Thomas woke up stiffly, the pain in his back already having receded. He stretched tentatively to test his flexibility almost assured that the blistering aches from the previous day would return. None did. As if hearing the rustling of sheets, a knock came to the door. "My Lord, your bath has been prepared. Please head to the bathroom to wash at your convenience." The maid could be heard walking away, her job complete and moving on to the next task.
Thomas got up and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. Disrobing, Thomas sank into the still warm water and began to review the gains from yesterday.
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Name: Thomas
Age: 15
Level 7: 85/1600
Health: 45/50
Mana: 100/100
Stage: 1st Circle Mage
Mana absorption rate: 5 mana/min
Breathing technique: Lazy Dragon Monarch
Bloodline: Gold Dragon Monarch
Strength: 7
Agility: 6
INT: 9
Charisma: 3
Wisdom: 5
SP:0
Free attributes: 4 (unlocked following the formation of his mana core)
Abilities: Appraisal
Description: Ability to analyze any person or thing within 2 levels of your power band. ex: you can view up to 3rd circle mages but are unable to view 3rd circle and beyond.
Store: Unlocked
Skills:
Fireball Lvl 1 (85% progress)- DMG: 100 (adjusted depending on natural defenses/resistance)
Casts a fireball....that's pretty much it
Mission List Updated:
1. Generate your own wealth, start a business.
Select a business you would like to start and secure the necessary resources.
Reward: 1000exp
2. Select one of the betrothals incoming
Reward: 50 exp
3. Establish yourself in your barony and improve your standing in the eyes of your residents.
Reward: 100 exp, 10sp
4. Begin the hunt- start clearing some of the forest of monsters
Reward: Exp provided on kill, higher tier kills may also provide additional rewards (this mission will remain until the forest is cleared of monsters)
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***Ding: Mission Updated-
Clear out the bandits from the northern side of the town.
Reward: 2000 xp, 10sp
***Ding: Mission Cleared***
Thomas scratched his head. A mission popping up and then auto-clearing? This sounded way too convenient. System, what's going on? How did I clear a mission without knowing the mission was up? Are there any other missions you failed to mention that I might have already finished?
***Host, calm down. This mission was not displayed because you said you wanted to focus on the townspeople themselves first. A member of your party cleared this mission for you, so you also get credit for clearing it. Which give how this will affect the town also results in the following.
***Ding: Mission cleared***
Establish yourself in your barony and raise your standing in the eyes of your residents.
By clearing the bandits out of the northern sector, you have ushered in an unprecedented peace in the city. Thomas felt a headache coming on but also gratitude on having the missions complete. He had anticipated that his soap would raise his standing to his people and the surrounding areas but that would have taken time.
System, you said a member of my party did this?
***Yes, Host. Someone you formed a close enough connection with can be counted as a member of your party. Since you didn't set any parameters, it was auto-accepted.***
In the future ask me before just adding people.
***Order confirmed.***
Name: Thomas
Age: 15
Level 8: 585/3200
System, time to assign the stats. With the level up, I should have 5. Add 3 to Charisma, 1 to Intelligence, and 1 to Strength.
***Understood Host***
Name: Thomas
Age: 15
Level 7: 85/1600
Health: 45/50
Mana: 100/100
Stage: 1st Circle Mage
Mana absorption rate: 5 mana/min
Breathing technique: Lazy Dragon Monarch
Bloodline: Gold Dragon Monarch
Strength: 8
Agility: 6
INT: 10
Charisma: 6
Wisdom: 5
SP:10
Free attributes: 0 (unlocked following the formation of his mana core)
Abilities: Appraisal
Description: Ability to analyze any person or thing within 2 levels of your power band. ex: you can view up to 3rd circle mages but are unable to view 3rd circle and beyond.
Store: Unlocked
Skills:
Fireball Lvl 1 (85% progress)- DMG: 120 (adjusted depending on natural defenses/resistance)
***Ding: Host has passed 10 INT, Host now has the title "Beloved by Mana"
Beloved by Mana: Spells will deal a 20% damage bonus, stacked every ten levels. Additionally, mastering spells will have significant boosts to proficiency on casts. Proficiency percentages will grow with gains proportional to Intelligence.
Party Members: Seraphina von Kaizer
This is the party member who completed eliminating the bandits? How did she do it?
***Host, ask her yourself.***
Before he could ask the system what it meant, there was a brief knock before the door opened. Covering himself below the water, he was face to face with Seraphina; a Cheshire grin plastered on her face. "Good morning, Thomas! I thought I would take the liberty of bathing my husband."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Thomas exclaimed. He was not sure what was "normal" in this empire but he for sure was not about to bathe with a 16 year old royal. Chris Hansen might have dimension traveling abilities and he was not about to take that chance. "Just wait for me in the living room, I will be with you shortly."
"Fine, but do hurry up. I traveled all this way to see you and I expect to get my fill of your company." The door shutting behind her gave Thomas a brief reprieve but he got dressed in record time knowing that doors were irrelevant barriers to her.
Taking a seat on the sofa opposite to the end Seraphina sat on, Thomas began.
"I hardly know you, you know. I don't know your favorite color or your favorite activity for leisure. I feel like we're skipping several steps." Thomas mumbled, the awkward feeling permeating the air was suffocating. "You never asked, silly. To answer your inquiry, my favorite color is blue and I like talking to people. Not in the court sense, everyone there lies. I like talking to the average villagers. For the most part, they don't lie to you. There are those that are out for themselves but it's a much better ratio than in the nobility."
"Present company excluded, right?" Thomas interjected.
"I'm undecided on that. I feel like you have your share of secrets. While you haven't lied to me that I know of, you certainly are not honest with me yet. I'm not admonishing you, I just want you to know that I'm here for you. No one else and nothing else. Money? I already have it. Status? It's already mine. I had shown up to your birthday party ready to dissolve the marriage proposal if I didn't like you but then I saw your eyes."
"Love at first sight?" Thomas couldn't help himself. He wasn't fishing but now his curiosity peaked on her motivations.
"No silly, your eyes looked at me. You didn't look at a relative of the royal family, a rich heiress, or even a young lady. You saw a person and I cannot tell you how rare that is. It may seem like a flimsy reason to follow you all the way out here but I have decided to see where our journey goes. Please don't look down on me following what I know can provide me the happiest life."
Thomas was quiet for a minute, processing the information that he had just received. He had thought she was simply a young lady unused to being told "no" and just getting what she wanted. While that may not necessarily be too far from the truth, the reality was that she saw his as different from other potential suitors.
"I think we keep the betrothal for 3 years. The year we turn 18, if you still want to, let's plan the ceremony. I want to create a city that you can be proud to show off to your family and should trouble follow me, I don't want to tie you down to a sinking ship. Also, if your feelings change I don't want you beholden to a promise. Just tell me honestly your feelings and communicate."
"I agree to those terms, Thomas." Seraphina responded as soon as he had finished, reveling in the fact that he had given her what she wanted. She was now engaged and she would work to have him not want it any other way.
"My Lord," the head butler's voice came from the doorway, "there is a young Ms. Alice from House Aragorn and a Ms. Lorilei of House Magnus requesting an audience with you. Shall I show them in?"
"Send them away!" Seraphina shouted, upset that her single day was interrupted already.
"Sera, come on. We can't leave them outside." Thomas corrected, a slight smile on his face. "Please show them in."
"Understood, my Lord."
"Sera while we have a few more moments, I do have a few questions. How did you clear out the bandits in the northern sector of the town?"
"Oh you found out about that already? hehehe, I merely asked them to leave. After they said no, I sent in the knights." she responded as though this was the logical conclusion.
"Knights? What knights?" Thomas was utterly confused. He had guards but no one that qualified as knights. Knights had a minimum requirement of Lvl 2 aura and had the beginnings of sword intent in their blades. They were a significant upgrade to the common guard and well beyond Thomas' capabilities.
"The knights I brought of course. Why do you think it took me so long to get here? I brought 100 knights with me. They are currently staying in the lodgings formerly occupied by the bandits. Also, they had around 1,000 gold pieces on them. It's already been turned over to the estate for you to spend as you need. I assumed it was money gathered from the people anyways."
Thomas was feeling a bit overwhelmed at this maelstrom of a lady as the door leading into their living room opened.
"THOMAS! We're here!" Two voices shouted in sync, ensuring that he had truly entered a new stage in his journey.