《Sylaria》 Prologue Prologue - End Have you ever wondered what the afterlife looks like? I have thought about it multiple times but not as much as now, why you ask? Well the answer is pretty simple, what else is there to think when you are at the brink of death? I mean there is your life but my life really isn''t that interesting unless you look at it when I got into college, now that was fun. Playing games all day and procrastinating until the last minute, I mean sure you have to pull all-nightersbut I don''t regret it. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Chapter 1 The Beginning A man could be seen pacing back and forth in front of a door in front of a door in a hurried manner. In the surrounding, many people dressed in butler or maid clothing stood with weird expressions on their faces. Suddenly the door opened and out came an old maid. "Master the girl has been delivered safely. Hearing what the maid said the man rushed into the room and then proceeded to run to the side of a well-adorned bed. On the bed, you could see a beautiful woman looking at a child with a hard to understand gaze. Seeing the women safe and sound with the baby in her hands the man too had a complicated expression and then asked. "What should we name the child?¡± The women then turned her face towards the man and gently smiled and then said. ¡°How about Emilia?¡± ¡°Emilia, ah yes Emilia it has a nice ring to it very well from now on her name will be Emilia Von Pendragon. "
----''Protagonist''s'' pov After Death---- Didn''t I die? I remember dying, rather I am sure I died what is going on? I can''t move, see, smell, or feel anything around me. Wait for the seeing part there is something I can see pure darkness, to be more exact black everywhere. In this scenario, I can only think of a couple of possibilities. 1. I was in the so-called void mentioned in a lot of the light novels I have read. 2. I have gone through reincarnation and the reason behind me not being able to use any of my senses is that my body just isn''t ready, meaning just gotta wait until I/it pops out. 3. The third and the final reason is that this is the afterlife and I didn''t do so hot in my previous life. Why are the two unlikely possibilities higher ranked? Well, can''t you let a man dream? I mean, isn''t it any light novel junkie''s dream to go through reincarnation and end up in a fantasy/xianxia world? Ah, as we are discussing the matter of fantasy/xianxia based worlds I still don''t know if this is a fantasy/ xianxia based world do I? Well, the only way to find out is using the scientific method mumbo jumbo. The simplest way of finding out would probably be using the energy, but that won''t be possible until I can access my body.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I could also try absorbing the energy a that has a chance of being possible. The second approach sounds great but is full of faults, one being I don''t even know if I can absorb the energy, well at least the idea is better than nothing. Mapping the idea out in my head, I try to sense unique energies in my environment. The hard parts of this approach were that I didn''t know what I was looking for and that I couldn''t sense much in the first place. ---- About 2 months later---- I can sense something finally, after what felt like years I finally feel something new. I lock on to the unique energy immediately but don''t try to absorb it as there were several potential demerits to absorbing the energy. The demerits all had to do something with my death while the merits focused on better talent and that the absorption of the energy would give me something to focus on. After thinking everything through I decide to go on with the absorption but as I was about to suck in the energy. "Warning Warning absorption of energy/energies without proper procedure guarantees 90% chance of death" I was startled by the voice of my trusty Al-chip and immediately stopped the absorption of the energy. The A.I.chip''s voice in a way woke me from my crazy stupor and brought me to reality while giving me hope to be able to absorb the energy. I immediately commanded the A.I.chip. "A.I.chip gather the data for this unique energy and inform me of the procedures needed to absorb the energy." "Command initiated, starting calculations to gather information." "A.I.chip approximately how much time is needed to gain information to on the energy and to absorb the energy?" "Gathering data on the new energy will require approximately unknown amount time to find all the secrets that the energy/energies possess, to find information on the way to absorb the energy into the muscle, bones, and organs in current, conditions, on the other hand, will approximately take 6 days." "A.I.chip lower the priority of gathering information to the minimal level and focus on the the way of absorbing the energy." "Very well, lowering priority and starting calculations" ''Hearing'' the A.I.chip say the words lifted a heavy burden off of my chest due to me knowing that I the ''protagonist'' had found my cheat in this world. Chapter 2 Complex choice ----Protagonist''s POV---- I have been patiently waiting for 5 days 23 hours and 53 minutes now according to the A.I. chip. But the last ten minutes have been torture. I mean, who wouldn''t consider floating in nothingness with absolutely nothing to do torture, ah it turned to 54. I don''t remember ever being more impatient in my life. Oh but I am already dead so of course, I won''t remember such a thing in my current life, ah it turned to 55. I sometimes wonder how the A.I. chip communicates with me, how I could ''sense'' the energy. Why do I not wonder about how I could absorb the energy? Well, I never got to try since the Al-chip stopped me, ah it turned to 56. Ah it turned to 57 I sure am happy I made all those changes to the A.I. chip before I died, why? The answer is pretty simple it would have taken about nine days otherwise. There is also that I might not have gotten the unfair advantage otherwise, ah it turned to 58. Ahhh, I don''t have anything to think about now I am too distracted, it turned to 59. Let''s count the last minute, 1 2 3 4..... 58 59 60!!!!!! Why isn''t anything happening???? "A.I. chip why isn''t the method to absorb the energy ready yet" "Host the method itself has been ready for some time now. But there are still some calculations left to make sure there are no ''bad'' side effects for your body." Hearing this I was startled for a second but then I remember the time needed was AROUND six days. "Al-chip about how much time will you need to finish the calculations?" "With the current changes going on with the host''s body and calculations of the side effects, it will take about nine more hours" Hearing what the A.I. chip had to say, I was ready to kill myself. Ah as we are on the topic can I kill myself? Let''s experiment that on that. ---- After about 9 hours---- " Thirteen thousand four hundred and thirty-seven sheep hop over the ba-" "Host the method is ready for use" Suddenly hearing the voice of the A.I. chip and the exciting news that came with it, I woke out of my stupor and immediately ordered the Al-chip. "Transfer the information to my uh... ''conscience'' immediately and make sure it does not affect ''my body'' badly." "Transfering information" As soon as the voice was heard, a huge amount of information rushed into my ''conscience'' causing me to blank out for a second. The huge amount of information was now in my conscience but, I still had to go through it and process everything. "Hahhhh" The sigh wasn''t because of annoyance but rather because of how thankful I was at the moment for a way to get my rusty mind out of the gutter. I immediately started processing the information from the smallest details as this information decided my future. ---After about an hour--- This information was quite annoying to process as there was quite a lot of terms that were annoying to get. One important detail I got through was that me absorbing energy at the current time was quite a cheat, why? Because you can absorb less and less of ''raw elements as you get older and older. How do I know this? Because as I was going over the information the A.I. chip kept upgrading the information and as it went on the amount of ''raw'' element energy I could absorb was getting smaller at a minuscule level every second. This information gets me to another thing it seems that according to the information there will be some side effects if I try to absorb ''raw'' elements that ''my body'' is not compatible with in large amounts.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I immediately tried to absorb the energy as the chip recommended with its help. As I tried to absorb the energy I found it hard to attract the energy towards myself. The attempt led me to a question, was my aptitude to absorb the energy bad? Thinking of this I remembered that sometimes the talent of people in absorbing energies is related to certain things in the soul or the body. I immediately ordered the chip. "A.I. chip scan through my soul and ''my current body'' for structures that can help with absorption of the foreign energy." "Starting scan of host''s body and conscience" After hearing what the A.I. chip had to say I had complicated emotions because the information told that it had access to my so called soul as well. The information also made me wonder what exactly the A.I. chip was, as there was no way a normal chip would come with you as you go through reincarnation if that was what was currently going on. But currently, I could do nothing about it and so far it hadn''tpossedany demerits there wasn''t any reason to go to the crux of the matter at the moment. "A.I. chip how long will the scan need?" "It will take approximately thirty minutes to scan the host''s body and conscience." After hearing the time required I went back to absorbing the energy as I just can''t afford to waste the time I have. My continuous absorption of energy showed me that I absorbed a lot of different kinds of energies. But the one I absorbed the most of seemed to be quite alike to my soul or as the A.I. chip called it my conscience. As I was getting absorbed in my job, I was woken up by the A.I. chip''s message. "Scan complete unique structure found in conscience that may help with absorption of energy." Hearing the A.I. chip''s results I knew I hit the bullseye with my predictions. "A.I. chip how much time will it take to alter the absorption method for peak gains with the addition of the new structure?" "Approximately three days are needed. Shall the operation be started? "Yes, commence the operation." I then went back to my absorption operation. I would really like to know more about this unique energy through because it is quite unique and interesting. I could ask the A.I. chip to present all the data it has gathered so far on it to me, as it can focus on more than just one operation at a time just the amount of time needed for the lower priority operations increases. The problem with the method is that it takes time, that I don''t have, to process all the information. I just don''t have the time because I need to take advantage of the cheat like opportunity presented to me. In this manner, three days pass by in no time. "Host the absorption method has been prepared permission needed for transfer of method " "Permission granted" Why would I create the permission needed thing? The answer is simple I want to be safe when someone takes over the A.I. chip. It is a kind of signal to tell me if an outside influence has taken over the A.I. chip or not. If the A.I. chip doesn''t ask for permission and tries to do something life threatening to me, I would be able to tell it''s being controlled easily. What if the A.I. chip betrays me on its own? That''s not possible anytime soon since the A.I. chip does not contain emotions and is programmed by me to solely work for me. As the information entered my mind I immediately focused on processing through it. --- 10 minutes later--- After processing all the information, I was startled by the new method. If the information was right this method would increase my absorption speed by at least six times. I immediately got to work on the absorption as I simply didn''t have any more time to squander. This time the absorption was much smoother, it was as if the particles of energy were being attracted to me on their own. As I kept absorbing, I noticed that the decrease in absorption of ''raw'' elemental energy was less than before. At this moment I remembered something quite important, what gains would I gain from this? I completely forgot about that in the heat of the moment huh? "A.I. chip what kind of gains will I gain from the current absorption in the future?" "Host will gain a sturdier body, more talent in the growth of your body, a body more attuned with the energy, with the small changes made by the A.I. chip the host''s body will also grow to be more beautiful, and various other changes that calculations suggest to be ''good'' for the future." Hearing what the A.I. chip had to say I was startled as the last part suggested that the freaking chip wasn''t even 100% sure all the changes were good. But as I could do nothing I just sighed and went on with it. --About 37 weeks pass later-- "Danger Danger, creation of foreign conscience detected!" I was forcefully woken out of my absorption stupor due to the call and immediately responded. "A.I. chip send me information of the current situation" Immediately the knowledge rushedinto my mind and for some reason I found it easier and faster to process all the information that was sent to me. Two minutes later I had the gist of the situation but now I had to make a choice. The choices being should I absorb the newly born soul of the person whose body I havehijacked or should I let it stay alive. I simply didn''t know what to do as this was quite a complex choice. Chapter 3 The Past The choice wasn''t complex due to some random pity I had for the soul, but due to the different gains, I got from either choice. One thing I had to make sure of was the energy absorbing structure stayed in my hands, why? So as I have been absorbing energy so far I found something really annoying, the absorption of the energy was getting too slow. So the problem is what''s the energy absorption going to be like by the time my body is completely formed? The reason behind the absorption being so easy and fast so far was due to my body still being formed and because as a baby you suck in all the nutrition from your mom. As my body is practically done being formed it has gotten quite hard to get many results from it. So that brings me to the point of wanting another structure, and as the opportunity is right in front of me I have to go for it. "A.I. chip take over the soul but make sure take everything I can gain out of it." "Calculating time required to make plan three hours and twenty-two minutes" I was startled by this as I thought matters sustaining to souls should''ve been more complex. This also opens the possibility of me gaining more than one of those structures too but I would have to wait for that. Let''s go back to absorbing, I don''t have much time left. ---After 3 hours and 22 minutes--- "Calculations complete, the time required for the operation to take place for peak gain is two years. Permission required, to send data." "Permission granted" The second the permission was granted, a huge amount of information rushed into my conscience. Processing the data took little to no time, and from what I got the chip did not think of outside intervention in the plan. "A.I. chip, make changes to the plan of taking over the soul is not detected by anything including the soul getting taken over!" "Making changes. Changes complete, the time required has been changed to 4 years and various other minor negative consequences have been added. Permission required, to send information." "Permission granted" The information this time was a lot more detailed as it showed all the things the chip would have to do to remain unseen. Processing through the information he finally came upon the minor negative consequences. They all had to do with the merge of a grown ''female'' conscience and a grown ''male'' conscience causing some unstable emotions. This report showed three main things to me. One that I was reincarnated as a female, two I will have to merge with a female soul and lastly that I am F**KED. What is so bad about merging with a female soul as a male? Simple your personality, likings, and sexual preference have a chance of changing. On top of that, the odds go against me due to the lack of hormones women have, this may cause my personality to have a major turn. Luckily there is a way around that, it being I have to mold the personality to be more like mine. This is relatively easy if you take out the sexual preference part, as a girl around four years old will only be fed ''pure'' female to male knowledge. "Haaaahhhh" After sighing I ordered the Al-chip to just proceed with the plan as beggars can''t be choosers, can they? In a way, this might be more helpful than damaging as this can help get over the gender gap and give me some ''experience'' with women. Hey, don''t look at me like that! I admit I wasn''t a lady''s guy in my previous life and have had virtually no experience having to do with ladies but I still know how their bodies work. Okay, I admit that''s sad but you would be the same if you had my background. I mean the only time I actually had time for all that stuff was in college and at the time it was already too late for me. If you grow up as an orphan you don''t really have a chance for any fun. It''s all about getting good grades somehow make money and the best would be to get into a college with this lifestyle. Then I got lucky and got myself an adopting parent. But still, no time for a relationship because I had to take care of my studies, my new dad,and his ''family''. I was really quite good at my studies but what took up most of my time was my dad and his ''family. My dad was a rich person but was forced to enlist in the army due to reasons and the experience caused him to come out ''broken''. But I still loved him, to me he was my savior because without him I would''ve been nothing but more ''fertilizer'' on the side of the street. So what if he punched me here and there and took up a lot of my time he still saved me. But there was one thing I hated about him, he was too soft to his ''family''. The ''family'' got hurt on purpose by him just to come back and get some ''treatment'' money from him. The ''family'' was also the main reason why I got hurt so much.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The thing is that the hate wasn''t one sided as our ''family'' hated me too. They used every opportunity that they could get to try to get me out of the family as they were simply too naive and thought dad didn''t know anything, even I thought that up to a point. The first time and the last time we experienced his knowledge was when ''I stopped'' dad from putting $54,000 into his brother''s business as everybody knew he would most likely then make the excuse of the business flopping to get more money out of my dad. After ''I stopped'' dad two days later I was accused of stealing $10,000 from the ''family earnings'' and immediately brought before dad to be kicked out of the family. I thought I was done for, I mean wouldn''t you? You could see the anger on my dad''s face this was the first time anybody had seen him this angry. Seeing his face like that I shut my eyes for a beating which never came, causing me to open my eyes to the same face as before. But then it happened, he shouted not at me but the ''family''. "ROBERT, JULLIE, EDDY, WALDO GET THE F**K OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!" "I AM SEVERING ALL MY TIES FROM YOU C**K SUCKING B*ST*RDS SO GET THE F**K OUT NOW!" "***** YOU CAN''T DO THIS FOR SOME RANDOM FU**ING CHILD YOU PICKED OFF THE STREET WE ARE YOUR FAMILY" "GET THE F**K OUT NOW YOU UNGRATEFUL SHI**Y B*ST*RDS OR WE MEET IN COURT" This got them running out as they could tell, nothing they say now would change the situation. And this was my first time in my life feeling ''love''. Dad then shut himself in his room and would not come out no matter what. I would have to deliver him food every day but he would barely eat any. In the situation to not think of my circumstance I proceeded to drown myself in novels, studying and games and eventually became a scientist. The day I landed the job might''ve been my third best day in my life if it weren''t for dad not eating a crumb after I announced the news to him. This continued for three days causing me to break into his room only to find him ''sleeping'' on the bed with a smile on his face. "Dad wake up." I shake him a little and proceeded to say "C''mon dad wake up." "C''mon dad this isn''t funny wake up eat some food." The situation had already dawned on me ages ago but I was just too desperate at the time. "DAD DAD, PLEASE WAKE UP C''MON DAD" I then proceeded to cry my eyes out hugging my dad''s dead body. The next day I held a funeral with invites sent to the ''family''. But I was startled when they actually came. Their appearance couldn''t be described as anything but ragged. They simply looked like hobos but what got me extremely angry at the time was that they were smiling and immediately I knew why they even came. They had their sights on the money from dad''s will. The suspicion was then proved by the coming of my dad''s lawyer as he wasn''t invited. I immediately wanted to punch them and kick them out but I couldn''t because I knew dad wouldn''t want that. After the burial took place they immediately rushed to the lawyer for the will only to be shut down and asked to come to his office for the proceeding. I knew the lawyer quite well as he was a really close friend of dad''s, also the only person allowed in dad''s room when dad shut himself in it, and like an uncle to me. But I knew he wouldn''t change my dad''s will if even if I asked him to take the money himself. Because he was dad''s close friend and he would never go against my father''s will. We then proceeded to go to his office, why me? I simply wanted the house, I could make money myself but the precious memories in the house couldn''t be replaced. When we got outside his office which couldn''t really be described as his office because he worked with multiple others. Then he led us to a wide hallway intersection in the middle of the various ''rooms''. When I looked around the intersection I found that there were various guards present by the walls. He then proceeded to list the will. "Waldo will be given $700 and stocks worth $400" "Robert will-" He was immediately cut off with Waldo shouting at him while being held back by guards. "WHAT''S THE MEANING OF THIS ****** ARE YOU HOARDING MY PART OF THE WILL? YOU B*ST*RD I WILL SUE YOU!!!" And then the others started to chime in as they got where this was going. "YOU BASTARD SO YOU''RE GOING TO DO THIS SH*T HUH AND ***** THOUGHT OF YOU AS A FRIEND!" Before the others could chime into the berating ****** immediately said. "Very well then all the items on the will, will be delivered to your guys'' houses by tomorrow."<******> And then he proceeded to order the guards. Escort the gentlemen outside please"<******> He then looked towards me. "**** according to your father''s will you will have access to all the remaining things that he has left behind. As the things will take some time to be delivered to your resident you can come by anytime to my office to make sure everything is in place." At the moment I was extremely startled with what had taken place so his words woke me out of my stupor, causing me to not know what to say. I then proceeded to walk to my house in a stupor. As for the ''family'' they were too busy cussing at the guards outside to think I got anything from the will at all. I never heard from then again. And then the rest of my life is just boring old me no drama no nothing. Ah, what was I talking about before I got off the topic again? Rather who am I talking to again? Well, whatever let''s go back to absorbing the energy again. Chapter 4 Being born "A.I. chip do something to improve the absorption method." "Sorry, host the request can not be granted due to lack of information. "A.I. chip what exactly do you need to gain the information required? "Ideally an experiment of energy reaction with a body." It seems I have encountered a major problem. I can barely absorb any energy at all anymore. At first, I thought it would be ok because the A.I. chip would be able to create another method but I guess it''s not possible without enough information. Why can''t my body be used for the experiment? Are you stupid, why would I put myself in danger''s way after barely getting a second life? Now I can only wish my family is some kind of big shot in this world. So I can get my hands on an absorption method. What if I get a method that doesn''t match to my soul and physique? Simple, I will have the Al-chip suck the information out of the manual and make it create a better one. There is one thing I have yet to decide, though. Do I become a knight, warlock or a mage? I mean it will depend on the world I go to but I will have to make this choice eventually right? I want to go the warlock route due to the advantages I have, as for skills using the Al-chip could help with that. But being too reliant on the A.I. chip can be bad for future, so I was thinking of only relying on it for life and death situations and training. How will it help with training? The training for the knight part would be pretty simple. I can look at how the knights, warriors or whoever battle, analyze it and then copy the most effective technique used. Then there''s the tricky part, the mage training. I simply have no knowledge of how to do it. For now, I will just have to depend on my family or some random ''lucky'' encounter in a forest. The ''lucky'' encounter is, of course, going to be me snooping around places with the help of the chip. There''s also the problem of absorbing the other soul. So far its good but after it grows a little I might face some trouble ''controlling'' her. I still find it annoying that I''ll have to ''merge'' with her for all those benefits. I can''t even block her inside as it''s too eye catching according to the A.I. chip. Having a bundle of energy stuck around your head will catch unwanted attention from a noble family. Ah, I wonder how much time is left until I get out of this area? I have been stuck here for tens of months now, so I don''t know my current situation anymore, but there is still a chance of me being born anytime this month as the pregnancy time isn''t that overdue. Haaaahhhh, let''s go back to absorbing the energy I can I don''t think I will have such an opportunity after being born. ----2 days later---- Hmm, I feel something compressing around me what''s going on? Is it finally time?! Then it suddenly stops, what is going on really??? "A.I. chip what''s my curren-" Suddenly a huge amount of force pushes me out of the space I had been in. OOWWWW IT HURTS MY EYEEESSSS, THEY HURT SO MUCH! I immediately shut my eyes and start hearing cries of a baby. I guess my partner soul couldn''t take the pressure. Well, it''s better than me being thought of as mentally retarded. I want to open my eyes, though, because I am hearing a lot of ''gibberish'' right now but I can''t understand it. At least the crying came to a stop but I am still reluctant to open my eyes. ''A.I. chip, help me open my eyes without any negative side effects.'' Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I suddenly feel a kind of energy rush to my eyes helping me open them and for some reason, they don''t hurt anymore. As the eyes fully open I see a beautiful couple looming over me like giants. Both were smiling brightly at each other while ignoring me splendidly as if I didn''t exist. The women had midnight black hair which flowed over her shoulders, beautiful sharp green eyes contrasting well with her well-chiseled nose and rosy red lips making the portrait of a face a masterpiece. The male, on the other hand, had fiery red hair, a mature face well contrasting with his slightly pointy nose, and his firm looking smile. But the second I saw their faces I felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on me. They looked just like the ''trash'' family of nobles in one of the otome games I played. The two are parents of the villain character in the game but if I had a say in the thing I would name them as the true villains, why? It''s pretty simple because they practically molded the villainess to be like what she was and when the use was over threw her away. During the whole story in one way or another the moves made by the villainess are tied to the ''good'' of the family. The villainess was practically a puppet for the two. They used the conflict between the prince and the daughter to get away from the stupid prince''s party. They then exiled the ''useless'' person in the family for support by using the excuse she forced their hands by using familial love. Well, at least this gets rid of two of my problems. One being lovey duvy with the family and the other being worrying about the absorption techniques. I can also steal some of the main character''s cheats with my knowledge of all the events. Let''s see which ones I can take there''s the cave in the forest and I guess that''s it. So the only advantage the protagonist had was the middle-grade absorption technique, huh? Well, there are a lot advantages that nobles get. But for now, let''s get to learning this language. ''A.I. chip start deciphering the language and tell me the time required for the deciphering to finish.'' ''Time required will change based on information provided can not calculate the time required.'' Oh great now I actually have to depend on people talking to baby me for help. Ahhhh, I even have to learn how to write the language what do I do now to pass my time. The absorption technique barely absorbs anything anymore, and I can''t move around yet. Wait a minute why is the other soul not doing anything? Asleep, I guess, well that is what babies do. I wonder why I don''t feel any exhaustion yet? Well, whatever let''s go back to training I guess. --2 years later-- "MYLADY MYLADY WHERE ARE YOU?" Haahhh, finally got away, these maids are truly annoying at this aspect. They chase me down to the end of the earth but luckily they don''t seem to dare step in the library rather its like they don''t even notice it, I wonder why? At the moment I am scanning through all the magic-related books I can find but I can only reach the bottom two layers and there simply aren''t many books here, to begin with. Yes, this is a magic related world, I mean it''s written in every book here. I also saw a spell first hand when ''father'' ''accidentally'' threw a fireball towards a maid that was quite close to me. Thank you, maid, your noble sacrifice will not be forgotten. Well, I couldn''t really do anything to save her in the first place and, at the time the other soul was in charge so it had nothing to do with me. So why''d I let the other soul be in charge because it''s quite stressing to contain her I have to let her outside to rest you know. So what did I learn from the books here? Nothing much just some basics of magic. According to the books, there are four layers in the first stage of being a wielder of magic, and each layer is harder to get than the previous one and as for the other stages they aren''t mentioned. The books also tell of absorption methods but for some reason only list some talks about low and middle classed methods. There was also some knowledge about weapons and the books only mention up to 2nd class relics from 1st class weapons. The relics are magic imbued weapons while weapons are just normal weapons. The knowledge gained from the books was actually quite handy as the only magus I have seen so far was father. My knight training actually that went quite well. I just saw a knight practicing the method by circulating magic in his body while moving around in unique ways and had the Al-chip record it and make changes to it. But according to the chip I need to get rid a little bit more influence of the foreign soul on my body to not get caught before training in the method. And I don''t plan on training in that method anyways as I know I can gain a better one but it would be good for information gathering. Chapter 5 The engagement "Ahhhh there''s no information to base an absorption technique off of here" The library that brought my hopes up turned out to be useless, well I should''ve guessed the family wouldn''t put their techniques out in the open to be grabbed, would they? But it''s still annoying to not be able to find anything here, I mean I take precious time out of my day to come here every day while hiding from the maids. At least I haven''t been found out yet if I was I would probably not be allowed out of my room. On the topic of not being found out let''s head back. As I head back hiding from everybody''s sight, with help from the A.I. chip, I hear a lot of clamor in the area, what''s going on? It''s definitively not my birthday because my parents are too ''busy'' to hold a private birthday party. Why a private one? It''s simple because I haven''t made an entrance into the ''aristocratic'' world yet and I will be making mine when I become eight years old. So until then they don''t really see the point of celebrating my birthday. Ah, I can''t get distracted I can ask questions later after getting to my room. As I sneak through the hallways, I wasn''t startled to find them empty. Why would I if I knew the reason why? It was pretty simple my parents didn''t like me due to some incidents concerning my birth and as I know they were my fault I have nothing to say. You see when she was pregnant with me no matter how much she cultivated her magic her cultivation kept going down steadily but that instantly stopped when I was born. The events proved that it was all my fault causing the happy couple to have not so well feelings towards me. Ah, I am finally here. My room is in the very back of the mansion causing the area around it to be really deserted, giving me a lot of freedom. There is still the occasional annoying check-ups on me, though, they even caught me not in my room once. Luckily I was able to play it off as me playing a game with the maids by hiding in the room and being found later. The after effects of the situation were for the better though because they couldn''t make me not do it, they decided only to call out and look around if it''s about my meal or an important event. I ended up getting myself a schedule due to these checks now. As it''s almost dinner time now, I should be able to ask the maid if there is some kind of event going on. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Ah, finally it''s time. "My lady as it''s time for dinner I am coming in for your dress up." (Yup its the same maid) It seems its time for the other soul to take over and as I have personally ''taught'' her some etiquette she should not do anything ''wrong'' this time. What happened through wasn''t her fault just, that the ''parents'' ''expected'' too much from her. The happy couple thought she should have perfect etiquette just after four lessons on it totally disregarding the point that she''s two years old. "Come in." Oooo so the other soul has gotten colder now that is helpful, Imean that tells now she doesn''t think of ''mother'' and ''father'' as caring parents anymore at least. I have to admit this one partially due to my manipulation but I think the etiquette incident drove in the final nail. She would usually be all giddy about meal times but now she''s pretty cold acting. ''A.I. chip is my hate growing stronger for the family due to the merging?'' ''Yes, host''s conditions suggest so.'' Hmm this might get annoying but it seems like my feelings against the parents helped the girl grow colder towards them, at least that''s a plus. I finally get to see what all this ruckus is about now. I found something odd with the dressing up, though. The dress I was being dressed up in was a lot more expensive looking than my other clothing and for some reason, the maid was being a lot more careful in dressing me up. No, don''t tell me its this day. Noooooooooooooooo.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ''Al-chip what is my body''s current age?'' ''Host''s current body''s age is two years and three days old'' I must be getting ahead of myself because my age is too early for ''that'' but we are talking about nobles here, and they always arrange ''that'' at an early age. Uhhh what do I do to get out of this? In the otome game they never really talk about any events relating to the villainess, unless the events are important to the plot in some way. There''s also the rumors but there weren''t many rumors related to the villainess''s past, in the game, in the first place. How do I avoid the ''event'' if it takes place? Think, think, think Elizabeth. How do you avoid the following event? I can''t do the pretend sick trick anymore, I have already been seen by the maid here. I also don''t know if not going to the dinner would be the solution for the event. I was suddenly awakened by the maid''s calling. "My lady it''s time to go." "Very well lead on" (This is the protagonist. Notice something unfamiliar?) As we were walking towards the dining area. ''Host, the time required to ''absorb'' the soul has been shortened by a year and a half, the time required to ''absorb'' the soul is now four months. Now practicing the warrior method will not have any more side effects on the absorption." I was confused as to what happened to shorten the time, well I can''t really blame the Al-chip due to its lack of information. As we got farther away from my room you could see more and more maids and butlers walking around. I hate how far the dining room is from my room it takes five minutes just to walk there. As I got close to the door of the dining room I grew more nervous. When we were right in front of the door the maid bowed and opened the door, before saying. "My lady this is as far as I can lead you." "Very well, you can leave" As I entered the room I found five unknown faces sitting on the table. The most surprising thing was that this time it wasn''t father sitting at the head of the table but rather some other man. Right by the man sat a woman and two children. While on the other hand, my ''father'' sat on the other side of the table with ''mother'' and another child sitting by him. "Your majesty this is my recently born daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth, greet his majesty and the queen ." I immediately grab the hems of my skirt and bow before saying. "Elizabeth greets his majesty and the queen." "Child you may sit down." Holy god the arrogance in his words, I knew kings were arrogant but still, I am a child here why are you being so overbearing in front of me. I immediately sit down on the other side of the unknown boy whose identity I can guess. If I am not wrong, the child is my big brother who should be around four years old. And as for the other children, they are most likely the first and second prince. As I sit down, the food is brought in by the maids and the butlers in exquisite plates. Now just gotta focus on the etiquette and make sure ''I'' don''t make a fool of ''myself''. As everybody was eating one of the princes kept looking at me occasionally as if something was wrong with me. As if to answer my question the king suddenly talks to my ''father''. "Albert your daughter is quite well versed in etiquette why is it you do not mention her much?" "Your majesty, you must be joking she can''t compare to your two sons." I, on the other hand, continue eating. I am lucky though that the sexism in this kingdom isn''t as bad as the other world''s old kingdom''s, this was quite a big deal in the game. As we continue eating, while the king and my ''father'' conversing every now and then, I become full. If I were to describe this cuisine compared to cuisine in the other world I would call it ok. But this is coming from a guy who was rich half his lifetime so it might be because of me buying ''high class'' food I guess. Eventually, the eating comes to a stop and ''father'' then orders the maid and butlers to take the rest back. Suddenly the atmosphere got all quiet and I felt the King''s eyes on me. ''Danger, Danger Host is being scanned through the use of magical energy, chances of getting found out are 3.4%.'' I immediately cringed, now I felt me choosing the safe route was a really good choice. The king after staring at me for about three seconds diverted his eyes and seemed to start conversing with the queen. Haaahhhh, I guess this is it for me, now I am going to be engaged with the second prince and will have to eventually face off against the heroine later. After conversing with the queen a little the king turned towards ''father'' and said. "Albert what about an engagement between my son William and your daughter?" Chapter 6 Magic? I was startled when the king finished his sentence, why? Because William wasn''t the second prince''s name. I was sure that wasn''t the second prince''s name in the otome game at least. Doesn''t this make the world different than the game? Maybe there is a reincarnated person in the palace who''s the cause of this. Ah, what to do? I already got myself in so much trouble, and I haven''t even learned any magic yet "Your highness what''s the need to ask, who wouldn''t want their daughter married to the famous first prince. I am just scared you might not find my daughter adequate for the engagement" "Hahaha, what is there to be inadequate about your daughter and even if there is some inadequacy found out later it wold be my fault for not having keen enough eyes." Hey hey hey I am in front of you guys here stop calling me inadequate god dang it. But I have to hand it to ''father'' because of him making sure the emperor can''t annul the engagement due to little matters anymore. Haahh, but the conversation got a load off of my back by clarifying who exactly William was. Bt there is still something wrong why am I being engaged to the first prince this time? I mean according to the game the first prince never had a fiance. This event might be more annoying than having the second prince as a fiance, why? I won''t be able to annul the engagement as easily as before anymore. My strategy to become a pillar of the family for some time by showing off my talent went into the dumpster the second I was ''forced'' into this engagement and my backup plan of using the heroine to annul the marriage also went to trash now. Now the only thing I can depend on is myself. Hmmm, let''s try using the first prince''s route to get away from this kingdom. What''s the first prince route? You see in the otome game the first prince got accepted into a magic ''academy'', so he left home to become a magus. The otome game never mentions where exactly the organization is but if you look through the maps, you would know it wasn''t on this continent, at the least. I was planning to go to the organization anyways, the royal family being willing to send the first prince out to another organization is proof enough of their credibility. But there are problems with the plan, one being that I don''t know if I am qualified enough to join the organization and second being the first prince might follow suit. But in this situation, it''s me who''s following suit huh? How does one get into the organization? In the otome game, there was a testing for the nobility in the school which many talented commoners and the nobility attend. Just by seeing this information you can infer that the original soul in the body wasn''t talented enough and it was the same with the second prince. But I don''t think that will be a problem this time. As the A.I. chip and I have worked together just to improve the other soul''s magic energy absorption structure. On the matter of the unique structure, I forced to make a choice on its compatibility with the energies. The choices given to me were: mediocre compatibility with various energies or extremely high compatibility with one energy. Of course, with my experiences I chose the latter. What about my personal structure? My structure is unique for some reason. According to the A.I. chip, when my structure was basically being formed it was compatible with three different energies. But for some reason, that changed in the middle of its formation. The compatibility with the three different energies tuned into extremely high compatibility with a new type of energy, not amongst the basic kinds for unknown reasons. As the structure was still being formed the other compatibilities quickly went back to mediocre, though. Of course, as the rankings of the compatibilities are all formed off of information gained from my body, my hypothesis can be wrong and I might not be as talented as I think. Ah, finally the talks are over, now I won''t have to keep acting like a stupid kid who has no clue on what is going on. I found one thing really annoying about this talk, though. The gazes directed towards me from the three new kids and especially the second prince.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The gazes directed towards me by my brother and the first prince were mostly just filled with curiosity, and I can understand why they would be curious. The second prince, on the other hand, looking at me as if he''s looking at a beautiful bird, gentle yet extremely arrogant as if looking at a lower life form. Ah, on the topic of animals, there are no ''animals'' in this world. This is due to magic causing mutations in ''animal'' and causing them to turn into ''beasts''. In this world, at least this continent, there are two categories of ''beasts'' magical and non-magical beasts. The Pendragon noble family even has a guardian beast, a powerful pet beast, that protects it, though I have never seen it myself. Ah, I want a pet beast myself, I mean in a fantasy world who wouldn''t? Should, I go looking for one? Ah, that won''t work even with the help of the Al-chip as I wouldn''t know how to grade the talent of a beast. Hmm, should I try stealing the heroine''s pet beast in the game? As in the game, it was considered quite rare and ''talented''. No, actually I''d rather not take the rat it would most likely be useless in the future. Oh, the adults are getting up let''s follow ''mother''s'' lead and lead them out. As I follow the adults, I start wondering as to why the parent made no attempts as to make it so that the first prince and I conversed? I mean wouldn''t it be better for them if we got closer? I guess it''s probably because they think it''s still too early for me. On the other hand, it helps me a whole lot due to me not having to play around with the stupidly pampered kids. As we reach the outside of the mansion I see three carriages outside with the one in the middle being extremely luxurious looking. "Farewell, your majesty" says while bowing. "Farewell Albert, I''ll hope to see your daughter and you in court" The king then proceeded to walk toward the luxurious carriage with his family in toes. When the carriages finally leave ''father turns towards the ''three'' of us and starts talking. "You guys can go and rest, as you must be tired all of that." Wow not one word of compliment, rather, he didn''t even face me while saying to go and rest. This father is truly going to be a pain in my butt. As I was turning around and about to have Maid A ,who was by the gate of the mansion, lead me back. "Elizabeth, you come with me." As he said that he started walking towards the mansion. I was startled and immediately started following him. He then led me towards the back of the mansion and as we got farther and farther the hallway started to get a little confusing. ''Danger use of foreign energy detected, finding ways to counteract the effects of the foreign energy. Effective way has been found, permission needed to apply the effects.'' ''Permission granted.'' As I granted the permission a map of the mansion showed up in the top left corner of my eyesight as it started getting updated while getting rid of the confusingness of the area around me. Oooo, this is handy now I can come to the hidden area of the family often, but just in case. ''Al-chip record all the movements that ''father'' makes'' I then continued to follow him until we reach a door. When we got in front of the door ''father proceeds to knock on the door weirdly until the door opens. As we go inside, I see eight books in a glass case in front of me. "If I remember correctly you have just recently turned two?" asks out of nowhere. "Two years old?" I know this must be common knowledge but the current me in this life has no clue about how age and such principals work due to not being taught. As I said what seems to be a question ''father'' raises his eyebrows before suddenly changing his expression to normal. "Ah, yes you wouldn''t know, would you? Very well go and glide your hand over each of the books and if you feel anything tell me." ''Al-chip start checking if any of the books is producing energy that is extremely compatible with me'' ''Starting analysis'' After hearing what father had to say I ordered the A.I. chip to do so because of me having multiple compatibilities. I then proceed to glide my hand over the books. Chapter 7 Absorption complete? As I proceed to glide my hand over the glass case slowly, I sense nothing but when I get to the third book. ''Host, energy compatibility has been detected'' I was thinking of stopping my hand when I got the message from the A.I. chip. But there was something odd about this because I couldn''t sense anything. After thinking till this point, I continued gliding my hand over the glass case as if there was nothing wrong. To make my acting even more believable, I even wore an annoyed expression towards the end of the glass case. I then acted a little fidgety when I got to the end without sensing anything and turned around with my face facing downwards. "Father I couldn''t sense anything" I said in a faint voice acting like a scared mouse. For some reason, I didn''t get any response immediately, so I slowly lifted my head to stare at his face. But when I saw his face I was startled to see his face to be a little scrunched up making it look like as if he was regretting something. He then went back to his usual composed behavior and somehow his gaze towards me turned a little gentler. He then moved towards the glass case and put his hand on the glass case and started chanting something in a low voice. The chanting came to an end after about two minutes and then suddenly the roof of the glass case started moving out of the way. When the roof of the glass case was done moving, I was suddenly assaulted by a unique feeling. It was as if I could sense energy in front of me and out of nowhere some kind of stones appeared right next to the books. ''Father'' then turned towards me again with a less serious expression on his face than before. It seems my suspicion was right the test at the start wasn''t for my compatibility with the methods within the books but rather my ''compatibility'' with the family. I wanted to let out a sigh right now due to barely dodging the bullet but knowing that it will break my facade I kept up the ready to cry anytime expression. I mean that''s what the other soul would do at this moment right. But for some reason when ''father'' started looking at me with this new type of gaze my heart started feeling more at ease. It must be due to his other expression being too cold, huh? "Elizabeth now try sensing if you feel something different. If you feel something just keep going, but make sure to remember which book and stone you react to the most." I immediately did what he asked for me, this time when I tried sensing something from the first, two books there was nothing different. But when I got to the third book the energy that had assaulted me when the glass case opened, acted up more than before. I was startled for a second and was about to try and absorb it when I remembered my situation. I then stopped wasting my time and continued gliding my hand over the books and stones until I got to the end. When I finished and turned around to face ''father'' for some reason his face showed a worried expression. I was startled to see the expression because it was bringing delight to my heart. Ah, so this is what the A.I. chip meant by some of the negatives side effects, huh?I didn''t think the side effects would''ve had such a big effect on my body. ''Host the absorption of the soul is complete.'' I was startled when I heard this what is this supposed to mean wasn''t the time required half a year, how''d it change so fast? As I was about to ask a question to the A.I. chip, I was jolted awake to my situation by my father''s voice.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Did you feel anything from the books?" "Ye- yes, I sensed something from the book there, there, there, and there." I ended up stuttering splendidly due to the wake-up call, making a fool out of me. The negative side effect truly have my emotions flying around everywhere, huh? I pointed at all the books and stones that caused me to sense any kind of energy from them. I would''ve listed them in numbers but so far the current me hasn''t been taught numbers yet. I never knew acting like a child who knows nothing was this hard until I lost the other soul. I have to make sure I don''t cause any more suspicions anymore. If I do I will probably go back to square one with my family and besides it hurts. "Hmm, fire, water, earth and wind huh. Was there one that you sensed a lot more from than what you sensed from the others?" "Yes, the one over there" I then point towards the third book. "Oh, how much stronger was the feeling compared to the others?" "A lot stronger, it was as if ah ah like" Seeing me at a loss for word father frowned with a weird expression on his face. I had no clue what he was thinking of right now because my mind was a mush at the moment. I had no clue how to answer his question with baby logic while not looking like a real kid. Because if I did he might not ''like'' me anymore and go back to the ''father'' who got mad at me over the etiquette problem. Ahhhh, what is with me right now, I wanted to cry right now and let all my frustration out but I couldn''t. I wanted to get rid off all these bubbling emotions but I can''t right now. Stupid father why did you have to act all nice all of a sudden why, whY, WHY, WHYYY. "If you can''t describe it it''s ok don''t worry, go get the book and stone and come with me." I immediately did as he said to get my attention off of the emotional problem. As I was following him, I was in a daze the whole time thinking of ways to get out of my current situation. When once again had control over most of my emotions, I was startled to find that we had already gotten to father''s study. When we got inside, I was startled to find how cluttered it was currently. There were piles of books all around the table while the documents cluttered the work-table. Father was currently standing in front of his table with his back facing me. I was currently wondering why exactly had he brought me here. So far from what I can get, it most likely has something to do with the either the book and stone in my hand or my engagement. "Elizabeth I am lifting all the bans that have been put on you so far. I have also decided to change your current room to a new one. You will also be assigned, teachers in various subjects from now on." So that''s what this is about now that he can ''trust'' his daughter a little more he''s going to let her join into the family little by lit-. Hmm, is it raining? Wait that''s not possible we are inside of the mansion then why is there liquid powering down my face? Am I crying? Why am I crying? Hm, why is there a metallic taste in my mouth? Ah, why am I clenching my teeth so hard against my lips? Let''s slowly unclench the teeth, while he still has his back to me and hide my lips with a strange looking expression. As I try to do the following actions, he suddenly turns around to see my sorry excuse of an expression with blood dripping from my lips and tears streaming down my face. The second I see his face turned towards me I feel scared. He isn''t going to go back on his words now due to this, right? Is he going to hate me again? He won''t go back to being ''father'' again, right? As the various question start popping into my head, I couldn''t hold back anymore and start crying my heart out. I was sure at the moment I had done it and that this was the end while at the same time wondering why I cared about how he saw me if I saw him as a person like this. But as I opened my eyes expecting to see him have a disgusted expression, he came forward and hugged me and for a second I saw ***** in him. I couldn''t stop crying and just like that, I drifted into unconsciousness. Chapter 8 Stupid Father In the middle of a room lay an exquisite bed on which was a beautiful child. The child had pansy black hair flowing down her body, contrasting well with her porcelain-like skin.Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a bright, emerald-green and seemed to brighten the world. Her straight nose and rosy red lips - she seemed the picture of perfection. But currently, it was as if she was spaced out staring into nothingness when suddenly she started rolling all over the bed. AHHHH what do I do now? Now I have done it, why couldn''t I just have kept my stupid emotions in control. I was so close to getting the other soul to give up on the family too, why''d the stupid dad have to act all nice all of a sudden. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID dad why''d he have to go mellow at the moment rather why''d the soul have to choose that moment to completely merge! I would''ve never thought I would be angry about the soul absorption ending early, before yet here I am. ''A.I. chip why was the soul absorbed earlier than the countdown?'' ''Sorry host, there isn''t enough information for a concrete answer, calculating a theory. Calculations complete, according to the theory the incident happened due to an overload of emotions and high compatibility, emotionally, between the Host and the foreign soul.'' Wait from when did the other soul''s and my emotions had a high compatibility? I had a pretty happy past life, the super upgraded A.I. chip is the proof of that. The girl, on the other hand, has gotten no love throughout her short life. The poor girl was seen as a monster, rather than a child by her parents. The parents were so paranoid that they didn''t even allow the poor girl out of her room. The'' mother'' was especially paranoid, about her and even referred to her as a monster when she conversed with the father about her. The father, on the other hand, would completely avoid her and when she was noticed, it was for something she didn''t do right. And from the earlier engagement table incident, I could guess that they made sure I didn''t meet my brother. Well, not like I am complaining ''my brother'' was a screw up in the game. The game portrays him as an idiot who doesn''t understand politics and the person who puts love over family. He is considered one of the capturable characters in the game putting him in the list of spoiled rotten nobles. He disregards the family future and tries to pursue her no matter what as if it doesn''t matter. He also becomes a loyal follower of the second prince who was barely in the competition for the throne after the first prince left due to the support of the Pendragon archducal house. And due to the loss of Elizabeth''s engagement, he lost the only support he had. None of what happened after the heroine captured her target was shown in the game, though. But you could infer the future that takes place through reading between the line. But now since my engagement is to the first prince instead of the second prince, I truly do not know how to get rid of it unless him getting chosen by the organization makes the engagement void. As I sit up in bed and think calmly about the situation, I remember the items father gave me in the secret room. I immediately start searching for the book and stone. As I look around from the top of my bed, I find the two things on top of the table right next to my bed. "A.I. chip start analyzing the stone" I order the chip to go to work as I start to read the book, of course, I can''t read the book in front of people due to me not ''knowing'' how to read. The book introduces a lot of foreign terms used to absorb the energy, but you can infer the meanings easily with the sentences around it. As I was around the end of the book, I suddenly hear knocking on the door. "My lady may I come in?" I immediately put the book and stone back on the table as quietly as I could before calling back.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "You may come in." When the door opens fully, I see Maid A walking into the room. "My lady master has said that the preparations are complete for you to move out of your room and that from tomorrow on you must go to your teaching room to be taught by teachers." "Very well, help me dress up." "Yes, my lady. You would think that due to what happened so far and that this is the medieval ages that there would be a lot of prejudice against females in the current times. But that is not true due to the integration of magic into society. In the old times, women were thought to be ''properties'' due to two things. One was women got pregnant and not men and the other being that women aren''t as strong as men. But in this society, the second reason can be easily overturned due to magic causing the prejudice to go down a whole lot. So where does this lead us? It leads to my present condition of not having to dress in some frilly dress. But one thing is annoying though the nobility expects women to wear this clothing on ''formal'' occasions. The lack of prejudice doesn''t mean there is no prejudice at all but rather it''s just not all that blown up. Looking at the king and my father is proof enough as you can tell the males get to be the heads of the household most of the times. Of course, there are some female heads too, the biggest example being the female head of the Wakefield ducal house, Emilia Wakefield. "My lady, as we are done with the dress up. Please, follow me to your new room." "Wait." I immediately ordered her to wait and went to the side of my bed to get the book and the stone. Theses things are too important for the servants to handle rather I fear they would''ve thrown away the stone thinking of it as trash. "Now we can go" When the maid heard my approval to lead on she started walked towards the general direction of the dining hall, as we got around the vicinity of the dining hall, I saw ''mother'' walking towards my direction. When ''mother'' saw me following the maid, her eyebrows furrowed. "What is she doing out of her room?"<''Mother''> "Mistress, the master asked me to lead the young lady to her new room." After ''mother'' heard the maid she had a startled expression on her face and walked past me as if she didn''t know me. As soon as ''mother'' was gone the maid continued leading me a little farther before, stopping in front of a beautiful door. "My lady this here is your new room." She then proceeded to open the door to show the inside before bowing. "I shall be going now and my lady if you need any help, I will be in the vicinity so please ring the bell." After the maid left, I immediately went to my new bed and started reading the book again and luckily this time nobody showed up to disturb me. As I finished the book I wasn''t surprised by the method to absorb the energy. I already knew most of the information in this low leveled absorption technique due to looking into the knight''s technique and the A.I. chip''s help. But there was still one part I was missing, the way to take the energy to your energy core safely. The knight training absorbed energy too but unlike the magus training, it was only to the muscle. The magus training, on the other hand, empowers the whole of the body but mainly focuses on the energy core. The A.I. chip could create a weak knight training method with the knowledge it already had, but it can''t create a low ranked magus training method due to the complicity of the method. "A.I. chip get rid of all the deficiencies you can find in the method and tell me the time required to adjust the method." "Starting operation, the time required for the operation to take place is two hours but to improve the method any further will require new information." "What about the creation of a method to absorb the unique energy my original structure has?" "The creation of such an absorption method would require information from absorption techniques of the energies that ''fused '' to create it. " Ahh, I guess I will have to do with the current knight training method I have. Oh yeah, what about the stone I got with the book. "A.I. chip is the analysis of the stone finished? "Yes, permission needed to transfer information." "Permission granted" So it''s just a lump of pure earth elemental energy huh. Ahh, I would use it to absorb energy but I can''t because it will become a dead give away of me absorbing energy. Well, let''s just absorb energy according to the knight method for now. I could use the magus absorption technique too, but there is a risk of not being able to use the unique energy of my original structure afterward. Chapter 9 Hunt for techniques "Host, the upgrade for the absorption technique is finished. The technique has also changed from a mid-grade low-class technique to a peak-grade low-class technique, permission needed to send data." "Permission granted" Hmmm, the technique only has minor changes, the quantity of energy absorbed shrank by a little, but the pureness of energy is a lot higher now. The pureness increased by around five times and should be about as pure as the energy gotten from when my body was being formed. I didn''t think that the principal of the energy being absorbed according to the method could create such a big difference. The previous method focused on the ''hardness'' of the element and so the A.I. chip added in the ''softness'' causing the two to fuse creating a more ''perfect'' energy. Now I just need the other three books to create my other elemental absorption technique. It roughly takes me twenty minutes to ''memorize'' a book and it will take roughly seven minutes to the go to the room and get the glass open. It might take even longer due to me having to hide. Ahhh, what do I do I could get caught if I am not in my room too. There is also the problem of classes starting by tomorrow. Why''d the room moving have to be today of all days? Guess, I will have to take my chances. As I leave my room, I notice there is no one around. Something to do with ''mother'' probably as far as I care she''s doing me a favor by doing things like this. I immediately sneakily move my body towards the direction of the ''maze'' hallway. As I progress towards the direction of where the maze is, I find that nobody is around. I am starting to get suspicious here why isn''t anyone around? Is father testing me again? ''A.I. Chip help me scan the vicinity'' I was suddenly hit by a feeling of fatigue as if I just ran a mile at an unreasonable speed. Ah, this side effect of the scanning makes me reluctant to use the scanning. If I could use it freely I wouldn''t even need to read the books, I would just scan them. But life''s never that easy, with the little magical energy I have it takes too much of a toll on me to scan for even a small amount of time. I would be lucky if I get four off the whole day without fainting. There''s also the danger of getting found out if somebody notices my analysis. On the other hand, I did get a complete scan of everything in a hundred meter radius around me. And the scan shows a person with about the same energy as that of a servant in the vicinity of the ''maze''. So it was a trap after all? ''A.I. Chip is the life form I just sensed, a knight or a person I have seen or ''sensed'' in the mansion before?'' ''No, the life form''s energy signature has not been detected before in the mansion'' Hmmm, what is happening then, I guess I''ll have to check it out from the shadows. Rather if the person goes in the ''maze I could probably just walk past him, can''t I? I guess that is going to be my approach if it''s an intruder. I didn''t think the maze would be helpful for once and the intruder will even give me a good excuse for going into the maze in the first place. Now let''s think up a backup plan if the person''s just someone I never saw in the mansion. Hmmmmm, I can''t think of anything but leaving being the best answer. I guess I will have to monitor the person to find out if he goes into the ''maze'' or not, huh? I reluctantly use my fatigued body to get closer to the ''maze so I can see if the unique new stranger is a ''helper'' or an ''annoyance'', I then proceed to wait at the final corner from the ''maze'' for some kind of signal.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I have been waiting for five minutes now where the heck is this guy he should be here by now. Suddenly, I hear quiet footsteps coming from the hallway in front of me. I guess the person''s finally here, whoever it is sure did take their sweet time. I mean if you want to be a ninja just go and get an A.I. chip that can teach you every move in the handbook. The quiet footsteps already increased the chances of this guy being a thief to seventy percent. Now I just have to wait for him/her to make his/her final move. "The woman was actually telling the truth, huh. I didn''t think she''d go so far as to create an opening, just for the death of a pipsqueak. But there''s still the problem of what''s further in front." So somebody betrayed the archducal house for somebody''s death is what this guy is saying? Now I am ninety-eight person sure this guy is a thief or an assassin, now I just have to wait for him to make his move and wala. "Sir it seems what the women said was true, should I immediately act out her request? Very well sir Oh, so he has some kind of device to talk from a long distance. I was wondering why he was spouting everything so comfortably. Ahhh, this better be one of the assassin organizations who don''t value their members or who ever betrayed is going to get their wish granted. Oh, he''s walking again and as it seems his footsteps are getting further away. He should either be going into the maze or back into the other hallway. Let''s peek over because I don''t think he''ll be walking backward now, would he? Oh, he is not in the hallway seems he is going to be a sacrifice for the organization after all. Well, I guess the betrayer isn''t getting their wish granted. I then proceed to sprint towards the ''maze'' making sure to make as much noise as I can so even if the guy went the other hallway, he''ll have to come back to kill the witness. It seems nobody is coming so he is in the ''maze'' or he is just extremely fast and loves to dawdle around. Yup, he''s here walking in place as if its totally normal. I wonder when I''ll be able to put up one of these ''mazes''? ''A.I. chip'' transfer all the data gathered of father during the traversing of the ''maze'' to me.'' So he was chanting the whole time when we were walking through the maze, huh, and here I thought he was trying to ignore me. I immediately began chanting the foreign chant before entering the hallway since I shouldn''t have much time left with this betrayal going on. As I sprint through the hallways of the ''maze'' with the help of the map, I notice that there are a lot of symbols that I didn''t notice before on the walls. It was as if the symbols were converging more and more as I got closer to the glass case room creating something. Not minding the symbols, I jog towards the room holding the glass case, but as I was about to make the last turn I find that all the symbols on the wall around me are taking the shape of a snake. I was startled because as soon as I noticed the snake I was assaulted by pressure weighing down on me. The pressure was great enough to force me immobile and fall down in front of the door. ''A.I. chip what is happening?'' ''Host it seems mental pressure is being applied to your mind from the symbols on the walls.'' What do I do now, I will get caught like this and, I won''t be able to come up with a valid excuse either. Uhh if I am getting caught I am not going empty handed. ''A.I Chip help me use the scan'' Right as I gave the order I was assaulted with extreme fatigue and knowledge that I simply didn''t think was there. The second the knowledge entered my brain it was as if all the pressure around me died and all the symbols simply disappeared. I was startled to find that the so-called symbols were just knowledge of elements gained from something called black blaze serpent, wind slicer mamba, earth crusher python, and three other unknown serpents that I didn''t know of. But for some reason when I was about to get the information of the last serpent it was as if my body rejected the knowledge and everything became mumbo jumbo I couldn''t understand. But when I looked around I was startled to find myself in front of a different door with the assassin running in place eight meters away from me. Chapter 10 Adventure with the senile old man ''A.I. Chip what happened?'' ''It seems due to host passing a ''test'' set in the ''illusion world'' the illusion no longer affects the host'' So that was all a test? I don''t even know how I passed the test through. I mean all I did was use the scan and a lot of knowledge rushed to my mind. Hmmm, was I supposed to study the picture under that pressure then? I didn''t think the arch-duke family would set up the illusion to test out people. But there''s still two things I don''t understand. The first being why are their training techniques in the illusion world and why didn''t I see the snake the last time I came here. Were the techniques put in the world just for ''testing'' me then? As for the snake, it might''ve been controlled by father at the time. This also leads up to the question why would the snake, the key to getting out of the ''maze'' be put in the illusion then? It can''t be considered a hard hurdle for those with a strong mind and body because even I, a child, could lie down and look at the pictures for hours. The interesting thing is if the snake was truly a testing creation from the archducal house why does it ''test'' the invaders too. "Thud" I suddenly hear a loud thud as if something was smashed into the ground. I turn back to see the assassin''s body smashed on the ground. What is happening here, I don''t remember the force pushing down on to me being so strong rather the question is why was he able to come so far. Who is foolish enough to give an enemy so much information just for one assassination? Actually, to know the way through the maze to around the entrance of the room containing the techniques isn''t a simple matter at all. I don''t think anyone but the highest members of the house should know the way through. Ahhh, whatever let''s think about the current situation for now. I don''t want to go any further in this stupid betrayal rant. I never thought about this before but why was it so easy for me to gain all the knowledge from those snake symbols? I know that I scanned it and all with the help of the A.I. chip at that - "Crunch" What just happened. I immediately turned around towards the assassin only to find a half crunched up corpse in his place. Ok, that answers one of my questions, it seems the snake truly wasn''t for testing, but this leads to another question why did the snake let me through? Was it the chants? Well, I guess I am going to have to wait for this answer, for now, let''s just focus on the answers that can be answered. ''A.I. Chip why was it so easy and fast for me to gain all that knowledge from the symbols in one go through the scan?'' ''Knowledge the symbols contained had already been mostly found due to the order given by the host to study the energies. Due to the knowledge being already known the scanning of the whole symbol took little to no time. '' I didn''t think, the order from when my body was still being formed, would end up saving my life today. I guess I can call myself lucky on this matter. Haaah, I think this should be enough rest, the thing with the fatigue caused by the scanning is that it doesn''t disappear easily. That is also the reason why I am thinking of just going back with what I got, this includes the three techniques and the other mish-mashed books. I guess betting on the scans'' area of surveillance paid off big times too. I wasn''t sure I would get the information in the books but it seems I was lucky enough to be able to scan them. Now how to decide if I want to go into the room or not? I guess the classic way is the best way.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ''A.I. Chip do a coin flip'' ''Host it''s a head'' Ok, I am going that''s final. I get up and proceed in the direction of the golden door in front of me and then push it. As the door is pushed open slowly, light shines out of the opening. When the opening is finally big enough for me to fit through, I stop pushing the door to peer into the room. In the room, there was nothing but two statues by the side of a throne, that was facing away from the entrance. The statues weren''t even worth looking at due as there were just two egg-shaped stones being showcased. Did I just spend all that effort to enter a rusty room filled with dust? I then proceeded to walk into the room to check the statues and the throne. "TSSSSKK" I was startled because as soon as the sound came the throne started rotating. I immediately turned around and started to run. "BAM" The door shut down right as I was about to reach it. My movement forward immediately came to a halt, I then immediately turn around while putting my guard up. It seems this room might also be a test. Hmm, nothing''s happening it''s been half a minute now why isn- "Haha hahaha finally somebody has come. I have waited for ages and finally someone talented enough has come. Little kid come kneel in front of me and I will take you as my apprentice." I was startled with the sudden turn of events. I truly did not expect that there would be a random person in this room. Rather who would expect such a train of events? A random senile old man comes up to you a ''little kid'' asking to be your master would you accept it? Of course no, rather can I use little girl logic to get out of this situation? "Hey, kid why aren''t you talking?" "Uwaaahhhhh, Daddy mommy help meee Uwaaahhhh." As soon as I started crying the old man shut up. It seems he didn''t expect this reaction. Then suddenly I was affected by some kind of soothing effect as if all my worries in the world were fading. I simply couldn''t bring myself to cry anymore. "Hah, this should do the trick. I didn''t think a little kid like this would pass my test rather how in the world did this crybaby of a kid pass the test?" As soon as the old man was done talking to himself, I felt an overpowering gaze on me. "Little kid stop acting, and tell me who you are." "Daddy said not to talk to strangers." Again there was a brief period of quietness. It seems this old man actually didn''t figure anything out and was just suspicious of me. "Haaah, little kid stop acting, if you continue to do this I won''t have any other choice to erase you." It seems I can''t do the act anymore there''s too much of a risk involved. Even if he is bluffing I can''t take a chance. "Very well sir, may I know what you want?" "Little kid, I already stated what I want, I am waiting for your response." "Sir, what do I gain out of being your disciple?" "Hmmm, your life would be the greatest thing I can offer." It seems I don''t have any other way out of it. "Master, can''t you at least give your new disciple a congratulatory gift?" "Hmmm, sure let''s see what do I have on me currently" Where the heck is this old man? I am hearing his voice but I can''t see him at all. Well, the best guess would be the throne but this doesn''t really help. All of a sudden the two statues float and land right in front of me, one turns blue and the other turns a dark shade of red. "Litlle kid choose one of the two eggs, the one you choose is yours." "Sir, may I ask what''s in the eggs?" "I don''t know either so their''s no use." I want to smack this old man really badly right now. So he''s going to just throw two useless eggs at me and force me to become his ''disciple''? And what makes the matter worse is that I can''t go against him either. Haaah, whatever let''s just choose one and use it as a pet. "Sir, I''ll choose the blue egg." As soon as I said the words, the egg floated in front of me while a cut appeared on my hand. I then lost control over my body as the hand with the cut went up and grabbed the egg. When my bloody hand touched the egg a shock ran through my body and I felt a little weak as if some energy was sucked out of me. "There now that''s that''s done, I will give you another gift so don''t come whining to me later." As soon as he said that the other egg cracked open and something came out of it, while my body floated up and met up with it. With that, it was as if a sleeping spell was cast on me and my view became dim until I faded into unconsciousness. Chapter 11 The colors of betrayals
  1. "Nnnhhh"
Hmmm, where am I? I look around to find myself in a magnificent room. If I were to compare this room to the room I was recently gifted, I can only call my room lacking. The room''s wall with their exquisite designs alone ranked the room higher than mine, not to mention the beautiful furniture. The bed was also a lot more comfortable making me want to fall asleep again The marble flooring on which you could see your reflection made the room a masterpiece. Was everything that happened a dream? Hmm, but then why am I in this new room? I guess I''ll have to look for answers. I start to get up but for some reason, I couldn''t gather up the strength to do so. I was startled by this because nothing I had done would cause this. The scan doesn''t affect physically and just uses some of the energy gained from absorbing magical energy. I don''t remember anything else that could''ve done this. ''A.I. Chip why is my body in such a weak condition?'' I contracted a magical beast? When did this happen? Hmm, wait you are kidding me so the senile old man wasn''t as useless as I thought, huh. I still don''t know what''s in the egg, though. I will be taking my previous statement back he''s still useless, rather where is the senile old man? Did the old man just run away after taking me as a disciple? And what about the egg where''d it go? ''A.I. Chip what happened to the egg and voice I saw and heard in the unique room?'' ''The egg of the contracted beast has been found as a necklace around your neck. No data on ''the voice'' found, would you like me to search the database again?'' I was startled by both the answers. The egg was too big to be put around my neck and as for the sneaky senile old man, the A.I. Chip couldn''t hear him. Actually, why didn''t I find the A.I. Chip not warning me suspicious earlier? I then reached around my neck to feel the necklace when I touch It I was startled by the softness of what seems to be the string. As I felt around my neck, I felt a stone that was warm to the touch and whenever I touched it a feeling of familiarity seemed to spring up. ''A.I. chip what was the change of physique that took place?'' ''Host''s body has been made more attuned to elements, the overall ''talent'' of the body and its structures has spiked up, it seems host body went through a baptism which cleaned out certain ''filth'' in host''s body, and majority of host''s blood seems to have been replaced by a foreign element.'' I didn''t expect the senile old man to leave behind such a huge gift it seems he wasn''t all that useless. I guess his rank could be upgraded from a child kidnapping senile old man to just a senile old man. ''A.I. Chip start creating the method for absorbing the unique energy compatible to my original magic absorbing structure and also check if you need to change the previous absorbing techniques to match my body better if you do go ahead.'' ''Operations starting, the time required to form the new technique is approximately seven months. The time required to change the magic absorbing technique will be approximately three months, while the changes for the knight technique will require approximately one month.''The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ''Prioritize the changes for the knight technique next the creation of the absorption technique and then the changes to previously changed absorption technique.'' It seems, I won''t be able to absorb any energy anytime soon. I guess in a way it can help me stay completely under the radar. I don''t think anyone can find out how much energy I have absorbed, but this fear of it being possible would''ve kept me from absorbing any energy for a year or so anyways. Something''s odd here if the senile old man was real then who brought me here and what is happening in the house? There''s still the betrayal going on right? So they must''ve checked my room by now, I guess I lost all the trust of father again huh? But there''s also the alibi of the assassin chasing me right? But the alibi can also be turned on me and turned into me leading the assassin to the secret area as I am not thought of as trustworthy by my own parents. I guess I will have to wait for my strength to come back to me before I can get to plead not guilty. ---After 30 minutes--- The door to the room suddenly opens and in comes father. I was startled by his sudden appearance as shouldn''t I have been in the room with the illusion trap around it? He then calmly walks towards the bed I am situated on and looks at me as if in deep contemplation. He stares at me for a good ten seconds until he finally opens his mouth to talk. "Is your body condition ok?" I was startled by the question he asked as I expected him to start interrogating me right away. I then noticed my present condition and immediately went back to having a composed face. I don''t want father getting angry with me again do I? "Yes, I am fine, a little weak but I am doing fine." Ah, I shouldn''t have said the sentence like that, from all the ways to say, I am ok, did I have to use this way? I find it ironic on how I ended up using the exact phrase ''mother'' used to say I am ok to father all the time when she was weak due to lack of energy after my birth. And these events were the exact reason of my iffy situation in the family. See, father is making the funny face again, I guess he''s holding back seeing my current condition? He then immediately changed back to his usual composed expression but this time you could see a little seriousness in it. "Elizabeth what were you doing at the time of the raid on the house?" "Father there was a raid on the house?" His tone was a little menacing this time. Even I found something fish this time even through my side of the mansion was particularly ''bloody'' I heard no fighting sounds. "Father I know nothing of the raid, rather I left the new room that you had assigned to me not long after going into it." "New room? What are you talking about this was supposed to be your new room. Who took you to the new room?" I was startled by this revelation, I mean that maid had looked after me from when I was born. "I don''t know her name but it was the maid that usually took care of me. Father, you can ask mother she saw me following the maid." As soon as he heard me as if he caught on to something he rushed out of the room. I was startled with the train of events as I never expected the maid that took care of me to betray the house. But I knew it was possible as it was not like she liked me or anything. She was a maid I was her master and in this society, she wouldn''t dare get friendly with me, rather she''d envy and hate me. If you add to it a prize of money you would get a fantastic betrayal. But what I don''t get is who betrayed the house? It can''t be ''mother'' as she doesn''t have any reason to hate me this much rather even if she seems cold she has never done anything negative to me. I can only describe her feelings as complicated. So could it have been any of my uncles or aunts? I mean the archducal house can''t only be my parents and brother, right? And the pipsqueak was most likely my ''brother'', as for me? I was most likely meant to be kept alive so my marriage could bring benefits to the house if one of the relatives'' children became the next archduke. Because I will be married into the castle I can''t head the family and so if the heir, my ''brother'', is killed the next heir will most likely be a cousin of mine. I wonder who will end up being the master mind?