The House of Astrid.
The child was brought into the family at the tender age of five.
“Take some rest and get accustomed to your new home.”
Everything felt new to the child.
From the warmth to the colors.
“New home?”
“….Just rest here. Food and water will be provided to you.”
The man’s words were soothing. The entire scenario felt like a long dream. One that the child didn’t want to extricate himself from.
“If you want to play with the other children you can do so. In here, no one can harm you.”
“…..”
To the young child, this dream. This very long dream.
It felt so good.
Especially since there were a lot of children his age. That meant that there were many friends. But they all seem to be playing with weird stuff. Sword? Spear…?
‘Em is not very good at those.’
He tried to interact with them in different ways.
“….Hi. Hello.”
The children stopped practicing and looked at the child.
Their expression soon changed.
“Is he okay?”
“Maybe he’s sick?”
“No, I think I heard it from my parents before. People like him. They call them retarded.”
“Oh, so he’s stupid?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe.”
‘They know I’m stupid.’
The child scratched the side of his face while laughing. Despite the poison that was flowing from the children’s mouths, the child never took them at heart. No, it was more like he wasn’t mentally capable of feeling hurt by their words.
“Hey, did your mother ditch you because you were stupid?”
“Mama? She working a lot.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Dun remember.”
“Kek, he’s really stupid.”
“His mom really did leave him because he’s stupid.”
He just smiled at the insults.
What else could he do but smile?
‘Everyone here is so friendly.’
He could also see just how different they were from the children outside.
They smiled more.
They were bigger and not all skinny.
They also had families and didn’t have to work. They could play all day. And they talked to him.
‘What a nice place.’
This was where the child grew up.
As time went by, the child did not grow smarter. While the other children grew in size, he also grew but the teasing never stopped.
“Oy, clean over here.”
“This place is a little dirty. Get cleaning.”
“Yes, yes.”
By the time he reached the age of eleven, he became a full-time sweeper. He was no longer skinny and one might even argue he was a little chubby.
‘I’m not cold.’
Throughout his years in the place, he remained thankful.
‘I’m not hungry.’
He cleaned where he had to clean and ate what was given to him.
‘Everyone is nice.’
To the child, there was no greater joy than this.
And soon, the man from the past came to meet him again. He looked no different than before and the child’s hand fell on the man’s hand.
‘…Is it still as warming as past?’
“It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other. It looks like you’re doing better.”
“…Hehe.”
The child did what he did best.
He laughed.
“Em very happy. Eat a lot. Have lots of friends, and not cold.”
“Is that so?”
Raising his head, the man looked around.
“Is that what you truly think?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Your eyes are still not clear.”
“Not clear?”
What could the nice man mean?
“But that’s fine.”
He stretched out his hand for the child.
“I’ve finally done it. I’ve developed it. I can now do what I promised you back then.”
It was warm just like the last time.
But so were his words.
“You make me smart? I want to be smart.”
“That’s right.”
The man smiled, pulling the child away from where he lived his childhood.
“I’ll make you smarter and stronger. You won’t ever have to worry about food nor won’t you ever have to worry about the cold. Your eyes will open and you’ll be different.”
As he was pulled, the child stared at the man’s back.
It was wide, and it felt secure.
“This is the House of Astrid and I’m its current head. Edward Syfon Astrid.”
“Head?”
“I am the one who feeds everyone. Who makes sure they’re warm, and who keeps them safe.”
The more they walked, the bigger the man’s back became in the child’s eyes.
It became so large that it almost felt like it could carry an entire boulder.
“I’ve created a highly unique drug that enhances your intelligence and improves your constitution. It will allow you to absorb mana much faster than your peers, and with my assistance, you will grow at an extraordinary rate. That’s why from this moment forth, I want you to call me teacher.”
Teacher.
“With your newfound intelligence, you’ll be able to assist me in helping everyone live happily.”
The man approached a trapdoor, which he quickly opened. Descending the small flight of stairs, he led the child to another room furnished with a bed, a wardrobe, and a piano.
“This will be where you’ll stay from now on.”
The man walked forward.
Then, he sat down on the seat next to the piano and opened the lid.
Dang~
He started to play a tune.
It was the most wonderful tune the young child had ever heard.
Da—
Soft.
empire
Da, da—
Catchy.
Dang~ Dang~ Dang~
And most importantly, simple.
“I’ll have you test your skill by learning this tune.”
Taking his hands off the piano, the old man handed the child a small black pill.
“Take it.”
That day.
For the first time in his life,
The child became smarter.
*
“Hey, stop daydreaming—!” A powerful voice nearly shattered my eardrums as I jumped back in shock and looked ahead.
“Uh!?”
When I looked around, I realized I was standing in the middle of a white void.
Kaelion and Caius were standing not so far from me, looking at me with weird looks.
“Aha, look who finally decided to show up.”
When I turned my head, the old man stood not far from where we were.
“…..”
“Can’t speak? What? Are you an idiot or something?”
I was just about to reply when the old man waved his hand.
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”
It doesn’t?
“What does one extra idiot make?”
“….”
“….”
“….”
I did call him a lunatic before, didn’t I?
‘He’s kind of a lunatic, isn’t he?’
‘….I think so too.’
Even Caius and Kaelion thought the same.
“You know I can hear you?”
The old man looked at us with a frown, and we all shut our mouths.
“As expected, you three are idiots.”
For thinking you’re a lunatic?
“Whatever, this is not why I brought you here. Like I said before, at you current skill level you three won’t be lasting more than a few days. I can last so long not because I am stronger, but because I am no idiot like you three”
Pointing at his temple, the old man looked at us.
“A mind cluttered with thoughts is a burden. Greed, love, emotions—all of it clouds your judgment. You must learns to let go of these… distractions.”
Wait, was he trying to teach us?
“Are you saying that if we let go of all such thoughts we’ll be able to last longer?”
“Indeed, but it’s not easy.”
I smiled then and closed my eyes.
Suddenly, six locks materialized before my eyes, and one by one, my emotions began to dissipate. The surroundings started to lose color, and when I finally opened my eyes, an eerie calm had settled over everything.
“How is this?”
“…..”
Maybe I saw it wrong, but the old man’s face twitched at the sight of me.
I felt proud but the feeling dissipated quickly.
At least, until I heard his words again.
“Idiot. I thought they were all idiots, but some were more idiotic than others. Oh, what a bloody curse! Here I thought I had founding some people to keep my company, but in the end, I’m just going to end up taking care of two idiots and a bigger idiot!”
I let go of the skill and looked at Caius and Kaelion who nodded subtly.
‘I don’t know if it’s just me, Caius but I feel liberated hearing his words. I’m not the only one, right?’
‘No. The old man has good eyes.’
“I can hear you two.”
The two pretended to not have heard me while the old man grumbled to himself.
He eventually calmed down and looked at me.
“That’s a skill, isn’t it? Something you probably self-created in order to keep your emotions in check, right?”
“Yes.”
He’s really sharp.
With just a glance, he understood.
“It requires a bit of mana to use and all it does is stop your emotions, am I right?”
“….Yes.”
“That’s the problem.”
The old man pointed at me.
“Will you be able to sustain the skill for days to come? Will you be able to sustain it while you’re sleeping? Eating? Shitting?”
“That…”
Of course, not. Why would I need to do that?
“Then that is pointless!”
The old man pointed his finger at me.
“What I’m asking from you is whether you can do all of the above without relying on skill. If you aren’t capable of keeping your mind at utter peace, you will never be able to break to the next level.”
I listened carefully.
“From what I can tell, you’ve just developed a domain. What do you think is next for you?”
“…Consolidating the domain?”
“Wrong! The next step is mastering your mind. Clearing all thoughts means achieving complete control over your body. This includes perfect command of every muscle, as well as the ability to manage the mana flowing within you and your emotions. Once you fully clearing this stage you’ll reach the next stage and a whole new world will open up for you.”
Licking my lips, I asked,
“Are you saying that by achieving this state I’ll be able to have greater control over my skills? Like Emotive Magic?”
“That’s correct.”
“Ah, then…”
“But you’re far away from reaching such a state.”
“How far?”
“Further than you can imagine. Not just you, all of you.”
The old man looked at the three of us before sighing.
He first pointed at Caius.
“This idiot over here. All he thinks about is how to regain his emotions and how to be fr—”
The old man stopped for a second before looking at me strangely. Shaking his head, he secretly grumbled, ‘This, he’s kind of weird. Pitifully weird.’
Turning to look at Kaelion, the old man shook his head.
“All this idiot thinks about is the children outside. It’s all he’s been thinking about lately. Honorable but at the same time, messy.”
And then, the old man looked at me.
His expression tilted as he tried to read my mind. I suddenly became worried. Would he find out about the fact that I used my skill on him? What about my other secrets? What—
“You…”
The old man’s gaze felt even more pressuring.
“…A woman?”
Eh?
I froze.
What did he say?
“Black hair?”
The old man’s gaze turned strange and I stopped.
Wait, what was he talking about?
No, now even Kaelion and Caius were looking at me strangely.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Tsk.”
The old man clicked his tongue.
“I can understand their thoughts, but you…?”
He shook his head, looking all shamed. His gaze seemed to say, ‘From noble thoughts to this. This one is hopeless.’
No, wait…
“Let me explain—”
“I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
The old man clapped his hands.
Clap, clap—
All of a sudden, the world around me started to shift.
I suddenly found myself inside a dark cave with no one in sight.
“Kaelion? Caius?”
It was damp, dark and cold.
My heart started to beat fast.
This was especially made apparent when I noticed two books sitting in front of me.
One red, one blue.
Picking them up, I read the titles. Or at least, tried to.
The title for each book was blank.
However, opening the first page, there was a small description.
[Fast to learn, but brings a lot of pain.]
[Slow to learn, but no pain.]
“What is this?”
Groooowl~
Suddenly, I heard a large growl coming from the other side of the cave and I stepped back. From the pressure coming from the monster, I felt my entire body shiver.
‘That, it’s very strong.’
I wasn’t sure I could defeat it with my current capabilities.
“Don’t worry, the monster is sealed.”
The old man appeared in front of me, his arms crossed.
He then pointed at the books in my hand.
“Choose one of the books and master it. When you’re done, fight the monster. If you beat it you pass, if not you fail.”
“Eh?”
The old man didn’t wait for me to finish.
“….If you fail, you repeat.”
His figure disappeared.
“Don’t keep the others waiting for long.”
“Wait—!”