The Little Thunder Serpent
Kyle climbed down from the bed and grabbed the wooden sword propped up nearby. The unbidden spirit had suddenly appeared and coiled around him. He was a little startled by it, but since it was already here, he wanted to test out the idea he'd been mulling over.
Crackle!
There was no need to give it a direct command. As if reading Kyle's mind, the serpent coiled precisely around the tip of the wooden sword, just as he'd hoped. It was only as thick as a child's finger joint, but the fact that it had obeyed filled Kyle with a grin.
He swung the wooden sword right there in the room. A trail of crackling purple sparks followed its arc. After a few more swings, Kyle stepped out of the room.
"Young master?"
Scarcely had Kyle opened the door when a maid from Rose Mansion blocked his path. She tilted her head at the sight of him clutching the wooden sword.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping? What are you—"
"Check this out."
Kyle thrust forward the fingers he'd hidden behind his back. The maid jumped in alarm at the violet current coiling around his index finger.
"Y-Young master? What is that...?"
"What does it look like to you?"
"L-Light... that's what it looks like."
The maid stammered. It seemed no one else could see the serpent's form. Kyle nodded and tucked his hand behind his back again.
"Gonna show Mom."
He brushed past her and knocked on Arian's door, but there was no answer. She must have been fast asleep. Instead of knocking again, Kyle simply pushed the door open and slipped inside.
Arian lay peacefully on her large bed. Kyle tiptoed over and gently shook her shoulder.
"Mom."
"Mm... Kyle...?"
Arian's eyes fluttered open, heavy with sleep, but a faint smile spread across her face the moment she saw her son.
"What's wrong, sweetie? Bad dream?"
"Nah. Look at this."
Kyle held his serpent-wrapped index finger right in front of her eyes.
"Huh? What's th—whoa!"
Arian's eyes went wide. Sleep vanished in an instant as she bolted upright in bed.
"Th-This is... a lightning spirit?"
Her gaze locked onto Kyle's finger. The maid had seen only light, but as a spirit summoner, Arian could clearly make out the tiny serpent flicking its tongue amid the violet current.
"You've never learned spirit summoning. How...?"
"Dunno. Woke up 'cause my cheek stung, and there it was."
Kyle answered nonchalantly.
"It's a spirit, right? It comes when I call and goes where I tell it."
He wiggled his finger, and the serpent uncoiled, looped lazily through the air, then wrapped back around.
"Oh my god..."
Arian's mouth hung open. Even as shock washed over her, she analyzed it as a spirit summoner.
The lightning spirit must have been drawn by the thunder spirit stone—though that didn't make sense either. Even if the stone held lightning essence, it wasn't enough to summon one from a clear sky.
Lightning spirits were notoriously rare. Lightning itself was fleeting. To encounter one, you'd have to haunt places like the Southern Thunderclap Valley where bolts never ceased.
'Drawn by the thunder spirit stone...?'
Or maybe the thunderclap herb dew from breakfast? No, that just sharpened reflexes—it didn't boost lightning affinity.
'And from what Kyle's saying...'
Spirits couldn't be contracted on sight. It required affinity as a baseline, then patient communion and steady mana feeding.
Arian herself had heard wind spirits' whispers as a child, burned through magic stones steadily to seal her contracts.
Yet her son was already commanding a spirit he'd just met. To Arian's eyes, the thing was even acting cutesy toward him. She'd been a prodigy herself, but this was unprecedented.
"Aaaah!"
Overcome with emotion, Arian pulled Kyle into a tight hug.
"My boy's a genius for real! Honestly, I wasn't totally sure about your spirit talent yet. Goblins and such are different from proper spirits..."
But now she was certain. Her son wasn't just a sword prodigy—he was one in spirit arts too.
"And for a spirit this size to be lured from a thunder spirit stone? Never heard of it. And no contract, but it's already obeying you!"
"Mom... can't... breathe."
Kyle squirmed, but Arian showed no sign of letting go.
"A lightning spirit, no less...! Grandpa's gonna love this!"
Julius Alastor's moniker was Thunder Emperor. Gifting Kyle the thunder spirit stone necklace was his unspoken wish for his grandson to awaken the same affinity.
"Mom, let go for a sec. Got something else to show you."
Only then did Kyle wriggle free. In front of Arian's sparkling eyes, he held out the wooden sword he'd brought.
Crackle.
The violet serpent uncoiled from his finger and flew to the sword. Kyle focused it at the tip, then swung.
Crackle-pop! Violet light traced through the air. Arian's jaw dropped. Beyond simple commands—this was embedding a spirit in a weapon for attack?
"Impossible..."
Spirits were finicky weapons. They demanded communion, mana feeding, spirit root awakening for contract. Even then, full control was elusive—they were living mana beings, after all.
'No contract, yet more obedient than a contracted spirit. How...?'
Arian hopped off the bed in a daze and yanked open her desk drawer. Moments later, she pulled out a faintly glowing bluish gem.
A magic stone. Mana crystals from dense mana spots like deep forests or mountains. Kyle took the one Arian offered, head cocked.
"What's this for?"
"Try feeding it to the spirit."
Kyle held it out as instructed. The serpent lunged, wrapped around it, and sank tiny fangs in. The stone dulled as the spirit grew ever so slightly.
"Spirits... eat mana."
Arian stammered.
"Normally from the summoner's mana to tame and contract them... but you haven't awakened your spirit root yet, so..."
"Does that mean no contract?"
"Yeah... Contracts link through the summoner's mana, creating a bond to call them..."
She trailed off—even she had no precedent for a spirit this obedient sans contract. Meanwhile, the serpent finished slurping the stone's mana, wagged its tail contentedly, and slithered into the thunder spirit stone around Kyle's neck.
"Ha..."
Arian let out a disbelieving chuckle. Not vanishing, but treating the stone like home. Clearly, this spirit had no plans to leave Kyle's side.
"Feed it magic stones now and then. It'll grow bit by bit."
"Can't do it every day?"
"Too much and it might overgrow. Dangerous without a contract, so just occasionally."
"Should I name it?"
"No, spirits have their own names. You'll learn it upon contracting."
Arian calmed her shock and stroked Kyle's hair.
"Seriously... since coming to Gladiheim, you've surprised me so much. Should've shown you spirits sooner and come back ages ago..."
"I like coming now."
Now that he was five and his body obeyed him somewhat. Coming earlier would've meant dignity-shattering indignities. Kyle yawned hugely.
"Gonna sleep again."
"Sweetie! Wanna sleep with Mom for old times' sake?"
"No thanks. Wanna sleep alone."
Any opening and she'd smother him into bed. Kyle bolted from Arian's room without waiting.
The next day.
After breakfast, Kyle pored over the basic swordsmanship manual Julius had gifted him, from start to finish.
True to its name, it was pure basics—nothing tricky. All techniques he'd mastered in real combat in his past life.
Once finished, Kyle headed to Sword Apex Hall. Knocking on the door after traversing the hall, it swung open promptly.
"Back again today."
Julius said from his jade throne. Kyle glanced at Fenris embedded in the hall's center, then flashed a toothy grin at his grandfather.
"You're here today too, Grandpa."
Julius didn't always linger in Sword Apex Hall. It was mainly for pureblood meetings.
Yet here he was again, having arrived early in quiet hope his bright-eyed grandson would visit. But three days straight meant it was time to set boundaries.
"Don't come every day from now on."
"Tired of playing with me already?"
"Not that. I have schedules and duties."
Grandson time was delightful, but Julius couldn't play idle grandpa. He gave a wry smile.
"Once a week from here on."
"Aww..."
"Sword Tower has plenty of playmates besides me. Your cousins, or..."
"Aunt Erica too."
"Exactly."
Julius nodded faintly.
"Heard you visited Erica's place yesterday."
"Yeah. Saw Aunt Erica's sword."
"And?"
"Flashy and pretty."
"Flashy and pretty..."
Julius stroked his chin, chuckling.
"Not sharp?"
"Getting there, I think."
"Hm."
Far too precise for a five-year-old—pure swordsman insight. Julius stared hard at Kyle.
'Eyes are definitely open.'
His grandson might have an even greater vessel than imagined. Julius nodded thoughtfully.
"Getting there..."
"I'll show you."
"Show me? How?"
"Like what I saw yesterday."
Kyle grinned at Julius, hefting his wooden sword.
"Got something else to show too."
Tap, tap. He drummed the thunder spirit stone at his neck with his left fingers. Crackle! Violet light flashed, and a tiny serpent emerged, coiling around his finger.
Julius's eyes widened. His grip tightened on the throne's arm.
"A... spirit?"
"Yep. Met it yesterday."
Kyle pointed his wrapped finger at the wooden sword. The serpent flew through the air and coiled at the tip.
"Thanks to the necklace you gave me, I guess. Can't talk, but it does what I say."
"Hah..."
Julius chuckled in disbelief. No spirit arts talent himself, but he'd picked up knowledge through Arian.
Thus he knew this was absurd. Delightfully so. Prodigious talent. Alastors loved that.
"Impressive."
A lightning spirit, no less. Julius couldn't hide his smile—his unawakened grandson bearing his own trait.
"But what do you mean, 'like what I saw'?"
Kyle just grinned wider. Crackle-crackle...! As he slowly swung the wooden sword, violet light etched its path in the air. He steadied his breath, recalling Erica's swordsmanship from yesterday.
Snow Flower Swordsmanship. He didn't know the finer principles. But the forms were burned into his mind. Mimicking shapes needed no mana.
The wooden sword danced, trailing purple arcs. His elixir-fueled body produced strength and speed beyond a five-year-old's.
Feet stamped the hall floor. Short five-year-old strides, but blood ghost tree fruit-enhanced muscles exploded forward.
The sword began to whirl. Not thrusting, but scattering. Not slashing, but drawing. Erica's elegant Snow Flower Swordsmanship trajectories—Kyle recreated them flawlessly.
Differences: no aura, white frost replaced by purple sparks. Zzzzt, crackle-zzzt! Lightning afterimages lingered where ice flowers should bloom—thunder lines instead.
"...!"
Julius's pupils quivered. The spirit tracing sword paths was amazing, but moreso the reproduced sword forms.
'Memorized the whole sequence?'
Mere mimicry sans mana, yet unveiling complex steps and rhythm without training felt beyond "prodigy."
Whoosh!
Final form. Kyle halted after the cross-slash. The lingering thunder cross crackled then dispersed.
"Hoo..."
Kyle lowered the sword, panting. The serpent spirit, fatigued, dimly wriggled atop it.
"What do you think?"
Kyle asked Julius.
"Mine's just mimicry, but Aunt Erica's was real pretty. Ice flowers blooming everywhere—all blade edges."
Julius fell silent, mentally overlaying ice flower blades on Kyle's demo.
Flashy. Movements grand, wasteful. Drawing flowers when it should cut, dancing when it should stab.
But if those flowers were razor thorns...
Julius's eyes narrowed. Hidden amid the flair: total space dominance. Lured by the dance, you'd find yourself amid the blossoms in a blink.
"Getting there. I get what you mean now."
Just pretty, flowery frills now. But fully bloomed with lethal barbs? A vicious trap to crush throats.
"Right?"
Kyle beamed.
"Still immature, but honed further, it'd be tricky."
A five-year-old calling his thirteen-year-old aunt immature. Julius nodded, amused despite himself.
"Indeed. Good direction."
"How about you watch Aunt Erica's sword yourself?"
Kyle dangled the bait. Julius tapped the throne arm. Grandson antics were fun, but seeing his youngest daughter's sword after so long appealed.
"Fine. I'll summon Erica."
"I'll fetch her. Right now."
"No need. Plenty of—"
"I'll go!"
Kyle dashed for the door before Julius could stop him. The heavy portal swung open on its own, leaving Julius alone.
"Hah."
Impulsive like Arian. Julius gazed into space, Erica's name on his lips.
"Erica..."
The elevator reached the fourth floor, and Kyle recalled Erica's mansion. The open doors connected straight to it, as yesterday.
"Aunt Erica!"
He knocked. Soon the door opened, revealing Erica in training garb, sword in hand, face flustered.
"Wh-What?"
Sweat-damp hair suggested mid-practice.
"Grandpa wants you."
"What...?"
Erica's eyes bulged.
"The family head? Me? Why?"
"He wants to see your sword."
"L-Liar! Why would the head care about my sword...?"
"Why would I lie? He's waiting in Sword Apex Hall—hurry!"
Kyle seized her hand.
"R-Right... now?"
Erica paled like a ghost. Performing for Father was a long-held dream—and deepest dread. Especially so sudden.
"Hurry!"
Kyle tugged her frozen wrist.
"W-Wait! I need to prepare... change clothes..."
"Grandpa's waiting!"
Thus dragged, Erica left her mansion.
Elevator, grand hall, corridors—her heart pounded like bursting. Legs wobbling, palms slick.
'Wh-What if I mess up? If he hates it? Why now...?'
Doubts swirled, but following her nephew led inevitably to Sword Apex Hall. Rumble...! The massive doors parted without a knock.
"You're here."
Julius spoke from the throne. His voice boomed heavy, gaze pierced like a blade. Erica's breath caught. Hands shook, feet glued to the floor.
"Auntie."
A small, warm hand clasped hers.
"Relax. Just be yourself."
Absurd words. Relax? Erica bit her lip, glaring down at Kyle. This meddlesome nephew irked her.
But his sparkling, grinning face melted the ire. Being cheered by her eight-younger nephew felt pathetic, ridiculous.
"Hoo..."
She drew a shaky breath. Fine, in for a penny. Erica squeezed Kyle's hand for resolve, released it, gripped her sword, and advanced toward Julius.