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Yep, they all looked at me with some fear, I guess they don't want to use magic?
Why? It is the power that everyone has!
"Why that look?" I asked.
"I don't know, perhaps they don't want to practice and slack off," said the grandma.
"Well, kids you're all going to work hard. I don't want you to stay weak forever. Especially because the outside world is harsh. Very harsh… So, I want you to live as much as you can for your family members that could not accompany you today. You have to make them proud, and to survive in this world together… For this reason… Please, help me by letting me help you grow stronger," I said.
The kids seemed to be doubting it for some time, especially the younglings…
"O-Okay! I will… I will train!" said Flayr, the first one to speak, she was somewhat of sunshine in the group.
Noirenn's lips trembled a bit, as she glanced at the floor a bit… but Benladann petted her head and gave her a reassuring smile.
"M-Me… Me too…" she said timidly.
The other kids glanced at each other, like the ones that seemed the eldest nodded.
"Me too…"
"I want to… grow stronger to avenge my father…"
The other kids gave in and decided to cooperate too at the end, it seemed that the eldest of the group held some authority over the other kids, as if they were the group leaders or something…
"Ohh, how interesting, so they want to help at the end! These kids are really quite the rascals… But it is nice to know that they want to cooperate! Maybe there is really some brighter future ahead, but that's all up to them!" said the grandma.
"No, you're also helping," I said.
"Eh?!"
"Yeah, grandma, you're also helping!" said Benladann with a gentle smile.
"Ahh… I-I am going to make cheese…" she said.
"Haha, no, you're also coming with us for now," I said.
"Uegh…"
She seemed to be tired of kids and wanted to give us all the responsibility already… But nope, she's working just as hard!
In the end, we ended doing a lot of things. First of all, we learned about each kid's affinity, we had them use some spells, whatever they could muster. The only one that didn't manage to get something out was the baby, who was 1-year-old ad had yet to awaken his mana core.
There were more Ice Magic users, but there were a few unique ones too, which surprised me.
"Surprised? Despite being Ice Giants, our tribe the last years yielded a lot of other users of magic affinities, it was a strange event, but perhaps Ymir by his grace had blessed us with such talents. Seeing how there are so many ice magic users when we find other affinity users, we usually make some celebration, but now, there were many… So it was a big celebration… They're all quite talented… Sadly, there were even more talented youths before things… went downhill," sighed the grandma.
Interesting… Well, I guess it is better that way.
After that, we asked every kid their names, and so I made a mental note of all of them.
Flayr, a cute red-haired ice giant girl, her emotions are explosive and very expressive, when she gets sad she cries loudly, and when she gets angry she becomes wrathful… Her Mana Core Affinity is Fire, an incredibly rare one for an Ice Giant… She is 6 years old.
Noirenn, a small black-haired girl, her hair is short, like a boy. She is calm and silent, despite her eyes being filled with sorrow. Her Mana Core Affinity is Darkness, a very rare one for Ice Giants too. She is 6 Years Old.
Samantha, a gentle and tall ice giant, particularly taller than the rest, her eyes are emerald-colored, and her hair is long and silverly-white, she has Life Attribute Mana Core and seems to be around 8 years of age.
Jonn, a silent little boy, is around 5 years of age, and he seems to have the look of a normal ice giant, being silvery-white-haired and having yellow-gold eyes. His affinity is Ice, and he seems to be curious about most things.
Hansel, a boy that seems a bit fatty… He has a timid personality but seems to harbor strong emotions and perhaps might open up later on… He's around 7 years of age, and his affinity is Earth.
Bellaluna, the eldest girl, being 9 years of age, has taken the responsibility of becoming somewhat of the leader of all the other kids to a little extent. She has long white hair and gentle yellow-gold eyes, she seems the most mature as well. Her affinity is Ice as well.
Ellergest, the oldest male at 8 years of age. He seems mostly silent, but he has proven to be sharp and intelligent. His body seems to be developing strong muscles at a young age, and he is rather tall too. His affinity is Ice too.
Suu, the youngest girl, is 1 year old and still is very dependent on others to eat and move, and also go to the bathroom… Usually, the little girls take care of him. His power is unknown.
They are only 8 but… yeah, it is still a lot to memorize. Well, I will go one by one from now on, so it shouldn't get as chaotic unless all 8 of them begin speaking to me at the same time.
And as of now, most of them seem silent and had not opened to us as much as Flayr or Noirenn.
What I think is that their affinities could come in handy though, Samantha's Life Magic has tremendous potential… But she's just a little girl, it will be hard until the point where she'll become able to heal wounds completely or… control plants or other stuff.
Or maybe not?
For now, I made them all drink a cup of my blood, including the grandma.
They seemed to look at it with disgusted expressions… But in the end, they drank it. Some found it sweeter and tastier than they had expected.
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