"How. Please tell me how I can kill them." Kaiser asked, his determination controlling his thoughts.
The old man looked happy at this development, but this was only a start.
"It's very simple. You just have to become stronger."
Kaiser immediately remembered his friend and how he said to win races.
Jak had said to just be faster as well.
He had to do this for his friend. He had to at least kill the devil that did this to his life.
He swore an oath to himself.
To kill that devil, he would do anything.
"You're weak Kaiser. You have no skill, no knowledge, and no experience. You can't even attend the Magic Academy yet."
The old man had been thinking earlier. Sarah, Kaiser's mother, had done him a great favor in the past and they could be considered good friends.
The least he could do was take care of her son, who shouldn't even be here.
"I will take care of you and train you until you can attend the Magic Academy. From that point, I will stop teaching you. You'll still have support from this Branch Family, so do not worry child."
"Yes, Teacher!" Kaiser said, his face showing slight restraint.
He was trying to hold back his emotions. He didn't deserve to be happy. Not after what happened anyway.
'This kid. I hope he doesn't continue trying to erase his emotions.' The Branch Head thought to himself.
They left the room while the doors closed slowly behind.
By this time, the sun had started to drop. Orange sunlight pierced the glass windows throughout the Estate.
It soothed one's body by simply standing in it.
They went through the Estate once more, but this time they went to the third floor. They entered another room.
This one was simple yet fancy. A decently sized wooden table, candles placed about it, and a window with the sun falling behind the horizon.
"Uhm teacher, what're we doing here?"
"We're going to eat and we're going to talk. You have a lot to tell me." The Branch Head looked and said with confidence.
"Right." Kaiser sighed.
He didn't want to remember every detail of what happened, but he did.
He floated to a seat opposite the old man and took a deep breath.
"So, what happened was-"
"Wait, wait." The old man jumped in.
"Eat first, you might not want to after."
So he did. Servants brought in food and drinks for the both.
Kaiser had never seen so many dishes in front of him. It warmed his heart to see the old man's generosity.
He wouldn't have been surprised if they had initially tried to send him away. After all, why take care of a young useless kid?
They finished their meal, and the leftover food was taken away.
And then he talked. He told him everything. From the red sky, to the devil's appearance, to it ending with a bright flash of light.
He recounted it, some parts said with sadness, regret, and pain. Other parts were angry with either himself or the devil.
He hated this but oddly, telling someone about it, eased his mind a small amount.
"So that's what happened."
The old man started to think. There are 7 devils known to man and they all act a little different from one another. They were all inherently evil though.
"There's really only one devil who acts in that way. My guess is that it's Leviathan. The devil of envy."
"Leviathan, the devil of envy," Kaiser repeated. He would remember this name until the day he died.
"You've gone through traumatic events. However, you need to know that none of it was your fault. Not the death of your friend or your dad."
Kaiser only nodded, not convinced.
"Well, I hope you take that to heart, but tell me your name now brat. Your mother never told anyone back then."
Kaiser was surprised he hadn't told his teacher that yet. They'd already talked so much.
"My name is Kaiser. What about you? what's your name teacher?"
"Don't worry too much about it. Just call me Teacher or old man. Usually, the kids call me the latter though."
It got quiet. The old man was communicating with someone through a mental conversation while Kaiser was lost in thought.
Soon, someone around Kaiser's age entered the room. He had fiery red hair with a matching eye color.
He wore a neutral expression.
"Hello, my name is Taz." The newcomer said with zero happiness.
Kaiser looked at the kid who appeared to be 11 or 12. Then he remembered what happened to his last friend.
So he stayed neutral as well.
"My name is Kaiser."
The old man was watching so when it went silent, he stepped in.
"Alright, since you're acquainted, get moving. Kaiser, Taz will show you where you'll sleep from now on. Our healers are tired because of you so they won't be coming."
Kaiser was confused about how he would get there. Wouldn't whatever was keeping him afloat disappear?
The old man spoke again, "Go."
Regardless of his confusion, he tried willing the magic himself to go out the door, and luckily enough, he was able to. Although he wasn't sure how.
Taz had already started walking down the hallway.
'Not that friendly is he?'
They walked steadily through the estate and down to the second floor.
'It seems the main house is divided for each floor. 1 for the servant people, 2 for rooms, 3 for important rooms. And I guess an eating area.'
They passed many rooms along the way but didn't stop until they reached the end of the hallway.
Taz stopped, pointed to his right, and with an attitude said, "This is your room."
After that, he speedily walked away.
Kaiser wanted to ask about certain functions of this Estate, but Taz was gone and appeared to not like him very much.
He opened the door and in view was a spacious room. It had a queen-sized bed, a desk with a lamp, a bathroom, and a bookshelf.
There was no window in the room and the only light, besides the lamp, was a singular glass bowl on the ceiling.
'Wow, this is nice.'
Once he was inside the room, the mana around him acted on its own again. It got him on top of the bed and released him.
He fell, causing a sharp pain to radiate from his abdomen. Luckily, it was on the bed and not the ground.
'Ow.'
Once the pain died down, he looked around again. This was 3x the size of his old room.
'This could be worse.'