The morning sun painted everything in soft gold as Ares reached his first birthday milestone.
No royal banners decorated the stone walls of the castle wing. No crowds of fancy nobles filled the corridors with their loud voices and rustling silk gowns. No flashy magical fireworks exploded across the sky like they did for the older brothers' celebrations.
But there was something infinitely better filling the quiet room: genuine warmth.
Junia had been bustling around since dawn, her usually nervous energy focused on creating something special. She had spread out the softest silk blankets she could find in the castle stores, fabrics that felt like touching actual clouds when they brushed against skin. The entire room smelled like a perfect spring morning, dried lavender and roses from the garden mixed with that clean scent of fresh dew on grass.
A tiny cake sat proudly on a polished silver tray near his crib, barely bigger than Ares's own small fist. It was decorated with delicate sugar flowers that looked almost too pretty to eat, each petal crafted with the kind of careful attention that only came from genuine love. Cook had spent hours on it, Junia had whispered earlier, working by candlelight to make sure everything was perfect.
And Beatrix, for the first time in what felt like forever, smiled like she actually meant it. Not the careful, polite expression she wore for visitors or the worried look that had become her default. This was real joy lighting up her face from the inside out.
She held Ares close by the tall window, golden sunlight streaming through the glass and making her dark hair glow with warm highlights like she was wearing an invisible halo. Her voice was soft as silk when she whispered:
"Happy birthday, my little storm."
From her favorite corner of the room, Junia sniffled loudly and tried her best to pretend she wasn't getting emotional. Her eyes were definitely getting watery, though she kept wiping at them with the edge of her apron.
"May your path stay quiet and peaceful until you're ready to shake the world," she added, her voice full of affection and hope for his future.
Ares didn't cry or squirm or fuss like most babies his age would have during all the attention and handling.
He just lay there in Beatrix's gentle arms, soaking it all in like a sponge absorbing water.
'This... this is actually nice.'
The thought drifted through his young mind with surprising clarity.
'A real birthday celebration. I never had anything like this in my previous life.'
'Quiet. Simple. Genuine.'
'No fake smiles or obligations. Just people who actually care.'
The moment felt perfect and magical, like something straight out of the fairytales that Junia sometimes read to him during long afternoons. Warm sunlight, loving faces, the scent of flowers, and the feeling of being completely safe and wanted.
Then, without any warning at all, everything changed.
---
It didn't start with a dramatic bang or a brilliant flash of magical light like the stories always described.
Instead, it began as the gentlest warmth just below his right collarbone, so subtle at first that he almost missed it entirely.
He'd been feeling mana swirling around inside his small body for months now, like invisible water flowing through hidden channels. But this was completely different. The energy wasn't just floating aimlessly anymore—it was gathering with clear purpose, focusing itself with deliberate intent.
The scattered magical threads that had been drifting around his belly and chest were suddenly moving upward, drawn by some invisible force. They were settling into a specific spot right beside his tiny heart, pooling there like water finding the lowest point in a bowl.
The warmth began spinning tighter and tighter, threads of energy winding around each other like silk being wound into thread, then thread being twisted into rope. The sensation grew more intense with each passing second, building toward something important.
Until finally—
'Click.'
The sound wasn't audible, but Ares felt it in his bones, his soul, the very core of his being.
He sucked in a quiet breath, his baby lungs expanding as his entire body processed what had just happened.
It wasn't pain shooting through him. It wasn't fire burning his insides or lightning crackling under his skin like he'd heard some people describe their mana awakenings.
This was... weight. Substance. The unmistakable feeling of something incredibly important clicking into place, like the final piece of a puzzle settling exactly where it belonged.
'This is it. My mana core.'
'Right where it's supposed to be, right next to my heart.'
'I'm officially a Novice level now.'
The realization hit him with crystal clarity. He felt complete in a way he never had before, not even in his previous life. Not magically powerful yet, that would take years of training and practice, but like he finally had a solid foundation to build upon. A center point that could grow and develop into something truly amazing.
'Potential with actual purpose behind it.'
He didn't know exactly how long he stayed frozen in that perfect moment, just feeling the new weight in his chest pulse gently in rhythm with his heartbeat. Time seemed to stretch and bend around the significance of what had just occurred.
But while Ares was lost in wonder at his transformation, the world around him definitely noticed that something major had happened.
---
One courtyard away from the peaceful birthday celebration, an Eisenklinge guard named Marcus stopped dead in the middle of his routine afternoon patrol.
Every combat instinct he'd carefully built over twenty years of military service started screaming warnings at once.
A ripple of concentrated pressure had just sliced through the air like an invisible knife cutting through silk fabric. The sensation was unmistakable to anyone with magical training, focused intent, controlled power, the kind of energy signature that only came from someone with serious mana proficiency.
His scarred hand shot to the grip of his sword before his conscious mind even registered the movement.
'What was that?'
The thought raced through his head as he spun toward the source of the disturbance.
His eyes locked onto Lady Beatrix's wing of the castle, the quietest section of the entire complex.
But that made absolutely no sense. Lady Beatrix had no scheduled visitors today, he'd checked the logs himself during morning briefing. No important meetings on her calendar. No combat training sessions anywhere in the vicinity that could produce that kind of magical resonance.
Yet the air had just crackled with the distinctive feeling of someone either performing advanced magic or preparing to do something very, very dangerous.
Marcus activated a small communication crystal embedded in his leather gauntlet and began moving toward the Lady's quarters, every muscle in his body coiled tight as a spring. His boots made soft sounds against the stone as he crept forward, all his senses on high alert for any sign of threat.
He reached the edge of her private hallway and paused, pressing his back against the cool stone wall.
Complete silence greeted him.
Perfect stillness.
Not a single thing appeared out of place. No broken windows, no scorch marks on the walls, no signs of struggle or magical combat.
But the air itself still felt different somehow. Thick and heavy, like the atmosphere was holding its breath and waiting for something important to happen.
'I could've sworn that energy spike came from right here…'
Marcus scanned the tall windows above, looking for any hint of movement or hidden figures.
Nothing.
His heartbeat gradually returned to its normal rhythm, but he didn't allow himself to relax completely. Years of experience had taught him to trust his instincts, and those instincts were telling him that something significant had definitely occurred in this location.
He pulled out a small crystal recording device and made a quick entry in the coded language all guards used for their reports: 'Minor mana disturbance detected. Location: Lady Beatrix's wing. Time: afternoon patrol, second bell. Status: No visible threat identified. Recommend continued monitoring.'
Then he sealed the magical report with his personal signature and began walking away, still glancing over his shoulder every few steps.
Whatever had happened here, he was going to keep a much closer eye on this section of the castle for the next few days.
---
Back in the sunlit room where the quiet birthday celebration continued, Ares lay perfectly still in Beatrix's loving arms.
His bright eyes were wide and alert, taking in every detail of his surroundings. His breathing remained steady and calm. To anyone looking at him, he appeared to be nothing more than a normal one-year-old baby enjoying attention from the people who cared for him.
'They didn't actually see what happened.'
'But someone definitely felt the energy when my core formed.'
'Good. Let them think it was just some random magical hiccup. A gust of supernatural wind. Nothing important or threatening.'
He flexed his tiny fingers experimentally, feeling that new weight in his chest pulse gently with each heartbeat. The sensation was still amazing and strange, like carrying a warm coal right next to his heart.
'I'm not empty anymore.'
'I have a real mana core now. An actual foundation to work with.'
'This is where everything truly starts.'
'Time to see what kind of storm this little body can eventually become.'
The thought filled him with quiet excitement and determination. His first birthday gift to himself was magical awakening, and he planned to make the most of every single day that followed.