A young man or rather a young man with silver hair, yellow amber like eyes, and pointed ears was flipping through paper after paper occasionally pressing an ink quill against it. A wisened old man dressed in a way that anyone would call him a butler at first sight had a wry smile on his face as he watched over the boy. "Your Highness, Please get some rest you have done more than enough for the day." That voice was both crisp and soothing, though there was a faint amount of pride showing through his tone.
"Sebas, If I don't do this who will? Father? My Esteemed Brother? My sisters arent even allowed to help if they wanted. They are all off swinging their weapons aren't they?" The high pitched voice which would have been called cute by 9/10 people who heard it, was spouting out words that were anything other than cute. Sebas had a wry smile on his face as he masked out a small sigh borne from exasperation.
"Prince Loki, Pardon my words, but if you do not become stronger as His Majestey desires then he may not heed your counsel for long." At those words the boy, Loki put down the quil biting down on his lip in frustration.
(Tsk the old man is ignorant as ever. Just what does he expect having only muscles to solve!? I show him how just after looking through some of the tax records that we suddenly unveil numerous families barely paying anything .... No they were stealing what should support the country and what does that idiot say? 'They are strong families whom support my reign.' Arrrghhh! Esteemed Brother Guinn is even worse ignoring his potential for purely his stats! Much less needs to be said on his attitude!)
If anyone had heard the inner monologue of Loki's they would likely wonder if he had been possessed by some evil spirit. He was after all a reincarnator that had perished at the behest of Truck-Kun who somehow hit him after he and other people had to jump out of a plane that had been captured by terrorists and was soon to crash. This isn't relevant though there were a number of videos that showed up online of a truck with jet thrusters attached as it rammed into the man with a sickening crunch and carried him off to the horizon. The oddest thing about it? There was no driver and AI weren't nearly advanced enough for that.
"Sebas, I've already gotten my light and dark magic proficiency up to B. I know I could level up in the Special Illusionist class ... but I feel like I'm so close to an even better class! My magic potential is at 59 after all! My skill potential is at 49 as well!" Such words weren't nonsense as in this world people leveled up and had stats. Potential was the stat that dictated how many additional stat points were gained aside from those provided by the class.
Sebas had to suppress a scream as he searched for other presences quickly casting a barrier to dampen all sounds. "Your Highness! You cannot talk about your status that easily! If Crown Prince Guinn were to hear it ..." Loki puffed his cheeks out like a squirrel as he pouted though he did nod his head before looking down.
This shouldn't have been anything a six year old needed to be wary of, but it was the case for Loki being born to a Dark Elf and the Human Emperor yet being born as a High Elf. The Zoval Empire was one that stated might makes right as the foremost law even having a series of matches between the heirs to determine who would be the Crown Prince or Princess throughout every year. When the Emperor dies whoever has that position would become the leader of the Empire even if they had committed patricide and been caught. Failing at such an attempt would be grounds for an execution of them and their descendants, so such a thing has only happened once or twice within the 950 year history of the Empire.
Perhaps it was a matter of course when the Zolval Empire became to be known as being ruled by Muscleheads around three generations ago. Such a tendency also saw physical strength as being superior to magical strength. Such reasons included the rarity of mages and it being easier to train in a physical sense. While High Elves were seen as a superior bloodline, a bloodline that was thought to be lost, Zoval as a nation sneered at it dubbing it the 'Weakest Ancient Blood'. That impression was strengthened as after Loki's 5th birthday he refused to level up still citing his potential as having plenty of room to improve still.
"What are you implying Sebas? That my Esteemed Brother, the Great Crown Prince would try to kill me for the 27th time this year? Oh right and it is only the 15th day of the year correct?" Sebas could be seen giving an awkward nod of the head as Loki's older half brother had started such attempts the moment Loki himself was hailed as a prodigy at the tender age of 3. Loki had felt truly enlightened by how many different schemes had been cooked up rather than try and shore up his own strength, after all Guinn had focused on short term strength unable to come to terms that one of his younger siblings might even temporarily steal the title of Crown Prince.
"Fine, fine I'll do some magic practice and then get some sleep. Is that acceptable Sebas?" Sebas in response gave a fluid bow dispelling the sound barrier lest the imperial guard thinks Guinn decided to try something once more. Just before starting his practice of circulating magic and sustaining balls of light and darkness, Loki checked his status.
[Status]
[Name: Loki Drai Zoval]
[Age: 6]
[Sex: Male]
[Race: High Elf]
[Level 0]
[Tier: 0]
[Class: None]
[Base Potential] (Bloodline totals are in ())
- HP: 30
- Str: 20 (5)
- Mag: 59 (20)
- Skl: 49 (10)
- Spd: 30
- Lck: 40 (40)
- Def: 10
- Res: 40 (15)
- Charm: 40
[Stats will be shown once a class has been selected and is no longer level 0.]
[Proficiencies]
[Light Magic: B]
[Dark Magic: B]
If one were to ask for a comparison strictly on potential and level then the Crown Prince Guinn would be level 80 and tier 3. His stats however are barely above average for tier 3 due to his average class and lack of training on potential. Guinn's potentials is as follows:
HP: 25
Str: 40 (20)
Mag: 0
Skl: 15 (5)
Spd: 10
Lck: 5 (5)
Def: 15 (10)
Res: 0
Charm: 5
This is one reason Loki was seen as a prodigy with such an exceptional potential from an ancient bloodline and how quickly he picked up reading. It had also been the reason why he was scorned by many nobles within the Palace due to forsaking his talent and not using his natural strength. Despite being treated coldly by the Emperor, the Imperial Guards, had been ordered to ensure no harm comes to Loki.
Having setup his practice area and confirmed his Status, Loki closed his eyes focusing fully on trying to round the last digits of his potential up if nothing else. Sebas the minister of finances kept a close watch with a soft smile on his face.
**Sebas POV**
(I'm not sure of when my fright for His Highness had turned into anticipation ... nay into seeing him as the only hope for the Empire. Both Prince Yahiko and Prince Theo the next best options carried the mindset of prioritizing the homelands of their mothers. If the Empire is to show signs of recovery from decay and corruption it needs a strong, yet intelligent leader who focuses on the Empire above all else.)
(The Nibulg and Gyrant families are showing especially concerning actions often holding private discussions with the ducal and marquis branch families. Perhaps Loki could gain the support of the Verdant Council due to his race alone even.)
(Goddess Yulia, Please grant the Zoval Empire and Prince Loki your favor.)
Eventually after muttering the prayer Sebas refocused on watching over Loki and after around 3 hours of practice seeing the Prince had fallen asleep he called for maids and guards to escort him back to his chambers.