Why is it night again? Did I wake up in the middle of the night?

  I tried to get up, but my body didn’t react properly. Every fiber of my body has a dull ache, as if I had trained for many hours.

  My stomach began to growl slowly. I feel extremely hungry, and I’m also thirsty. What happened to me?

  Am I sick again? No, that shouldn’t be possible. I didn’t have any symptoms before going to sleep. I should be in perfect condition.

  The pain slowly subsided until it became only a slight discomfort, and I began to notice small changes in my body, both internal and external.

  “I think I’ve finally awakened my willpower.” I can feel a subtle change in my body. I still don’t fully understand what has changed; I’ll need to find out and get used to it soon.

  I get up and head to the kitchen. First, I need to deal with this thirst and hunger. It’s hard to think on an empty stomach. As they say, a full stomach makes a happy person.

  On the dining table, two portions of food and a jug of red fruit juice had been left. I love this juice—the fruit is very similar to strawberries, with the only difference being its size; they’re almost three times bigger.

  “Can I eat this?” It’s very late at night, and I don’t want to wake anyone just to ask.

  “It should be mine, right? I can’t imagine anyone in the house leaving food and drinks on the table waiting for someone.” With some uncertainty, I begin to devour the food in front of me. I feel a bit guilty and a bit afraid of being scolded tomorrow. That’s something tomorrow’s Maki will have to deal with—today’s Maki needs to eat so he can go back to sleep happy.

  I finished the food and drink before I even realized it.

  On my way back to my room, I stop. With my stomach full, no longer sleepy after resting all day, and the pain almost gone, I decide to do something unreasonable: go train in the middle of the night.

  “They shouldn’t hear me from the training field.” My habit of talking to myself has returned. When there’s no one around, it became a habit in my past life to feel accompanied. “Am I going crazy? I don’t think so…”

  I arrive at the field and start with light stretching exercises, then a few bare-handed strikes and more demanding physical exercises. I notice a certain improvement in my body. It’s nothing extraordinary—maybe around ten percent.

  “Not bad. Now let’s start training with the dual swords.”

  I trained until my body felt exhausted. It’s been almost four hours. My endurance is where I’ve noticed the biggest change—I probably have about fifty percent more stamina. That will be useful for training longer. In my past life, I used to do two or three training sessions a day. It’s time to return to that routine while I still lack responsibilities.

  My handling of the twin swords feels more fluid, as if I’d broken through restrictions that were imposed on my body before awakening.

  “It’s time to go to sleep. Tomorrow I want to surprise my family by showing my willpower.” With a big smile and excited to see their expressions, my body went to rest for the few hours left before breakfast.

  “What’s all this noise?” I open my eyes slowly and see my entire family gathered in my room.

  “What’s going on here?” I wanted to surprise them in the morning, and they surprised me instead.

  “Good morning, son. How do you feel? Any problems with your awakening?” My mother was the only one to respond; the others just had curious expressions.

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  “Right now, I feel very good. Yesterday I did have some minor body aches, and when I woke up, I was very hungry.” I begin explaining in detail everything that happened yesterday up until I went back to sleep.

  “Then everything is in order. We were quite worried about your body.” My father’s slightly curious expression shifts into simple happiness.

  “My body? Why?” If there had been any problem with my awakening, they would’ve told me earlier, right?

  I expected an answer from my father; however, the first to speak was my grandmother. “Usually, less than one percent of people have problems with awakening. Those are regular cases, where their bodies are already between nine and ten years old and more physically developed.”

  “We weren’t certain about your case. You’re not the first to awaken so young, but it was impossible to gather information about previous cases. The most well-known ones belong to very important houses, and they would never share that information with the public.” My grandmother lets out a sigh and returns to her usual calm expression, smiling with wisdom in her eyes.

  “We were worried since yesterday because you didn’t come to breakfast. When we came to your room, we realized you had awakened and decided to let you rest.” My mother sounds much calmer and more relaxed now.

  I feel a slight chill down my spine when I see her expression change in an instant. “I just want to know—why did you go train alone? You should have waited for us so we could supervise you. That was very irresponsible.” My mother’s voice sounds sweet, but her eyes are terrifying.

  “Don’t be angry, Celes. I can understand our son. I did the same when I awakened. Curiosity is hard to control.” My father tries to defend me. That earns him a scolding from my mother. We all listen for a few minutes until she calms down again.

  “Maki, you checked your body on your own. Now it’s time for us to see it. Put on comfortable clothes and let’s train.” My father remains happy despite the lecture. I see my mother wanting to say something, but she swallows her words and agrees.

  “You owe me fifty Int.” Sers was asking Ritmo for money.

  “I’ll pay you later. All of this is your fault, Maki.” Ritmo sounds like he’s complaining, even though he’s smiling.

  “Me? Why is it my fault?” I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. I didn’t know about any bet.

  “I bet with Ritmo about what you’d do first after awakening, and I won.” Sers laughs loudly, proudly boasting about being the winner.

  “I didn’t consider a child’s curiosity. You tend to be sensible like an adult. I was almost sure you’d look for my parents or grandmother before going to train.” Ritmo looks thoughtful, ignoring Sers, who keeps smiling smugly.

  I can only smile with a bit of guilt. It’s true—I should have been more careful and asked first.

  I trained with my father, Sers, and Ritmo for a couple of hours, and everyone was satisfied with my new physical condition. We sat down to have breakfast outdoors. Eating after training is always a pleasure.

  “Maki, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the improvement in your strength, speed, and stamina are the most insignificant ones.” My grandmother seems to have reached an agreement with my parents at some point, because they simply stayed quiet, watching the conversation flow.

  “Is that so? I don’t know much about it. Can you explain it to me, Grandma?” I’ve read certain things in books—ancient texts with little explanation. A proper explanation is better.

  “The two main improvements are your body’s increased capacity to withstand magic, and we must not forget adding willpower to your movements and attacks. There are many more functions of willpower—you’ll learn them in the future. At this stage of your life, that information would only confuse your priorities.” My grandmother’s explanation is clear and precise, as always.

  “I understand. I still don’t know how to apply my willpower to my movements, and mana will come after the first ceremony, right? Grandma, what are my priorities?” I’m paying full attention now. I can’t miss any relevant information. I know they’d explain again if needed, but I don’t want to bother them with stupid or obvious questions.

  “Yes, the ceremony will be tomorrow, so prepare yourself.” My grandmother Rita takes a moment to let me process the bombshell she just dropped.

  “As for your priorities: have your ceremony, gradually learn to control both powers for their different functions, and acquire skills to build the foundation of your combat style. You’re a very talented prodigy focused on fighting with twin swords. You only need to start adding magic and willpower to your different attacks. You’ll have to practice your abilities tirelessly until you reach a high level of mastery.” My grandmother finishes her explanation.

  I remain silent, trying to slowly absorb all the information. I don’t want to miss any of the points she mentioned.

  My grandmother stares at me and says, “We don’t know what your talent with magic and willpower will be like. If you manage to master them the same way you have the sword, you’ll become a monster in the future.” She smiles when she sees my surprised and disoriented reaction. My grandmother really enjoys seeing me confused.

  “You could reach a point that only very few people ever do.” She finishes speaking, leaving me even more thoughtful. My grandmother’s way with words is incredible.