Since Kyota had hidden himself from his sister and avoided her for days, Ayame had punched him more times than he could count.
And because Kyota couldn't reveal his strength yet, he just stood there and took it, letting the fists rain down like a guilty man accepting his sentence.
Later that evening, as he sat at the dining table bruised and battered, Aqua rushed over and kneeled beside him.
"Kyota, my little boy, how did you get injured so badly? Are you alright?" she asked, her hands already glowing as she used healing magic on him.
Kyota stayed quiet, offering only a small nod.
He figured that was safer than explaining the real reason.
Meanwhile, Raito, standing nearby, let out a hearty laugh.
"That's my boy! Taking punches without crying. You'll be a fine man someday!" he said proudly, smacking Kyota lightly on the back.
Kyota smiled to himself.
Having a family... it really was something precious.
As the feast was laid out on the table, Ayame tried to dig in, thinking no one would notice.
But Aqua caught her instantly with a sharp look.
"Not so fast young lady. Go take a bath first," she ordered.
Ayame pouted but didn't argue, stomping away like a sumo wrestler toward the bathroom.
Kyota chuckled under his breath, only to be caught in the crossfire when Aqua turned to him.
"And you too, mister. Should I say it to you specially?"
Raito, who moments ago was roaring with laughter, suddenly became very interested in a spot on the wall, he knew supporting Kyota was equal to Aqua taking Raito's head.
Kyota, knowing resistance was pointless, just nodded and went to clean up.
After the bath and a hearty dinner, Kyota snuck up to the rooftop with a magic book in his hands.
It was supposed to be the beginner's manual Aqua had given him to read... but as he flipped through the pages, his eyebrows slowly knitted together.
There was nothing basic about this book.
It contained forbidden spells—advanced techniques designed to unlock the deepest parts of a mage's mana.
He realized too late that he must have accidentally grabbed his mother's personal research notes.
Kyota hesitated for a moment.
Then curiosity, as always, won.
He started chanting softly.
"Mana Absorption. Extended Elemental Combination. Multiple Blades. Summon Hell Slayers."
As soon as the last word left his mouth, countless blades formed around him in massive magic circles, each blade humming with pure elemental power.
The dark sky lit up as if a second sun had risen.
In that instant, powerful mages far away in the Royal Capital snapped awake, sensing the sudden eruption of mana.
Kyota stood there, speechless, staring at the unbelievable magic swirling around him.
Then, without warning, his body swayed, and he collapsed backward, unconscious before he hit the ground.
The blades faded into nothingness, leaving only a quiet, empty rooftop.
The crash and surge of magic had not gone unnoticed.
Raito and Aqua burst out of the house, their faces tense.
There, they found Kyota lying on the ground just below the roof, his skin burning with fever.
Raito moved immediately, and carefully lifting his son into his arms.
Aqua watched silently, her eyes darting toward the rooftop where the magic had just faded.
How had Kyota survived a fall like that?
She didn't have time to think about it. They needed to treat him first.
As they brought Kyota inside, Ayame stumbled down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.
"Mother? What's going on?" she mumbled.
"Nothing, dear. Everything's fine. Go back to sleep," Aqua said gently.
Ayame yawned and nodded, heading back upstairs.
But Aqua's heart remained heavy.
That magical presence they had felt earlier… it couldn't possibly have been Kyota's, could it?
Raito entered the room, catching the worried look on her face.
"You can leave the worrying for tomorrow," he said, setting Kyota down carefully on the bed. "We'll figure it out later. Let's get some rest."
Aqua hesitated, then nodded.
Still, the question lingered in her mind.
The next morning, Kyota was already up, acting like nothing had happened.
If anything, he was even more energetic than usual.
Watching him run around, Raito crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
For a boy barely three years old, he moved a little too smoothly.
No hesitation, no imbalance — almost like a trained warrior.
Then he shook his head and sighed.
No... It had to be my imagination.
Later, Raito called both Ayame and Kyota outside for training.
"Let's do it!" Ayame cheered, bouncing with excitement.
Kyota followed along, a little more cautious.
He had a feeling his father had noticed something yesterday, and he didn't want to get caught slipping up again.
The training began simply: sparring practice.
Kyota immediately held back, making sure to let Ayame land a few clean hits.
When she managed to smack him square on the head, she jumped and whooped like she'd won a championship.
Kyota fell to the ground dramatically, silently applauding his own acting skills.
Raito, watching from the side, stepped forward and knelt next to Kyota.
"How did you manage to hold your sword in a perfect defensive stance?" he asked, voice low.
Kyota smiled innocently.
"From seeing your training, Father," he said.
Raito raised an eyebrow.
"You sure? That wasn't my style."
Kyota froze for half a second.
In his panic, he had fallen back into a classic defensive stance from his past life — a stance that didn't belong to this world, the one he learned in school, Kento, much less Raito's teaching.
But Raito only chuckled, ruffling his hair.
"You've been working hard lately. I can see you're learning how to dodge properly… even if you're pretending to get hit."
Kyota smiled, but inside he breathed a sigh of relief.
His father was sharp. Too sharp.
No wonder they called him the Lightning Slayer.
Later that day, as Kyota was getting a drink, he noticed Aqua frantically searching around the house.
"What are you looking for, Mother?" he asked.
"Oh, just… a very important paper," she said quickly, waving her hand.
Kyota narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Before he could ask more, Ayame popped in and grabbed him.
"Come on, Kyota! Let's race!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.
Kyota smiled and agreed.
They took off, running across the fields.
Halfway through, Kyota suddenly sensed something strange.
A dark, heavy mana pressure from the nearby forest.
He quickly challenged Ayame to a second race, this time steering them toward the mountain instead of the woods.
Ayame didn't question it, immediately using wind magic to speed ahead.
Kyota broke away the moment she wasn't looking and headed into the forest alone.
There, he found it.
A B-rank monster, wounded but still ferocious, devouring smaller creatures to heal itself.
Kyota didn't waste time.
He lured it between two massive trees, then crafted a small stone bullet, charged it with fire magic until it turned molten magma, and fired it with a blast of wind magic.
The shot struck true.
The monster was incinerated in an instant.
Kyota wiped the sweat from his forehead and rushed back toward the mountain, not wanting Ayame to notice anything strange.
Using earth magic to slide forward, wind magic to boost himself, and pure muscle strength for the final stretch, he caught up just in time.
Still, he made sure to cross the finish line exactly one second after Ayame.
"See that?" she said, pointing proudly at a massive building in the distance.
The structure shined brightly under the sun.
"That's the Northern Magic Academy! In two years, I'll be going there!"
Kyota stood there, breathing heavily from the run.
Then, without warning, tears welled up in his eyes.
He didn't know why.
Maybe it was the excitement.
Maybe it was just the feeling of being part of a future he had almost lost once.
He wiped his face quickly before Ayame noticed and smiled.
"Yeah," he said softly.
"I'll race you there too."
Suddenly Ayame pointed towards their house and asked, "What's going on there?"