Chapter 52: 52 – Child – I see.

I saw nothing. Only darkness.

When I first woke up after being knocked out by Dad, I didn't think it was that bad. I'd dealt with being blind before, after all. Well, being blind and immobile. Compared to that, being able to move around, interact with people, and still live a relatively normal life was great.

Especially since Sylphy was here to help me through it. Not to mention that Master Roxy was nearby so I didn't have to worry about Being W's manipulations. She would definitely figure out something was wrong and blow that guy away if he showed up.

So it was fine. While I was fumbling around, both in terms of my mana and my body because I couldn't see, I was alive and healthy. Nothing was *really* wrong with my body. Mom gave me a clean bill of health, and Master Roxy verified it.

So it was fine. I was fine. And as the day went out, I managed to forget about being blind. Well, kind of. Still sucked, but I got over it.

At least, I thought I did.

And then it was time to sleep.

Sylphy's parents let her sleep over. And while it was embarrassing to ask her, Sylphy was willing to sleep nearby and hold my hand to let me know I wasn't alone while I slept.

Really, I didn't know what I would do without her...

But anyway, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Nothing changed. After all, the world was dark either way.

...Or so I thought.

But it wasn't.

Flashes of images I couldn't remember. Only terrifying distorted impressions seared onto my mind.

I couldn't remember the details. No, it was like my mind was rejecting the details. I couldn't remember what I saw.

But I could faintly remember what they were about.

Dad, dying while he shoved me away, saving my life while giving his in exchange.

Mom, forever trapped in a dream-state.

Me, drifting away from Norn and Aisha.

Despair. Regret. Grief. Loss...

And then cold wrath as I indiscriminately massacred countless people.

...It was a nightmare. A nightmare that I couldn't distinguish from reality because nothing changed even when I opened my eyes.

No. One thing did change.

And that was Sylphy.

I didn't know why. But in my nightmare, she wasn't there. So because I could feel her nearby, I knew when I was awake and when I was dreaming. Because I could feel her hands laced with mine and her warm presence, I could tell that the nightmare was just that: a nightmare.

...But it was still terrifying.

What was the dream and what was reality? Was the world going to change again when my vision came back, like it did before? Was I going to suddenly get sent to a different time again and lose all that happened here? Was this all just an illusion that Being W dreamed up for me? Or was I actually dying from Dad's attack?

I didn't know. But I clung onto the hope that this was real. That the time I was living with Sylphy and Master Roxy wasn't a dream. That the terrifying scenes my mind rejected were just nightmares. That the 'future' I saw where I was in a coma for a year and a half, as well as the scene with the old man and the broken magic circle was just a delusion from my mind connecting random bits of information.

And then I saw it.

Faint light, drifting in from a nearby window. The familiar walls of my room, with my sword, book, and scarf leaned against the wall nearby. Sylphy nuzzled up beside me with her beautiful light green hair, now long enough to reach her shoulders.

But not only that... the familiar lights of elemental mana drifting around. And because it was winter, more green and blue of wind and water than brown and red of dirt and fire.

My vision was back.

I blinked, slowly bringing my left hand up to my eyes.

I could see it. My hand, rough and callussed from training with Dad. And then within it, my crimson mana, glowing as usual- No. A bit dimmer than usual. It seemed like whatever I did had sapped a lot of it away.

As for my right...

I turned over to see Sylphy quietly sleeping with my hand held in both of hers, hugging it to her chest.

Seeing that, I smiled and brushed her hair. "Thank you, Sylphy."

She was fast asleep. Probably exhausted from helping me through the night.

I carefully unlaced my hand from her and then got out of my bed.

Sylphy frowned, as if unsatisfied with me leaving. And for a bit, she sleepily reached over to grab me.

Seeing that, I felt my heart warm up. I carefully fixed her hair and pulled the blanket over her. Patting her head, I said, "Sleep well, Sylphy. You deserve it."

Sylphy's ear twitched, but then she relaxed, her breathing slowly drifting back to a regular rhythm.

After another once over to make sure she was comfortable, I left the room.

The moment I did, I heard the faint sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. Pots clattering, water simmering... the usual.

I rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't just dreaming. And for good measure, I subtly case a few spells just to make sure. Fire, water, wind, ice, lightning, earth... I pulled a tiny bit of my mana to conjure tiny balls of each element before dispersing them.

No problem there.

In that case...

I conjured a tiny ice dagger and then pricked my left pinky.

A quick sharp pain. But then my mana drifted over to my pinky and converted into a spark of gold healing mana. With that, the pain vanished and the wound sealed, leaving just a drop of blood as trace that it happened.

So... about 75% chance I wasn't dreaming.

I'd take those odds. Better to be on this being reality than actually go insane doubting whether I was awake.

Considering what I knew how to do, it would be for everyone's benefit that I remained lucid and in full control of my mental faculties.

So anyway, probably not dreaming. Because I wasn't, I walked over to the kitchen to see what was going on and maybe- No, definitely hug Mom and Mama Lily.

Except, when I walked over there, I didn't see who I expected to see.

"Eh?"

A kind woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Not a world class beauty, but still pretty. And also someone who I still didn't know the name of.

"Um... Good morning Miss Sylphy's Mom?"

She froze in the middle of stirring something in a pot and then quickly turned back to look at me. "Rudy?" Seeing me standing there, she let out a bright smile and then walked over. "Good morning! And since you're here... I'm guessing you can see again! That's wonderful!"

I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled. "Yeah... Sorry for making everyone worry. Um, are you here to help out because of me?"

Sylphy's Mom smiled and said, "A little. It's more because I'd be all alone at home though."

Oooh. Right. If Sylphy was here and Laws was out sending the letter to Dad, that meant Sylphy's Mom would be home alone.

Wait.

I blinked and said, "Did Mister Laws leave already then?"

"Mmhm." Sylphy's Mom turned back to the stew and scooped up a bit with the ladle she was using to stir. After staring at it, she seemed to be satisfied and put a lid on the pot to let it simmer. After that, she brushed her hands off against her dress and walked over to me. Smiling, she said, "Hopefully your father will be back with him tomorrow to give a proper explanation."

"Right. An explanation..."

I doubted that he had a good one, but I was open-minded about it.

Well, assuming he let me practice my healing magic on him.

Master Roxy was here. I was sure that she could keep Dad from dying. And a guy like that only really learned a lesson if it was ingrained in his body. His head was just too dense to hold anything for long.

Wait.

"Mister Laws is bringing back Dad with him tomorrow?"

Sylphy's Mom ruffled my hair and said, "That is the plan. At least, that's what your mothers hope for." She pulled her hand back and sighed. "Though, Laws seemed pretty upset. It's rare for him too... Hopefully nothing goes wrong."

I quickly walked over to the wall and knocked on it.

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Sylphy's Mom blinked and said, "What are you doing?"

"A good luck charm."

Because goddammit, I was not about to tempt fate on something like that after all the BS that just happened.

Which reminded me. Needed to start working on countermeasures and plans to avoid future setbacks like this ASAP.

Being W was a sly, sneaky, conniving son of a bitch. And it looked like I definitely underestimated that bastard.

Plus, I needed to take inventory of everything. Whether there were changes to my body, how much mana I lost, if any. Whether my mana had changed...

I also needed to redo my mana training. Considering that I was completely helpless just by being blind, it seemed like I had been relying way too much on my <Mage Sight> to use magic and manipulate mana. Needed to start practicing on moving it like a natural extension of my body in case something like this happened again.

After all, there wasn't anything actively preventing me from using mana while I had been blind. I just... didn't know how to do it.

Well, there were incantations, but considering how those always blew up in my face, they weren't on the table.

So training to use mana like an extension of my body... definitely priority 1.

Priority 2 was training my senses enough to work without my eyes.

No, more than that. I needed to do some serious research into ultra instinct.

Drag*n B*ll overexaggerated it a lot, but it was based on a real thing. The body's senses were more than just the basic five. Humans had an innate sense of space and time as well.

Proprioception was the sense of perceiving how we moved our bodies, so improving that would let me be able to move around in relation to everything else. Probably. Needed to do testing on that.

As for time... I could remember it.

Was it because I was juiced on adrenaline? Mana? Or was it the high-tension mana relationship I figured out?

Either way, I clearly experienced time slowing down when I was pissed off enough to kill Ghyslaine.

Ah. Needed to apologize to her sometime too. She was clearly roped into all of this by Dad because he wanted to pull a G*ku on me like when G*ku made Goh*n fight Ce*l. Trying to pull out my inner rage and power probably to see if I could help him in the coup.

Apparently not. Though I knew where I stood in relationship to the average swordsman now.

Still fairly sure I could kill them. But I wasn't fast enough to do it other than in an ambush. A straight fight still ended with me dead...

"Rudy?"

Sylphy's Mom called out to me.

I blinked and realized that I had just trailed off into my own world.

I smiled and said, "I'm fine, Miss Sylphy's Mom. Just thinking."

Sylphy's Mom laughed and said, "You know, Rudy, you can just call me by my name. There's no need to be so polite... Though it's cute."

I started to sweat.

"Rudy?"

"...Um..."

"Is something wrong?"

"...I-I don't know your name though?"

Silence.

And then Sylphy's Mom laughed.

I felt my face heat up and averted my gaze.

Sylphy's Mom shook her head and then said, "My. I suppose that's true. I never did properly introduce myself." She walked over to me and then knelt down to my eye level. After that, she patted my head and said, "I'm Rose. But you can feel free to call me Miss Sylphy's Mom if you want."

Rose.

Alright. So Sylphy's Mom was called Rose. Got it. Easy to remember.

...Which made it all the more embarrassing that it took this long to learn it.

Ugh.

What was this, genetic?

Maybe I inherited a bit more from Dad than I'd like to think...

At that time, I heard footsteps coming over from my parent's bedroom.

"Rose? I thought I said that you just had to get things ready, not start cooking." My mom walked over, hugging a groggy and bundled up Norn in her arms.

Another pair of footsteps. Mama Lily, walking over with a bundled up and gurgling baby Aisha in her arms. "Yes. It's appreciated, but you are a guest. It would be rude of you to cook."

Sylphy's Mom- I mean, Miss Rose laughed and said, "It's fine. I'm happy to take a load off for you two."

My mom frowned. But then she noticed me and said, "Oh! You're up already, Rudy?"

A forced cheery voice.

My mom let out a strained smile and then said, "I'm holding Norn right now, so Mommy can't give you a hug. But I'm not ignoring you."

Mama Lily let out a silent sigh and then put on a forced smile as well. "The same is true for myself, Rudy. I am currently holding Aisha, otherwise I would also hug you. But know that you are appreciated and loved."

Kind and thoughtful consideration. To make sure that I wasn't worried, my moms kept things normal as best as they could while going out of their way to accommodate my blindness by saying what they were doing.

But they were also clearly worried. The stress was already weighing on them.

Realizing that... against my will, my eyes started to tear up.

"E-Eh? Rudy?" My mom's eyes widened and she walked over. "What's-"

"I-I'm sorry f-for making you two w-worry." I sniffed and then brushed my tears away.

Dammit! Stupid kid body! You're not supposed to show my emotions like this!

Cool! Stay cool! Calm down and-

"Ah."

Speaking of calm... a nostalgic and recently familiar cool female voice echoed from the distance. Shortly after, Master Roxy walked over. Wearing just a simple blue nightgown, she blearily rubbed her eyes and looked over. "Is that Rudy?" She yawned and said, "Good morning. How are your eyes-?"

"MASTER ROXY!"

I couldn't help it. Seeing her familiar reliable figure after just hearing her voice for a day and dealing with all the stress... Like with my tears, I reflexively ran over to hug her.

"R-Rudy?! W-Wait a moment, you are much bigger than you used to be so- G-Gah!"

A loud thud. Both of us falling onto the floor...

Is what should have happened.

But instead-

A blinding light. Thousands of magic circles suddenly flaring to life.

Seeing that, my eyes widened. "Holy fu-"

"NO!" Master Roxy quickly swept her hand through the air and said, "Bad magic circles! No attacking Rudy!"

The magic circles suddenly dissolved, fading back into ambient mana.

...No. They were still there. Just mostly invisible. Translucent enough to where even I could barely see them.

Master Roxy sighed and scratched her head. "Sorry, Rudy. I usually leave that active when I sleep. Forgot to deactivate it."

"I see." I nodded and said, "As expected. Master Roxy is still an unsurpassed master of magic."

Master Roxy froze. And then she let out a deep and suffering sigh.

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