*-Rudeus-*

I wiped my forehead as I looked around. It's been around a month since those Crystaline monsters attacked. I've been fixing the forest with life magic everyday since then. With Yoko's help I've remade over half the forest. The damage was way more than I thought it would be. Yoko transformed into his wolf form and let me get on his back.

After Yoko brought me back to the house I went in and collapsed at the kitchen table.

"Another hard day of work Young Master?"

Lilia placed two bowls of soup in front of me.

I chugged my way through the first one and swallowed all the meat and veggies in one gulp.

"I'm so tired. It's been a month and I've only just gotten halfway through the forest."

Lilia gave me a small pat on the back.

I ate through my second bowl slower than the first.

Aurora came down from the stairs and hopped into the chair in front of me with a smile.

"Working hard?"

I gave a thumbs up.

"Aaaaaas always~. Aha.. ha... ha."

"You need a break big brother."

"And I'd love one, but I made a mess and I need to clean it up. Gotta take responsibility for your actions. No matter how much you don't want to."

"Still. You've barely been able to spend anytime with us. It's been... lonely."

"Sorry. I'm over halfway done. There hasn't been a single monster spotting since I crushed the forest. Sara said that her family decided to stay here even when we move the others back to the Milbotts region. That means that the other Counter Arrow members will be staying as well. With Mimir helping at the clinic mom won't need me there, so I will be able to stay with you more."

"If you say so... Can I come with you? To the forest?"

"I mean I won't say no, but you'll need mom or dad's permission. You'll also have to stay with Yoko. We haven't seen any monsters, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Yes!"

Lilia placed a bowl in front of Aurora and another bowl in front of me.

"Where's Cy?"

"He's upstairs taking a nap. He practiced the advanced spell you gave him all day today."

"Did he do good?"

"He got it almost immediately."

"I thought he would. He's got a knack for earth magic. Plus Earth Dome is a good spell to start off the Advanced rank with. It's also the most non-destructive so he could practice in the front yard. Any other advanced spells would either do too much damage or destroy the weather cycle."

"So Cyrus specializes in earth magic. What do I specialize in?"

"From what I've seen you're more of an all rounder type. You don't specialize in one particular type, but you aren't bad at any either. Take Sylphie for example. She is really good at wind magic, but she struggles greatly with fire magic. Meanwhile you don't struggle with any of them, but you don't excel. You're in the middle ground. Though you've also got the ability to move your spells in ways that we can't. It's impressive."

"Teehee. Thanks."

We finished our bowls as Mom and Dad both got home. Mom gave me a hug as I moved up the stairs and collapsed into my bed. I fell asleep before I could even get under the blankets.

The next day Aurora managed to convince Dad to let her come with me. Phoebe, Sylphie, and Sara ended up joining us. I offered to take Cyrus with us, but he opted to stay home and practice Earth wall in the back yard. He isn't as scared as he used to be. He can go out whenever he wants, but when he does he only goes to our tree or Phoebe or Raion's house, but he doesn't like being alone. I think me spoiling him and Aurora as babies might've made him a bit dependent. He's been getting better though.

Putting up plants was easier and easier each day as my proficiency with life magic grew. It's also been helping me grow my mana pool.

As I grew some trees here and grass there Aurora successfully cycled through all the intermediate level spells silently. She was happy and celebrated with Phoebe and the others. After I grew a small grove I took out a small piece of paper with some writing on it. I skimmed through it to check if I had everything right.

"Here. It's got the incantations for Earth Dome, Exodus Flame, Sonic Blast, and Squall. Just be sure to aim away from the trees please. We should be far out enough that the forced rain shouldn't affect the village's weather cycle, and as long as you don't aim at the trees everything else here is destroyed already."

"Okay!"

Phoebe nodded at me and set up some Kumu where the others could see them in case something went wrong. I nodded back and gave her a wink.

I started making more tress. I made sure to put a clearing every now and again. Couldn't just have it be a solid clump of trees. (Read: makes less work.)

We got to what used to be the heart of the forest. I put my fingers on my chin and hummed as I looked at the area in front of me.

"Something caught your eye Rudy?"

Sara peaked over my shoulder curiously.

"Just an idea."

"Thorn? Whatcha doin buddy? Nothing to crazy I hope. Please don't push yourself to make another Yggdrasil. That's your mischievous smile."

"Not another Yggdrasil. But I think it's a good idea."

I put my hands out and the ground started to deepen. It took a few minutes, but by the end I had a 30 foot deep and 100 foot wide spherical pit.

"What are you gonna do with that?"

"It's a surprise. Hey Aurora! Have you tried out Squall yet?"

"I haven't. Why?"

"Wanna do it together?"

"Sure!"

Aurora ran up. I made my body larger, and I picked her up and sat her on my shoulder. She read the incantation a few times and cast the spell on her fourth try. When the rain gathered over the pit I raised my hand and added my own mana to the spell. After the spell ran for three minutes Aurora lost control and cut off her mana.

"I've got it from here. That was a pretty good first Squall though. Good job."

"Heehee."

Aurora snuggled into my shoulder and I covered her with my scarf. It didn't take long before she fell asleep.

After running Squall for another hour I started casting overcharged water balls into the pit. The others decided to start a challenge amongst themselves over who could throw a water ball the furthest. Phoebe ended up just barely beating Sylphie. Despite being relatively new to magic Sara managed to give them a run for their money.

After another half hour we had the pit filled with water. Now sitting in front of us was a huge pond. I pulled upwards and in the center rose an island. I walked forward and as my foot touched the water any disruptions flattened out as I walked on it towards the island. With every step I took I left a bridge of ice behind me.

Aurora stirred awake from the sudden movements. I got onto the island and knelt down. I pressed my palm onto the ground and a golden glow erupted around us. Grass and flowers sprouted on the island and on the edge a large Sakura tree sprouted as it hung over us.

"Woah."

"Hahaha. Like it?"

"Yes! It's just like... home."

The atmosphere got a little darker as Aurora brought up Japan. She wiped her eyes and had me let her down. I shrunk back down to my normal size.

"But... at least I have a home here now."

I pat Aurora on her head and lifted her to sit on one of the trees branches with space magic.

"Woah. It's beautiful."

"That's Thorn for you. Anytime you need plant-work done he's the one to call."

"Rudy made a whole island. So cool."

Sara, Phoebe, and Sylphie all walked onto the island.

"Now we have a spot to train magic where we won't be disturbed."

Plus with it being such a secluded area I'm sure Cyrus won't mind coming here at all.

I made some quick targets in the pond with some ice from water magic and hardened it with space magic so they wouldn't break. They'd shine when you hit them, and if an arrow hit it then the pond would float the arrow back nice and dry to avoid wood warping.

I left the girls and started growing trees again.

There were only about two hours left in the day when Kuroi and Pin flew down to us.

"I knew there wasn't a pond here before. Guess this was you?"

"Yep. A place for the girls to practice while I work."

"And Cyrus?"

"I'm gonna tell him about it when we get home. He didn't come today."

"Okay. I'm gonna go to Pin and the others. I'd help if I could but..."

"It's fine. I've got this."

Kuroi flew over the pond and I got back to growing trees. After the hours passed I brought Sylphie and Sara home. Phoebe came over to eat dinner with us. I made sure to send Yoko to tell Lilia in advance so she knew how much to make.

After dinner I told Cyrus about the island, and after hearing about a secluded spot where he'd be able to practice all the advanced spells he wanted readily agreed. He got mom's permission to go.

Finally. It's done. The forest was now fully regrown, and dear god it was overflowing with mana. Thankfully it was all my mana so I was able to keep tabs on the entire forest. No monsters had been made, and some wildlife was brought in by Philip and Sauros to repopulate the area.

I used simple illusion magic to hide our island away from the animals and anyone who wandered towards it. Anyone who did would subconsciously shift directions away from it without realizing it.

It took a week's worth of extra work, but I made a waypoint and connected it to our Kumus. We could teleport to the island whenever we wanted, and we'd be teleported back to where we were before if we wanted to leave.

Thankfully I worked out some shortcuts to making waypoints otherwise that could've taken months, or maybe even a year. Speaking of a year, next year would be when I sign a contract with Philip to teach his daughter. He seemed... desperate. Desperate enough to agree that Eris would move to the Boreas house in Buena along with Ghislaine, Raion, and her etiquette tutor. The tutor was reluctant at first, but agreed when they doubled her salary. However I would be moving to Roa for the first month of my employment, and Eris was to return to the Boreas estate in Roa once every two weeks. Otherwise Sauros might throw a hissy fit and raid Buena just to spend time with Eris again.

The girls were relieved when I said I wouldn't be living there for the full extent of my contract. Especially Sylphie. She's gotten really clingy since I wasn't able to spend any real time with them for two months straight. She isn't happy I'll be busy for another five years, but I was hoping I'd be able to convince Ghislaine and Edna to give Eris weekends off. I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself though. That's still a year away. I should probably focus on what's in front of me right now. It's pretty important.

"I'm pregnant."

Lilia bowed at the head of the table as Kuroi scratched his cheek with a small grin on his face over by the door. Zenith jumped up and pulled Lilia into a hug. Paul looked a little stunned, and Phoebe, Cyrus, and Aurora were all giving Lilia congratulations. I could see Pin dancing in the corner of my eye singing to herself about being an aunt.

I had known for a while, but I've been keeping it a secret. Both times with mom it's been a slip of the tongue, but I've been able to hold it back this time. There were a bunch of times where I had almost let it slip, but I've managed to keep it secret.

Lilia looked at me with a warm smile instead of her usual stoic expression.

"If I may ask Young Master, why did you not say anything?"

"Thought I'd let it be a surprise."

"Thank you, but one more question."

"Ask away!"

"Is there only one or are there twins?"

Everyone stared at me waiting for an answer.

"Just one."

Everybody sighed in relief comically. For the first time to be twins would have been scary. At least mom had me and Lilia to help with Aurora and Cyrus, even if it was mainly Aurora. But Lilia would still be expected to carry out her duties, and by that I mean Lilia expected herself to do still do her job. Mom was firmly against it, but gave in after Lilia said that their children could be raised together.

So now we had two babies on the way. From the looks of things they're normal babies to. Not even a reused soul wiped with its memories removed. They were freshly made souls being given their first ever lives. Since there wasn't a second soul I was also able to get some extra information with my soul eyes. The only real useful thing was that both were female.

Over the next couple of months Sara, Phoebe, Sylphie, Cyrus, Aurora, and I would go to train at our tree every other day. I say every other day because Paul was starting my sword training again. The days where I practiced the sword were considered rest days by the others. They'd use them to do any chores they had, hang out with each other, laze around, or even meet up and train on their own.

Cyrus ended up joining Paul's lessons with me. He was still young so he was learning the exercises and stances while Paul and I sparred. I picked up some tips with Raion and quickly rose to the intermediate rank in sword god style. My water god style was getting there, but I wasn't able to pass his test for it just yet.

With Raion's help I was also able to learn about something that Paul himself didn't understand, and that's not to say Paul doesn't know about it. He just doesn't know how it works. That's Touki, or Battle Aura as some call it. Paul used it on instinct so he could only tell me "It just happens. You gotta feel it. It makes your oomph a bwam, you know?"

It sounded like I was talking to a sword wielding hippie. I know I said we both used bams and kaplows to explain certain things, but this is getting out of hand. Thankfully Raion helped me get in touch with Ghislaine, and according to her it is something that you just have to feel. At least with her help I was able to know what I was looking for.

Anytime Paul and I sparred I'd feel a kind of tug on my mana pool. I always assumed Yoko was using magic, and my body was trying to do the same to mirror him. It happened once while I was training with Yoko. He had cast a generic fireball spell, and my mana pool forcefully reacted and casted the same spell all on its own. Now that I think about it that issue might have been on Yoko's end. He practiced mana control for a while after that and it hasn't happened since.

The next time Paul and I sparred I didn't hold back the feeling when I felt the tug. Next thing I knew my butt was in the air and I slammed into the wall. Even though I slammed through it I didn't feel any pain.

"Woah! Big bro you okay?!"

"I'm fine! What was that?"

"Ey! You got the hang of Touki! Or at least activating it. Seems yours is pretty strong! As expected of my kid. Hahaha!"

We sparred some more as I got my Touki under control. I wasn't fully controlling it, but I wasn't throwing myself through our fence at least. No wonder Paul and Ghislaine could use such powerful sword techniques. This boost is insane.

As for the others, Cyrus, Aurora, Phoebe, and Sylphie were all learning advanced level spells. Cyrus and Aurora were learning advanced spells of all the attack magic, while Phoebe and Sylphie both were struggling with fire spells. Sara had learned the intermediate level spells and was now starting to try and silently cast them all in succession. She was getting close but she also wasn't quite there just yet.

Pin started joining us and has taken an interest in wind magic. She's also been teaching me some void magic. It's no where near what I'm used to, but it's very interesting.

Lilia has officially moved into Kuroi and Pin's house. She still stays at our house to do her duties, but she has begrudgingly accepted the idea of maternity leave after mom and I kept insisting it.

Mom is due soon and Lilia is just three months behind her. We've gotten the crib out of storage and I made a new room in the house next to mom and dad's room. This way the baby isn't in their room, but they can still get to it quickly. I was thinking of letting it stay in my room, but Phoebe stopped me before I could suggest it. I asked why and she whispered... a menagerie of reasons.

Roxy told us over the Kumus that she made it to the Shirone Kingdom. She's currently going labyrinth diving and from the looks of things she'll be an S-rank adventurer soon. She's so cool.

Other than that there haven't been that many major events. Now it was just our little group hanging out on our island.

I was in the air sitting on my staff. Sara was practicing shooting arrows she made with Earth magic. It was going alright. Not good, but not bad. Her aim was fine, perfect even, but the weight of the arrows caused her some problems. I helped her out by giving her ideas to harden the outside and hollow out the inside, or create wind funnels to push wind through the arrows. It had mixed results.

Phoebe was casting Sonic Blast over the water. When the mist came down it would form rainbows. Sylphie was casting Earth Dome around herself over and over again. And both Cyrus and Aurora were firing Exodus Flames into the air. The spells would collide and light up the sky like fire works. If not for Yoko weakening the destructive force of the spells and the Illusion barrier hiding them, then the towns people would probably be freaking out right now.

I looked down at the sheets of paper Kuroi gave me. I asked if he could teach me some elemental magic. Back on our old world instead of having Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind as their own individual magic class they were called elemental spells. However if you specialized in one specific element you would call yourself a mage of that type. Like a water elemental mage or a fire elemental mage. Since the spells were clumped together books were written with techniques of each element, instead of a book being dedicated to one element in particular.

Unlike the spells here the elemental magic of our world could be used to freely move these elements so long as you already had the element at the ready. I couldn't create fire, but I could control preexisting fire. I wanted to see if elements conjured through spells like Water Ball could be used for elemental magic, but first I actually needed to learn how to use it.

I held my hand out and tried moving my mana like the paper read. As if the water was my hand and I was making it do what I want. I looked and the water was being disturbed, but it wasn't moving how I wanted it to. I kept trying and was slowly getting better at it, but I could tell that this was gonna take a while. I can see why Kuroi could barely be considered an Elemental Novice. I tried controlling the water for the rest of the day. I couldn't get it to do what I wanted. But that's just how magic from our world is. Stubborn. Wouldn't do what you want until you made it do what you want.

The next couple of days were spent sword training or elemental training. Before I knew it two more months had past. To put it in this worlds terms I was an intermediate water elemental mage. But more importantly... how I was woken up this morning.

Slam!

"Rudy!"

"Huh Wuh Wah!"

I was suddenly picked up, ran across the house, and thrown on the ground. Why did this feel vaguely familiar?

"Aaaah!"

"Just keep pushing madame!"

Oh. That's why. Lilia was in between mom's legs as mom gripped the bedsheets so hard they looked like they were about to tear.

"Dad! Go get the village midwife!"

Paul immediately ran outside.

I crawled up the bed and took one of mom's hands. I immediately turned off my ability to feel pain and saw my hand collapse in on itself under mom's grip. Thank the gods for my magic body. I poured some mana into my eyes to activate my life eyes. I started to take on the pain mom was feeling, but since I was negating my pain I just felt a dull throb between my legs.

"Rudy? It always makes the pain go away when you hold me like this." Mom said with a smile on her face.

"That's the beauty of magic. Just remember to keep pushing. We gotta get this baby out."

Mom nodded with a fierce determination in her eyes.

Mom kept pushing and eventually Dad arrived with the village midwife. She had Lilia move since Lilia was due soon and her stomach was in the way. She kept herself busy however by giving orders to Paul about getting new towels and a fresh bucket of water. The small grin on her face as she ordered him around did not go bye unnoticed.

"You're the young man who used to help at the clinic correct?"

The midwife peaked over mom's legs worryingly. Lilia peaked over her shoulder and got her own worried look on her face.

"I am. What's wrong?"

"It's a breach birth."

I sighed and moved away from mom. The pain split spell wouldn't last much longer so I quickly got beside the midwife and silently cast Shine Healing on mom and the baby. Paul got back with fresh water and new towels as the midwife and I successfully removed the healthy baby girl.

The midwife bowed and took some coin from Dad and left. Lilia went to wipe the baby down, but I was worried over how fragile they might be so I did some space magic to clean her. Mom held her and smiled as Dad sat beside her on the bed.

"So what are we gonna call her?"

"I was thinking... Norn."

Not even two months later, a month before her due date, Lilia went into labor.

The way Kuroi yelled into his Kumu nearly made me go deaf. Mom and I went over to their house and decided to skip the midwife. I acted as the doctor while mom was the healer, and my god it was the easiest birth I've ever been a part of. And by that I mean that nothing went wrong and the baby girl was born perfectly healthy. She had small tufts of maroon hair and had tiny sprouts on her back that would eventually grow into wings.

As the baby opened her eyes all of the light left the room. I cast a small fireball and the baby had its hands in the air as small balls of void rose from its fingers.

"Huh. Doesn't this feel familiar?"

I looked to my right to see Pin staring at the kid.

"I've been asking myself that question a lot recently."

Kuroi waved his hands and gathered all the void in the room as light started to return around us.

"Unlike me though that kid's soul is brand spanking new. There isn't the slightest possibility of reincarnation with her. That's just natural born talent. Plus magic eyes. Mainly magic eyes actually."

Kuroi walked over and knelt beside Lilia and the bed. He looked over to me as if silently asking me something. I walked back and opened the door.

"Come on. Let's give them a moment."

"But I-"

Mom tried to object and state whatever her reason may be, but I picked her up with space magic and brought her downstairs.

"Wha! Rudy why?"

"Because mom. This is their first kid. Let them have their moment. You can dote on Lilia and the baby when they're done."

Mom pouted as she sat on the sofa.

"Besides. Why dote on Lilia's baby when I'm right here." I said as I plopped into mom's lap.

All I had to do was get an endless torrent of mom's love for about five minutes. After which Pin came down and said we can come in.

We went back in the room and saw Kuroi sitting in bed with Lilia with a smile on both there faces. The baby was giggling as Kuroi had a ball of Void bobbing up and down in front of her.

"Aaaaaw~! She's so cute!"

Queue mom's doting on both the baby and Lilia.

"So what'd you decide for the name?" I absentmindedly started floating near the bed as I asked Kuroi.

"Lilia came up with the name Aisha. I quite like it."

"It's a good name. A cute name. A cute name for a cute baby."

"Gaha!"

Aisha laughed as she held her hands toward me. I giggled and assumed she was trying to make me come to her, but before I could move I found myself being flipped in the air and dragged to her. I felt a tiny hand touching my back as I tried to comprehend what just happened.

"Thorn?! What are you doing?!"

"I... That wasn't me... I can't move."

I was stuck, and no matter what I did my space magic was failing me. I couldn't even teleport to the waypoint. None of my magic worked actually. I suddenly started getting swung around as I can only assumed Aisha waved her hand as she giggled.

"Wha! Kuroi! Help!"

"Young Master!"

"Rudy!"

After an uncomfortable amount of time being a baby's new rag doll Kuroi was able to see what was happening and got me unstuck. I quickly flew to hide behind mom as Kuroi offered an explanation.

"So uh... you know how you made that natural born talent comment earlier? She just used void magic to attract and then "Attach" you to her hand."

"I don't know what that means."

"She pulled you like a magnet and then glued you to her hand, while also keeping you weightless."

"Can you do that?"

"I know how to undo do it... as of 1 minute ago. Don't know how she did it."

"Well if you want to find out I won't be your test dummy. She completely cut off my mana veins. I couldn't use any magic. Actually hang on she was just born! How is she using this much magic not even 10 minutes after her birth?!"

"Guess I've got good genes? She's also got one of the smartest woman I've ever met as her mother."

Kuroi added his last sentence with pride, which earned him a slight blush from Lilia as she looked back down at Aisha.

"Now Aisha. You mustn't attack Young Master Rudeus like that. He's your father's friend and the son of my employer. You mustn't hurt him."

"First off I'm not actually gonna get hurt by a baby, and second off, we aren't friends?"

"Well... of course we are friends, Young Master."

"If were friends than you can just call me Rudy."

"..."

"Ah it was worth a shot."

For the rest of the day mom and I stayed with Kuroi, Lilia, and Pin to help with Aisha. Eventually the others came by when they heard the news

Mom went over to our house and got Norn, and Kuroi and I watched over the two to make sure nothing bad happened. Like a baby getting picked up and glued to another babies' hand. Thankfully nothing out of the ordinary happened, except for when Phoebe tried to play peek-a-boo with Aisha. Aisha pulled her make everything dark again trick, and when Kuroi absorbed the void Aisha had somehow gotten from the downstairs living room to the upstairs bedroom and was happily sleeping away in the middle of the bed.

Poor Kuroi and Lilia were fixing to have heart attacks. Aisha then started crying anytime Phoebe got near her. It took a bunch of consoling from both me and Sylphie to get her to stop pouting.

A few days later Kuroi approached during one of the very few moments I had as alone time. I was spending it reading a book in my room. I found out how to lock my memories away, so I was remaking my favorite books, locking my memories of that book, and then rereading the book. It was great. Still didn't know if it worked on others though.

"Hey Thorn? Can I borrow you for a sec?"

"Sure. Is something wrong?"

"No, not necessarily. It's just... you know how I do deliveries and stuff so I'm not always here?"

"Yeah. It makes you a pretty penny to. What about it?"

"Well its just that I won't always be there for Lilia and Aisha, and Pin is plenty strong but... I've been getting this nagging feeling lately. My instincts are going crazy and I've been waking up trembling in the mornings. I don't know if it's a parent thing or if something bad is actually going to happen, but in the case that something happens and I'm not here for Lilia and Aisha, will you be there for them? I know you're always busy and it's a lot to ask, but I'm just worried that-"

"Kuroi. It's fine. I'll keep an eye on Lilia and Aisha when your away. Don't worry about it. Whatever happens I've got your back."

Kuroi came over and hugged me.

"Thanks man. So on a similar note. Do you want to be Aisha's Godfather?"

"Sure. I see no harm with it. That makes me what, the cool uncle?"

"Oh please. We both know you were gonna be that anyway."

"True."

Kuroi left with a smile as I sent Doru out my window so I could keep watch over Lilia and Aisha while he made his delivery rounds. I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine as I saw him fly off.

I was hoping to be back to my regular chapter lengths, but we're back with a short chapter I'm afraid. School's been keeping me busy so I'm once again late with a chapter, and if it stays like this then chapters might be a bit behind schedule. I'm gonna try and keep them as close to Sunday as I can though. I hope you all liked this chapter, and I'll see you guys next week!