Orpal could not understand why a family as poor as his own would keep making kids.
It was winter, so there was not much work to do. Hence there weren't many occasions to restock their food supplies, and they had to last until spring.
It was the toughest time of the year for all the farmers' families, since the food was meant not only for men but also for the animals.
Orpal was sick of seeing Lith gobbling all the food, to the point of dubbing him "Leech".
So, whenever it was his turn to feed the little vermin, he would take some spoonful for himself. But Lith was not easily bullied.
As soon as he noticed the spoon was not aimed to him, he would start to cry madly, and Elina would run to his side, foiling Orpal's plan.
Lith never cried, unless he needed to be fed or changed, and that made their parents both really happy and paranoid about him. Since he would never cry wolf, they took every wail very seriously.
That day was a really bad day for Lith, starving because of his growth spurt, and was Orpal's turn to take care of him.
Both their parents were out, one of the cows seemed to suffer from frostbite.
So Orpal took the plate full of creamy soup for the baby, and gulped down a full spoonful.
Lith immediately started to cry, but there was no one to hear him.
"Cry all you want, *Leech*." Lith was now able to understand most of the common words, included Orpal's mockery. "Today is just you and I. No mom in a shining armour to come to your rescue." After saying that he gulped down another one.
Lith felt like he was going crazy. Once again, he was helpless, his so called magic useless in time of need. What could he possibly do, aside from blowing his cover?
Ventilate him? Wet him? Using fire was too dangerous, a single meal was not worthy burning down a house.
Lith's hunger was eating him, and his rage went above and beyond what he would have ever thought possible.
"You fu**er!" He yelled inwardly. "Feeling so tough robbing a child?"
Then he saw the third spoonful, making a good half of his meal gone, moving toward Orpal's smug face.
Lith's anger reached a new peak, his hatred burning like a fire.
"You are not my brother!" He yelled inwardly. "You are nothing but a filthy thief, trash!" And then, more than clicking, he felt something breaking inside like a dam that could not hold the raging waters anymore.
"I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT SPOON, YOU SH*T!" Lith waved his arm against Orpal in a final struggle, and then it happened.
Lith felt the mana going out to his body, reaching the spoon already in Orpal's mouth, and pushing it down, hard.
Orpal started to choke, and after removing the spoon from his throat he started puking.
Lith was so astonished to almost forget about both his rage and hunger.
He had discovered something wonderful, a power that no one else in his family seemed to have.
Lith had discovered spirit magic!