Arson knew that he had issues with his anger. He always had, and now that his entire body was elementally infused, it seemed that attribute of his nature had only been intensified.
Arson sat mid-air and cross-legged above his nightclub. His eyes were closed and his breaths were long and slow.
Meditation was the only thing that seemed to work on his nearly uncontrollable spurts of anger. He’d spent days and still hadn’t calmed down after his encounter with his grandmother and the Purities.
He’d lost more fights than he could count, but he’d never been played with; or used like a toy, thrown around without a care for his longevity.
A piece of his pride had been hurt by how badly he’d been worked over. Yes, he was lucky to have survived, and yes, he had much more to learn from the Purities, but he was still frustrated.
So he meditated. Without food, without break, for days.
In that time he learned many things about himself. He learned that it was directly his lack of use of his stat points. As they grew, so too did his regeneration.
It was a boon, and also a glaring weakness in Arson’s foundation. In some ways it was the direct use of converted energy into stat points that fueled a Cultivator’s growth. Alongside experience, and elemental affinities.
This aspect of Arson’s body made it so that his gathered stat points were better off stored in case of emergency rather than used, as his regeneration drastically increased his combat survivability. Even further he noticed that a large amount of his stat points had been drained by the experience with the Purities.
He’d thought the massive amount of points he’d lost after fighting the Wretches had been due to some sort of unknown breakthrough. It wasn’t the first time his body spent a large amount of points naturally. His soul’s node gate stole 10,000 points in a breath.
“Wouldn’t have even figured that out if I hadn’t done the math later,” grumbled Arson to himself. He felt it was impossible to clear his mind. With every solved problem, came more problems yet to be seen.
The only thing left on his mind actually filled him with hope. His nightclub was open now, and it was an absolute success. The foot traffic for the mini mall on the ground floor never stopped as they were open at all times. Neither the night owl or the early bird shopper would ever be missed if things were up to Arson, and since things were up to Arson, the club completed thousands of transactions a day.
They sold more food and clothing than Arson would have believed possible even after a few days of being open. Xani was forced to increase her number of recyclers by almost tenfold between the clubs opening and the increased mobile sales.
Troy hadn’t taken a night off since the opening and Arson hadn’t missed a single fight. He’d wanted to gather back the stat points he’d lost, but put all such thoughts at the back of his mind until he got used to the changes in his body.
Arson was semi-annoyed that the sensation of being watched still hadn’t left him even after he’d escaped from the depths of the city, but used the pesky itch that constantly tingled at the back of his mind to train.
He didn’t have a dominion, or aura that would increase his perception as many Cultivators with completed cores did, but Arson wouldn’t let that stop him from his newest project.
He would be able to pin down any potential pursuers with ease because of how dedicated his tail was, it would only take time and practice to achieve.
Many of his self-assigned tasks had actually been completed, with the exception of his core and the expansion of his mana pool. He believed he had found a way to naturally expand his internal resource, but feared a test because he hadn’t talked it over with his mother yet.
The longer he sat adrift, the longer he felt restless which only made him want to try all of the new ideas and experiments that currently roamed through his mind.
The more he put off his interests, the more rage he felt. Yet another reason why he’d temporarily exiled himself to the rooftop of the BHC.
Arson had to concentrate to clear his mind. This task proved harder for Arson than anything else he’d ever done.
His mind was like a flame that flickered, or a spark that jumped from thought to thought. He couldn’t even manage to count to seven because his thoughts grew louder, as they became a disruption he couldn’t overcome.
He didn’t even know his fist were balled and that he roared into the night sky until he heard an unfamiliar voice speak nearby on the rooftop.
“Just like your father, eh, little like your mother too I guess,” said the hooded man. Arson couldn’t help but notice that the sensation of eyes on his back that had persisted for nearly as long as Arson had worked at the dump, had finally diminished slightly.
“Yeah, don’t know that much about my dad, but I’ll take that as a compliment,” responded Arson. He’d touched down on the rooftop and crossed his arms defensively after he turned to face his uninvited guests.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Yes, I can tell, but at this point, I don’t know if it would have been better for you to have been raised by the man, as your siblings were, or if your real potential is being refined by your lack of tutelage,” said the stranger. Arson sneered back at the man.
“You trying to say my adopted mother isn’t good enough,” asked Arson as two conductive water orbs formed in his palms.
“Calm down young master,” said the man with a laugh.
“I would never speak on the Maiden’s Heir in such a way. From what I understand you were only just returned to your birth mother after you found her recently anyway,” said the man, and Arson’s eyes went wide. He quickly tried to disguise his surprise with a scowl, but the man’s laughter told Arson he’d been seen through.
“Don’t frown child, it makes your forehead wrinkle and will age you visually even if you do manage to obtain immortality as your parents have,” said the man. Arson felt a spike of rage, and had to close his eyes and take a deep breath before he could respond.
“Are you okay, young master,” said the man. Arson gritted his teeth and breathed out slowly.
“No… I don’t know what is going on with me, I can barely think straight, and to top things off, I’m tired of being the only person who doesn’t know a thing about my family, and now you’re telling me the woman that I have accepted as my adopted mother is my actual mother, how do you expect me to believe that,” said Arson. He’d suspected he was linked to Jade somehow. Maybe she was an aunt or half sister even, but his mother? He’d never have guessed that, even after he saw the eyes of his grandmother, which only made more sense now.
“Ha! The half dragon is wondering why his blood boils, and he can’t think straight,” said the man.
“What do you mean half dragon?” Arson felt his confusion override his anger. Whatever fueled his rage was powerful, but not more powerful than Arson’s thirst for knowledge.
“You are the child of Draphen LightLord, the first imperial dragon to be born in eons, the blood of dragons naturally causes irrational mood swings, the king at your age would have violent blackouts even before he’d regained his stripped abilities back, I have been his attendant ever since.” Arson nodded along, but only had more questions. He hated how important his family was, as most of the names and titles used grew more convoluted and numerous, the more important the figure being described was.
“What does that make you, his servant, bodyguard, teacher, maybe an advisor of sorts?” It was the man’s turn to nod at Arson.
“I am Seneschal. As to your question, I am all of those things, or should I say, I was at least, over the last season cycle your father has had me working for each of your siblings to see which of them I should take on as my newest charge,” said Seneschal. Arson scoffed, a tendency he’d picked up from his mother. A fact that made the strange man in front of him smile so wide that his mouth could be seen in the moon light underneath the darkness of his hood.
“So…”
“So I am here to see if my newest charge will be you or not…,” said Seneschal. Arson barked a laugh and shook his head before the man could continue any further.
“You must have the wrong person, I’m no longer an heir to the royal family,” said Arson.
“You weren’t, yes, but since you completed the task given by the system to you at birth, all restrictions that were placed on you, have been lifted,” said Seneschal.
“Restrictions from the system? What the sparks are you talking about?” asked Arson. Seneschal sighed heavily and Arson got the feeling the man rolled his eyes at him.
“Your Overlay, is the mind of Uni-Vare, the collection of all knowledge known to creation, yes, that is a simplified version of this explanation, and yes, I will teach you more about these matters if you allow for me to,” said Seneschal. All of the information Arson received was more than a boy his age should have, but much of it only expanded his understanding, rather than being new. Not that he truly believed a single word the man said to him.
“Allow, you say that as if I am already in charge of you?” The man looked away and Arson got the odd sense that what he’d said may actually be true.
“Not exactly…”
“Ok, then explain dude. I’m not the type to have entire conversations with weird men on rooftops for fun,” said Arson. The sigh that came from the man was even more exaggerated than the last.
“I have followed all of your siblings for a period of time, and you know what none of them did that you have,” asked Seneschal. Arson shook his head and gestured for the man to continue.
“None of them knew I was shadowing them. Honestly, even your stepmother the queen still occasionally struggles to sense my presence, but when I approached you just now, you knew I was coming, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did, felt like you have been following me for almost a whole season now, but there is nothing special about that, your mana makes my skin itch, I think,” said Arson. He’d assumed that it was foreign mana that disrupted his senses, and confirmed it when Seneschal both nodded and laughed at his comment.
“That is probably because you also have been poisoned by darkness as I have, any Cultivator with similar mana types will cause different reactions in your body naturally,” stated Seneschal. Arson didn’t like how much the man knew about him, but realized he’d been followed for weeks and hadn’t slept with the exception being the few times he knocked himself out through a Cultivation practice.
“So, what’s in it for me?”
“Other than the almost unrivaled training I can offer you in espionage and stealth craft, there are a lot of perks that come with my service that I can only admit I offer, after we’ve formed a contract.” Arson didn’t like how the man put an emphasis on the word contract, but feared very little when it came to oaths made by Cultivators and their Overlays. Besides, Xani would check any document for nefarious details before Arson would sign his soul away accidentally.
“I’m also trying to find a grandmaster gadgeteer, would you be able to help with something like that?”
“Why yes, I would,” said Seneschal with an even larger smile. Arson immediately began to contemplate the choice and even managed to scan over the e-document’s summary page before he sent it over to Xani to look over.
The girl was shocked by what she read and began to spam text his holo-watch. The responses from his rival made him laugh for the first time in days.
“What the sparks are you bothering me with now?”
“Ooh, what is this now…” Arson wondered if Xani gave half of her attention to reading his message, and her given responses. Only to realize Xani could split her attention almost 12 fold at her current state of development.
“You know this is an updated slave contract, right?” Arson frowned at the message, then glanced at Seneschal before Xani rapidly fired even more details.
“Arson, where are you right now? Never mind, don’t answer that. I’m sending Khalif!” Arson’s eyes went wide at her reaction, but Seneschal still stood with a smile.
“What is a slave contract? Are you trying to make me your slave?”
“No, young master, I am offering myself as your own, and there is nothing more concrete than a slave contract, with this you will never have to worry about being betrayed by me or any of my own,” explained Seneschal. Arson nodded, then continued to read Xani’s messages.
“Hmmm, I don’t know if this is good or bad, but are you trying to get an elder demon or ancient immortal to become your slave?” Arson tried not to be shocked by Xani’s text, but the more he read, the more he wondered if he should proceed any further with his father’s… butler?
He wondered what kind of people his father would have serve him, as his mother didn’t seem to have anyone close to her. With him being the only exception.
I guess it makes sense that powerful people are most likely surrounded by potentially as powerful entities…
“I have Khalif and three other teams nearby, just give me the word and we will try and extract you, boss. otherwise, this contract seems way to good to be true, even I would have trouble declining it, boss,” mumbled Arson while he read. He quickly responded with an affirmative, before he walked over to Seneschal. Arson extended his hand and the man extended his own gloved fist. They fist bumped, and Arson accepted the contract, only for Seneschal to take a knee in the next breath.
“My lord, how shall we begin,” said Seneschal. Arson laughed and nodded to himself. His mind begun to work correctly after being completely distracted by the man… or demon in front of him.
“Give me a moment,” said Arson as his mind calmed enough to split his attention three ways for the first time since he’d interacted with the 11 Purities.
“Well, now that I have your allegiance, tell me about my brothers and sisters.”