Enigma of Sin

Taking two weeks to heal and just observe his surroundings, Kayn finally arrived at his family's estate and his home was in sight a week and a half before his 16th birthday. While he did mostly accomplish his main goal, he wasn't able to learn anything about his rage induced state during his trip unfortunately.

Upon approaching his home, Kayn received the first of the surprises to come…in the form of a massive fireball coming straight at him! Kayn could tell with a glance this fireball was a tier 4 spell that was most likely cast by someone with a stage 2 core, therefore he assumed he could take it over if he tried to.

Kayn started the process of taking over the fire in order to slow it down as it came towards him. The fire started to fight back and speed up again, but by the time it finally reached Kayn, he swung his arms in a wide circular motion and dispersed the flames to the side.

"Really Kayn! You're no fun!" Clementine shouted like she was wronged by Kayn's actions.

"Oh, if your fun is turning your brother into a giant torch, leave me out of it! What if I wasn't stronger than you? I would have been turned into toast!" Kayn stated as he walked up to Clementine and bonked her on the head then brought her into a big hug.

Clementine returned the hug while ruffling his hair after which they both took a good look at the other. Kayn was now around 1.78m (5'10") with a well-toned body, though not much of it was currently revealed. Clementine on the other hand was around 1.76m (5'9") and had developed curves in all the right areas rounding out to become an extraordinary beauty. Kayn was sure she was a death sentence for the hormonal teenagers she probably dealt with on a regular basis.

"Aww you're taller than me now! That's no fair, go back to being short please!" Clementine complained while Kayn bluntly replied, "No thank you, I'm enjoying being taller for once." Referring back to his previous life where he wasn't much over 1.71m (5'7").

"Now let's go inside, Mom is super excited to see you!"

Retorting back to try and get in the last word even subtly, Kayn mumbled just loud enough, "I would already be inside saying hi to Mom if someone hadn't shot a fire ball at me!"

"Oh, your sister was just trying to have some fun like the old times son, don't be so hard on her." Kayn turned around to face Zerana only to have his eyes open as wide as they could and his jaw almost drop to the floor. His mother's belly was…big…she was pregnant!

"Don't look at me all stupid like that and come give your mother a hug silly boy!" Zerana joked as she approached Kayn and gave him a warm hug to welcome him back home. It took Kayn a second to recollect himself before he dug into his mother's warm embrace.

'It's good to be back.'

***

After the three went inside of the house, they all sat down on the couches in the living room and began to make up for the time they were separated. However, Kayn really wanted to know about his mother's pregnancy first.

As soon as Kayn sat down, he opened his mouth, "How-How long has it been since you've known? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, this is why I asked you to get here before your 16th birthday! The baby is due soon after that, so I wanted you to be here. I also wanted to make it a surprise for you, plus I didn't want you rushing home when you had such big plans for your return.

"I would like a check-up on the baby though if you don't mind, Lydia has been gone for almost four months now and I haven't had any healers check me since then. Plus, wouldn't you like to know whether you'll have a baby sister or brother?" Zerana smirked as she could tell Kayn seemed anxious.

The light element was typically the only element able to be used for diagnostic spells, even Lydia utilized it in her own, though she only assisted her water element magic with it. However, his father wasn't skilled at healing or diagnosing, so he wasn't of any help and with Lydia gone, Kayn was Zerana's first and only choice.

Kayn approached his mother and placed his hand on her stomach as carefully as he could. Using Void Eye, he examined his mother as thoroughly as he could to ensure both she and the baby were in perfect health.

Kayn's eyes widened and trembled since now he knew that he would be the older brother of a girl. He had always wanted a younger sister in his last life, and now he would finally have one, albeit she would be 16 years younger than him.

"Mom, Clem." Kayn shifted his eyes between the two, "It's a girl." Kayn smiled brightly like he never had before.

"Thank you Kayn, now your father and I can work on picking a suitable name. Though I'll probably propose to him that we pick a name that starts with "L" in honor of Lydia since she has had such a big influence on and in our family." Zerana spoke after Kayn had sat back down.

"On that note Mom, where is Dad? Is he out on a mission? Will he miss the baby's birth?" Kayn rattled off question after question, causing Zerana to laugh a little.

"Don't worry, your father will make it home for your birthday and the birth, he's just finishing up debriefing in the capital after his last mission."

After that, the family talked for a while to catch up, and Kayn learned what his sister had been up to in more detail during the time she spent at the academy since they had only exchanged a couple letters.

After they finished their discussion, Zerana told Kayn that he should go rest since he just got home from a long trip back, which he was more than happy to oblige. It had been almost two years since Kayn had slept in his own bed in his own home, he couldn't wait!

***

The little time before his birthday passed by in a flash. Kayn spent his days having mock battles with his sister while their mother watched, but also learning from her and teaching her what he had discovered.

Clementine also constantly teased Kayn about his "girlfriend", which he vehemently denied every time. She continued to antagonize him though since it would get under his skin and make him flustered during their spars.

He also made sure to make time to keep the efficiency of using his Void Star technique to the maximum. However, he could tell that going from the third stage to the fourth would take a significantly longer time than it took him to go from the 2nd to the 3rd.

Zerana was flabbergasted that her son had reached the 3rd stage before the age of 16. This was unheard of, especially when most genius caliber mages didn't even develop their core until they were 13 to15 years of age.

Kayn told his mother about his Void Star technique in depth, which astonished her to say the least, but he also asked her to keep it a secret from Clementine since he knew she wouldn't be able to perform it. Zerana took a bit of convincing to allow Kayn to continue using it after he told her about the pain it could cause and its danger, but eventually relented as it was her son's desire.

She knew that her son was only seeking to increase his personal power quickly for his family as he had been quite open and honest about it with her. She only hoped it wouldn't somehow damage his potential later on or his mental state right now.

Ezekiel arrived home the week of Kayn's birthday. Zerana was about a month away from being full term and there was still no news or contact with Lydia. She didn't want to risk bringing in a third party to assist with the birth, so she asked Kayn if he would deliver his sister for her.

To this, Kayn adamantly and resolutely declined his mother's request. Unfortunately for him, she was just as relentless about this as he was about continuing to use the Void Star technique. He didn't want to get up close and personal with his mother's business, but she didn't trust anyone else and he also wanted to ensure his mother and future sibling's health.

Ezekiel just made fun of Kayn for being so embarrassed about it, constantly teasing his son to egg him on. Kayn's birthday soon arrived, and it was time to have his official coming of age celebration. Even if he didn't want one, his parents were adamant about holding one.