“… Where am I?” I asked aloud as my eyes fluttered open, the light coming from the windows causing me to squint. I heard a rustling from the bedside and turned my gaze towards the noise, which led me to stare in the teary eyes of my older sister Lynette.
“Seth! You’re awake!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to do a massive divebomb towards me, only to be stopped by Stefan who held her back with his arm, gaze narrowing at Lynette.
“Careful sister, he is still recovering,” he said before lowering his arm down once Lynette calmed down.
“I- yes… Of course, sorry for that outburst, Seth,” she apologized with a bow, but still settled with grasping my tiny hand in hers, an action which Stefan condoned with a stoic nod.
He may look emotionless, but beneath all that indifferent exterior, I knew he was worried about us.
“It’s alright,” I replied and lifted my upper body from the comfy bed. This caused my siblings to overreact and tried to stop me, but I held up my hand at them with a smile, “I’m fine, where’s Lyra?”
Their faces grew solemn, Lynette even more so, causing my eyes to widen. “Is she…?”
“No, she’s alive…” she quickly cut me off before continuing, “it’s just…”
“She’s suffered too much physical injuries to be healed quickly,” Stefan stated bluntly, hoping to get the news out in the open before Lynette could change the subject.
“Stefan!”
“No, he needs to know this,” he returned with a frown. “For a child, he is pretty mature, so he can handle it… probably…”
Those last words were barely a whisper, but I heard it loud and clear, and by looking at Lynette’s face, so did she. Lynette wanted to refute him, but I stopped her before she could and hopped out of bed.
“Seth! You’re supposed to be resting!” Lynette all but pleaded, but I ignored her in favor of doing moves that a weak and recovering person couldn’t do.
“I’m fine, see,” I gestured towards my body, “but Lyra isn’t. I need to see her, and you both also need to see her.”
But something was wrong with this situation. My older siblings are here, but our parents weren’t. Hell, not even one of our parents was present when one of their children needed them the most. I narrowed my eyes at the two before opening my mouth.
“Where is Lyra?” this got the both of them to stiffen, “well…? They left the estate, didn’t they?”
“… For a child, you are very perceptive,” Stefan dryly chuckled as his stoic mask came off. “Yes, they left towards the city, looking for a doctor to treat Lyra’s injuries.”
“… They do know that’s a bad move, right?” I asked with a hint of uncertainty. Both of them had confused faces on them, and I had to facepalm.
“What do you mean bad move? They’re looking for a healer to heal our sister!” Lynette all but made an outburst, eyes glaring at me like scum.
“… Oh shit…” Stefan briefly stated once he had an idea where I was going. Lynette who was still too angry to notice was about to tear me into two, but was hindered by Stefan yet again.
“Not like you to curse, brother,” I said with mirth laced in my voice. He glared at me and I promptly shut up. Damn my dark humor…
“Lynette, remember when Lyra had that… episode a few months back?” Stefan asked with a bit of fear at recollecting the terrifying memory. Lynette snapped out of her anger and recalled the time when Lyra went out of control.
“… Oh shit…” she came to the same conclusion that Stefan and I did, and both of them promptly looked at me.
“… We need to go… like, right now,” Lynette said with all of her seriousness, her studies and education paying off. Stefan nodded in agreement, while I chuckled in amusement.
Seriously, it was just a 4.5 magnitude earthquake. The buildings are even reinforced with magic in this world! It would take at least a 7 to damage this estate. Was it because there were too few earthquakes here? Eh, probably…
Shit, I’m going on a tangent again… Focus…
“Call for a maid,” Lynette asked while Stefan nodded. He then knocked the door, prompting one of the maids to open the door and enter.
“You called, Young Master?” the maid who was a blonde woman in her mid-30’s asked professionally.
“Yes, call for a carriage, tell Mother and Father that their children wishes to accompany them at the latest,” Stefan declared with a gaze so serious, the maid had to blink twice to make sure that this was the real Stefan.
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“May I ask why?” the maid inquired. Not because of curiosity, but because of protocol.
“You remember the… incident a few months ago, right?”
“… Ah…” and there she is, trembling like a leaf, glancing at me for a second. “As you wish, Young Master.”
And just like that, she went out of the room and began to do her job.
“Alright, Seth, you need to change,” Lynette said, an impish smile on her lips, “we can’t have you running around the city like that. It is unbefitting of the Earl’s children to wear rags in public.”
Oh no… I shivered at the horrifying fate life has given me. Stefan walked outside of the room, not intent on possibly being a target of our sister’s… tendencies.
“No, we’re running out of time,” I returned a little bit too quickly, but I wanted her gone, now. “So if you please, I need my privacy for changing.”
“Not happening, Sethsamm.”
Oh well, I tried…
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
30 minutes later (after being subjected to Lynette’s dress up show), we found ourselves inside one of our standard carriages our family has. The three of us were perfectly intent on taking the trip peacefully, just to save out brain cells at the upcoming carnage if ever Lyra awakened before we got there.
The trip was relatively peaceful without anything going in. I savored the peace since once Lyra is back to tip top shape, I won’t be holding back anymore. I took a quick check at my status to see if there was anything I missed.
Name: Sethsamm Colinus
Title: N/A
Age: 4 Male Human
Level: 17
Class: Rogue = 1
Job: Thief = 17
HP: 250 / 250
MP: 700 / 700
SP: 300 / 300
HP Regen: 22 /min
MP Regen: 71 /min
SP Regen: 27 /min
EXP: 1690 / 1700
Str: 37 = 12
Vit: 20 = 6
End: 24 = 8
Agi: 95 = 49
Dex: 75 = 33
Int: 63 = 24
Wis: 43 = 17
Luck: 35 = 35
Alright, so far so good. My status is finally coming along well. Now all I need is to get rid of the Toddler buff, then I can be stronger than I am currently. The next thing I did was check the new items I got from completing the quest for escaping that hellhole.
Mask of Ungiff – Mask of the demon known as Ungiff who was known to perfectly sense the area round him without any flaws.
Durability = 150/150 : Defense = 85
Special Abilities:
#1: Sense Area – Wearing this mask gives the user the capability to passively sense the area around him perfectly. Range is equal to a 100 meter radius.
#2: Shrouded Face – Wearing this mask makes the user’s face unrecognizable.
#3: Terrify – Wearing this mask intimidates others who stare at your face.
#4: Key-chain – Can shrink it to a size of a key-chain, and enlarge it back to its original size.
Cloak of Sotryon – Cloak of the demon known as Sotryon who was known to stalk the night in search for human flesh.
Durability = 200/200 : Defense = 125
Special Abilities:
#1: Stealth (Passive) – Wearing this cloak grants the user to use [Stealth]. If the user already has the skill, removes the SP cost instead.
#2: Shrouded Body – Wearing this cloak makes the user’s body unrecognizable and wispy like, causing [Stealth] to boost its performance by two-fold.
#3: Terrify – Wearing this cloak intimidates other who stares at your body.
#4: Darkness Prevails – When worn under the cover of night, increase effectiveness of all Rogue abilities by 300% (does not include passive effects).
These items… are perfect for me. Although I have no chance of using it as I am now since I’m still a child, this could give me a huge advantage when I grow older, or when fighting someone. While I was busy thinking up ways on how to use my new items, the guard carriage stopped, causing all three of us to tense.
Stefan opened the window towards where the coach sat and asked, “What’s seems to be the problem?”
“Oh, nothing urgent, just some monsters wandering in. No worries, the knights will end them swiftly, then we can continue with our journey.”
“I see, thank you for the clarifications,” with that, Stefan closed the window slider and proceeded to doze off. Typical Stefan, always finding the time to sleep. Lynette however, was busy admiring her nails and gown. Typical princess girl stuff.
The carriage once again moved on, while I pondered on what to do with my items. Specifically, the Dungeon Tracker. When I opened it once when no one was looking, I saw a dungeon close to the estate about a few minute walk from there. The dungeon was particularly low-leveled, what with it being a goblin nest, but the problem was not the difficulty, nor my weakness.
No, the problem lies wherein I cannot simply vanish from the estate. It would cause too much trouble, for me and my family. But right now, after experiencing the darkness of what this world wants to offer, I’d rather risk some minor chaos and spilling some secrets just to get ahead of everyone else.
I need strength, and I need more of it if I want to protect those I care about, and protect the one thing that keeps me happy, my new family.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
Fast forward a few minutes later and the carriage once again stopped, but this time, the hustle and bustle of the city were clearly evident from the sounds coming from outside.
“Young Masters and Young Lady, we have arrived,” the coachman declared as the horses trotted to a halt. The door opened with a guard holding it open for us with a stoic face. All business and no play.
The three of us exited the carriage, garnering the attention of the commoners, but they then went on with their lives. Good, I was sweating a bit at the attention. I may be used to crowds due to performing in my past life, but I am at my core introverted, and a somewhat social outcast.
We stepped before a huge gate which led towards a giant building made of marble, bricks, and wood. On the porch of said building, our mother Susane waited for us with a gentle smile.
“Greetings mother, I assume you have been notified of the current situation?” Stefan asked with confidence, as what a heir should do. Mother gave him a beaming smile, satisfied at his education on bearing.
“Yes, we have,” she replied with a frown, “Sethsamm, I suggest we hurry along now, we don’t want to have to pay for the damages it would cause.”
“Yes, mother,” I returned as we walked in silence. Lynette a bit anxious being around mother since she had magic training with her. And judging from her complaints about it in the past, I can say that mother is an absolute drill instructor when teaching.
The four of us stopped when we reached a specific door, leading towards a room so clean, it would’ve been impossible to check for germs in the bathroom.
By the way, there was indoor plumbing here, so I’m glad this was a thing before I got reincarnated here. It would’ve been very, VERY, uncomfortable wiping my shit with leaves found in the forest filled with carnivorous monsters.
Inside the room, the familiar imposing figure of father was sitting on a chair beside the bed where Lyra was currently resting. She was wrapped in bandages, it almost looked like she was a mummy. Just how badly was she hurt during that… incident.
Ah shit, forget about that. It’s in the past, focus on the present and the future. Make plans to make sure it won’t happen again. I’ll be damned if it really happened again.
“Ah, you’re all here,” father said in a deep, gruff voice, eyes staring at Lyra’s unconscious body. “Good, come here, all of you, we have something to discuss.”
“Particularly you, Sethsamm. Have you heard of the name who orchestrated that attempted kidnapping?”
His gaze washed upon me like a bucket of cold water. My hair stood on its end and I stiffened up. Apparently, the sentiment was shared by all us siblings.
“Dear, you’re scaring them,” Susane chastised him with a lighthearted slap behind his head, causing him to wince in mockery. “Besides, shouldn’t that topic be tackled during, I don’t know, somewhere more private? Without any surveillance?”
Susane eyed around the room, glancing at the areas where there was a high probability of there being some type of real-time relay magic or recording magic.
“Ah, forgive me,” he replied weakly. “It’s just… our babies almost died… As a father, this hits my pride, and much more, my soul and heart.”
“I understand you, dear,” Susane returned as she wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to comfort him, which the three of us siblings decided to share. “When we get our hands on the bastard that did this, he’ll be wishing for death.”
Ignoring that comment about possible torture, the 5 of us continues our group hug, until the bed rustled and Lyra’s eyes opened.