The days slowly passed after she left.
We lived in a manor. It was big, quite old, but still in stable condition.
The only person by my side was James Chadwick. An old man nearing his 50s from the looks, but I believed he was older — after all, magic does slow down aging.
He dressed neatly even if there was no one to impress.
He was a nice guy. Took care of me properly.
He was quiet most of the time, but sometimes, when he thought I was asleep, he would sit by my crib and start talking.
He talked about how long ago we were a family of famous duelists, and how we fell.
He often became sad when talking about my father. He liked to tell his story the most — about how he was the most talented duelist he had ever seen.
He died while protecting me even against overwhelming odds, along with my mother.
That thought weighed on my mind and heart.
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From the moment I was born, my magic was strong.
It soon showed why raw strength without control was bad.
Every cry of mine shattered or changed something.
The crib would shake violently.
Objects would go flying and glass would shatter.
It wasn't something I could control directly, perhaps because I was in the body of a child with volatile emotions. It was hard to perform certain motor functions.
As a newborn, I had way too much mana.
I had to learn to control this power before it started harming me.
I remembered what the god had told me:My mutant abilities were tied to my magic — but they weren't awakened yet.
Mutants usually awakened their powers during teenage years, when emotions ran strongest.
My strong mana was simply a passive boost.
________________________________________________________________________________________
4 YEARS LATER
Looking back, I wasn't sure how I survived those early days without losing my mind.Being trapped in a toddler's body with the mind of someone much older... it wasn't easy.
I tried to keep myself busy.
For hours, I tried to concentrate and use the energy present inside me.
But except for knowing that there was a huge reserve inside me, it refused to budge under my command.
It did things on its own.
Perhaps being a baby affected me a lot. With being a baby comes some perks such as volatile emotions — add magic to it, and you have a super destructive baby.
It appeared as if James aged faster while trying to handle my mess.
He did buy an elf though.
The previous ones seemed to have died before my birth.
The magic was uncontrollable, but I could feel it flowing through my body, just waiting to be used.
At first, it leaked out everywhere, creating disaster.
But over time, I got better at holding it in.I practiced my control quietly, hidden from James.
Making small objects float for just a second.Feeling the flow of mana inside my body and learning how to move it.
James thought I was just a smart kid and the future of DREADMORE.
Even at the present time, I could hardly hold 10 kg in the air.
But it was still progress.
At the age of 4, my mana was ridiculous.
If the ranking system in my mind was right, my mana reserves were equal to a full novice wizard — the Hogwarts student of 15–16 years, still learning but knowing the basics.
The god who sent me here said that my mutant powers were tied to my magic.
A mutant usually awakens during his teenage years, and magical capacity-wise, I was a teenager — so I guessed the point was near.
It happened during one of my secret experiments.
I was in the library — an old, dusty room filled with forgotten books.James was busy somewhere else, so I had the whole place to myself.
While sitting at the table, I was trying to create a ball with my mana.
Just a simple ball — nothing complex.
I focused. Pushed the mana out. Forced it into shape. For a moment, it worked.
A small orb hovered above my hand, pulsating slightly.
I smiled.
And then everything went wrong.
Mana poured into it like a dam breaking.
The table and chair slid back forcefully.
The windows shattered.
I tried to disconnect the supply of mana to it — and succeeded.
The orb hummed ominously and exploded.
I backed off and instinctively created something similar to a force field of pure mana that helped me negate the violent force, and I just slid back.
I landed on the ground and panted with exhaustion after nearly depleting half my energy all at once to create a force field of pure mana.
But instead of pain, I felt exhilarated. I could feel it — the mana inside me became much more obedient.My mind became sharper, more observant.
I looked around and found the glass shards still floating.
I chuckled and released them from my hold, letting them fall to the ground.
I felt better in every way.
Stronger.
More complete.
I had just awakened my mutant abilities.
I guessed.
It was time to truly start the training.