“The first notification is: Swordsmanship.”, It felt like a game. I’ve gotten used to seeing magic and other skills, but feeling a notification in my head snapped me back to reality—we're really in another world.

  “It’s an expected notification. You've been training with twin swords for over a year, and your skill is impeccable. It might level up quickly,” my father was the first to comment.

  “The next two skills I’ve obtained are: Enhanced Senses and Quick Step.” From the names alone, I can more or less understand the concept behind each one.

  I didn’t receive any advice for five seconds. What’s going on?

  “Is there something wrong with these skills?” I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and asked.

  “Little one, that’s actually impressive. Quick Step is a movement-type skill. While it’s quite common, you shouldn’t have acquired it just from awakening.”

  “Yes, son, your grandmother is right. It’s a simple yet effective skill, not just for close combat fighters. Mages use it too, to escape tricky situations.”

  “I see... and what about Enhanced Senses?”

  “That’s the impressive one. We all went quiet because of that skill. It’s not extremely rare, but it is hard to obtain. In our family, only your grandfather and I have acquired it after intense training. You're a miracle of nature, little one.”

  My parents also started congratulating me, and my siblings joked about my talent. Why do I feel like they won’t be surprised by anything I do from now on?

  My grandmother raised her hand, and everyone went silent. She hadn’t said a word all this time—just quietly watching, thinking about my new skill.

  “Little one, that skill also has variations. Mine evolved into Mana Detection when it reached level three. Your grandfather’s, on the other hand, became Object Sense. We each specialized in different areas based on how we trained in our youth.”

  “I can’t say which one is better or worse. You can guess their difference by their names. I can sense mana in a radius around me, even if I can’t see it. When it reached level four, it evolved into Multi-Mana Detection. It became exponentially stronger—I can now tell different mana types apart within my range.”

  “That’s amazing, Grandma. With that skill, it must be impossible to get caught off guard.”, I’m genuinely amazed. It makes me even happier to know I received such a promising skill.

  “You’re right, little one. If it's a mana-based attack from a blind spot, I can react immediately. But my weakness lies in physical attacks. If a highly skilled melee user gets close using speed, I don’t stand a chance. It's a very useful ability, but it has clear limits.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. Of course, there are people with perfect mana control who keep it completely suppressed—makes things tough for mages.

  “What about Grandpa’s skill?”

  “That’s what I wanted to explain. Your grandfather’s ability is the complete opposite—he can sense objects within a radius around him. It doesn’t matter if they’re living, like people or animals, or non-living like trees or rocks. Two opposite skills, born from the same origin. So tell me, which would you like to learn?”

  They gave me time to think, everyone quietly watching me. This decision is selfish—but if I want to be strong, I must be strong.

  “I want to learn both.”

  Grandma smiled, and I heard light laughter from my other relatives behind me.

  “That’s quite greedy of you, little one. To be honest, I don’t even know if it's possible to learn both skills. I’ve never met anyone with that kind of ability.”

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  “So… is it impossible?”, I felt a bit disheartened by Grandma’s words. I still want to learn both…

  “I never said that. I just don’t know if it’s possible. It’ll all depend on your learning ability and how hard you work.”

  “Mom, Dad’s not with us right now. How could Maki learn that skill without him here?”, My father brought me back to reality. It’s true—I’ve never met my grandfather. There’s no way to learn his skill from him.

  “Don’t worry, son. Even if I don’t remember every single detail, I do know how my husband learned that ability. He never told you or your brother because neither of you obtained Enhanced Senses.”

  “Really, Grandma? Thank you so much!” I’m so excited I want to go train right now, a skill that helps avoid surprise attacks is a literal life-saver.

  “We’ll begin your training tomorrow. We’ll need to prepare a special room for it. Today, try to get used to your magic, your other skills, and your willpower.”

  After saying that, she stood up and left the room. I kept talking with my parents and siblings, receiving some advice about how they trained their skills, and after about thirty minutes, I headed to our training area with my two brothers.

  “Maki, there are things you need to know about Imra. Let’s do a quick test.”

  “What’s Imra? I’ve never heard that word before, Ritmo.”, Sers looked just as surprised—clearly it was a new term for both of us.

  “Imra is vital force and everything related to it. The people who study its uses debated for a long time about what to name it. Willpower just sounds like being mentally strong during hard times. But as you know, that’s not the only power it grants.”, That makes sense. From my point of view, willpower alone shouldn’t let you hit harder, read people’s emotions, or even suppress others.

  “I got a letter from my friend—the Count’s son. The Empire will soon officially declare Imra as the new term. It’ll be taught in academies, and they expect it to spread worldwide.”

  “Less talk and more action, Ritmo. Show Maki already. I want to train with him too.” Sers was just as eager as I was. We both wanted to test out my new strength and skills.

  We moved to the center. I didn’t know what my older brother was going to do, at this point, I was a test subject.

  “Maki, you don’t have any skill or control over your Imra yet. First, I’ll show you how—if my Imra is hostile toward you—it can dominate you instantly.”

  As soon as he finished speaking, I felt a pressure on me—something intangible weighing me down. I couldn’t move a muscle, couldn’t speak. My body was freezing bit by bit. It was absolutely overwhelming. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t break free.

  After a few seconds, Ritmo ended the skill and released me.

  “It’s a technique combining my Imra and my affinity with ice. I didn’t use full force—otherwise, you’d have passed out after a while.”

  “That was incredible, Ritmo. I couldn’t do anything. I tried resisting with willpower or magic, but without skill or control, I’m just a puppet.”

  “That’s what I wanted to show you. You’ve got amazing talent. If you polish your strengths, you’ll surpass me easily. This was just a reminder of the gap in skill and experience.”

  Ritmo looked very satisfied with his demonstration. I was still amazed—and a little terrified—by how easily he subdued me.

  “My final demonstration is about environmental mana control. We all start the same: manipulating neutral mana, first by making simple, quick shapes.”

  His demonstration involved creating spheres, tubes, rods, and other geometric shapes. Sometimes from scratch, other times by reshaping an existing spell.

  “This really is a new world. I’ve seen your and Mom’s ice magic, but this is my first time seeing environmental mana. I can vaguely feel it forming.” According to my grandmother, that’s probably because of my newly acquired skill. It’s just rank 1, level 1—yet I can already imagine how strong it’ll become one day.

  Sers walked up to me with a smile. “My turn.”

  “I know your skill with the sword. Now, with an actual ability, you’ll have better control over it. I’m sure you’ll reach Rank 2 in a month or less. I’ll help you with your movement skill—I have one based on lightning too.”

  Sers and my father shared the same affinity. Ritmo and my mother as well. I’m dying to find out what mine is…

  “This last week we won’t be able to train with you much—our parents need us for city work. So watch my movements closely and practice on your own, Maki.”

  Sers vanished from sight and appeared 15 meters away. Then vanished again and was suddenly beside me.

  “Incredible, Sers. With that speed, you’d beat me in a second too.”

  Sers smiled, then looked at me seriously. “It’s an amazing skill, but it has limits. I can’t use it many times in a row—it drains too much mana. You should start practicing this.”

  Sers began moving rapidly—quick, explosive steps, hard to predict, but there was a huge difference this time—I could see them. I could keep up with his movements, though it wasn’t easy.

  “These last ones were just quick steps using environmental mana on my feet to boost speed and explosiveness. That’s what you should start practicing.”

  After about 20 more minutes training with Sers and Ritmo, they left. They seemed in a hurry—and reluctant to go.

  “Time to practice my two skills!”, This moment feels like the second beginning since my assimilation.