition, but no matter how perfect Tanya was at following the instructions Lilia and I gave, she had this deep-seated look in her eyes that she DID…NOT…WANT to be a noblewoman.
I was scared she would end up even worse than I did, running away from home at a young age despite being an excellent child. The pressure she gives herself would cause her to snap someday, and I wanted her to experience a long and loving childhood. Rudy already suffered from an abrupt childhood because he insisted on finding work and having Sylphie get attached to him too much.
It wasn't like she was actively ignoring me or the family either; she did her best to keep everyone in the family happy and satisfied, even though said actions almost never centered around herself. I didn't want her to crush what made her happy just because she had to conform to the expectations of society around her. Besides, the most powerful people in the world are supposedly the most eccentric, too; they wouldn't mind Tanya avoiding the life of a Noblewoman if Tanya was powerful enough.
I allowed Tanya to hunt monsters with Paul and the Guardsmen because I wanted to let her do something she wanted, even if it was the height of irresponsibility. No sane mother would send their three-year-old child to hunt large packs of Terminator Boars, even with a husband who is now supposedly a Sword Saint, according to Ghislaine, and was an incredibly talented Water and North Advanced style fighter accompanying her. Laws was no slouch either after becoming a North Advanced fighter after intense training from Paul.
It was just that her flight magic was otherworldly. To think Rudy and Roxy made the steps that made this kind of magic possible and that even Sylphie knew how to do it now. I was sure Rudy and Roxy just casually fly around now.
I even tried the magic and struggled to make anything else work with it; when you are limited to chanted spells, it was impossible to do another spell at the same time. Tanya managed to do it perfectly with her usual perfection, while even Sylphie kept going up and down each time she switched from propulsion spells to anti-gravity spells.
The only time I flew weightlessly was when I tried the spell, and Tanya pushed my weightless self into the air. I flew around 30 meters before I lost control of my gravity spell and fell. It was good that Paul was around to catch me from the sky, although I might have needed to change my underwear after that scare.
Tanya didn't even need my help in anything; she learned all the intermediate spells I did, and the only thing she hadn't learned yet was this advanced scroll, which was the Advanced-rank healing spell I received from Therese a few weeks ago, despite the massive risks involved.
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Therese initially resisted my earlier attempts to ask for more advanced spells from Millis due to her steadfastness in the Temple Knights. However, even she was getting worried over multiple reports of increased monster attacks all over Fittoa and even Milbotts region.
It seems that even Millis heard about bizarre incidents in Fittoa and reports of a strange floating orb over Roa itself. Philip never even mentioned this; while Paul was oblivious enough not to look up whenever he traveled from the City to Buena, I should remind him to look up more often, especially when his little daughter can fly circles around him.
I went to the clinic as soon as I read the first few letters from Therese, bringing only the scroll for the Advanced Healing spell and its associated instructions. Tanya was busy proving herself to Paul and the Guardsmen during that time while I studied the spell and tried to memorize it as well as I could. I did my best to imagine how it would feel to reattach limbs and restore damaged organs.
While my old party was both lucky and skilled enough to never need such a high-level spell, it was better to be prepared rather than lacking.
On the next day, when Tanya came back from her hunting trip with Paul, I was both relieved and terrified.
I love my daughter, but no young child should be exposed to these things at such a young age. Butchering meat was one thing; killing them by the dozens on an open field was another. Perhaps I should focus on teaching her responsibilities and giving her more love and care before teaching her more advanced spells. At this point, she already knew as much math and science as Lilia and I, and she voraciously finished any leftover notes Rudy scribbled on my old books. We ran out of etiquette lessons to teach her, and she was already criticizing the food we made and backing it up with astonishing culinary skills for a child.
There wasn't anything else we could teach her, and the most I could do now was to be the best mother I could.
We could try to hire Roxy again, but she was already a King-ranked mage in the service of a King down south; she probably wouldn't want to teach another child like Rudy again, especially after what Rudy did to her by his fifth birthday.
Finding a high-ranked mage could be something I can do for her in a few months once Philip sends sufficient support to protect Buena from the monsters.
I was terrified that I was obsolete, a fossil left behind by my legendary children, forever relegated to the ranks of someone known as "the mother of Rudeus Greyrat." I needed to learn how to do this spell and to do it chantlessly. Once that happens, I can finally catch up with my children.
Even Aisha managed to do water balls and fire balls chantlessly.
After the guardsmen brought the boars from Tanya's first hunting operation to the Butcher, I gave them instructions to send me a live, injured boar.
I was given a tightly bound Terminate boar, one that was close to dying but still alive. It was burned in many places and panting heavily from exhaustion, but it was unable to move its limbs.
I asked Paul to cut off the upper limbs of the Terminate Boar, all four of them.
It was time to test advanced healing magic. I did my best to clear my mind of any distracting thoughts.
Paul effortlessly sliced off the limbs, causing a muffled scream from the Terminate Boar. I pushed one of its detached arms closer to its stump and chanted.
"Healing power of gods, regenerate this one's wounds, reattach severed limbs, and restore punctured organs. Give them the strength to rise stronger and more powerful than ever. Exceeding Healing!"
I felt a warm, tingling sensation as I channeled my magic to the boar. Its arm was magically reconnecting to its stump, muscles, sinew, and blood vessels all connecting back to the stump.
The boar even weakly shook its arm as it quietly screamed again.
The boar was bleeding out, but I wanted to try this silently.
I kept focusing, yet it didn't come out. The boar would bleed out if I didn't cast it soon, so I tried to shorten the spell instead.
"Healing power of gods..." I felt the same sensation, so I decided to close my spell with "Exceeding Healing!"
I felt the same warm, tingling sensation as I channeled my magic to the boar. Its other arm was magically reconnecting to its stump.
I cheered as Paul looked at me with awe. I love it when I get to impress him; he always acts like he's a step ahead of me when it comes to adventuring.
"Exceeding Healing!"
I managed to reattach the third arm and still felt the same sensation.
"..."
Nothing happened.
I tried to think of the spell silently in my head.
Healing power of gods, regenerate this one's wounds, reattach severed limbs, and restore punctured organs. Give them the strength to rise stronger and more powerful than ever. Exceeding Healing!
I was imagining and visualizing everything.
But I only felt a slight tingle; the boar's arm failed to reconnect fully and started to sprout strange bumps and growths on the stump.
Healers were always warned to watch for strange growths coming from botched heals; those must be excised immediately by a skilled healer or a high-ranked swordfighter, or else they would spread around the body and kill the person painfully. Then, the healer would need to cast a high-level detoxification spell before casting a high-level healing spell correctly. The chances of survival depend on how quickly the growths were removed and how potent the detoxification and healing spells were used afterward.
Still, despite the botched healing and the now-dead Boar, I was able to do chantless magic for the first time. Perhaps I just need more practice to get it right.
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Unfortunately, I was wrong. I struggled to make even the smallest spark of fire with the fire ball spell, even after following my initial reductive steps used for the advanced healing magic.
The same problems happened even for my healing spells, I was more likely to cause deadly growths on the Terminate Boar's body instead of healing them when I did it silently.
I ended up working in near isolation at the clinic whenever I had spare time.
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Over the next few weeks; I delegated all etiquette lessons to Lilia, who took it cheerfully as she already knew Millis Etiquette from me. She also only had Sylphie and Aisha as her students since Tanya was given the chance to relax when she wasn't part of the hunts.
Sylphie had nothing more to learn from me aside from the Advanced magic, which I promised to keep to myself until I could master it chantlessly. So, she trained with Tanya and Aisha instead.
I even opted out of hunting trips because my chantless magic was too unreliable.
I kept trying chantless magic again and again, trying to focus on the fleeting sensation of a magic spell while visualizing its results.
While my advanced magic showed the most progress, with spells becoming less and less likely to fail, it was still a fifty-fifty proposition I would not wish to risk on any of my family or friends.
My other spells were even less likely to work, although I started to feel the sensation of those older spells again.
It was funny how my more complex spells were easier to turn chantless than the old, beginner-level spells I had learned since childhood. The more recent sensations were easier for me to tangibly feel and place in my mind.
Paul and Lilia were worried for me and my obsession with chantless magic. However, I knew I was inching closer and closer. This was more than just achieving chantless magic.
It was my struggle to prove my potential, that I was not just a hapless spectator to the brilliance of my family.
As Paul was recognized as a Saint-ranked Sword God fighter by Ghislaine, I was even more pressured to achieve results.
I almost forgot to write a letter to Rudy for his tenth birthday.
We told him we wanted to go to his party; however, Aisha got sick from overexerting herself while Tanya and Paul were off fighting the endless hordes of monsters around Buena.
We even sent Laws to pass the message because it was too dangerous for anyone but Paul, Laws, and Tanya to reach Roa at this point.
Paul was the bulwark of our defense, and it was a bad idea to send him to Roa.
Sending a flying mage, especially one as young as Tanya, was a horrible idea; while she would get the message through in half an hour, rather than several hours needed by Laws to run to the city, it would draw much-unwanted attention and even more pressure to her. Besides, only Ghislaine would recognize her on sight, while Philip only knew her by reputation. There was a chance she would be attacked as she approached the city.
We wanted to request several A-rank parties or even a single S-rank party to help us clear the monsters. Paul thinks that with the ability to use full firepower with a strong party supporting us, we might be able to push the monsters further back. Or perhaps to Milbots as Philip wanted us to do.
Tanya was already using what she called "scorched earth tactics" as she burned the forests several kilometers around Buena to create a wider open plain to detect monsters.
However, intermediate magic could only do so much damage over a certain area. She needed higher-level magic to affect larger areas or the support of more high-ranked mages to cause area damage.
Sylphie only occasionally joined the boar hunts since she was more interested in talking about Rudy and training magic with Aisha, who loved Sylphie's stories about Rudeus and all the magic lessons she slowly learned.
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It was dinnertime, the day after Rudy's tenth birthday. We sorely missed the opportunity to join him on his birthday, but an express letter sent by Philip this morning at least confirmed that he would send us several A-ranked parties soon. He was also considering sending Rudy and Ghislaine for a week, together with those parties, to use their unbelievable powers to help wipe out the monsters. It would also be a great time to reunite the family.
It was a happy dinner, and I felt warm inside. I missed Rudeus, and I knew he missed me; perhaps he could even talk some sense into his younger sisters before they snapped. He was a genius who knew the value of rest and relaxation; perhaps he could make Tanya enjoy the world for once.
I thought of them flying together over the vast fields around Buena, playing tag while flying around with Sylphie and maybe even a more mature Aisha in the future.
"You're flying?!" Everyone around the table shouted.
I managed to chantlessly fly because I thought about my family flying around happily. I felt full control of myself as I slowly rose above my chair.
However, I saw a bright flash of light outside. Paul and Lilia seemed to see my worried eyes as they grabbed Tanya and Aisha, respectively.
They were swallowed by the light…
And so was I.
-OxOxOxOxOxOxOxOOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOOxOxOxOxOxOxOxO-
Canon Omake: Letters to Rudeus Part 2. Philip POV
K 417, Roa, Fittoa Region
It looks like Rudeus has letters from His parents and… Tanya. Can a three-year-old write this legibly?
What were Paul and Zenith feeding their children to grow like this?
I read Tanya's letter first.
She was greeting her older brother a happy birthday in such a formal way; I guess that was expected from someone who would be too young to remember her older brother when he got sent to my family. Especially since he couldn't reply to her.
She also credits Sylphie's lessons for the ability to fly, as well as the ability to cast spells chantlessly.
It made a lot more sense for her to learn all these secrets from Sylphie rather than the other way around.
Rudeus was a great teacher to the point that he made Eris able to read and write almost perfectly, managed to give the former uncivilized monkey some manners, and even did basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Eris even did magic better than I did, reaching intermediate spells despite her interest in sword fighting.
I had to convince Rudeus to accept the idea of helping me take over the Boreas house. He should also know the threats his younger sister, as well as Sylphie, his potential future mistress, face when their magical talents are exposed.
I even heard that his former master, King-ranked mage Roxy Migurdia, left Shirone to go north. Causing a political scandal that got blamed on the Seventh Prince Pax.
If I could get all that magical power together and use Paul and Ghislaine, and even that elf friend of theirs to join in my plot, we could possibly not just overthrow the Boreas house but the weak, impoverished Notos house too.
Paul may hate his title and claim with a burning passion, but he should know that his children would face the threat of nobles sending assassins after them if they were considered a rogue and independent mage. They were just too powerful to be left alone without strong protectors.
Even now, Rudeus' mistaken identity as Sauros' illegitimate son is what is keeping him from being kidnapped by other nobles interested in his abilities.
Paul and Zenith sent a more disappointing letter.
They would be unable to come to the party, despite my wishes to unite the family and convince them to work with me to take over the Boreas and Notos houses.
The party was also made to accommodate them and provide them a break from the constant monster attacks on Buena.
Unfortunately, I couldn't send Rudeus and Ghislaine to Buena until the adventurers I hired arrived, too; we needed them to provide some support for the operations in Buena.
They stressed that the threat was bad enough that even the full strength of the guardsmen led by the Advanced North-God style archer, Laws, was insufficient to protect the village and prevent a large attack from entering the town.
In fact, they were desperate enough to send Tanya to consistently burn the forests around the village, with Paul joining to kill any of the straggling beasts.
If they were desperate enough to send a child to fight monsters, things must be that desperate in Buena.
A saint-ranked mage such as Rudeus and a King-ranked swordfighter such as Ghislaine may finally push the monsters… Out of Buena and towards Milbots, to make it Pilemon Notos Greyrat's problem.
I had a plan ready to convince Rudeus tonight; we needed each other to ensure our families' safety. I would gladly help Paul's family, and I hope that Rudeus would return the favor by helping mine.
Next Chapter: The Conflict Zone
Author's Notes:
I had no idea when Norn and Aisha were born, but with Winter as a threat to Aisha and Lilia, I guess the pregnancy was announced around the end of winter/early spring, and Lilia (if it wasn't for the premature birth) would've given birth around winter instead. That means these girls were born in the second half and likely the third quarter of the year.
This means Rudy was born in the first quarter of K407, if we base it on his sister's births. But Eris is about two and a half years older than Rudy but is listed as K405, when she's more of a late K404 with this, unless years are longer than in canon or Rifujin just didn't do the math. So I'll just assume she's born at the very start of the year and that the lack of winter is just an oversight.
It was a struggle to balance Tanya's growth and experience with the speed of her development compared to Rudeus. While she had years of brutal warlike experience, she had it under a different magic system. She also lacked the very thorough and comprehensive magical tutorial Roxy gave Rudy.
Please note I'm using Anime/Manga feats rather than LN feats for YS, which is why their abilities are high-balled.
I'd like to imagine that Intermediate level Touki is roughly equal to an aerial mage's magical reinforcement spells in terms of speed, protection from damage, and strength boost. Tanya's battalion would be somewhere between high-intermediate to low-advanced. However, someone like Tanya or Mary Sue would've had a high Advanced level Touki equivalent on the same scale. I'd say someone like Canon Paul could beat Mary Sue in close-range combat but would lose to Aerial bombardment if Mary Sue starts more than 20 feet away from him or if she goes into a suicidal rage mode at the start.
Normal aerial mages can handle a single WW 1 era 120 mm shell when they have an active shield spell, which is weaker than a modern Abrams round. Tanya's gang is a lot more durable, and Tanya just shrugs those stuff off so casually when the active armor shell is on. But they are generally bullet/shrapnel proof in battle with passive spells.
Tanya, Sylphie, and Zenith have come to several correct, incorrect, and partially correct conclusions and assumptions about magic. I am not really changing canon, although I stretch it sometimes, but their POVs aren't perfect. They are imperfect narrators.
Magical reinforcement from Tanya's POV is Touki; Tanya doesn't know the term because Paul is knuckleheaded enough not to call it that, and Tanya is too proud to ask Lilia a question.
With Zenith and Lilia feeding Sylphie's fantasies about Rudy and no Displacement incident to burst her bubble, as well as a young "girl bestie" in Tanya, Sylphie gets to act like a young girl obsessed with her first crush. She also has Aisha to drag along to the Rudy fan club. Just imagine how much Rudy propaganda Aisha would have, being sandwiched by Lilia and Sylphie's devotion/obsession with Rudy.
I went through the hassle of computing force from wind speed to get a semi-plausible propulsion spell for Tanya. Don't worry, I won't do this all the time .
If it isn't obvious yet, Tanya doesn't have the OP mana of Rudy, but that comes with the benefits of Touki. Still, she'd be genetically predisposed to a really high ceiling, together with intense training at a young age, and would become a monster on the field. Most people in the MT universe don't take fighting on such an industrial and scientific scale as the Salaryman or Tanya does.
On the other hand, if Rudy had Tanya's mentality, he would've been a walking, flying WMD (oh wait, that's my other book if I write it again).
I made up the advanced healing spell; I can only find material until X-healing (an intermediate spell)
All that extra mana use by Tanya (and Zenith plus Aisha to a smaller extent) added more mana to the environment than canon, making even more monsters appear compared to the canon Sylphie training mostly on her own.
Excerpts From
Rifujin na Magonote Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (Light Novel) Vol. 1
Rifujin na Magonote Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (Light Novel) Vol. 2
Carlo Zen Youjo Senki Vol. 1 (Deus Lo Vult)