Chương 15: The Mansion

Slowly, Adonis' pupils fluttered open.

Contrary to what he'd expected, he felt no pain, in fact, his body felt better than it had ever been.

He looked around.

'Where the hell am I…'

He found himself in the middle of an impossibly huge and grand hall, supported by gigantic dark pillars covered in archaic golden runes.

Just as he stood up, he heard a voice.

"Good, You're awake."

He looked up and there, he saw a figure.

Floating a few metres above him was a man.

He had long silver hair that reached the ends of his back and deep, tantalising amethyst pupils.

His face was nothing short of perfect as his imposing frame and muscles told all one needed to know.

He looked down at Adonis with a complex gaze.

"Do you…not know where you are?"

"No, I do not."

The man floated down and touched the ground.

"So how did you get here? Normally, you should've been confronted with a golden gate before you got here."

Though externally, Adonis seemed calm, internally, he was as excited as one could be. This was it. This was the place his father had told him to go to.

"I got pushed off a cliff and fell into the Brimstone river. After that, it all went black and I woke up here. Thank you for healing me, by the way."

The man snapped his fingers and a table along with two chairs appeared. He sat, then promoted Adonis to do the same.

"What's your name?" Suddenly asked the man.

"Adonis."

"Full name."

"Adonis Saerth Sarahadah Saelo."

Suddenly, the man's eyes widened and he began to laugh.

"Ah, finally! Kid, took you a while, eh? Weren't you supposed to get here a week ago?! Haha!"

The man found himself unable to stop laughing as relief washed over him.

Confusion drowned Adonis' mind but he remained quiet and waited for the man to explain.

'He doesn't seem hostile. I'll still stay on my toes just in case.'

After a while, the man stopped laughing and wiped his tears.

"Oh, man. Apologies for that. It's fine if you don't remember me, you were very young after all."

Adonis' brow rose.

"I am the Spirit of the Boundless Mansion, a treasure that was passed down to your father by his master and now, hopefully, will be passed down to you." He said with a grin.

"Y-you're not a real person..? Wait- you knew my father?!" Asked Adonis in shock.

Hearing this, the man's smile faded.

"Knew?"

"..."

The man sat back in his chair and released a long and weary sigh.

"So he died…how did it happen?" He asked.

Seeing Adonis freeze hearing this question, the man sighed once more.

"My apologies, I shouldn't have asked such a question. Anyways, no, I am a real person. I was simply turned into an Artefact spirit by the creator of the Boundless Mansion."

Adonis woke out of stupor and took a deep breath in.

"I don't really remember what happened."

Adonis closed his eyes and began to recall the events.

"I went out with one of my guardians to go to our library because I was gonna undergo my royal evaluations the next week."

"When I came back, I simply saw our house burnt down to ashes with the entire forest surrounding it covered in blood. All around the place, there were a bunch of craters and dead bodies of people I didn't recognise."

He opened his eyes.

"I…tried investigating to know who had attacked us or even know what happened to their corpses but..they wouldn't let me. Before I could further investigate or grow strong enough to make a change, I was framed and set to be executed." He added.

Hearing this, the Spirit's gaze softened and he vanished, reappearing beside Adonis as he gently patted his back.

"You're safe here now. You can call me Uncle Seth. I was one of your father's sworn brothers."

Adonis' pupils watered for a moment but these nascent tears soon vanished. He'd been strong up until now and that would remain the case until the end.

He couldn't break, not now.

"So, what's the plan now? What do you wish to do? Revenge? Get strong? Runaway from it all? Something different?"

"Whatever the case maybe, I'll support you and technically, if you pass the challenge of the mansion and claim it as yours, you'll have the support of my creator as well as all the resources of the place."

"I think that's why your father guided you here. So you could have a choice on how you lived your life from here on."

Revenge. Power. Peace.

"I…don't know yet. But whatever the case may be, whatever I choose to do, I'll need power. Please help me get powerful, Uncle Seth."

Seth grinned.

***

"Before I begin helping you in any shape or form, you need to first conquer the mansion and become its new owner."

"So, to do so, you'll undergo three trials. One trial will purely focus on your physical strength and potential, the other will focus on your mental resilience and the last will focus on your intelligence."

"If you pass all of them, you'll become the true owner of the mansion."

Uncle Seth looked at Adonis and analysed him for a moment before he continued.

"The way I see it, your chances of passing are fifty fifty. Your body is special and complements your Gifts perfectly so in the physical trial, you should be fine as long as you push yourself to your limits."

"As for the mental trial, it all depends on what type of trial you get."

"Hm? You're not the one controlling the trials?" Asked Adonis in curiosity.

"Well, yes, I am but I'm not gonna tell you that now, am I?" Answered Uncle Seth as he looked at him as if he was an idiot.

Embarrassed, Adonis reddened and kept his mouth shut, listening to the rest of the explanation.