My days fell into a bit of a rhythm after that. Apparently, I was quiet for a baby which made them a little concerned. After hearing that, I tried practicing saying words to little avail. It at least made them less concerned about my behavior. Aut would teach me <Mana Reinforcement> daily. To help counter Unn’s edict on not feed me <Mana Crystals>, he taught me how to more efficiently use my <Mana>. Aut was surprisingly strict given physically I was a baby.

I think four months had passed by this point. It was hard to tell time. I barely could tell the layout still. I stayed in the same two rooms for the most part. If I wanted to, it was possible for me to remove the bangle now. I had yet to fully slip it off. I need a window of time by myself to fully slip it off. Unn maybe spent thirty minutes total with me in the entire four months.

Currently, I was wiggling my arms with <Mana Reinforcement> as Aut showed me. It was surprising how easily I was moving my limbs around. Aut was cheering me on. I can’t tell if he wants to help me or is using me to achieve some goal. It might be a combination thereof. It’s helpful though what he’s been teaching me. I wanted to slip the bangle off and start testing using my <Magic> for something other than <Mana Reinforcement>.

I wondered what other staff worked here. I knew of Woona; never got to see her. I pretty much stayed exclusively with Aut. Whenever I started using my <Mana Reinforcement>, the sensation in my body was getting more intense. I really didn’t notice at first, but after the first month it was getting noticeable.

“That’s my Ash! Way to go!”  Aut was cheering.

By this point, I was able to maintain the <Mana Reinforcement> for roughly an hour. After I ran out of <Mana>, Aut helped me practice some words. He was playing typical baby games occasionally as well, like peek-a-boo.

“Forl!” I tried saying. It was sounding closer to the actual word.

“Fooo fooo waaa waa!” Aut replied to me. I am trying to swear, but you don’t know that.

We went back and forth like that. It was fun. Aut is at least fun to interact with. I wanted to be mobile again, to be able to talk properly, and to take this blasted bangle off. After playing with Aut a little, he slipped off the bangle. What? He took it off?

“Let’s train your <Magic> a little while you only have a bit of <Mana>.” Aut told me. YES!

“Yes!” I yelled excitedly.

“Try exerting a little like this.” Aut instructed, making some lightning crackle by his finger. That is really cool!

I tried exerting a little bit of <Mana> from my finger like he did. That’s when I made an important discovery: <Mana Reinforcement> was a completely different skillset than using <Mana>. There was nothing. I could get my <Mana> flowing, but I kept reinforcing my body rather than exert it.

After what was likely a few hours, I hadn’t succeeded once. My <Mana> was slowly recovering from my earlier practice. More <Mana> didn’t make it any easier. No amount of effort seemed to make it work. COME ON! EXERT! It didn’t help. I tried wiggling my arms around, seeing if that would help. Obviously, it didn’t work.

“It’s okay Ash! You can do it!” Aut cheered on.

I tried with a bit more fervor. It was not working. Come on. I felt the swirling sensation by my heart again. It’s how you start <Mana Reinforcement>. Is it the same for trying to exert it like Aut showed me? I tried focusing on my body a bit. I felt the rotating sensation in my body. After a few minutes, I began spreading my <Mana> through my body again. This is <Mana Reinforcement>. After that, I focused into a point in my palm. I tried exerting my <Mana> through that point.

There was good news and bad news. Good news, this time, it worked. Bad news, it came out like a bullet that hit Aut. He dodged it mostly, but the bullet of <Mana> clipped his shoulder. He winced in pain, and his skin look like it was rotting and carved from the bullet. Aut put the bangle back on me, picked me up, and carried me back to Unn’s office. He wasn’t saying a word, and just grimacing. How did my <Magic> do that? I wonder what <Affinity> I have. I was set down into the crib, and I heard chuckling.

“Does <Death Magic> hurt?” Unn asked mockingly. <Death Magic>? That sounds awesome!

“Just a bit. Can you please heal it?” Aut asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“I warned you, keep the bangle on.” Unn taunted.

“I was teaching him <Mana Reinforcement>, and once he depleted his <Mana> I wanted to show him how to use more proper <Spells>. He accidentally shot his <Mana> out rather than just get a bit out.” Aut explained.

“Why shift from <Mana Reinforcement>? I thought you wanted to see how far you could teach him?” Unn probed. I could tell she still hadn’t healed Aut.

“I’m starting to run out of ideas of what I can show him while he’s still a baby.” Aut explained.

“What?” Unn asked, losing the mocking tone.

“He’s learning <Mana Reinforcement> too fast.” Aut replied.

“What do you mean?” Unn pressed.

“Ash, can you show Unn what we’ve been working on?” Aut requested.

I did as Aut requested. I waved my arms around too, showing everything. Unn’s eyes went wide, and then glared at Aut. From what I could tell, Unn was furious. He’s just been showing me <Mana Reinforcement>. Did he do something he shouldn’t have? Unn looked absolutely seething.

“At some point, did you think, maybe, just maybe, you went a little too far?” Unn snarled at Aut.

“He was learning so well!” Aut defended himself.

“How did you get a baby to learn <Mana Reinforcement> to that degree?! He’s four months old!” Unn snapped.

“Well, he can’t really move around, or crawl yet, so I’ve kind of hit a wall.” Aut replied. Unn looked ready to stab Aut.

“So you moved to teaching him <Spells>?” Unn asked. Her face was turning crimson.

“What’s wrong with him learning some <Spells>?” Aut probed.

“His <Affinity>! He’s a baby with no concept of how dangerous it is!” Unn growled.

“He should learn to control it a little bit.” Aut mumbled.

“And what if there’s another accident?” Unn asked.

“You can heal me.” Aut replied.

“Sure. Sure. And what if he accidentally hits you somewhere a bit more critical than your arm?” Unn checked.

“I’ll be in a bit of trouble. We have to teach him somehow. It’s more dangerous for him to have no idea how to control his <Magic>.” Aut retorted.

“He will need to be taught. Stop trying to make a monstrous baby.” Unn snapped at him.

“Ash should be taught while it’s easy.” Aut replied.

“It’ll be easy while he’s a child. There’s no need to keep pushing this Aut.” Unn told him.

“We should teach him! He can learn!” Aut retorted.

“What could you possibly teach him at this point?!” Unn demanded.

“There’s some more <Mana Reinforcement> I could teach him, but I was trying to branch into <Spells> a bit.”  Aut answered.

“Like what?” Unn pressed.

“<Techniques> like <Iron Skin>.” Aut elaborated.

“Why would a baby need to know <Iron Skin>?” Unn snarled.

“He can.” Aut mumbled.

“You just want to see the how strong you can get him before he can even walk.” Unn snapped.

“Imagine someone trained from being a literal baby! It’s an exciting prospect.” Aut pointed out.

“It’s a recipe for disaster.” Unn shot back.

“I would like to learn more.” I interjected. It was mostly incoherent baby noises.

“See, he agrees with me.” Aut retorted.

“Of course you are going to say that! He is probably just making noises.” Unn replied, looking at Aut like he was an idiot. I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Is he sticking his tongue out at me?” Unn asked.

“He is!” Aut retorted between fits of laughter.

“This is the strangest child ever.” Unn muttered.

That’s because mentally I’m not one. I thought to myself.

“Teaching him is dangerous until he understands how dangerous his <Magic> is!” Unn snapped.

“There has to be some middle ground here. Please. He has talent.” Aut begged. Unn let out a long, dramatic sigh.

“I’ll permit only <Techniques> and methods of <Mana Reinforcement>. No teaching him <Spells>, period. That is only going to end in someone being maimed or killed.” Unn conceded.

“Yes!” I cheered.

“Thank you! Now for the love of the <Lords> can you heal my arm.” Aut cheered before wincing.

“Sure.” Unn told him, before healing the damage.

“That’s much better.” Aut sighed, sounding immensely relieved.

“I’ll only be doing that three more times, so use them wisely.” Unn warned.

“You are so generous.” Aut retorted.

“I could not heal it at all and have you try to find a clinic able to heal that <Death Magic>.” Unn pointed out.

“Why are you like this?” Aut asked.

“Some of us try not to train literal babies in their <Magic>. We try to teach them to speak and wave their hands.” Unn snapped.

“I am trying to speak.” I shot back. Unfortunately, it was baby sounds.

“I am mixing that in there as my compatriot is trying to say.” Aut defended himself.

“Why do you act like you understand that baby?” Unn asked with a sigh.

“Give me five Ash.” Aut ordered as he raised his hand up to me. I gave him a tiny baby high five.

“I got you!” I cheered.

“See, he understands.” Aut replied.

“The sky is made of candy.” Unn stated as she put her hand in front of me. I refused to give her five.

“Ash, one more time.” Aut told me again, putting his hand back out. I high fived him again.

“That is the strangest child in existence.” Unn declared.

“You’re just jealous he likes me more.” Aut retorted.

“No. I’m done with this conversation. Please take Ash to his crib or get yourself shot with his <Magic> again.” Unn informed him.

“Yes ma’am.” Aut replied.

I was brought back to the room Aut taught me in. I wonder if he’s going to show me more. Aut set me down before doing some stretches. After Aut stretched enough, he sat down in front of me, producing a needle.

“Alright, now to show you <Iron Skin>.” he said happily.

The needle made me uneasy. Aut put his hand on me, and I could feel how he made <Mana> go along my body. I began moving my <Mana> to mimic him. It was odd feeling it along my skin. Interesting. It was like making plates on my skin. I shifted it around, seeing if I could make threads out of it. It worked. Huh. I tried weaving them over the plates, making a sort of chainmail. My head instantly began hurting immensely. What?

Aut was looking at me completely slack jaw. He was blinking a few times, looking at me with an expression I didn’t recognize. My head was agonizing. What did I do to make my head hurt this bad? I made some noises, but I was in agony.

“Wow. What frightening instincts.” Aut stated.

“Oh yea. The headache that comes with doing that. Sorry Ash. Here you go.” Aut told me, placing his hand on me. I instantly felt relief from my head.

“It’s amazing. You seem to have the sharpest instincts I’ve ever seen. How do you understand me so well?” Aut pondered. Because I’m mentally not a child. I made some baby noises in response.

“Now, try again, but this time stick to just the basic version.” Aut instructed.

I put my <Mana> back along my skin. Aut gave me a few seconds before taking the needle and poking me with it. To my immense surprise, the needle harmlessly bounced off my skin. That’s useful. He smiled. Now, is that thread idea of mine applicable to other avenues? I tried forming a knife out of my <Mana>. Aut looked perplexed at me, until his skin looked pale upon realizing what I was forming.

“Stop!” Aut roared. I immediately stopped, flinching a bit. Stop wasting money! It’s been months, why am I remembering that?

“How were you forming a knife?” Aut muttered.

“I was curious if I could.” I answered. Unfortunately, it still only sounded like baby noises.

Aut helped me practice <Iron Skin> a bit more by poking me with the needle a few more times at random intervals. The one attempt felt much harder than the others. <Magic> is awesome. I exhausted my <Mana>, going until I was on the verge of a massive migraine. Aut brought me back to the crib, and I could hear Unn was working on paperwork.

“Can we talk for a minute?” Aut requested.

“About what?” Unn inquired.

“Ash.” Aut answered.

“What has you worried about your mini apprentice?” Unn asked mockingly.

“He nearly formed a knife out of solid <Mana>. When I showed him <Iron Skin>, he almost figured out how to manifest <Mana Armor>.” Aut explained.

“Really?” Unn checked.

“Really. His learning curve is staggering. I know I said he seems to grasp what’s around him, but it seems beyond that.” Aut confessed. I might have gone a bit too far. Crap

“He might just have a strong <Blessing>. Ash could have just seen a knife in passing and tried replicating it.” Unn told Aut.

“That makes sense. It’s just his <Mana> and-“ Aut rambled.

“Stop. Just accept he’s like this. It’s fine.” Unn interjected. She’s defending me? Why is Aut suddenly not okay with this?

“Fair. I was just taken aback at how many things he put together in an instant.” Aut explained.

“I understand.” Unn replied.

“I’m going to go shopping tomorrow, I’m bringing Ash with me.” Aut told Unn.

“That’s fine. Have a good night.” Unn told Aut.

“Good night. Good night Ash.” Aut replied as he left.

“Good night.” I started, but it was just baby noises.

I laid in my crib, staring at the ceiling. I’m probably the oddest baby in the world. What world is this? Mizor I’m assuming is a state, or territory. I still wondered if there really was a floating city above where I was. I have so many questions. Unfortunately, I had no way to ask them. Eventually, I fell asleep in the crib.