A long while passed, and a voice popped into my mind, making my insides tingle as I felt something flowing. It was more like a ticklish sensation, harmless, and by all means exquisite and unique. Had it not come as a surprise, laughter would’ve escaped my inwards.

System: Skills Status and System Library are now unsealed.

Notice: You have unlocked achievements in status. The Early Series has now been completed and locked. The rewards are updated.

Notice: You have unlocked disgrace and fame in status.

‘After 7 years, you finally decide to talk to me system? And a new buddy? Notice?’ I looked at the living room ceiling, protesting about whatever that could mean in my mind.

Rosaline quickly grabbed my attention, feeling excited despite being tired of standing the whole day. “Did you like it?” 

“Yes! It was very fun!” I smiled brightly, remembering everyone’s faces, despite spending most of the time chatting with Elise and two other boys.

“So... my dear daughter. Is there anything else we should know aside from you being able to read?” Dad questioned me with a serious expression, causing some nervousness to grow inside of me.

“Ah...” I tiptoed to the sofa, took a seat there, and then placed my hands on the lap, rubbing the thumbs against one another. Unsure, I remained, not knowing what to reply while feeling a tad scared.

“It’s obvious to us you’re trying to hide something, but we’re your parents you can trust in us.” My mother knelt in front of me, getting hold of both of my hands, softly pressuring onto them. “We’re here for you.”

I gulped some saliva before letting out some trembling words. “I... may be able to read... write...” My body started shaking because of feeling anxious.

And before I could tell them about possessing memories of a different life, my parents interrupted me with a shout. “What!? How is that possible!?”

I cowered, lowering my head in surprise and filled with fear from their high-toned voices. Usually, I’d even go as far as to defend myself with my arms had my mother not been holding them. I took a glimpse of my dad, who hid his face by turning around, and then he started laughing in a weird tone.

To my surprise, she started speaking proudly, her eyes beaming with exhilaration. “To think we gave birth to a genius, Luke! The goddess must have blessed Iris!”

I remained in a mix of anxiety and nervosity, keeping myself silent, allowing my dad to keep going with the conversation. “I researched madly about her green eyes these past seven years, but to no avail. To think it was truly a good omen as Vicent mentioned!” He fixed his posture while facing me, sighing. “What a relief...”

My mother, who stared cheerfully at him, nodded in agreement and then abruptly changed her gaze toward me, shouting in my face, “Iris!”

I blurted, a tiny moan of surprise from my mother’s excited call almost causing me to pee a bit. And then to not keep her waiting, I added a question, confused as she didn’t continue speaking, “Yes!?”

Her hands left mine, grabbing my cheeks kindly. “Since you already know so much, we could start teaching you swordsmanship and magic instead!” Rosaline looked at Luke, waiting for approval, to which he consented quickly by crossing his arms and nodding in favor.

Then his lips started moving. “That sounds like an excellent idea!”

Without saying anything out loud, my mind began wondering about their confusing conversation. ‘Since my birth parents used to talk in secret with one another about a thing called magic and skills, but...’

I stared at them with some distrustful eyes conflicted within me. ‘What was the reason they kept quiet about it? Were they waiting for something?’

My expression turned into a serious one, unbefitting of a child, and voiced my insecurities and doubts, “why now?”

My parents’ happiness vanished momentarily as they stared at me with awkward faces. To kill the silence, my mother’s lips joined the dance. “What do you mean, daughter?”

Despite the fear, I got hold of some courage, bracing myself for whatever could come my way, looking at her in the eyes. “You and dad wouldn’t tell me anything before, so why do you want me to learn magic now?”

“Oh... That’s because only when a child reaches their 7th birthday, that the system allows them to use skills. Otherwise, they remain locked so that accidents don’t happen.” She explained while hinting at the closesat door, closing, locking, unlocking, and so on and so forth.

As much as I wanted my distrust to disappear, the lack of knowledge and confusion remained within me. I struggled, and thanks to that, my brain figured throwing more questions would be the only way out of this annoying situation. “What do skills have to do with magic, and what are they?” I tilted my head in confusion, making a cute expression resulting in them chuckling briefly. With the atmosphere slowly returning to normal between the three of us, my father started explaining.

“In this world called Artana, like the gift you received mentioned it. Every individual requires mana to practice magic. It is like the energy required to do so.” Luke made a blue shining light sprout out of his right hand as he knelt next to Rosaline while making a serious expression towards me.

“Now here’s something important. Unlike the other races, we humans can only have access to skills once the age ceremony arrives.”

I opened my mouth, surprised, widening both eyes and then voicing out a precise question about something my father said in specific. “Other races? What do you mean by that, dad?”

My parents exchanged glances, and then nods, returning to me as if acknowledging something. “We in the village don’t tell our children about this, as it could inflict fear on them.”

As I made a resolute expression and was about to contest him, he continued.

“There are many kinds, and despite being significantly knowledgeable about the world as I like to read, there are only a few that I know of.” He smiled mysteriously and then whispered happily. “Would you like to know more about them?”

Filled with enthusiasm and also with a childlike expression, I responded merrily. “Yes! Of course, father! Please tell me!”

A satisfied look appeared on dad’s face, who then started solving the urges within my mind. “Other than the humans who belong to the goddess Aria, the almighty one whom we owe our lives to.” He raised one finger in the air, showing that was the first on his list. “There’s a kingdom of red-looking, and evil creatures, the demons far to the north!”

I murmured lowly learning about the new word, and appreciating its uniqueness. “Demons...”

This action caused my parents to giggle lightly as they looked at me like I was acting silly. My father then showed a third finger, leaving the remaining two closed, resuming his explanation. “Towards the south, there’re many types of beast races. They usually have a mix of an animal with a humanoid appearance.”

My mind started wondering about what things those would be and how strange it sounded. ‘Would they look like a bear or a boar? Maybe there are some cute-looking ones like a fox or a cat!’ I thought of these names thanks to an animal book with figures from my past life.

I nodded in agreement while remaining expectant to learn more about it, and my father didn’t hesitate in broadening the explanation. “While these are in the south, they’re not the only thing we can find.” He raised one more finger while remaining serious and resumed the explanation. “Monsters also exist there. Something important to mention! These races are dangerous and stronger than humans, so utmost cautiousness is a must as they attack us, usually on sight.”

I gulped, surprised, hiding my trembling hands, understanding how serious dad was with his cold-looking gaze. It felt like the long metal fork they use in the oven pierced my eyes as if to make it clear for me to stay as far away as possible.

‘In my old world, there were only humans, so this one is something else. I am now certain.’

I started gripping my hand tighter, causing an uncomfortable sensation in my mother's one, who mentioned nothing about it.

Instead, she took the chance to return to the earlier topic. “Baby, would you like to learn swordsmanship with me?” Rosaline waved her index finger in the air back and forth from me to her before resuming the conversation. “It would enable you to defend yourself against such creatures to some extent, possibly even allowing you to kill some of them.”

I gulped, unsure if I was against such a proposal. In a way, I wanted to learn magic. From the books of my former dad’s library, there were stories and tales about grand wizards who created miracles wherever they went. But I wasn’t sure what my mother had in mind. “Is it normal to study things like that?”

My mother muttered a lowly sound as if gathering thoughts. “For nobles, the rich, famous, and important people of our kingdom, it is. But we are peasants, so... we could say that the normal future for us would be to farm fields or some other common job. Unless we join the army to fight such creatures and aid to keep the peace. In there, we’d undergo harsh training where we’d learn how to use two or three weapons.”

I tilted my head to the side. ‘While being able to defend myself could be nice, I don’t think joining the army is one thing I’d like to do...’

Reminded of the war stories that a few books had, I knew many people died and ended up injured during such conflicts. “Is there any other job I could go for to put such knowledge into practice?”

My mother let go of my hand, scratching her rosy cheek. “Hum... how should I answer this...”

Upon noticing his wife having issues explaining, my father intervened, adding some words to help us both. “Dear, we used to do quests for the guild as adventurers, a place where you can help others. However, before that, your mother learned how to wield a weapon called a sword.” He pointed at her with a proud, smug on his face.

“What’s that?”

With a smile, Luke got up and went to his room. In the meantime, mom added some words, grabbing my interest. “While your dad returns, you could also learn magic with him.” She made a kind smile upon taking a while before replying, possibly recollecting some old memories of their past days. “Between the two of us, he’s the one who knows the most about it, since he was an adventurer for a longer time than me.”

Unsure of whether to accept it, I took their willingness to teach me into account, along with my free will, to make them proud. “I don’t mind learning both things if it ends with you two being happy with it!”

As soon as I finished my words, my mother hugged me tightly while whispering in my ear, “we shall do our best so that you can become stronger than us one day.”After that, Rosaline got up from the floor as her knees were hurting her.

My eyes glimpsed her right hand rubbing one of them. ‘Seems like I’ll have a lot of fun ahead after seven years of not doing much.’

My father then returned with a half-wrapped case in his hands. Upon getting closer, he gave it to her, who removed the white cloth showing a short sword about 80 cm, almost my size, which was about 120cm. They would measure me from time to time with a long wooden ruler. Rosaline then took some steps away from me while speaking. “In this world, thanks to the knowledge of those who appear from time to time, we ended up getting things like these that help us defeat those powerful foes.” My mother, with a big smile, extended the sword in front and did a few slashes while imbuing a blue light around it. The weapon shone beautifully, surprising me.

“What’s that mother? It looks like dad’s shiny hand!” I replied expectantly, reminded of Luke’s own aura, even though in his case he made nothing glow with it other than himself, which by itself was quite a feat

“This is a skill. It’ll be the end goal of your training. With this, you’ll definitely be able to become a bit stronger!”

I held down the excitement that grew vastly inside of me. ‘That glow looks amazing! I can’t wait to learn magic!’

With shining eyes, my parents glanced at each other happily, having succeeded in making me interested in becoming their student. “For now, you can go play in your room. We still have a lot of cleaning to do from the birthday party.”

With a frowning expression, my father nodded in agreement.

“Alright.” I headed towards my room, closing the door behind me. Then my feet took me close to the bed where I laid next to my doll, casually facing the window on my right side.