Irwyn sniffed the delicate crimson rose in his hand. It was an act without purpose, but it currently helped him calm down and relax; his body needed that a lot lately. When he was done a quiet chant resounded.

“Turn to ash and amber

may you burn away my anger.

Flame”

The rose was suddenly set ablaze while still within his firm grasp. In just few seconds it was turned to nothing but ash, somehow not burning Irwyn’s fingers a single bit.

[Flame manipulation level increased to 20/1000]

Irwyn smiled at this message, two years had passed since his meeting with the ancestor and things were progressing nicely.

“Shade, I got the level up.” he spoke to nowhere in particular. Irwyn was currently on the edge of the forest which the Blackburg family maintained behind their mansion. This segment actually looked more like an actual garden.

The only answer he got was another burst of mana attempting to read his surface thoughts; that was a common occurrence in the past two years and Irwyn was already very proficient with sending decoys by heart.

[Mind magic resistance level increased to 10/10; evolution possible]

The assault grew weaker for a split second before his so called ‘bodyguard’ realized what happened and adjusted the spell’s potency. They used to be annoying at first, but Irwyn had to admit that getting the skill so early would save him some time later on.

“Lets head back.” there was no point in asking Shade about his opinion; the man liked to pretend he was not even there. At least he had enough courtesy to not disturb Irwyn while he was actually doing something.

It was not difficult to get to the mansion from where he was, but it still took a while because of his short legs and leisurely stroll pace. Along the way he met multiple maids assigned to gardening who all bowed when they saw him. He ignored most of them, only greeting those he recognised as their senior superiors. He viewed his status screen to check on his current improvement.

[Showing status screen]

[Name: Irwyn von Blackburg]

[Race: human (pure)]

[Soul grade: peak transcendent (sealed)]

[Mana: 13/350]

[Active Classes: Herald of flame (T 1/7) 30/30]

[Worship: none]

[Essence: 23]

[Unspent points, level: 60, attribute: 6, upgrade: 0]

[Titles: Herald of Lumen, Herald of Ignis, Reincarnator, Martyr to the crown, Ignis Lumen]

[Magic: flame magic, general magic]

[Skills: Overseer, Requiem, deception 10/10]

[Dormant classes: Herald of light]

[Attributes:]

[Magic capacity: 35]

[Constitution: 18]

[Strength: 12]

[Intellect: 22]

[Dexterity: 14]

[Soul: ###]

He was almost amazed by his own progress. That was usually his status screen when he was about 8, not when he was 4 and that would be after he spent his level and attribute points. He was currently hoarding those for when the ancestor was done with the enhancement rituals. There was currently no need for him to waste that opportunity as adding to his attributes would reduce their effectiveness.

He had it rather easy so far as monsters were literally brought before him in already half dead state just so that he could finish them off and gain the essence necessary to barely level up his first class; he was originally supposed to have enough essence to level both of his classes, but his father made that calculation based on the fake status screen which of course couldn't account for the higher maximum level and ramping cost increase.

The next challenge would be to complete his trial to advance his class into the second tier. That might sound easy, but he was currently far from ready for it or rather: his body was not prepared.

All he could do for now was to perhaps improve his magic and attempt to gain a few more skills. He wasn't sure when he would get the opportunity to advance, but it would not be in the near future. Now he could only wait for his mana to recover as his reserves had not yet reached a level suitable for long continuous use.

“Hey, Irwyn!” A loud yell resounded from not far away. It was his older sister Alira; the annoying and jealous little pest. Although she was 4 years older than Irwyn she was at this point much weaker than him; the large difference in their attributes was enough to close the gap between their body build. Her talent for magic or crafting were rather lacking so she received next to no attention from the rest of the family. Maybe with the exception of her just as useless twin brother.

The result of that was the ignition of great envy within her heart when Irwyn received tremendous amount of attention and assistance from their father. She was not alone of course; her twin brother had also joined her in various pranks she played on Irwyn; all things considered their older sister who was already 14 probably also had some involvement. That guess was based on some of the items used which a 8 years old wouldn't be able to reliably get their hands on even in a duke’s household.

“What is it?” Irwyn yelled back with a clear frown on his face. He didn't bother turning around.

“We found something amazing! Come over here.” She yelled back. That ‘something amazing’ was most likely a literal lump of turd they wanted him to step in, a mysterious handful of magical itching powder or perhaps a violent ambush set by her brother.

“I am not interested.” either way, Irwyn had no reason to fall for such a stupid plot. What made it aggravating was that this was basically a weekly occurrence. Also, back when she still had the strength to overpower him she would often try to forcefully drag him into the ‘prank’.

“Come on, you are no fun!” She yelled again. The yell was significantly closer this time around and was even accompanied by suddenly approaching footsteps. Irwyn turned around just in time to see her grab his hand.

“Come on!” She basically screamed straight into his face.

“Leave me be!” Irwyn shook her off with a bit more force than necessary. She was causing far too much annoyance for his current body to ignore.

“Hey! That hurt.” She frowned.

“You are being annoying,” Irwyn said, the annoyance seeping into his voice. He concluded that his body was nearing a boiling point. There was unfortunately no solution for that at hand.

“You are no fun! What is the point of always studying and practicing if you never get to play?” she accused him of something meaningless like she always did. It was important he would remain calm. She interrupted his miniature personal celebration and was incredibly annoying on a day he was already ticked off, but she was in the end just a young child.

Unfortunately so was Irwyn

“If you spent the time you use for pranks by studying or practicing father might actually care about you.” damn it all; he just created a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Irwyn ignored her frozen figure as he turned around and entered the mansion. Immediately he heard departing footsteps and sobs. A maid was standing wide eyed right by the entrance likely because she heard the exchange; the only notable thing about her was a birthmark in the middle of her forehead and the towels she was carrying. When Irwyn approached she hurriedly bowed and then rushed outside.

Irwyn quickly swaggered through the mansion while paying close attention to the time displayed on various magical clocks. It was half past noon. He still had 30 minutes before his next agenda began so there was only one place where Irwyn could go: the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later Irwyn was just about done stuffing his face. Meals with the entire family were rare so this would account for his lunch. He wasn't complaining; food became his solace in times like these when he really needed to calm down and being able to freely choose when he wanted to eat was pleasant. The tranquility that devouring plates of delicious cuisine brought was especially important now when considering what his next plans were.

Just five minutes later he arrived at his next venture. A small hallway with three doors that was filled with the smell of various herbs. Irwyn headed for the furthest of the doors which had a drawer adjacent to it.

Upon opening the drawer Irwyn found dozens of enchanted gas masks and leather gloves of all sizes orderly stashed inside. He only dared head into the room after putting both of those on. Irwyn was not sure whether a 4 years old with gas mask and leather gloves looked ridiculous or scary, but it certainly felt unpleasant to him.

“Oh, you are finally here Irwyn,” a deadened sweet voice resounded the moment he entered. The sound was muffled by her own gas mask, but Irwyn knew beforehand it was gesturing Avys, “come over here; everything is ready.”

Secretly sighing Irwyn followed her beckon and approached. He could now clearly see that the room was brimming with high-end alchemical and magical equipment from densely enchanted cauldrons to measurement Magi-tech imported all the way from the most southern continent. There were also many alchemical resources and flowers; most of them looked innocent, but Irwyn knew that among them only a few were not poisonous.

“This time around I will personally observe what goes wrong in your procedure. There is no doubt in my mind you will succeed this time. Let’s start with something simple like a weak numbing poison.” Avys said as she handed him an opened manual book. The book was so thick that Irwyn could only hold it thanks to the various enchantments.

“Then let’s start.” Irwyn said and began the procedure exactly as it was written down. Avys was staring over his shoulder as he followed every step with pinpoint accuracy and perfect timing.

Crush 14 grams of beans of that blossom, grind down 21 grams of that vine, crush 9 grams of seeds of that flower and so on, heat for exactly 31 seconds and so on.

His performance would be incredibly impressive were it not for the final result.

“I don’t know how,” Avys sighed some time after chugging down the ‘finished’ concoction “but you somehow managed to make a numbing poison which is actually refreshing. Most importantly you managed that after following all the steps precisely down to the last detail.” They had already left the lab at this point and were currently relaxing in a luxurious lounge where they moved to avoid the toxic pollution in their previous location. They were sitting directly opposite of each other at a fine mahogany wood table.

“I don’t think that making things was what I was meant to do in my life.” Irwyn admitted truthfully.

“Hmmm,” Avys wondered for a short while, “The maps you accurately redraw are unreadable even to a master cartographer, when you play music instruments in pristine condition they break apart on the first note, you are still unable to write a word despite being able to speak fluently before 3 years of age and you somehow used numbing drugs to create refreshing water.”

“I am not doing it on purpose,” Irwyn decided to be truthful yet again.

“I just couldn’t believe it before I saw it myself. Now I see it will probably be for the best if you just focus on magic and get someone else to take care of miscellaneous things for you when you are older.”

“Yes, I will likely have no other choice,” Irwyn nodded.

“There is another thing I wanted to talk…”

*knock*

A knock on the door interrupted her.

“You may come in Clarissa,” Avys raised her voice while maintaining her sweet tone.

A stern elderly woman walked in: She was rather tall, making it harder for Irwyn to see her wrinkle covered visage had a long scar going through her left cheek and eye all the way to her forehead. Miraculously that eye seemed to be somehow still functional and unhurt. Based on her attire it was not difficult to recognise her as a maid. Clarissa was the head maid of the mansion, but she often acted more like Avys’ personal maid; there was probably a reason for that behaviour, but Irwyn was unaware at this point.

She placed a cup of coffee in front of Avys before quickly bowing and leaving. In fact far too quickly; something was up. For whatever reason the stern looking woman loved to play pranks on Irwyn; that seemed to be a common scheme in the mansion. Although Clarissa didn’t try to go as far as his sister she always struck suddenly and inevitably.

“How unfortunate. My coffee already got cold.” Avys grinned at him and passed her cup over, clearly indicating that she was going along with Clarissa’s prank. Irwyn grinned back before taking the cup into his hand. At least it was something that could be solved in few seconds this time around. Clarissa never really personally saw him cast magic so she likely expected it to be far more difficult.

“Flame, give me your blaze,

and melt away my daze.

Heat”

It took less than two seconds for the coffee to bubble and Irwyn passed it back to Avys who seemed to be significantly impressed.

“Your ability with magic is such a stark contrast with what you can do in any other sort of art. I have not even heard of a 4 year old who could cast so quickly.”

“I have my talents that you have probably heard of,” Irwyn smiled back.

“Yes, Ezax mentioned them. I am not very sure how much we will be able to develop that light affinity of yours since the Brightbeaks have monopoly on most high-end resources used for it, but there shouldn’t be any such trouble with flame and general magic,” Avys admitted before taking a sniff and a sip of her steaming hot coffee, “Oh the bliss of Brinewood coffee. But I have drifted off topic; there is something else that I wanted to talk to you about. I heard about what you said to Alira.”

“Word travels fast in the mansion.” Irwyn sighed; this came to haunt him far faster and also from a different source than he expected.

“Of course. What you said to her was far too cruel. Don't you realise that family is the most important thing you have in the world?” Avys’ tone was still playful and alluring, but also somewhat uncharacteristically reprimanding.

This caused Irwyn stare at her slightly wide eyed; such a hypocritical remark was not what he expected from someone like Avys. She had the title [kinslayer] afterall; that is not something which someone who followed such philosophy could ever receive. Perhaps he was thinking about this wrong. It was not an honest statement, but her usual bluff. And his body fell for it with the reaction.

“I am just kidding.” Avys laughed very loudly “You are still too easy to read Irwyn; you just confirmed that you used [glance] on me.”

“I need to work on my facial mimicry.”

“Don’t worry, you have plenty of time. When I was your age I would have freaked out the moment I knew my mother had such a title; although I never had a good or even decent relationship with her like I do with you.” Avys commented out loud; what made her believe that they had a good relationship was beyond Irwyn, but correcting her would likely not be wise.

“Do you know how deep your words cut her?” Avys asked, her eyebrows actually rising in curiosity.

“To the bone,” he admitted.

“And you don’t feel any regret about doing it, do you?”

“Actually I do,” Irwyn shook his head slightly “It will be up to me to deal with the backlash of my impulsive words. Just like you said: I let things slip far too easily.”

“Hahah” Avys laughed just as loudly as before “That is what I like about you so much Irwyn. You are so young yet you already understand many things about the world that still elude most of your other siblings to this day.”

“I don't know what you mean by that,” Irwyn involuntarily frowned.

“Of course you don’t,” Avys giggled at his failed attempt, “It is surprising refreshing to talk with you. We should do it more often. Now I unfortunately have to go. Ezax has yet to finish his advancement so I have an entire duchy to run.”

She stood up and whispered.

“Disperse like dust,

shadow of the night.

a shallow gust,

hidden away from light.

Shadowstep”

After her incantation Avys turned into a silhouette of shadows which rapidly dispersed throughout the room. Her chant of the spell was rather quick for someone with only a third tier class.

Irwyn also stood up while carefully analyzing their conversation. Earning Avys’ favour to this degree would likely turn out to be rather beneficial. It would seem that his day ended up being far more fruitful than he originally expected.

But then he looked at the nearby clock and sighed. Unfortunately Irwyn had missed his snack.