In the coming years, Theo was raised by Eldoria with the help of other elves, who took great care of him and loved him as one of their own.
As a baby, Theo couldn't do much; even lifting his head was difficult. All he could do was lie in his new wooden crib in the council room and listen closely to the ongoing talks and discussions. This greatly helped him understand the language they spoke, and he could now comprehend them, albeit vaguely.
His level also increased rapidly; within five years, it had reached Level 68.
Currently, he sat beneath a tree, leaning against its trunk as he gazed at Myra and Lyra taking a swim in the river. They played around and threw water at each other.
"Take this, you swamp toad..." Lyra shrieked, cupping her palms and flinging water towards Myra, who ducked in the river to dodge it.
"Why, you! You imbecile...take this.." She kicked hard upstream, sending a wave of water flying all around, most of which hit Lyra in the face; the rest shimmered around.
Theo looked at the scene with a serene expression, as if this were a form of art, his eyes not blinking. Seeing his gaze, the girls looked at each other and smiled. "Are you sure you don't wanna join us? We'll make sure you don't drown..." Lyra offered.
"Don't trust Lyra; it's me who will teach you swimming..." Myra walked over to him, with Lyra following. The two girls had barely grown in these five years, due to the elves' slow ageing process. They spoke in their elven language, which Theo had quickly understood.
"No. I am fine, honoured sisters. I mustn't go out of my station to swim with figures revered as yourselves.." He spoke in the same polite tone he had learned in council meetings, making Lyra and Myra laugh heartily and pull his cheeks.
"Revered Sister, Lyra? If it was only me, I could understand it..."
"Myra isn't above you, stupid; I'll choose you over her any day.."
Feeling loved by the two, Theo thanked the gods inwardly again. He also apologised for not averting his eyes in time from their attire, which had gone see-through with water.
After the swimming session, Theo went back to his home, Eldoria's home, finding her busy again in the council room. He waited patiently until the meeting finished. When she was finally alone, he ran to her and hugged her tightly.
"Miss Eldoria...I missed you..." He wrapped his arms around her. Eldoria followed the gesture, chuckling.
"Oh boy, aren't you a needy child? I barely asked you to go outside for a few hours so I could have my meeting, and yet you're already missing me? Just what will I do with you..."
She ruffled his head for a while, then had him sit on the table as she started cutting up a plum for him to eat.
"I can't help it, Miss Eldoria. It's so boring without you. If you want me to stay busy alone, teach me magic..." Theo asked for the 100th time.
"This again. Didn't I tell you that you're too young for that? Besides, how would I, an elf, know what kind of magic would be suitable for a human like you? And what if you get hurt while trying magic..." Eldoria frowned, having repeated the same line since last year.
"Hurt? I don't get hurt. Didn't I fall off the treehouse last time and was healed within a minute? Most likely, healing magic is suitable for me.." Theo said smugly.
"Yeah, yeah, your SSS class thingy; stop making things up. If you really want to learn magic, wait until you're 10 years old..." She tried to shrug him off.
"Okay..." Theo replied instantly, finally having a concrete time to wait for.
"Huh? That easily.."
***
Character Stats:
Name: Theo
Race: Human (89%)
Level: 99 (1/100)
Class: Healer (SSS)
Mana: 27887/100000
Strength: 160
Health: 100%
Intelligence: 500
Stamina: 10000
Charm: 40
Luck: 20
Five more years passed.
Since he wasn't being nursed anymore, his mana accumulation had stagnated a bit, but he still reached level 99 due to his innate high mana recovery. Also, his stamina had skyrocketed, likely because his tired cells were healing themselves due to his SSS healing.
"What is this thing...?" He asked, puzzled, as he stared at the shimmering orb floating on the table.
"It's a magic crystal; it will tell us about your magic affinity and rank. Put your hand over it."
Theo put his hand over the crystal orb, and immediately it started glowing brightly. A yellow light filled the room, so dense it was impossible to look directly at the orb without hurting one's eyes.
Eldoria had to close her eyes, but Theo could look easily; he saw cracks forming on the orb right before it shattered into a thousand fragments.
"Crack... Crack..."
"Oh no... Just how expensive do you think that orb was? I had it brought from outside the domain only for you."
"I'm so sorry; I didn't do it intentionally..." Theo apologised.
Eldoria sighed and waved her hand. "Yes, of course, it isn't your fault." She sat down on the chair, closing her eyes to think. "The light glow was yellow, so it means you have light affinity. It seems you were right about having healing talents."
"See, what did I tell you?... So now, will you teach me healing magic...?" Theo's eyes shone.
"Luckily for you, healing magic just happens to be my specialty as well; I had learned and mastered it in my early days. We will start immediately. But first, clean this mess.." Eldoria smiled, feeling somewhat eager herself.
Theo immediately got on his knees and started cleaning the broken crystal fragments with his bare hands. Of course, his fingers got cut, but they healed immediately.
"It seems you have a passive healing ability that heals you whenever you get hurt, and it's very powerful too. However, we will start from the basics. Are you ready?"
Theo hurriedly finished cleaning and sat down in front of her, his eyes shining as he nodded.
"Yes, I am ready."
"Well then, let's begin.