Nil

I was scared to open my eyes. My body felt a lot better, but I was fearful of what would happen when I opened my eyes. I cracked one of my eyes open, just a little. It seemed fine. I opened it slowly until I was sure there was not going to be a sense of overwhelming pain. My vision seemed sharper than before. I opened my other eye. It was odd, my vision had gotten noticeably better. Not like it was bad before, it was now everything seemed so sharp and defined. Even from farther away I was noticing small details I really hadn’t before.

Then I realized something else that was off. There were a bunch of floating little lights in the air. What are these? I stretched a chubby little hand for one, and it passed right through. I had no idea what they were. Lux stretched and yawned next to me, still a bit sleepy.

I saw the ball I had been practicing <Domination> with, and figured this was a good time to practice. I formed an anchor, and this odd gray light seemed to fix on the ball. What? This is new. I went to flow <Mana> through it, and this fat blob of black light snaked over to the grey light. The blob pushed the ball up, very unevenly. Little blobs would bubble out, trying to stabilize the ball. After a few seconds, the blobs would start to swirl around the ball, which would cause it to shake and fall. This light is <Mana>! Why does this feel so much easier than before to see it?

Wait a second, why did my <Mana> start to swirl? I looked around the room, and saw a pillow nearby. Let’s try <Domination> on this. I formed the anchor, and the same blob of <Mana> formed to lift the pillow. Unlike with the ball however, my <Mana> didn’t suddenly start to swirl. I tried a few other objects in the room, and while the motion was not the cleanest, I was at least maintaining it with little effort. That ball does something once <Mana> is flowed through it. Why would Uncle Nox give me a ball like that to test <Domination> on? Unless it is to help increase my control as the ball is intentionally made to dissipate <Mana>.

Probably focusing on making my <Mana> not a blob should be step one. Step two should be getting a sense of my <Mana> without using my <Arcane Eye>. I will just have to endure being a punching bag to Lux for a while longer. Now that I thought about it, how was I maintaining my <Arcane Eye> so easily now? Maybe there was an upside to all that pain earlier.

*

The next three months fell into a pretty easy rhythm. In the morning, I had breakfast following which Lux would ‘play’ with me; I was looking forward to getting my revenge on her. We played other games too which I would be able to win at a few, but the ‘wrestling’ was the one that irritated me the most. My progress at developing my <Mana> control was hard for me to gauge. It no longer resembled blobs, but was nowhere near as fine as I wanted it to be. Shouldn’t I be able to make threads of <Mana>? That was my goal, but currently it is as thick as rope. My ability to feel and sense my own <Mana> improved much as well. I hadn’t tried playing with the ball in the three months I was developing my control. Maybe I should give it a try soon.

At this point I could walk pretty well. I still stumbled a little, but at this point crawling was a thing of the past. My speech was a bit better, I could manage three word sentences. I was afraid of seeming unnaturally smart, so I kept them simple. Parent is best and Nox is worst were my go to sentences. My uncle seemed to be in a better mood overall for some reason. Not sure why. Lux had grown slightly bigger, and had small <Runes> starting on her shoulders.

I was excited for today though. It was my birthday! It can’t possibly suck as much as it did back on Earth! I might actually get cake! Lux was looking smug after our morning match. Just you wait. Soon, you shall know what defeat is. My mom and dad came in excitedly this morning to get me. My dad picked me up and launched me lightly into the air before catching me.

“We are getting you <Appraised> today Nil!” my dad said excitedly.

My parents rushed off to the dining room for breakfast. I was eating almost pure baby food at this point. Today there was someone new with us. Whoever she was, she was kind of pretty. They were sitting next to Nox, and the two of them were talking during breakfast. My mom and dad kept looking over from me to them.

“Nil, this is Nez.” my mom introduced.

“Shouldn’t I introduce my boyfriend to him?” Nox replied. WHAT?! THAT’S A GUY?! HE LOOKS LIKE A WOMAN!

“Nox is worst!” I chimed in. Nox looked over with an irritated look in his eye as Nez started laughing.

“It isn’t funny! He says that every morning!” Nox snapped.

“Depends on your perspective.” Nez laughed. His voice was soft and had a bell like property to it.

Nez’s skin looked like it was made out of pearls. His face was incredibly feminine, which was not helped by his long black hair which was tied back in a ponytail. Nez had noticeably long lashes which accented his golden eyes. Two slender blackish gray horns similar to an antelope gracefully adorned his head. Even through the Magus robes, I could tell Nez was quite slender and thin. He could easily pass as a girl if he wanted to.

The adults had some boring chit chat discussing my upcoming <Appraisal>. Solomon was apparently doing it personally. I didn’t care. Maybe it’s a bigger deal than I am thinking? That happens a lot in this world, I need to be more cautious. From what I could tell in the conversation, Nez was pretty nice. Too good for Uncle Nox.

“Nez is best!” I chimed. Uncle Nox looked like his soul left his body. Mwahahahahaha. My mom and dad exploded in laughter.

“It is okay Nox, I am sure he will stop saying you're the worst as he gets older.” Nez comforted.

“What did I ever do to you Nil?” my uncle cried at me. I used <Domination> to try and toss the evil ball at him.

Might as well test how far I’ve come. I formed an anchor, launched a rope of <Mana> at the ball, and lifted it. It was much more stable than before. I could feel my <Mana> starting to swirl at the end. I reinforced it with another rope while I was getting the aim down. How do I throw it? I guess feed <Mana> into it in line with where I want it to go? I tried that, and the ball launched in a graceful arc towards my uncle. Nowhere near as out of control as before, but definitely wobbled and had an awkward spin once it was in the air. Still nowhere near as smooth as his or dad’s though. He caught the ball with ease, and was just staring at it.

The adults looked back from the ball to me. Their jaws slack, eyes shooting between me and that cursed ball. My control was definitely a lot better than it was three months ago. It still needed to be improved however I looked at it.

“Did he just? Nil did just throw that ball with <Domination> right?” my mom asked.

“Yes dear. He definitely just did that.” my dad replied.

“So you gave your nephew a <Chaos Ball> to learn and hone <Domination> on and wonder why he calls you the worst?” Nez lectured.

“Um, it was to slow down his growth and improve his control is why I gave it to him. He does spar a bit with his <Familiar> and his control and <Spells> were nowhere near the point to be effective against Lux.” Nox replied, looking at the ball dumbfounded.

“His control definitely improved. He now has that <Mana> reserve and effective control over it. Way to go.” Nez teased.

“I did not think his control would reach where it currently is when I gave it to him.” Nox replied.

Nez just laughed in response. My mom and dad were doing their baby voices and saying how proud of their little <Mage> they were. I guess my control is better than I realize. It felt good when they praised me. My lips were definitely curling up on their own. Lux was giving me the stink eye. Let’s see how our little spar tomorrow goes Lux.

The adults finished breakfast, my parents grabbed me, and we headed in the direction to leave the castle. Helga and Cesar joined the entourage as we left the dining room. It was as before, where we headed to the library full of Magus. This time Nez was teasing Nox nearly the entire ride over. It was enjoyable to watch. Mom joined in a little and Nez immediately stopped. Lux was curled up on the ground of the carriage eyeballing Nez. She was still on the fence about him.

We arrived at the giant library building and were greeted by Solomon. I was kind of excited for some reason. Solomon escorted us to a room I hadn’t seen before. Again, there were intricate <Runes> all over the room. My dad set me down on a pedestal in the center. Solomon began doing some chanting, and there was a massive surge of <Mana>. He condensed it onto some small plate in front of him. Then it was over. That’s it? I was imagining something a lot more, I don’t know, spectacular.

“Grand Archmagus Solomon, what are the results?” my parents excitedly asked in unison. My uncle and Nez were waiting patiently at the edge of the room.

“A lot of things make sense now, especially his incredible growth.” Solomon replied.

“Does he have any <Blessings> other than <Transcendent Knowledge>? What is his <Affinity>?” my dad asked.

“How pure is his <Affinity>?” my mom asked.

“Surprising no one, he has <Space Affinity>. His <Affinity> is completely pure. There is not a drop of anything other <Affinity>. His <Mana> is incredibly pure as well. There are no impurities or other elements present. I honestly was not aware it was possible to have <Mana> and <Affinity> this pure.” Solomon explained.

“What do you mean?” my mom asked.

“He will never have to try to purify his <Mana> or his <Affinity>. It is not just somewhat pure, or he is a bit more pure than average, we are talking not a drop has shifted them. The purity is actually a bit problematic.” Solomon elaborated.

“How is a high purity a problem?” my dad asked.

“Nez, I believe it is best for you to explain, as you have done more research in this field than I have. Here is the <Plate>.” Solomon requested. Nez’s eyes went wide when he looked at the <Plate>.

“Normally, <Mana> has some impurities in it, <Elements> we have no natural <Affinity> for. As you are aware, most people learn two <Magics>. A <Practical Magic> and <Affinity Magic>. <Practical Magic> is the result of having a diverse <Affinity>. More accurately, <Affinity> is a measure of how much you align with a particular <Element> which can be increased through certain methods and help strengthen your <Affinity>. A perfectly pure <Affinity> means you are completely aligned to an <Element> with no alignment to other <Elements>. If you have trained a non <Neutral Practical Magic>, completely purifying your <Affinity> is impossible, as you will have trace amounts of another <Element>. This further applies to your <Mana>. Ambient <Mana> generally contains a variety of <Elements>, and if you take your <Mana> reserve and build it with <Mana> aligned with the <Element> of your <Affinity>, your <Magic> as a whole becomes more potent. Crown Prince Nil naturally has only <Space Affinity>, and his <Mana> is only made of <Space Mana>. It means any <Practical Magic> he would want to learn or be taught needs to be completely <Neutral>. It has to be a <Practical Magic> compatible with his <Space Mana> and no alignment towards any <Element>. That is an incredibly short list.” Nez explained.

“I do not see how that is a bad thing.” my dad replied.

“It just means he will only be able to learn <Space Magic> and one from an incredibly short list of <Practical Magics>. The easy way of phrasing it is he is limited to a select few <Magics>, but all the ones he is limited to are quite potent and strong but correspondingly not practiced by many due to difficulty or the high purity needed to practice them.” Nez clarified.

“So what <Practical Magics> can he learn?” my mom asked.

“I am not sure on the complete list, but <Void Magic> is something he can learn.” Nez replied. Nez is pushing hard for me to learn <Void Magic>. It sounds cool being honest.

“I can compose a list of the suitable <Practical Magics> for Crown Prince Nil. But Nez is correct, it is not going to be a very long list. There will probably be around three <Practical Magics> on that list if I am being honest.” Solomon chimed in.

“We will discuss that later. What about <Blessings>? Does Nil have any <Blessings> other than <Transcendent Knowledge>?” my dad asked.

“He has four. <Transcendent Knowledge> and <Nyx Mage> explain his incredible growth with <Magic>. Crown Prince Nil also possesses <Kron’s Legacy> and <Master of Fate>, which I believe stem from his <Arcane Eye> and <Base> respectively.” Solomon replied. My mom and dad looked overjoyed.

“You have the <Nyx Mage Blessing>!” they said excitedly in unison as my mom picked me up. What do any of the last three mean? I am pretty confident the first is a result of me reincarnating here.

Of course no one really explained it to baby me; they all knew what it meant. I am guessing <Nyx Mage> has something to do with my <Mana> being naturally pure? Or helping with that? I understood the words they said, but not what they meant. The adults were excitedly talking back and forth except Solomon, whose eyes were fixated on that <Plate>. I wonder what he saw?