Chương 28: Castellan Manor 2

[A/N[ My bad guys I don't know if I'll be able to meet all the extra chapters I got an infection yesterday so I was only able to put out 3 chapters instead of the seven I was planning 😔😟☹️ I will try get them all out though

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

...

Please train me."

My father reacted better than I had expected.

"Truly, I'm happy to see that you've started taking your life seriously. Naturally, I'm willing to train you... But still, take this first day as rest, from the information you've revealed to me, I have some work to do, and anyway, you should take some time to talk to your mother and brother."

I nodded, thanked my father, and then left his office.

As soon as I left the office, walking down the corridor, I saw my brother leaning back against a wall, as if he was waiting for me.

He was a slightly shorter version of me, his body was less developed and less muscular, and he had a different haircut, my hair was styled in a manner in which it parted like curtains, whilst he had bangs.

"....So.... I hear you've cleaned up your act, huh?"

He spoke quite rudely to me, despite my status as his older brother.

"Something like that... Anyway, how have you been, Sorin?"

"I was doing alright until you decided to show your face... Seriously, what are you up to? Did you get scared when father threatened to disown you? Is that why you're doing all this?"

"...Is it that hard to believe, that perhaps, just by a little bit, I've changed?"

At this declaration, my brother began laughing.

"Hah! You seriously expect me to believe that?"

His laughter was laced with venom.

"....To be fair, I don't expect you to believe just my words alone, but you'll see sooner or later."

"Honestly, I doubt that... someone like you is unfit to inherit leadership over our great house of Castellan... I surpassed you years ago, so why don't you just leave your position to me already?"

'...This guy, he's really looking down on me, isn't he?'

At that moment, I thought of a way that might partially resolve the situation.

"You know, who's to say you're still stronger than me, hm? Why don't we put it to the test... Father will begin teaching me tomorrow, so why don't we just duel in front of him? Let him decide whether or not I am fit to inherit leadership."

"...Elder brother, I don't know what type of things the academy has been teaching you, but clearly you've gone mad. But fine, I'll agree to it."

After that declaration, he stomped away with all the rage a fourteen year old boy could muster.

I shrugged and proceeded towards my own room.

I wasn't expecting to repair the relationship I had with my brother immediately.

Parents had almost endless unconditional love for their children, but it wasn't necessarily like that for younger siblings.

Sorin and I had a great relationship when we were younger, but around the time I became a teenager, I began ruining our relationship.

Naturally, over the years, he had accumulated a great grudge against me, and it wasn't something that would go away easily.

'...When the next vacation comes around.. I should buy him a nice gift.'

Step by step, I had to break that grudge through my own kindness.

But sadly, that could not be placed as my primary objective.

After all, the first thing I had to focus upon was growing stronger.

'...I should probably also start learning the sword sooner or later.'

The sight of seeing Commander Ragan cutting through the spells of a mage who had opened his third mind was awe inspiring.

Weapons and magic, at their apex, were equally as strong, and considering how strong I needed to become, there was no point in only focusing on one when I could take both paths.

The strongest swordmasters could cut mountains in half, the strongest mages could burn cities to dust.

So what about someone who had reached the peak of both?

The game limited users who chose to be both a weapon wielder and a mage at the same time as if they could walk down both paths endlessly, it would be too overpowered.

But such balancing decisions were just in the game, and this was a real world.

There were no such limits.

'And another thing... The joker class.'

As a mythical class, it had to have endless abilities, but I had not been using it to it's full extent.

One could only obtain new skills by making use of their existing skills, and growing more proficient in them.

I laid down in my bed, my mind filled with various thoughts.

There were so many things to do, but only a limited time to accomplish them.

'Not only that... the demon army has started moving faster than expected.'

Perhaps it was my fault for choosing the [Too Obvious] trait, but things were moving even faster than I had expected.

If I had chosen easy or at least normal mode, then this could be turned into my favor.

Since the human forces have now realized that the demons have begun moving earlier than they were originally supposed to, they could take action.

But it was hell mode... Even if the church and the empire took action early on, it would still end with total defeat.

The only reason the demons hadn't devoured the central continent already was because they planned on starting an all out war against the humans, elves and dwarves across the central, western and southern continents.

Right now, there was no way I could take on a high class demon like the one that had attacked me on my way home.

Taking light magic was certainly the correct decision, as it dealt more damage to 'evil' beings.

But even with that, I imagined I could at best take out a mid class demon, assuming I could use my joker abilities to their full extent.

'Yeah... That would be a good goal.'

By the end of this vacation, I had to at least reach a level where I could take out a mid rank demon without being totally reliant on confusion stacks.

To do so, I would have to push myself to my limits.

This vacation would most likely end up quite stressful.

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Sadly since I am finding myself struggling to meet the extra chapters I will have to increase the power stone requirements from 10 to 15. Golden ticket and gift requirements will stay the same. The current scheduled extra chapters will not be decreased.