4th chapter-Rudy is three years old, and has recently learned the names of his family; Paul Greirad, Zenith Greirad, and that his own name is Redeusu Greirad(although his nickname is Rudy). He has taken to carrying the magic textbook everywhere, but he hides the fact that he can read it. He doesn't know how magic is received in this world. The fact that there is a textbook at all speaks well of it, but he worries it will be taken from him if they find out he is practicing with it. He doesn't want to inhibit his growth. His MP has increased, and he is ready to start learning intermediate water magic. He chants Water Gun, and fails to account for its power(he blows a hole in the wall). He ends up with an "oh shit" moment, and his parents run to him when they hear the noise. He thinks the game is up, and tries to apologize. Contrary to what he thinks, Zenith is very happy and thinks her son is a genius. Rudy thinks she is exaggerating like all parents do, because he is much older than he appears. Zenith says to get a tutor right away to expand his talent, but Paul is against it because there was some kind of agreement between the two that he could train his son to be a swordsman. They argue a bit. Rudy gets a little fed up with it and suggests that he learn magic in the morning and swordsmanship in the afternoon. The duo put in a request for a live-in tutor with the local adventurer's guild, and get Roxy. Rudy was expecting an old granny and was surprised to find a cute girl was his tutor. Roxy thinks the parents are idiots and over-reacting to a little talent, but agrees to teach. Roxy demonstrates water ball and damages one of Zenith's trees. She is embarrassed but manages to fix the tree with intermediate healing magic. She tries to get Rudy to cast it as well, but he has been doing it with no-chant for so long he forgot the chant. He figures out too late to adjust his water bombs to a more normal size. He doesn't want her to sulk. In the end he makes them the size of basketballs and reveals he can forgo the chant. Roxy finally figures that its not all talk by two over-eager parents and decides to go at it seriously. Unfortunately, Rudy's water ball destroys the tree again and this time Zenith finds out. Roxy tries to pin the blame on the 3-year old Rudy, but Zenith wasn't having it. One day on the job and she's already screwed up, leading her to be depressed. Luckily Rudy manages to cheer her up, and they get back to business. It switches to the afternoon training with Paul. Since there is no practice sword for someone his size, Paul has him doing basic physical conditioning. He can't train for long at this point, so he mostly does it after he has exhausted his MP for the day. We find out MP consumption increases dramatically when the scale is increased, but also when the scale is small and intricate. He decides to focus on finesse at this point, and there is some examples. He also finds that using magic from 2 different systems at the same time increases consumption by three times or more. He starts to get a little complacent, but rebukes himself with his resolution to do all that he can. It cuts to night-time with Rudy being really annoyed. Evidently his parents are doing the horizontal tango and he is forced to listen to it. He wants a sibling, and he is happy for them, but he doesn't want to listen to it. He decides to go play a prank on them by pretending to be an innocent kid. Unfortunately he finds a previous visitor, evidently Roxy heard them too. Awkwardness ensues and Rudy pretends he didn't see her. It skips four months, and Rudy has mastered all the intermediate attack magic. Roxy is a good teacher and he finds her classes interesting. He asks her why all this magic is focused on attacking, and she answers that in most cases tools are more convenient. Not everyone can skip the chant like he can. He has also learned the principles of healing magic, but Roxy doesn't know any summoning magic to teach him. There is a small history lesson about how her people came to be, which I don't feel like going through. Evidently weird hair colors are a characteristic of her race, and Roxy has been troubled her hair can seem green under the right shading. Green is a characteristic color of a tribe of Asmodians with a bad reputation. Rudy assures her that her hair is pretty, ect. Rudy uses his innocent child look to jokingly tell her he likes her. Roxy tells him to try again in 10 years. Rudy thinks to himself that he just hit a flag(lol). Anyway, the green-haired tribe are called Superudos(not sure on this), and they have a red gem on their forehead. Roxy tell him to watch out for them. This will be relevant later. It skips to a year having passed, and Rudy has mastered attack magic up to advanced in all types(with no-chant). He is interested in learning to make rain like Roxy can, but hasn't gotten to it yet. Evidently her making rain for the farmers has made her popular in the village nearby. He praises her and Roxy says she does it for the money. Rudy finds that wrong with his "Japanese morals", but admits his perspective is warped. He can afford to be idealistic because he has never had to support himself on his own. There is a bit about calling Roxy master/teacher. Its hard to make out but Roxy doesn't want to be called that. Rudy is clearly more powerful than her at this point, but he doesn't see this as a reason not to call her teacher. She admits that even she is a little jealous of his talent. Rudy thinks she is a little childish and that not everything can be learned from a book. She is the teacher to him.
5th chapter-Rudy has just turned 5 and is having a birthday party. Evidently birthdays aren't celebrated every year in this world, but every 5 years, with 15 being the age of adulthood. His father gets him a real full-sized sword and a wooden one his size. Zenith takes the real one away for the moment, but its the thought that counts. He gets a plant dictionary from his mother, detailing which are poisonous or safe to eat, ect. He also gets a beginner's magic rod/staff from Roxy. Evidently it is standard to give to disciples when they start out, but Rudy never needed one. It acts as an amp for magic. He is sorta way beyond beginner at this point, but again its the thought that is appreciated. The next day he starts training with the sword in earnest. Evidently maces and axes are used by only a small minority, and spears are only used by Superudos(and hence anathema). Paul demonstrates cutting through rock, and Rudy thinks that it is impossible. He comes to guess that the swordsmen in this world are instinctively using some kind of body-strengthening magic, as well as increasing durability of their weapons. He finds that he can't replicate it since even Paul doesn't seem to know how he does it. There is a description of the three major schools of swordsmanship, but those are already covered earlier in the thread. He struggles with these lessons, and Paul worries that he finds it unpleasant. Rudy answers that its not a matter of disliking it, and that he wants to be good at both. Magic just comes easier to him. This is where they really start building their father-son relationship. It cuts to Rudy learning mixed-system magic. Evidently if you combine spells you can get different effects. It's much like science. He manages to make a small raincloud using it, and wonders at the possible effects. There's a bit about magic universities, with the largest being Ranoa University. Roxy graduated there despite discrimination against Asmodians. Rudy is skilled enough at this point to attend, but being 5 years old it would be a little ridiculous. There is a bit about Rudy's dream to be a magic swordsman, with Roxy telling him he is ready to graduate from her teaching.
6th chapter-The chapter starts with Rudy thinking about never having left the house. The furthest he has gone is the garden. He has some serious trauma from being hit by a car and a distrust of people in general. He thinks that his life could turn to hell in an instant, and that he could wake up from his current happy dream. He knows that it is reality, but the body won't follow through. Roxy says that she is going to hold his graduation examination out beyond the village. Rudy nearly freezes, but she thinks he is just afraid of the horse(which she finds age-appropriate). His pride can't take that and he is talked into getting on the horse. There is some further unintentional reverse psychology and they head off. He gets tense when they meet the villagers, but is encouraged by the friendliness they show Roxy. He starts to wonder why he was worried in the first place, and asks questions about the village. He tries to hold a conversation, because Roxy is leaving the day after, but can't think of anything clever to say. So he mostly just listens to her descriptions. They pass through and head to a grassland area to do the test, which is replicating the St. class water magic Cumulonimbus. It generates heavy rain and thunder, which is why they couldn't do it near anybody else. He needs to not only replicate it, but keep it going for an hour. It takes Roxy over a minute just to chant the thing to demonstrate, and she almost accidentally hits Rudy with lightning(she does hit the horse,but manages to heal it). She screwed up again and starts to get depressed, but Rudy promises not to tell(see a pattern here?). He gets ready for his attempt while Roxy prepares an earth wall to protect her and the horse. He manages, but decides to add a twist based on something he saw on TV. He makes a tornado to contain the spell and keep it from going out of control, making it self-sustaining. Roxy sees what he did and pronounces him St. class without even waiting the hour. It skips to the next day with Roxy preparing to leave. Everybody comes to say goodbye to her, and she decides to continue her journey to improve her magic. Evidently being caught up to in skill by a 5-year old was a shock. She warns Rudy about hubris, and apologizes for being an inadequate teacher. He says there is no such thing, and she leaves him a necklace that proves him a friend to her tribe/race. He cries and goes outside. He thanks her silently for healing his trauma, which is what he will remember her for. There is also a humorous tidbit where he forgets to return some pantiess he stole from her, oops. Yes, Rudy is a bit of a pervert.
2014-02-07, 09:50
My Heart is Pocky
