My days sort of fell into a pattern. Daytime I spent some time with my parents, then was watched by Helga, occasionally they would try to imitate words and phrases with me, as well as have me use <Warp> and <Magic Sense>. The distance and efficiency of each was getting better, but I still found <Magic Sense> way too taxing. At night I would try and improve <Magic Sense> to no avail. My <Mana> reserve was noticeably increasing. I could also <Warp> further than previously. By the first month, I could barely do a ten foot <Warp>. One thought did constantly run in my mind: Can’t these adults ever talk about how this <Magic> stuff works around me?!

I did learn a few things in this time. One, the world I was in was most certainly called Tenebrae. Whether the Lords of Tenebrae was some religious pantheon or an expression still eluded me. Cesar was a long time friend of my dad, who earned the position of Chief Advisor on his own merits. My mom was definitely clingy, and liked spending as much time as she could with me. She loved reading me stories and singing lullabies. When my dad tried singing however, I legitimately cried. How was it possible to be that bad of a singer? Nails on a chalkboard was a symphony in comparison.

Whenever my dad was really being obstinate or truly not wanting to go through his schedule, Cesar would always threaten to tell my mom about a night in Rockhaven. This piece of information may come in handy one day. It must be a truly embarrassing story, or he cheated on her. From how he acts though I doubt it’s the latter. I also gleaned from some of Cesar’s more snide remarks that my father was certainly not an angel growing up, and apparently was quite the problem child for a time.

Helga was truly a klutz as a maid, but when it came to protecting or fighting me she was more than qualified. She did accidentally drop me that one time, but thankfully for her I toughed it out. My mom might have actually killed her. Maybe a little extreme, but Helga is nice and deserved to hide her mistake.

Another topic often discussed was the development of my <Magic>. They always seemed concerned about my <Mana> supply. Was it that lacking? They stuck to the basics of increasing the range and number of <Warp> and my ability to use <Magic Sense>. They always praised me after, which felt nice. Are they just comforting me? Or praising me because I’m their baby? They always discuss my <Magic> with concern, is it lagging what a normal baby should? It definitely ate at me for some reason.

At about 3 months, things changed slightly. I finally got a handle on how <Magic Sense> worked. As I lay exhausted in my crib, absolutely annoyed at my inability to grasp it, I just relaxed and took a few deep breaths. Just enjoyed the moment. I wasn’t too tired yet so I just enjoyed the night a bit, kind of just enjoying the moment. There was a gentle breeze coming from outside. Windows really weren’t a thing on the upper floors of the castle from what I gathered. There was a faint glow of moonlight, a much more normal color than the night I was born. That purple light was a fond memory, something about it was so calming.I then noticed an odd sensation around me. The instant I tried cluing in on it, the sensation vanished. I went back to just enjoying the moment and after a few seconds the sensation returned.

After ten minutes, I could start sensing around me. It was at most a foot, but it was definitely me sensing something. I tried focusing on it again, and it immediately dissipated. What the hell? When I focus on it I lose the sensation? How does that work?! I tried relaxing and enjoying the moment again, but I was forcing it too hard. This needed some further research. Irritated, I let out a baby huff and went to sleep.

*

When I woke up, I was in a meeting room. My father was sitting at the head of the table, and several others were around the table discussing something. This is new. There were twelve other people, excluding my father and I. One was Cesar, who was droning on and on. Man this guy can ramble.

I just sort of zoned out after I realized they were discussing policies. Dad was probably too busy today to peel away but still wanted to spend time with me. I concluded. Cesar was hitting some sort of fever pitch, or second wind, or something as he had been rambling for ten minutes straight since I woke up. Curse being too awake to go back to sleep. Maybe I should <Warp> onto the table and make things interesting. I don’t think dad would like that though. I just decided to let my mind go blank and completely zone out. This is so boring.

After being zoned out for twenty two minutes, I noticed the sensation of last night, but on a substantially higher scale. I could sense the entire room. I felt like I could count the ridges on each of their horns. I tried focusing on other details, keeping my breathing steady and my mind open. Somehow, it worked. Even better: the radius got even larger until it hit a barrier that was around the room. I tried focusing on the feeling, and it started to waver. I relaxed and controlled my breathing, and the sensation instantly returned. Was it my, it couldn’t be, it depends on my breathing? I focused on keeping my breathing steady as I began focusing on other details, and the sensation didn’t change at all. It was so subtle I barely even noticed my breathing change when I started focusing. Best of all, my <Mana> was barely being consumed to maintain this.

Let’s test this new <Magic Sense> out. I cast a small <Warp> directly behind me, and my <Mana> was barely consumed. My brain immediately started plotting what I could do with this newfound power, and almost immediately it started wavering. I focused back on the breathing and keeping my head kind of open. It was an odd sensation; it felt like I could open and close my mind to what was around it. It was also at this point, I noticed all the people in the room staring at me. Keep the breathing even. Stare them down. Don’t lose this sensation. I finally got it working.

“Is he? Did Nil just?” my dad asked the table. All of them had varying degrees of shock on their faces.

“I thought you said your brat was only three months old, Azzeck? How is he doing this already?” one on the opposite end of the table asked. His voice was quite unpleasant, it sounded like metal scraping metal, and was quite deep.

“That is Emperor Azzeck, General Railos. And he is only three months old. Cesar, how is this possible?” my dad immediately retorted.

“Excuse me, your Imperial Highness. I am just trying to comprehend a literal baby using <Magic Sense> to such a degree.” General Railos mocked.

“Your Imperial Highness, with all my knowledge and experience I can definitively say, I have no idea.” Cesar replied.

“Magus Erli, would you be able to give an evaluation or idea of how this is possible?” my dad asked another member at the table.

Was this that odd? The way they are phrasing this definitely makes me believe this is not normal. It took me months to get to this point and only reached it because Cesar was so boring. That man could put the dead to sleep. His extremely boring nature helped though.

“Your Imperial Highness, the only way I could explain this is an extreme level of innate talent with <Magic>, and a natural ability to feel the ambient <Mana> around him. Given he was born on the Night of Fire and Ice, it is quite possible he has a <Blessing> that is causing this quite frankly absurd level of growth.” a female voice chimed in. Her voice had a very proper tone, and she clearly enunciated her words.

“So those exercises you recommended to help get his <Magic> to formulate better and start training him would not have caused this?” my dad asked.

“Honestly your Imperial Highness, his growth vastly exceeds what it should be using those exercises.” Magus Erli admitted.

So she was the reason they always pushed me to <Warp> in such oddly specific ways which changed to use <Magic Sense> to locate the ball and <Warp> to it. One of the older gentlemen at the table just burst out laughing. Not like barely laughing, laughing to the point tears were strolling down his face.

“What is so funny, Elder Repte?” my dad asked, confused as to what could possibly be so funny about this.

“I just remember back when your father was raising you, and the headaches you gave him with your early use of <Warp>. And when you got older and more mischievous thinking your <Magic> was a great tool for pranks, and always wondering why your father eventually started saying, ‘I hope you have a troublemaker just like yourself one day. Help you understand all these gray hairs you caused me’ and thinking ah that would never happen to me.” Elder Repte laughed.

Cesar then began laughing as well. It was almost maniacal, like a villain finally revealing his master stroke. The two of them laughed while the others just sighed and shrugged, like it didn’t really matter to them. Or they just didn’t find it as funny as those two.

“My prayers have been answered! Crown Prince Nil, please torment your father as much as he used to torment me.” Cesar asked.

“Hey! I did not torment you that much! We were having fun!” my father replied, clearly starting to lose his authority in this situation.

“You were such a problem child. I still remember when-” Elder Repte started before my dad cut him off with the wave of a hand.

“Let us get back to discussing the thrilling policy Cesar is to propose to the Senate.” my father ordered, which caused a slight groan to go through the people present.

They left me in peace after that. I continued to practice my breathing throughout the meeting. I needed to be able to do this naturally. As the meeting ended, the documents simply vanished, and they did a check to make sure everything was secure. With a quick snap of the fingers, the barrier was gone. Which was not good for me.

Apparently,during my practice, I had been building up <Magic Sense>, and the barrier was containing it. I had built the pressure up and up and up. Once the barrier was gone, the radius spiked. It over tripled in length, absolutely overloading my senses. My breathing definitely shifted, and I instinctively closed my mind, but the damage was done. My brain felt as if it had been beat with a bat. A skull crushing headache quickly ensued. The most unpleasant sensation was when my <Mana> felt like it had been ripped from my body. Waves of nausea overcame me, and my body began to hurt. This was way worse than before. My body felt like it had been stretched out, partially ripped apart. But it wasn’t my muscles or bones. It felt almost like nerves throughout my body and were stretched and partially torn.

I immediately started crying. This sensation was new, there was a lot of pain. Something went wrong. Why is this <Backlash> so much worse? What happened? I wondered as pain absolutely overwhelmed my baby body.

“What happened?!” my dad snapped, looking directly as Magus Erli.

“Quick assessment is he unknowingly extended <Magic Sense> which was being contained by the <Rift Barrier>. When the <Rift Barrier> was released it shot out farther and faster than he could retract it. This is likely the <Backlash> of trying to maintain a large radius <Magic Sense> for a brief moment.” she quickly explained.

“Do whatever you can to help him!” my dad ordered.

She was immediately next to me using the similar type of <Magic> to my mother. As if on cue, my mom appeared. She definitely heard the crying. I’m sorry dad, you are toast. I thought as the pain began to subside.My mom rushed over and began assisting Magus Erli. The pain was rapidly reduced, and I could feel my <Mana> reserve was being refilled.Mom shot dad a look that made even my blood turn to ice. I noticed Helga waiting outside and noticeably jumping at the look my mom was shooting at my dad.

“What happened to my baby?” My mom asked, her voice cold as ice. She held me close to herself while shooting out death beams from her eyes.

“Your Imperial Highness Senna, your son has yet again shown immense talent for <Magic> to a degree that caught us off guard.” Magus Erli explained.

“What <Magic> did he use that had such severe <Backlash>?” she pressed.

“<Magic Sense> Empress Senna. He originally used it to fill the <Rift Barrier> the meeting was in, and when it was removed, the radius of his <Magic Sense> over tripled in almost an instant.” Magus Erli replied.

I clung to my mom. Even though they healed the <Backlash>, the sensation after was unpleasant at best. She patted my head and held me close, softly singing a little lullaby, which for some reason made me feel a lot better. I closed my eyes as I leaned into her, letting my exhaustion take over.