Mother said that I had step brothers and sisters… or half brothers and sisters would be more accurate? In any case, my father only saw me once, so he didn’t have any reason to favor me. He might be making more of them as I think about that.


    I have heard a few things in the last year about the current society. It seemed that families had many kids for numerous reasons, but the ones who are mainly warring families usually have even more in order to produce stronger soldiers. They apparently have more chances of being born with treasures as well.


    At first, the idea that my father might have multiple wives or concubines felt questionable for me. It felt like something out of a story, an archaic, indulgent lifestyle that didn’t align with modern familial structure. But as I thought about it more, especially after witnessing how fragile life could be in this world, it started to make more sense.


    In a world where death seemed to be around every corner, the urge to ensure one’s legacy would be overwhelming. For men who faced mortality regularly, be it through battle, disease, or other dangers, the drive to produce as many offspring as possible was likely both an emotional and biological response to this harsh reality.


    From a biological standpoint, it’s not hard to see why. Humans, like most living creatures, are driven by the instinct to survive and reproduce. For men, whose reproductive contribution is relatively less physically taxing compared to women, the evolutionary drive to spread their genes widely is particularly strong. In a dangerous world where survival rates might be low, having multiple children with different partners would increase the likelihood that at least some would survive to adulthood and continue the family line.


    Another important factor for this situation was the fact that families gained more power the more powerful and influential soldiers they had. I had heard there are many villages in situations far worse than this, so it made sense that some powerful soldiers or warriors would have more than one family.


    Usually, the next head of a family isn’t determined until the current head makes their choice or dies, and then the next person in the highest position would take their place. Those heads would take the sons and daughters of their brothers and sisters and turn them into their underlings. That was how things operated, even though sometimes some revolts happened to stop that, it was rare because they had real enemies to worry about. The heads of the families could make sure that their direct descendants would have higher chances of taking their place afterward.


    “What is wrong? You don’t like it, Ai? You saw some kids playing warriors, right? You can join them.”


    I was interested in training with the sword and shield and then finally learning how to use stamina, but playing with other kids would be a waste of time. Maybe that could be considered learning, but not efficient learning… There were no warriors in the village, so I had to learn by myself.


    I didn’t learn anything else about magic either in the last year, since the old lady stopped talking about it since her granddaughter had left with the other group of kids. When she showed up to check my health, she looked older and more haggard.


    ‘I guess girls who learn magic don’t have that much easier time when they leave.’


    In any case, I added training with the sword and shield to my daily routine and soon I noticed some differences… my stamina began to drop after a while, so that made me realize that I could finally learn some active skills. However, I had to try everything possible in order to increase my options.


    Name: Aizen Apollonius


    Level: 06 (400/600)


    Current Treasure: Mind of Steel (Lv 20 - 120/2000)


    Health: 30/30


    Mana: 340/340


    Stamina: 340/340


    Strength: 03


    Dexterity: 03


    Magic: 03 + 40


    Vitality: 03


    Willpower: 03 + 40


    Endurance: 03 + 40If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Luck: 03


    Free Points: 50


    Active Skills:


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    Passive Skills:


    [Languages Understanding Lv 48]


    [Focus Mastery Lv 19]


    [Enhanced Vision Lv 18]


    [Enhanced Hearing Lv 19]


    [Lightning Affinity Lv 03]


    As I grew older, my parameters increased by one point according to my age. I imagined that this would keep happening until I became twenty-five, that was usually the age that people reached the peak of their youth, after all. That meant that in terms of mana and stamina, I had a bit more than adults that didn’t have treasures or proper military training.


    ‘Still, I can’t be satisfied with this… I have seventeen years left. I guess I really need to start making progress with the true challenge once I become ten. After that, I won’t have time to waste with diplomacy… ten years to take over the world with my strength alone, it would be quite the challenge.’


    — —


    After Ellenessa finished cooking lunch, she silently left the house and then went to check on Aizen that she left playing in front of the house. She told him to play, but he moved to the back of the house, where he began to swing the wooden sword that was almost as big as him with determination and concentration.


    Even for someone who was one of the descendants of a very old family of warriors, it was weird to see a child of that age with that much focus… even though he never saw anyone fighting and no one ever taught him how to fight, he knew what he had to do.


    ‘Was his father like this at his age?’


    Ellenessa couldn’t recall much about when she was at that age… she didn’t have younger siblings as well, so she didn’t have anything to use as a reference. The kids outside were a lot more carefree. Some of them were determined to become warriors or mages and follow in the footsteps of their parents or grandparents, but they weren’t as dedicated as Aizen. Even most adults couldn’t do the same thing over and over for hours on no end.


    Eventually, Aizen checked his hands and then stopped swinging the sword when the skin started to peel a bit. All that much training, even with a body like that, should be pretty painful, but Aizen just finished things with the same blank expression on his face.


    ‘He is healthy, and he looks pretty smart for his age, so why doesn’t he show many emotions?’


    Ellenessa returned to the house and when she went to check things again, she found Aizen sitting at the entrance, seeing people coming and going. He didn’t look particularly shy while he stared at some people, but he stayed silent when kids around his age approached and called him to play warriors.


    After a while, Aizen would nod off while sitting and then soon he would get up and head to his bed… Ellenessa felt troubled while looking at her three years old son decreasing her job like that.


    Ellenessa soon would join him in the naps, but when she would wake up, Aizen would be back at the entrance of the home staring at the people coming and going.


    ‘I can’t force him to play with the other kids. That didn’t work before… Maybe I should start teaching him things that would make his future life easier.’


    Ellenessa decided it was time to teach Aizen some practical skills that would make his future life easier. She started with simple tasks: how to dress himself, tie his boots, clean them, and even wash his clothes. She hoped these small lessons would not only prepare him for independence, but also help bridge the distance she felt between them.


    To her astonishment, Aizen mimicked her movements perfectly after just one demonstration. His tiny hands moved with a precision that didn’t make sense for his age, and the knot he tied was as neat as her own.


    Ellenessa couldn’t help but feel a mix of pride and disbelief. Each new skill followed the same pattern. Whether it was scrubbing dirt off his boots, folding his clothes neatly, or washing them with minimal water use, Aizen mastered everything with an almost unnatural ease. His quiet concentration and the speed with which he picked up new tasks left her absolutely astonished.


    When she began teaching him how to write, however, she finally encountered a challenge that slowed him down. At first, Aizen struggled to form the letters with the same perfection he had shown in other tasks. His small hands wobbled as he gripped the quill and the ink on the paper more often than not. Ellenessa watched him frown slightly, a rare show of frustration, as he practiced again and again, his usually blank expression disappearing to show some focus.


    For the first time, Ellenessa felt a deep sense of relief. He wasn’t perfect, he was still just a child. Teaching him how to write made her feel like a proper mother at last, guiding him through a struggle and celebrating his small improvements. The occasional wobbly letter and smudged ink brought a sense of normalcy into their lives.


    In those moments, Ellenessa began to see a glimmer of hope in their relationship. Aizen wasn’t just a mysterious, stoic prodigy; he was her son, and she was finding her place in his quiet, focused world.


    “Ai, is there something you want to do?”


    After teaching him to write for a while, Ellenessa realized that her son didn’t have much freedom and didn’t ask for much. She had heard kids a bit older asking for swords or spears to start training with real weapons, but Aizen never asked for anything in particular. Much to her surprise, she saw him thinking about the question for a while. He looked at her, a bit uncertain if he should ask for anything.


    “You can ask for anything. I will do my best to give you since you are such a good boy.”


    “I want gloves, mama.”


    “Gloves? I suppose you hurt your hands a bit while playing with the wooden sword…”


    “Those gloves.”


    Aizen pointed to someone outside the house and then Ellenessa furrowed her eyebrows when she saw a girl with some padded gloves in her hands. She was one of the kids that left five years ago when she was discovered to have a treasure and also talent for magic. She received a promotion recently thanks to her skills with earth magic and thanks to that, she was also given some time off, which she used to return home.


    Those gloves were used by some earth mages who were used to fighting at close range… with their magic, they could harden their bodies and even other objects, and fighting gloves was the main choice for people of the same style. It made Ellenessa wonder if Aizen found that cool or if he wanted to become an earth mage as well.