Mushoku Tensei: A different path

{Third POV}

At the inn where Ruijerd and the others are waiting for Rudeus. They are all worried.

Even though they wanted to look for him, Ruijerd stopped them. He respected Rudeus's wishes. But even if he says that, he is still worried it might end up like at Millishion, where he casted a massive spell.

Suddenly, Ruijerd eased up a little.

"Everyone, you can relax now. He is coming back."

Eris, Lilia and Ginger sighed in unison, while Aisha just tilted her head confused over how he knows he is coming.

Then the door opened.

"I'm back."

Just as he stepped into the room, they all looked at him. However, hey all had their eyes opened wide in surprise.

It wasn't significantly, but he had an obvious change to his appearance.

His hair was brown.

Everyone except Ginger and Aisha knew that it was his original hair color.

Noticing all of their stares aimed at his hair color, he scratched the back of his head while smiling wryly.

"Yeah, it changed back to normal after I finally got my magic back under control."

""Normal?"" Ginger and Aisha said.

""Under control?"" Ruijerd and Eris said.

"..... After I casted a large area spell my hair changed into white. And after waking up, my magic kept ending up becoming bigger than intended. But today after some meditation, I noticed the problem. And after trying to fix it, my hair changed back to normal."

""""...""""

They all still stared at him. The adults, under them, noticed he might hide something from them.

"Alright just quit the staring already. I finally got things under control again, so I would appreciate it if you don't look at me like that."

"Did you stop being paranoid?" Aisha innocently asked.

"Paranoid?"

"The thing you do when you look at the window."

Rudeus went over to her and patted her head.

"Don't worry about that."

Even though he tried to reassure her, he couldn't tell her about Kagami.

He would make sure that she never finds out about his previous life, no matter what.

Not just her. All the people in this world. Being seen as an outcast among every single inhabitant of this world was just too much of a heavy burden for him.

Time went by and although Lilia and Ruijerd were suspicious over Rudeus's sudden change, they let it by and are simply glad for him to have his magic back under control.

Eris and Aisha are just curious and asked him to tell them what the cause was, which he told them without the part where he talked to his reflection which then turned him into a monster and fainting afterwords.

And soon the departure and separate ways of them all came.

***

{Rudeus POV}

I still feel bad about lying to them, but how am I supposed to explain my curse.

Who could I ask for advice besides Hitogami? He is the only one I know that has some kind of knowledge, but contact with him is rather random.

There is also the fact that I still have to prepare for Paul's death.

Thankfully, my short training session that day showed some results. There are several things that I managed to discover.

First would be the type of magic that I used against the soldier who was tasked to capture Aisha.

If I had to name it, it would be Gravity Magic. I can control the weight around me or a specific objects.

For that, I had to get a connection towards the object by conjuring a link through my own mana. Once a connection is done, I can change the gravitational force between lighter and heavier.

And to test that, I created a 1-meter-high cube.

Once I made it heavy enough, the ground beneath it started to crack from the increased weight.

But when I tried to make a different cube lighter, nothing visibly happened.

So, I conjured a handle onto the cube and lifted it up. It was so light that I could easily hold it above my head.

To see it limits, I threw the cube away.

It went for a few yards and after several meters the connection broke and the cube got its original weight as it damaged the ground.

I wasn't brave enough to use Gravity Magic on myself. If I'm not careful, I might lose control while floating high above the ground and fall towards my own demise. So until I have a better grasp to it, the dream of flying to the clouds has to wait.

The next thing I discovered would be the mana manipulation that I used to punch Pax in the face while I was in the Barrier Magic circle.

Just as I thought, it's like a transparent extended arm made from mana.

I already improved on it so much that I can grab onto things and pull them towards me.

Maybe once I mastered it, I can choke people in the air, using a certain power from a galactic force. I wonder if this world has colored burning swords.

The range is limited, since the control gets harder the further the object is.

It's like trying to control of the tip of a long pole while holding the others end. The other tip just gonna swing around, and you have to concentrate on not moving the rest of the pole too much.

But on the plus side, if you throw a punch with it, it can fly in an unpredictable trajectory.

It seems like I can change the arms from slightly transparent to completely invisible.

I don't have any sense of touch in the mana hands, so dirty stuff with them will only bring some strange images here. People who don't know might get the wrong idea and accuse me of assault.

The last thing I tried involves the manipulation of the ambient mana around me.

I already can put it into my spell for additional boost, but what if I tried absorbing it into my own mana pool.

So, I started exhausting a large amount and quickly sat down and meditated.

I could feel how my body naturally absorbed the ambient mana. Trying to control it, I managed to get an increase of probably 5 percent or lower.

With enough training, I could manage to get my mana completely back after exhausting it. But considering how large my mana-pool is, that might cause some serious damage.

It was getting late, so I cleaned up and went back. On the way back to the inn, I considered buying a notebook to write everything I learned and try to train down.

But with the two books I already got, my luggage might be a bit too large. Maybe trying out to manipulate space to get my own pocket dimension would be helpful?

There is so much to do, but so little time to train. Magic sure is a wide-ranged thing.

But right now, I have a different kind of problem. One that I can never ignore, not even in a million years.

"Big brother, do you have to leave?"

Aisha and I are currently talking in private, a distance away from their carriage, as requested of her.

She seems sad that we are already separating, and my heart ached at her sight of her cute puppy eyes.

We only have reunited after 5 years, but the big brother in me couldn't take leaving her as well.

Lilia and her are heading to Paul at Millishion, as we agreed with the king of Shirone, while Ginger is tasked to escort them until there.

"Aisha, you know that Zenith is still missing. I agreed with father's request to look for her in the northern territories. It may take a long time, but we will meet again once we are all together again."

".... Okay."

It doesn't seem like she is convinced, but I have to go no matter what. I can't become attached to her, since I'm not her real brother from the inside.

She suddenly narrowed her eyes as she murmured something.

"Are you gonna keep that?"

"Keep what?"

Wait. She couldn't mean-

"The panty."

"Oh.... that."

I secured them after I was freed from Pax's trap. None but Lilia, Aisha and Zanoba saw them, so my dignity isn't damaged that much.

Now that she mentioned it, I should probably do something to better her picture about me.

"Aisha, do you know why I have them?"

"It's because you're a pervert." Her reply felt like a ruthless punch to the stomach.

"No.... well, you're not wrong, but I blame Father for my attachment to woman."

"What?"

"Ask him what I mean once you meet him."

She looked confused, but I wasn't ready to ruin her innocence. Besides, I didn't want to influence her image towards Paul either.

"Is it because she had a big ass and tits?"

Speaking of influence, I need to talk to Lilia before we part ways.

"No. She taught me a lot of things, for which I respect her. She also helped me to overcome my fear of going outside, which made me be forever grateful to her."

I took off my forehead protector and handed it over to her. She took it and looked at it for a while.

The inside got a little smelted from the white flames coming from the crystals.

"You seem to miss me already, so I'm going to give this as a reminder of me."

She looked at me and noticed my scars. I put my finger on my forehead and rubbed them.

"Yeah, I mainly wore that to cover them up because my hair and eyes already made me look rather weird."

She then was in thought, but soon gasps in understanding.

"You seem to get it. I had them as reminder for what she did for me, especially the fear for the outside. She was the only one who did something instead of just letting go by."

Deep inside of me, I still haven't forgiven Paul for not noticing it. He is a muscle-head, but even he should have had some idea what was going on.

But just as he had expectations of me that I didn't fulfill, I shouldn't keep my hopes up that he will fulfill mine as well.

I then kneeled and looked at her.

"Aisha, there is something that I need you to do."

"What is it?"

"Please make sure father feels like a good parent."

"Huh?" she tilted her head confused.

I scratched the back of my head while smiling wryly.

"You see, me and him had a bit of a fight and we each said some terrible things to each other. He tried to apologize after, but I couldn't listen to him long enough, and we parted without reconciling with each other. And I can imagine him being devastated about his parenting so far. But it is mostly my fault for being a difficult child, so I would really appreciate it if you could help build up his self-esteem a bit."

I know that I should do it myself, apologizing and making him feel like a good parent, but I also have to prepare for the day the vision happens.

Relying on my younger sister might be incompetent, but it's the least I can do for him.

After some more thinking, Aisha nodded in agreement.

As she went back to the carriage, I signaled Lilia over to come over to me. I reprimanded her about what she taught Aisha, in which she explained that she tried to repay for what I did for her.

Just as I suspected, she did this as a thanks for saving her life.

Soon after coming to a conclusion with her, in which she tries to stop it, we said our goodbyes.

And that's how I took my next step of separating myself from the family I never belonged to.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Eris asked me concerned.

"We made some safety measures, so nothing bad happens." I tried to reassure her.

"Are you sure that it won't be too big?"

"It won't be as spectacular if it's small. Besides, I have better control over that than I did before, so don't worry too much."

I tried again to reassure her that nothing too bad will happen.

We are standing in an empty field of plain grass land, where we were alone and far away from any village.

Our location is close to the Red Dragons mountain-range, which we need to pass through to get to the Fittoa region. But before that, I was eager to try something incredible.

King class Water Magic. [Lightning].

It seems that lightning itself isn't considered a branch in magic.

The name alone already says that it's something powerful, and since I have the incantation as well the instructions on how to cast it, I wanted to rank up.

Ruijerd and Eris complied, and we prepared everything to get ready.

In order for them not to get blown away from the upcoming storm, I casted [Earth Dome] for cover.

"Are you two ready?"

"We are."

"Just start already."

Getting confirmation from both of them, I grabbed my staff and started with the first steps for the spell.

Using my left hand to hold the shaft, and my right hand holding its magic stone, I started the incantation.

"O spirits of the magnificent waters, I beseech the Prince of Thunder! Grant me my wish, bless me with thy savagery, and reveal to this insignificant servant a glimpse of thy power! Let fear strike the heart of man as thy divine hammer strikes its anvil, and over the land with water!"

The start of the spell consisted of the Saint class Water spell [Cumulonimbus].

Dark clouds started to appear and rain was falling immediately, as I put mana into my staff which then shoot up to the sky.

I was soaking wet and the wind blew violently. There were the occasional sound of thunder coming from the clouds.

"Come, oh rain, and wash everything away in thy flood of destruction!"

Once The first part of the incantation was said, I proceeded with the next part.

"I call upon you, mighty spirit of light, shining lord of the heavens! Do you see the impudent foe towering before us? Do you see your sown enemy, in all his arrogance? I would be the holy blade that strikes him down! Let your radiant power teach him that the Emperor yet reign supreme!"

With every of the second parts words, my magic raged ever so more. The amount of control for it was crazy. No wonder this was considered a high-class spell.

The clouds gathered in a singular point. Flashes of light came from it as the clouds squeezed tightly together.

It still needs my full attention to control it, even with my curses Demon part. But I know it won't fail.

"[Lightning]!"

Once I finished the incantation, I feel and sense a hole open underneath the compressed clouds as magic power pours down.

A great lightning strikes without a specific target towards the ground.

After the loud bang, nothing of the dark clouds remain, showing only the blue sky.

My eyes were burning a bit from the flash of light, and my ears were ringing from the noise. The ground was wet and so was I.

I swallowed my own spit at the magnificence of such high-class magic.

Looking at the spot the spells struck, there was a burned crater, with the dirt thrown all around it.

It didn't seem like my body put in ambient mana into the spell, but the result was still awe-inspiring.

"WOW!"

I heard Eris shout and looked over to her and Ruijerd.

She had sparkling eyes with a face full of excitement. Ruijerd was having his usual face, but there was a hint of fear into it.

"Mister Ruijerd, what's wrong?"

Don't tell me the 400-years-long warrior fears lightning. He is a veteran of the great human-demon war, so he probably saw Demon God Laplace do some Emperor or God class spells.

"To think a child at such a young age can become a King class Mage is just odd."

Does he think that people might become high-ranking so easily, just because he was wandering the Demon-continent for so long?

"Did your condition make it so strong?"

"No. I think speaking the incantations won't react to my body."

That's right. I usually use magic by manipulating my mana myself. Incantations are a start-up of getting one's mana ready.

Since my body didn't react to me speaking the incantations, it must mean that it's the loophole to get my spells back under control.

But honestly, I don't think I remember some of the incantations, since I usually skip them.

"Well, anyway."

Both of them looked at me as I lifted my staff above me and smiled.

"From today onward, I am Water King Rudeus Greyrat."

Both of them applauded for me. It's good to get some appreciation from the people close to me.

"Hey Rudeus, you think I could use that as well?

"No." As much as she was exited, she could in no way cast something so advanced and mana cost-efficient with her set of skills.

After nearly eight years, I managed to rank up. The feeling of accomplishment was undeniable.

***

Soon, we arrived at the Red Dragons mountain-range.

We will not go through it, since it is Red Dragon territory. So, we are going around it.

Eris was mad at it, saying she wants to slay a Rad Dragon just like Ghislaine.

But according to her, she didn't do it alone and had lost 2 of her team members in the process.

Trying to ask her not to do it, she replied with:"But you are a Water King, so what's the problem?"

She overestimates my capabilities too much. If that giant winged lizard flies, we will be in a disadvantage.

Thankfully, Ruijerd stopped her by telling us that only the upper ranks of the Seven Great World Powers can deal with a Red Dragon alone. Apparently, Laplace had the Red Dragon King as a pet.

Red Dragons are an S rank monster whose carved materials are worth 100 Asuran gold coins.

That would mean that there is a large power gap between Demon God and Death God. I can imagine that since, apparently, Death God is the ex-owner of a restaurant.

But looks can trick people, like when people had a hard time believing I'm the owner of Dead End.

On our travel, I did try to experiment with [Lightning] a bit.

Sure, the spell is great, but a total overkill. So to make it more compact, I tried minimizing it.

I ended up zapping myself a lot when I formed a miniature [Cumulonimbus].

After a few tries, I managed to get the perfect feeling to it. I name this spell [Electric]. It shoots out a hard to dodge miniature lightning.

And my first test subjects were some bandits that tried to rob us. Each one of them couldn't evade my [Electric], and were paralyzed for a long time.

We left them be since it seemed like they were doing this to get some food.

Eris pouted at me for taking all the bandits on my own.

***

We were taking a rest. Well, I am. Ruijerd and Eris are training, as usual.

I haven't tried sparing with them both because I thought that I simply needed to recover a bit to get my magic under control.

So today I decided to do a little sparing with Eris, after finishing our dinner.

And to keep it short, it was a disaster.

Once I dashed too hard and ended up rolling a few meters away while having my legs in pain.

The other time I swung my sword so hard that my shoulders, arms AND my practice sword broke.

If I hadn't had the ability to cast Healing Magic silently, I would have to endure the pain because I couldn't say any proper words.

"Jeez, how long does it take for you to get a hold of yourself?" Eris said in irritation.

"Why, thank you for reinforcing my confidence." I sarcastically said to her.

She was nearly hit in both of those scenarios, but thanks to her swift reaction and instincts, she dodged at the last second.

"You have quit the mysterious Touki, Rudeus." Ruijerd commented.

Finally, someone mentioned it.

"I think I heard about that before. It's when you cover your body with mana, enhancing your physical capabilities."

"That is correct."

Good. So Hitogami wasn't lying to me. Alright, let's ask Ruijerd some more.

"How do you control it?"

"It usually builds up natural by building up your body."

Really? That's it? A simple workout? If it's that easy, then why didn't anyone tell me to do that?

Oh, wait, someone did. Paul. But because of his bad skills as a teacher, he failed to convey that properly.

"Eris, you may now onward call yourself a warrior."

Suddenly, Ruijerd drop some important things.

Eris then came over to me.

"Hey Rudeus, pinch me."

"Nope. You will just punch me."

In actuality, I didn't want to give her an injury, since I once punched a small spot on my cheek.

"I won't."

"…"

"Just do it already"

"..... fine."

Reaching my hand to her face, I CAREFULLY pinched her cheek.

"Owww. Not so much, stupid."

She looked furious and was readying her fist.

But when her fist got to my face, I barely felt anything.

"Owww. What the hell?"

The one in pain is her, not me.

She was holding the hand that just punched me in the face, and it seems like the knuckles on it were bleeding, so I immediately casted [Healing] on her hand.

"Was that my Touki as well?" I asked Ruijerd.

"It seems so. Although, it's oddly strong for your body, being so under-trained."

According to what he just said, I assume that the more you train your body, the stronger your Touki gets.

The only good thing my Touki is good for is its defense. Speed and strength are still in the improving process, since they are damaging me.

My list of things I need to get the hang of is just getting bigger and bigger. And yet, I have so little time.

But it is just as Hitogami said. My Dragon part is the least developed, and it seems to be responsible for my Touki suddenly awakening. Yet, why is it so strong?

Questions that may never be answered.

At the same night, when Eris was asleep, I asked Ruijerd something in private.

"Why did you say that to her? You know she will get overconfident with herself."

It was about him telling her to call herself a warrior from now on.

He half opened one eye and looked at me while he was keeping guard-watch.

"Because no matter how much time passes, you treat her like a child."

..... Is that it?

Sure, I never stopped seeing her as a child, because of our age difference, if you add in my previous life's age. It's more than 20 years age gap.

I had to lead her numerous times while being hit numerous times, while also teaching her all sorts of things.

Her judgement and body may how grown a little, but she still has so much more to learn until I can see her as an adult. And frankly, I still have to learn much as myself.

Being a shut-in was never a time to grow. It was a time that froze my mental judgement, so I don't really know how to see someone become an adult from the inside.

Maturity is not equal to being an adult. It will just show people how you try to handle things, but not how you react to them.

So yes, I have been treating her like a child because I don't know how to change my perspective from a child to an adult.

"I think you are overthinking it. She is still young, and having me around will just let her stagnate in her growth."

".... What do you mean?"

"It's nothing."

Thinking about all that, set my mind into another set of directions I have to take on my path.

The influence to others through my actions around them will never turn for the better.

///