It has been two and a half years since I arrived in breitburg, I moved into duke breithild's mansion, after erich left for the capital, by that time I had also finished my basic magic training with master.
After my basic magic training master returned to work as duke breithilds chief court magician, though I did receive magic combat training from him when he had free time. I used my skill creation ability to create ' combat sense' skill to improve my combat proficiency and help me with my magic combat training with master. He also referred many books on different types of magic to me, the most difficult one had been advanced mana crystal programming but I was able to understand it with time.
The part of the day when I wasn't training my magic, I spent practicing my sword play with the retainers of the duke breithild household and I have become quite skilled in it despite being only 7. I also spent time in the library of the duke's mansion, reading books on topic related to finance, accounting, economics and governing.
Duke breithild had heard from the servants and retainers who frequent the library that I was reading such books, so he had hired two tutors to teach me the art of governing and finance, but both of them had came back to duke breithild in a month, saying I was a genius and had learned everything they had to teach me. Duke brethild had called me to his study and had me perform paperwork for the the dukedoms tax collection, after which he checked the paperwork himself and found that I had done it correctly. He informed me that my tutors have judged me capable, so I will no longer be taught by them.
I also celebrated my 6th and 7th birthday, it was weird at first since I had never celebrated my birthday with my family in the baumeister knightdom, but that had also been the case for all of the siblings except kurt since he was the eldest. Duke breithild had arranged a party, in which the retainers of his household including berkhart and master had participated and even erich was able to be there due to masters teleportation magic.
Speaking of erich he had successfully passed the civil official exams in the capital, and was apparently favored by his superior, who introduced him to his daughter, and he had been dating her for a few months now.
My magic capacity had also increased at a rapid pace due to the daily extensive magic training with the staff, I was given by duke breithild. My magic capacity had shot up like a rocket and hit its limit a few months ago. Though there was nothing to complain about since my magic capacity had become quite unreal. It went up to the point where I needed to use my 'anti detection' skill to hide upto 95 percent of my mana. If it hadn't been for the staff, I don't know how long it would have taken for me to reach my max magic capacity naturally, using the staff also helped me increase the size of my mana pathways and gain even better control of my mana. I had also creared skills like 'transformation', which allowed to change my appearance, 'intangibility', which allowed me to pass through solid abjects, 'mana clones', which allowed me to create clones of myself by using my mana, and 'transmutation', which allowed me to freely manipulate the shape and moleculer structure of any object. All of these skills along with some of the skills I had created befored like 'god speed', required my mana to function so, I had shown them off to master as original 'spells' which I created on my own.
He had been extremely excited when I showed them to him, he also asked me to teach him the spells but he wasn't able to learn any of them and had surmised in the end, that they must only be usable by me, since berkhart or any other person couldn't use them either.
I knew that no one other then me will be able to use them since they were my skills but I didn't want to hide them from everyone all the time, so I decided to just tell everyone that my skills were simply my original magic that I created.
I also used my 'transformation' skill to give my self golden hair and green eyes like emeralds, but I kept my face the same. Everyone had been shocked at the change, but they calmed down once they heard it was due to one of my original magic spells, before long everyone got used to my new appearance.
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Everything had been going great, until about a week ago when I found master dead in his room. I had went to his house to check up on him since he was running late to magic training, when I entered his house, I used detection magic to sense he was in his room. I knocked the door of his room but there was no response, worried about him I opened the door and went towards his bed where my detection magic had detected him.
When I walked into the room master was on his bed, it appeared as if he was sleeping but there was a problem, he wasn't breathing. I immediately used the revive spell on him to restart his herth but nothing happened, nothing I did yielded any effect, afteelr calming down I went back to the mansion and found the duke, and explained to him that I went to check up on master, and that I found out he had died in his sleep.
Masters memorial service was held a day later in the head church of breitburg and he was buried in the burial ground of the duke brethilds household retainers.
Duke breithild alongside most of his high ranking retainers were present, including berkhart, who was appointed as the next head court magician of the duke breithild household.
It was something all of us had been expecting, master was 106 years old, so his death wasn't surprising.
I'll miss master a lot and I'm sad that I don't get to spend more time with him, but I'm not gonna let this get me down, that's not what he would have wanted.
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Right now I am seated on the sofa, inside duke breithild's study alongside berkhart, on the opposite side of us is duke brethild.
Amadeus "alfred had entrusted me with his will"
The duke says this while taking out an opened letter from his coat.
Amadeus "alfred left his wine entire collection to berkhart and climt, while wendelin is to be his successor and will receive everything else, including his money, properties and belongings. He left the code to change the ownership of the mansion as well as his magic bag in this letter"
Duke breithild says this while handing me the letter. Master was an orphan and didn't have any family, so he entrusted me with all his belongings.
Wendelin "but why me?"
Berkhart "because alfred saw you as his successor, also money is wasted on old people like me"
Wendelin "and who is climt"
I of course, knew who he was from canon, but it doesn't hurt to confirm things.
Berkhart "he is the royal head magician, Climt Christoph von armstrong. He is also one of masters students"
Amadeus "ah, before we get side tracked I should go over alfred's possessions which your have inherited, firstly there is his mansion in breitburg, then there is the mansion in the royal capital, which he received as a reward for his tenure as the royal head magician. Then there are the vinyards, his share in the merchant company owned by arturio, who is one of berkharts acquaintences, and his personal fortune kept in his personal account which is 7890 platinum coins"
Master had been an adventurer at first, he hunted monsters and delved into the ruins of the ancient magic civilization, this is how he earned most of his money. After gaining recognition he had joined the royal magicians, where he rose to rank of head royal magician. He retired from that post at the age of 60 and bought 14 vinyards across the kingdom, all of which we visited in our time together, he even let me sample some of the wine. He then returned to his home town of breitburg and was requested by the previous duke breithild to become his retainer, he agreed on the conditions that he will be allowed to take time off, whenever he wantd and take in students to train them in magic. If it had been anyone else these conditions would have been refused, but the previous duke agreed to them, without even a seconds hesitation since, a magician of masters caliber was just that valuable.
During his life he accumulated a fortune of 7890 platinum coins, which was an absurdly large amount. Platinum coins were the highest denomination of currency. The currency of this world worked like this,
1 platinum coin= 100 gold coin.
1 gold coin = 100 silver coin.
1 silver coin = 100 copper coin.
1 copper coin =100 cents
1 plate = 10 coins
1 bar = 25 coins
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Wendelin "duke breithild, I want to train in the magic combat style, so can I join its school here in breitburg"
The magic combat style was a combat style which utilized mana for close ranged fighting, I wanted to train in it to improve my close combat abilities. It also had the added benefit of being extremely mana efficient.
Berkhart "that's not a bad idea, you would be able to improve your close combat abilities if you learned the magic combat style, also learning it will increase your combat instincts, which could very well save your life in a critical situation"
Amadeus "yes of course I remember that one of the retainer family of my household, runs a school which teaches the magic combat style to the soldiers of the feudal army and adventurers. I will have you enlisted there"
Wendelin "thanks, that would be great"
Amadeus "you can start from tomorrow then, I 'll have everything taken care of by then, also would you like to move out to alfred' s mansion or would you like to keep living here"
Wendelin "I want to keep living here, it would be pretty lonely to live there all by myself"
Amadeus "I see, some times I forget that you're just an 8 year old kid"
I don't say a thing to duke breithild's words, while showing a deadpan expression on my face. Living in a large mansion alone would make anyone anxious right.
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After leaving the duke's study, I went to the gate of masters mansion, I remembered the process master had written in his will to change the ownership of the mansion.
I put my hands on the mana crystal at the gate, then entered the code and tuned the mana crystal to my own magic signature. Following masters instructions I walk into the mansion and was greeted by the gollams, I speak the code for changing their ownership.
After the ownership of the mansion was transferred to me, I teleported inside masters room and take the bag out of the side drawer, beside masters bed, picking up the magic bag, I insert the change in ownership code into the mana crystal and immediately feel a response from the mana crystal in masters magic bag.
Masters magic bag had been found by him in an ruin of the ancient magic civilization and was more advanced then any other magic bag that is currently produced by the magic tools guild.
I brought the mouth of masters magic bag close to my own magic bag, and transfer all my belongings from my own magic bag to masters since his magic bag was better than the one I had built.
Strapping masters magic bag to my waist, I return to duke breithild's mansion.
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Amadeus " your entry process has been completed, so you can attend classes there from now on"
Its the morning of the next day, I am having breakfast with the duke while he speaks to me about the enrollment in the magic combat style school.
Amadeus "the class should be starting in about half an hour, it will be conducted by herald orphellia orwin, one of my retainers"
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Half an hour later I am standing in front of the magic combat style school which was a large white colored building, but unlike the mansions I've seen so far, its design was very simplistic and utilitarian.
??? "hey you, what are you doing here, are you here to attend the school"
I hear the voice of a girl and look in the direction of the voice to see two girls walking towards me, both had blue hair and eyes, the younger one from her appearance looked about six years old and had her hair coming down to her neck while the older one who looked about my age and had waste length hair, both of them were wearing white sleevless shirts with loose white trousers, the training clothes worn by the students of the magic combat style school, which meant they were students here, but aren't they too young, the only reason I was able to get in is because, I am the adoptive son of duke breithild, who got me into the school.
Wendelin "hello I am wendelin von benno baumeister, I am here to learn the magic combat style"
I am wearing the same training clothes as them, so that much should be obvious right.
??? "wait baumeister!, your the son of the baumeister household adopted by duke breithild?"
Wendelin "yes I am, and you are"
Luise "I am luise orphellia orwin and this is my twin sister, lia orphellia orwin, its nice to meet you. We are the daughters of the retainer of duke breithild who manages this school"
The one named luise, who did all the talking uptil now, introduced herself and her sister. Now that I look at her closely she does look like luise who, had been one of wendelin's wives in canon but she didn't have a twin sister, so this lia is someone new.
Lia "sorry about my sister, we should have introduced ourselves from the start"
Then the older looking one, lea apologized about her sisters rude behavior.
Wendelin "no that's fine, but umm... are you really twins"
I say this while looking at them back and forth. One looked like she was my age, the other looked two years younger than her.
Lia "yes, we are twins although most people find it hard to believe"
Luise "hey, I am right here!"
Luise speaks up not liking our topic of conversation.
Lia "well we should head inside, father should be starting class any time now"
We then go inside the school, to the training room where, a middle aged man was standing infront of a class of what appeared to be students, they ranged from the age of around 14 to 30. Lia walks upto the middle-aged man.
Lia "father this is wendelin von benno baumeister, wendelin this is my father herald orphellia orwin"
Herald "ah, duke breithild told me a about you, please come and join the class"
I joined the students alongside luise and lia, I got a few looks at first but they got used to me pretty quickly, it seems that it wasn't so weird since both lia and luise were there as well and both of them looked younger than me.
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After class ended, luise and lia invited me to go to the archery range in the same district as their school, along with their friends. I had agreed and was now waiting in the archery range.
The archery range in the district of the martial art schools, was open to all the of the retainers of duke breithild house and their families for free.
Hunting was one of the favorite pass times of nobles and their retainers, and archery is the most preferred way of hunting. Since the only way to gather meat is also through hunting, since most of the developed land is being used for agriculture to keep up with the food demands of the increasing population, so farming livestock has become very difficult.
That is why archery is quite popular in the kingdom, especially in breitburg, where there are good hunting grounds close to the outscurts of the city.
Luise "wendelin here are our friends"
Luise and lia arrived at the archery range along with two other friends.
Ariel "I am ariel von armin, I'm the daughter of the retainer of margrave breithild, who manages the swordsman ship school"
Ariel had blonde shoulder length hair, with grey eyes, a well built body for her age, and a tomboyish face, she basically looked like a female version of erwin from canon.
Ina "I am Ina Susanne hilbrun, I am the daughter of the retainer of margrave breithild, who manages the Spearman ship school "
Ina had beutiful red waist length hair and green eyes with a slim athletic figure, and an oval shaped face with a serious expression plastered on it. I don't think that expression of hers is intentional though, I then start to introduce myself.
Wendelin "I am wendelin von benno baumeister, the 8th son of the baumeister household"
After our introductions finished, each of us grabbed a practice bow from the manager of the archery range, and went towards the target area to start shooting.
Ina "wow wendelin, I didn't expect you to be such a good shot"
Ina along with all the other girls had been surprised at my prowess in archery. I had become very good in it, since I had practiced during my time in the baumeister knightdom, along side erich.
Wendelin "well, I practiced from a young age, with my older brother erich"
Ina "really, all of us want to learn archery, since we plan on becoming adventurers and though it would be useful, so we have been coming here a few times a week to improve our aim, but each of us also has our own specialty as well"
Hearing this arieal also starts to speak excitedly.
Ariel "yeah, thats right, I am good with the sword, while Ina is skilled with the spear, and both lia and luise can use the magic combat style with a high degree of proficiency"
Lia "yeah, all of us want to join the adventurer prep school and form an adventurer team in the future"
Wendelin "I see, then would you also allow me to join your team in the future"
After they heard, I wanted to join their team in the future, they become speechless.
Ina "hey wendelin, why would you want to join our adventurer team, the retainers of duke breithild including our fathers said that you are extremely talented in magic, that even duke breithild adopted you into his household, why would you want to join a new team like ours instead of a more experienced or better team"
She isn't even 8 years old and can think like this, she is really smart. The answer is pretty simple, all of them are capable and are going to grow into beauties in the future, so I want them at my side, but I cant really give a reply like that to a 7 year old, so have I have to give an innocent answer that would give them a good impression of me.
Wendelin "well I think, being on the same team as you will be a lot of fun"
All of them wore a bewildered expression, after hearing my answer and then after a short while laughed.
After that we continued to practice our archery, I also helped them out by pointing out their mistakes.
we left the archery range and returned to our homes before it started to get dark. After reaching the mansion, I realized that this was the first time, I had fun with other kids my own age, and that up till now most of my time had been spent training and studying.