Looking into the ball, the only thing that came to my mind was that I'm becoming an atheist.
The ball was glowing red.
Magical power is measured on a spectrum like the color wheel. Red, having the longest wavelength, means that there is no magic power. A stark contrast to my sibling's mana, measuring indigo to purple, one of the highest possible mana.
Sadly, this isn't a deus ex machina moment for me. God wasn't that nice.
When the ball started glowing, loud gasps could be heard all around the move. The most intense reaction was my mother. She looked like she popped a blood vessel.
"Fucking useless piece of shit," She mumbled under her breath. She thought no one could hear, or she just didn't care. She signaled for one of the servants to come. "Take the child outside. I need to do damage control."
My mother glared into my eyes with a look of disgust and anger. It was powerful enough to make me freeze in place until the servant took me out of my shock.
"Come on," She whispered as she took me backstage. We took the route that I took to get there, avoiding the crowd. Well, most of it at least. Some people moved into the halls after the whole ball fiasco. I bumped into one of them on the way out.
He pushed me away. "Get off me filth," He pretentiously said. The servant apologized and continued leading me away from everyone and into my room. As soon as I entered, she exited, just leaving me alone.
Any book you read will tell you that magic power is a status symbol. What I didn't expect was how powerful it would be. If you're from a powerful family, you'd think that people would still be a little afraid to insult you.
Being plopped into this world, I didn't really care what other people thought of me. To me, they are strangers. But I still felt something.
Disgust.
I'd been here for less than a day, and almost all the adults I met were two-faced. My mother praised me right before insulting me after I had no magic power. And that killed any desire I had to make it an actual relationship.
I laid down on my bed and took out a ring and watch I pickpocketed from the man I bumped into with a smile.
"Guess I had the last laugh," I said to myself. I had retained all the skills I learned in my old life.
Everything that happened in the last 12 hours just seemed so … surreal. I might've been in shock, but I never really processed that I died.
I died.
And lost everything that made me happy.
My friends? Gone. I never really thought about how I would find Jordan, but he was gone too. My parents who, despite being absent, I still missed.
And as I was reminiscing, tears formed in my eyes. The more I remembered, the more tears formed. I ended up falling asleep a few hours later, crying myself to sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, it was early and I was still tired. I walked to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. There were some trails of tears, but after washing my face, it was mostly gone. I walked back to my bed and just stared out of the window.
The sun was about to rise, but it was mostly dark outside. I didn't feel like I could go back asleep, so I just started thinking about my next moves.
The whole reason I made my deal was to help Jordan. But I couldn't find the guy, nor did I have a clue on how to find him.
But I had a plan for that. Sometimes, you just need to kick a baby for it to walk. Technology being the baby in this metaphor. I need to introduce this world to technology.
However, that brings me to my next issue. I needed to raise the funds needed for research, development, and manufacturing. No way in hell would my family give me the cash. Not to mention I already had trust issues.
I'd also have to redo a lot of the innovations that led to technology. Making small transistors, silicon refinement, chips, and all that jazz. With my knowledge, it would be relatively easy, but still a lot of work.
So I'll have to resort to theft. At least a few million dollars. Currency conversion is a bit weird in this world, but I'm estimating it's about 1 gold coin for $1,000. When I get big, I'll definitely set up a paper money operation.
All this had the upside which was that it was going to make it easy to be a villain. I think that Moriarty is the best type of villain, controlling everything from the shadows. Being the only company capable of developing technology would certainly give me a lot of control and connections in the world.
Just thinking about all this work was giving me a headache. I'd also have to learn swordsmanship as I'm not too keen on being assassinated or getting attacked.
By the time I got a lot of the logistics for my plan down, the sun had already risen and Jane entered my room.
I was writing a notebook of everything important in English. The language of this world was something else. Wait, does this mean I'm quadrilingual now?
I didn't notice Jane entering as I was absorbed in my notebook.
She cleared her throat, startling me. "Master, are you doing alright? It's almost time for breakfast."
"Yeah, I'm alright," I said. Jane sat beside me on my bed. I was finishing up my equations.
"What are you writing," She asked.
"Just some drawings," I mumbled as I finished. I looked up and saw her beaming smile.
"You know Jane, I don't think I've ever said this to you but thank you. You've treated me like a son. Way better than anyone else," I told her with a smile. Her face twitched and her smile faltered. It was unnoticeable to most people.
The con with being observant is that sometimes you notice things you don't want to. "You wanted a kid, didn't you?"
"You seem like a different person lately," She commented and sighed. "I did have a child, and I was happy. But his father died. I wasn't well off, so I had to give him away."
I wasn't used to emotional heart-to-hearts like this, so I just remained silent. She put her hand out and I gave her my notebook. I saw tears as she started flipping through the notebook.
"These drawings look good. I've never seen these symbols before," Jane commented. She quickly flipped through the rest before closing the notebook and handing it back to me.
"Ever since yesterday, you seem more mature and kinder," She told me as she hugged me. My teenage mind wanted to escape, but I knew this would help her. "If I were your mother, I'd be proud of you."
She exited the room with a smile but teary-eyed. I was left alone, staring at a lock of her hair that fell on my bed.
'One more goal. Find Jane's son.' I thought to myself as I took the lock of hair to one of my drawers. I put it and my notebook inside before closing it.
I began making my way around the house to the dining hall. I wasn't particularly excited because my siblings would show their true colors. Will they be different or the same?
I stood in front of the doors. I took a deep breath before opening it. Their hushed conversations ended as they all turned their heads towards me before looking away immediately.
"So that's how it is," I said, disappointed. I took my seat and slowly began eating my bread. I noticed that my portions were smaller than normal. Sweet! My family is also passive-aggressive.
I looked over at my siblings and began scrutinizing their micro-expressions. And I got a good read on all their feelings.
Let's start off with Dominick. His eyes were narrowed, jaw clenched, and breathing heavily. He felt superior to me, so probably anger or contempt.
Then there's Leah. Her eyes were watery and her expressions kept shifting, but her eyes were slightly narrowed. She was conflicted, not knowing what to feel but leaning towards contempt like Dominick. This hurt me the most.
Addison was looking down with her lips slightly downturned. She was sad for me. This one pulled at my heartstrings a little. Addison was a gentle person, which I assumed was due to her lack of training. Leah was the complete opposite.
And finally, Alex. His shoulders were tense, and when I looked down under the table, I saw his hands shaking. His eyes were also moving rapidly like he was in REM sleep. They darted between the other siblings and me. He wanted to be on my side but was afraid of our other siblings.
"Are you guys planning on ignoring me for the rest of your miserable lives," I asked. "We're still siblings."
No one responded. No one looked at me.
"Literally nothing's changed. I'm still the same perso," I said. 'Besides me being a different person' I thought, but didn't say that out loud.
"You're a freak," Dominick said with contempt. All eyes were drawn on him.
"There you go. Let it out," I said, staring at him and not backing down.
"How does a person, who comes from a family of powerful heroes, have no magic power? You're a disappointment to the Zephyr name and to our ancestors who fought demon lords and monsters."
The atmosphere was tense. I felt the magic power coming off Dominick. I couldn't match that for obvious reasons, but I tried my best to give off a feeling that made them doubt themselves.
"First off, strength isn't the only thing that matters in the world. It's the merchants that rule any world. Without them, we wouldn't have food or building materials. Second, our ancestors fought for a better future, one that we did obtain. They fought so that we don't have to."
"And how are you going to contribute to the future generation?! Cheering us on while we're dying?," Dominick asked with a look of mocking and superiority. "You're delusional and won't accomplish anything of note."
"You know what? I'm not going to bother changing any of your minds," I said. The atmosphere was overwhelmed by Dominick's aura. "I already know what side you are all on."
The door suddenly opened and my mother came in. She wasn't looking at me, but instead at everyone else. She was clapping and had a smirk on her face.
"What a show," She said before starting to glare at me. "You all picked the right side. I'm proud of you."
'You manipulator' I thought in anger, but I didn't say it. "Fuck this shit I'm out. No thanks," I sang.
"Don't bother coming back," Dominick gloated.
"You idiot," I said, turning to him. "If I get kicked out on top of having no mana, everyone will think that I'm an illegitimate child and stain our reputation even more."
I walked into the hallway and out into the house. I kept walking until I was out on the street.
What I didn't know was that my mom was closely watching me. "Just how does an eight-year-old think that far ahead?"