Irregular

"Ahh"

I opened my eyes to find myself in my room.

'How did I get here?'

I remember walking towards grandpa just before passing out.

"Grandpa must have brought me here."

After a few thoughts, a smile appeared on my face.

"I am an awakener now,"

I got up from the bed. When I put my feet on the ground, I noticed my body had become lighter.

'So, this is how it feels to have an awakened body. I feel much lighter than before. It's like I have wings now.'

"Let's try that," I smirked.

I got close to the wall. I walked closer to the wall and punched it, expecting the wall to crumble. However, all that happened was that my hand became sore from hitting the wall.

"AHHH! MY HAND"

I screamed as I held on to my hand.

'I thought I could smash the wall with a single punch like the protagonist of a novel who gets super strength after awakening.'

After a while, the pain began to subside.

'It's strange, why did no one come?'

I thought grandma would rush into the room after hearing my scream, but she didn't.

"Is she not at home?"

I adjusted my clothes and left the room.

As I walked out of the room, I saw grandpa, grandma, and a girl with brown hair who I had never seen before coming into the house.

The others also noticed me.

Upon seeing me, grandma rushed towards me and hugged me tightly.

"You nearly gave Grandma a heart attack, you know," She said.

While my head was in her bosom, I could tell how worried she was about me. I tried to wrap my little hands around her.

"Sorry, grandma for making you so worried."

Hearing my words, grandma released me from her embrace and looked at my face.

Seeing my sorry face, she sighed.

"Forget it. It's not your fault."

Grandpa said before she said anything,

"Leave that matter, for now, we have other things to discuss,"

Grandpa looked at me with a serious expression on his face.

"Ethan, we need to talk."

When I saw grandpa's serious face, I was shocked. Grandpa was usually cheerful, so I was surprised at his serious look.

After saying that, grandpa sat at the table. I and others also follow him.

I sat in front of grandpa, grandma sat on my right, and the girl sat on my left when everyone took their seat.

Grandpa began to ask some questions.

"Ethan, how does your body feel now?"

"My body is much lighter than before,"

"Does the wind around you feel different from before?"

As grandpa asked, I noticed the wind around me. I could feel the wind covering my entire body as if it was protecting me.

"Yeah, it's different. I can sense it and see it."

"Are you a mana user or an aura user?"

"Aura user," Ethan replied immediately.

Upon hearing my answer, grandpa shook his head.

'As I thought. He doesn't know that he….'

"You are not an aura user. Generally speaking, you are an aura user, but not fundamentally," Grandpa said.

"What does that mean?"

As I heard grandpa's words, I looked at him, confused. Until now, I had been gathering energy under the assumption that I was an aura user, but now grandpa says that I'm not.

'Was I making a fool of myself this whole time? If grandpa's words are true, then how am I able to awaken?'

"You are an 'Irregular'."

"Now, what does that mean?" I tilted my head upon hearing the new term.

"Irregular is a term used for people who do not follow the rules of this world."

"And as for why are you an irregular? It's because you can use both mana and aura."

I was stunned after hearing grandpa's words.

"Wait! Are you saying that I can use both mana and aura?" I asked while pointing towards myself.

"Yeah," He nodded.

"Each person is born with slightly more affinity towards either aura or mana. So, a child will mostly be an aura user or a mana user. No one is born with an equally natural affinity for the aura and the mana like you."

"So, there are no other people who can use mana and aura, except for me,"

"Well, if you put age in consideration, then yes. It's not that people cannot master both aura and mana; it's just that it takes time. Few people out there can use both mana and aura, but people don't consider them as irregular."

"Why aren't they considered irregulars?" I raised my eyebrows.

"The answer is simple because they do not have it by birth or in other words, they earn the right to use it through the hardship of life."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, and to make matters worse, you also awakened an element." He sighed.

After a few moments, I asked with a nervous face,

"Then what should I do?"

"Nothing, just keep living your life as you have," He said with a serious face.

"Alright, I---"

I paused, and my eyes widened upon realizing what he had said.

"Wait! What?"

I asked again, assuming I had misheard him.

"Keep living your life as you have been,"

"You want me to continue living the same way, right?" I asked again,

"Yeah," Aldric nodded.

"Then, why are you making that face?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see your reaction," He said with a smile.

"..."

I had no words to say. I didn't know what to say.

"Listen, Ethan, never tell anyone that you are an 'Irregular'. Irregulars are often seen as monsters. People often forget that they are also human and have emotions."

"And another thing, there are some crazy people out there who use irregulars as guinea pigs."

--------

Upon hearing his last words, I immediately visualized myself being kidnap by a crazy doctor and used as a guinea pig.

"Hahaha, today, I got a new specimen. Where should I start?" A person said who was wearing a white coat.

"Head, throat, chest, or stomach," the doctor said as he licked the scalpel, he was holding.

'No, I don't want to be a guinea pig.' I shook my head.

Even the thought of being used as a test subject made me shiver.

Seeing me sweating, grandpa laughed,

"Hahaha"

"Why are you laughing?"

I was annoyed by grandpa's behavior.

"Stop frightening him," Grandma said.

"Fine. But people indeed see irregulars as monsters,"

Grandpa walked over to me and picked me up in his arms.

"Don't worry kiddo. As long as your grandpa is alive, no one can harm you." He said with a smile.

I replied instantly, with a determined face,

"No, I want to protect grandpa and grandma, not the other way around,"

After seeing my face and hearing my words, everyone in the room said aloud,

"So cute!"

"Do you want to protect us?" Grandpa asked.

"Yeah," I nodded.

After hearing my reply, silence filled the room.

I broke the silence in the room when I asked about the girl.

"Grandpa, who is that girl?"

"I am Iris, 12 years old, a fire-user," Iris replied.

As I heard the words 'fire user', I asked with an exciting face.

"You can use fire magic."

"Yeah,"

I hurriedly got down from grandpa's arms and walked near to her,

"Can you show me, please?" I asked with puppy eyes.

Seeing my eyes, Iris couldn't bring herself to say no.

'Damn it; he's just too cute to say no.'

"Alright, I will show you,"

When Iris lifted her hand, a red fireball appeared in front of her.

"Wow, it's a fireball,"

After some time, Iris asked,

"Are you satisfied now?"

"Yeah"

"Where are my manners? I still didn't introduce myself." I hit my head lightly.

Giving a slightly half bow while looking at Iris, I introduced myself.

"I am Ethan Flammia, three years old. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Ethan," Iris said with a smile.

"Can I ask you something? I asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Why are you here?"

"I came with Grandpa Aldric so that I could learn martial arts from him."

Hearing Iris's words, I turned towards grandpa and said,

"Grandpa, I also want to learn martial arts."

'Maybe he will say no.'

I thought that grandpa would say no, but to my surprise,

"Fine, if you want to learn martial arts, then I will teach,"

"Are you stupid?" Grandma shouted,

"What do you mean?" Grandpa titled his head.

"You want to teach martial arts to a three-year-old kid,"

"What's the problem with that? At least, I'm not as stupid as someone who taught a two-year-old kid about magic when he was just learning to speak clearly." Grandpa replied.

As grandma heard his words, her face turned red as a tomato with embarrassment.

After a few moments of silence, grandpa said,

"We will begin your training tomorrow. Alright?"

"Yeah," I nodded my head with excitement.

I clenched my small fist as I thought,

'Tomorrow will be the beginning of my quest to become the strongest in the world.'

Right now, I have no idea how difficult the training will be.