Chapter 5: Affinities and Strange Occurrences (2)
After jumping inside the instance dungeon, the portal behind him dissolved into nothingness. It seemed that only he could enter the dungeon for now. Now he was standing in a dark space that seemed to be bright, yet dark. Suddenly, a few lines of smokey words appeared in front of his face.
[Instance Dungeon]
[Monsters: None]
[Available Location(s): Concrete Jungle, Rural Manor]
[Instance Dungeon Exit? Y/N]
Solen looked at the screen in curiosity. These words resembled a menu that was akin to a video game, nearly causing Solen to get lost in his memories. In his past life, he would often play video games and was somewhat addicted. He would often play video games where he would build up his demesne or lead troops to battle other bands. But, he also occasionally played MMORPGs as they were inescapable in the gaming community.
"No monsters? Why is that? Do I have to kill creatures in the outside world?" He pondered to himself for a little bit. He didn't seem torn up about this thought process, which slightly surprised him.
"Looks like I adjusted to this world where might makes right. I guess I will need to start killing beasts soon enough. Seems like this power is useful, especially if I can allow more than myself inside this place." Solen realized that he may have already adjusted to this new world. He was occasionally told stories by his father and realized there were various instances where someone with more strength was right while the weaker was wrong.
"As for locations, it is understandable that I only have two. The 'Concrete Jungle' should be of a city in my past life while the 'Rural Manor' should be the family home." Solen thought to himself.
Seeing that there really was nothing left, he focused on the word 'yes' from the smokey words.
A new portal appeared in front of him after he focused on the word 'yes'. After seeing it, he thoughtlessly walked through it and exited the mystical space. Just as he appeared outside, Solen felt a burst of wind. Before he could he think, he was held tightly in the arms of someone. He felt his shoulders slowly getting wet as his lungs were slowly losing his valuable oxygen.
"Air… Mother, your… suffocating me!" Solen attempted to raise his voice, but it was as quiet as a whisper. Alice was crushing Solen with her massive amount of worry and strength while also drowning his left shoulder in tears.
"Solen, tell me that you will never do that again! Don't disappear like that again!" After crying a few tears, she pushed Solen back a small distance and stared him in the eyes. Seriousness and worry dominated her voice at this moment.
"I promise that I will try not to do it again." Solen's heart ached a little. His mother's face was tear-stricken. It was possible that she started worrying from the moment he jumped through the dissolving portal.
"Alright, Alice, Essa, we need to talk right away. This is a matter of utmost importance and can't be avoided." Garth immediately spoke to his wives in a grave manner. His expression was laced with solemnity and worry. The three quickly left the room, leaving behind a pair of disheartened children.
"Solen, did we do something wrong?" Aloysius asked as he stared at where their parents disappeared. He showed a sorrowful expression and it seemed like he was about to cry. They always celebrated their birthday together, but this year was different. Aloysius slightly regretted doing the affinity test after seeing Garth and Alice leave.
"No Aloysius, we didn't do anything wrong. We are a bit special and they are worrying for us. There is no need to be sad, you should feel happy. This is the best thing a parent can do." Solen responded as he hugged his brother. He felt slightly sad as well when he saw his parents walk away.
"B-but they left… th-they didn't even cele-celebrate our birthday!" Aloysius began crying after that shout. All Solen could do now was comfort his brother and wait for his crying to relent. People were selfish like this and not just children. A break in routine can easily cause someone to cry.
"Aloysius, do you know what we could do today?" Solen suddenly smiled as his other shoulder was bathed in tears. He just realized that this year, they were able to leave the house.
"W-what c-could we do?" Aloysius stuttered and asked. His tears still flowed down his cheeks as he stared at his brother.
"Today is our fourth birthday… AND the day we can exit the manor. We can walk outside!" Solen smiled as he emphasized that they could go outside. Solen was most definitely excited about this as he had been cooped up in the family manor for far too long. Therefore, he wanted to take this chance right away while his parents were distracted.
"We-we can go outside?" Aloysius' crying seemed to die down after hearing about this. He was looking forward to going outside as well. He had been looking forward to seeing the horses that the family owned.
"Yes, we can! We are four years old on this day! We can finally go outside!" Solen said excitedly. He was hyped to leave the house after being cooped up inside for so long. Who wouldn't be a little bit stir crazy if they had been locked up for four years or more?
"Come on Aloysius! Let's go on an adventure!" Solen stated to pull Aloysius out of the room. When they exited the doors, they noticed that no one was standing outside the room. No servants, no maids and neither of their siblings.
Solen didn't pay it any mind as they exited the main hall and traveled down a lengthy hallway. At the end of the hallway was the entrance to the manor and a pair of guards defending the doorway.
"Young masters!" The guards bowed their knees and greeted with reverence.
"Why are you not celebrating your birthday right now?" One of the guards asked in curiosity.
"Ah, our parents had something important to discuss, so we will be celebrating later." Solen replied with a fake smile. He wasn't upset, but he wasn't quite happy either. "Anyways, Aloysius wants to go outside! It is our fourth birthday and so we are allowed to leave!"
"Did your father say you can go outside?" The other guard asked straightforwardly.
"No, but he said we could leave the house anytime along with a guard when we reach four years old." Solen stated in a matter of fact tone. "Also, we are only going outside of the manor, not far from here."
"Fine, but we shall escort you. We would get in trouble if we let you go outside without any company." The second guard sighed in response. He couldn't really do much as he knew of this aristocratic custom. He couldn't exactly blame these two children for being curious of the outside.
"You can't be serious! We should get permission from the Patriarch before we do anything such as this!" The first guard replied to the second guard in a worried tone.
"Sure, if you want to lose your job. If what the young master said is true, then they are discussing something very important. When you go and interrupt them, you will incur their wrath!" The second guard didn't want to go through the hassle and possibly get fired for interrupting something important.
"Fine, but if we get in trouble it's your fault." They finally agreed to escort the kids outside after a long discussion. The slowly opened the doors and ushered the two young masters outside under their guidance.
The stench of the outside air immediately blasted their faces, causing the Solen and Aloysius to immediately change their joyful expressions into disgusted expressions. Meanwhile, the two guards were unfazed by it as if it was an extremely natural thing.
"What is that foul smell! Disgusting!" Aloysius was the first to react. The scent of ammonia and methane was heavy in the air outside the manor.
"This, my Young Master, is the smell of crap and piss! Your manor is downwind of a large village not too far away." The second guard laughed at Aloysius. He truly enjoyed this change in expression.
"Are there no sewers around here? Are the peasants just pissing and crapping on the sides of the roads?" Solen asked with a strange expression which wasn't quite disgusted.
"Yes, they are Young Master." The first guard answered respectfully.
"What are 'sewers'?" The second guard asked in curiosity.
"Ah, sewers are special tunnels built underground to store urine and feces. It removes the foul smell." Solen responded as he looked in the distance. He could see a few buildings far away. They were built of wood and straw, looking as if they could be blown away with a harsh wind.
"Those are just what this land needs! I've once gone to the Inner City and I could still smell crap and piss!" The second guard shouted in excitedly. "If Young Master can build these sewers, you'll have my eternal loyalty!"
"Bah! Who needs your loyalty, Jacob? The Young Master will surely have more talented followers than us in the future." The first guard replied hopelessly.
"Alright! Enough! Aloysius wants to go to the stables and see the mounts!" Solen quickly ended their chatting. His purpose at this time was to cheer Aloysius up and not banter with the guards.
"Yes, Young Master." They bowed their heads respectfully.
Aloysius smiled happily hearing Solen's words, he couldn't wait to see the horses he would often see from the windows.
"Thanks, Sol." Aloysius muttered as he and Solen followed the guards to the stable.
The stable was similar to the village hovels Solen had seen in the distance, made of wood and hay. This made him curious whether stone was a rare resource around here. The only thing that was made of stone from what he could see was the family manor. Everything else was built with poor materials.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone