Snapping his eyes open, Nathan sat up from his bed and hurriedly inspected his surroundings.
'I'm completely healed.'
He was in a room that had walls made of smooth stone. Each wall had a huge red banner than had an insignia of two swords crossing, the floor was fitted with red carpet, and the room was illuminated by light bulbs on the ceiling.
To his right, there was another bed with a beautiful red-haired female peacefully sleeping in it under a blanket.
Finally, he looked left, only to see a charming middle-aged woman, with her arms crossed and similar features to the woman he saw sleeping.
"Are you the one who saved me?"
"Yes, and who exactly are you, forest boy. How did you end up like that?"
Remembering what had happened, Nathan got hit by a wave of sadness and guilt. However, for some reason, he felt like showing any vulnerable emotions in-front of this woman was a bad idea.
****
A little while later after introducing himself and telling the story of his escape, the woman was left with a pondering expression.
'Influence of the Void shouldn't be able to reach that forest, I'll have to report this later.'
"I am Saint Athena Sanguis Fortis, head of the Fortis household."
Hearing the word 'Saint', Nathan's eyes widened in shock, realizing he was talking to a saint, a power level that was treated as a deity by his village.
"I have deemed your attitude and strength worthy, I hereby adopt you as a son and as a member of the Fortis household. May you bring great glory to the empire."
After saying that, under her clothes, Athena's chest started releasing a blinding light, then coalesced into a ball of light that rammed itself into Nathan's chest, and disappeared.
Looking at this chest in confusion and a little panic, Nathan could now see a black tattoo in the middle of his chest. The tattoo was an image of two swords crossing, the same as he saw previously on the huge banners.
"You will address me as mother. Your name is now Nathan Fortis, you may exist the room and there will be a butler to guide you to your room and give you required information."
Nathan however, gave no response. His village has always told myths about a saint who had visited them, and the stories depicted him as a deity. And now not only was he talking to a saint, he had been adopted by one without any choice in the matter. Nathan's brain was truly fried.
"Yes... mother."
It took a minute before Nathan's brain could get a grip on his new reality. Thankfully, Athena was understanding of Nathan's situation and his previous upbringing, so she was patient enough to give him some time.
After getting up and exiting the room through the set of double doors, Nathan was greeted by a butler bowing to him in an incredibly graceful and refined manner.
"Greetings sir Fortis, I am butler Hubert, please follow me to your new room."
Feeling incredibly awkward by the action of someone bowing to him, Nathan just silently followed Hubert.
'What the hell is this place!?'
While walking through the massive hallway, Nathan could see many incredibly realistic paintings, and statues depicting men and women standing in a heroic pose, holding a bloody weapon. The more he saw, the more intimidated he felt just walking through this place.
"This is your room sir, there is a book on the bedside table. The head has ordered you to read it to learn about the empire, its culture, your duties, and the layout of this mansion."
"..Okay"
Feeling awkward with how respectful the butler was talking to him, Nathan quietly nodded and said okay before entering his room.
His room was separated into 3 huge spaces. A bedroom, a bathroom, and what looked like a training room.
The bathroom was well... a bathroom, it had a toilet, a shower, a sink, and a huge tub.
The training room was just a huge empty room with all kinds of weapons hung on a wall.
The bedroom had a queen sized bed, with a stack of books placed on a small table beside it, and a window.
'Wow. So this is what a city looks like'
Taking a closer look at the window, Nathan saw a bustling city underneath him.
There were hundreds of people walking, markets with many shops, plethora of small buildings. For a village boy, this was an entirely new world.
******
'So this is the kind of place I'm in, I will have to become stronger to survive.'
Nathan had just finished reading the giant book that his mother had given to him.
This empire was called Bellator, he was currently in the capital city called Rome.
The empire of Bellator is a monarchy with an imperial family split into 3 branches that share authority. Fortis, Sicarii, and Sapientia. Below in hierarchy are noble families, and finally commoners.
The emperor or empress is not a hereditary position, any person can challenge the current ruler as long as they are a duke, and if they win, they will become the ruler. Usually, the position of emperor is taken by someone from the Fortis branch, as they are the household that represent strength, might, and being a great warrior.
The current emperor is someone called Darius Fortis, he was born a commoner, but had been adopted into the Fortis family due to his high military achievements, and eventually challenged the emperor and won.
Whether or not someone has a middle name indicates if they were adopted or if they were born into a household.
The Fortis household represents strength, might, bloodshed, and becoming a glorious warrior. They are responsible for the military of the empire and the invasion of other nations and territories.
The Sicarii household represents stealth, assassination, scouting, and deception. They are responsible for assassination of high profile targets, information gathering, and planting spies in other nations.
The Sapientia household represents wisdom, knowledge, research, and law. They are responsible for the research of new spells and techniques, bio-weapons, and technology. They are also responsible for setting and changing the laws of Bellator, and dealing with paperwork.
The are also noble titles given out by any of the imperial branches. Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron. However, these titles are not hereditary and are given out based on achievements in any fields that follow an imperial branch. For example, a commoner could become a baron by getting a notable achievement in a battlefield, assassinating a high profile target, or advancing any field of useful research. The title would be given by Fortis, Sicarii, or Sapientia respectively.
If there was one sentence to describe the culture and laws of this place, it would be 'Strength and glory above all'. Most people compete for the glory of battle and yearn to become stronger, as the laws are very discriminatory against those who fail to achieve glory, sometimes even allowing murder towards someone who is considered cowardly.
Even Imperial princesses or princes such as himself currently aren't referred to or treated as royalty until they have achieved enough glory to have been granted the title of 'Earl' or above.
A very important note however, those who are young are fully protected by the law no matter the strength of the perpetrator. Only those who have stayed weak without achievements or have shown cowardly behavior are shunned and abused with no remorse.
'Butler Hubert also came by and said an affinity stone will be here tomorrow morning to test my element affinity. I have no time to cry or grieve about what... happened, this place is ruthless and having the Fortis name puts high expectations on me, I have no doubt that if I do not meet them my new mother would disown me and probably kill me herself.'
With that final thought, Nathan closed his eyes, falling into a deep and thankfully peaceful sleep.