As I open my eyes, I'm in a large bed. It feels quite strange; it's soft in a way that's excessive, and I have a duvet that's silk with red embroidery which I've never seen. Then, a wave of memories hit me—glimmers of my past life, my interactions with the goddess, and myself.
In this world, I'm known as David von Vatear, the eldest son of Baron Cregar von Vatear and Baroness Layla Von Vatear. I have an elder sister, Margret, who is 10, and a younger brother and sister, 3 and 2 respectively, while I'm 5 as of today.
Hm, these memories are hurting my head. I guess the memories only returned today because I turned 5.
Knock. Knock.
"Young lord, it is Francesca."
"I'm—come in, Fran."
Creeek.
"Young lord, how many times must I say it? It is unbecoming of a future baron to address staff in that manner."
Stood in front of me is a woman in her late twenties, white skin with both black eyes and hair in a bob. She wears a maid uniform—a skirt to her ankles and a long sleeve burgundy shirt. She's pretty; in my last life, she would have a few thousand finsta followers.
"Well, Fran, as the future baron, I can change that rule."
Sigh. "Young lord, must I remind you, very few in the nation can change societal norms."
I glance down.
Quick to catch on, Francesca pivoted. "Come now, young lord. Today is your name day, the day you'll gain your life skill."
In this world, when a child turns 5, they gain a life skill—an ability that shapes their path. These skills have ratings going from F to S. I guess those cards will be my talents in this world. If you inherit more than one life talent, you would be scouted by the large powers very quickly because of past instances.
I once heard my father speak of a boy that nearly inherited an E-class architecture skill, 'Modernize', and a C-class vision skill, 'Detect Errors'. Many looked past these two, thinking he would just become a skilled laborer. That boy ended up founding the kingdom's labor association 200 years ago and is taught in many town schools. He passed away being among the 20 most influential men in the kingdom.
That shows why many powers believe inheriting more than one skill is a sign of future potential. But I don't think I'll be sharing my status with anyone.
As I walk down the hallway with Francesca, we hear commotion at the main hall. There, I see my father and mother with our family knight, Sir Brock, confronting who seems to be a well-dressed butler with a silver crow embroidered on his left shoulder. With him were two knights in silver armor, each with a black cape.
As we got closer, the attention landed on us.
"Well, Baron, as today is a day of importance for your family, we will end the discussion here."
"There is nothing to discuss. We refuse."
The man's eyes narrowed. "Don't be so hasty. We will return within a fortnight to make a formal request."
"Brock, escort these men out of the territory."
The butler seemed furious, but with a glare from my father, he only said something under his breath. The two knights and butler left. Sir Brock tapped his fist to his chest and then left in tow to make sure the three truly left the territory.
My father and mother turned to me, giving me a tired smile.
"Oh, my baby boy, give your mother a hug." My mother, a beautiful lady in her early twenties with lime green hair and gold pupils, knelt down and opened her arms.
My father, a man standing 1.8 meters tall with a warrior's frame hidden under a tailored suit, has platinum blond hair with grey eyes. He stood there looking at my reaction.
I stood tall and stated, "Mother, a man of the Vatear house does not need coddling."
A cold shiver ran down everyone's backs.
As the four of us walked off the estate, I was sat in my mother's arms, my father to our side and Fran a step and a half behind. As we exited, I looked at the estate. It was nothing ground-shaking, but it was beautiful: a three-story house, easily five thousand square feet, made out of copper-colored wood and clay stones with a front garden needing upkeep but still filled with flowers. A large steel gate stood nearly three meters high with the family crest—a wolf's head with a sword held in its jaw. I think I heard some of the maids state that it was originally a large 'V' with a horizontal sword, but as a reward for my father's accomplishments in the large monster subjugation, Duke Azure asked my father what he wanted as a reward, and he asked to change his family crest. Many saw it as a fitting crest as our land was known as the Land of Grey Wolves, and my father was known as the Silver Wolf. Now, many neighboring lords call him the Wolf Baron.
I notice a carriage with the insignia of a silver crow leaving the garden, Sir Brock on his steed in tow.
"Who was that?"
My parents glance at each other. "No one, sweetie. Just a neighboring house insistent on us attending a banquet."
I know they're lying, but as I am now, I have no room to voice that. In fact, it would be strange if a five-year-old didn't take his parents' words as truth.
We hear footsteps coming from our rear. There, in the arms of two maids, were my brother and sister's sleeping figures, Troy and Lily.
Before I knew it, we had boarded the daily carriage and had set off to the town's church. I look through the window on my mother's lap. Our territory was neither too large nor small, merely unassuming. We had four bordering villages and our base town, with a hundred acres of farmland and a little over 2,000 people we rule over total.
The main issue of our territory was what gave us our prestige. Like our land's namesake, we have an excess of wolves. We hunt them regularly, but they still cause issues: kill livestock and hounds. This winter, a farmer passed away protecting his family from the beasts. So for a long time, a person that has a taming ability was greatly sought after, but no one could get one. This led to the misfortune of the territory and many living off of one meal a day.
As we exited the carriage I saw a ornate white church with a 12 pointed star on the cent most bell tower the reason we came here was for my awakening in the world to awaken your life skill you need to either go to the church of the twelve divers or a church of a specific deity depending of your faith as we walk to the church's entrance…