Chapter 23 - Birthday

It was finally my 5th birthday; this birthday was different from all the others because this one is going to be celebrated. The reason for celebration isn't actually because I had become five years old, but rather it is due to the implications that come with me being this age.

Most kids would learn how to read and write but I already knew all that so the only thing I would get was the power of being able to go outside without my parents watching me. This did not only mean that I could now not have my parents watching every step I take outside the house, but it also means that at this age I'm expected to learn how to become slightly dependent on my power rather than relying on others

For me, however, it meant I could finally have a practical use for all the abilities I had gained over the years of practicing magic, the months of me practicing spells, and the year of me practicing weapon mastery.

For my birthday celebration, a sh*tons of people I had no idea existed had come to celebrate it with me. My parents and Aroura had found my presents that I, for some reason, had to open in front of all the guests. It's a cultural thing within this world and even if I don't get it, I'm not going to embarrass my parents and sister for no reason. My neighbors weren't invited though but we were forced to invite the Flemings.

After we had a 'family dinner' with more than 20 people, Aunt Elaina and the Flemings included, it had become time for me to open my presents and for some reason, everyone seemed as tense as I was to find out what was inside, even my own family.

They had not told each other what they had brought me, which I find stupid because they might bring me the same thing, but oh well.

As I shrugged all my thoughts off, I started to unwrap my presents. All of them were wrapped in a thin cloth that covered a box. Within the box would be the present. The first one I opened was clearly from Aroura. I could tell before I even opened the present from the mana signatures left on the box. Well, it was obvious to me it wasn't to everyone else.

There was a note inside that said "This is something forged on the final day of class for you, I hope you like it. It will both protect you from harm and also look nice on you. It should also remind you of my eye color so whenever I am not home you can just look at the crystal whenever you miss me.

Love, Aroura"

Within the box, there was a blue and green crystal that got progressively cyan within the middle and had a long rope coming out that could be extended or shortened. It truly did remind me of her eyes and was just a little less beautiful than hers. The warmth that her eyes had whenever we talked or played together was not transmitted into the crystal, but the vibrant color and the implication/ reason it was created made up for the lack of warmth.

Since it was the last year of the academy for her, this must have been her last project and why nearing the end of her school days she wouldn't come home on Saturdays.

I got up and gave my sister the biggest hug I could give while kissing her on the cheek before letting go and wearing the necklace.

-"wow it's beautiful"-

-"she is truly talented to have created something so beautiful for her own sister"-

All the comments I heard were complimenting her work, yet it pissed me off. It reminded me that humans, no matter what they do, will judge all of their actions without prejudice. Only those you truly love will not judge you and even then, those you truly love might betray you the moment you become useless to them, just like my father.

I went back and opened the present that seemed to be my mom's from the mana signature on it. I could tell whenever someone had used magic on something recently by just looking at the mana exuding from the object. My mom used a cleaning spell on the thing within the box and since I'm around my mother all the time, it was easy to recognize.

When I unwrapped the box and opened it, what I saw inside really shocked me. It was a Gauntlet, well that's what they called it, but it looked more like a glove to me. The audience's mouth was agape with a few gasps yet nothing was said, therefore not allowing me to know why everyone was so shocked.

The one thing that allowed me to guess wasn't the item itself, but rather the gemstones that were embedded on the pair of gloves, backhand, and wrist area. The gloves were both long enough that they would reach an adult's middle forearm. They were black and had no fingers, making them closer resembling a finger glove rather than a gauntlet. The crystals and runes engraved on the wrist area were something I recognized from my sister's books as transformation/ disguise runes which only could see due to my 'Mana Vision' meaning everyone recognized the gloves for another reason

"Those are the Gauntlets I used when I was a royal mage. They are able to shrink and increase in size. You are able to change their size and shape as long as they keep their weight. They may be a little heavy for you since you're still young but they should be useful when you are older." My mom spoke out

Now the people who didn't know what they were looking at either gasped or stared at me with envy. Yet I was too happy to care and immediately put them on.

When I peeked up, I could see my once-shocked sister look at me with the most genuine smile I've ever seen, making me feel like the luckiest man/ woman on this planet. One thing I had a problem with getting accustomed to was my lack of male features, or more accurately, the addition of all my womanly features which were most likely going to become a hassle in the future.

I'm never going to need my breasts to breastfeed since I'm not planning on getting a family, especially with a man. Becoming homosexual was simply out of the question in this world too and I'm not one to complain about gender but I don't feel like I'm able to love a male the same way I could appreciate and love a female. Plus, even if I change my mind, I'm not sure if I'm able to become impregnated either, since my body/ anatomy doesn't work the same way as other humans, therefore, making everything from periods to a large chest not worth the hassle.

Back to the present, however, I looked around a bit more to see Zack look pissed off and glaring at my mom while Zarch, the quiet one, was looking at me with the same envy as everyone else, just a little less than those who aren't my family. I don't deserve to have a sister like Aroura and parents like my mother and father.

When I finally put the gloves on my mom looked a little hesitant and worried if it might be a little too heavy for me but when she saw I was fine she stopped worrying and just enjoyed my joy with me.

I changed the fingerless gloves that had shrunk down to the size of my hands into a bracelet made of silver with a blue gemstone within the middle of it and a red gemstone on the other side parallel to the blue one on my right hand.

On my left hand, I split the gemstones into two rings, one golden like my eyes and the other white. Instead of having the rings made of silver I just made them the same color as my rings to not make them stand out. I quickly got up and hugged my mother with the same intensity as my sister and kissed her on the hand before going back to the presents.

When the audience quieted down a little and the kids stopped whining, I picked up my final present which through the use of math, I could tell was from my father. As I slowly opened the present up, layer by layer, I could finally tell what it was.

When I finally opened the last wrap within the box, I saw the shiniest silvery metal I have ever seen within this life. It was a knife with a gemstone on its hilt and transformation runes more complex than my mother's one.

The note that I had to read out loud read "Since the first day you asked me to train you in weapon mastery, I decided on a little project for myself. Sorry, it took me so long but I had to work and train you but at least I was able to create it before your birthday. This is a weapon I made that allows you to carry any weapon. It can transform from a huge hammer to a short-sword of any weight you choose. I use a float spell to reduce the weight of it whenever you choose to. When you imprint it with the simple mana, I taught you how to use it, no one will be able to use its features.

Love, Dad x"

The people seemed more surprised by the fact I could read rather than what I said when reading, but those who had focused started to gasp and chat with each other.

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! How could you give your youngest child both a battle Gauntlet and a Weapon? Are you not scared they can hurt themselves?" said the women from the James family, who I had forgotten the name of.

"Laura, please calm down and there is no need to shout," said Aunt Elaina

Oh, so that's her name, well I don't care because I'm about to forget it in a few minutes anyway. How do I keep forgetting their name so easily even though my memory is close to perfect?

"How can you call yourselves parents?" James' mother said

This Lauroon woman seems to have chosen 'annoying background character when she made her avatar/ character'.

"Miss Lau- Laurain? Sorry, but this is our own family business so may you stay out of it" I said with a smile that looked normal to anyone other than Laur-Laur.... uh, James' mother. To her, it would look like something you would see from the movie 'Shucky' or something.

"CHILD YOU DARE SPEAK BA-" her voice seemed to have faded as fast as it had come. Right now, she was feeling something that had probably haunted her since the picnic party we had a few years ago. I now had a good idea on how to emit killing intent but not fully control it. I needed a small push to be able to control it and she gave me that in her annoying nature.

I controlled the killing intent to go only towards her, I could tell everyone felt tensed up for a second but they didn't know why. Due to my enhanced vision from the constant elemental breathing and digestion I had enhanced my normal senses to quite a high level that I would only compare to cats.

I could see every hair on her body react to the killing intent which was concentrated on her before her soul flame shrunk and dimmed as if it was trying to go unnoticed. Her face went pale as her entire body seemed to want to sweat profusely. Her fight-or-flight instincts took over as she slowly retreated. Before she knew it, she had hit the wall at the back of the house. I don't know why since I had stopped emitting killing intent a while ago and the fact I looked more confused than everyone else threw the little suspicion some had out of the window.

"M-monster" She whimpered to the dismay and shame to the rest of her family that were present

"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't want to scare you but I was just trying to say that this is between me and my family. Mommy told me it's not nice to call people monsters too so please don't call me that. it will make me s-sad" I said while stuttering in fear and tearing up.

"How could you make the girl cry on her birthday?!" said a man who had taken the bait.

"Picking on children now?! Do you not have any shame?!" said a woman who was moved by the fact I had started to cry

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, THESE IDIOTS TOOK THE BAIT, AND NOW THAT B*TCH AND HER FAMILY WILL PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID TO MY SISTER THAT DAY!

Honestly, though, this is barely a scratch. When I have enough power, I will bring their whole family down on their heads and torture them to the point ill make hell seem like a wet dream.

After a bit of arguing and "consolation" that took place, the party had finally ended and the Fleming family left in a worse condition than they were on the picnic we were in last time.

For the rest of the night, I couldn't hold my laughter in at the fact that I had destroyed their social standing, unfortunately temporarily, and made them feel so much shame that they left before everyone else.

My parents seemed to worry about my mental state while my sister couldn't stop laughing with me every time we recalled the events.