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- Seventh birthday (3)
Nineteen years old.
Sixteen years old.
Not really old.
But Arabella, the older sister, and Claire, the younger, were probably the most famous 19- and 16-year-olds in the entire Empire, maybe even the entire continent.
At the age of 19, Arabella opened a teleportation gate.
She had been collecting mana to travel long distances for almost a year, but teleportation gates required at least five chained mages to activate them.
A so-called magical genius.
The most remarkable talent in the Royal Altheon Academy.
My older sister, Arabella.
Similarly, Claire knew how to handle a wyvern by the time she was 16.
Wyverns were tricky summons that even mid-level summoners had trouble summoning at full power.
I had seen countless summoners collapse from exhaustion right on the battlefield after summoning one.
But my sister had not only summoned one, she had maintained it, flying all the way from the distant academy on the back of a wyvern.
Similarly…
She was a genius who was highly regarded at the academy alongside her older sister.
“Miss Arabella can already open teleportation gates, and Miss Claire flew on a wyvern…”
“Ha-ha! How many blessings has the Sogress family received this time?”
Envious looks were everywhere.
And my story was part of it.
“Do you remember when Young Lord Dane turned one? All the artifacts our family displayed reacted!”
“Perhaps the greatest talent is Young Lord Dane himself.”
The murmur of people gathering around with activated mana cores filled my ears, each word like a resounding spark of magical and summoning power colliding.
I tried to control it, but it wasn’t easy with my young body.
But it wasn’t a story I didn’t want to hear.
I heard my father chuckling.
“After raising my daughters, they only send me a single letter on my birthday, but for their siblings’ birthdays, they summon wyverns and open teleportation gates…”
Of course, while he was saying that, he was genuinely happy and beaming when the elder and second sisters appeared in the area.
“Arabella, Claire.”
I called to my sisters.
But soon I stepped back.
Each of them held something in their hands and rushed toward me.
Fire sparks flew and the mana of mages and summoners clashed as they rushed over.
As if they were the first.
“Dane!”
And without anyone saying it first, they arrived and extended gifts to me.
The fire still glimmered in their eyes.
I knew well how to calm them down.
“Thank you, sisters. Thank you for coming all the way to celebrate my birthday.”
As I accepted both gifts at once, smiles graced my sisters’ faces.
“Happy birthday, Dane!”
“Happy birthday, sincerely, Dane.”
“I’m sincere too!”
Although they were still children from my previous life’s perspective, in this body, they were elder sisters who endlessly showered me with boundless love.
“Unwrap them quickly!”
How many gifts would I receive today?
I returned with my sisters to the end of the banquet hall.
All eyes were on me.
I began unwrapping the gift my elder sister had given me first.
Inside was a ring.
“A spatial pocket! I designed it myself! Of course, spatial magic is a top-tier chain magic, and our professors personally imbued it!”
Thanks to the lectures from my elder sister since I was a newborn, I knew well how challenging it was to imbue magic into objects, especially spatial magic.
But what was even more challenging was designing the artifact to accommodate the magic to be imbued.
And to think that it was designed with the idea of someone else imbuing the magic…
“Try it on, Dane. By the way, it’s an artifact that I’ve applied your genetic code to, so only you can use it. It’s one of a kind in the world!”
I tried on the ring.
It fit perfectly and was even beautiful.
It had even considered aesthetics, with a silver ring adorned with a blue gem.
Seeing the faint waves, it was undoubtedly a top-grade mana stone.
As soon as I infused mana, something amazing happened.
The space in front of my left hand, where the ring sat, split open to create a small opening.
“How is it, Dane? The era of pocket-type spatial pockets is over!”
Indeed, a spatial pocket was a pocket.
That’s why it was called a pocket.
It looked like a regular pocket, but when mana was infused, it activated the assigned spatial area and connected it to the pocket’s entrance.
“Just infuse mana into the ring, and voilà! Put your hand in and take it out whenever you want! No need to bother taking the pocket out and opening the entrance anymore.”
My elder sister wore a proud and proud expression.
It was an incredibly innovative item.
And my sister designed it.
And without anyone saying anything, they came and gave me gifts.
The fire was still in their eyes.
I knew how to reassure them.
“Thank you, sisters. Thank you for coming all this way to celebrate my birthday.”
As I accepted both gifts at once, smiles graced my sisters’ faces.
“Happy birthday, Dane!”
“Happy birthday, sincerely, Dane.”
“I’m sincere too!”
Although they were still children from the perspective of my previous life, in this body they were older sisters who showered me with boundless love.
“Unwrap them quickly!”
How many presents would I receive today?
I returned to the end of the banquet hall with my sisters.
All eyes were on me.
I began to unwrap the gift that my elder sister had given me first.
Inside was a ring.
“A space bag! I designed it myself! Of course, spatial magic is a high-level chain magic, and our professors personally imbued it!”
Thanks to my elder sister’s lectures since I was a newborn, I was well aware of how difficult it was to imbue objects with magic, especially spatial magic.
But what was even more difficult was designing the artifact to accommodate the magic to be imbued.
And to think that it was designed with the idea that someone else would imbue it with magic…
“Try it on, Dane. By the way, it’s an artifact that I’ve imbued with your genetic code, so only you can use it. It’s unique in the world!”
I tried on the ring.
It fit perfectly and was even beautiful.
It had even paid attention to aesthetics, with a silver ring adorned with a blue gem.
Looking at the faint ripples, it was undoubtedly a high-quality mana stone.
As soon as I injected the mana, something amazing happened.
The space in front of my left hand, where the ring was, split open, creating a small opening.
“How is it, Dane? The era of pocket-type spatial pockets is over!”
In fact, a spatial pocket was a pocket.
That’s why it was called a pocket.
It looked like a regular pocket, but when mana was infused into it, it activated the associated spatial region and connected it to the pocket’s entrance.
“Just infuse mana into the ring, and voila! Put your hand in and take it out whenever you want! No need to take the bag out and open the entrance anymore.”
My elder sister wore a proud expression.
It was an incredibly innovative thing.
And my sister designed it.
“Thank you, sister… But can I really have this?”
“Who else would I give it to if not you, Dane? By the way, I went through a lot to make it! So you have to appreciate it, you know?”
I nodded.
It was a perfect gift.
A spatial pocket.
In my previous life, I had seen some nobles, commanders or mages using them, but I had never actually used one.
And now I would use it.
“Oh! By the way, the ring grows with your growth! It will get thinner and thinner, but it will be enough until our youngest sister grows up. Actually, I hope our youngest will stay small for a long time…”
Ever since I was a newborn, my older sister had been overly fond of me.
“But our Dane still can’t use it, so later, make a mana core or a mana circle to control mana…”
As my sister continued to speak, I was already injecting mana into the ring.
“…so you can use it when you can control mana…”
Zzzt.
The ring vibrated slightly and the spatial pocket opened.
“…I was going to say you could use it, but…”
Suddenly, the ring glowed.
“…it seems my second sister is a genius as well?”
My sister beamed, as if she had known all along.
“Yes. I made a mana core.”
“I can’t believe she’s faster than me!”
The older sister was amazed, but she lowered her voice so no one else could hear.
“As expected from our youngest! Too bad it’s not a magic circle… but who cares? Our youngest is a genius! Who knows, she may end up possessing both a Core and a Circle!”
I could only smile.
Once again, as I expressed my gratitude, my second sister’s worried voice reached me.
“Dane… what about mine?”
I checked my second sister’s expression and almost burst out laughing.
Could she be worried that her gift would be overshadowed by her older sister’s amazing gift?
“Open mine too.”
“Okay.”
I quickly unwrapped my second sister’s present.
For a moment, I felt the sharp gaze of the older sister, but I pretended not to notice and examined the gift.
It was a glass case.
Inside was an egg.
“It’s not an egg!”
My second sister must have been surprised by my expression and still did not understand my reaction.
Could anyone expect to receive an egg as a birthday present?
I examined the egg.
The golden shell was dotted with red spots in various places.
I had never seen an egg like that before.
As absurd as it may sound, if this is indeed an egg, it must be an incredibly valuable one, considering how expensive such eggs can be.
At that moment, I realized that my second sister was a summoner.
“Sister, is that…?”
“It’s a familiar.”
The word ‘familiar’ reached my ears like a whisper, and my eyes widened.
I had been curious what kind of familiar it would be, but it was incredibly difficult to obtain.
Familiars were the result of summoners’ ‘mistakes’.
They were a very rare kind of mistake.
Summoned creatures were bound together by a complex process known only to summoners through a ‘code’, and very rarely did ‘mistakes’ occur during this process.
For example, another entity with a similar code to the intended summon could be summoned.
In this case, it would be the Egg.
And this egg was an incredibly rare and precious item, coveted not only by collectors and nobles, but even by the royal family.
The reason was that for some unknown reason, it would remain in this world even after the time of summoning had ended.
In other words, it would allow someone to permanently possess a summon from another dimension without the need for complex summoning rituals.
Even someone who was not a summoner could handle a familiar.
In this sense, my second sister had given me an incredibly valuable gift.
“No one else knows yet. Only you, Dane. So keep it a secret until it hatches, okay?”
“Okay, I will.”
I quickly covered the glass case with the wrapping paper and smiled brightly.
“Thank you, sister.”
My second sister finally smiled in return.
“It may take a while to hatch. In the meantime, be sure to infuse it with magic every morning and evening to familiarize it with you. Until it responds!”
Until it responds.
I wasn’t sure how long it would take, but I definitely had to make it hatch.
“Yes! I’ll do that. But sister, isn’t this too precious? I’m really grateful, but I feel it would be more useful for you.”
I was sincere.
The gift was appreciated, but this really was a precious item.
Especially from the perspective of a summoner like my sister, it must be a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
However, my second sister shook her head firmly.
“It’s useless if you don’t accept it.”
And then my second sister looked at my elder sister proudly as if she had won.
The elder sister pretended not to notice, but her hand was shaking.
“Sneaky…”
Ah, I should settle this before the sisters start fighting.
“Thank you, both of you.”
It was only when I saw the smiles return to my silly sisters’ faces that I could finally feel relieved.
By the way, what about the wyvern and the teleportation gate?
“Kyaaa!”
“Hey! You fool! Don’t go in there! It’s a gate that could lead anywhere! Someone stop them!”
My second sister finally rushed to dismiss the wyvern, and the older sister quickly waved her hand to block access to the gate.
“It’s nice to see the two sisters together, isn’t it?”
Suddenly, Mother came over and patted me on the head.
“Yes, Mother. I’m so happy.”
“Mother is very happy too. Your father is also happy.”
The whole family was together.
The party was about to begin.
“Our little princesses said they couldn’t come, but they came anyway and made us happy, didn’t they?”
Father looked rather disappointed.
The elder and younger sisters clung to Father, surprised by his sudden appearance.
“Oops, Father! Are you all right?”
“Father!”
I saw Father’s slightly regretful expression and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
In the midst of it all, my eyes met Leila’s.
She looked extremely jealous.
It wasn’t just that I was receiving gifts, it felt like something else.
A strange loneliness.
I could see it in her eyes.
TL/skyeaether
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