The complex that housed this great family could be called immense by normal standards but when paired with the sheer strength this single family possessed it was somewhat lacking. There was no fancy gold trimmings or jeweled accents throughout the entire property. Only obsidian, darkiron with the occasional bronze decorated the interior of the family’s main hall. Obsidian was mainly there in honour of their founding ancestor, the Obsidian Behemoth, Leonel August. The darkiron for the late founder's wife, Blacksteel Diva, Victoria Sommer. And bronze for its tenacity and usefulness in the rise of the family.

Sitting in the main hall was the rest of the August family. Patriarch Seamus and his wife Gwenyth sat at the head of the long table awaiting the late comers to arrive for breakfast. Along the left side of the table sat Seamus’ youngest son and his family. The family of five sat in order of eldest to youngest, with Gregory sitting closest to his father followed by his wife, Qin Xin Er, then their twin boys Frederick and Wutian, lastly their daughter Yuyan. Along the right side of the table were places for Anika, Derrick though they came after the eldest son of the August family, Elijah and his daughter Amellia. And last but not least there was on spot remaining for the youngest member of the family, Gabriel.

With the trio arriving in a commotion the eyes of everyone locked onto the giant Derrick and the tiny Anika, only Seamus seemed to notice the unconscious Gabe draped over Derrick’s shoulder.

“Sit down already Auntie and Uncle! Everyone is starving!” Whined Yuyan as she pouted cutely. Though her antics would be useless against her grandfather and father the rest of the family was not so resistant to the blossoming beauty.

Seamus cast a glance toward his left as he took note of how Yuyan and the others from that side of the table ignored Gabe’s body that was blatantly displayed. Inwardly muttering to himself that the grudge between Gregory and Marcel, Gabe’s father, had been carried over to the next generation. And the cause of it was sitting right next to Gregory. The old patriarch may be getting old in his years but his mind only became sharper as he slowly started stepping out of the military and into the intrigue of the “nobilities".

Qin Xin Er, a daughter of the old Qin clan that took root in the Republic was never one to take any slight lying down. From the moment that she married into the August family she had taken it upon herself to become the future matriarch of the family. Too ambitious and too calculating was she for the vigorous morals that were the foundation for the age old family. She made sure that her children got as much as possible when it came to training resources and many times tried a little too hard to promote her husband over his brothers and sister towards her father-in-law.

“Oi lass did your mother never teach you manners? It's not your place to tell me to sit before my own father, eh?” Derrick snapped unhappily as he too felt the way that Qin Xin Er had influenced her children. It wasn't a big surprise between the adults of the family but the third generation still didn't quite understand it.

“Your uncle is right, Yuyan, apologize.” Seamus spoke up as he felt the slightest flare of anger from his daughter-in-law.

The hesitation and unwillingness that etched itself across the pretty little face of Yuyan was blatant enough that even her father felt some shame. But eventually the spoiled brat had finally given in under the stares of the entire table. Mumbling a barely intelligent ‘sorry uncle Derrick’ she grumpily played with the long french braid that fell over her right shoulder.

Grunting in response Derrick brought his nephew to the resident healer, his mother. Laughing lightly, Gwenyth began to play her fingers across an invisible harp as soft ripples spread through the air and to her grandson.

“Just simple mana…” the old matriarch began explaining only to catch herself as she realised what it was she was saying. Mana Overdraft. Something that only happens when you deplete your reserves of mana and push your physical state past it's limit before recovering. Which should be impossible given that even the most talented human children usually take about twelve years to learn how to control the mana inside them. Yet Gabriel was obviously a lunar cycle away from his tenth birthday, none of it made sense to this Medical Saint!

“Mana what?” probed her husband as he reached for his grandson’s wrist.

“Overdraft… Seven Hells Derrick what did you do to the boy! Why in bloody blazes is he this overworked?” Roared the still shocked Gwenyth as she showcased exactly where Derrick got his crass tongue.

“Nothing outside usual ma’am! Only adhering to the training schedule that you approved last week!” Derrick snapped into full military salute in the face of his outraged mother. Before an idea hit the giant man child. “Anika knows more about why he is in this condition than I ma’am, ask her what's going on.”

Anika visibly paled as she realised that she couldn't get out of this one even if she ran like a bat out of hell. If her outraged mother didn't catcher her, the dangerous glint in her eldest brother’s eyes told her that he would.

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“A-ni-ka, you had better start talking!” snapped the momma bear as she constantly applied various different spells to Gabriel.

“He-he the thing is mom I really didn't do anything towards nor taught him any spells yet as per the agreement. But I did lend him Marcel’s old theory notes and some of my own, but only for for his prep work into magic. I genuinely had no idea he would create a perfect spell matrix for two different spells, one at the first circle and the other at second…”

“Enough!” Bellowed Seamus as he instantly shut down the entire conversation. Hearing of his youngest grandson’s talent did little to make him feel better at the moment. It only created another headache for the old patriarch. ‘How do I optimize Gabriel's growth without breaking him or letting that wench twist my family even more?’

“Gwenyth take Gabriel to the infirmary, now. The rest of us shall eat breakfast before it gets cold, or has wasting food been something my family started doing?”

Gwenyth left in a hurry carrying her grandson to the infirmary not too far from the main hall. While silence blanketed the main hall, only the near rhythmic clangs of cutlery brought some sense of normalcy. After about a half hour of eating Ophellia, the daughter of Elijah August, asked to be excused from the table before she quietly left in search of her grandmother and little cousin. While the three children of Gregory were spoiled rotten by their mother, the other two members of this generation were completely different. Ophellia opting for a healing route in her studies as she pursued her grandmother's title of Medical Saint. Whereas Gabriel fell into the same path as his grandfather had when the old man was young. Studying the different aspects of war daily gave Gabriel a very clear headed mentality, while the martial aspects of his training made his body near perfect for a young soldier.

“Grandma, what did you mean when you said little Gabe has Mana Exhaustion?” Ophellia asked directly as she found her grandmother running various tests on her cousin's body.

Three different IVs were attached to Gabriel's arms while a soft halo of mana carefully allowed his grandmother to inspect the internal state of his body.

Sighing gently Gwenyth only glanced at Ophellia before returning her focus towards Gabriel. It was an awkward situation when the old grandmother noticed that Ophellia didn't necessarily care for her cousin, but rather wanted to know more of her own medical knowledge.

“Your cousin has utilized all the mana in his body while pushing his body to the limit.” Explained grandmother August as she ran over the data that she had been collecting from her grandson. “As you know most humans only gain partial access to their mana around age twelve to fifteen. Gabe has done what should be impossible by using any mana and done the inconceivable by using all of the potential mana in his body.”

Ophellia felt a chill run down her back as she listened to her grandmother explain the situation. It seemed like her baby cousin is a true blue genius. Which would ruin her own plans for the future. Being the eldest of the younger generation held some advantages to her. Currently she was the only one to enter the second tier after only a year of being able to access mana at all. Now however her spot as number one was in question by this little cousin of hers.

“Will he be able to recover from this at all?” Ophellia asked while trying her best to hide the hope that it was impossible for him to recover at all.

“Pffft. Even if he was in a common household he would still be fine, with his body and foundations it wouldn't be a problem even if he went into Overdraft everyday.” Snickered Gwenyth as she began changing the spell matrix that she used to examine Gabriel.

With impossible speed the entirety of the matrix began to change into something completely new. With subtle finger flicks that only appeared as a blur to the untrained eye, Gwenyth created an entirely new spell from the old one. One that would be able to speed Gabriel's natural recovery by putting his body in a sensation of drowning. This subconscious feeling would make the body absorb any stray mana around it and kick start his passive refinement of said mana. Now it wasn't that she was physically drowning him, a more apt description would be she was drowning his mind, so that his body would wake up and fix itself faster than normal.

A short couple of minutes later, Gabriel's eyelids were already fluttering as his eyes moved erratically under them. In all, it only took five minutes before he was fully conscious and ready to get up. But grandma August had other plans. She kept his mind locked while she urged the body to repair itself completely before she allowed him to “wake” up.

“Thank you, grandmother.” Gabriel quickly answered as he got up and into a bow before his loving grandmother. Upon noticing Ophellia behind her, he also spread his thanks to her lest he be considered rude. “Thank you as well cousin for whatever help you gave.” Though as cordial and polite as he was it only made the feelings of Ophellia worse.

“It was nothing.” She said before leaving in a slight rush.

Shooting a glance towards his grandmother, who helplessly shrugged her shoulders with a shake of her head. Gabriel realised that he probably insulted his cousin, though that was something inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

“Grandmother, I beat uncle Derrick in our sparring match this morning. Is it possible to move onto the next section of the training routine grandfather made?” Exhaled Gabriel as he shifted his thoughts onto something much more pertinent in his mind.

Giving her grandson a wry smile before she chided him gently, “Gabe, even if you defeated your uncle you did it through a loophole. How is your uncle supposed to defend against a tier one spell without any kind of protection? No, you won't be moving on yet. But you will be given access to some of the things your father let you instead.”

“Father?” Shock quickly covered the previous disappointment on Gabriel's face, ‘What could he have left that makes up for not being able to move farther along with training?’ he thought.