Chương 5: Seeds of Ambition [1/4]
"May I see your status?" Edmund approached both children before patting Amelia lightly on her head, followed by a prompt that appeared right before her eyes.
[Name: Amelia Pendragon]
[Evaluation: 23 Stars]
[Level: 1 | Exp: 0/100]
'23 Stars!' His eyes widened at the glowing words and his heart fluttered alongside his thoughts.
Meanwhile, she stared at her father wondering what the stars meant.
"23 Stars?! You made me proud, but..." Edmund responded upon witnessing her evaluation, he lifted her with his free hand before holding her next to Taurus.
He believed she lied for some reason, but at the very least, he chose to bust her so she wouldn't repeat it.
"Stars show how gifted you are, with each trait adding a set number of stars. For example, if you have an S-rank spirit and SS-rank talent, your total would be 16 stars."
"Sorry..." Her face reddened and she eventually covered it before replying with a thin, mosquito voice.
"It's okay, dear. Just remember, we shouldn't do that to those we're meant to trust." Edmund responded, assuring her it was fine.
The worries clouding her face slowly disappeared upon hearing his words, after knowing how important it was.
'I wonder what you'd feed once my evaluation is revealed.'
Taurus snickered internally, guessing Amelia would need to begin leveling up since the Royal Academy required the newcomers to be higher than level 15 before enrolling.
"Hmm, how about visiting your second family now and then?" Edmund suggested and Taurus silently agreed with him since it was a good way to level up.
He knew various methods existed for leveling up, but the safest way for children was to practice the traits and skills under their properties.
"You could play with Grandpa Taurus and your cousins as much as you want as well," Edmund continued, enticing his daughter as she pondered quietly.
'Play? More like compete!' Taurus thought, remembering the old man's nature.
Unlike the Pendragon family, the Eastels had their duchy and their business revolved around blacksmithing quality products for the empire and the mercenaries.
Taurus Eastel liked competing with others so much that it became a family tradition.
And as far as Taurus could guess, he thought the same would apply to Amelia while she stayed there.
"Can we get a pet if I agree?" Amelia responded as Edmund burst out laughing and he promised her a few moments later.
"Fine, I will get you a pet once Taurus is a little older. But promise me not to use your spirit, unless I say so." Edmund spoke before following behind Theo as they went inside.
They entered, and the cozy warmth of the hall welcomed them, a stark contrast to the worries that weighed on him.
Taurus' laughter echoed through the hall as Amelia played with him, serving as a distraction for her.
Edmund couldn't shake the unease left by the monster army's strange and suspicious retreat.
"It's a shame they retreated, but you made me proud in the battle," He spoke while Taurus silently disagreed knowing what could have happened in that case.
"I'm worried, Father. Everyone believes the war is over, but something about their retreat feels off." Theo nodded and revealed his own thoughts before taking a sip from his teacup.
"It's fine for now, at least you got to experience it."
"Now, you take a break, and then you should resume your studies," Edmund responded before standing up and stretching his body, ending the conversation as he intended to leave.
Taurus interrupted the moment with loud cries, prompting a maid to tend to him while his mother rested.
'Over? I doubt it, father in law is probably dealing with his subordinates' rage currently.'
Taurus' thoughts drifted to Raphael, knowing that his army leadership would never let the matter side.
Although he wished he could help him as an excuse to see Elen, he couldn't really do a thing as a child.
'The corrupted beasts that took Father's life... I need to focus on the upcoming catastrophe.'
He slowly recalled the past and the catastrophe that struck the capital not long after his awakening.
The corrupted beasts were rare at that point and none knew what caused the beasts to lose their mind and turn violent.
That eventually changed when a hidden organization managed to figure it out and although they succeeded, they couldn't control the beasts any longer.
Those beasts eventually broke free, wreaking havoc around the city before killing his father among the casualties in the subjection.
'A titan under my command and thirteen years should be far more than enough to prepare myself. Hell, I could even take the initiative.'
His thoughts deepened and he assumed Mammot—the mammoth, should arrive at their residence in a month or two at most given the long distance separating Tyran and the Beast Paradise.
On the other hand, he had to wait until his body grew decent enough before beginning his exercises.
He reckoned two years were enough for that, and he made up his mind to start earlier if he needed to.
The next two weeks went smoothly, Taurus' birth was officially registered in the empire, and his grandparents from both families paid them a visit like the rest of their relatives.
A duke's newborn was worthy of a celebration and like his siblings, the family received a bunch of fancy gifts from the other nobles and his parents' friends.
One thing that became a topic of controversy was Raphael's sending gifts too, it made his parents worried and suspicious for a while before calming down upon receiving the news.
'Eihwar did it probably.' Taurus thought upon hearing the news regarding some of the monster army generals and nobles getting executed, and he immediately treated the names as the ones who granted Raphael a green hat during his past life.
'Mammut should have been here by now.' Taurus was worried upon noting his bond's lateness, and although it could be due to the titan being unawakened yet, the beast had its memories intact.
A full month passed since Taurus' birth and Amelia was already level 3, allowing her enough mana to do minor healing.
She eventually got used to being far from her parents for an extended time and they naturally missed her.
Taurus on the other hand felt the boredom as the one who accompanied him the most was mostly away.
She would return over the weekend and she would humor them with her tales regarding the struggles she faces and the progress she makes.
The enrolling ceremony was approaching fast so she spent more time with the Eastel family as more effort was needed as the experience threshold increased.
As a result, their time together became much less and Taurus naturally understood why.
Chris Eastel took his niece under his wing. He was Alexandra's younger brother and their youngest uncle, being in his early twenties.
Taurus knew him and appreciated him well since he was the one who gave him his sword training in his past life.
Unfortunately, he fell in love with heavy axes and eventually abandoned the sword path.
Thus he chose to inherit the Golden Mane back then due to how good it was.
Theo treated him as an older brother rather than an uncle, which the man didn't mind at all.
Chris supervised the girl, quite impressed with her control over flames.
He would praise her now and then, coupled with the complaints he could throw at Edmund and Alexandra.
Taurus snickered internally every time he heard the man's reports.
He heard stories of her accidentally burning herself and others, only to heal them for experience, and teasing her cousins by boasting about her rapid leveling.
It impressed Taurus personally and although it was troublesome to others, he saw it as an admirable act, one that showcased her courage.
Eventually, two more months passed since his birth, and his hair began growing slowly with a very low density.
By that time, Mammut was still not there despite having enough time to make it, and Taurus blamed it on the difference in the terrain and population of the continent at the current time.
The bond was very important to him due to the stat boost he could receive. Unlike the average beast tamers who only benefited and operated by commanding their beasts.
Higher guaranteed his plan's success and despite the maximum he could receive from a bond being twenty percent, a titan's stats were on a completely different level.
He couldn't even consider leaving hints to his father so he could put them under a surprise attack, he was simply too selfish.
'Why do such a thing when I can do it myself?' The fact that killing was the best way of earning experience was his main drive. The second was his father's safety.
As for himself, he certainly lacked nothing. The Book of Knowledge was at his disposal and his talent was incredibly overpowered as well.
... ... ...
Another month passed quickly with nothing worth mentioning. Taurus eventually suffered from illness like the average newborn and he was treated as fast as possible.
Amelia's ambitions and pride fueled her progress and she gained an incredible boost thanks to her efforts and hard work.
Her confidence and character grew alongside her level increase, and she eventually started taking the initiative to challenge others instead of waiting.
She revealed her main goals to her parents, she wanted to be an idol for her younger brother and a leader for her peers.
They found it admirable and kept pushing her forward by encouraging her, and by the end of the third month, she reached level 7.
Edmund beamed with pride at her progress, though Amelia wasted no time pressing him to keep his promise.
She stood her ground and pushed him forward no matter what excuses he threw. After going back and forth, she eventually succeeded, prompting him to take her to visit the pet shop.
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