Character Information - Who is who?

Because I have created quite a variety of characters, I will now create little cheat sheets before a chapter for the characters who will appear in the chapter, but not for those who haven't. Please open the spoiler if you need some reminders. (Be careful, it can be a spoiler for the chapter!)

Alexander K. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)

* Transmigrated from the Earth and the MC

* The fourth child of the current Leonandra household

* Golden eyes

* Snow-white fur and hair color

Anastasia I. Ramputt (Bunny-kin)

* MC's private teacher

* Specialized in teaching, philosophy, history, and politics

* Blue eyes

* Black fur and hair color

...

"It is so annoying!"

"Alex, can you stop scratching? You are not some farmer with lice all around the fur! This behavior is not becoming of a great mind!"

Alexander was scratching himself under the new collar he got. It was the lowest version of the advanced version and had a much stronger interference toward his mana skills than the last one.

However, even though this one was much stronger, it was much preferable to what his family had, which made him almost puke the instant he put it on.

The collar he was now wearing was from the Cold-Snout household. However, they sent not just some of their anti-mana collars to him but also various other products for him to check if there were any master codes or backdoors.

They sent a whole caravan full of their stuff and added a lot of presents, including an array of various anti-mana collars. All of them were cool mana items that Alexander wanted to check out.

His mother didn't have any of it and took almost all of them away, fearing he would become reckless and start experimenting. He needed to admit it was a good call since it was precisely what he wanted to do.

She would also only allow him to test mana items with some oversight. However, for some weird reason, she also took away some paintings with girls on them they had sent to him. He didn't care but was nonetheless interested in what it was all about.

Yet, his biggest problem right now was something very different. He was told that the collars were of excellent quality, but for some reason, the material scratched his baby's smooth skin and made him irate, 'I swear, whoever is the damn artificer, I will find him and throw him in a sulfuric acid bath!'

Anastasia frowned and came over, holding Alexander's hands, "Listen here, Alex! I also need to teach you etiquette, and if one of my students enters the noble society, I don't want my name to be associated with someone who can't hold it in!"

Alexanders frowned and nodded to her, stopping his scratching. However, he immediately tried to conjure a small ice contraption to cool the itch, 'Is this part of the damn defensive mechanism of the collar, actually? Oh, this would be fucking genius and evil.'

Anastasia returned to her desk and looked sternly at Alexander, who tried to conjure a contraption with difficulties. This she could identify as he lost part of his smell. She said nothing about that since it was fine if he didn't appear undignified. She decided that it would become part of the lesson today.

"Alex, why do you think we look strongly at how we express ourselves?"

Alexander looked at her and answered without much thought, "Because we have nothing better to do and want to look better than commoners by creating arbitrary rules."

He was obviously not a big fan of this charadé but understood the need to follow it. However, he was annoyed and became snarky as he couldn't conjure the ice contraption while the itch annoyed him.

Anastasia put one leg over the other and smirked at him, and her bunny ears slightly twitched, "Remember how you talked about leadership, which I am researching, by the way, so wait a bit. However, if you want to lead, you need to show dignity, and what do you think does it mean?"

He looked at her and calmed slightly since he now had a small ice cube inside his collar, "I get the whole shebang. I must come over as regal to whom the subjects, or whoever I lead, can revert."

She smiled at him, "You are absolutely right, but there are also other points. People of the same class would rather interact with someone who is less competent but looks like they are. We don't live in a meritocracy, and even the most knowledgable will have many problems if they don't follow certain decorums, even if they are geniuses."

Alexander sighed, knowing this already as it was not much different than on Earth. There were many cases where geniuses were ostracized because they were weird. But there were smaller pockets where it was much more acceptable, like the whole start-up scene, where it only came down to their idea and skills.

He knew it because he had a side gig in a start-up and quit after a month as they followed the Silicon Valley style to a tee. Some people there were obnoxious, and he couldn't work with them. This thought made him much more open to learning the noble's conduct since he didn't want to be like that one guy.

"Fine, I get it. So, do I now learn some dances?"

Anastasia chuckled, "Hehe, not at all. Since we need to go through our next system window lesson, I will include the etiquette part there."

"So, we will only talk about [Charisma] today?"

She shook her index finger, "Not at all, but what do you think is a noble's other most important attribute? It is not only [Charisma]."

Alexander's ears started to twitch slightly as it became interesting. However, after some thought, he had no idea what it could be since he never attended a noble ball, but he guessed nonetheless, "[Luck]? This is only a guess, though."

Anastasia smiled at him and clapped her hands, "Good! [Luck] is truly a noble's best friend, but do you know what it does?"

Alexander frowned, "I already thought a long time before what the attributes actually do, but there was no real information, and I got only conflicting opinions about them."

She nodded, "It is impossible to figure it out exactly. Still, there are whole libraries that tried to pinpoint the exact uses..." She made a so-so gesture, "...they were fine, in my opinion."

Alexander's ears straightened slightly when he heard that whole libraries were only about attributes. He loved nothing more than to go to a university and read through everything, even if the information were slightly off. It would be much better than reading how his seventh grandmother used her [Charisma] attribute to tame a demon.

She wrote that the demon became her pet, but by asking his mother, she told him it wasn't true. The author, his seventh grandmother, beat the shit out of a demon and chained it up at the estate. This, she called taming.

Anastasia threw a chalk at Alexander, who was again deep in his thoughts, "Hey! I get paid a ton of gold to teach you! Be a little more attentive!"

Alexander woke up and showed his hands in a sign of peace, "ok, sorry, sorry! However, you didn't tell me about [Luck] and how it works?"

She relaxed and nodded toward him, "Sure. So, [Luck] is described as it can change one's destiny. Maybe you get sick on exactly the day an assassination happens at a ball? [Luck]. Maybe you accidentally pour some wine on the one you love, and she takes it with humor because she is already a little drunk? [Luck]."

He looked at her like she was a moron, 'Does she know what she is saying?! This is insane! If I invest everything in [Luck], I will become invincible.'

However, she busted his bubble pretty fast, "This will obviously not make you invincible..." she smirked at him, "...I can read your little malicious face, Alex. It will strengthen you differently."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

She nodded, "You see, different attribute classes function differently. Special attributes strengthen your natural [Luck] and [Charisma] differently than standard attributes. We already talked about the energies, so there is no need to go through them again."

"Gotcha, so what is the difference between special and standard attributes, and how do they actually strengthen one?"

Anastasia shrugged, "Well, today we will only talk about the special attributes and how they strengthen your innate aura..." she smirked at him slightly, "...patience is also a great skill to learn, Alex."

This made Alexander annoyed. He wished it was more like in his college days when the professors would throw at him half a dozen theory books per semester and tell him to learn them. While he obviously had some problems, he would prefer it to now. Anastasia tried to be more practical in her lessons and combine real-life situations with the system.

It was a good method for a teacher and especially for Alexander, which common sense needed to be cultivated more thoroughly. Even though he understood it clearly, he nonetheless disliked going through it more slowly.

After a moment in thought, she continued, bringing Alexander back to the real world, "We know that [Charisma] only enhances one's natural aura. Are you cute? Mad? Authoritative? The more [Free Stat Points] you put into it, the more your natural aura will be enhanced... just look at your brother, and you will see that he is a natural in this case."

Alexander listened intently till she said he had a hot brother, which brought him out of his thought process, 'Don't know what to think about it... should I warn him? I warn him later to be careful around Ana.'

She continued while sauntering before the blackboard, "However, if you suddenly decide to put a lot of points into something like [Strength], which will bulk you up heavily, your aura changes also significantly. If you, let's say, was a cutie, [Charisma] might now enhance other factors."

Alexander raised a question, "So how does one determine and work toward the specific aura you talked about?"

She shrugged, "It is complicated since too many variables operate differently. We also have skills that heavily influence our being, and these enhance certain aspects. For example, I heard you found an interesting skill: [Fitness], which strengthens the physique. Thus, [Strength] will, in this case, work as a multiplier or addend and further strengthen you. Thus, your natural aura would change, and through this, [Charisma] may enhance other aspects of your most prominent aura..."

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Alexander leaned back, and it reminded him of certain subjects in school, like Geography. One minor change would create a domino effect which could change a whole biome. In this case, skills, attributes, and one's being were this biome.

He looked at her and asked, while his tail waggled in joy, "Ok, is there any information about how it is weighted for [Charisma]?"

She stopped and sighed, "No and yes, but rather no. There were a lot of tests with which scholars, myself included, wanted to determine this exact question, but the system seems fickle. At the free cities, my research group had a test subject. It was a human dressed in a cute dress with a strong aura that gave off his cuteness. We tested when it would change when we started training him and increased his physique to get away from the generalized picture of what is considered cute..."

She started to show her biceps and do ridiculous poses, "He became buff, hairy, and less cute by the day. However, his aura, even though weakened, never changed. We couldn't determine how the system weighted it, but what we did find out..."

Alexander ended her sentence, knowing how groundbreaking it was, "That the inner feeling of oneself determined which aura one had."

Anastasia clapped and smiled at Alexander, "Very good! It was quite the find..." She smiled more condescendingly, "...all the other scholars who didn't deduce this were really angry, hehe."

She waved her hand in dismissal, "However, we did more tests and could reproduce the results. Obviously, it was from race to race and class to class very different."

Alexander suddenly remembered her previous statement, "Doesn't this mean that a being with a strong perception of oneself, nothing could change the aura, and thus [Charisma] would be not so fickle?"

She nodded, "Good point, but please do not forget that skills are also an important factor in determining one's own perception. While it was possible to replicate our findings, the moment someone acquired very contradictory skills to their aura, it reversed. However, those were exceptions to the rule."

Anastasia became a little annoyed when she thought about her research, "There were also a lot of other exceptions, like if one was a so-called..." She made air quotes with her hands, "...a normal commoner, it was effortless to change their aura, while others who had already a strong aura, were much harder to change. It seemed that the further away it was from the norm, the harder it was to change the aura."

After seconds of thought and many twitches of her bunny ears, she ranted, "But what does norm actually mean? What if the first subject was like everyone else? Would it mean that he would be easier to change then, but this would also mean that the system was not something individual but also oriented itself on the populace of all sentient beings..."

She inhaled and became louder, "...and this was all proven! The beast-kin [Divinity Line] and [Mystic Skills] rarities describe exactly that! So, does the system also changes the aura depending on the norm? It is..."

Alexander asked her, confused, "Is your aura, not something more intrinsic than skills or attributes in that sense? Like we had the lesson with the stacking of the increase of attributes? Wouldn't it explain it well?"

Bam!

Alexander reeled his ears back when Anastasia hit the desk with her open palm and became more exasperated, "You would think so, right?! But no! If this was the case, why would the populace with an aura much more general to their overall being be so much easier to change than the other way around?!"

She looked at him sternly and exasperated while Alexander became a little nervous, "Ehm, I don't know, teach?"

Anastasia looked around and chuckled, "Hehe, sorry about that. Got on a little tangent. However, there are more factors, tests, and so on which we did and only find out that someone with an aura that normally wouldn't fit was much harder to change."

Alexander carefully tried to answer, "Maybe if one had from the beginning a certain aura and if society tried to ostracize them because they were weird or so, maybe they became much more determined internally to hold to this identity?..."

He became more thoughtful and tried to find examples, "It could also be that the past and the influences the individual went through could be a reason? If you got raped because you looked cute end even got told by the perpetrator, you change almost immediately after such a terrible event. However, changing the individual back to having a cute aura would probably be impossible."

Anastasia became silent briefly and smiled toward Alexander, "This sounds like a good hypothesis... I will write my colleagues and ask them if we asked about their past, but I think we didn't..."

It was silent for minutes while Anastasia went through her whole study design in her head. Alexander didn't want to interrupt her thoughts, so he waited and trained a bit his mana skills.

...

10 minutes later

Anastasia suddenly said something bringing Alexander out of his zone while he tried to use a spell, making him fail, "Oh, I am so sorry, Alex! This was actually a good idea! I want to ask you something if it is fine with you?"

Alexander nodded toward her, knowing where this would go.

"Well..." she came close and sat down on his desk while looking at him lovingly and smiling as softly as she could, "...I need a little favor from you."

He didn't answer but looked at her as she straightened herself and pushed her bosom to the front while licking her lips. His tail stopped waggling immediately, 'Please, Jesus almighty, let her ask me for a questionnaire or some ideas, not what it actually looks like.'

Her voice became more seductive, which was even more amplified since they spoke in Nocir, a much more melodious language, "Would you please write down all your thoughts on this subject? I would truly appreciate it."

Alexander sighed in relief, "Sure thing... can you please move? I feel a bit... let's say pressed."

Her breasts were mere centimeters away from him, and he didn't like it at all.

At first, she was a little confused, but after she got what she wanted, she stood up and smiled at him, "Thank you very much! You are like a gust of fresh air; maybe your name will be too on the research!"

He nodded, not caring about such things, and asked, "How is it now? Are we done?"

She became slightly surprised, forgetting the time, "Oh, don't worry, Alex. We are almost done..." She looked at her pocket watch and saw that the lesson was almost over, "...with today's lesson."

After the little sidetrack, Alexander thought now more about investing in [Charisma] since having a stronger aura was vital to interpersonal communications and shouldn't be disregarded just because it made one not stronger. However, with [Luck], he wasn't so sure since it was a literal roll of the dice. He would need to think more about it and wait for the next system lesson.

He shrugged, "Well, I thought [Charisma] or [Luck] was useless. But if it enhances your aura? However, I would rather invest in other attributes like [Intelligence] since mana is my strength."

Anastasia clicked her tongue inwardly since they had no time because she lost control and ranted, "I will explain more in the next lesson and show you that investing everything in one attribute isn't so good. Nonetheless, [Charisma] and [Luck] will be vital for your standing later. If a faux pas happens to you, such skills could prevent worse or play it off as something naturally charming..."

She frowned suddenly, "You can't imagine how many ladies are out there who are not better than pigs on high heels but very popular because of their [Charisma] or avoid repeatedly difficult situations because of their [Luck] attribute."

"I understand, but isn't it counterproductive to put so much into such useless attributes? Not like a charming smile can save someone from an arrow to the head?"

Since Alexander was born into this world, his whole family, besides Narsiz, followed a path of more power. He wasn't also acquainted with how someone with a strong charismatic aura could influence him. Again, his brother was his brother, and the aura he gave off to him seemed charming but nothing more. He knew, though, that many maids looked at him longer than needed.

Aura in itself was also weird. On Earth, people were also charismatic and had a certain aura around them, which could give off certain vibes, but in this world, it could become tangible, like his killing intent.

Alexander was brought back out of his thoughts when Anastasia laughed loudly at his opinion, "Hahaha, this is exactly what happened!..."

She looked at him more and more like he was a little treasure, "...this is why I need your help. You think outside the box and have such great and unorthodox ideas!"

Alexander only stared at her and didn't say anything. On the outside, he seemed a little cold and disinterested, but inwardly he needed to hold back not to blush because of the compliments she gave.

She cleared her throat and continued, "Ahem! However, do you have any idea how many vixens are out there? One counts son once avoided getting his head cut off..." she air quoted, "...with his smile toward his mother... well, little to say, he was her favorite in more than one way."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "Incest? Wait... please don't tell me..."

Anastasia smiled at him, "What? Do you think your family is an exception? Well..." She thought for a moment to be entirely sure, "...you are different since you are lower nobility and have more leeway, and the best example would be your father, the lord, and a druid at that..."

She showed her index finger, "Nonetheless, usually, nobles have only a small pool from which they can choose their husband or wife, especially the females have enormous problems since they make around 60-70% of the nobility as males just get birthed less and it is not only a canine-kin problem."

"Isn't a harem the best answer? I heard the Cold-Snout family to the north is basically a giant orgy."

Anastasia chuckled, "Hehe, that is true, but nobody wants a harem. The male will have to deal with opposing factions from his harem, while the females will have to push their children to the top. For example, I am such a case as my mother was my father's first wife. It was hellish, to say the least."

Even though he knew the answer, Alexander asked bluntly, "Was?"

Anastasia nodded while leaning on the desk, "She was assassinated, which is the true reality of such things. This is why the ideal is to have one wife. With this, such stupid conflicts will not occur, and if nobody is available, many choose to marry their siblings or cousins."

In Alexander's thought, he already knew this, but it was nonetheless ridiculous to think about. Everything was about power in some way, and it seemed that his mother was a big exception as she somehow made it happen to marry his father.

He remembered something, "Wait? What about high demons, certain kinds of nature-dweller, or night elves who are similar to us? Can't we intermingle with their nobility? We are in an alliance, and such bonds would strengthen us, right?"

She shook her head, "Nope, you by ignorance blessed puppy. While beast-kin are very promiscuous, nature-weller are not as they may reproduce once in a century, and the exceptions are..." She shrugged, "...well, exceptions, and since we rule already over their territory, all we could gain would be the temple, which will never leave their control."

She continued, "The same goes for night elves who are very tribalistic, and marrying their equivalent to nobility would ostracize them, so there is no way anyone relevant will marry outside."

Alexander tapped the table and tried not to scream at them about their stupidity. It was all unreasonable from his perspective, and he couldn't even imagine what would happen when the opposing forces became neutral.

It seemed that night elves were more or less forced into this alliance, while the nature dweller kind of were ambivalent since they had great political power through their religious means.

However, he noticed that she had forgotten one race, "What about the high demons? Aren't we in an alliance too?"

She swirled her head slightly from side to side before answering, clearly showing that the situation on their side was much more complicated, "Saying that we are in an alliance with them is a stretch. Their whole territory is littered with hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller kingdoms, formed by the sub-races. The emperor who reigns supreme over them does that by pure force, and even with that, it is chaotic beyond belief as the borders change monthly."

"Ok? Are we in an alliance with the imperial family or..."

"Yes, and a lot of smaller kingdoms inside the empire. This is also why etiquette and manners are so important since they are mostly the same. This is also the reason why you need to learn them if you want to go outside your fief."

Alexander mumbled in frustration, "Yeah, if I leave this golden cage at last."

She twitched slightly with her bunny ears, "I heard you..." and waved at him in dismissal, "...just wait for a couple of years."

Alexander leaned back while his tone became annoyed, "But a couple of years is too long!"

Anastasia rolled her eyes at her student, "Calm down..." She suddenly remembered something, "...by the way, since we are mostly done with the system lessons, and you have become pretty good at speaking Nocir, we will make a hard cut after the next lesson and get into another topic while using another language."

Alexander tilted his head, "Yeah... so? Aren't we jumping pretty much topics already?"

She shook her head, "Not really jumping, but aside from learning the human language, Loi, we will also start with law and more concrete politics and put the philosophical, ethical, and historical a little more to the back."

Alexander was offended, "Is it because of the little accident? You are all too sensitive."

Anastasia raised an eyebrow and had a small smirk on her face, "The lady didn't tell me why I should teach you that, but looking at that ball of ink and the collar for weaker war mages around your neck makes me think that it wasn't a small accident and that your mother tries everything to get you occupied so you don't go around and do your..." she air quoted, "...little accidents."

Anastasia would never accept that someone gave her any directions on how to teach her students, but she made an exception since her student was excellent. In her mind, she could go through the rough outline of any relevant laws and regulations in three to four weeks, and it would be enough.

Before Alexander could say more in defense, she looked at her pocket watch again, "Nevermind all that. Now have fun with Green..." She smirked slightly, "...she seemed very distressed and happy simultaneously in the last weeks, so be sensitive, hehe."