Amidst the whimpering winds and dripping rain lady liedia ran to Darians Room her maid servant Matilda following behind her Mistress Conrad raised his hand in an attempt to stop her but she had already left after a moment of being stumped he had finally grasped reality and returned from his deep thoughts after fixing his posture he immediately tried to catch up to her ,Meanwhile lady liedia Quickened her pace flicking her feet throwing off her heels as she pulled her skirt upwards she had no time the sense of urgency could be felt by every maid she encountered along the way
Once she arrived at Darians room the gaurds stationed at the front door with their long spears bowed their heads to show respect but before they could blink Matildas features had changed growing claws a strange aura overlapping her as a blur moved infront of them and the next moment they were knocked out on the ground lady liedia walked forward making sure she did not step on the gaurds and opened the door taking one step inside as she turned her head to look for her son on the bed Darian was in a curled position tears flowed down from the unconscious boys closed eyelids she rushed over to her sons side placed him near her chest and held him tightly tears streaming from her face
"Don't worry your mom's here it's all my fault for taking so long if I had known you were in pain I would of tried to comfort you better, I put so much on your shoulders I'm a bad mom aren't I ,I promise if you wake up I'll give you anything the world has to offer we'll deal with this together like a mother and son would I don't care about your past or even if you won't call me mom I don't care what world your originally from but you will always be my Darling son the blessing of my labor pains"
"So wake up dammit !!! Please I can't let you go now" her head tilting in sadness
Near the door Matilda bowed as Conrad listened to liedias wheeping tears streamed down his eyes to him her pain was his and his was hers their connection was beyond what a single lifetime could grasp he placed his first step in the room as he slowly approached his arms wrapping around both liedia and Darian as the prayer in his heart was clear watching from the sidelines was ,Doulos ,Claus ,Matilda and Francis in the crescendo of sighs and sinking heads and whispers of confusion anger or inadequacy Darians eyes opened his eyes seemed between dream and reality before the light from his eyes returned conrad nudged the crying liedia her eyes looking at an awakened Darian all threes gazes met Darians cheeks reddened moving up wards as tears flowed like a waterfall down his face as all three hugged tightly all four spectators eyes were agape in astonishment with Claus wiping away some of his tears
The next few days Darian refused to talk about his experience nobody brought up Darians past but would hint to it at times they wished Darian would be comfortable enough to talk on the subject on his own accord ,he became more distant but at the same time more motivated in his studies and classes despite Conrad suggesting that he stop, in a week he Quickly learnt to enhance his senses something Doulos had predicted with Darians growth speed he would of taken an extra month or two to understand and implement such a skill
Conrad sat on a long sofa in his office opposite him was Darian and between them was a long table and on it was a long black rectangular shaped box with gold magical patterns imbued on its surface Conrad sighed as he stroked the top of the rectangular box I made this specifically for your fourth birthday but I deemed that the opportun moment had not revealed itself to be given to you for obvious reasons that I'm about to get into now ,within the box is Robotic doll that I made from pieces of the great elven tree and rare adamantine it has the ability to copy the opponents movements or select the best counter its analytical ability and reaction at its highest level can react a predict the movement of lightning of course this all in stages it is a practice dummy afterall we can't have you getting overwhelmed Darian who had kept Quiet the entire time asked how does it work well it's quite simple the creation of the dummy uses basic mechanics and engineering found in the country but with that alone it would of been too rigid so a mana crystal is inserted with mana arrays serving as it's programming language and to increase its mobility intelligence it does not rely on the users mana but nature itself ofcourse only collecting enough to maintain itself and function
Arrays are Imprinted using mana crystals dust or powder with a mixture of other minerals to allow it to be long lasting once certain conditions are met they can activate they normally require a constant mana supply but built into the arrays spell can be another smaller spell allowing to absorb and integrate small portions of mana to keep it running I refused to give it to you on your birthday because your fighting skill and sword skill were not to par yet but now It's the most reasonable time you can take it now ,Darian stood up and managed to take the box using his inhuman strength thank you Darian replied as a Doulos opened the door before Darian could go through Conrad said I'll always be here for you when you need me
Darians head bent his eyes tearing up ,at Clauses class Darian unlocked the doll which appeared lifeless but having some resemblance to himself it was still mostly wooden with some adamantine iron on the joints a metal known for its perfect synchronisation rate with mana he placed his hand on the dolls chest following the instruction note placed within the black box a blueish white array appeared on the surface of the dolls chest it's wooden outer layer appearing more lively less robotic its eyes gaining light it's wooden surface becoming identical to Darians skin Darians lips slightly curled it reminded him somehow of a mimic or the old movies he had seen where artificial intelligence would take over mankind and take their place as a blue screen appeared in his mind asking which level he would like the doll to be on
Claus scoffed he decided to take a back seat and sip some tea as he observed saying the mechanical can never beat the original Darian took a wooden sword as the clone manifested it's own it was currently at level 3 the lowest level Darian wished to test this fake and also see if he could advance higher the battle began with a downward slash from Darian followed by the doll skipping out the way Darian refused to relent throwing two more slashes that were parried creating an opening the doll lunged forward in an attempt to take advantage of the opportunity it had created with Darian dodging to the side the robot returning to a defensive position this went on two more times Darian realizing that stage 3 was all about playing it safe he could sense the doll was not using all its force when it parried Darians attack after figuring this out he realised it's current perception and reaction time must be low so he Quickly moved as if a blur bypassing the distance between the two landing a finishing blow stage 2 he currently had no desire for stage 1
And just as he thought stage two was all about overwhelming pressure and accuracy each parry each attack was just a setup for the next the dolls speed fluctuated even creating after images it's movements more unpredictable blades clashed several times Darian got tired the doll did not the doll spinning and releasing a downward slash the force of the blow breaking Darians blade as he used the split second to roll away this peaked Clauses interest his eyes widened but he had no desire to express his current thoughts
In Girins Class the Darian and the doll fought in hand to hand the battle on level 2 sent small shockwaves Darian felt as if he was constantly punching steel while trying to avoid the robots attacks as it always thought of the perfect counters it's defense was as strong as it's offense he thought to himself that this was the equivalent of playing chess with an advanced Ai system the outcome was already predetermined the battle ended with Darian getting a punch to the gut with Girin laughing "where can I get my one"
Doulos Class was next within the temple grounds Darian brought the robot a request from his teacher he had Matilda carry it there ,why do you even need this Darian asked it can't use complex spells besides enhancing its own body Doulos did not mind this question at all as he replied it's for today's lesson what's the most powerful of the keys if one wants to be the greatest magician and sore above the rest Darian thought for a moment before saying grafting or transmutation Doulos Chuckled while important not really the true star of the show is enhancement specifically that of the senses the reason is simple to be a great sorcerer casting time is very important ones reactions may protect you in a split second from death a true magician knows their strongest weapon and greatest weakness is their mind what this doll has at its advantage is simple it's clearly it's processing skill so what your telling me is I should outthink it Darian asked, you catch on Quick Doulos replied but I also want you to learn two more things the disrupt spell ,Mental decay spell,Mind domination spell these will give you the advantage and I will be teaching you how to create your own mental defenses
Conrads office Conrad sat on his office Chair with both hands clasped infront of his desk where all of Darians teachers it had been a week since the event involving Darian only his teachers and the obvious such as lady liedia and Conrad knew the situation Conrad looked at each member what's the report anything strange whos going first Roselle sticked out her head looking at Doulos then the rest before breathing in and out to calm herself before speaking he seems much better in his studies and everything comes easy to him on my part I thought about the rapid growth speed and it seems the added experience from his previous life is likely the cause after she finished Claus began talking his skill with the blade did not experience a major boom but from what I can tell the boy seems much more mature and has adopted a strong work ethic ,Then came Pierce his much more curious asking for various historical topics and geographical knowledge it seems natural from what we know,Francis added as a stunt when asked to create and recite poetry he seems to prefer plagiarizing from his world although my interest is peaked by such things,Doulos spoke up the rapid increase in his mentality has also born fruit interms of his magic skill the mana within the body has reacted very strongly lastly Girin with his folded arms spoke he understands the essence of Combat more he looks at my moves with great familiarity that's all I can say Conrad sighed this is all too much
On the 25th day of the month of rebirth was the winter festival Sir Francis Contract had ended but if he desired to he could renew amidst the celebrations and food Francis sat in a corner drinking strong wine after being rejected by Matilda yet again Darian who was trying to escape from the jubilation had found himself in the castles balcony stuck in a conversation with Sir Francis hmm my work here is done I did all that I can, Darian stopped him your a great teacher I don't get why you have to go Francis looked on,it would hurt too much at this point he said besides this place has really given me some retrospective on my life and what I want to be seeing you strive so hard at a young age getting knocked down and coming back stronger really inspired me reminded me of all I fought for to become a ship Captain how could I let that one moment push me down to this level isn't that pathetic no I should get vengeance for them
I fell into a pirates trap a vessel filled with people was stranded and it had radiod for help we checked with every means we had to find out that the ship had probably encountered a recent storm while heading to the mainland we reported it and Quickly went to save as much people as possible before the damaged ship sanke or ran out of resources just when we came close enough we were flanked on both sides one a black sale it's banner two crossed bones a skeleton with tenticals for facial hair and batwings on it with a pirate hat it was Davy Jones ship we had been dooped retreat was impossible balls of fire and canons rang they massacred everyone I barely managed to survive because of my skill the feelings been tainting me ever since suddenly Francis got back up wiggled a bit to get sobber he patted Darians shoulder telling him to stay a good kid and to not runaway from his destiny before leaving ,hmm Darians tilted his head down I guess everybody in this household has their secrets Sir Francis goodbyes were deep everybody giving their best regards and thanks even Matilda giving him a kiss goodbye on the cheek telling him sorry he replied with theirs no need to be sorry as he disappeared into the carriage
Years passed Darian had no interest in building deep connections in order to not hurt himself in the future and he couldn't be stoic nor did he desire to be disrespectful towards his parents so he developed an arrogant smart mouthed playboy type personality he based it on sir Doulos personality traits sometimes presenting himself as a weak product of nepotism many rumours spread about his debauchery falling down from his father's standard the villagers would say sir Conrad needs another son if not his line will end surely as rumors spread of him potentially impregnating a maid
Throughout the years Darian with his father attended multiple noble balls and events his relationship with Annabeth dwindled they became further apart before they stopped seeing each other during such events he visited many other cities within the country even attended a cruise in safe waters on his parents anniversary during this period he learnt to ride a Pegasus under Sir Ardin ,Sir Pierce was eventually fired as it had been conclusively proven that he had sexual relationships with multiple maids while Doulos and Roselle became closer although age was not a big deal in a world of magic meaning they still looked young with the occasional wrinkles at best
And just like that 11years had passed it was time for all noble children of the appropriate age to attend the magic academy