3013 Story of My Life (Part 1)
"Also, while we wait for your bodies and mana cores to develop enough to use chore magic, you can ask Uncle Trion to train you." Lith said and his older brother bit his fork along with his food and swallowed both in surprise.
"He was a drill Sergeant in the army and trained a lot of famous soldiers."
"Is it true, Uncle Trion?" Now the kids looked at him in admiration.
"No." He said, taken by surprise. "I mean, yes. You are too young for any kind of physical training but I can teach you footwork and meditation techniques to hold your focus longer. They will help you in your future studies."
As the triplets pestered Senton and Trion to find time for them in their daily schedule, the Demon thanked Lith via the black chains connecting them.
'Thanks. It's nice to be seen for once.' Trion patted the children's heads, telling them stories from his time in the military. 'I know how much you dislike me so I'm even more grateful for your kindness.'
'Don't be ridiculous. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for them.' Only then did Trion notice how happy Elina and Raaz were.
They had stopped eating and talking, covering their mouths with a hand. The sight of their family happy and united again had veiled their eyes with tears.
'And for her.' Elysia smiled and giggled at her uncle. 'I don't want to drag my daughter in my grudges. I love them more than I despise you. That's all.'
'Then you deserve my thanks even more than I thought. Thank you.' Trion nodded.
The telepathic conversation was just over when Rena threw a breadcrumb at Lith to draw his attention. She mouthed the words 'thank you' and her eyes were misted with tears as well but for egotistical reasons.
Now that the kids had something to do outside the house, she would finally have five minutes for herself. The triplets would be too tired to trample everything in their path and teaching them discipline would make them easier to educate.
"What about me?" Tista grumbled, feeling left out.
"There's nothing for you. I'm sorry." Lith shook his head. "They can't shapeshift and magic is off the table. You can tell them stories of the academy, if you want."
The rest of the breakfast passed with the triplets discussing all the things they wanted to do and making impossible training plans that would require days to be at least 48 hours long.
"Uncle Lith, when can we get our own magical beasts?" They had almost forgotten about it since Onyx and Abominus now ate at the table in their human form with the rest of the family.
"Depends. Are you going to take care of them or do you want them to take care of you?" Lith's serious gaze and stern expression made the triplets understand the importance of the question.
Falco, Teryon, and Lenart huddled up, whispering for a while before agreeing on the answer.
"Both." Falco replied and the other two nodded. "We'll take care of them as we can and we'll follow their instructions."
"Good answer. I'll bring you to the Trawn woods for your fourth birthday and let you have your pick." Lith's words made the kids and Rena erupt with cheers.
"Thank the gods." She said.
Magical beasts were a pet, a friend, a bodyguard, and a full-time nanny at the same time. Sure, they ate a lot, but they were worth their weight in meat. Ever since Leria had got Abominus, Rena felt much safer letting her daughter walk alone.
Also, a magical beast could counter dangerous magical pranks with their spells and keep a child safe whenever they put themselves in danger. They weren't blind followers and wouldn't hesitate to warn the parents when a kid misbehaved.
The reason the triplets didn't already have one was that magical beasts didn't deal well with unreasonable runts. They would treat them like unruly pups but small bites and roars would traumatize a toddler.
Also, Lith believed that since they were potential lifelong friends, a magical beast had to be sought and earned, not gifted.
He wanted the children to be old enough to understand that others had feelings too and deserved respect.
"How long until our birthday?" Falco asked.
"I don't know." Teryon looked at the calendar just to realize she couldn't read or count.
"Dad?" Lenart asked, receiving an appalling answer.
The news that they had to wait for over a year was the only sour note of that day.
***
Later, that day, after finishing her magical and physical training with Selia, Kamila took a long hot shower and went to Elysia's room.
'I can't believe Lith followed this grueling routine for years and now I have to do the same.' She sighed. 'I don't get why everyone dislikes Accumulation. When I nurture my mana core, it is the only moment I'm not sweating bullets or burning my brain to weave mana.
'Compared to the rest, it's like taking a break.'
Selia shared Kamila's feelings from the depth of her heart.
Unlike Kamila, the huntress had never practiced chore magic due to her red core so even after Awakening, she needed sheer willpower to make the elements answer her call.
The cantrips that Lith had used as a child to clean her house came as easy as tier five spells to her. On top of that, Selia was in a rush to refine her core because she was still physically slower and weaker than her children.
When Fenrir walked away in a tantrum, she could easily drag the huntress if Selia tried to hold onto the little girl.
'I need to see my baby girl's beautiful smile to remind myself of the reason I have to endure so much suffering.' Much to Kamila's surprise the nursery was empty.
Since the alarms were active, there were no traces of blood, and the power cells of the plasma cannons of the Doomslayer crib were fully charged, no intruder had walked into the room.
'Lith must have taken her.' Kamila pondered. 'To think that when Bytra installed those things I found them unsettling. Now they put me at ease.'
She needed one thought to access the Mirror Warp of the tower and another to check the holographic interface and locate Lith. According to the tower, he was in his Forge on the first underground flood.
Elysia, Valeron, Surin, and the triplets were with him.
'Why the Forge? There's no way Lith would craft something without Solus and she was training Selia and me.' Yet the delicate balance Forgemastering spells required and the presence of the children drove her to caution.
Instead of Warping there and risking ruining hours of hard work, Kamila walked her way down to the Forgemastering lab.
Much to her surprise, despite the perfect insulation every room of the tower was supposed to have, she could hear everything through the door.
'Don't go in! You'll ruin everything.' A strong hand grabbed Kamila's shoulder while another covered her mouth in an iron grip.
'Solus, you scared the hell out of me! What the fuck is-' To answer her question, Solus turned the door into a one-way mirror so that she could see inside without being seen.
