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n“This boy shall be the pride and joy of the Duke household of Leonard Alphonse Sereth. Thus, as the child, Jared, is brought forth, I shall perform the ‘Quickening’ ceremony.” The priest said.

nCrap! O crap!

nMy mother smiled, giggling excitedly under her breath as she took a few steps forward. As her body swerved elegantly while approaching the priest, my mind went into overdrive as I began to think of ways in which I could escape from my predicament.

n‘If he finds out I have already been quickened, what’s going to happen then?’

nMost likely, I would be labeled as a genius or something, and the news would eventually reach far and wide. As one who nearly got assassinated a while back, such attention was not something I desired at the moment.

n‘Until I’m old enough to protect myself… I can’t let anyone know about my secrets!’

nThe priest brought his hands closer to me while giving me a happy smile. He must have had good intentions, but from my perspective, he appeared to be a personification of evil.

n‘No, stay away… stop it!’ I wailed internally.

n“Don’t worry, young Jared. It won’t hurt at all.” The priest spoke in a soothing tone, stretching his hands towards me.

nHe must have sensed my unease and thought of what to say in order to console me. This man was… a Liar!

n‘As one who invented the technique, I know it is painful. Why would such an esteemed man of such status tell a lie? I don’t trust him!’

nOf course, I knew this was just my irrational mind speaking. He didn’t seem in any way malevolent. Plus, my parents would never employ someone with suspicious intentions to perform such an important ceremony, especially after my attempted assassination.

nHUMMMMMM

nI felt a vibrating sensation as the priest placed his hands on my body. My skin tingled, and I could somewhat sense the faint mana on his palm.

nGulp

nThere was nothing I could do, so I merely waited while accepting my fate…

nSuddenly, an idea sparked into my head.

n‘Yes! That’s it!’

nAs the Priest began materializing his mana, preparing to insert it into my body, a small smile formed on my face. I closed my eyes and became in touch with my body, as well as the little mana particles within it.

n‘Once he inserts his mana, my particles will be in a state of excitement for a moment. This will allow me to absorb more particles and form my core faster!’ I beamed.

nThere was nothing I could do to hide the fact that I had already been ‘Quickened’, but at least I could obtain some benefits from this Priest inserting his mana into me.

n“Be quickened, little one… and obtain the power of mana!”

nZTTTZZZZZZ!

nMy body buzzed as I felt the strange mana entering my very being. As expected, my particles glowed brighter and became larger in mass.

n‘Thanks for the meal!’

nInstantly, I began attracting the excited particles into the spot where my core was forming. The tiny light fragments rapidly rushed toward the spot, nearly flustering me.

n‘Incredible! To think it would be this effective!’ I beamed internally.

nI kept doing the best I could to concentrate the particles and draw all the particles into the position of my forming core.

n50 particles… 70 particles… 130 particles… 200 particles… 300…. 450… 540… 650…

nThe particles kept rushing toward my core, all within minutes. I surpassed what I would normally be able to achieve in an entire day within mere minutes!

nAs expected, the merits of meditation even during this ceremony were worth it.

nThe Priest’s faint glow of mana suddenly ceased, and he removed his hands from my body. I could feel his eyes looking at me with surprise, but I kept mine shut to avoid any scary gaze I would find.

n‘Ah, here it comes… I’m busted!’

n“The Quickening… is successful!” The Priest suddenly remarked.

n“Your child has mana. Congratulations, Milady.”

n‘E-eh?’

nI was stunned by the statement of the Priest, but before I had any chance to think this through, my head was bombarded with deafening sounds of hands clapping.

nThe noise was so much that I was forced to open my eyes. What I saw was amazing.

nThe whole guests present were standing, clapping their hands together and looking at me with wonder and pride in their eyes.

nI did see some disgruntled faces and some stoic ones, but the majority expressed genuine happiness about what had just occurred.

n‘Is the ‘Quickening’ ceremony that special?’ I asked myself.

nSniff… Sniff A sudden sound came from above me.

n‘No way. Is that…?’

nI raised my head and saw my mother’s face. She had tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at me with pride. Her joy was overflowing, appearing to be boundless.

nWhy was she looking so excited and happy? Wasn’t this just a normal ceremony among nobles? Was there something significant in this?

n‘The Priest didn’t even seem to notice that I had already been ‘Quickened’, so there should be nothing special about this…’

n“My child, you have magic. Finally… we have a Magic-User in our household.” My mother smiled at me, drawing me even closer to her as she hugged me.

nI felt a light tap on my face as her tears dropped on me. Her body trembled, and I heard more sniffs coming from her.

n‘Oh boy… I wasn’t expecting this!’

n“Jared Leonard Alphonse Sereth has successfully been ‘Quickened’, thus marks the birth of the first Magic-User of the Duke Household in over two Centuries. Truly, a star has been born.”

nAt this point, silence filled the hall, and the priest stepped back from the stage, leaving the middle area vacant.

nMy mother began walking to the center, carrying me with elegance. Since I wasn’t used to the new customs of these people, I merely went with the flow as a baby should.

nOnce she reached the center of the stage, my mother tightly grasped me and raised my tiny body up, showing me to everyone present.

nIt felt weird, looking at everyone present from a high pedestal and being lifted by my mother’s slender arms. I was a little embarrassed.

n“Cheers to my beloved son, the pride and joy of the Leonard Household! Cheers to Jared Leonard!” She declared.

nInstantly, the audience gave a roaring response, nearly blowing my eardrums.

n“CHEERS TO JARED LEONARD!!!”

nAnd so, held up in the air by my mother, watched by the guests, maids, and priest, even I became overwhelmed with emotion.

nEven though I knew it was impossible, my body moved without prior thoughts in order to render my gratitude to everyone present.

nThank you, everyone. I’m happy you came.

nThanks, Priest. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.

nThank you, mom, for always being with me.

nThank you, maids… for making life easy for me.

nAnd thank you, universe… for allowing me to be reborn!

nThings will definitely be different this time!

nWith quivering lips, my mouth flung open, and words came out to address everyone that had moved my heart.

n“Gueng Gu Guegywan!” (Thank You Everyone!)

nMy loud baby voice echoed across the cathedral, and for a moment everyone was stunned by my unintelligible words, myself included.

n‘Oof… what did I expect to sound like?’

nMy face turned red with embarrassment as I wished the earth could swallow me at that moment.

nHowever, the response of everyone made me feel the shame even more. Yep, that’s right. They all said-

n“Awwwwwwwwww!!!”

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