This is rather difficult than what was mentioned. Drac thought while consolidating his first circle.

The problem lay in the distance of the circle from the dantian, and the size of a small sphere depicting an electron, which he was trying to make. With his exceptional control over mana, he was able to able to orbit a small sphere after some tries. But with this weird shape, the mana was taking a rather long time to consolidate. And controlling mana for such a long time was taking a toll on him.

He was sweating profusely, his head was aching as if it would explode at a moment in time. But still, he persisted. I am not going to let this time go to waste and consolidate my first circle today itself.

It took a lot of effort, and by the time he opened his eyes with a consolidated first circle, a wave of drowsiness grasped him, and fell asleep on the floor…

Drac when opened his eyes again, he felt weird. It seemed to him that everything around him had become louder. He could see a blue hue flowing all around him, and his whole body was aching as if he had been crushed by a bulldozer. It was then that he heard knocks, there was someone at the door. Along with his body, his head was spinning, yet he still pushed himself up the floor. It was then that he noticed something peculiar, it seemed to him that he had grown a couple of inches. He looked down to see a sticky gunk all over his body, and it had seeped into his clothes as well. Now the whole room was smelling a shithole.

Another knock made him take some staggering steps to the door, he peeked outside to see Greg standing there with some soldiers.

The man took a look at him, and said, “Why the fuck do you smell and seem like shit?”

“First circle. Consolidated it.” He said.

“Alone?” Greg asked with astonishment. “You did it alone? Dont you know how dangerous it is?”

He knew of the consequences. The books and the diaries that he had read mentioned everything about how dangerous the process was. He didnt use their warning because of his exceptional control over his mana. From what he had read, his control was on such a level that all the predecessors of the Sumor family could be put to shame in front of him, which was the source of his confidence.

“Well, I am not a coward,” He simply replied,

“Or you are a fool,” Greg said, “Take a bath quickly. Master Gregor had called for you,”

He nodded, and straight went to the nearest servant's bathhouse and took a bath, scrubbing every part of his body. The soldiers accompanying him also helped. They scrubbed the parts of his body that he couldnt reach. He didnt appreciate that these guys were in the bath house with him, but he didnt say anything. They were helping him to hurry up, it was not wise to make that old man wait.

By the time he had washed away the gunk, he started feeling different. He could feel his body was stronger and faster than before. He felt lighter, his senses had improved, making him some sort of a super-human.

Soldiers hurried him around, grabbed him clean clothes, and made his way towards the study of Lord Daniel.

Greg didnt enter the room, he went in alone. There he saw Daniel sitting on his desk, while Lord Gregor was looking down through the window. Drac’s senses had improved to such an extent, that he started feeling the energy of the two people before him. Gregor was powerful, way more powerful than Daniel. Based on their energies, he figured that Daniel had at least three circles, while Gregor seemed to have at least four circles.

He cleared his throat, making them turn, “You called, milords?”

Gregor stared at him, “You look different. What happened to you?”

“Completed my first circle sire,” he said.

Both Gregor and Daniel looked surprised. The old man then asked, “You got some balls, completing the circle on your own,”

“Well… I didnt know that completing a circle is supposed to be a group activity,”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Sit down, Drac,” Daniel said while pointing toward the chair in front of the desk. He promptly sat down and stared into the eyes of his lord.

“Do you understand what we did, and why we did it?”

“I have some idea, sire,”

From behind Gregor started speaking, “A boy like you.. Who was on the verge of completing his first circle a few months ago, completed his circle yesterday. You could have become a knight, yet you choose to be a butler. And then you proceeded to not only go through the diaries of our ancestors, which might have contained some household secrets but also uncovered some dark knowledge about the family.” Gregor then came and leaned against Daniel’s bench, “So let me be straight Drac.. We dont trust you,”

“That is fair sire,”

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Daniel asked.

Drac thought about it for a moment, then said, “I have this weird love for books milords. They are the things that calm me, and could never betray me. Which is why I dove into your library, without thinking about the consequences. As far as your secrets are concerned sire, I will never betray this household. This household came to my aid when everyone had abandoned me. I can never betray it… I can even swear an oath on it. I have already told Lord Daniel my secret. Which proves, that I am a very loyal man,”

Drac knew, that any person would be wary of a guy like him. Which is why he entered the household, he spoke with Lord Daniel in private. He told the man his real name, and how he was the son of a noble. As far as his past was concerned, he told him the generic version that everyone knows. Just added a part that Martha left him with a merchant caravan, for a knight. Which was why he didnt fear death, as it was nothing compared to the betrayal and pain that this world had caused him.

Gregor stared at him, “Yes. Daniel mentioned it, Ado Hampshire,” then further added, “That further put you under suspicion. We have investigated you, and most of your story matches with your narration… But the fact remains, your father is Arnold Hampshire, a loyal dog of Viscount Gadriel, who is loyal to another Marquis Family. How can we know that you are not a spy?”

“I have become loyal to this household sire,” he said with confidence, “Any decision that you take about my future, I would gladly accept it. Even if it is death,”

“Big words,” Daniel said, “And big words have no meaning in front of us,”

He sighed, “I understand sire. But, loyalty can be proven. Give me a chance, to show you that I am truly what I am,” Gregor and Daniel looked at each other, coming to an understanding…

***

It was nighttime. The caravan contained a few soldiers and Greg, one of the captains of the Sumor Keep soldiers was on their way to Sumor Castle. Along with them was Drac, who was nagging the captain for some time now, “Are you sure about it?” he asked Greg, once again. “There are no books there?”

Greg simply shook his head, “That place is basically abandoned. No one likes to go there, as it is old and too creepy,” he said, “You will have fun there,” Drac could only sigh in resignation.

Gregor and Daniel Sumor had come to a decision before he even set foot in the study. They had realized that he could not be trusted, so they did the next best thing that they could do to him. And they did, he was officially being shipped off to a Sumor Ancestral Castle. It was most abandoned and was in terrible shape. But from time to time people of the Sumor family do visit that place, which was where he would come in.

As the butler of the castle, he was the caretaker of the castle. He needs to take care of the castle and take care of the guests who might visit the castle in the future. That way he would stay out of the reach of the Sumor Family, and they could be rest assured that he would do them no harm.

The worst part of the experience was the fact that there were no books or any sort of intellectual material present in the castle. It was just a small ruin located on the top of a hill. Drac joined the Sumor Family in the first place because of the books. Now if that was taken away from him, then what need does he have to stick around?

The problem is Gregor and Daniel. If I were to run away and move on, both of those guys could come for his head. He thought. That is the reason he was unable to do anything and had resigned himself to his faith.

“Why do you like books anyway?” Greg asked, “I think that they are a waste of time. I am telling you again you damn brat, you will the rue the day you rejected becoming a soldier. With your power, surely you would have made a captain like me,”

“Books, are the keepers of knowledge, why would anyone not want it?” he replied. His reply made some of the soldiers snicker, but he ignored them.

“What would you gain with knowledge,” one of the soldiers, who was cooking their food asked.

“There is no answer, that could satisfy your curiosity,” he simply replied, not willing to debate with people of their caliber.

“Foods up,” the cook said, immediately Drac pushed himself up and went to get the food. It was not for him, it was for the two VIPs who were traveling with them to the castle.

Helen’s father had fallen ill, so she was visiting the capital. Agatha, her daughter was tagging along with them. Basically, before they reach the castle, his job is to cater to the needs of his mistress and the young mistress. He took the food to the tent, which was guarded by the elite soldiers of the Sumor Keep. These guys were fucking strong, from Drac could feel these guys were even stronger than Greg, and their level was a step below Daniel and Gregor.

Hmm.. Maybe, now that I am not distracted by books, I can focus on some other hobbies. I could create chaos, He thought, before going to the tent…