Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Great at escaping

The door opened and out came a beautiful young lady who had the same matching blue colored hair that was free-flowing and curly and golden pupils as the young man and his son. She had on a brown tunic, a matching buttoned leather vest, brown fitting pants, and black leather boots with red-brown leather gloves.

The word beautiful was definitely created to describe her. However, the great beauty at the moment had 3 small swords, 2 axes, and a few knives and daggers in her hands ready to throw them at her soon-to-be siren husband.

Leo on seeing his wife Mira come out with a set of weapons slowly treaded backward as he offered a weak smile at her,

“Mira, dear isn’t this a little overkill….I only used a small water spell and Dyr asked me to do it. Right Dyr quickly tell your mom the truth.”

Dyr who was already secretly snickering at the side changed his expression upon hearing his dad call him out.

“Mom, don’t listen to him. You know all these years the things he has done to me. I even suspect the water ball spell isn’t the only spell he used, seeing how I woke up to find myself thrown over a couple of times from my bed.” Dyr said as he put on the most pitiful expression he could master.

Mira paused her steps as she studied them both for a second. But when she noticed Leo’s disheveled appearance and the fake blood which she had already guessed was the sap of a bleeding tree crown as she deals with the stuff on a daily basis. She didn’t have to wonder much about who was lying and who was telling the truth. 

“Leo definitely tried something judging from his look and that little rascal found a way to turn it on him…But if I let Leo go he would definitely get bolder with his tricks….why couldn’t I have a girl? These two just never stop trying to get one over each other and putting me in the middle of it,” Mira silently thought to herself before she quickly made up her mind as she flung one of the knives toward Leo with so much speed that it caused the wind to blow as it moved forward.

Leo who had definitely expected this, quickly dodged to the side as the knife buried itself in the wall on his back. He didn’t even wait to talk things out as he hurriedly dashed down the stairs and out of the house not before trying to smack Dyr on the head as he rushed out only hitting the wall behind him as Dyr hurriedly dodged.

“Dyr make sure to pack the blue sapphire wool that is in the storage shed into the space expansion chests. We will be leaving for Bremdal town to sell them just after I’m done helping your mother train up her throwing skills a bit.” Leo’s voice trailed over as he was running away with Mira quick on his heels but quickly added her pace after hearing Leo’s last words. Throwing her weapons with more ferocity than before.

Dyr remained seated on the hallway floors admiring his dad’s talent in running away. Very few people in the same power level as his dad could match his skills in escaping. If it was any other place being known as a prodigy in escaping would not be something to brag about it may even be hidden as a dark shameful secret but in this village it was different. It was taken as a badge of honor, something to take pride in and his dad who had no drop of humility in him used every chance he got to brag endlessly about his skills at running away.

Dyr got up and supported himself by the side of the wall however a small green magic circle suddenly lit up where he had touched before a gust of wind threw him sideways across the hallway into his room.

He hurriedly got up and stared surprisingly at the wall in time to see the faint magic circle disappear. A look of realization soon appeared on his face before it was replaced by anger.

“Dad, dad, you really are one of the pettiest people out there. When did he even have time to sneak in a timed delay spell? I really can’t wait to start training with mana,” a look of excitement bloomed on Dyr's face as he imagined himself finally being able to cast spells and feel the sensation of having mana course through his body.

"MANA," Dyr deeply clenched his fist as he recalled what Leo told him about since he could read and write and started learning about the world around him.

Mana, the formless energy that was all over the world that helps in the rise of mages, knights, or dualists depending on how one used the mana and if they had enough talent for it was what Leo had briefly glossed over when he started teaching Dyr about it.

Dyr had always longed to start using and manipulating mana however, despite his pleading, his father and mother never allowed him to try his hand at it. He had even tried to go behind their back and train with his uncle who always spoiled him but even he refused much more ferociously than his parents did.

It was only through the continual lessons he was given at home and the village school that he came to know despite how much talent one showed when they are young, one had to wait until they were 4 or 5 years of age before they could be guided on how to sense, use and manipulate mana. Any earlier than that and the child is at risk of harming themselves due to their body not being able to handle the potent energy that is in mana.

That energy if not controlled properly could destroy their body and should that happen, in the best case they end up permanently crippled, and in worse cases, it ends in death. This was one of the painful lessons built on the foundation of death and the destruction of potential young talents who got snuffed out before they had a chance to soar. 

Therefore after centuries of research and study, it was found the safest time to start training your child in mana was at 5 years of age if he/she has a natural aptitude or certain innate racial talents toward mana, they can start at 4 years. However, all this was predicated on ensuring your child had a well-nourished body that was maintained through proper diet and physical training and also a solid theoretical foundation on interaction with mana and its potential dangers.

Dyr and most of the children in their village his age were deemed to have reached a satisfactory level in their foundations to start their mana training at 4 years old. He was one week shy of reaching 4 years old and he has been counting down the days as evidenced by the countdown markings on his bedroom wall.

Dyr shook his mind clear of his mana fantasy as he put on a serious face to focus on the important task at hand which was to make his bed. He didn't do it out of a sense of tidiness and responsibility but out of a sense of healthy fear. He feared just like his father he would be on the receiving end of his mother's 'love' if he didn't make his bed and tidy up his room. When he was sure everything within his room was tidy to a satisfactory level he made his way down to the storage shed and started packing up the blue sapphire wool. 

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Almost half an hour later as Dyr was almost halfway done packing the wool into space expansion chests he spotted someone walking over with soot over his face, charred clothing with a silly smile on his face. It was his dad making his way over from his ‘training’.

“Seems like you’re done with your training dad?” Dyr snidely remarked still a little sour over the earlier wind spell.

Leo seemingly noting his son’s vengeful look started walking over to him with some life in his steps and a victorious smile on his face.

He went over and tousled Dyr’s hair much to his displeasure before he gloatingly said, “Isn’t someone a little chilly this morning? Haven’t had your breakfast yet? Since you were a wee little baby you’ve always been grouchy without some food in you. Don’t worry I’ll buy you that fried dough you like so much that is stuffed with cheese, za’atar, beef, tomatoes, and sesame seeds. Give me a second to go change. I'll be back to help you finish packing.”

Leo left for the house leaving Dyr with a drooling grin on his face as he stared at his hands wondering if there was a way to fit 50 Manakish in there, which was the name of the dough his dad had mentioned. It was only seconds later when his dad came back and flicked his forehead that Dyr came to, from his wonder and deep calculations. Whether he really found a way to fit 50 manakish in there no one knew. But from the excited expression, he still had on he may have just found a way.

Dyr and Leo soon got on with packing the remaining blue sapphire wool into the space expansion chests. From the outside, these chests seemed like any chest one would buy or have commissioned by any carpenter. They were medium-sized but inside it seemed to have the capacity of a small store of like 50 square feet. The inside of the chests was filled with purple glyphs inscribed on the black leather lining fitted on the inside of the chests.

It took about 14 of such chests before they were almost done packing before Dyr shamelessly begged his father to leave a little bit for him to lie on during the carriage ride to Bremdal town. Leo could only helplessly acquiesce upon seeing a certain someone coming over from the corner of his eye.

Mira unlike Leo who had looked like a bandit who just escaped a mob, looked pristine as before she started chasing Leo all over the woods except for the slow deep breaths she was taking as she was coming over.

“Dear, you really do take your escape training seriously. How can someone disappear that fast? You’d give rocs a run for their money. Here take this, these are some of the things I need from Alf,” Mira said as she handed a paper to Leo.

Leo who puffed his gait once he heard Mira praise his escape skills took the paper and quickly began going through the list as his expression grew paler and paler the more he read.

“Wyvern scales, mithril, and orichulum ingots each weighing 500kg, 10 bags of lava crystals, block wood of enchanted elder tree, 5 buckets of sap from heartwood tree and the reverent rowan, 100 timber from the red maple, high-grade leather skins with fire attributes…dear isn’t this a bit..” Leo at this moment was perspiring all over with his throat parched up and vision blurring.

Yes, the blue sapphire wool would fetch a good price but if he ended up buying all the things on the list he’d barely have anything left. His goal of getting specialty items from the Golden rose merchant company for his hobby would go down the drain. He couldn’t help but nervously stare at his wife who offered a cheeky smile with eyes telling him not one thing better miss from the list. 

“pppfthahaha where's the smug look from before when you were helping me 'train' my knife-throwing skills a few moments ago mmmh.." She paused dramatically with a playful look enjoying the color drain from Leo's face by the second.

"Don’t worry I don’t need you to spend your wool money. I have already packed a few mithril weapons on the cart. Their levels should be enough to take care of the bill on the things I need on the list and even leave some change which you can use to feed your son and maybe buy hay for Kel,” Mira said as she chuckled in amusement as she looked at Leo whose skin was finally gaining some color.

Leo felt he had just been pulled back from the abyss with relief washing over him. He suddenly looked sideways only to find Dyr arched over struggling to hold something back. From his shaky shoulders, it was obvious what he was holding up. He kicked his son’s butt before he said with some embarrassment in his tone,

“Let’s go”

“Leo I'll come home late today. I have some material smithing research I need to do at the village library. I’ll be there for quite some time until late into the night.” Mira suddenly said as she was moving towards the house

“It’s okay, I may join you there later. I don’t intend to spend that much time in Bremdal. After getting the things I need I'll be making my way back. There are a few things I need to confirm in the library too. Hopefully, Arc will come back early so I can leave Dyr with him.”

Dyr who was walking side by side with his dad painfully rubbing where Leo kicked him hurriedly asked with some excitement in his voice, “Dad, are we using the iron talon eagle today?”

“No, your uncle already went with him to the adventure guild branch in the royal capital. We will be using Kel.”

Dyr who was a little down on hearing the eagle wasn’t around perked up again on hearing the name Kel.