In the Lederos Family living room.
"Yes, Grandma, Grandpa did all this to train me. Whether it was kicking me from ten thousand meters high, leaving a hundred-meter crater, or continuously striking me in the air to make me 'float' for ten minutes... these were all to promote my growth."
After dinner, while leisurely sipping tea, Charle calmly recounted to Bethany, his grandmother, seemingly oblivious to the gradually congealing atmosphere in the air.
"I..." Seraphiel was about to explain his actions when Bethany gave him a light glance, startling him into lowering his head and focusing on the red tea in his cup.
On the other side of the dining table.
"Dad, I understand your desire for Charle to grow, but isn't this training a bit too harsh?"
Isabelle, as a mother, looked at Charle with a hint of heartache. She hadn't expected her seemingly unharmed son to have gone through so much in just one day.
"Darling, I think Dad's..." Reno felt the atmosphere was a bit heavy and stood up to try and lighten it.
"Shut up."
"Alright."
Bethany gently stroked Charle's hair, her eyes filled with both doting affection and heartache: "I'll talk to your grandpa, but I hope you can understand him. That stubborn old man, though his methods are a bit rough, never does anything meaningless. Don't worry, I'll teach him a good lesson for you. To be so heavy-handed with such a lovely grandson is indeed excessive."
After speaking, she gave Seraphiel, who was awkwardly smiling at her, a cold glance.
Seeing this, Charle wisely chose to stop. After all, anyone who endures a full day of "training" without even touching the opponent's clothes, and still has to put up with ridicule, would inevitably harbor some resentment.
Charle blinked his big eyes, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, "It's alright, Grandma. Although the process was painful, the gains were also significant, look."
As his words fell, water, rock, and wood extended from behind him, eventually transforming into three doppelgangers of Charle. The four stood side by side, creating a rather mesmerizing sight.
Reno stepped forward to examine these 'doppelgangers' closely, finding that not only were their appearances incredibly lifelike, but they even had warmth and heartbeats.
"This is the most basic part of the ancient magic of Life Creation that Grandpa taught me. It allows them to exist for a period and share vision; when attacked, they will also transform into corresponding elemental prisons to trap opponents. Wind and lightning are more difficult to master due to their unstable forms," Charle proudly displayed, enjoying his family's astonished expressions.
"Ancient magic? You learned it in one morning?" Isabella covered her mouth in surprise.
"(⊙o⊙) So magic can be combined like this?" Reno, on the other hand, kept feeling the 'doppelganger' Charle up and down, exclaiming in wonder from time to time.
Bethany cast an approving glance at Seraphiel, "It's a good thing you taught him some real skills."
Charle clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to himself: "This is just the appetizer, the main course is next."
Charle made a hand-knife gesture with his right hand, enveloped in lightning, and sharply struck his left wrist. With a 'snap,' his left hand was smoothly severed and fell onto the carpet.
But just as his family was still in shock, the severed hand turned into a puddle of water, and then water flowing from the wrist reassembled into a left hand, as if the previous dismemberment was merely an illusion.
"Merlin's dark silk!"
"Oh! My God!"
Reno and Isabelle instantly rushed to Charle's side with a speed that Charle didn't even react to, grabbing his left hand and examining it carefully, their eyes filled with worry.
"Charle, are you alright?" Isabelle's eyes were red, her voice trembling slightly.
"Don't worry, Mom, I'm fine. I invented this so I wouldn't get beaten up; my whole body can regenerate."
Charle comforted his worried mother, feeling a slight regret, perhaps he shouldn't have demonstrated it so directly.
"Be more careful next time!" Reno gently tapped Charle's head. After confirming he was unharmed, he finally sighed in relief.
"Look at what you've driven the child to." Bethany recovered, quite displeased with Seraphiel's smug look. She pulled out her wand, conjured a slender willow branch, and prepared to teach him a lesson.
Seraphiel, seeing the unfavorable situation, gave Charle a look that said 'fend for yourself.' He then apparated directly next to Bethany, and the two instantly apparated away.
"Grandpa's move was really cool," Charle's exclamation carried a hint of envy.
Reno looked at the envious expression and couldn't help but recall his own youth when he was like that. He sighed softly, as if lost in memories, "Maybe you can master it too; I'm out of luck anyway."
"By the way, Dad, what elements did you awaken?"
"Only water, earth, and wood—the other elements rejected me. I awakened more than your uncle and aunt; they only have two each. However, I'm not as good as them in Alchemy and Potions. If you're interested, after you graduate from school, you can consider studying them in depth. The family's methods in Potions and Alchemy are very different from the Wizarding World's conventional approaches. Next time when I buy your school supplies, I'll explain it in more detail."
Thus, Charle continuously absorbed knowledge during his daily beatings. Besides fighting with his grandpa, he also fought with his mom and dad. He found that fighting with his parents was much easier; he could largely immunize himself from the damage of his father's elemental magic, which had little effect on him, and his mother's combat skills... were average.
Seeing this, the two of them immediately engaged in a mixed doubles attack, pulling out their wands and alternately using spells like Diffindo, "Perilous Explosion," and "Shattering Charm" (fortunately, they remembered family ties and didn't use Dark Arts...).
During this period, Charle noticed some changes happening to his body. He began to lose interest in normal food, preferring food infused with elements.
Just like the Incendio spell that trainer Isabelle cast that day, Charle directly opened his mouth and ate it.
This scared the two of them into immediately stopping the training, but upon seeing that Charle was fine and looked satisfied, the couple became intrigued. One continuously cast Incendio, and the other constantly cast Aguamenti, making Charle cry out that he couldn't eat anymore.
Regarding his grandson's condition, Seraphiel found an explanation after consulting the family's books.
When a Child of Nature awakens six or more elements, their affinity for elements becomes very high, leading them to only accept elemental absorption and be unable to eat regular food.
This situation had only occurred with the first generation of Children of Nature, who all awakened six or more elements in one go.
Besides the six elements Charle awakened, he also awakened ice and lava, awakening eight elemental powers in one go.
According to records, his daily food source was his mount, an extremely majestic Thunderbird.
He fed on the lightning produced when it flapped its wings, and sometimes he would jump into an active volcano to directly swallow lava.
Charle heard this and felt like crying without tears. So many delicious foods he hadn't enjoyed, and now he couldn't enjoy them anymore.
"Don't worry, darling, it's just a Thunderbird, that's no trouble for the family," Isabelle gently hugged Charle to comfort him.
"Compared to a Thunderbird, I have a suggestion."
Reno pondered for a moment and said, "The family has Dragon Valley, why not get him a dragon? To be honest, Thunderbirds are hard to find, but dragons are readily available. Ask Casper."
"Inappropriate. Neither bringing a dragon nor a Thunderbird would be convenient."
Seraphiel was flipping through the book in his hand. When he saw a certain line, his pupils constricted slightly, and he slowly closed the book.
"I have a way! Cody!"
"Esteemed Mr. Patriarch, Cody is always at your service."
"Go buy some live animals—chickens, cows, sheep, anything will do."
"Gladly at your service."
Cody's figure gradually sank into the shadows, and in a short while, he emerged from the shadows again, carrying two large roosters, with a cow and two sheep floating beside him.
Reno's family of three looked somewhat puzzled.
"Charle, use your wood element to drain the life force from these two chickens."
Seraphiel patted Charle's shoulder, signaling him to act.
With a thought from Charle, two vines grew from his body, directly piercing into the roosters' bodies, wriggling as if sucking.
The two roosters didn't even have time to let out a cry before they turned into two "dried chickens."
"Dad, isn't this a bit..." Isabelle retched uncomfortably.
"Charle, how do you feel?" Reno stepped forward and considerately stroked Isabelle's back. He didn't feel anything, instead, he curiously observed Charle's reaction.
"It's like... eating two jellies."
Charle smacked his lips with a serious expression, but noticing Isabelle's discomfort, he immediately stopped.
"Indeed, directly supplementing pure life force is also possible. This perfectly solves the problem. Charle, you can go hunting in the Forbidden Forest at school at night. Magical creatures are more nutritious than ordinary animals. For now, eat these animals."
Seraphiel was writing and drawing on a piece of paper with a quill, signaling Charle to "eat."
Charle nodded, preparing to continue controlling the vines, but thinking of his mother's reaction, he pondered for a moment and changed his approach, letting the vines entangle the struggling cows and sheep, subtly piercing their flesh.
The next moment, the animals began to slowly dissipate, and their life force transformed into crimson flowers, blooming in Charle's palm.
He picked up a flower and put it in his mouth. A refreshing sensation instantly filled his body, like drinking an ice-cold cola on a hot summer day.
Isabelle dotingly stroked Charle's head. She knew Charle was being considerate of her feelings, making it so "artistic" on purpose.
Reno watched the mother and son with a smile in his eyes.
Only Seraphiel was still writing and drawing on the parchment, but the upturned corners of his mouth revealed his current joyful mood.
Finally, as the school term approached, the training temporarily came to an end.
"Charle, once you're ready, we'll head to Diagon Alley." Isabelle was beautifully dressed today; time seemed to have left no trace on her, as beautiful as a flower in spring, vibrant and fragrant.
Reno also wore a low-key yet luxurious Wizarding robe, exuding the calm demeanor unique to adults, giving off a strong sense of security.
"Merlin... you look like an elven queen from the Eternal Garden today! Dad, you're handsome too." Charle looked at his parents, praises gushing like a spring.
"Alright, you little rascal, no more sweet talk." Reno glanced at the golden pocket watch in his hand, reminding the mother and son, who were immersed in praise and self-admiration, that it was time to leave.
"We'll use the teleportation array that your grandpa and uncle made to go directly to your uncle's Alchemy shop. It's conveniently located in Diagon Alley."
Charle's eyelids twitched slightly as he looked at the five-pointed star array before him. Truly, Grandpa always has so many flashy tricks.
Diagon Alley, here I come!
