A few days later saw Solis on the training field along with some knights of the family. He had spent the past few days learning basic spells.

‘Well, not really learning in my case.’

His teacher was satisfied with the ‘progress’ he had been making, though he was reluctant to give praise.

“Young master, are you ready to begin your training?” The knight instructor asked. He was a tall man who looked like he never dropped his sword. He had a stern looking face, brown eyes and greying brown hair he kept short. He went by just Bellfast, and was one of the orphans picked up by the grand duchy to be lifelong servants.

Today was the day that he was going to start his sword training, which would segway into training his aura. Though Solis himself had a more solid base as a tier 3 chi apprentice, nobody knew that. In order to sense chi, you have to know what to look for. For those who don't know how it feels, chi has to be outwardly expressed and powerful before it can be perceived.

“Let’s begin.” I replied.

I walked over to the rack and selected the practice sword. It was a one handed straight sword that I had to use two hands to carry and I picked it up and went back to my place in front of the instructor. What followed was several hours of the basic stances of swordsmanship, followed by some body conditioning. By the time I was done, it was approaching night time and my whole body felt sore.

‘This is quite enjoyable isn't it?’

My previous iterations had mastered so many different forms of martial arts across realities that this just seemed benal to me. But it had been some time since I’ve picked up a weapon and just honed it to a sharp precision, then mastered it to the extreme possibility of that world. And while I know exactly what to do to get where I need to be, I don’t have the muscle memory developed yet, so this would be fun. After training, I went back to my room.

‘This just won’t do, I’m too sore to concentrate on anything. Might as well try that out.’

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During my last iteration in this reality, I was a researcher who liked to find new and interesting things while messing around with different spells. One of those things I found is how to grow muscles efficiently after a strenuous workout using spellwork. I took the basic healing spell formula and reworked it from the ground up specifically for this purpose. I went over to the couch in my room and assumed a comfortable position and centered my mind. Being what I am, I had long ago developed a sort of pseudo photographic memory by always having my mind in order, so this was easy. I recalled the spell matrix in its entirety, pictured the formula in my mind and added mana to that formula. A magical circle appeared in front of me and I directed the spell’s effect towards myself.

‘Ah, that’s the spot.’

The effect was immediate. I felt a pleasant hum as my muscle fibres built upon themselves. It took all of five minutes for me to be good as new. I needed to prepare, tonight we were all expected to have dinner with father in order to welcome back my older brother who just finished his first year at the academy. I took a quick bath and made myself presentable, then waited on my couch with a good book. It didn’t take long for a servant to come get me.

As I entered the dining room, I took all of them, my ‘family’, in. The first wife, Estelle nee Stark. She was from a powerful duchy that was a stand alone territory before it got conquered by the empire. They were allowed to keep the duke title, but as a concession had to marry one of their daughters to the high nobility of the empire. She was a beautiful woman with midnight dark hair and eyes a vivid shade of purple.

She had two children with the grand duke. Avenelle, Twelve, had the hair of his mother but the eyes of his father. He was a 2 circle magician, tier 1 aura apprentice and he was the one we were to celebrate. Her other child is Alvina, nine, hair the same shade as spun gold and a vivid purple for eyes. She is often referred to as the flower of the duchy for her beauty. What she has in looks, she loses out in talent as she is only a tier 1 magician and nothing else.

The second wife, Marianna, was a tier 4 adventurer before she married. She is a beauty that has white hair and eyes a bright pink shade. From her came Leila, 10, with white hair and blue eyes. She is a tier 1 aura user and 1 circle magician. Following her are the twins, Fabian and Gidion.

The concubine is Vivian. She was a prostitute who got pregnant by the grand duke so she was brought in to be a part of the household. She has bright red hair, blue eyes and looks like sin incarnate. She birthed Zakary, eight, who has red hair and blue eyes. He is a 1 circle magician who doesn't take his training too seriously and mostly likes to play around. Her second child is Camilla, six. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and is a 1 circle magician.

I came in and took my designated seat at the table, listening to the idle chatter before the duce came in.

“All rise for the duke.” He’s here.