Big Brother Activities

For the next month or so, we completely changed our daily schedule. With November having started, it was getting too cold for the villagers to rawdog it in tents. So for that reason, after teaching me everything she needed to, Maia decided to help rebuild the village. 

That didn't mean that I was free though, unfortunately or not. She had also taught me mana communication really quickly before the change, and told me that I should just practice alone all of the things she taught me. Whether I did it near the village or not, she didn't care as long as I was in a radius of at least 100 kilometers. Quite the free range she gave me, huh? 

But either way, for all of November, while the progress of the village's restoration progressed substantially faster now with her helping, I had made a routine for myself. Maia still woke me up in the morning, but they were now fairly normal honestly. In a way I was relieved, but also slightly saddened by the reality of the situation. We needed to get the reparations over with, it was a situation serious enough for even Maia to stop with her wake up hobbies. 

Then, after waking up I'd fly around for about an hour. Trying to get my accuracy with the landing, speed and efficiency with my movements to increase. After that, I'd go alone in town, and eat breakfast at Layra's. Luna was still paying in advance for whatever meals we'd have there thankfully, so I didn't have to worry about money. Seriously, Luna was a life saver man. 

With breakfast finished, I'd spend the next hour or so playing with Jun and Juna while my poor tummy took a break. The two of them were like brand new kids now, not only talking more, but their general body language was getting more confident and natural. Layra must be one heck of an older sister figure to them I guess. Maia should probably take notes from her. 

After resting, I'd get out of town and start with the second phase of my practice. Enhancing my body was an easy task, but I decided to focus on certain aspects specifically. For example, enhancing my speed then seeing how much faster than usual I actually was, then also testing my limits to which I could increase my speed to. 

I didn't discard the heavy clothing either by the way, which were even heavier now for that matter, but I didn't mind it. I could definitely feel my mana slowly but steadily increasing, so I was more than willing to do it by this point. Maia had also explained to me again in a bit more detail how the general strength level of someone works thankfully.

Basically, your mana's density level, and amount when you're completely relaxed and off guard is what determines your "strength, level" more or less. Putting it in even simpler terms, your absolute base stats. That level also determined how much you could "artificially" increase your strength in pretty much anything really for that matter. Enhancing your body, the speed you can fly at and albeit rare, it also dictated the amount of mana you could absorb from your surroundings if you could do it to begin with. And of course also the general strength of your mana attacks. 

Speaking of which, mana attacks had similar structure damage at almost any level. It's the damage to living beings that actually changes substantially depending on your strength level. Of course though, I keep saying level but it's not like there was a magic system, trying to make me become the shadow monarch or anything along those lines (unfortunately). I remember some random isekais having skill windows and what not, but that also wasn't the case here. 

Regardless, my strength level was increasing, and that was all I needed to know. According to Maia also, my level was now around the same as an E rank adventurer, which was still the 2nd lowest rank in the end but I couldn't really complain either. She also told me that while going from F to E wasn't that hard, relatively speaking, going from E to D alone would be at least 10x as long of a process. But she also mentioned that at my current growth pace with my body being pretty much constantly under physical stress and needing to process more mana, I'd reach D rank in around half a year give or take. More or less a few months after my 8th birthday apparently.

With practice of all of my enhancements done, lunch time is usually pretty much right around the corner, so I go back to Layra's. Again, playing with the two for a little until my tummy decides it rested enough, I then go back out of town. This time though, I started practicing I guess technically 2 things at the same time.

Collecting mana from my surroundings wasn't necessarily hard, but I think that I needed to get my speed up at the very least. Combining that with my mana blasts and attacks practice at both efficiency and speed, you had my training plan for pretty much the whole rest of the day until dinner time. 

She did say I could go as far as I wanted as long as it was in a 100 kilometers radius, but obviously that wouldn't be needed. Knowing that, after I finish eating dinner, and rest up enough, I'd alway find Maia outside the restaurant waiting for me. 

It's honestly almost unbelievable how big of a difference adding just one person to the team did, but at the same time we are talking about her… it was the first of December, and at that point, enough houses for all the survivors had been built. Not only that, even the small village center plaza was restored, and they had already begun with the walls. Because of that, when we came back from town, even though it was already around 9 pm, no one was sleeping or inside their houses for that matter.

Everyone was out, the village was lit up with torches all around, making it bright enough to see clearly around you. She definitely already knew what was going on, but it didn't take me long to put the dots together as we approached the center of the village which is where pretty much everyone else was.

They were celebrating the finalization of the house's construction. At the very least, while the walls weren't done yet, they wouldn't be freezing to death this winter. Alcohol and meat were being served to everyone, juice for the little kids though. It seems like it would be a pretty long night after all, huh? But hey, I guess these types of events aren't that bad once in a while.

That night, while chatting with everyone, the topic of the soon to be aired hunting event arose. I honestly wasn't too interested, but the twins actually seemed to be. Rune aside, who was too shy to actually say it, Nala had already begun her quest of convincing someone to take them to see it. 

The two of them had never actually been outside our village now that I think about it. Or at the very least, they've never seen any people outside of it. This could've been a pretty good occasion to get them accustomed to the people, but given how things were with our reputation and all… it may be a little hard to do. To my surprise though, Maia had proposed something. 

"We're going to be busy with the repairs of the walls, but Cael doesn't have anything to do. He can skip practice for a day after all. You should take the little ones to the town, and watch it together."

To which neither mom or dad seemed to have any real complaints about. 

"If Maia thinks it's safe to leave them with you, then we don't see a problem with it, Cael. The thing starts the day after tomorrow, right? You should Take them to watch it."

I did want to deny it at first, but looking at how excited both of them looked while watching me with puppy eyes, I actually couldn't bring myself to.

"Alright…"

Nala jumped straight towards me, which did make me fall and hit my head a little, but who cares man. She was on top of me, hugging me so tight I thought I'd pass out for a second there. Since when was she so strong anyway? Or is it just because I didn't have my guard on? Either way, more than anything I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked at Rune, stressing over his twin almost strangling me, trying to get her off while also trying to hide his excitement. For the record, neither one of them succeeded. But oh well, at least they were cute.

That being said though, it didn't mean that it would be as simple as just taking them there, watching the thing then coming back home. Nala aside, if they started glaring at Rune the same way they used to do with me and Maia, he would probably break down and start crying. They were pretty neutral with us by now, rather just not caring anymore I guess? They didn't look at us with disgust, or try to get us to leave and what not, but that's about it. I had no idea how they'd take the arrival of 2 more Ashford kids there, even if just for a day. 

Which is why, the next day after waking up, I got dressed and immediately went into town. First things first, stopping by to have a chat with the gate guards.

"Hm? You want something, brat?"

"Well, uhm. Let's just say I have something to tell you two. Can you spare me a minute?"

These 2 were appointed here after the previous guards "mysteriously disappeared", but the good thing was that not only did they not have any Ashford prejudice, they straight up looked as if they didn't get paid enough to give a fuck about anything as long as it didn't mean they'd lose their job, or someone got in danger. While telling them about it may be kinda pointless, it never hurts to be careful just in case.

"What's up?"

"Well, you know how tomorrow is the hunting event, right?"

The other guard then sighed, probably catching up on where I was headed, interrupting me.

"Just get to the point, kiddo."

"Right, alright. I'm going to bring my younger siblings to watch it, so I'm just giving you two a heads up… since you know, they're also from the Ashford household and all."

Both of them sighed simultaneously.

"Is that all? If so, then you don't have to worry. We don't really have a hobby of picking on kids, unlike the previous guards."

"Thanks!"

I then went inside, preparing myself to bother everyone at least once and let them know in advance… or at least that was the plan. Something had caught my eye as soon as I went inside though. It was a poster, but it didn't talk about the event. Even more people were grouped there now, and I had to check. 

Let's see… "new lieutenant for the commander of the sentinels has been appointed… officially going to get presented publicly via live transmission… on the 18th of December." … 

Could this have been a coincidence? Sure? Could this have been about someone else? Definitely, since I was pretty sure she'd spent 90% of her time either with me or the village folks. Did I have any doubts about it not being her though? Not even one. It was weird in a way, like I was seeing everyone being so interested in it, rightfully so as well. Some of them were anxious, some were just straight up happy, but they all shared one thing. 

They were all wondering and whispering theories about who it could be, while I was just standing there already knowing for some reason that it was talking about none other than Maia. For that matter, the day of the announcement being the day right after her birthday may be a large part of why I'm so sure about it, but it doesn't really matter that much. I can just ask her once I'm home after all. 

Moving on, I ended up trying to tell everyone about me and the twins coming tomorrow, but surprisingly enough they all just straight up did not care. Like not even a bit. I get that their hatred towards us must've melted down quite a lot, but this much? It's not an issue obviously, but it kinda made me feel stupid for bothering, man… at least the twins won't have to go through that I guess though.

The next day, after Maia woke me up, I got dressed quickly thinking I'd need to wait for the twins or wake them up even in case mom didn't, but when I got out of my newly built room which to be fair was pretty plain and forgettable but it still did the job, I found them in the hallway waiting for me.

"Jeez, how long does it take you to dress up? We waited for you since Maia went to wake you up!"

Nala was pouting with her arms crossed, while rune was just looking at the ground while fidgeting with his fingers and blushing a little. The boy really was shy, huh? Unlike his twin… honestly, I can easily see her becoming some kind of mafia boss in a different route. 

"My bad, my bad. Are you guys both ready?"

"We were done a long time ago. You better get ready soon too!"

"There's no rush, you know? There's still 3 hours left before it starts."

I said while all 3 of us started going downstairs, stopping in the kitchen where mom had already made breakfast. 

I wonder where she got her boss-like demeanor from…

But I guess there was no point in thinking too much about it. Maybe she got it from a dead relative or something, like our grandpa or grandma? Who knows. 

It had been a while since the last time I actually had breakfast at home, huh? Not to mention, not waking up at like 6 or 7 either. I guess this is what it feels like when you finally get a day off? Not bad, people. Not bad. But either way, after all 3 of us were done, she dragged me out of the house, and I mean it in the most literal sense possible. 

Grabbing my arm and running out, forcing me to come along. But oh well, once in a while it's fine to let my cute little sister be spoiled, right? Right. I made sure to still not allow her to drag me too fast though, since Rune had to catch up to us too. I felt a little bad for not straight up stopping and walking alongside them, but to be totally fair, a little morning jogging wouldn't hurt him. 

For that matter, there wasn't even a real reason for us to go this far, but we ended up stopping only after we were slightly past the point where the wall used to be. I then picked Rune up with my right arm, and Nala with my left.

"Hold tight to me, you two. I won't go too fast, and I won't drop you, so don't worry, alright?"

Though I mostly meant what I said towards Rune, since the other one…

"Come on, start flying already! We're going to be late!"

Even though we're still 2 hours and a half early…

"Alright, alright. Hold tight, both of you."

He nodded, holding both his arms around my shoulders, while she only held one, keeping one arm free for some mysterious reason. The height difference between us wasn't actually that big, since we were only a year apart. But they were still visibly shorter, which did make things a little less awkward and easier for me at least. I never thought about it whenever Maia picked me up since I'm like half of her height after all. 

After we got there, still a solid hour early since I went pretty slow to not startle rune, we just went around town for a while until it began. It was just as they said, they didn't really care one bit about them. Maybe even less about Rune since he had neither the hair or eyes, but overall it seemed like they weren't interested in us.

In the center of the town, there had already been prepared around 500 chairs for some lucky fellas to manage to watch the thing while sitting, and I was lucky enough to find 3 seats albeit in the bottom row for all of us. It didn't really matter the row fortunately since the screen would just be high up enough for all of us to see but still. I had also already gotten snacks for both of them, and sat in the middle so if either one of them needed something they could tell me right away.

As expected, the whole thing went as I imagined. There were multiple camera angles on the big screen showing a bunch of different people going at it, while some other fellas did the commentary part, but generally speaking they were obviously just showing the interesting parts. Aka, the strongest adventurers taking down the strongest type of monsters, while the weaker guys just took care of the rest.

It wasn't actually a competition, but there was still a winning possibility reserved for the one who took down specifically the most S rank monsters. Rune seemed to enjoy the thing a lot more than I expected, almost as if he admired the guys on screen, silently watching. Nala on the other hand was kinda like a father at his son's football game. Even though she didn't even know any of their names despite the commentators having already mentioned them, she was cheering up on them, calling their names and all as if they were her sons and daughters.

It was pretty funny to look at at least. In the end the whole thing lasted the whole day pretty much, ending at around 7 pm, and the winner was a random S rank adventurer which I honestly can't even remember the name of. He had short brown hair, ridiculous looking heavy armor on him made out of gold, and a scar under his left eye. He was kinda like your average strong looking adventurer in an isekai anime, the type of guy that you kinda just see once then forget about. Well, putting it short he was just a background character probably.

I was just relieved that it was done at that point, although both twins seemed visually upset that it "was already over" but hey, can't do much about it can we?

The guy's special reward from the queen of nature was a special opportunity. He had received permission to get a revaluation of strength, and possibly join the sentinels as a recruit as long as he passed. It was kinda just funny to me though, since the dude wasn't even an elf, so it's not like he'd be under the elven sentinel recruits even if he did make it… he was a human from our kingdom actually, who somehow managed to beat the semi human adventurers by a little. But good for him I guess?

If he did manage to pass, he'd be one of our kingdom's recruits, proudly fighting for our safety! And what not other bullshit. Either way, I still can't remember his name, man. 

I was planning on flying them again back home, but Maia had come to pick us up it seems, for some reason. I didn't really mind it honestly, since at least I wouldn't be the only one listening to Nala yap away about the thing. We decided to each carry one of the twins, her taking Nala and me Rune, and while he didn't raise his voice as much as his sister, and I had to actually pay attention to even hear him, I gladly talked with him about it. Not because I enjoyed it nearly as much as him, but to not make him feel excluded, you know? 

Maia and Nala were having a blast somehow, even though one of them literally had no idea what the other was talking about though. We on the other hand had a pretty relaxing conversation, and seeing my cute little brother talk about his interests was definitely a great experience to say the least, so overall I wouldn't say I regret coming with them to watch it. 

With the event out of the way though, I went back to my practice the day after, while Maia helped everyone finish the walls as quickly as she could… and eventually, the night of the 16th of December arrived, and tomorrow would be her 15th Birthday, and the day of her departure most likely.