Though I turned 15 in the 11th month of the year, nearly another month and a half passed before my mother came to our little fort, all by her lonesome.
Though the celebration was far more remarkable than anything I'd gone through thus far, not much happened after. On that day, a similar course of events transpired. Where my father appeared at our compound to beckon me back to the estate. After hours of feasting and festivities, the staff and my family all gathered around to give me gift after gift after gift.
From Ebbet, I received an unassuming bedroll that was nearly as soft and plush as the woobie Giorno made. An item that I'll keep with me for as long as possible. Gerolt gave me a bow and quiver that he purchased for a high price, coupled with a complete butcher's set.
Last were my father's gifts. Which seemed to know no bounds.
First was a train that was completely identical to his. A seemingly useless thing to have once I left the Empire. But with my core awakening on the horizon, I couldn't help but feel excited as I dragged the massive machine into my shadow. His second gift was my very own boat. A yacht by all accounts, though it was far smaller than the craft we rode to the mainlands on, it was still more than enough for the seven of us to ride comfortably in.
His third and final gift was an absolutely monumental pile of coins that he claimed was my savings account. It was basically a trust fund. A pool of wealth that my parents had been investing in since I was first conceived. In fact, what had been my allowance was only a tenth of the money that they've been putting into the account. And even that fraction had been rebated by my father.
It'd been years since I last checked my wallet. After spending so much on the mana wells, I refused to even look at it until it was well past the seven-figure threshold. Looking at it now, however, was mind-numbing. Even for royalty.
Looking back, my income had been large from the start; still, I couldn't help but retrace my second life and go through each and every transaction I've made thus far.
With a daily allowance of 1,000 gold coins, that equated to 30,000 gold a month. Times that by 13 months a year, and that equated to an annual amount of 390 grand. Reducing my veteran vassal's pay brought that down to around 378 grand a year. Multiplying that by five years, until I was ten, brought my balance to around 1.8 million altogether. And after spending 600k on external wells, that went down to just under 1.3 million. With only a few hundred thousand being spent at the Tower for the tinkerers' materials and the last year of paying my vassals, that left me with a balance of around 2.6 million gold coins.
Now, however.
[Wallet: 67,196,850 G.C.]
I know the Empire was wealthy, but god damn.
As extensive as my father's gifts were, however, my mother had yet to give me anything. As such, I couldn't help but feel a little hopeful as I stepped out of the compound to meet her.
My vassals seemed surprised to find such an esteemed lady walking around the woods alone, in the middle of the night. But I knew better than to think of a centuries-old drow in such a light manner.
"Gather yours and Your Lord's things and return to the estate. The departure for the royal capital is at dawn." She regally snapped to my vassals, prompting them to rise from their knees and scramble back into the compound at once while my mother gestured me to her side.
While my mind moved at near lightspeed, I calmly stepped into line beside my mother and started on a slow trek back to the estate.
'Finally.' I grinned in euphoria at the thought of finally awakening my cores and putting the laundry list of spells I've imagined to the test.
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Much to my delight, she affectionately gushed over the wagon the moment I brought it out. I made sure to give credit where it was due and told her that Ed, the neurotic one, was the creator. She praised him for his efforts and me for having the insight to recruit such a skilled individual at a young age before settling inside and calming down; if only a bit.
Since she seemed to be in the mood to talk, I decided now was as good a time as any to sprout my question on her.
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I explained my theory much as I had to my grandfather and carefully judged her reaction while doing so. Though, not to much avail. She had an excellent poker face. As expected as a centuries-old elf.
'How old are you, anyways?' I squinted at her as I wondered.
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'One of them.' I scoffed to myself. <
In that instant, her poker face broke. It peeled back into a subtle and intent gaze that implicated that something had been confirmed by what I'd just said before reverting back in the next instance.
She calmly reached into the folds of her robe and pulled out a cylindrical object that was roughly the size of a toilet paper roll. Only made of a crystalline material that held back a thick, blue-white soup.
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It was… large. Huge, in fact. Nearly twice the size of mine and brimming with a blinding, blue-white energy that was far different from the cobalt-colored slush surrounding us.
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My brow inquisitively raised at the sound of her words. Yet, I could say nothing as she held the Well up in my face and said. <
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<> I nodded, taking the potion. 'It's like a capacitor- no, like a compressor.'
<> I added. Staring at her for confirmation and getting nothing in return. <
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<> I sighed.
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'Ah.' I nodded internally. 'So they don't worship Telin as he said. They just do his bidding.'
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She paused as if she were waiting for some type of reaction on my part. I however was too engrossed in the story to feint any type of surprise. It wasn't as if she'd have believed me anyway. Instead, I could only ask questions.
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< < 'Sounds like the buildup to a bad story.' I snorted internally before adding on to her words. < <> She wearily sighed. <> She seemed to wear a hopeful expression with those words. As if it were something she'd been dreaming of since long before I was born. I mean, she probably has. 'I could only imagine why.' I internally shook my head, then turned to her again. < < 'Technology?' my ears perked up. < < What parameters that system used, was the only question that remained. < < < < 'Hmm.' I scratched my chin in contemplation. < <> Mother calmly shook her head. <> I reassured her with an open palm before bowing in thanks. <> < < < < < < <> She sighed. Almost in relief. Then, motioned to stop the carriage and proceeded to disembark. Following a long, spine-popping hug, she pulled away to step off towards the woodline. Only to stop at the edge and turn to look over her shoulder. Looking closely, it wasn't hard to see a subtle quiver running down her spine, a sudden glaze in her eyes, and a noticeable wavering in her voice as she said. < <> I called after her afterimage. After a few moments of standing idly in the snowfall, I climbed back into the wagon and resumed the journey to the estate in silence, gathering my thoughts until well after Karu halted at the walls. My mind continued racing, even after my vassals arrived and we entered the estate to hear the elated greetings and comments from the staff regarding the upcoming ceremony. Unsurprisingly, my father was nowhere to be found. I highly doubted that my mother's disappearance came from left field. But that didn't change the fact that the man obviously loved her, and was now heartbroken. Looking back at my own conversation with the deity, his mention of luck directly implied that he'd be challenging me or assessing me in more ways than he described. In what way exactly, was the question. It could be something as simple as changing the paradigm, something as cliche as killing my family, or something as predictable as placing millions of lives at risk for the sake of judging how I would react or to test my morals. Or, it was all a lie and he'd do nothing but watch and see what I'd do with absolute power. Considering his meddling with the elves, I couldn't help but think of my father and wonder if his love was due to Telin's influence as well. It's been said time and time again that humans knew nothing of elven knowledge. But that was just that- hearsay. He could be a subconscious actor in Telin's play without even knowing it. Or, he could simply be another elder soul. A seed of consciousness that was as loving and caring as he'd been in every life he'd lived up to this point. Regardless of what was true, I couldn't exactly tell if I'd be sad or enraged if he were to die. And despite me being a bit saddened by her abrupt departure, such feelings were extended towards my mother as well. While they gave me a lot, I hadn't exactly spent a lot of time with them growing up. I've bonded the most with my vassals. Day in and day out, for a decade now at this point, we've trained, learned, and lived together. I could safely say I'd feel something if they were to meet an untimely demise. An inevitable effect of me personally training them, I supposed. But then again, it wasn't as if death would be the end for them. In fact, death was a new beginning.