Walking out of his room, Feyrith headed out to the vast corridors of the house. Ever spanning, doors upon doors lining the hallways. Although the halls were large and spacious, they also felt eerily empty. Barren, not a single piece of décor in sight.
Walking down the hallway, his footsteps thudding on the ground, Feyrith navigated his way toward the mansion’s dining hall. As he made his way through the mansion’s lower floors, he began to get a better feel for the building.
For one, the first floor was actually occupied, locks and seals placed on the rickety-looking wooden doors. A lab area, or so he assumed. Walking further down, he spotted a door nicer looking than the rest, the door’s frame still in good condition. The study. Noting its location in his mind, Feyrith continued walking. That wasn’t his goal after all.
Finally, making his way to a grand set of stairways, wrapped around, and leading to the common area, Feyrith let out a sigh. How much longer do I have to walk to get some food?
Grrr.
He could hear his stomach grumble a bit, a pang of hunger hitting him. Shaking his head to get rid of any thoughts, Feyrith continued walking, resuming his journey toward the dining hall. It just showed how wealthy the individual who owned this house was. The one and only, Sylvia Aridelle, and speak of the devil.
“Good morning, mother.” Upon reaching the dining hall, Feyrith gave a respectful bow and greeted Sylvia. Just by instinct, his body had immediately got into noble mode upon seeing her. He walked over to the dining table and took a seat opposite of her, tucking in.
“Morning Fey, you better now?” Sylvia replied with a wry smile. Feyrith nodded at her question and turned to his meal. Though she asked a perfectly innocent, and in some cases, kind question, every single fibre of Feyrith’s being told him not to reply. Simply trusting his instincts, he nodded and grunted, his eyes pointed down at the tablecloth.
Sylvia Aridelle, the tower’s greatest summoner, begrudging noble of the Silverveil kingdom, and his loving mother. Her clothes had changed, from the blue robe she wore earlier, to a more formal looking dress, dyed a dark cyan.
A suit or armour came walking in from the hall’s entrance, its helmet removed to reveal a ghoulish purple mist from inside of it. The suit of armour was carrying a tray fitted with utensils and food, respectfully walking over to Feyrith.
Living armour, spectral spirits that were given a vessel inside of a suit of armour. One of these monsters could kill every single player on the tower’s 1st floor 5 times over, and still have enough power to regenerate itself to full condition. In a word, this monster was terrifying. Just as Feyrith was thinking this, a few more living armours walked into the room, each of them carrying a separate tray.
When he tried to recall why such a powerful monster was acting like a servant, he dug up a memory from his past. He had been 6 and Sylvia had hired maids to help around in the mansion. 3 days passed, and she had them fired, on accounts of them ‘being incompetent’.
In truth, Sylvia had just found them too difficult to train and simply gave up on doing so. She ended up opting to summon some of the most powerful monsters in the tower, to act as housekeepers. A renowned summoner for sure, but Feyrith couldn’t help feel that his mother’s talent in summoning took away her skills in something. Another one for team anti-social!
Cutlery and plates were placed in front of him, alongside his main breakfast entrée. Feyrith had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten how hungry he was. A bowl of bright orange pumpkin soup was served in front of him, an aromatic, slightly sweet, and savoury smell hitting his nose. Starting to salivate, Feyrith picked up his soup spoon and dug in, the creamy and luxurious soup thoroughly coating every inch of his mouth. Savouring each and every spoonful in the middle of him eating, Feyrith snuck a peak of Sylvia.
She was currently tinkering with an artificial artifact, otherwise known as arcane implements, man-made magical items powered by mana. Sparks and flames flew from her side of the table, an explosion seemingly occurring once every second. Multiple spell circles were in the air, all of them meant to augment the tinkering process to make it easier. How Feyrith wished he could be her right now, his mouth watering more at the artifact than it was from the delicious food in front of him.
A part of him was also glad that she was busy with the implements. Bless his ears, heart, and soul. Finishing up his breakfast, Feyrith placed down his utensils, the living armours cleaning up after him. As the plates were taken away, he spotted a slight mischievous glint in Sylvia’s pupils, her eyes momentarily turned from the magic implement. Damn it.
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More explosions and mini-fires, until finally, Sylvia placed down the arcane implement, the magic circles around her disappearing. She had a satisfied smile on her face, staring at the implement like it was her pride and joy. Feyrith’s eyes also scanned the implement. He didn’t understand a single part of it, but he was sure of something, it was special.
“So, Fey.” Sylvia’s sudden voice caused him to jump a bit from shock before then returning to normal. He turned away from the arcane implement and faced Sylvia. “How are magic studies?”
“They are well, mother.” He replied. Why the sudden interest in his magical abilities?
Now that he thought about it, what were his magical abilities?
He understood what she meant and how he was supposed to activate it, chants, and mana, but he didn’t know how to do either of those things. Focusing in on his body, he felt his mana circuit completely dormant. When he racked his mind, he couldn’t remember how to use a single spell. How odd. He hoped that Sylvia wasn’t going to suddenly test his magic, or he was in a word, doomed.
Luckily for Feyrith, at his reply, Sylvia simply nodded with a small smile. Odd. Then her expression took on a much more ominous and mischievous look, Feyrith gulping just from looking at it.
There was a good reason why he always hesitated to say that Sylvia was a loving mother, and the reason was this. Since he was young, one of his mother’s favourite pastimes was to tease him, and she did this a lot. You would have thought she ought to have stopped by now, but no. It had only grown more rampant the older he got; the more Sylvia discovered what exactly ticked him off. It was like an art form to her. He didn’t mind it that much, but still, something meant to piss him off certainly did its job very well.
Whenever his mother made this expression, Feyrith knew that she was going to go into teasing mode, hence the reason he didn’t reply to her when she first greeted him.
Feyrith raised his fingers so one of the living armours would fetch him a drink. He was preparing to be here for the long run, and without anything to distract him, he wasn’t sure he would survive. Clasping the cup of water in his hand, Feyrith braced himself for the hellstorm. That never ended up coming.
“Hm, very well then.” Sylvia spoke with a satisfied expression, her head bobbing up and down. Wait, what? Why was his mother suddenly acting happy, and what was with that look of approval?
“Oh yes, Fey, I have some business to take care of before I head to the palace. Do you mind going ahead while I take care of it?” Sylvia spoke.
“Of course, mother.” He spoke with a firm tone at his mother’s sudden words, his eyes brimming with confidence. He had said it on a whim, to reassure his mother that he could be entrusted with such a simple task. A survival instinct, maybe, to protect him from being called out on his indecision. “My coming-of-age ceremony was last year. I’m technically an adult now so you can trust me in completing such tasks.”
As he finished talking, Feyrith felt a chill run down his spine. He instantly regretted speaking so grandly, bringing his glass of water up to his mouth in hopes of passing by Sylvia’s next few sentences.
“You’re right, how could I forget something that happened so recently? Silly me.” She paused before widening her smirk. “Say, speaking of being an adult. “
A devious smile was placed upon her face, Feyrith coming to the realisation that he was correct in his suspicions all along.
“I was going to inform you that today’s discussion with the royal family will be about your fiancée.”
As she finished her statement, Feyrith nearly choked, his drink spilling onto his clothes. He was more than shocked by Sylvia’s sudden announcement. He had expected it to be something else, something less like you’re getting married, and more you’re an idiot. He tried to speak but stuttered, and before he could get out a response, Sylvia quickly stood up from her seat.
“It’s getting quite late; I must be on my way.” Sylvia hurriedly said, a wide grin splayed across her face “I’ll be seeing you at the palace, Fey.”
With that, his mother left, disappearing from Feyrith’s sight. He was glued to his seat, his mouth still gaped open. Everything had just happened so fast, too fast. He reeled in shock, a slight migraine building in his head. She can’t be serious, right? Seeing as Sylvia had already left, Feyrith tried his best to regain his cool, standing up from his seat.
“No use in thinking about it now.” He muttered to himself. Organising his thoughts, he made his first order of business a new pair of clothes. Or just to be safe, several.
Walking back toward his room, he peered outside of the window overlooking the town. If he was correct in his thinking, the path to the royal palace should pass a certain spot he had business with.
Why not? Adding that to his list of agendas, Feyrith changed into new clothes, packing another set inside of a brown satchel. Finished with all of business, he walked back down into the common area, heading the opposite direction of the dining hall, to the front door.
Regardless of everything else that had happened this past hour, with every step Feyrith took, excitement and adrenaline coursed through his body. He walked out the front door with bated breaths, anticipation firm on his mind. The 76th floor of the tower was all his to explore for the next few hours, why wouldn’t he, a game addict, be excited? As he laid his eyes on the magnificent horse drawn carriage parked right outside his home, his anticipation only grew.
Let’s get going then.