I followed Levena through the mansion, still in wonder at the extravagance of the place.
We crossed the main courtyard where several servants were walking in every direction, and passed through a wide entrance. Down the hall were wide doors inlaid with gold insignias.
Levena pushed open the doors and motioned for me to go inside.
I thanked her and walked through the doors.
Inside, there was a long, dining table with multiple decorations. At the opposite end of the room, four people sat at the end of the table.
My mother and father sat next to each other at the head, flanked by my sister and a woman who I didn't recognize.
All four looked over to me as I entered.
"Kaiser! Welcome to the dining room!" My father exclaimed.
"Hello, Kaiser," Mother said.
"Welcome," Phiona greeted.
The fourth person rose from her seat and walked over to me and outstretched her hand. She was a white-haired beauty with golden eyes. She wore a black frill dress and black gloves that reached up to her elbows.
"I'm glad to finally meet you."
Something seemed odd. Her voice was familiar… Where did I hear that voice? The slight raspiness and lower tone for a female.
'Oh! I know!'
"Grandmother, it's good to see you again." I smiled and took her hand. "It's been forever."
The woman's smile vanished, replaced with worry.
"How… How do you remember me?" She asked hesitantly.
"I've got a very good memory, you see." My smile didn't leave my face in front of her unease.
"Yeah, I know right? He remembered me too!" My mother exclaimed from the other side of the room.
"That's not right," Grandmother said. "I don't even look the same as back then."
I released her hand, but she stood there frozen in worry.
"It's okay Grandmother." I tried reassuring her but to no avail.
"No, that shouldn't be possible. If you were born with mana then maybe, but without it?"
My father came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Mother, calm down. Let's have dinner, alright?"
She snapped and shrugged off his hand. "Don't talk to me like I'm some senile, old woman! I was just confused, that's all." She huffed and sat back down at the table.
"Sorry, Kaiser," Father apologized but soon regained his fervor. "Come on, sit down with us."
He led me to the table and I sat next to Phiona, across from my Grandmother, who was scowling at the table with her arms crossed.
'Hopefully, she's not always like this.'
Soon, several maids came into the dining hall carrying large platters of different kinds of food that I had never seen before.
Some sort of purple meat was placed in front of me. The smell reminded me of the ocean.
Phiona pointed at the violet dish. "That's a mana beast's meat. It's called a Zanthei. It's a large water serpent creature that's pretty rare.
I looked at the meat with more interest. I wonder what fighting something like that is like?
Once all the food was placed on the table, Father clapped his hands together. "Let's eat!"
I grabbed a portion of the Zanthei meat and some fruits that were new to me and put them on my plate.
I stabbed a piece of the purple meat and put it into my mouth.
"Mmm."
The flavor was very savory and salty. When I swallowed it, a warm sensation spread throughout my stomach.
"You feel that?" Phiona asked. "That's what happens when you eat a mana beast. The residual mana is still in the meat, so eating it will increase your overall mana capacity."
"Wow, you're right! It did increase! This beast must have been pretty strong."
"More than pretty strong, it was an A-ranked beast that destroyed an entire port village before Father killed it."
"A-ranked? Are there ranks for mana beasts?" I asked.
'The ranking system emerges.'
Phiona nodded. "Yes, but not just for mana beasts, for everything. Even a plant can have a rank if it's dangerous enough. You'll learn more about it when you start your studies."
"My studies?"
"Tomorrow, you'll start learning about the mana realm as a whole. Every new ascendant goes through this process."
'Classic info-dump.'
Before I could ask more questions, a clanging of a glass cup rang out. My father raised his glass, calling the attention of the few gathered.
"Now that we've got our food, I'd like to formally welcome Kaiser Raijin to the family," Father said as he stood up from his chair and looked at me with a smile. "From now on, you'll go through a lot. I want you to know that your family will always be there for you. You will always have a place to stay at this house. To Kaiser!"
Everyone raised their glasses and downed the contents.
The scene reminded me of Mr. Davis and Martha back in the mortal realm. Even though I just got here, I already miss them.
I also raised my glass and drank the contents, which was just water.
…
After dinner, my mana reserves had increased by nearly twice the amount I came in with! All the fruits and meats were jam-packed with mana.
'It's like Phiona said: Perks of being a Duke.'
Phiona and my Grandmother, who I still have yet to find out her name, left. That left me and my parents alone in the dining hall.
"So, Kaiser. How do you feel?" Father asked me. "Intaking a lot of mana for the first time can be sickening for some."
"I can feel the increase, but it isn't anything I can't handle," I responded. "Thank you for the meal. It was very delicious."
"Oh, I'm just paying for it, you don't have to thank me. The chefs here are the ones to thank. I swear, if they weren't around, I'd be half the man."
"I'll have to thank them when I see them, then."
My mom cleared her throat. "Anyways. I wanted to talk about your future, Kaiser."
"Phiona was telling me about that. Something about studying?"
"Yes. It is a requirement to learn about the mana realm. There are a lot of things going on in this world, and being unprepared can be detrimental to your growth as a mage and as a noble of the Silvercrest Empire."
The doors to the dining hall opened and the maids from before flew in and grabbed all the plates and silverware, clearing the table. When they left, the hall was as clean as when I arrived.
Mother and Father rose from their seats when the maids were finished and I rose as well.
We walked out of the hall and out to the courtyard.
"Tomorrow morning, come here," Mother said. "Your teacher will meet you here and you can begin your studies. It shouldn't take more than a week for you to get the gist of the mana realm."
My father put his hand on my shoulder. "We've got to attend an event in the capital this week, son. We'll see you when you finish at the end of the week."
"I'll be waiting for your return then, Father," I said.
"Good, I expect to hear good things. I can't wait for you to explore this world." A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. "When I first got here in this world, the empire was at war and I had to fight to keep my nobility. Don't get conceited because we are at peace. Anything can happen here, I'm sure you'll learn about it soon."
My mother hit my father's shoulder. "Stop, you're going to discourage him!"
"Ow! Okay, okay, I'll stop!"
My mother turned to me with an irritated smile. "What he meant to say is good luck."
I chuckled seeing the two bicker. It reminded me of my parents on Earth as well as Mr. Davis and Martha.
"You don't have to worry, Mother. I can handle some studying. If anything, I'll probably be done days before you get back!" I exclaimed.
My father burst out laughing. "That's my boy!"
My mother's smile turned into a warm and loving one. Just with a simple gesture, my heart instantly was set ablaze.
"We love you, dear. We'll see you after we get back," She said.
The couple left the courtyard, leaving me to find my way back to my room.
After collapsing on my bed, a silhouette appeared above me.
[Your family is very kind, master. I'm a little envious.]
I chuckled. "They're an odd bunch, but I'm already starting to feel at home here."
[Did you see their movements?]
My light smile turned into a grin. "Yes. I saw everything." Drool almost came out of my mouth. Rex must be having a bad influence on my perception of other people. "They are on a completely different level than Levena. My sister and mother were at least five times as strong. But what really astonished me was my father and my grandmother. Did you see when he put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down?"
[My analysis estimated that he used thousands of pounds of pressure with that. And it was probably not even a speck of his power.]
My grin almost tore my cheek muscles. "I know! This world is amazing!"
…
The next morning, my eyes opened to a familiar ceiling. I stretched and sat up, looking out the window behind my bed.
The morning sun was washing over the mansion grounds. I could hear the birds singing their morning songs as well as multiple pairs of footsteps echoing in the halls.
"This place sure wakes up early, huh?"
[Good morning, master. I've got good news.]
"Don't tell me… That quick?"
[Yes, after you completed the Gym Freak path and worked out using Rex's methods, your stamina and strength increased by leaps and bounds! Paired with your mana capacity from dinner last night, you gained over one thousand XP!]
…
Name: Kaiser Raijin
Level: 5
XP: 745 / 1000
Skill Points: 6
Status:
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
{Skill Trees}
…
"Holy shit! That's a lot of XP!"
[With your body being so weak originally, gaining XP becomes a lot easier when you improve at the beginning.]
"Then that means it's going to get harder later on. I better gain as much as I can."
[Now that you have more skill points, you have a lot of options open to you.]
"I'm still going to wait. I want to finish my studies before making any decisions from now on."
[Wise decision, master.]
I looked down at myself. "I've been wearing these clothes for quite a while now. After seeing my family's clothes I can't help but feel out of place."
Currently, I was still wearing the same outfit as when I first arrived here. A loose, white button-down shirt and black slacks.
'I wonder if they have anything in the closet.'
I walked over to the closet and slid open the door. Inside were multiple outfits. I browsed through the options in wonder.
"They got my sizes down already? The maids here have got skill!"
I ended up choosing a black shirt that was tight-fitting. Strands of cloth ran over the shoulders and down the waist, making for an interesting top. For the bottom, I chose a loose pair of black parachute pants.
'I hope I don't look too weird.'
I looked in the mirror and whistled.
"If I were on Earth, I would have no problem getting any girl I wanted."
[...]
I confirmed my look and walked out into the hall. As I walked down to the courtyard, all the maids traveling around the property greeted me with a curtsy before going about their business.
'I get what Father said about getting conceited. It would be easy to just laze around here my whole life without worrying about a thing.'
[But you won't do that, will you, master?]
I grinned.
'Of course not. Not when there's a whole world out there to explore!'
I finally reached the courtyard and swept my vision around, looking for any sign of my mentor. When I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, I sat on a bench near the center.
'Mother didn't say when we were supposed to meet.'
I closed my eyes and meditated, focusing on the mana coursing through my body.
"Good, you're already on the first step to becoming a mage."
A familiar, raspy female voice came from before me.
'How the hell do these people keep sneaking up on me?'
I opened my eyes calmly, betraying my inner turmoil.
"Good morning, Grandmother," I said, getting up the greet her.
Today, she was wearing a white blouse with a black jacket loosely over her shoulders and an impressive pair of earrings.
"Yes, good morning," She said.
An awkward silence hung in the air.
She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I came off as a little rude, so I want to apologize."
"Oh, that's alright," I said. "I know I surprised you, so it's mostly my fault."
"Ok."
'What?! You accepted it that easily?'
She sighed again. "Anyways, I want to introduce myself again." She extended her hand. "My name is Justine Raijin. If you haven't guessed already, I'm your father's mother."
I took her hand and we shook. "Good to know. Thank you for going out of your way to introduce yourself again."
She gazed into my eyes for a short time and released my hand. "I've seen eyes like yours before. Try not to show those around to everyone you meet. Anyone with any perception skills can see it."
'Huh? My eyes?'
"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.
"You have the eyes of a schemer. That ingenuine smile doesn't suit you. Last night at dinner, the smile you had when you were talking to my granddaughter suits you a lot better," She said like it was obvious.
I blinked my eyes out of disbelief.
'Oh, she's good!'
The gentle smile disappeared off my face, replaced by a wide grin. "I didn't think it would be that noticeable. It needs a lot of work."
"I'm sure your father noticed it as soon as he saw you last night. But, out of his love for you, he didn't say anything. If I'm going to be your mentor, you need to wear your mask more efficiently." She turned around and headed out of the courtyard. "Come, we have a lot to go over."
'She impresses me more and more every time I see her! Her gait exudes power and intelligence!'
[We need to review your mind's changes during knowledge impartment. You've gained a lot of Rex's mindset.]
I sighed.
'Yes, I know. But how can I not be excited? She's amazing!'
I quickly followed after Grandmother with a wide grin on my face.