Kail and his family returned to the festival. It was evening when they arrived. Starting today, they would be staying in their manor within the capital city. Spider and Nova both were busy thinking of where they could continue Kail's lessons while Kail had fun participating in the night festivities.
It was nice to forget about his worries as he wandered to each food stall, trying out the different snacks and drinks. There were some that threw him off visually so he avoided those. The ones that deterred him were the insect delicacies.
His taste testing brought him to a stall further away from the others. Few people were visiting it. The woman running the stall, looking depressed, perked up when she saw Kail approach. She was a chubby woman with golden hair and sky-blue eyes. Her cheeks were a bit flushed from the cold.
Kail's eyes were on a familiar pie sitting in a clear warming case on her stall.
The scent of warm pumpkin pie hit his nose and he rushed forward. I finally found you, you delicious treat!
The stall owner smiled. "Hello, Young Master Kail," she greeted with a respectful short bow. "Would you like to try out my pumpkin pie?"
"Yes!" Kail replied immediately, his blue-gray eyes never leaving the pie.
Her smile seemed to grow brighter and she swiftly cut him a slice. She handed it to him on a wooden plate. "Enjoy!"
Kail eagerly took it, not realizing his family was staring at him with disdain. He heard the Goddess of Darkness laugh as he took a fork offered by the stall owner. What's so funny? he thought to her.
"The pumpkin is seen as an offering rather than an ingredient," the goddess explained.
That explained why so few people were stopping at the stall. He zoned into his surroundings and noticed people were staring with horrified and angry expressions towards him. He scoffed, not caring. "They have no idea that they're missing out on something so incredibly delicious."
The woman gasped and grinned. "Thank you for agreeing with me, Young Master! Finally there is someone who knows the versatility of the pumpkin."
"It can be made into a spread, a drink, and even used as a substitute if I remember correctly," Kail said with a nod.
The stall owner was a bit baffled that he knew so much. Those were some of the recipes she had experimented with over the years. She thought she was the only one who knew of those recipes. How did a five-years-old kid know them?
Kail ignored her confused expression and purchased one of everything that she had available. She was more than happy to package everything into a space gem.
A space gem was a newer magical technology created only two years ago. The gems used were called goldstone. It was a gorgeous dark purple that resembled space. The man-made gem was created using different chemicals such as borax and the elemental form of copper.
The goldstone the stall owner gave Kail was made into a ring. It was a silver ring with the gemstone shaped into a pumpkin. He admired the beautiful stone as he moved the ring, getting the lighting of the magic orbs in the air to hit the stone in different angles, creating a shimmering effect in the stone.
He put it on before thanking the woman and returning to his family. His mother snatched his hand and tried to yank the ring off but Kail managed to twist free of her grip. He glared at her. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Give me that ring, Kail," she said in a commanding tone. "Pumpkins are important offers to the Goddess of Harvest. We are not allowed to eat them!"
Kail's father reached for the plate of pie but Izabella intervened. She tripped him, making the man fall when he took a step. This distracted everyone from Kail. While they were helping his father up, he scurried off into the crowd to find a place to eat his pie in peace.
He slipped into an alley behind some boxes. He scarfed down the pie, enjoying each bite. Once he finished it, he activated the ring with a thought. Open the goldstone. A box appeared in his mind.
It startled him. He had only known the access command thanks to Teacher James but he didn't know what happened once that command was said. The box showed him what was in the ring. There was even a list of commands to the side of the box so that he knew what to say and how to control the ring.
It reminded him exactly of a VR system.
Izabella, why is there a video game-like feature in this world? he thought to the goddess, knowing she was still there.
Izabella's melodic voice reached his ears. "That feature is courtesy of....I'm not sure. I know it is a recent feature added by one of the other divine."
Whoever did it, they knew the technology of his first world. Can you find out who made it and bring them to me? I have questions and I think they can answer them.
"Sure. Will you be okay without me for a while?"
Kail smiled and nodded as he put the wooden plate into the ring to discard later. "I have Spider and Nova as well as the God of Death's ravens. I'm certain that I'll be fine for now."
"Alright." She didn't sound convinced but he soon felt her presence disappear.
It was then that he realized he could feel her presence. Was it because he had unlocked his element officially?
Kail put it to the back of his mind and stepped out of the alley. He looked around for his family. They were most likely searching for him. He predicted a lecture when he saw them again. It didn't bother him.
He walked into the crowd, wondering where he should start looking. He didn't want to see them quite yet but it was better than causing trouble if he stayed missing.
Kail eventually found them checking around the platform in the square. One of his mother's maids, brought along to help her carry anything she bought if her goldstone necklace became full, spotted him and alerted the family of his arrival.
All eyes turned toward him as he slowly walked towards them, clearly not the least bit worried or upset. In fact, he felt satisfied that he had been able to escape. It proved to him that it was possible even in his small body.
He still needed help to escape but it was possible.
As he had predicted, his parents walked quickly over to him and gave him a quiet lecture. He tuned it out for the most part, only nodding and replying when he had to. He frowned when he heard Storm murmur something to their father after walking over to join them.
"He is already showing signs of defecting from us. We should put stricter restrictions on him," Storm murmured to their father.
To Kail, it was as if Storm had said it as if he were speaking in his normal volume. Confused but deciding to question that later, he shifted his gaze to Storm. Their eyes met and the two glared at each other.
It became clear to Kail that there were conversations behind his back and that things were no doubt going to become much harder for him after tonight.
Their father hummed in thought before sighing. "Kail, we will finish this later."
Kail didn't like the sound of that. He's going to do something to me. He wondered if he would be able to hide in the shadows to avoid it. He would ask Nova how to do it if he had the chance tonight.
For the rest of the night, he was made to stick close to his parents. They refused to let him out of their sight.
As they walked, Kail was meditating. He could feel the mana moving throughout his body, filling him with warm power. He held his hand out in front of him as soon as his family was distracted by a performance.
He imagined his hand turning into shadow. His eyes widened when it worked. His hand was black and wispy. It looked like liquid smoke. It was no longer solid and the smoke-like dark mana shifted like flames. He quickly cut the power and his hand returned to normal just in time as his father turned to look at him.
The love his father once had in his eyes towards Kail wasn't there. Kail couldn't help but be reminded of his first set of parents. He found himself praying that this life wouldn't turn out like those dark days.
It was dawn when they headed to the manor they had in the city. Kail, taking a chance with his newfound ability and spreading it to all of his body, slipped into the shadows the second his parents took their eyes off of him once inside.
When the family turned to look at him, they were surprised to see he was gone.
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