As the night before the big day drew to a close, I retired to my bed after a strenuous day of training and dealing with my half-brother, Salmarc. I was pleased to note that he remained unaware of my practice of magic, as I was keen to avoid any conflict with him.
Despite my efforts to remain inconspicuous, it surprised me to find a translucent green board displaying my status before me.
This was unexpected, as I hadn't summoned it.
I was dressed in my pajamas and ready to sleep, but the appearance of this board unsettled me.
Written on the screen was:
「You have unlocked the Unique Skill [Beginner's Luck] would you like to add this to your list of skills? [YES]/[NO]...」
Wait, wha... what in the world is this?
Children shouldn't unlock any Unique Skills until they were 10 at the very least.
I was modest enough to know my luck wasn't that good.
Something was working here, but was it in my favor or would it find a way to be disadvantageous in the near future.
"Beginner's Luck?"
I read the words out.
"(How ironic that the first skill I unlock has to do with luck. I have the worst luck in the world, so I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I accepted it.)" (Lumiere)
There was an icon above the text, I decided to click on it. What appeared was:
「The Unique Skill [Beginner's Luck] grants you the following effects...
Higher Full Potential: With this you can increase your talent exponentially. This allows you to train and acquire faster results.
Lord of Theorems: You are given fortune when it comes to combination or synthesis of skills or magic arts. Also, your theorems are likely to be successful provided there's logic behind it.
Serendipity: A summon.
These are the three points of your Unique Skill.」
I couldn't believe what I'd just seen.
My right foot was wrapped around the thick blanket on my bed. I hastily stood up and fell off the bed as a result..
It was too much!
"(What in the world am I supposed to call this?! I want to accept this but at the same time I don't know whether I should! Okay wait, let me think this through. If I pick [YES] then I'll probably have a lot of power, but if I pick [NO] I'll stay the same. Hmm...)"
I simply wanted to live a peaceful life. I needed power to do that, but at the same time, having that much power would attract unwanted attention.
"(Alright, I've made my decision)"
I picked [YES]...
The moment the choice was made, for some reason it felt like all the mana in my body left me.
I went into sleep mode, lacking awareness of my surroundings.
.
The sun greeted the Cross Kingdom.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The banging sound on my door immediately woke me up. Quickly, I rose to my feet and off the carpeted floor.
I wasn't tall enough to open my room's door, so I always left it slightly open so it'd be easier for me.
Upon entering the room, Rhetessia, a maid of the beastpeople race, bowed her head in greeting.
Notably, she possessed cat-like ears and a tail, as well as a stern expression.
Her large chest was also evident, as it recoiled during her bow. Despite these physical attributes, Rhetessia was a bespectacled and beautiful woman.
"Good morning Miss Rhetessia!" (Lumiere)
"It's another wonderful morning, isn't it? Master Lumiere." (Rhetessia)
Nice as always. Aside from the fact that my father, King Simon, informed the maids to treat me with respect I deserved as someone with royal blood, she genuinely liked me. And why not? I almost always helped her in the kitchen when I could and I listened to her interesting stories as well.
"It is Miss Rhetessia!"
Occasionally, I spoke with a mature air around me, other times, acting more like a child was preferable.
"You should prepare for Lady Gennyʼs big day, so please, head into the bathroom. I shall bathe you if you'd like..." (Rhetessia)
My face turned red instantly. Waving my hands several times I said:
"No!"
This was one thing I didn't enjoy about my enhanced hyperthymesia, it made breastfeeding mentally painful. And worse, I couldn't let any woman bathe me, it felt too weird.
"Haha! Just like you Master Lumiere, never change." (Rhetessia)
She exited my room.
...
Now that all the madness was over, I could focus on the strangeness of last night.
"(Before I selected my answer, I was fine and then all of a sudden I passed out just right after.)"
In deep thoughts, I rubbed my chin.
"Status.."
With a clapping gesture, I summoned my status display board.
My mana points were off the charts.
"Ten thousand?!"
I rolled out of my bed crying. What had I gotten myself into, I thought.
Was this safe?
Normally, any other person would be excited to see this, but not me. There was no normal way to gain 9,400 mana points in seven hours. Should this even be a thing?
"(Alright, calm down Lumiere.)"
I took in several deep breaths and forced out a relaxed sigh. Withal, I was still sweating like an animal.
「Suggestion: You should try out your new S+ rank summon...」
S+ rank summon?! When?!
"(It's like my status wants to kill me! Why?!)"
I held my head in my hands and cried for a long period of time.
How could anyone wake up to this and be happy?
It took some minutes of cleaning mucus and tears for me to finally get my head straight. I could focus again. So far, here's the breakdown:
「¬ My mana points are increasing exponentially.
¬ I unlocked the Unique Skill [Beginner's Luck]
¬ I have an S+ rank summon called Serendipity.
¬ This also means I have unlocked [Summoning Magic].」
No. I wasn't going to let anyone decide what I'd do next. It was all in my hands now.
Hence, I gathered all the bravery I could, and chose to perform the summoning.
Whereas rank S+ spells took roughly 2,500 mana points to achieve. An S+ rank summon would require 5,000 mana points call forth.
But now I had 10,000 mana points in my possession. That should be an easy feat.
I was about to perform the summoning, feeling a tad proud of myself. But then, something stopped me, I recalled an important piece of information.
"(The average court mage possesses about 10,000 mana points, at the very least. If I have this much at the age of eight, that's pretty scary. But it makes sense, I think that sub-skill, [Higher Full Potential], is to blame for this. Gosh, if only I could have a heartattack.)"
I finally stopped ruminating. It was time to perform my summoning.
Naturally, I did a bit of stretching.
It was during this time I caught sight of my appearance on the mirror in my barely spacious room.
I gazed at myself in the mirror, admiring my most attractive feature: pitch black hair that cascaded to my neck and bright amethyst eyes that sparkled under the light.
Despite being eight years old, I wasn't tall at all.
My height left much to be desired, and my face was almost effeminate, stripping away any potential masculinity.
It wasn't fair.
Even Micah, the thirteenth child and tenth son at the age of 11, was already looking like he'd grow up to be a manly fellow.
Feeling frustrated, I decided to put my magic to use.
"(Okay, time to put my magic to use... I can do this.)"
With a determined expression, I outstretched my right hand and closed my eyes.
Focusing the mana within my heart, I felt it circulating around my body before gathering in my fingertips.
A large blue magic seal appeared, and from it emerged a lady with black horns and bat-like wings of the same color. Her perfectly straight hair shone in a silvery white color, like pure silver had been painted on it.
I couldn't help but feel intimidated by her presence.
Every cell in my body screamed, leaving me feeling like I'd poop my pants.
But I had to be strong.
I had to show her what I was made of. Taking a deep breath, I attempted to speak, but I froze up again.
So... this was an S+ rank summoning.
If anything, she looked like a demon.
She wasn't wearing any clothing, rather, the delicate "parts" of her body were covered with a black material. One I'd never seen before.
Silently, the lady stood there. A lucky guess, but her height was roughly 150cm. Far taller than I who was 110cm.
If only tallness was a skill I could pick up. Sigh.
I didn't know what next to say.
Maybe: "Hey? How are you?" or "I am your master now, you shall serve me, mwuhaha!" or even "Bow to me, my loyal servant."
There were a number of things I could say, but the right one proved difficult to find.
"(Okay, I know what I shall say!)"
I finally gathered up the courage to speak.
Gosh, I've been doing quite a lot of courage and bravery gathering lately. Honestly, quite the exhausting experience.
Then, a voice came from nowhere. One that echoed in my head.
| Excellent... You've made the right choice, Lumiere... |
That was what the voice said. And in that moment, I could've sworn I saw her smile. Whether this was my imagination or the truth, I couldn't really discern. But nonetheless, it had to be the latter because of what happened next.
A bright light robbed me of my sight, but the light itself felt somewhat warm.
My bed was gone.
My mirror was gone.
My collection of rocks were gone.
The cabinet where my rock collections were arranged was gone.
In summary, everything vanished and became a world of pure white.
Or wait, maybe I was the one who vanished. Sigh, I knew my luck was too good to be true.
--- Status ---
Name: Lumiere
Race: Human
Titles: Naturally dead, bastard child.
MP: 10,000/10,000
Magic Arts: [Water Magic] (Up to rank C), [Plant Magic] (Still at rank E), [Summoning Magic] (Rank S+)
Magic Skills: Integral Skill [Appraisal] (Rank F), Additional Skill [Lung Master] (Rank E), Unique Skill [Beginner's Luck].
Sacred Benefaction: 「Loading...」