Commotion

Finally, Michael's first birthday had arrived, and it was time for celebration.

The past days had flashed by in a blur, all because of a little incident that happened in his crib.

Somehow, burns and water stains had appeared on the wall. And while they were tiny, it was alarming enough to send the entire household into a frenzy. Upon investigation, they quickly found out that it had traces of magic, meaning someone cast a spell in the room of the young master's room.

Even though it was a minor incident, Michael's mother reacted as if he had barely survived an assassination attempt.

The number of maids was doubled, security tripled, and Michael was forced to sleep in his mother's room for the time being.

Michael thought it was an overreaction—until he overheard from the maids about how this 'little incident' had become the talk of the entire nation.

Magic investigators quickly found out that the spell had originated from a single person and had been cast simultaneously.

No big deal, at least that was what Michael thought.

But then he learned that having multiple elemental affinities was considered extremely rare.

Having dual elements would already place you into the genius category, while those having three elements were considered transcendent talents.

But having all four elements? That was the talk of legends. 

Somehow or someway, this once-in-a-thousand-year genius had managed to sneak into the youngest son of the Vanderbilt family and cast four harmless 1-star spells. It didn't make sense.

It was then that Michael decided to be a little more careful with his spells.

Who knew how they would react when he revealed that he was the one who cast those spells, all while being a baby?

Eventually, the commotion died down. Since nothing was stolen and no one was harmed, the authorities chalked it up to some weird natural phenomenon.

But, of course, his mother had a different take. Once her worry subsided, she couldn't help but brag to her friends about how 'blessed' her son was.

It was quite interesting to see just how quickly she switched. One second, she was worried sick, and the moment the investigators told her it was a natural phenomenon, she was all smiles and beaming with pride, convinced that God had personally blessed Michael with talent.

Michael decided to tell her the truth when he got older.

[Technically, she is correct. God did bless you with this life and all your powers.]

Yeah, but she doesn't have to know that. And if she gets to know, she'll brag about it at any chance she gets.

Case in point, during Michael's birthday celebration, she personally greeted all the high-profile guests and introduced him to them personally. She was like a broken record, saying the same words of praise about Michael to the guests.

Thankfully, his father stepped in before Michael got too irritated.

If it hadn't caused a commotion, Michael would have climbed out of the stroller and left the party by himself. But since he had to act like a baby, he had to stay still in his stroller, looking at nothing but his mother's endless bragging.

In the meantime, he decided to gather more mana.

He made sure to gather as little mana as possible, careful as to not arouse any suspicion.

Eventually, he got tired and drifted off to sleep.

But just as he was about to fall into slumber, he seemed to have heard a peculiar conversation between his parents and some guests.

"I have to give it to you, Vanderbilts. You've made such a nice-looking son," some elderly guy remarked.

"All thanks to my genes, of course," Michael's mother replied. "Though I guess my husband did give him some of his nice traits."

The old man chuckled. "Hmm… indeed. I must admit, I envy your lineage. Perhaps we can arrange something that will benefit both families? As you know, my daughter was just born."

Michael's mother leaned in slightly. "I'm listening…"

…

…

…

Time passed, and Michael had now turned five.

He stood in front of the mirror, staring at the reflection of a dashing young boy. He had his mother's golden hair and his father's sharp jawline.

Raising his hand to cast a spell, he created a blob of water that was much larger than his head.

The amount of the elemental mana in his body had transformed by leaps and bounds. He could even fill up the water in his bathtub with a single spell, which was surprising because this was the level of water that he had seen only those adult mages could accomplish.

At five years old, he could cast a spell the way a 25-year-old adult would struggle to achieve.

The best part wasn't his power but rather his control. Instead of simply being a blob of water, it obeyed his will; he could stretch, compress, and shift its shape as if it were an extension of his own body.

If he wanted, he could even command the water to wash him in an instant.

But, of course, that would raise suspicion.

"Young master, I'm coming in the bathroom!" Beretta called as she entered the bathroom, carrying a large bucket of water in her hand.

She was one of Michael's maids and the one in charge of helping him bathe.

If Michael used his magic spell to wash himself, Beretta would immediately notice that something was off. After all, there still wasn't any water in the bathtub. She had only just brought the first bucket right now.

"Hahhh… this is so inconvenient," Michael uttered in disappointment.

Whenever he had to wash himself, Beretta would have to fill a bucket with water and slowly fill his bathtub with it. She had to go all the way to the backyard well, making five trips just to fill the tub.

"This is what I hate about the medieval times,' he grumbled. "I took the faucets for granted in my old world. I wish I had that here. If only I knew how it worked, I would build one myself…"

Unfortunately, Michael had never been good at studying, so he didn't even know how the modern-day faucets worked.

[Would you like to learn how a faucet works?]

ChatJK1's timely suggestion startled Michael.

You can do that?!

His personal AI assistant didn't waste any time and downloaded the information directly into his mind, giving him mechanical insight into how faucets worked.

"This… I can… I can build this!!"

[Would you like step-by-step instructions on how to build a faucet?]