The bedroom remained cluttered, yet somehow it was an organized mess. Various projects sat half completed and in progress. Multiple notebooks and journals were sitting around the space, all of them full or at least half full. But Reese wasn’t focused on the rest of his bedroom. Right now, he was focused on the very sharp knife he was holding in his hand that he was using to cut a white putty like rubber he held in the other. He was very careful with the cuts, as the blade jerked and slid down the material slowly and carefully. Carefully, he let the razor-sharp blade slide down. Carefully down and into the palm of his hand, coating the tan rubber material he was working on a bright shade of red.

"Fuck!" Reese shouted to no one in particular, as he searched for the sterile rags he made earlier. That was the third time he had cut himself doing this.

At the moment, Reese was working with a rubber like resin he was able to concoct with some nearby tree sap. To be fair it wasn't even his recipe, it was something he found in an 'alchemical' book in Charston's store. Charston for all his complaining, was happy to nearly give him the four gold book for two.

It wasn’t that much different than a hard rubber when it dried, but that intermediary point before it was hard, it was very brittle, but also quite sticky and just slightly pliable. Perfect for what he needed. Cutting it had to be done carefully as the blade would stick at times and jump at others. If you weren't careful, you'd be left with a stick mess of broken, drying rubber that would stick to everything but what you wanted. Also, it was almost impossible to get out of fabric. But it would be easy enough to remove from the glass in the future if he wanted to rebuild any of it.

Finally, with a bit more swearing and a now less than clean rag, it was done. Two more thin and sticky squares of resin for his prototype circuit board. Various gem fragments now sat on the glass plane, affixed with the difficult material.

The device in question was a new adder circuit design that sat next to his old version. Unlike the prior attempts at just bit adding, this one would be able to handle simple floating-point, or decimal numbers. It was just 8 bits wide, 3 bits were used for the exponent, 4 for digits and 1 for a sign. In short, it was borderline useless for real work, but as proof of concept it was perfect! He could even revert to simple binary addition by flipping a mux or switching circuit. Eventually, he'd expand it to add other functions like you'd expect to see in a calculator, like multiplication and division. Both of which were, easy enough.

The whole design was a block in the larger Arithmetic Logic Unit design he had, what would become the math part of his processor design. It probably didn’t follow IEEE standards, or any standards really. But in this world, he basically was the standard so why did it matter?

Of course, there were still many questions he had; some he didn’t even try to answer yet. Things like was mana quantized, was it conserved locally or globally, and many, many others. There were clearly cross interactions between the elements too which just made it all the more challenging to isolate and experiment on them. Already, he knew those questions would bite him in the future, but until he encountered them, he didn’t know how to even begin answering them without better tools. Which he also didn't know how to make yet. Though, one of the goals of these mana-tronics would hopefully lead there, to better tools.

That of course rested on the assumption that he could answer these questions in the first place. He wasn’t even sure he could, at least currently. It was just the limits of his ingenuity and of the sensitivity of his equipment, which in some cases, was literally held together with string, glue and hope, heavy on the hope.

As saying went, human made crude tools, which they used to make better tools, then they used them to make more precise tools, ad absurdum. Until you reached the modern era. A giddy bit of excitement ran up his spine as he thought about a future based on magic technology. Technology discovered by him. It all had to start somewhere.

“Reese. What are you working on…” A tiny voice whispered from behind him, it came from an equally tiny Mabel whose curiosity seemed far larger than she was.

“I’m working on a new circuit design. In theory, this will add and subtract real numbers for me.”

“Cool! I have no idea what that means…” She continued to whisper.

Her attention to his work and him caused the young magical engineer to smile. The two had become surprisingly close in the past year. After his mini-break down she visited him everyday. Mabel kept finding her way into his room, but he never chased her out. So long as she listened, she was welcome. This had thus become something of a ritual of theirs. He would work, she would watch and ask questions. Rarely, very rarely, she would even ask a good one that he hadn't thought about.

That whole year was mostly a blur. After Emilie and Gezal left, it was hard to do anything, to focus on anything. He had thought about finding Samil and Venginn but they had both left town together. Fense tried to help in his own way, by giving him pages to do. When that didn't work he back tracked before giving up.

Then somewhere in there, Reese had an epiphany. He didn't need anyone, he never did. With that thought, he fully turned his room into a simple lab. Experiment after experiment, doing anything but focusing on understanding reality. Listening to that deep voice within himself that had one commandment, Build. For two weeks he didn't go to school, he barely went downstairs, he just… worked.

It was productive. As the current circuit showed. Almost 200 pages of notes and documents, new ideas, new information, and new paths forward. But it was also horribly toxic. It was the same mentality that lead to his issues in his prior life. Forsaking his classes, his work, his friends, even his family on daydreams and absurdities that never went anywhere.

In a strange twist, it was his father who helped force him back to his senses. The father he did love, but who didn't really understand him. Reese couldn’t help but feel his father’s impression of him must have dropped. A boy broken by mere act of other children leaving. Fortus would never show it though, even if it was true.

His days of being a shut in, only lasted a few weeks, but with that time he was able to restructure his entire approach. Now, things were back mostly too normal. As they always seem to go. He had returned to school, and his job at the bookstore. His family was, well, they were still his family and he still had them. Unlike the last time.

today was the first Dunladeg in Ogracito, basically a Thursday; It felt like a Thursday too. He had school in a few minutes and should probably eat something before he left. As if on cue, his mother called from kitchen, “Reese! Come eat something before you leave.”

Next to him, Mabel pouted “I want to go to school. It sounds fun.”. In truth, she just wanted to hang out with her brother more.

“Reese doesn't think it's fun.” A rare statement from the usually quiet Meerlet, who had decided to sneak her way into his room as well. Not only was she verbally quiet, even her footsteps seemed to make no noise. Like a stealthy breeze she could find her way into any room without being noticed, until something was moved or she decided to speak. If she wasn’t careful, that kind of natural stealth could get her into trouble. Or out of it, he supposed.

“Lilith says we can attend school next year. But, I want to start sooner.” Again, Mabel pouted.

“Mmhmm, And what about you Meerlet? Do you want to wait or start sooner too?”

Meerlet, the brown hair child with the hazel eyes only shrugged. For a moment, Reese couldn’t help but notice the dark dress she was wearing, it looked new compared to Mabel’s reddish-brown shirt and patched up canvas pants which were hand-me-down’s from when Nemi was a little kid. Despite their efforts to treat the two children the same, minor inconsistencies like that were obvious to him. With how smart both girls were, it was likely obvious to both of them as well. Perhaps that was another reason Mabel clinged to him so much.

Not that his parents treated Mabel poorly, they did feed her, talk to her, complement her, and even bought her gifts on occasion. Just like Meerlet. However, they rarely asked what her what she wanted to eat, talked to her more than with her, complemented mostly the superficial, and bought her gifts that always seemed bit less thought out and valuable than Meerlet’s. None of these things were egregious, his parents probably didn’t even realize what they were doing. Maybe he was just reading too much into it all.

“Did you two eat yet?”

Meerlet nodded, Mable sneered in mild disgust but nodded too. That probably meant it was something she didn’t like, maybe pickled root vegetables or something similar. Sharing her dislike, it was tempting to skip breakfast, but he knew that would be a bad influence on his sisters.

Before he could head down to the kitchen, Meerlet grabbed at his pants to stop him, “I… wouldn’t mind going to school.” It was almost a whisper from the already quite child.

It was cute, and with a gential head pat, he left his two sisters alone. Breakfast was already cool, no need for it to get cold too.

Sitting in the schoolhouse, he continued to sketch out some ideas in his notebook. Methods to improve his circuits and expand his enchantments. At least, that's what he tried to do.

The conversation with Mabel and Meerlet had peaked his interest, and took up some of his attention and notes as well. Without Emilie or Gezal around, school seemed lonely, even with some of the new younger students. It was like important people were missing. He had tried to make friends with a few of the other students, but it was challenging, they just didn’t share any common ground. Most seemed to find him annoying in fact. Which to be fair, he could be at times.

But, if he could get Mabel and Meerlet in early, perhaps things would change a bit. They may not be friends, but they’d make the school day pass a bit faster. Plus, they’d probably enjoy at least some of the experience. The main problem would be their age, as Fense would later argue.

“I understand you want your sister to attend, but they’re kind of young, aren’t they? Five I believe?”

“They’re both four, but soon to be five in the next two months.”

The wolf’s eyes grew further at the suggestion. “Four is very young. Maybe when they turn five, but that would be the middle of the school year…. Starting early, or in the middle of the year. It would be tough, but…” Fense seemed to pause and twisted his head in thought as he considered Reese, almost appraising him of something.

“You enjoy lecturing the other students?”

Shrugging at the suggestion, a small smile grew on his face. “Kind of, it’s fun seeing people learn something. Doubly so if I’m the one that teaches them.”

Fense could only let out a slight bark of laugh. “It is indeed… If you were willing to tutor them, ensure they’re up to speed, I’ll consider talking with Ard about adding them to the roster. With your parents’ permission."

“That's great! Like I said, they're just interested in coming and I-"

"You need something to fix." Fense smirked at his student. He gained a knack for reading his thoughts and intent.

With that statement, Reese could only shrug in defeat. His teacher wasn't wrong, even if it wasn't the only reason.

“Heh, well if there’s nothing else, I see a line behind you.”

After school the bookstore job was shorter than usual. Charston, kept falling into coughing fits and eventually just insisted Reese head home. It wasn't the first time this had happened. It likely meant that he'd be closing the store for a few weeks again. The break would be a welcome one, time to work on his experiments, but it would also add to some of the monotony.

Waving off his boss and job, he went home. There was nowhere else to go to, not really. No one to hang out with just, the usual and the same. The seemingly unbroken similarity of each day.

"Afternoon Reese, done work so soon?" A merchant woman, a rather tall blond haired elf with deep emerald green eyes spoke to Reese as he walked by. Fishing in his pocket, he could feel the 10 coppers Charston gave him as he considered the flowers in front of her shop.

"Villoo! I'm twice lucky today, first I get off work early and then I get to see your shining face." The elf woman blushed ever so slightly and smiled; it wasn't the first time he had complemented her. But of course, it would end the same as it always had.

"You'll be a real charmer one day. When you're older, little boy." Villoo was quite beautiful, but she wasn't exactly young, early middle age perhaps. Guessing, he figured she was about 36-40 or which would be about 4 times his current physical age. Which made it all the more confusing and complicated, at least for him.

His advances couldn't have been easy on her, he knew that. So, he tried to limit it all to a modicum of harmless flirting and smiles. Just enough to be pleasant, but not pushy. Like his previous life, relationships just never seemed to be for him. The women he wished for, were always just a bit out of his reach, and as he grew older, he just stopped trying.

To make matters worse, his sisters had somehow gotten a fake letter to her after they found out he liked her. Villoo was nice enough about it and had suggested he find someone closer to his age.

The love letter was amusing to most of the town. Which was a nice way of saying he was a laughing stock for a while, but as his father said, "All men fall in lust at first sight. Love, takes time." It was a bit crass, but true enough. He had convinced himself that he didn't know much about her, and that was enough of a reason to drop. The age factor, well… that was complicated in it's own right. Still, he could buy a flower from her. For his mother of course.

The deep blue Lilly-like flowers were one of his mother's favorites, they were quite unique to this world and would glow softly so long as the flower petal wasn't damaged. The exact name was odd, mentally he always called them 'frail lilies', which wasn’t wrong but not completely accurate either. Regardless, he was confident his mother would enjoy it. No doubt, along with a small laugh at his expense.

"Oh Reese, you shouldn't have." Lilith stifled a laugh as she sniffed at the flower. "Villow is nice Reese, but you should save your coins."

"I merely bought my mother a lovely flower. Who's to say I even bought it from the lovely elf girl?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Your smile says it." She had him dead to rights there.

Looking around, it was odd not to see Mabel doing something around the house. She was still locked into doing more chores than anyone else. It had come to be an unfair expectation of her.

"Where's Mabel?"

"Oh, she out in the field watching your father and his soldiers train." Lilith spoke between weighing cups and pitchers looking for the right sized vessel. "She's been trying to get the soldiers to train with her, but I think they're afraid she's still a bit too young. If I had to guess, I think she wants to be closer to her father."

His mother's statement made him snear, slightly. He could remember being Mabel's age and seemingly being old enough to train with a sword, and be hit with one as well. While it was good that Mabel could be spared the pain, if she wanted to learn it seemed reasonable that she was old enough. Given his own history.

Fortus was a good man, but hard to get close to. Even Reese found him cold at times, though, there were occasions where that ice could break. It was probably doubly hard for him, given Mabel was illegitimate, a fact he could never fully make up for. Reese couldn't help but think he was part of the reason why the soldiers didn't want to train with her. It would have been too, awkward for their commander.

Without any major distractions in the house, Reese would have the rest of the afternoon to work. He wanted to try and work out a new enchantment idea he had been thinking about.

Nearly an hour passed, before he became vaguely aware that he was being watched, only it wasn't by who he was expecting.

“Oh, I thought you were Mabel. Sorry Meerlet.”

Meerlet lightly shook her head no, and just silently observed her brother.

“Are you interested in what I’m working on?”

Shrugging, she nonetheless got a bit closer to his work bench.

“So, this is a idea I’ve been thinking about for, a couple years now. How can I inject mana into myself? Most enchantments only work on the item you're enchanting. The mana flow gets bound to the item. But, there are a few that seem to affect the things they come in contact with. I’m trying to isolate what lets an enchantment do that.”

The child remained quiet but stared at him with silent wonder. It was obvious she understood some of what he was saying, she just, didn’t talk much. When she did, it was a rare treat as she only talked to those she trusted and liked.

“Are you doing this because you don’t have a gate?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

“I am. If I can make this work, maybe I can do at least some of what everyone else can do. It’s not a complete replacement. I’m not sure I can inject more than one type of mana, and I still won’t be able to shape it inside myself, just use what there’s.”

Taking a moment, he examined his sister and her behavior. He wasn't a doctor, at best he had a BS in web searching for symptoms, among the many other things he was in his last life a hypochondriac was one of them. Perhaps it was best he didn't read too much into it, he tended to do that too.

“Meerlet, do you really want to go to school?”

Again, the child just shrugged. “I like… being around you and Mabel.” Again, it was almost a whisper, but that’s just how she talked. Quiet, as if trying to just blend into everything around her.

The sound of his father coming home with Mabel in tow snapped him out of his own daze. They would be eating soon.

At the table, the family sat around in mostly silence. Eating and enjoying the quiet moment. A moment, that Reese would break.

“Mom, dad, what do you think about enrolling Meerlet and Mable into school?”

“I don’t really have an option.” Fortus spoke between spoon full of the onion and salt pork stew.

Lilith stared at her husband for a moment before shaking her head. “They’re a bit too young, aren’t they?”

“Technically there’s no age limit, but yeah, they are a bit young. They both seem interested, and they both brought it up to me. What's the harm?”

Mabel sat in chair mouth a gap in a surprised smile, even Meerlet seemed to be smiling in her way of expressing herself. Lilith had a hard time saying no to the two faces.

“I mean… You're both only four. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“I’m just about five, and Meerlet will be five before me!” Mable protested on both their behalf.

Their mother didn’t say anything as if thinking. Seeing Meerlet silently watching and waiting gave Reese one more bit of ammo.

“It could help with their socialization. Hanging out with other kids, even older ones might help them express themselves.”

Lilith knew exactly what Reese was saying and had to sigh in agreement.

Meerlet’s gaze dropped a sign of embarrassment at realizing they were talking about her. Though she did want to express herself better, it was hard. There was always too much noise, too many things happening around her. Trying to isolate one thing to focus on was almost overwhelming. It’s why she tried to lean on her half sister and her brother, when she felt they had time for her.

In an oddly un-Fortus event, he put his weight behind his son’s opinion. “I think Reese has a point. It’s worth trying.”

Again, Lilith stared at her husband. "Ok. If you two think you can handle it. Reese, you're going to have to help them, that means less time for your… experiments and possibly the bookstore."

Time, that was one thing he had in abundance, he was after all, still young. "I can do that."

Fense and his mohter meet in the schoolhouse the next day. The arrangement was simple enough, Fense would agree to teach the very young children, in exchange Reese was expected to tutor them and bring them up to speed.

Lilith turned to face her son, "So every day after school you'll need to help them. Do you really think you can handle it?"

"Piece of cake, I'm sure I can make the time." Reese smiled from his desk, the last student in the schoolhouse.

His mother and father glared in his direction. "Reese, are you sure you can handle it."

"I don't know why you're so concerned. I'm good at tutoring, Fense tell them."

"It's true, he's very good at lecturing the other students. Often about things not involved in the current lecture." Fense sighed but also smiled at his troublesome student.

"Details, I can find time to handle it."

Fortus stared at the number of loose papers around his son, and the several empty ink wells. "Uh huh, and how long is it going to take you to finish all those pages?"

"I see your point. But, I'm sure I can make the time. Once I'm done copying this… whole book."

His father shook his head, but in the background an almost subtle laugh could be heard. "Ok. Fense I have to stop by Ard's office, if you have the paper work I'll drop it off on my way out."

As his parents left, his father made mention of being late for dinner. It sounded like him and Ard had to do some inspection of some kind along the paved road. Reese didn't get the full details, but his father was clearly loathing the thought of spending his late afternoon together with the mayor. That probably meant they'd all be eating late.

"That book might be short, but I don't think you have time to day dream, Reese." Fense pointed at the half-written book, he still had a good 40 pages. On the plus side, all the pages he had done really improved his penmanship. On earth, he might have been mistaken for a doctor with how poor it was. Here he might… also be mistaken for a doctor given how good it was. It was an amusing reversal.

The sun had just set once Fense closed up the schoolhouse. Reese's arms and fingers still hurt from the extra pages, and he wasn't even done with the book. It would take at least another class.

As we wandered away from the schoolhouse, he was greeted by an odd sight. Several rather fancy carriages around the old keep and the mayor's manor. No doubt it has something to do with his father or Ard. The one was quite extravagant. He thought about asking his father, if he knew who they belonged too. Maybe it had something to do with the inspection? It was a very rare to see what must have been near royalty in their village.

Though, Reese would not have to wait that long to find his answer as soon as he arrived home.

Inside the house, Lillith was sitting in the kitchen, her face ice cold as she stared into space. As soon as Reese saw her he could tell something was wrong. At the sound of the door opening, she glared at him in shock, a slight shake of her head screaming a warning to run. A warning that he didn’t understand.

“Hello, you must be Reese.” Behind him, was an extravagant man who was about the same height as Fortus and their faces, almost identical, save for a few extra scars and no beard. He was flanked by two armored men who could only be called dangerous. “I’m your uncle Nimaus Bronwyn. It's good to finally meet Fortus' son."

Fear threatened to overwhelm his senses and his mind told him he should run, but he couldn't fully explain why. Something about this man screamed terror, maybe it was his dead eyes. Slightly glazed over, like his mind was dissociated from reality. Reese had seen such people in his prior life. One of his old roommates was superficially charming, but also a textbook sociopath. His uncle had those same eyes and look.

The fear on his mother's face brought his mind back to running, but that would have been a mistake. Who knows how many were outside, or what would have happened to him and his family if he did. For all the fear he felt, the man didn’t seem immediately lethal. Like a curled snake, he was waiting for his prey to do something before giving his venomous strike.

Choking down his fear, Reese smiled back at the man. “I had heard I had an Uncle, I’m sorry we couldn’t meet till now. You look…” pausing his ran through words, ideas, trying to game the situation. Everything he had gathered from his father's conversations and fears. What would his uncle want to hear, but it obvious, strength. "Very powerful."

For a moment, he had considered reaching his hand out to shake, but that seemed like a mistake. For a host of reasons, and he kept his hands out of his pockets and at his side.

"Yes, well. It feels like your family hide you from me but I’m sure that’s nonsense.” His Uncle reached his hand out threatening to grab his head and snap it off. Instead, he just roughed his dark hair a bit before moving to the kitchen table to sit. He beckoned his men to help encourage Reese to join them.

At the table, Meerlet and Mabel sat equally quiet and petrified like their mother.

“So Reese, I understand you’re gateless?”

It seemed such a strange question. Why would he care? More to the point, what should he say, the truth seemed easiest to go with. “I am. It’s difficult.”

“So I’m told. You’re trying to learn spell casting though, made some good enchantments too?”

Reese looked at his mother for some sign that she had talked to him, but she gave nothing away. He couldn’t be sure how much his uncle actually knew about him, and how much was probing. Regardless of his answers, it was clear this man was studying him.

“Yes. It’s very difficult, but I’ve made small progress. Honestly, I’m probably not going to be able to do much, it’s too hard without a gate.” This would be his strategy make himself look small, inconsequential. If his uncle was looking for threats, best to be meek. If he was right his uncle would probably ask about swordsmanship next.

For a moment he considered knocking him off guard and bringing it up on his own. But he was probably better off letting this man feel like he was in control. His attitude and personality screamed extreme narcissism along with sociopathy.

“What about swords and bows? I’m sure your father is teaching you.”

Right on target. He needed to think, to play this game. Minimize his ability, show himself as weak and not worth caring about. But he also needed to make sure he believed that he believed it. It was just like all those time he got in trouble on earth, in his youth. People want to believe what they believe. Feed into that, and you can sway them with the minor details. It was manipulative, guile. Of all the strengths he had, mind was the only real one.

“I… I tried. I can’t do any sword techniques, not like everyone else. Every time I tried… I end up bloody. Sometimes I think, I’ll never be anything.”

The man looked away for a moment seemingly in disgust, before turning back to smile at him. “Oh, you’re just too hard on yourself. I heard you got a hit on your father; I know from experience that’s not easy.”

“No, it was tie, he hit me at the same time. Even more than that it was with enchantments against his basic sword. It wasn’t fair, and I still couldn’t win.”

Again, the man looked to be studying him. Now was the time to knock him off guard, but in a way that would appeal to his clear sense of grandiosity.

“What about you, I know nothing about you Uncle. You seem, very important.”

“Important? You really don’t know me. I’m next to be head of the Bronwyns under my Uncle Julius. I command the forces of our family, and act as ‘ast’ of Glaymon for the family.”

‘Ast’ Reese heard that term a few times, it basically meant 'protector of', he hadn’t heard of Glaymon though. Probably some small city somewhere.

Of course, his uncle continued. “I’ve led several successful defenses of our family’s assets. Your father might be a knight commander, but I act as a general for our forces.”

“Wow, you must have had several successful battles?”

“Indeed, several hundred in fact. All my battles have been successful, I don’t lose. My commanders on the other hand, aren’t always so capable.”

Wouldn’t that be on their leader, Reese thought to himself, but it probably wasn’t best to bring that up.

“That has to be challenging, dealing with so many people. Idiots are bound to get into positions they shouldn’t.”

“Exactly! You’re smarter than I was expecting. Maybe you’re not a complete waste.”

As insulting as it was, that was almost the perfect response. Minimize his size and look like an asset better kept alive than dead. A part of him almost enjoyed this game. It was like some twisted role-playing game only, it wasn't a game. A sudden shock along the almost hidden scar in his hand reminded him of that fact. This was real, there was no save slot to go back to.

Unfortunately, his game would be interrupted by the sudden entrance of a new player.

The front door almost slammed off its hinges as Fortus came in. His eyes locked his brother’s.

The man got up and walked toward his brother, “Fortus, it really was too long.”

“Nimaus. What are you doing here?” There was a slight tremor in Fortus’s voice, at first. However, his quickly got it under control.

“I was just passing through the provenance and realized, I hadn’t seen you since Neomsadi was born, what was it, 14 years now?”

“I guess it has been a while.” Fortus' voice was flat, and still as a rock. Any fear or excitement in was gone.

“Yes it has. Now I see three new children! Your beautiful two daughters… You know it occurs to me, one of them looks nothing like her mother. You naughty boy Fortus. Yes, two new girls… and one boy, which is quite surprising really. Though he seems, a bit weak, doesn’t he?”

“Reese is fine. He struggles but is growing stronger every day. I’m confident he’ll overtake both of us one day.” For his stillness, there was venom in those words.

Only Reese flinched at them though, that was not what he should have said.

“Perhaps. Anyway, you should all come up and visit the rest of the family, Julius hasn’t been well since dad died. You really need to visit him before the gods take him away too.”

“If you’re staying, we can prepare dinner at least.” Fortus' gaze implied his words were a lie. No doubt if Nemaus continued to stay, he would do whatever it took to protect his family. Even the extra gaurds probably wouldn't have saved him.

“Don’t bother, like I said I was just on my way through the area. Needed to check on some things. I heard there were bandits sneaking into your village, and goblins as well! I thought my men could do a quick survey for you and see what went wrong.”

“My soldiers and Knights are more than capable; you don’t need to trouble yourself.”

“I’m sure your men are skilled, but you know mine are better. You know, things might be easier if you were to just head back up to our family’s home. We could use your talents, and I’m sure that most of your family would be much safter there, not of this bandit and goblin nonsense.”

It was a clear threat, even Fortus couldn’t ignore it. Not just against him, but against his whole family. As for ‘most of his family’, that obviously wouldn’t include Reese. “You know I gave up our family line. I have no interest in the power struggles, I left them to the rest of the family and you.”

The smile on Nimaus' face, was a twisted rancid smile that chilled Fortus’ bones. Like a warped version of his own face staring back at him “Oh brother, I know. I trust you, but you still have the Bronwyn family name, even if you don’t want to use it. Remind me what your mayor calls you?”

Fortus felt the two powerful arms of his brother grab his side. If Fortus’ wanted to, he could have broken them, pulled his dagger and shoved it in brother's chest. He would regret not doing that when he had the chance.

“I don’t think that’s-“

“Remind me.”

“Fortus Bronwyn.”

Again, that sick smile. “See, you’re still a part of the family. No matter what you say.”

Nimaus let go of his brother, and waved to his guard to follow.

“Well, as I said, I was just passing through thought and must be off. I would just have felt remiss if I didn't at least say hello once.”

“I’m going to visit our wayward sister. You know, it took me a while to find her. I just, really want to see my nephews. I understand she has a girl as well. When was the last time you saw our sister?”

“Not since I left home.”

“Hmmm, pity.”

Before he left, Nimas turned one last time to face Reese, still sitting at the table.

“Oh goodbye to you too Reese. I hope you know that you were a true blessing from the gods.”

As the door closed behind him. Fortus broke, his hands started shaking, he tried to catch the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Girls go to your room.” Lillith pushed the three girls upstairs.

Fortus put his shaking hand on Reese’ shoulder, steading himself. “Reese, go to your room too. I need to talk to your mother in private.”

“If this is about me I-“

“GO! NOW!”

AS usual, he could hear the conversation from upstairs in his room. Obviously, It didn’t sound good.

“Fortus, what are we going to do.” Lillith started the conversation in a panic.

“I don’t know. He’s leaving, we… I’m going to have my knights and soldiers increase their patrols in the area. I'm going to see if I can get another squad from the capital too.”

“That’s it? You know what kind of man he is!”

“Lillith, he’s my brother. I know exactly what kind of person he is. We just, need to be stead-fast for now.”

“You can’t trust him Fortus. I know he’s your brother but he dangerous.”

“Lillith you don’t know what-“

“What I’m talking about? Ignoring all that just happened, remind me, who cursed you?”

“I… I don’t know, and neither do you.”

“Fortus, it has his handy work all over it. Who else even has a reason?”

All the fear and uncertainty downstairs radiated up. What was Reese supposed to do? This was his fault. If he hadn't been born this wouldn't have happened.

Today was supposed to be a good day. A day of minor celebration for Mabel and Meerlet. Instead, it was whatever this nightmare was.

In the back of his head, his soul spoke again, "Defend. Build. Grow. Devour." He just needed to think, to calm down. Working on his project, his experiments would give him a moment of relief. He just needed to work.