Silas and Lochras neared the house. Not a single word was exchanged between the two of them, but while Lochras held a serious expression, Silas looked around with a certain level of child-like wonder.
Even though he didn’t act like a child often, but he might as well act like one now, right? It would probably make the conversation a lot easier if he acted like he didn’t know why the thing he did was wrong.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” A blood-curdling shriek entered their ears. While Lochras was alarmed and confused, Silas instantly knew what was happening. After all, it wasn’t a sound he wasn’t familiar with.
‘Pregnant women going through contractions tend to sound the same…’ Silas thought with a sigh.
“Mother is giving birth.” He announced, making his father’s heart instantly drop. Silas could see panic fester in his heart. From the way he was reacting, you’d think it was his first.
“Its too early though.” Lochras’ voice quivered.
“You get Diveen; I’ll care for Mom, okay?” Silas ordered calmly; however, his father was too stressed to care about Silas’ odd calmness.
For some reason, he didn’t doubt that Silas would be capable of taking care of Rhea. He didn’t know why that was the case, but just like everything else, it could wait.
Without another second of hesitation, he turned around and began to run toward the town where she would most likely be supporting the town guards, protecting the town from any stray beasts that might have wandered away from the main beast horde.
‘From he screams, I’m assuming she’s pretty close to giving birth. Father probably had anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour to bring Diveen. Every birth is different. I remember taking several hours to be birthed, or at least that’s the story my mother keeps telling me.’ Silas scratched his chin before using water and air magic on himself to clean himself up.
He quickly used a purge spell on his hands as well. Sure, it didn’t make him feel as clean as when he used hand soap, but the purge spell killed most harmful germs not only on the surface of his body, but also in his body.
It was one of the reasons why he never got sick since coming to this world. Of course, the evolution blessing also had a play in that.
Pushing the door inwards, Silas fixed his hair and announced-
“I’m home!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
“What a nice greeting.” He smiled. He knew that he was probably the reason why she was giving birth early. All the stress about him going missing must have forced her into labor.
‘I hope this doesn’t scar me.’ Silas sighed. He was a trained physician. He had helped in one or two births during his student years.
Without saying a word or acknowledging the presence of anyone else in the room, Silas sanitized the place with a few purge spells and began to help out with the pregnancy.
Rhea was wearing a long gown and lay on the ground, screaming for dear life, even though her screams did lower when she saw Silas. It was as if a wave of calmness had hit her the moment she saw he son safe and sound.
On the other hand, Silas barely saw Syra at his side, who was looking at him with widened eyes as he weaved spells into thin air. She could also see his eyes glowing bright green as he analyzed their mother.
He had already thought of a plan. He knew exactly what he was going to tell his father when he starts getting interrogated.
He cast as many spells as possible on the baby to ensure it didn’t have any of the side effects of early birth. Of course, he didn’t actually know any spells that were specifically for early births, but he just winged it and used revitalization, purge, and healing spells.
It wasn’t long until she gave birth to the baby, and by the time Silas cut the umbilical core and ensured it was healthy, Lochras had already returned, with Diveen running behind him.
‘So it’s a boy, huh…’ Silas thought without much emotion. He didn’t know how he was supposed to be feeling, but he didn’t really feel anything at the moment.
The baby was a little underweight, but surprisingly enough, it was mostly fine. It cried pretty easily, and the birth didn’t take nearly as long as his did.
‘Maybe I used too many spells on him?’ Silas thought, looking at the weight of the baby. It had blonde hair, but since its eyes were closed, he couldn’t really tell what color they were.
Silas simply walked to the bathroom and washed his hands.
And just like that, a week passed by in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Keira had returned a few hours after the birth. She was a little angry that she didn’t get to witness it firsthand like she had done every other time Rhea had given birth, but eventually, she got over it and began to take care of the baby just like everyone else in the family.
Diveen had told them that the baby was perfectly healthy for one that was born a little more than 2 months early.
No one had asked Silas about anything, and Silas hadn’t really left the house since the baby appeared. He assumed the reason they didn’t ask him about anything was the fact that they simply didn’t have that much time on their hands anymore.
Rhea was still exhausted and spent more time in bed than when he was born.
His father was also exhausted, but he knew that it wasn’t the real reason why he hadn’t asked him about what happened in the forest. Lochras was not in the right mind to ask any questions.
However, on the seventh day, Silas’ grandmother took him for a walk early in the morning. They weren’t walking toward Uladia; he could tell that much. It was more like they were walking toward the east of Uladia, where the forest lay in its full glory.
‘I wonder if she’ll kill me and bury me in the forest now that I have a new brother.’ Silas chuckled to himself.
They hadn’t chosen a name for him yet, and they didn’t really seem to like Silas’ suggestions. Plus, they looked really mad at him for some reason, so maybe that was part of it?
‘What’s wrong with the name Alexdromidarex.’ Silas sighed.
“Do you know why I’ve brought you with me today?” Keira asked, her tone grim and serious for once.
‘They only ask me that question when they want me to tell them more than they already know.’ Silas thought before smiling-
“Nope.”
“Let me ask you a question then.” She sighed and halted her steps. Silas walked a few steps before realizing and turning around.
Looking into his eyes, Silas saw a purple hue leave his grandmother’s body and expand outwards, encapsulating him in the dome of amethyst mist as her eyes bored into his.
“Silas… Are you a mage?” She asked.
“…” Silas narrowed his eyes.
What the hell was that purple mist? He couldn’t really feel a change in his body and flow of thoughts… Maybe it was some kind of lie detector? Did his grandmother have a blessing he didn’t know about?
‘Oh wait, I’ve read about this once. I think this is what they call a magical aura? It made entirely out of someone’s own mana and is secreted through the pores. Apparently, you can only do it in the amethyst core, and it is one of the things that lay the foundation for long-distance spell casting inside the sapphire core. Neat.’ Silas thought as his interest piqued.
“Silas… Answer my question.” She asked while increasing the pressure from her magic aura. Or at least she tried to.
While bloodlust and killing intent were more of a mind and soul-suppressing aura, a magical aura was a physically restraining one. It suppressed them until they kneeled before its user…
Of course, that was supposed to happen, but the moment the aura touched Silas, it passed right through his as if he wasn’t even there.
‘I wonder why she’s using it. Maybe she’s creating a spell under us? Is that why she brought her staff?’ Silas continued to stroke his chin before realizing that she asked him a question.
“What did you ask again? Uhhh… Oh yeah, you asked if I was a mage. Sure, what if I am a mage?” Silas asked with a polite smile that made Keira stumble back momentarily.
“Give your grandmother a straight answer.” A voice echoed from behind a nearby tree before Lochras walked out from behind it.
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