Leah was covered in mud. Rather, at the moment, she was more mud than little girl. Only her bright green eyes and clean white teeth could be seen as she played next to her father.

  After they had returned to the house, he had returned to digging out the pond. Leah had naturally wanted to help, and after slipping her legs over the edge of the hole, she had kicked them wildly as she dangled from the kitchen floor by her fingertips. Draden had watched on with some amusement as she refused to let go, not realizing that the ground was only a few inches beneath her kicking feet.

  Before she could begin to cry he helped her down and let her play in a corner he had already dug down.

  A little later, the hole had grown in depth and size to the point that Draden was happy with it. Now, all he needed to do was to use all the rocks to pack the walls and ground. After they were in place, he would fill the seams with a mortar and then layer everything with some sand. The last steps would be widening the water outlet and inlet to allow for greater flow.

  Deciding that was enough for the night. He turned to his daughter, or rather the mud golem in the corner, and picked it up.

  “How did you even get this dirty?” He asked her, scraping a layer of mud from her hair and off her face. “I thought you were playing, not rolling in it.”

  “Leah doesn’t know,” She pouted. “The mud was playing back with her; it’s not her fault.”

  Draden quirked a brow at that, unsure of how to respond. What did she mean by the mud had played back?

  Shaking his head, he picked her up and placed her on the edge of the kitchen floor. A few moments later, they were in the renovated bathroom, rinsing themselves off with buckets of nice, warm water.

  One of the large barrels he had installed next to the water purifiers was for hot water. For the moment, the water was being heated by the unit from the stove in his house kitchen, which had also been replaced during the renovations. Later on, he would try his hand at recreating the units, but that was something for later. It was somewhat annoying to set up beforehand, but this worked for the moment.

  Leah was bobbing her head happily back and forth as her father scraped the mud from her face. “What are we going to eat tonight?” She asked before spitting out some mud and grit that had gotten inside her mouth.

  “The fish from the pond,” He replied. “Since we’re making it larger, they now have no home and need to be eaten.”

  “Oh, no, those poor fishies,” She said sadly. “I’m sure daddy will make you delish, and I’ll eat an extra serving just to make sure your loss was worth it.”

  Draden tilted his head as his hands stuttered uncertainly. “Um, I’m sure they would appreciate that, sweetie.” He agreed finally, not quite understanding how his little daughter thought.

  The little girl nodded, and a bubble of water floated away from the tip of her nose, taking some soap suds with it. She went cross-eyed, staring at it, but it simply hovered in front of her for a few seconds before dropping onto her knee.

  “Leah, sweety, what was that?” It took all of Draden’s control not to react more than that. He obviously had an idea, but the obvious answer was a little too absurd.

  “Hmm? I told you before, the mud was playing with me. Now the water wants to play with me.”

  He closed his eyes and barely held back a groan. This could be a problem. Lorna, his wife, and Leah’s mother had been exceptionally talented at magic, something that he had little skill at. His talent had been with cultivation instead. Leah was a half-elf, and it was always anybody’s guess what gifts a mixed-breed child would receive. Sometimes they were good, other times it was merely a middling bag.

  Still, to awaken magic before she was even five; wasn’t that a little absurd?

  Actually, this was something important, and already beyond simply being a little off. If word got around, this would start to attract attention, and not in a way that they could afford to handle. Which meant that before that exact scenario came to pass, he needed to talk to her and then find the girl a teacher.

  The first was easy, though her understanding might be lacking due to her age; Leah was a good girl. It was the second matter that really worried him. Where was he supposed to find a decent magic teacher around here?

  Did this city even have any decent magic users? Due to his injuries, he had been ignoring everything and was completely out of the loop on the situation inside the city.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Draden lightly bopped his daughter on the nose as he dumped a bucket of water over her head. “Honey, it’s fine to play with your magic, because that’s what it is, magic, but you can never show anyone else without my permission. Alright?” He didn’t want to make the directions too complicated or ominous.

  The little girl looked at the water pooling in her hand, and then up at her water. “It was magic, not the water and mud wanting to play with Leah?”

  “Err,” He hesitated, unsure of how to respond to that particular question. “Well, the power for the magic comes from you, but since you weren’t consciously controlling it… I suppose you could say it was the magic itself wanting to play with you.” He finished hesitantly, hoping she bought the answer. More than likely, it had simply been her subconscious mind controlling it. Then again, he wasn’t a magic user, so what did he know? Maybe magic itself was alive and wanted to play with his daughter.

  Leah’s eyes screwed up in thought as she considered his reply. “So not the water or mud, but magic wanted to play with Leah.” She began to nod and smile. “This is even better. Magic is everywhere. Leah will always have her new friend nearby.” She finished exuberantly.

  Draden chuckled nervously, scratching at the stubble growing on his chin. He wasn't sure what to make of that statement. Maybe it was just childish imagination at play, or maybe there was something more to it. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought about the possibilities. Was it actually possible that the force behind magic really did have some sort of intelligence?

  “Well,” He said, after a moment, wiping the water from her hair. “It’s nice to have a friend, even if only you can see it.”

  “Leah will share all her toys with Magic!” She exclaimed, already reaching for a nearby towel so she could gather up the few stuffed animals she possessed.

  Draden smiled, shaking his head as he watched his daughter happily chatter away about her new magical friend. It was strange and a little unnerving, but there was also something endearing about it. Perhaps having a bit of magic in their lives wouldn't be so bad after all. Besides, it was a connection that she shared with her mother, and if nothing else, that was a good thing.

  He spent the rest of the evening watching Leah, cleaning the house up, preparing supper, and listening to her recount the day’s events. By the time she drifted off to sleep, he felt a sense of calm settle over him. Despite everything, there was a strange comfort in this new world – a sense of coming home and possibility that had been missing from his life before.

  The next morning, after dropping Leah off at school with her teacher, Mirna, Draden resumed work on the fishpond. The first thing he did was begin packing the walls and ground with rocks and then sealing them in place with mortar. After that came a layer of sand to fill in all the cracks that he had missed.

  It would need some time to dry, but it was more or less done now. It was a good thing the floor of the kitchen was already built so strong, otherwise he would have needed to do a lot more work to it. As it was, he had built up the rock walls and packed them with mortar to the point that it rested just below the floor.

  He lost himself in his task, thinking about Leah’s newfound magic and how to handle it. The best course of action was to consult with someone knowledgeable about magic. The question, as it had been the night before, was who? After he picked Leah up from school, they would spend some time in the city looking for clues to people who could offer her guidance.

  But where was the best area to even start looking? He had no idea who to ask, or even where to begin. The only mage he had known personally, at least in this city, had been his wife, Lorna, and she was… well, she was gone.

  Frustration gnawed at him. There was so much he wanted to do for his daughter, but the previous Draden had dropped the ball in so many ways.

  As he worked, a thought occurred to him. The city had a bustling marketplace filled with all sorts of merchants and craftspeople. Perhaps there was someone there who could point him in the right direction. It was worth a shot.

  Finishing up the fishpond, he cleaned up and checked on the water-purifiers. He had accidentally left the spigots open on both open all night long. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; he just hadn’t intended to leave them open while they slept was all.

  Regardless, the water coming out from both looked crystal clear and tasted clean. Deciding that they were ready, he hooked their piping up to the water collection barrels and opened their spigots again. He would need to shut them off manually later, but there was also a drain in the floor beneath the barrels, so it wasn’t a major concern if there was some overflow.

  With that done, he grabbed his weapons, walking cane, and a snack for later. It was early, but he could use the extra time to look around and talk to people.

  Draden walked along the cobblestone streets, a slight hitch in his step as his weak leg acted up. The cane tapped against the stone as he leaned on it in annoyance. It felt good to be able to walk again, but the weakness that persisted as he built up the strength in his leg was annoying. It was recovering faster than normal; thanks to the energy and special healing he received from his food. But there was a difference between healing and building muscle.

  The marketplace was always a vibrant place, teeming with life and activity. Stalls overflowed with exotic-looking fruits and vegetables of every color imaginable, rough spun fabrics were placed near finer works, gleaming weapons, and other curious items.

  The air buzzed with bartering, laughter, and the cries of vendors hawking their wares. People from nearly all walks of life mingled amongst the crowd – farmers in dusty clothes, elegant cultivators, hardy mercenaries, and everyone in between. Really, the only ones who couldn’t be seen were the nobles in their fine, ever-clean silks.

  And Draden was sure that the countless servants he saw in the area belonged to those exact people. Nobles shopped for pleasure, not for items of necessity. At least that was the impression he had of them.

  Draden carefully navigated through the throngs of people, paying extra attention to anything that stood out to his senses. His cultivation may have disappeared long before he ever entered this body, but his senses were still better than a normal person’s. A fact that he was grateful for right then. He needed to find someone who knew something about magic, and he wasn't afraid to ask around.

  https://www.amazon.com/author/joshuakern

  https://joshuakernbooks.com/