Six years later.
In a courtyard filled with luminous plants and herbs, their beauty wild and untouched by nature, sat two individuals.
The two sat cross-legged under a red, glowing acacia tree, or at least it looked as such.
Fiery red aurora danced around its form.
"Don't force it, allow it to flow naturally," Raika said to her son, Alaric, with her hands pressed against his sweaty back.
Heeding his mother's words, Alaric's brows relaxed, his breaths steady and deliberate.
The sweat on his body began to evaporate, steam rising from his well-built form.
Though only six years old, he had little to no fat, his body made up of 5% body fat and 95% muscle.
Not because he trained, but because of the fire elemental mana that has been pushed into his body for past seven years now.
The fire element dissolving the fat; his muscles straightened under the strain, yet his blue hair remained.
"Can you feel the mana coursing through your veins?" Raika inquired, pushing some of her mana into Alaric's mana veins.
" Yes"
The mana entered his body, dissolving into his blood plasma, as alcohol dissolves in blood.
It traveled through his veins into several parts of his body, but whenever it reached his heart, it was blocked by a translucent blue barrier, the strong water affinity repelling the invading fire element.
If not for his DNA as one born of fire, the fire element would not have been able to enter his bloodstreams at all, but it did, and in an unorthodox manner, dissolving in the plasma instead of attaching itself to his red blood cells as any elemental mana should.
But they could not, as he had water affinity, not fire.
Alaric winced in pain as he felt the fire element trying to break into his heart.
He felt a sharp tearing pain in his chest, as Raika pushed in more mana, more than she usually did.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Unable to endure it, Alaric coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Raika panicked, immediately halting, her expression one of guilt and pain.
"Vel?!" She called out.
A teenage girl with pitch-black hair and sharp pointed ears quickly walked out of the Japanese-style building behind them.
"Yes, ma'am, what..." She paused as she noticed Alaric's condition.
Alaric lay on his mother's lap, his breaths slow and clearly pained, blood painting his lips and spilling everywhere.
Before Raika could speak, Vel understood what she had to do.
She quickly went down on her knees and took out a green vase from the sleeve of the kimono she wore.
"May I?" she tapped her lap, gesturing for Alaric to be placed on her lap.
In any other time, Raika would have objected. She was a "soncon" and didn't like others close to Alaric, but this demanded she hand him over.
With Alaric on Vel's lap, he opened his eyes, noticing the change in sensation. Vel smiling at him.
"I know I say this a lot, but you are beautiful," Alaric smiled through bloodied teeth, the six-year-old trying to flirt with the teenage-looking elf, her real age never disclosed to him.
His expression was pained as he felt his temperature rise, blood pushing itself up his throat.
"Stop your folly," Vel flicked his forehead.
Alaric only laughed at that, his sudden laugh causing the blood he was holding back to pour out; he vomited blood all over, staining the elf's kimono.
Alarmed, she quickly emptied the contents of the vase into Alaric's mouth, the latter feeling a warm sensation washing over him.
It felt refreshing but also made him feel drowsy, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
"His condition is more serious than usual..." Vel turned to Raika.
The latter averted her gaze.
"His seventh birthday is almost here; if his elemental affinity is not changed, then it will be too late," Raika explained, her voice low as she knew she had almost killed her son.
Over the years, they had been trying many remedies from the elven kingdom, from herbs to techniques to change Alaric's elemental affinity, yet all was for naught.
His blue hair remained, which confirmed that his affinity was still with water.
The seventh year of any being in Chroma was a special age, the year they manifest their abilities.
From birth until they reach the age of seven, they are taught mana cultivation techniques to increase their mana quality and capacity before they become first-resonance mages.
The age where their root resonance node, located at the base of their spine, is mature enough to interact with the physical element.
And Alaric's seventh birthday was on the third day of the third month, which was a few weeks away.
Raika didn't need to explain what she did; from this, Vel could tell she had infused too much of her mana into Alaric in order to speed the process.
"Sigh..." Vel turned her gaze to the sleeping Alaric.
He looked like an exact replica of his father, Aiden, gentle brows and a diamond face, his handsomeness hidden by his baby fat, making him more cute than handsome.
"He behaves too maturely for his age; most children wouldn't have been able to endure the pain of a foreign element in their system," Vel exclaimed.
"Well, he isn't like most children; he is my son," Raika said proudly.
"Well, your son, almost died at your hands today," Vel retorted.
Raika's mouth hung agape, wanting to retort, but she didn't; she knew Vel was right.
"His situation this time is serious; the health potion won't be able to fully heal him... We will have to wait for my mother." She rose to her feet, Alaric cradled in her arms.
Raika nodded in understanding, her brows knit together, shoulders sagging under the weight of her guilt.
"Let me carry him back," she stretched out her hand. Though she felt guilty, an ounce of jealousy tugged at her as she watched another woman holding her child.
"No..."
Raika was at a loss for words; she had been denied the right to carry her own child.
"You little..." She wanted to curse out, her eyes falling on Alaric, the latter sound asleep, his mouth drenched in blood.
"I have caused you pain, my son," she thought to herself, head drooped, the will to curse gone as she wallowed in her own guilt.
"I don't care if you are a water mage; I will love you all the same."
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A/N
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