In the empire of Charco, there was a pretty decent atmosphere with mages and cultivators at odds with one another, but not daring to do anything since they know that this empire was under the control of the Charcoalon imperial family, and even if they were known for having benevolent rulers, they were still one of the 12 imperial families, not to be taken lightly.
The empire had quite a few kingdoms under its belt and one of them was the Convarty Kingdom, which was rather ordinary or so most thought, unaware of the existence of the Hidden Volcanic Phoenix Sect, but nobody could blame them, as this Sect was surrounded by a mystic volcanic fog that made it almost impossible to get in without their permission. This was sad news to those that wished to join as it was known for being a powerful sect every time it got involved in any conflict.
Inside its walls, there was a pleasant environment despite being in a volcano, the temperature never got too warm in most areas, and the areas that did get too hot got that way intentionally, being used for training. Various women of various ages would go back and forth moving around the place and doing many things, from studying techniques to cultivating.
Among the various rooms in the sect, inside one of them, there was a baby laying on a wooden crate, something that would normally not work too well considering the temperature that would be expected of a volcano, but the Hidden Volcanic Phoenix Sect had ways to deal with such simple problems. Using seals that change the rate of thermic exchange happening all over the place, they can decide which rooms get all the heat and which ones get just enough.
Trying to move himself on the crate was a baby with bluish hair with golden tips, and purple eyes, that was Claudius.
'Moving in this infant body is not easy.' Claudius thought to himself as he tried to do something with his body.
While Claudius was trying to figure out how to move his baby body, a woman with blue hair, red eyes, and a voluptuous body came into the room and looked at him in his crate before saying. "/How are you, my love? You don't have to worry about anything, mommy will keep all the bad women away from you. Just keep smiling and everything will be okay!/" She began lightly ticking Claudius, who was currently unable to resist the urge to laugh, such was the life of a baby.
To Claudius however, her words came out as incomprehensible gibberish and were simply ignored as he focused on trying to gain control of his new body. This process took a rather long time, with various infant needs getting in the way, like being breast feed, cleaned up and sleeping.
Once he found himself in control of his body, Claudius changed his focus.
'Lilith, how do I cultivate or gain magical abilities?' Claudius questioned.
[In order to cultivate or gain magical insight, you'll need a cultivation technique or a magic method for a specific magic type. Without one or the other, trying to cultivate or cast magic will very likely result in severe damage to your body, mind, soul, or the mana veil constituting your magic circuit and both your mortal cores.] Lilith Answered.
'And you don't have any?' Claudius inquired.
[Unfortunately not, Master. While I do possess vast general knowledge. I do not have much on the specific side, especially that which doesn't involve you.] Lilith explained.
'Fine then, I guess I'll have to wait until I can properly move around so I can get my hands on something of the sort. Anyway, what exactly is going on with this place? Where am I?' Claudius asked.
[You are currently in the Hidden Volcanic Phoenix Sect, a cultivator faction. In essence, an all-female school of cultivation and martial arts focused on using the Yin element through a unique technique that allows them to reverse yang Qi into Yin Qi. So because of the volcanic environment which makes it the best option for them, they utilize Yin fire instead of the more typical Yang fire.] Lilith clarified.
'Hm... I see. I'll definitely have a lot to learn when it comes to this world. Fortunately for me, I have you to answer most of my doubts. Anyway, is there anything I can do to improve my abilities in my current state?' Claudius inquired.
[Aside from basic physical training, unfortunately not much. It is possible for you to learn skills through continuous practice of action, but you are currently limited in that regard. Well, you could always just try to understand your lust affinity and your skill Beauty Curse Mark.] Lilith expressed.
'It seems, I'll have to focus on learning the language, Lust affinity,
From then on, Claudius made the decision to actually pay attention to what the blue hair woman was saying whenever she came by next, and that aside, he tried to connect with his internal lust which wasn't easy in his current infant state. On a more complicated note, his
'Lilith, give me the specifics of
[As you wish.] Lilith obliged.
[Beauty Curse Mark: You can mark a select number of targets with this curse mark, depending on your own capacities with it.
Slots Available: 1/1
The beauty mark is a curse mark with the ability to make the target much more beautiful gradually by directly feeding them lust and charm energy, but in exchange for that, they will also become more lustful as time goes on, being compelled to pleasure themselves until it eventually no longer satisfies them and only the caster of this curse can relieve them.
Note: Results may vary on different targets and it is not guaranteed that the mark will be effective.]
'I see, I'll use it on the woman nurturing me, but before that, Lilith do you think she would be able to see through it?' Claudius came to ask.
[Unlikely, as this skill is different from a typical one, depending entirely on element energy, more specifically lust and charm energy instead of Qi, mana, or any other of the main energies present in this world. So having no direct relation to Qi, it would be a miracle for her to notice.] Lilith elaborated.
'Hahaha, great this will allow for a few things and make my path to taking over this place much easier.' Claudius smiled but his malevolence was lost in his baby face.
Time passed and he focused on his lust and mobility for a while doing most basic things, like moving arms and hands in more precise ways, while avoiding hurting himself. The rest of the time was a sort of meditation as he attempted to gain more control over his lust affinity.
That went on for quite some time, and then the blue-haired woman finally came back, but Claudius had to wait until she lifted him from the crate as the skill required touch to activate, something that he would have liked to see in its description, regardless, once she did, he immediately used
As soon as he did so, a symbol circular came to her neck on the right side with a sort of engraving that contained a C at the center and a bunch of lines creating a purple sigil on the pink mark.
Nothing changed at that time and the woman continued to talk to Claudius normally and his daily life as a baby proceeded.
-Years Later-
It had been 4 years since Claudius was first born into this world, and he had begun training his physical body much more as time went on and it became possible for him to do so. His lust affinity was making some progress as he had become aware of the lust energy and by extension also started to somewhat pick on charm energy something he attributes to his skill.
During this time, he also learned Chacoish the official language of the whole Charco empire as well as Convartian, the national language of the Convarty Kingdom. Once he had learned the language he got a language skill where both could be found listed.
The growth of his status was not suburb for his standards, but it was apparently impressive for his age or so Lilith told him, and even the blue-haired woman, who he had confirmed was his mother had praised him for being strong. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to constitute any levels, as he earned no experience at all.
According to Lilith, the average adult human is at about 10 stat points and the human peak is at 20 stat, though Lilith referred to it as the mortal peak, at least that was the case for the body stats, but the soul and mind worked differently.
[Name: Claudius
True name: Claudius Priveoan Sevmon
Age: 4 years
Sex: Male
Species: Human | Sub-Species: Revlionian
Affinity: Neutral, Lust
Bloodline: Eros Lineage
Physique: Venus Body
Soul stage: Mortal
Soul grade: 1st
Level: 0
Exp: 0/25
Titles: Reincarnated Individual; Otherworlder; Heir Of $&@& And $&@&; Scion Of The Hidden Volcanic Phoenix Sect;
Job: Heir,
Class: None
Rank: I
Battle Tier: I
Attributes:
Body: 18 (Str: 7/Agi: 6/Vit: 10/En: 7/Sta: 10/char(1): 69)
Soul: 175 (Will: 99/Magic: 0/Luck: 777/Aura: 0/Power: 0)
Mind: 22 (Sense: 15/Int: 15/Wis: 40/Dex: 6/Focus: 50/Char(2): 10)
Undistributed Stat points: 0
Unique ability/s: None
Innate ability/s(Racial skills): [Average],
Active skills: [Beauty Curse Mark.Lv I],
Passive skills: [Mortal Core(2).Lv I], [Language: Charcoish; Convartian;]
Resistances: None
Magic: None
Unique Magic: None
Extras: Beyond System(Owner);
Inventory: Rehia, Pan ]
Claudius found himself nodding at his stats and even though it wasn't the greatest jump in power it certainly was a decent one.
"Claudius! There you are, my sneaky little explorer. How many times t do I need to tell you that you can't just be wandering around like that? It's not good for you, maybe when you're older mom will take you out for a trip, how about that?" His mother came to the room Claudius found himself in and immediately took him in her embrace, and carried him out of the room while speaking and smuggling onto him.
Even after 4 years, there haven't been any clear signs of the
This arose the question in Claudius' mind, of whether it was really working at all, but in the end, he could only wait, after all, he already let it go for this long, so it was too late to turn around, now.
"Ok, I'll wait." He responded.
"No, I don't trust you anymore. You said you would wait many times before, so this time, you're going to stay with me!" She had decided and was not baking down.
"..." Claudius said nothing, knowing very well how stubborn his mother was.
"Don't worry, my job is not nearly as boring as you think. Taking care of the sect library is an extremely important task and not just given to anyone." She continued to explain.
"Will you at least let me read something?" Claudius asked.
"Of course not, you're far from ready to learn martial arts, much less learn a cultivation technique. We still have to know how talented you are, your affinities, and all that. Don't rush it, you're my son, so, of course, you'll be amazing, you just have to give it some time, Ok?" She instantly turned down his idea.
".... Fine." Claudius responded.
'Just you wait until I'm in control, things will very much change.' Claudius thought to himself.
[Master, isn't it a bit much? After all, she is your mother in this life.] Lilith pointed out.
'Family means little to me. I still remember being sold off by my parents with my sister and later down the line, despite the fact that I worked as hard as I could to help my weak body sister, in the end, she literally threw me at the wolves to save herself with no hesitation. People are people, and blood and relations change little about that, they are just more obligations imposed on you once you are born, something that also happens outside of your control... At least that was the case, the first time I was born.
Anyway, that is a far past that no longer matters, and the present I have, will simply be used to pave my awaited future. In the end, I will have the last laugh, no matter what. I will not stay under, never AGAIN.' Claudius was bothered by Lilith's words and immediately began going on a rant.
[... But she brought you to this world, shouldn't she at least be given the benefit of the doubt? Plus why not just give up before if you didn't want to live?] Lilith asked genuinely curious.
'... You're lucky I've come to find you not too annoying and decently useful but to answer your questions, everyone will be given the same treatment until I find that they deserve better. Up until someone shows me something that goes beyond what would be the basics for our relationship, I have no need to treat them special.
She is my mother, and as someone who decided to have a child, it is her responsibility to take care of me, why should I be grateful for that? It's like thanking someone for doing the job they signed up for, of course, you can do it, but it's no requirement. Why is the fact that someone didn't suck at a task they took upon themselves celebrated?
As for my will to live, I was already born, of course, I won't waste it at this point, I might not be thankful for being dragged here, but I do respect the efforts in keeping me alive, and as a response to that, I live life my way.' Claudius went on to speak his mind, showing his... Unusual perspective on things.
[How extreme and cold... As expected from Master!] Lilith as a servant and the semi-fan girl did not offer the kind of opposing answer he had expected and seemed to actually just be curious about his way of viewing things.
This caused Claudius to sigh and shake his head as he focused on what was ahead with a solemn expression.
"What is it, sweetheart?!" His unaware mother asked.
"Nothing... I'm just a bit tired." He made up.
"See! That's why you should start listening to me about this." She continued as they went on.