Chapter 2: Ceremony

As the new spring arrived, Gray also began to shed his childishness. The hunting knife at his waist was no longer just for show. He started following the hunters in the village into the mountains to hunt. Although he wouldn't venture too deep into the forest and wouldn't stand in the front line when facing magical beasts, his assigned tasks, such as assisting, setting traps, and cleaning up the hunted animals, at least indicated that he was already a hunter. Blacksmith Bobby was extremely delighted because Gray's hunting knife was forged by him using several cherished pieces of tempered steel over several nights. Every time Gray used it to kill a magical beast, Bobby would be overjoyed for a long time.

Hunting was always dangerous. The sprawling Coastal Mountains were home to countless magical beasts, and occasionally, some lost beasts from deep in the mountains would wander into the village of Ruthland. Gray once encountered a gray magical wolf. This was a true second-level magical beast, which even the village head would have to deal with seriously. When Gray encountered the magical wolf, he was only accompanied by two hunters from the village. It was a grueling battle, and all three of them were injured, but eventually, they dragged the wolf's corpse back to the village. What the villagers praised was that throughout the fierce struggle, Gray remained exceptionally calm and composed, responding flawlessly. Even the best hunter couldn't have done better. And if Gray hadn't slashed the tendons of the wolf's hind leg, the outcome might have been different.

Regardless, Gray encountered many dangers this year, and he always remained calm and composed, handling everything appropriately. He never shrank from any dangerous situation.

At the age of nine, Aiden Gray learned courage.

This year seemed to be the easiest, as children from the mountains never lacked courage. But the courage that Gray's mother taught him was different. Gray succeeded, and from then on, his mother no longer called him Little Gray but My Gray.

"My Aiden Gray is already a real man!" Every time she saw Gray, Elaine would say this with a smile.

But one day, Gray responded with his chest held high, "A real man also needs wisdom!"

Elaine was startled. She looked at Gray seriously and asked, "Tell Mom, who told you that."

"It's written in a book!"

"Which book?" Elaine asked patiently. Don't mention magicians; even magic apprentices had extensive knowledge. So Gray had learned several languages with Elaine, even an extremely difficult and obscure ancient language. Reading was no longer a problem for Gray. He had even finished several introductory books on magic during the dull and boring winter, but Elaine didn't remember such a sentence in any of those books.

"It's the book in the attic. There are many interesting things in it. It was the first time I realized that the world is so big," Gray said excitedly.

"That book?" Elaine recalled something and then smiled again, "That book is very interesting. My Gray, a real man certainly cannot lack wisdom, but perseverance, strength, and courage are even more rare. My Gray is so smart that he won't lack wisdom when he grows up. So, Mom wants to cultivate these traits in you first, understand?"

"And happiness!" Gray chimed in.

Elaine smiled and touched Gray's head, saying, "Yes, and happiness! Has my Gray been happy these few years?"

Gray shook his head and said glumly, "It's not always happy. Piru bullied me, and I also hate breadfruit. Also, Mom, what kind of person was Dad exactly?"

Elaine's expression changed instantly, then she said gently, "Your dad was a real man..."

Gray immediately continued, "I know! He's also the worst villain! The person Mom hates most!"

Elaine smiled. Gray asked such questions several times every year, and she always answered the same way. Now Gray could recite it. But Gray was a smart child. He could sense the deep hatred Elaine had when mentioning his father. Over time, Gray also hated this father.

It was because there were many times when Gray woke up in the middle of the night and heard his mother sobbing softly.

Children's logic is inherently simple: their mother loves them the most, and they love her the most. Whoever their mother hates, they hate too. Every so often, Gray would ask about his father, partly out of curiosity because as he grew older, his mother would tell him more about his father. On the other hand, Gray wanted to learn more about his father so that he could avenge his mother when he grew up. As for how to avenge, he was still a child now and had no idea, but this matter was already ingrained in his heart.

However, this time, Elaine didn't tell Gray more about his father. She only said that she had spent a very short time with Gray's father and that was all she knew.

"Someday in the future, you will understand your father very well." Elaine suddenly said this for some unknown reason. As soon as the words were out, her face changed, as if something was gnawing at her heart. Elaine didn't know why she said this herself.

Gray keenly sensed that his mother's mood had suddenly turned sour, so he quietly stuck out his tongue, said, "I'm going to read a book," and ran into the back room. That was Elaine's study, and next to it was the laboratory for concocting potions. There were not many books in the study, mostly on basic magic, introductory potions, and knowledge of the continent's history, geography, and customs, which were commensurate with Elaine's status as a magic apprentice. Gray liked to read here in the evenings. There was a magic lamp in the study. The light was not bright, but a single refill of Elaine's magic could keep the lamp lit for the whole night. Oil was expensive, so besides the village head, the blacksmith, and the most powerful hunters, only Elaine could keep a lamp lit for a long time at night.

It was in this simple yet warm little room that Gray quietly spent his childhood.

In those thick books, he saw another world, a world much broader, more complex, loftier, and more magnificent than Ruthland. Little Aiden Gray had always been quietly thinking that when he grew up to be the best hunter in the village, he would take his mother and leave Ruthland Village to see the world outside the mountains.

Elaine sat alone in the living room, with the sound of pages turning in her ears. Little Gray was reading intently again. He had a solid grasp of basic magic knowledge but had not yet truly learned magic. Elaine even forbade him from practicing meditation. On the continent, to become a good mage, one generally had to start initial meditation from the age of four or five, so that by the age of ten, they could accumulate enough mental strength to begin learning magic and cultivating magical power. However, Little Gray didn't think this was wrong because he didn't understand anything, and also because he thought his mother was always right.

Elaine sat quietly. Because of one extra sentence she said tonight, the door of memory quietly opened, and many long-forgotten past events emerged one by one, and she couldn't suppress them.

Her head began to ache a little. Elaine gently rubbed her temples and sighed almost imperceptibly. Her gaze fell on the calendar on the table, and she suddenly saw a conspicuous mark. In just over ten days, it would be Gray's tenth birthday. Ten was the boundary from boy to teenager, while thirteen or fourteen was barely considered adulthood.

Had ten years really passed without realizing it?

Elaine stared blankly at the flickering light in the magic lamp. The brass lamp body was polished to a shine, reflecting her face. She was not beautiful, only pretty, but in Ruthland Village, she was one of the most beautiful women. Ten years had passed, but time had not left any traces on her face. If her clothing style hadn't shifted towards middle-aged women, almost no one would remember her age. If strangers saw her, they would definitely think Elaine was just in her early twenties.

The face reflected on the brass lampshade was actually very unfamiliar and too ordinary to Elaine because when she was born, she didn't have such a face. A long time ago, she had never imagined that she would live such a simple, unadorned, and arduous life, and it had been ten years. But watching Gray grow up day by day, she felt so fulfilled deep inside.

Elaine walked into the study and looked at Gray, who was holding a thick bestiary and reading with relish. She smiled and said, "My Aiden Gray will be ten soon. Mom has prepared a special ceremony to celebrate my Aiden Gray's growth."

"Yay! Will there be gifts?" Gray jumped up, only showing at this moment that he was still a boy.

"Some of them will be gifts that stay with you for a lifetime. But you need to rest well these days, got it? It's already very late now, you should go to sleep."