## (Rudeus Greyrat) - (Point of View)
Currently, if I express my abilities using the standards of this world, they would be as follows:
Rudeus Greyrat's Skills (6 years old):
• Swordsmanship
Sword God Style: Beginner Level
Water God Style: Beginner Level
• Offensive Magic
Fire Element: Advanced Rank
Water Element: Saint Rank
Wind Element: Advanced Rank
Earth Element: Advanced Rank
• Healing Magic
Healing Type: Advanced Rank
Detoxification Type: Beginner Rank
Healing magic is also divided, as expected, into seven ranks. It consists of four branches: healing, barriers, detoxification, and shin-geki.
Unlike offensive magic, it doesn't have flashy names like "Fire Saint" or "Water Saint." Instead, more direct nomenclature is used: "Saint-rank healing sorcerer," "Saint-rank detoxification sorcerer," and so on.
• Healing, as the name indicates, is magic for healing wounds. At first, it barely allows closing minor cuts, but it's said that upon reaching Imperial rank, one can even regenerate a lost arm. However, even upon reaching Divine rank, one cannot resurrect a living being that has already died.
• Detoxification, as the name also suggests, is magic that eliminates poisons and diseases. As one levels up, it even becomes possible to create poisons or manufacture antidotes. Spells to eliminate status alterations are only available from Saint rank onwards and are considered quite difficult.
• Barriers serve to increase defense or generate protective walls. Speaking in simple terms, they're support magic. I don't really know the details, but I suppose they work by stimulating metabolism to accelerate the recovery of minor wounds, or generating chemical substances in the brain to block pain. Roxy couldn't use them.
• The shin-geki ("divine attack") branch is magic specialized in inflicting effective damage against spectral monsters or evil demon races. However, it's a type of secret magic, kept under guard by the warrior priests of the human people, and isn't even taught at the Magic University. Roxy didn't know it either. I've never seen a ghost, but it's said that they do exist in this world.
The problem is that if I don't understand the principle behind the spell, I can't cast it without an incantation, which is quite limiting.
In the first place, the only reason offensive magic allows voiceless casting is because its principles resemble those of physics. But I don't know if the other branches of magic have similar principles. I know that mana is something similar to a universal element, but I don't understand what type of specific transformation allows achieving this or that effect.
For example, what in my world would be called psychokinesis: lifting objects at a distance or attracting them toward oneself. It seems like something that could be reproduced with magic, but since I wasn't a psychic, I don't have the slightest idea how to recreate that phenomenon.
Incidentally, I barely remember in a blurry way what the process by which a wound heals is like. I suppose that's why I can't use healing magic without incantation.
If I had medical knowledge, perhaps I could use it that way.
And therein lies the problem.
Daiki CAN.
My older brother, who somehow incomprehensibly to me, managed to decipher the principle behind healing magic and can now use it without incantation. Completely. As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Without words. Without incantation. Just pure intention and knowledge.
I stood there staring, slack-jawed like an idiot.
"How...?" I could barely articulate.
Daiki looked at me with that characteristic neutral expression.
"Visualization of the state prior to the wound. Command to the mana to replicate that state. Similar to elemental magic, only the 'element' is living tissue."
He said that as if it were obvious. As if anyone could do it.
But I couldn't.
And that... that frustrated me in a way I didn't expect.
It wasn't exactly envy. I was proud of my brother. Genuinely impressed by his ability. But also...
It also made me feel inadequate.
Because if Daiki could decipher the principles of healing magic with pure logical analysis, why couldn't I? I had knowledge from a previous life too. Thirty-four years of accumulated experience.
But apparently not the right type of knowledge.
The same must apply to many other things: if one has prior experience, they could probably reproduce them through magic. And if I had practiced sports, I might have progressed more with swordsmanship too.
Thinking about it that way... What a wasted life I led before dying.
No, wait... it wasn't a waste. It's true I didn't work or go to school. But I wasn't in hibernation either. I immersed myself in all kinds of games and hobbies. While others occupied themselves with their studies or their jobs, I dedicated myself completely to that.
And that knowledge, those experiences, that way of thinking acquired through games, can also be useful in this world.
Or at least, they should be...!
Well, right now they're not serving me much, to be honest.
Especially compared to Daiki's methodical and analytical approach, which apparently can decipher any magical system if you give him enough time to observe it.
When I was training swordsmanship with Paul, an involuntary sigh escaped me.
I thought he was going to scold me for sighing so blatantly, but Paul just looked at me with a curious expression.
"What's wrong, Rudy? You look frustrated."
"It's nothing..."
"Is it about Daiki again?"
I stopped dead. Was it that obvious?
"I'm not jealous of him," I said quickly, perhaps too quickly. "Just... frustrated with myself."
Paul stuck his wooden sword in the ground and sat down, patting the ground next to him in invitation.
"Sit down. Let's talk."
I obeyed, letting myself fall next to him.
"Your brother is exceptional," Paul began. "I'm not going to lie to you about that. At his age, I wasn't half as competent with the sword. And his ability to combine magic and swordsmanship is... well, it's something I've only seen in Divine-level masters."
"I know," I murmured. "That's why it frustrates me."
"But Rudy," Paul put a hand on my shoulder. "You're also exceptional. In completely different ways."
"It doesn't feel that way."
"Because you're comparing yourself in the areas where he's strongest," Paul pointed out. "Daiki is a prodigy with the sword. You're a prodigy with magic. He can use healing magic without incantation. You reached Saint level in water at five years old. Something most mages never achieve in their entire lives."
"But..."
"No buts," Paul interrupted me. "Listen to me carefully. Being brothers doesn't mean being identical. It means complementing each other. Daiki has his strengths. You have yours. Together, you're stronger than apart."
I processed his words in silence.
"Besides," Paul smiled. "Daiki trains obsessively. I've told him a thousand times he overdoes it. If you trained with that intensity, you'd probably pass out from exhaustion."
That drew a small laugh from me.
"It's true. My brother is... intense."
"Intense is an understatement," Paul laughed. "The other day I found him training at midnight. Midnight! I literally had to drag him back to bed."
"Really?"
"Really. Your brother has a problem," Paul shook his head. "A problem I understand, because I had it too at his age. But still, it's worrying."
I thought about that.
Daiki trained obsessively because... because he had something to prove. To himself more than anyone.
I didn't have that drive. My motivation was different. More... relaxed, I suppose.
"Father," I finally spoke. "Is it okay that Daiki and I are so different?"
"Is it okay?" Paul looked at me with genuine surprise. "Rudy, it's perfect that you're different. Imagine if you were both obsessive swordsmen. Or both reclusive mages. It would be... unbalanced."
"Unbalanced?"
"As a team, I mean. Because that's what you are, right? A team. You, Daiki, Sylphiette. Three siblings with complementary abilities."
A team.
I hadn't thought of it exactly in those terms, but... it made sense.
"Thank you, father."
"You're welcome. Now get up."
That afternoon, I went to the tree as always. Sylphiette was already there, practicing voiceless magic. Small breezes of wind swirled around her hands.
"Rudy!" She greeted me with that bright smile that made me feel warm inside. "Look, I'm improving."
"I can see. Your control is much finer."
"It's thanks to you! Your teachings are the best."
I blushed at the compliment.
‹Act normal, Rudeus. Normal. Like always.›
"W-well, it's just a matter of practice..."
At that moment, Daiki appeared. As always, with his practice sword at his waist and that serene expression that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.
"Sylphiette. Rudeus," he greeted us with a nod.
"Brother Daiki!" Sylphiette ran toward him. "Are you done training with your father?"
"For today, yes."
"Can you show me that mana reinforcement again? The one from last time."
"If you want."
Daiki positioned himself in front of a nearby young tree. He took a deep breath. For a moment, everything was still.
Then he moved.
The cut was clean. Precise. And when the wooden sword impacted the trunk, there was a sound like distant thunder.
The tree split cleanly, falling to one side. Then Daiki healed it using healing magic.
Sylphiette clapped excitedly.
"Amazing! Someday I want to be able to do that!"
"With practice, you will be able to," Daiki responded with that characteristic calm confidence.
I watched in silence.
Not with envy this time. But with... appreciation, I suppose.
Father was right. Daiki was exceptional at this. And I was exceptional at other things.
Together, we complemented each other.
"Brother," I called his attention.
"Yes?"
"Do you ever compare yourself to me? With my magic, I mean."
Daiki looked at me with a curious expression.
"No. Why would I?"
"Because I..." I paused. "Because I compare myself to you. With your sword. With your voiceless healing magic. And it frustrates me not being able to match it."
Daiki approached and sat under the tree, inviting me with a gesture to do the same.
"Rudeus," he began once we were seated. "When I watch you practice magic, I see something I can never replicate."
"What?"
"Creativity. Innovation. Combined magic you invent on the fly. Tactics that would never occur to me because my mind is too... structured."
"But you can use healing magic without incantation..."
"Yes. Because I deciphered it as a logical system. I dismembered it piece by piece until I understood the mechanism," he paused. "But you reached Saint level in water purely through talent and intuition. Without need for exhaustive analysis. That's... that's something I don't have."
"Brother..."
"We complement each other," he continued. "You think in ways I can't. I think in ways you can't. Together, we cover more ground than apart."
Sylphiette, who had been listening in silence, sat down next to us.
"And me? How do I complement you?"
Daiki and I exchanged glances.
"You," I began. "Have a natural affinity with wind that neither of us has. And you learn incredibly fast."
Finally, Sylphiette broke the silence.
"So... we're a team? Officially?"
"We always have been," I responded. "Since the day we met."
"Three siblings," Daiki confirmed. "Three different specialties. A balanced team."
Sylphiette smiled.
"I like that. Team Greyrat."
"Team Greyrat?" I repeated. "That sounds... pretty good, actually."
"It's functional," Daiki added, which was his way of saying he liked it.
And so, under that tree that had become our territory, the three siblings tacitly sealed a pact.
Not with formal words. Not with elaborate rituals.
Just with shared understanding.
We were different. Complementary. And together, stronger than apart.
## (Daiki Greyrat) - (Point of View)
That night, while reviewing my training notebook, I added a new section.
Daiki Greyrat's Skills:
• Swordsmanship
Sword God Style: Advanced Level
Water God Style: Advanced Level
• Offensive Magic
Fire Element: Advanced Rank
Water Element: Intermediate Rank
Wind Element: Intermediate Rank
Earth Element: Intermediate Rank
• Healing Magic
Healing Type: Advanced Rank (voiceless - mastered)
Detoxification Type: Intermediate Rank (voiceless - mastered)
Barrier Type: Beginner Rank
I reviewed the numbers with clinical satisfaction.
But what I had said this afternoon to Rudeus was also true.
He had strengths I would never have. Creativity. Lateral thinking. The ability to see connections that my analytical mind overlooked.
[ANALYSIS: RECOGNITION OF OWN LIMITATIONS]
[EVALUATION: HEALTHY]
‹I know, Analysis.›
[RUDEUS SHOWS SIGNS OF COMPARATIVE INSECURITY]
‹I know that too. That's why I told him what I told him.›
[YOUR HANDLING OF THE SITUATION WAS... APPROPRIATE]
[EMOTIVE BUT HONEST]
‹Thank you.›
I closed the notebook and looked toward Rudeus's bed. My brother was already asleep.
In the bed parallel to mine, his face was relaxed. Peaceful. Without the tension he had been carrying lately.
Good.
He didn't need to be like me. I didn't need to be like him.
We just needed to be ourselves. And be there for each other.
That was enough.
[GREYRAT FAMILY]
[BALANCED TEAM]
[COMPLEMENTARY]
‹Yes. Exactly.›
I settled into my own bed, letting the exhaustion from training catch up with me.
Tomorrow I would train two hours with Paul. Then one hour of magic.
Exactly as I liked it.
"Good night, little brother," I whispered toward Rudeus's bed, though I knew he wouldn't hear me.
And with that thought, I let myself be carried away by sleep.