Chapter 27 - Castellan Manor 1

"...Greetings, father."

I awkwardly greeted my father in a formal manner.

He smiled at me and spoke up.

"It's good to see you again, my son. I've heard you've done quite well in the Academy, hm?"

"Ah, yes, I reached first place in the exams."

"It's good to hear... I'm glad that some sense has finally been knocked into you."

I sheepishly nodded at his words.

My father was the spitting image of myself.

'Wait, isn't it the other way round?'

He had shoulder length white hair, light blue eyes, and peachy skin.

Our facial structures were similar, possessing a defined jawline and high cheekbones.

The only difference was that his face had accumulated some wrinkles with age and tireless work.

"Anyway, I've heard something of a divine revelation..."

His tone turned serious.

"Uh, yeah, my mag-"

I was cut off by my father.

"Let's discuss it in my office... You can meet your mother and brother afterwards."

I followed my father through the manor.

It was reminiscent of a European palace, with blue roof tiles, our family color.

Whilst walking, we made some small talk.

"So, how has the academy been, hm?"

"I've certainly grown stronger."

"That's good to hear, indeed, a Castellan should never be weak."

"And you, Father? How has progress been with your own training?"

Currently, my father was an archmage, with three minds awakened.

His first magic was shatter, our family's hereditary magic.

His second was earth.

And his third was water.

Mages had designated several rankings depending on ones magic status.

A regular mage was simply someone who someone who had been lucky enough to be born with their first mind awakened, becoming a magic user.

[A/N] Small retcon, all humans are born with magic -> occasionally humans are born with magic. Edits have been made to previous chapters.

An advanced mage was someone who had opened their second mind.

A great mage was someone who had either opened their third mind or opened their second mind as well as mutated their first.

An archmage was someone who had opened three minds and mutated their first magic.

A supreme archmage was a being considered at the pinnacle of magic in this age, having mutated two magics and opened three minds.

My father was still pursuing the path to mutating his second mind, obtaining a superior magic.

"...Alas, I still remain the same." My father lamented.

"I'm sure you will reach that state, eventually."

My father gave me a wry smile, but did not seem convinced that he would ascend further.

He one of the strongest humans in the continent already, but he had never cared about such things.

He loved magic, and simply wanted to go as far as he could with it.

We made it to his office, and he sat at his desk, me sitting opposed to him.

The office was filled with various antiques and artifacts, as well as hundreds of books lined across the bookshelves stretching to the ceiling.

"Alright, so I'll speak first, son, I'm aware that you have supposedly received a divine revelation from the Sun Church's God, Solan. Is that true?"

"Yes... It's true, I heard his voice and my magic changed into the light element."

"Haah... Okay, firstly, what did the god tell you?"

My father did not doubt the fact that I had been contacted by a god. 

The facts that gods were real were a well known fact in this world.

I decided to keep my lie this time similar to what I had told Cassenia.

"He told me to save the world... And I know why now."

My father looked at me, waiting for me to say more.

"I'm sure you know the state in which I arrived. Whilst travelling to the duchy, a demon was sent to assassinate me."

"But why... now of all times... The demons have been quiet ever since the former demon king died two centuries ago."

After the defeat of the former demon king, the demons were forced back deep into the demonic continent, and knew that if they dared to leave the small area they had been confined to, they would be exterminated.

"Father... You'll have to take my word on this one... but the Demon King has returned."

At this revelation, my father was shocked.

"How do you know? Wait, do you have proof? The emperor must be alerted.. The church as well, in fact, the empire should immediately invade the demonic continent!"

"...Like I said, you'll have to take my word. I don't have any proof, and I can't explain how I know."

My father fell silent, and the atmosphere became heavy.

"But, the Church is aware that the demons are moving again, and I'm sure the emperor has been alerted already."

The archmage before me combed his hair with his hands, clearly concerned.

"Do you, perhaps, know anything else?"

I did not want to reveal all of my knowledge from the game, but I also wished to help the family I had in this life.

"I believe... war will break out, in about another two years."

"If that's truly the case... Our duchy must be ready, I must ask you before I begin preparing, are you certain?"

"....Not really, things can change, but that's how the situation appears to be right now."

"I understand. At the very least, I will increase military spending and improve training."

The talks of demons came to an end, albeit I was sure it would come up again sooner or later.

"But for now... show me it, your new magic."

I lifted my palms, generating a small orb of light.

"....Quite remarkable. The strength of it is superior to your previous shatter magic."

By all means, shatter magic was massively stronger than light magic.

It was what allowed the Castellan family to achieve the status of a duchy, and keep it for the history of the empire.

Shatter magic was a magic practically created for massive destruction.

But the former Ares had slacked off immensely when it came to training his magic, leaving him with pathetic magic stats.

From my training, increasing my stats through the joker class, and the absorption of divine blood, my magic stats had improved immensely.

"But still... the magic circuitry you had built for your first mind must have been reset now..."

...

This was one of the important parts of coming home.

Magic flowed from the mind into the body through various circuits, and each mind had its own set of circuits.

The Castellans, as well as many other great magic families or skilled mages, had created their own way of manipulating magic circuits, to strengthen, widen, and improve them overall.

Since my former magic was replaced, so too were the circuits.

I had considered briefly training my circuits in the academy, but it was an unintelligent decision considering I was not sure as to the entire process of training my circuits.

"Indeed, father... my circuits have regressed to their initial state. So.. I'd like to make a request.

...

Please train me."

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