Starting Today, I'm a Mage

As a distinguished transmigrator,

Aibo naturally had a cheat ability.

However, his cheat was rather plain and unremarkable.

It consisted of only a basic character panel—

[Stamina: 21/21]

[Vigor: 16/16]

[Magic Power: 351/352]

—and a simple skill panel—

[Telepathy Magic LV4, 230/10000000]

[Meditation LV0, 233/1000]

[Crush Magic LV0, 23/1000]

—plus a set of points whose purpose was unclear for the moment.

[Inspiration Points: 648]

And that was it.

That was everything Aibo's cheat currently contained.

This utterly ordinary panel could quantify his physical attributes and the "experience bars" for his skills.

Of the panels, stamina was probably similar to a health bar, vigor was an endurance bar, and magic power was a mana bar. Those three basic stats were easy enough to understand.

The maximum values of the basic panels could grow. They had already increased by several points over the past few days.

The skill panel was a little more complicated, but Aibo had more or less figured out how it worked.

At first, he had thought the progress bars represented skill proficiency, but he later discovered that they were actually experience bars.

Whenever he "properly used" the corresponding skill, its experience would increase.

As for what counted as "proper use"?

For example, just now, while Aibo had been spacing out with his mind blank, although his head had picked up plenty of noise, the progress bar for [Telepathy Magic] had not increased.

But when he instinctively focused and "listened" to Cana's thoughts, the experience bar increased.

When Aibo subjectively, properly, and successfully used a skill, it gained the corresponding skill experience.

His Telepathy Magic had awakened at level four. Aibo guessed that he might have just a tiny bit of extraordinary talent for this magic, though that was probably also the main reason he could not control his mind-reading ability properly.

A high skill level only meant the skill was powerful. It had nothing to do with proficiency.

It had only been a few days, and Aibo was still unfamiliar with Telepathy Magic. Naturally, he had not fully mastered it.

Besides that, there was [Meditation] and [Crush Magic], which he had learned from Gildarts.

[Meditation] was a skill that could train magic power. Aibo had figured out how to use the skill panel through learning meditation.

[Crush Magic], meanwhile, was Gildarts's commonly used magic, and it was extremely powerful.

Aibo had wanted to learn it, and Gildarts had actually dared to teach him. Unfortunately, he had not learned it. Those few experience points had been gained purely by blind luck.

As for what those [Inspiration Points] were, Aibo had yet to figure that out.

His cheat did not come with an instruction manual or anything, but it was still better than having nothing.

Watching a progress bar grow gave people a sense of satisfaction, especially when that progress bar concerned their own vital interests.

So Aibo was never stingy about using his ability. If not for the headaches, he would have practiced every second he could, just like now—

[Tsk, tsk. So this is the kind of frivolous man you are, old man? Big Sis Airo already has a boyfriend. You should at least have some self-respect.]

Gildarts had long since grown used to the voice suddenly ringing out in his mind.

Telepathy Magic could actually be actively "blocked" by cutting off the flow of magic power, but Gildarts had not done so.

On the one hand, when Aibo activated Telepathy Magic, it was practically instinctive, and the magical fluctuations were so slight that they were difficult to notice without paying attention.

On the other hand, Gildarts did not regard Aibo as an ordinary child. After spending the past few days together, he had discovered that Aibo was far more mature than a child his age should be.

So he did not hold back when replying:

[Shoo, shoo. Things between adults aren't as simple as they look to you! And get out of Airo's arms already! Brats should go play with other brats!]

Gildarts was still teasing Airo on the surface, but the subtle, envious look in his eyes undoubtedly conveyed one message: You little bastard, get out of Airo's arms already!

[...]

Aibo wriggled and nuzzled around in Airo's arms, then gave Gildarts a "Momonosuke smile."

Gildarts: ???

You little bastard! What did you do?!

[Too loud~ Say, Gildarts, shouldn't you already be married at your age?]

[Heh heh, what would a brat like you know? Marriage is a man's grave! This uncle here isn't going to hang himself from a single tree!]

[What a terrible old man!]

Aibo had originally intended to remind Gildarts about Cana, but now he changed his mind.

Gildarts seemed not to know that the little girl beside him was his daughter.

There seemed to be more to this. I should observe things first.

Though this guy was his lifesaver, was he not a little too much of a scumbag? Aibo condemned him!

Aibo gave Gildarts a disdainful look.

Gildarts gritted his teeth, both angry and jealous, but there was nothing he could do about Aibo. He could only turn away, out of sight and out of mind, and go find someone else to drink with.

"Little Aibo, you'll be staying in the guild dorms for now. After work, Big Sis will take you to buy some daily necessities. Of course, none of this is free. It counts as a guild benefit, and once you start earning money from commissions, you can pay the guild back..."

Miss Airo held Aibo as she explained some precautions and the guild's benefits to him.

Aibo could tell that this guild was very friendly to newcomers. Gildarts had not lied to him—Fairy Tail really was a good place to be.

He did not know much about this world of magic. Back in the village, information had been scarce, and he had never had the chance to come into contact with mages.

Now he was all alone. Though he had awakened a "superpower," he had no real combat ability. He might as well stay here and develop himself slowly.

Aibo was still very interested in this world's magic.

"Big Sis Airo, how about Gray and I take this little brother shopping? We're free anyway. Gray, don't you agree?"

Cana rose onto her tiptoes and braced herself against the table. Halfway through speaking, she jabbed Gray beside her with her elbow.

Gray: "Oi! I don't want to go shopping with a brat. I'm going to train!"

"Idiot Gray! You're not allowed to leave!"

[I still need to find out this child's relationship with Dad. That hair color is really concerning!]

Aibo glanced at Cana, who had grabbed Gray. Did this little girl think he was Gildarts's illegitimate son?

Tsk, our hair colors aren't even the same. Your dad's is orange-red, while mine is light cherry pink. They're completely different, okay?

Aibo looked at Cana's black hair, his big eyes rolling as he quickly came up with an idea. He raised his head toward Airo.

"Big Sis Airo, I want to play with the older brother and sister."

Gray: ?

"Emmmm~ All right, then I'll leave little Aibo to Cana and Gray for now. Here, this is the money for buying daily necessities. Be careful, okay?"

After thinking it over, Airo felt that Cana made sense. Somewhat reluctantly, she set Aibo down. This child was so soft and fragrant, so adorable that she felt she could hold him like that all day.

"Got it~ I'm really strong, you know. Let's go!"

Cana tucked the ten thousand J into her pocket, then took Aibo's hand in one hand and seized Gray with the other before running out the guild doors with a patter of footsteps.

"Oi! OI! Cana, let go! I don't want to gooooo!"