"Young master!! It's the first snow" Ron shouted excitedly from outside of my bedroom.
"Hmmm let me sleep more," I said half awake since I've stayed up for three days straight with just a few naps from time to time in order to finish all the assignments. Luckily I finished the magic circle assignment earlier before and just have the monster research assignment left.
"I will wake you up for lunch since the matriarch will be visiting later. All of your assignments have been submitted" he said before walking away.
I quickly fall asleep once the room become silent once again and woke up a few hours later due to hunger. Looking at the watch on the wall, there was still an hour before lunchtime thus I went to take a shower before going to the dining hall to grab some snacks while waiting for lunch.
"You can eat these grilled potatoes first since lunch is still being cooked. The matriarch and former matriarch are currently talking to each other in the office and they will come here for lunch" Ron said to me while serving tea and a bowl of freshly grilled potato.
"Is there anything else on my schedule?"
"Not for now and you will be quite free for about a month since you already finished all the required syllabus. You just have to prepare for your enrollment in February next year. The only confirmed event is the winter celebration by the end of December and the New Year celebration"
"Hmmm"
"The winter celebration will be here in Kazigare Valley but you have to go to Zanuki mansion at Soga Mountain for the new year celebration since you will make your school preparation there" Ron continued saying while looking through his notebook.
"En"
Knock knock
"Madam Zandra and Madam Anith will enter the dining hall," a maid's voice said before the dining hall's door opened.
As per etiquette, I should stand straight and politely lower my head when persons with a higher rank than me or the elders of my family present themselves in front of me thus I stood up when I saw Grand and Amma enter the dining hall with their servants.
"Sit down," Grand said while gesturing for me to continue eating.
"You look more like your age now" Amma commented after sizing me up and down. Ron also had complained multiple times that they have to call for a tailor since many of my clothes did not fit me anymore after I've become taller and my muscle has become more developed but not to the point of making me look bulky or like a hunk.
"Yeah I seem to grow a bit" I replied flatly.
"Chet you say this is 'a bit'. Hey Ron, how much has my grandson has grown in less than a year?" Amma asked Ron who is standing at the wall of the dining hall along with other servants.
"His height increased about 9.5 centimetres and his weight added more than 10 kilograms while his shoulder has become wider and his muscle also seems to develop healthily" Ron answered earnestly like a proud parent.
"Ah~ that's why you look like a young man now. Before you still look like a kid that I can carry around but now look at you" Amma said smiling at me.
"I'm feeding him properly so there's no way he will not grow since he's still in his growth phase" Grand commented as if it was something obvious.
"Yeah yeah I know but now I'm here don't you want to know why?" Amma slightly ignored Grand and asked me. Before I reply, Grand signals all the servants present in the dining hall to leave, and currently it's only the three of us left.
"Because you want to see me" I answered without thinking much even though my instinct told me there must be something else.
"That's only partly true but there's another main reason," Amma said slowly while hinting to Grand to say something.
I just observed the two of them while patiently waiting for them to talk. Grand observed Amma before she decided to try explaining it to me, "You do realize that there's a tattoo on your stomach right?"
"Yes"
"You still remember the night your aura become uncontrollable right?" she asked.
"Yes"
"Don't you feel curious about when or where the tattoo came from and the meaning of it and why your aura can become like that."
'I just thought it might be some kind of symbol for the Zanuki descendants since I do know that each Yakuza group will engrave special tattoos on their members thus maybe certain noble families might do the same. It doesn't seem to be that case here. There are a lot of missing details when it comes to 'Ares' in the novel since he was not the protagonist and there are not many flashbacks about him either.'
Seeing that I'm not replying, Grand continues, "The tattoo is a sealing tattoo. You had that tattoo since you were born but the current tattoo is an improvised one which is better than the previous one you have. At first, we thought a heretic try using you to imitate our family sealing technique but it seems that he just trying to seal your chaotic aura and barely managed to do it even a little bit crook where he accidentally sealed along your voice, making you mute. After we found you, we released the seal but have to make a new sealing tattoo since your aura burst out and couldn't be controlled. Your memory was also partially lost at that time"
' What does she means by 'after we found you'? Didn't Ares always grew up here?' I felt confused but my face remined stoic.
"So hmm we are planning to release half of the seal before your enrollment since there will be a few side effects if we leave the seal as it is," Amma said hesitantly.
"What is the side effect?" I asked since I don't want to lose my memory, the greatest weapon that I have to stay alive.
"One of it is, the sealing has become weaker over time and that is the reason why your aura suddenly went berserk last time" Grand replied.
"You might fall unconscious for a few days and we have to submerge your body in a recovery capsule to stabilize your aura. We come up with this plan after doing research during your coma" Amma explained to me clearly.
"Is there a possibility that I will lose my memory?" I asked a bit wary since my memory was my biggest cheat key and capital.
"No, since this is the improvised sealing tattoo created especially for you thus falling unconscious is the only cons," she said reassuring me.
"Then it's fine"
"You're not asking anything else?" Amma asked seemingly shocked.
"About what? You already tell me the reason why you put the sealing tattoo on me. Is there anything else?" I asked confusedly.
"Yeah that's true," Amma said avoiding my gaze while Grand was serving the meals brought by the maid robots herself.
"Then it's fine. Even if there's another reason, I'm alright with it since it's not like you want to harm me" I said reassuring her while helping Grand serve the rest of the meals all across the dining table.
'And I can try to find the other reasons myself or they might reveal by themselves later on.'
"Then we will do the procedure two days from now. We will do it in my lab and only the two of you are allowed inside. I will notify your servants later so he will not become worried" Grand said while we were eating.
"Yes," I answered while Amma seemingly lost in thought just slightly nodded her head.
**************************************
Two days later.
"Alright just enter this capsule and wear this ventilator mask. Close your eyes when the capsule door closed and do not open your eyes no matter what you feel or hear" Grand reminded me once again while I was stepping into the futuristic-like capsule where I've seen the same one in interstellar sci-fi movies.
I was currently half naked and only wearing loose long pants while all the accessories on me were taken off including my earrings.
'This must be why other people can't be here since my aura without the earrings will contaminate them.'
"Ok, I will start now" I heard Amma's voice after the capsule is closed. A cold liquid started filling up the capsule until my chest area.
Suddenly I felt a buzz in my head and everything suddenly became void around me. No voice, no feelings, nothing at all as if all my sensory functions were blocked. I continue to close my eyes tightly while calmly breathing through the ventilator mask until I felt a chilling sensation enveloping my body.
It felt colder than ice but it didn't make me uncomfortable in any way. After a few moments, my eyes seem to be blinded by something even though I've closed my eyes all the time. It is as if I've become truly blind.
Later I felt like I was pushed from behind and I fall off from somewhere high as if I'm falling off a cliff. I could feel my head becoming dizzier and I suddenly have the urge to vomit but I suppressed them. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, the nauseous feeling was gone and I felt extremely exhausted without knowing when I fainted.
*************************************
[POV: Anith Zanuki]
"I think it's done," mom said after seeing the frown on Ares's face easing.
"There's doesn't seem to be anything wrong" I commented while observing the capsule started to be fully filled with bluish mana potion solution.
"He will wake up three days from now," mom said before suddenly her communication line rang up.
Ring! Ring!
She frowned when she saw the caller's name thus I curiously asked, "Who is it, mom?"
"Eris" she answered while still contemplating whether to answer the call or not.
"Just answer it then. She rarely calls if it's not something important" I said while watching my phone where I just realized there was a missed call from Eris half an hour ago which I didn't realize since my communicator was on silent.
Mom answered the phone call where a video interference showed up on the screen signifying that the other side is video calling. Eris can be seen sitting in a car seemingly alone.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Why is Ares's line still blocked? You said you will let us call him when winter break started" she asked directly.
"Oh that. Sorry honey I forgot to unblock it" I said nonchalantly since it was kind of true that I forgot about it.
"So where's Ares?"
"Do you want to see him?" Mom asked
"Yes, why not?"
"Then there he is," she said before motioning to the phone screen facing the capsule where Ares laying in there as if he was sleeping.
"....." Despite Eris's face remaining stoic, her eyes seem shocked.
"So even if you managed to contact his line, there's no one who will pick it up" Mom concluded.
"I thought he was conscious," Eris said.
"He is conscious but something happens and he will wake up three days from now. Just come here if you want to know the detailed explanations."
"How do you know I'm on my way there?"
"Where else are you going other than here?" Mom asked as if it was something obvious.
"You're coming to see the workers you send right? The project seems to advance smoothly and they seem capable since Ares doesn't say anything about it" I said trying to change the subject.
"Isn't there might be something wrong if he doesn't say anything?" Eris asked confusedly.
"Nah, that kid will definitely say something if he didn't like those workers but they even went to town together" Mom snorted.
"I will arrive tomorrow after I pick up Kara and Karin. Ian will come along with grandpa" Eris said before disconnecting the call abruptly.
"This kid-sigh, whatever" Mom muttered while still staring at the blank phone screen.
"Should I inform Ares's servant to monitor him later?" I asked.
"Yeah, tell them to be on standby outside since it's dangerous for them to be in here. There will be a bell sound the moment Ares wakes up so there's no need for them to take a peek" she said before we went out of the room.
I quickly went inside my office to settle all the evaluation materials before they would be sent tomorrow morning.
Since Ares was considered homeschooling, his evaluation was different and stricter from other students. He also has to test on mana and aura during his registration day since he has never had any formal testing before.
"Tell Jinu, to send everything including his test papers. Let those people take a look and we'll see if they managed to come up with any more reasons to reject my grandson" I said to my aid while massaging my temples.
"Yes, matriarch," he said before exiting the room.