Ocilia POV

Starring at the white ceiling and thinking about what happened, my whole body felt euphoria.

After I woke up, I was in a state where I could not believe what had happened and that I had actually persuaded Master!

The one problem left I needed to solve was much more doable than allowing me to decide the punishment for Lepto.

Turning my head to the left, I saw how the sun went down. It was already evening, which meant I was unconscious for the whole day, 'I hope my family doesn't think I was disciplined...'

Being reminded of what happened, my high went away as I recalled the glowing golden eyes and the endless bloodlust that went through every cell in my body...

I hugged myself and rammed my fingernails into my arms. Did I ever feel something like this before? It was like death itself looked into my eyes, absent of anything resembling the Master I knew of...

Comparing this to my brother's murderous intent is like comparing an ant to a tiger, 'Was he really that infuriated?'

I thought that Master was peaceful and a bit cocky, but I now know that he can be different... very different...

The magic he showed almost killed the soldier... I never imagined that you could use magic like this? I knew of it since he trained it passively day and night.

Is this why he wants me to train my thread skill, as he knows of methods how I could use it? This will be great, but there is no need to think about it now. There is even no knowing if he even keeps me around and dedicates the same time as before...

Do I regret what I did? No, not even a bit but thinking of Master, I suddenly felt how a shiver ran through my spine as I remembered the roar he let out. When I heard it, I lost consciousness for a second before I could forcefully get it together for a short time, 'I don't want to imagine if this was directed at me...'

But what happened, happened, and I need now to decide on the punishment... and if it is not sufficient, Master will personally do it...

Inhaling and Exhaling strongly, I stood up, trying to relax as much as possible. Even now, I could feel how my upper eyes throbbed out of anxiety and stress, "*huuuuuuuuuuuh*... let's go."

*clank*

Opening the door to my room, I saw my father standing and probably waiting for me. There was no usual coldness on his face but only worry and concern.

His hand moved rough but fast,

I nodded and smiled slightly, "Where is Mother? I have good news."

He nodded back, and I followed him to the dining room where Mother was sitting and sewing, hands full of scratches and punctures.

A small voice escaped me, "Mom..."

She tilted her head in my direction, stood up, and walked toward me. Without the slightest hesitation, she *slapped* me. Eyes full of tears, she screamed, "YOU IDIOT! I HEARD EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID!"

Dad simply leaned against the wall, clearly knowing not to interfere with Mom, as she probably needed to let all of her pent-up stress out.

Inhaling and exhaling, she walked before me, from the front to the back and the other way around. Glancing at me repeatedly, one part of her eyes were red and the other blue, 'This will be complicated.'

I wanted to say something, but before my mouth opened, she started yelling at me again...

This continued for the following hours. Mom even screamed at Dad about why he didn't get angry at me.

I treasure my parents, but sometimes I wish I could skip some parts and discuss what I should propose to Master as punishment for Lepto, which would only happen hours later, at best.

...

...

...

*****

Salyna POV

Taking my cup with lightly shaking hands and drinking the delicious tea our Estate imported from some island in the south was the only thing that could calm me down after what had occurred a couple of hours ago.

Mr. Alexander almost killed one of our elite soldiers, with magic no less and without incarnations or runes, 'This needs to stay a close secret as much as possible. I don't know anything about magic, but using it like this should be unusual...'

The Lady's voice sounded in my ears, sad and cheery at the same time, "What do you think?"

I put the teacup down and looked into her tired eyes, "If you excuse my uneducated opinion, Mr. Alexander is like a mirror image of the Lord. The roar had the same raw and ferocious energy, which reflected his personality."

She nodded and looked towards the window, "He is. There is no doubt..."

I frowned and looked down, stroking and lightly scratching my nails, "This is not good. Can we not bring him to the Temple or Cathedral after his legacy? So he could learn how to control it?"

The Lady answered almost instantly, "No, Kairo only could control it through the Temple after being there for 30 years and only because I promised him my hand. Going by Alex's personality and temper, he would rather burn a place down that wants to hold him metaphorically in chains, that I am sure of..."

She sighed heavily, "...and for the Cathedral... maybe, but we need to see. I have hope that since he is a mage, he will invest more in his Spirit attribute than Kairo at his youth..."

I took another sip, thinking everything through. This roar was the same as the Lords, but it could be some accident... no, he has an ancient Beast-kin bloodline, which is terrible.

Mr. Alexander can easily let his feelings take over and boost his physical strength. Still, he will stop thinking clearly and is ready to kill everything around him, losing all of his rationales, but we don't know how this affects mages and have only the Lord as a reference.

When the Lord was young, he went on a campaign as a soldier, and the Lady was the General at that time.

It was a test for the Lady, and she lost till that point every battle they went into, till the Lord suggested to send him to the very front, alone.

He and some archers, who covered him, went alone into the enemy rows. The story of this battle depicted how dozens of soldiers fell to the ground, dead or unconscious, with every roar he let out.

As he reached the enemy backline, he ripped the General's head off, crushing the enemy's morale and thus, ending that battle. Still, his rage held till the following day, hunting enemy troops in all possible animal forms, murdering them, even after they gave up.

This was the main problem with this "ancient bloodline," it was basically suicidal.

The minor skirmishes ended after this on the west front for a while, but a wonderful love story started, 'Ah, How enviable.'

The Lord and Lady started meeting each other, and one thing led to another during their mating season, and they fell in love.

With the Lord's action, the Lady was promoted to a genius tactician, and he was known as a "Devil" for everyone who went against the Leonandras.

Later, he fled towards a Temple in the west, after killing off some Nobles in his rage and staying there for 30 years, trying to control it.

The Lady waited for him all this time and exchanged with the Lord letters, which we can read at the library, 'What a lovely couple.'

Luckily, the Lady paid a hefty coin, so the Lord would not be persecuted anymore.

Now Mr. Alexander has the same problem, only without the perks. Since he is a mage, this "rage" can be seen as contra-productive... I think?

Do we even have Literature about any Mages or Scholars in our library? I think there should...

My thoughts were interrupted by the Lady, "We need to tell him. Go to Aro, and he can tell him everything tomorrow. Right now, he needs some rest."

I nodded, agreeing with her.

I watched out the window and saw how the sun slowly went down, 'What a seemingly long day.'

*****

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Alexander POV

{The next day}

I don't know why, but I hate more and more all of our public rooms like the tea room where I am right now.

I was talking with Aro about my bloodline. The more I heard, the more I thought I had some cheat ability, but after ten minutes, all I heard was that I get suicidal and attack everything if I get somewhat emotional, 'Jesus, all I wanted was a cheat ability, but no, I get a fucking bomb belt...'

Interrupting my thoughts, I heard Aro's seriousness, "Do you understand Mr. Alexander?"

I sighed heavily, ruffling my hair, "So, what you say, is that I am royally fucked if I lose my shit?"

Aro frowned but understood for once why I cursed and nodded without commenting further.

However, he started with a history lesson, "It was actually an honor, in the past, to have a connection to an ancient Beast-kin bloodline, but it all changed long ago..."

His wings changed colors constantly, representing how happy he was talking about it, "...at that time, it was beneficial and a lifesaver for many, since we had many wars till we formed Mal-Gil..."

He was ecstatic as he wildly gesticulated with his hands, "...being able to go into a rage and take as many enemy soldiers with you as possible was a god-sent ability, especially in a time where we were enslaved through the whole continent... but right now..."

His wings were becoming more colorless, and he heavily sighed, "...it is seen as a curse since it is now useless as we learn more and more about Skills and unlock more potential through it... also thanks to you, Mr. Alexander... we have more use for living Beast-kin than for the ones which go for a suicidal attack..."

He let his head hang, and didn't look into my eyes, obviously feeling bad for me, 'Indeed, royally fucked, but what if I can somehow control it? It is a fascinating ability...'

I *clapped* my hands and stood up, "Thanks, Aro, and don't worry, I will meditate more, and since I overcame Dad's [Mana Fear] Skill, I can obviously also do the same for this inherent curse..."

I started walking towards the office and waved him to me, "...forget about it. I will just train and learn more about it later on. Not like I can change anything immediately."

He instantly stood up with glittering eyes and wings, reenergized, "Yes, Mr. Alexander!"

...

*tap*tap*tap*

*clanck*crrrrr*cruuuu*boom*

I need a new door...

From the side came Aro, instantly taking the door which fell down out of my way, "Don't worry, Mr. Alexander! We will repair it as fast as possible!"

Going inside, my whole office was in shambles. All my research was all around the place. Some insects crawled around happily and ate the plants inside my office, 'This is at least cleaner than my old student dorm.'

I was not angry or anything, "Don't worry, just grab some of my servants so you can start cleaning up... also, kill every insect and use them as fertilizer and get me a couple hundred new ones."

He bowed down and went away while I stood inside this chaos and looked for all of my research.

While I looked around, I felt very rejuvenated, 'Does this mean that my outburst yesterday somehow refreshed me?'

Does this bloodline react to stress? Do I need a better work-life balance or beat the shit out of some soldiers once a week? Either way, I can try and see how it is.

Maybe this is why Dad had so many problems? It is usually expected when you learn of such news that you do everything to avoid anything that has to do with fighting since it is where this rage would most likely come out.

Is this why Dad always wants to go on campaigns? Never mind, I can talk with him in a couple of weeks when he is back.

My thoughts were interrupted by insects that saw my research as a meal, 'I need to clean up at least a bit.'

Using Mana, I concentrated it on the air around my papers which were lying on the ground, and slowly collected them into one pile.

The principle was easy since I trained my Mana like a maniac every second of my day. Picking up a cup and drinking out of it with your hands? Try Mana... which went horribly wrong, by the way, 'I learned my lecture by burning myself.'

As I controlled my spells yesterday, it was nothing logical, as the heat of the moment overcame me, where I forced the Mana, which caused the particles to do my bidding.

Usually, I would lead them gently to do what I wanted, 'Is this the difference between being in rage and not?'

Mana has no rhyme or reason for me. It has some logic but is also irrational under my system of rules. It is at the same time like a living being and not. Something you can actually use objectively and makes it harder to use wholly subjectively, 'It sounds crazy, but how can you describe this fucking paradox?'

The concept of what I wanted to do could be cut into small parts, repeated till it was easy and quick to do: create pressurized air, spin it, push it, and it will accelerate basically by itself.

I trained everything by itself and only needed to put it together in the end.

The fire itself was easy as well to create. Oxygen, temperature, and hydrogen. This sounds insane, but it is as straightforward as before.

Take the water in the air, let the molecules vibrate, and thus generate heat as they move faster and faster. Next, take all the hydrogens in the air and what was produced by the vibration. Compress it with Oxygen, and you have a floating fire, as the heat should already be there.

I was actually playing with it before mom knocked as I wanted to use it for experimentations, 'This spell did cost me 1/3 of my Mana, but I could at least knock Maurice away with it. It became so much more hungry for Mana if I force it.'

What was more fascinating is that the more precise you are with your commands, the more accurate the attack and the Mana you use will be reduced.

Take this pile of papers as an example: If I abstractly imagine how they will stack onto each other, my mana cost will be, hypothetically, four to five Mana per paper stacked.

Using chemistry and physics to explain the movement of the paper and how exactly I want it to move - the reduction will go down to two to three Mana per paper.

If I also use a stack algorithm to explain how it should be stacked and organized, my Mana will be reduced to two or fewer Mana per paper, and so on.

This is all pure hypothetical since there are infinite variables that can influence Mana consumption immensely.

Does it mean that Mana is what you imagine? No, I can't create, for example, medication, even if I knew the exact formula.

There is some underlying law for how it acts, if I could find it, I could create a Perpetuum mobile with Mana, and there would be no hunger or thirst... could there be a death cure?

Mana is everything but...

A cheery and happy voice sounded behind me, interrupting me out of my thoughts, "Mr. Alexander!"

I turned around and saw my new sparring partner, "Marcus, was it?"

His tail stopped wagging, and his ears flopped down, "No... it is Maurice..."

I giggled and waved my hand, "Calm down. You saw what happened yesterday. I am also not perfect, hehe."

He nodded and came closer, kneeling down and looking at the floor, saluting, "Mr. Alexander, I came today to present myself before you and continue the ceremony from yesterday."

I tilted my head and scratched it, "What do you mean with con..."

Before I could end my sentence, I saw before me a System window.

[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kiruschka/kiruschka.github.io/main/Chapter_15_Part_2/Maurice.svg]

If the picture is not showing, please open the spoiler:

[https://github.com/kiruschka/kiruschka.github.io/blob/main/Chapter_15_Part_2/Maurice_Plan_B.jpg?raw=true]

He is the real deal, a Tier 2 Wolf-kin with a specialization for Mace-Arts. I ignored the window and looked closer at him, 'So, he is my Protector.'

He looked good but had scars all over his face with long brown hair, the face of a 20-year-old, and clear blue eyes.

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, annoyed by the work which stood before me, "Close your window. You will eat what I say from tomorrow onwards and train how I say it. You will regret it, but you will be stronger after a year. Immensely stronger. What do you say?"

He looked up into my eyes and flinched a bit before nodding.

I went back to look for my research, "Good, I will take you to heights, something you only heard in fairy tales about. Forget about Knights. You will be the Angel of death."

Why do I want him to make stronger? I don't know but isn't this exciting? He will be a Demon, and he can then protect everything I love... I can't be everywhere, so he will be in my place... I also need to train Lia when she is back.

From behind, I heard Maurice's excited voice, "Yes, Mr. Alexander!"

Suddenly I smelled Aro, all of my Maids, and Lia, 'I thought she needed a couple of days to recuperate and think about this little insect... nothing against the Butterfly- and Spider-kin, though.'

*tap*tap*tap*

As they walked into the office, they all had a face that screamed to run away as fast as possible from this mess, 'Well, they had a somewhat easy job with being my Servants till now.'

I *clapped* my hands and, with a smile, ordered them, "Hello, my lovely Maids, today you will have a lot to do. One, kill all insects as my experiment was kinda interrupted and made them into fertilizer. Two, all of my research paper, needs to be collected, and three, I want everything cleaned and what is broken thrown away...."

I glanced at Aro, "You will go and get some Artisans, so they will make me and Lia new furniture..."

I looked at everyone again, "Everyone got it?"

They nodded, obviously not really happy, but what can you do? I need this shit cleaned up, and I will obviously not be the one to do it... even though I was the reason for this chaos.

I nodded back, "Good! Now, Lia... we have a lot to do. Come with me."

*tap*tap*tap*

*clank*

I like the art room. Filled to the brim with photorealistic naturalistic art, which resembled the work of Schischkin and Rembrandt.

My heart is more toward impressionism, but if I see beautiful art, I simply need to admire it, even though it is slanted in depicting us as positively as possible.

I glanced at Lia, how she walked silently behind me, her hands on the side, fiddling with her fingers, clenching and unclenching them.

There was no need to observe her, as I could smell how nervous she was. Being a Wolf-kin has some nice perks, as you can memorize all the different scents and organize them.

But some things I can't even smell since she looked beaten up with bruises on her face, 'I will ask her later about it.'

Turning around, in the middle of this massive room, where all my ancestors watched and judged me, here I would decide how I follow my Noble line.

Whatever the punishment is, it can set a precedent for future ones and for actions committed toward Lia.

I stared at her, hands behind my back, and even though I was much smaller, the arrogance I had, coming from a specific skill, was immense as I looked down on basically anyone.

She looked now back into my eyes and solemnly gave me her decision, "The punishment will be that he will be banned from the estate for the next years, and then he will only be allowed to visit it once a month..."

She bit her lower lip, almost faltering on her following words, "...his muscles will be..."

I interrupted her, "Stop, this is enough. The Leonandra don't need more homeless people, slaves, or cripples. Let him sign a Mana contract, so he is not allowed to hurt you. This is enough if he is kept out from the Estate. What happens next, we will see."

Lia suddenly kneeled and banged her head against the floor, crying, "Thank you so much, Master!"

I inwardly clicked my tongue, "Stand up. Take today off and come back tomorrow."

No other words were exchanged, and I could see how happy she was and how she looked at me like she would start to worship me any second.

*tap*tap*tap*

*clank*

This is mental. I alone decided the fate of a young man without even hearing him out, 'This system needs to die...'

If Mom didn't stop me, I would probably already have killed him, 'My whims are the law, and I am an idiot.'

But what about others? Let's say that I am somewhat merciful. What about Nobles, who will behead anyone who looks funny.

I was ready to decapitate someone who tried to kill my apprentice. Was he really deserving death? In this current societal frame, the answer is a clear yes.

But do I really want to be like them? Do I need to be like them? There needs to be a golden middle ground.

I collected my Mana and created a fist-sized blue ball resembling a planet floating before me and spinning, 'Now I get it. The system we fought for was not perfect... but it was much better than what I have here...'

Even worse... strength actually matters. I shaped a hand out of the wind and crushed with it the blue ball, which flowed down, 'Politics doesn't work if you actually have so much power that you can overpower whole armies by yourself...'

I need ideas, but this process will require time and practice. Walking out, I looked the last time around, taking my ancestors in and smirking, 'Well, I will be the last Aristocrat this world ever saw with some luck.'