Temorsth sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed.
He had been like this for several minutes.
Maybe longer.
Honestly, he had no idea.
'Sense Mana or Qi without explaining the method...'
The quest sounded simple.
It was not.
He searched for something within his body and even in his surroundings. A current. A pulse. A warmth. A thread. Anything that could be called energy.
Instead, all he found was pain. Thankfully, it was mostly just his body being unhappy for three weeks of motionlessness.
'I have MP, I have mana inside me, yet I can't sense it really... how is this possible?'
[You have blood too, no?] Aidana said nothing more.
'Blood? Oh, yes, it's similar... most people can't even sense their own blood, even though it is constantly flowing through them. But this doesn't really help...'
[Didn't intend to.]
The window only remained there, annoyingly innocent-sounding.
He stared at the window for a few seconds, then sighed and closed his eyes again.
Before he could try once more, his stomach growled.
Loudly.
Temorsth froze.
The window immediately changed.
[Before going further, the Host should eat something. After the three-week sleep, the Host's HP and MP are not in perfect condition.]
A status window appeared.
[Health Points (HP): 1301/1831]
[Mana Points (MP): 1158/1863]
"Oh, right..."
The moment he remembered that he had not eaten for three weeks, his stomach seemed to remember it as well.
"Ugh..." Ignorance truly was bliss.
[The Host was not starving because MP replenished enough energy to keep the body functioning. However, Mana only maintained basic activity.]
"So I slept for three weeks and still woke up hungry and thirsty. Great."
[The Host should be grateful the body did not wake up dead.]
"That sentence is terrible."
[It is accurate.]
Temorsth pushed himself off the bed and stood up carefully.
His legs obeyed.
Barely.
He walked toward the door, then stopped with his hand on the handle.
"They came to see me?"
[Yes.]
"Every day?"
[Every day they could.]
Temorsth looked down for a moment.
Then his lips curled slightly.
"Good."
[The Host is still worried.]
"A little."
[They did not abandon you.]
"I know."
He opened the door, then paused.
"Besides, my parents would never go out to buy milk and never come back."
Aidana remained silent for one second too long.
Temorsth turned his head toward the magical window that showed the back garden.
"We have milk at home."
In the garden, several cattle-like animals wandered lazily through the grass. They were larger than normal cows, with long, thick white fur, black-brown patches across their backs, and calm light-blue eyes.
[Skirja...?]
Aidana's voice sounded faintly confused.
Temorsth nodded solemnly.
"The milk at home."
For a moment, no new window appeared.
Then—
[...Host.]
"Yes?"
[Eat.]
"Right."
He left the room.
The house was quiet, but it no longer felt as empty as before.
On the way downstairs, one of the golems turned toward him. After a brief exchange, Temorsth learned that his parents were not home at the moment, but they had both returned several times while he slept.
They should be back soon.
That was enough.
For now, hunger and thirst were the greater enemy.
Since it was almost lunchtime anyway, Temorsth sat down and began eating alone.
He had barely finished half of his soup when the front door creaked open.
"Ah... don't. Let me go. We are not even in—"
Temorsth lifted his head.
Elah's voice stopped.
It took less than a second for both Elah and Xalier to notice him.
"My baby..."
Elah disappeared from the doorway.
A blink later, Temorsth was in her arms.
"Ah, my baby! Mom missed you so much!"
"Ugh—"
His face was buried against her chest.
Air became a distant memory.
"Don't be sad. Mommy came to see you every day. You were not alone. I know it was painful. Mommy is sorry..."
She was talking to Temorsth, but in truth, she was describing her own feelings. They had finally come back, yet she had not even been able to properly speak with her child before he fell asleep for weeks.
"M-Mom..."
'I'm dying.'
"I know, baby. It is because a certain someone forgot that an elixir of this caliber would not take a child hours, but weeks to process properly. He is just a stupid old man."
Xalier placed a hand over his heart as if he had been stabbed.
"Honey..."
Elah turned toward him.
"What do you want?"
Xalier looked at Temorsth, whose soul was visibly trying to leave his body.
"If you do not want to kill our son, let him breathe."
Elah froze.
"Oh."
She immediately loosened her arms.
Temorsth inhaled like a drowning man reaching the surface.
"Air..."
Elah gently patted his head.
"Sorry, baby."
Temorsth looked up at her.
'Fast... and strong...'
He had heard the door open and had only started turning his head before she was already holding him. He had not even managed to swallow the spoonful of soup in his mouth before impact.
Elah looked toward Xalier, who had closed the door behind him.
"How can you be such a good strategist and outsmart your enemies in the middle of battle, but you cannot focus on one thing with your child?"
Xalier brushed a few strands of long black hair away from his face, revealing a handsome smile that should have been illegal in a serious conversation.
"In combat, there is rarely a beautiful woman swinging her body."
"Pervert!"
Elah puffed up her cheeks and looked at her clothes.
'I am not even wearing anything revealing...'
She wore a normal high-slit white dress with gold and green embroidery. A matching cape rested over her shoulders, and a long white fur scarf completed the outfit. All three pieces were enchanted armor in a different form.
Temorsth finally swallowed his soup and hugged her back.
"Welcome home, Mom. Dad."
Then, looking up at Elah's face, he joined the conversation with complete innocence.
"But Mom, Dad is right. Few men would not be tempted to jump on their wives when she wears such a dress. You should respect Dad for not doing anything in front of me."
Elah looked down at him in shock.
Then she slowly looked at Xalier.
Xalier's face held the smuggest expression of 'He is my son' that Elah had ever seen.
"You silver-tongued scoundrel," Elah said, glaring at her husband. "Look how much you corrupted my baby! Where is my innocent baby boy?"
"But Mom..."
Temorsth's voice became sweet.
Elah immediately softened.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Dad caught you. And if I could get a girlfriend as beautiful as you, Mom, by following Dad, I would be blessed."
"..."
Elah froze.
Xalier turned his face away, but his shoulders were shaking.
"My baby..."
Elah's eyes watered as she embraced him again.
"My baby boy has become dangerous..."
"Mom, air."
"Ah, sorry."
With the broken heart of a mother and the proud heart of a father, they continued lunch together.
As they ate, Temorsth told them the important parts of what had changed.
"According to my System, I was given more than seven years. Maybe thirteen if things go well."
Xalier and Elah both went still.
Then, at almost the same time, they exhaled.
Relief did not erase their worry.
But it softened it.
They had expected worse after what the old man had said.
In truth, the result was partly because of both Aidana and Temorsth's broken existence.
She had helped Temorsth's body absorb the Waters of Singularity instead of wasting most of its energy, while his split soul and mind used it all.
That was also why he had slept far longer than expected.
The real villain who kept the family waiting for three weeks was not Xalier.
It was Aidana.
Not that she would admit it.
During lunch, Temorsth also remembered the quest.
"Ah, right. Mom, Dad... according to my System, I should be able to use Mana and energy now. Mana, Qi, Dantian, Mana Core, all of that."
Xalier's eyes sharpened slightly.
Elah looked at him more carefully.
"Should be able to?" Xalier asked.
Temorsth nodded.
"I tried before coming downstairs, but I couldn't really sense anything. Not properly. It was like searching for water in an empty cup."
He paused, then quickly raised one finger.
"But don't explain how to sense it."
Xalier blinked.
Elah tilted her head.
"You don't want us to teach you?" she asked.
"Not yet. Aidana, I mean, my system gave me a quest to sense Mana or Qi without anyone explaining the method."
"Aidana? Your system has a name?" Xalier frowned.
[Dumb-dumb, don't reveal me! Just say the system, not me!]
"Ah, I just named it like that." Temorsth corrected fast.
Elah's lips curved faintly.
"Your System sounds strict."
"She is annoying," Temorsth said. "But she is probably right. I was starting to use her too much as a shortcut."
Xalier stared at him for a moment.
Then he slowly looked at Elah.
Elah looked back.
A small silence fell over the table.
Temorsth narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
Xalier coughed lightly into his fist.
"Well... in that case, you may want to try outside the barrier."
"Outside the barrier?"
"Or at least outside the house and away from the inner formation," Elah added.
"Or just wait a bit for us to work it out..."
Temorsth slowly put down his spoon.
"Why? What?"
Xalier looked strangely proud and guilty at the same time.
"Because the house and the barrier have a very strong detection-disrupting spell woven through them."
Temorsth stared.
"Detection-disrupting..."
"It hides what is inside, confuses what tries to look in, and distorts energy perception," Elah explained gently. "Even we have to concentrate if we want to sense things through it. If we are careless, it can fool us too."
Temorsth became very still.
"So I couldn't sense Mana or Qi because the house was blocking me?"
"Partly," Xalier said. "You still need to learn properly. But yes, the formation was interfering with you, especially."
"And why does it interfere with me specifically?"
The silence returned.
Elah looked away first.
Xalier smiled with the expression of a man about to admit to a crime he did not regret.
"One of its functions was to prevent you from sensing or actively using energy too early."
Temorsth's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Then opened again.
"You baby-proofed energy itself?"
"Only everything under the barrier," Xalier said.
"That does not make it better."
"It makes it safer."
Elah gently patted his head.
"You were alone, baby. If you suddenly sensed Mana, Qi, Light, Darkness, or something worse, you might have tried to use it or pull it into your body. We could not risk you hurting yourself while we were not home."
Temorsth wanted to argue.
He really did.
But unfortunately, every person at the table knew exactly what he would have done if he had discovered how to use and detect energy by himself.
He looked away.
"...That is unfair."
"Correct," Xalier said.
Temorsth glared at him.
Elah smiled softly, clearly enjoying the fact that her two idiots were already arguing again.
'Wait... but then... Aidana!' But among the thoughts, Temorsth realised he had been fooled. Led to doing something almost impossible.
[Punishment.] But she said nothing else.
A few minutes later, Temorsth remembered something else.
"Ah, right. Dad. I can become a real vampire."
Xalier's hand stopped above his cup.
Elah also looked at him.
Temorsth continued, "My System said I can create my Vampire Core, too, now."
Xalier did not smile immediately.
Instead, his expression became unusually calm.
"And what do you want, son?"
Temorsth blinked.
"What do I want?"
"Yes. Do not feel pressured. I do not care whether you become a full vampire or not. There are many ways to become powerful in the Realms."
Temorsth looked at him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"I want to."
Xalier's eyes softened.
"But," Temorsth added, "my System said I should wait until I am strong enough not to be destroyed by the weaknesses."
"Then you should listen to... her?" Xalier said, the last word turning slightly uncertain.
Temorsth paused.
"It's a she... I think."
In retrospect, he had only assumed Aidana was a woman because of her name and the voice that spoke through the System.
A window appeared.
[I'm a woman. Hmph.]
"Ah. Sorry. Yes, she is a woman."
The atmosphere became strangely awkward.
Temorsth immediately changed the subject.
"Anyway, Dad. Do you remember what you said before you left?"
Xalier's eyes sharpened with interest.
"Of course. Did you succeed?"
"Obviously. I exceeded your expectations. I reached Intermediate Swordsmanship a few months ago."
Feeling his son's pride, Xalier smiled.
"And? Are you confident?"
"Absolutely... not."
Xalier's smile cracked.
Temorsth continued as if nothing had happened.
"How could I beat you, Father? Even if you lowered your power to my level, you would still have far more experience."
Then he smiled.
"But..."
His eyes gleamed.
"At least I can scratch you."
It was arrogance.
Complete arrogance.
The difference in age, strength, and experience between them was absurd.
But Temorsth had new cards now. Cards he had never been able to use before in this life.
And he wanted to surprise his father with them.
Xalier's smile returned.
This time, it was sharper.
"Oh? Then let's see it. Let's fight, my son."
He stood from the table, already excited.
"Wait a second. Mother, please..."
Elah, who had quietly stayed out of their conversation, looked down at him.
She understood that this was their time together.
"Yes?"
"Please heal me and replenish my Mana. I want to be in perfect condition."
"Of course."
Elah placed her hand above Temorsth's head.
White and green light descended over his body.
Warmth spread through him.
Pain and soreness faded.
His HP and MP climbed rapidly.
'Light and nature magic...'
Temorsth glanced to the side of his vision, watching the numbers rise.
His mother truly was versatile.
Healing, attack, enchantment, protection.
And probably far more than that.
"Thanks, Mom!"
He jumped from his chair and hurried upstairs to get his wooden sword.
A few minutes later, he followed Xalier outside, a bit disheartened.
"Don't worry, it was made to be trained with." Xalier noticed the reason: the crack stretching through the sword.
"I can repair it later, and if it breaks today, I will just make a new one."
If his father said so, there was no reason to be disheartened.
They stood a few meters apart in the garden.
Xalier closed his eyes.
A pressure Temorsth had not even fully noticed began to vanish piece by piece as his father sealed away most of his power. Just holding back was simply not enough at this level of difference.
Xalier opened his eyes again.
"I have also released the perception and energy disturbance on you, son. But you likely won't be able to use magic instantly, so don't force it."
"I understand."
"Then... the battle starts now."
As soon as Xalier said it, he began removing his outer clothes. It was clearly a challenge to Temorsth's pride.
Temorsth stopped moving. He would not accept such things as free attacks.
Xalier had worn his long black cloak most of the time, but he had taken it off during lunch. Now he removed his black and red suit jacket and vest as well, leaving only a white shirt and black leather gloves on his upper body.
One of the rings on his finger flashed.
His clothes vanished.
The ring flashed again.
A wooden longsword appeared in his hand.
The Father's Sword.
Xalier pointed it at Temorsth.
Temorsth raised his own wooden sword in response.
Unlike his father, he held it in his left hand.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Temorsth rushed forward.