“How is that even…”


    The granny sure looked shocked. She began to look at me like I was some sort of special zoo attraction.


    “I don’t think that the Apollonius family raised many male mages… one with this affinity probably stands out a bit.”


    “Right? I will write to his father!”


    “... You might want to rethink that. You sure heard things about your father-in-law. A lightning mage could be rare, but warriors are harder to kill and they can lead large armies. No regular soldier would follow a mage that fights in the back line. Garius Apollonius is a man who believes in physical might above anything else.”


    “But it is okay… Aizen can still be trained to become a proper warrior! This will only be a fine addition to his strength.”


    “You should know that things aren’t so simple.”


    “Ugh…”


    I would be thankful if they explained things more clearly. There was too much information hidden here. Regardless, while my mission required me to follow that path, it was a bit annoying that even the surrounding people had decided that future for me as well. Thinking like that wouldn’t change anything, so it was better to avoid that kind of mindset.


    “Well, for safety, you should write a letter to Arislan and be on guard just in case, since you made a big fuss about this.”


    “You think that someone from here would say anything to cause trouble for us?”


    “When people are cornered, you shouldn’t doubt what they can do to leave a binding situation or improve the standing of their families.”


    It looked like these two were determined to talk in code. Still, I could tell at least that drawing attention with my skills could put us in danger as well. People in the village lived in harmony, but some people had a better life than others because they had more members in their families working in the army and for the army as well. This place was basically just a peaceful village that was supposed to keep kids living in a healthy environment until they became five.


    The battlefield wasn’t the only danger for those born into militarized families. The very structure of this society created its own web of danger. With important officials and leaders that had multiple wives and children, the competition for influence and legacy extended far beyond military ranks. The struggle for power within a family could be as fierce and treacherous as any war.


    Wives of influential men were known to vie for their children’s positions, subtly or overtly maneuvering to secure their offspring as the next head of the family. This ambition sometimes can lead to covert sabotage, or outright harm inflicted upon rivals and their children. Poisoning, spreading damaging rumors, or orchestrating accidents should be pretty normal. I had heard similar things happening on Earth.


    For people like me, the battlefield of familial politics was an ever-present danger, one that required constant focus. A single misstep and a moment of carelessness could leave us vulnerable to the ambitions of another.


    ‘Internal and external family politics, huh? I really don’t have time to waste with this. Focusing on the path to become as strong as possible for myself is indeed the best option.’


    A couple of days passed and mother really sent a letter the next day to wherever my father was supposed to be. I finally heard his name, but I wasn’t that interested in him since I only saw him once in four years.


    Besides, I had better things to consider. For one, it seemed that I could recover one point of mana per minute, while I could recover stamina every second. All in all, I could use Discharge around thirty times per day, so it wouldn’t take long to make it reach the next level. Given its nature, I guessed that its power would increase a bit and perhaps the cost as well. Still, it wasn’t enough.


    ‘I need to think of ways to use this kind of magic more effectively. Just as that old lady said, warriors are more common, since mages tend to be more physically weaker. Being able to defeat enemies fast is good, but there is no point if every small fry is able to hurt me as well.’If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The idea of dealing with enemies swiftly, before they even had a chance to attack, was very appealing. It aligned perfectly with the kind of efficiency I wanted in battle, quick, decisive, and clean. However, I had to be realistic.


    More often than not, the ideal scenario wouldn’t play out. Enemies wouldn’t always fall in a single hit, and there would undoubtedly be times when I faced multiple opponents or foes too resilient for a fast takedown. In those situations, relying purely on magic wasn’t just impractical; it was dangerous as well.


    ‘I can’t afford to be a glass cannon,’


    Sure, magic was a useful weapon, but it came with its limitations. Mana wasn’t infinite, and every cast of Discharge brought me closer to exhaustion. Against a stronger or more numerous enemy, it wouldn’t be enough to secure victory, or even survival.


    That left me with one logical conclusion: I needed to develop a fighting style that combined magic and melee combat. If I could balance the two, I wouldn’t have to rely entirely on one or the other. Magic could remain my primary offense, a tool for overwhelming power and versatility. Meanwhile, melee combat would serve as my fallback, a way to hold my own when mana was low or when enemies got too close for comfort.


    Controlling Discharge was difficult, but it should get easier as I use the magic and also keep creating electricity with my experiments. Both of them were increasing the proficiency of Lightning Affinity.


    I kept doing that. The experiments and the use of magic improved Lightning Affinity and once it got two levels in one week, I was able to notice the differences… I could make the spark move away from me a bit. It was a lot of progress considering what had happened before. For one, Discharge made things a lot simpler. For another, increasing the power of the experiment also hurt me, and that increased the proficiency… that confirmed my guess that everyone probably could get that affinity if they get hit by a lightning bolt or something.


    Still, just when things were starting to look up… a group of armored guys arrived in the village and then they headed toward our house.


    “Ma’an, the captain told us to take you two to his territory. Please, pack your things immediately.”


    Mom couldn’t help but smile when she heard the man’s announcement. Her reaction seemed almost reflexive, a mix of relief and excitement that caught me off guard. I, on the other hand, felt a growing sense of unease. Something about the situation didn’t sit right with me.


    I didn’t realize until now, but my father clearly had some influence. He had underlings, a territory, and the authority to summon us so suddenly. So why had he kept us in the village for so long?


    No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a good explanation. If we were important enough to warrant this kind of abrupt relocation, why had we been allowed to remain here for years without so much as a word? It didn’t add up. The more I thought about it, the more the lack of answers bothered me. Still, deep down, I could tell why we were being moved now… it was because of me.


    I looked at mom packing things while wondering if she truly didn’t know what was going on… it was hard to believe that she didn’t know it. I didn’t know if that was the norm among all the ranks, but it looked like some guys could move around an area and screw around to make a lot of kids, they would monitor them from a distance like my father did and then they would call for them to be trained when they become five… if they show a bit more potential before that, they would call the kid and the mother to live with the father.


    ‘This place is worse than I thought… Those above in the family structures only see those below as pieces to be used to increase their standings and since everyone sees this as normal, the next generations do the same when they have a chance and don’t care.’


    Mom only packed a few things for us… it seemed that the trip wouldn’t be long and we wouldn’t need to worry about what we had here. It wasn’t much, but it had a certain sentimental value. Still, Mom was fine with that, with the chance to become a real family.


    After she put me in her arms, we were guided outside, where we found a horse that we could use while the warriors made a formation to protect us. Mom easily climbed onto the horse and began to ride it. Before leaving the village, she waved at the old lady who was the villager’s healer.


    “Take care.”


    A lot of women were looking at my mom with jealousy in their eyes, but the old lady still said that before we left. Mom shed some tears after hearing that, but despite that, she felt oddly satisfied, like she finally had accomplished her goal.


    Considering what I knew about the structure of this society, it seemed that a family was only truly considered a family when the father chose his successor. The successor, along with their mother, would leave to live with him in his territory.


    The implications of that system made me uncomfortable. While I didn’t want to openly critique it, there were probably reasons rooted in tradition or practicality. It was hard to ignore how alienating it felt.


    Would that mean those who weren’t chosen simply ceased to be considered part of the family of the head? Were they left to fend for themselves, or did they have to form some separate branch of diminished importance? The thought was troubling, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it did to the bonds between siblings or even between parent and child.


    It showed a picture of a society where value and belonging were tied directly to one’s utility or favor in the eyes of the patriarch. For someone like me, who had only seen my father once in four years, it was hard to feel much connection to a system that prioritized such cold pragmatism.


    Still, whether I liked it or not, I was in it now. If this was going to improve the life of my mother, I could tolerate it for now… but that didn’t mean that I would follow such a structure.