Useless Father

Nothing much happened after Alice left Noir's room so he changed into an old bathrobe and spent some time fixing some of the things that fell from the water explosion he created earlier. Some of his textbooks were water damaged so he ended up throwing them and some other stuff in the bin.

Once he was done tidying up, Alice had already finished her shower so he went to take one as well. When he was walking to the shower, he could hear his parents muffled voices down below.

"You understand how lowly it is to abandon your children as soon as you hear a loud noise, right?"

"I understand that… But it really was scary…"

"So? What if it was a robber or someone who wanted to harm us? Since when were you so afraid of fighting against these things?!"

It wasn't a pleasant thing to hear at this time of night, but fortunately for the Stargazia household, they live too far away from their neighbours. Something like this would be a disgrace and if gossip of it spread it would be annoying.

While he was listening to it briefly, Noir couldn't help but question his father's behaviour.

'He makes it difficult to like him, huh? Does he have some kind of PTSD?'

Noir doesn't recall any signs of his father developing it, nor was it mentioned in the novel if something like that happened. It was only said that he used to be a brave and strong man but later became a shadow of his former self due to unknown reasons.

It wasn't just loud noises that scared him. Anything dangerous from shady people to sharp objects instils fear into the man. It was like he was afraid of everything, yet he was still reckless when buying things that could endanger him or anger his family.

'A mixture of stupid and scared. Though that's his problem, not mine,' As heartless as it is, there was no need for him to get involved with his father's problems. If he was at least a bit likeable then he might've helped him out but currently, there was no reason to. He disliked those that choose to run away from a problem, especially when that problem could potentially harm others.

He ended up carrying these thoughts into the shower as he reflected on all of his actions and the moment he had with his mother. Speaking of his mother, he couldn't hear her lecturing his father as all he could hear was the running water.

There was silence, which he enjoyed after having his hectic day. He ended up taking a long shower because of it but didn't leave the shower just yet. He wanted to increase his magic reserves while there was still some peace and quiet. Not to mention he had a feeling Alice would either be waiting for him or sneak into his room later, so he wouldn't have much time to himself.

'It's hard being popular,' He commented to himself before shaking his head. He liked pretending to be arrogant and then laughing it off soon after.

Once he got all of his laughs out of his system, he began meditating using the techniques the Great Sage taught him. He was still a beginner in magic and the best way to learn how to run is to start walking more frequently.

He had no worries around him as he was sitting peacefully on the bathroom floor after cleaning it up a little. His only goal was to increase his mana reserves and as such, an hour quickly passed by as Noir felt the cycle of mana inside of him become many times more fluid, but not to the point he could comfortably call himself an intermediate of the art.

'Slow and steady wins the race,' He was getting closer, but tonight wasn't going to be the night he makes a breakthrough. Eventually, Noir got dressed and went downstairs to get something to quench his thirst.

'It's quiet now, guess the lecturing's done,' While walking he noticed the silence and thought it was over, but when he went to the kitchen he saw his father sitting on his knees while trying to maintain a good posture. It must've been because of his blubbery body, but every part of him was trembling as he was looking at the clock and muttering something under his breath. It looks like he was being punished and made an effort to keep track of it

'Yeah, he's long gone,' Noir sighed as any faith he had for him immediately vanished. He continued to get a glass of water and didn't take a second look at him on his way back to his room.

When he got inside his room, he noticed movement under his bedsheets and a soft groan coming from it. When he got closer after putting the glass on his bedside table, he saw it was Alice.

'She's asleep huh,' She must've gotten tired from how busy her day has been and ended up sleeping before Noir came back. Her smooth hair was all over the bed with her midriff exposed as she looked like she was having an amusing dream.

'She's really comfortable on my bed, huh. I can almost see her nipples,' A part of him was slightly aroused by the sight but he didn't do anything more. He didn't want to cross the lines with his actions and create psychological scars on the other person.

Not to mention he was desperate for sleep, especially if he intended to explore the rest of the floor. So without much thought, Noir covered up Alice and slept beside her. The bed was a little cramped, but because she was on the small size it wasn't unbearable

He did spend some time thinking up some plans to explore the rest of the dungeon but soon found himself drifting into slumber.

>\/<

"Big… Brother… Big~ Hehe…~"

At some point during the night, Noir could hear Alice repeatedly murmuring his name as he could feel a breath on his neck and a person weighing on him. He didn't even bother opening his eyes to know who it was this time.

'Why does she have to do this at such an inconvenient time?'

With a stifling yawn, Noir commented as he tried adjusting his body from her koala hug and having her rest on a pillow instead of his collarbone. He was starting to get used to escaping from her grasp, but it was still difficult nonetheless. While he was doing that he noticed that the sun hadn't gotten up yet.

*Yawn* 'Guess I might as well ask some questions before heading back to sleep,' Now that it was a new day and Noir's little Johnny was standing proudly, he thought the least she could do is to let him ask the Sage a few questions in return for her waking him up.

He yawned one more time before resting his hand on her right butt cheek and began lightly caressing it. After enjoying the feel for a few seconds, he asked the Sage his questions.

'Oh Great Sage, what kind of environment is the Wizard Union?'

To start things off, he wanted to know more about the RPG-Esque area he's heard Alice mention briefly.

[For those that are magically gifted, it is a Utopia for Magicians of any race to practise any form of magic under the sun. From standard magic to the Immoral, all is allowed, but under extreme moderation. Each branch and leaf of magic has an operator within the shadows to keep the practices aligned as even the so-called "good" magic could be a lethal weapon in the wrong hands.

As for the non-gifted, it is said to be hell, especially if you are born of two magicians. Although there are procedures to ensure your safety, most things surrounding the magicless tend to be in a murky area in the law. It is not recommended to go there without any qualifications as strength is held more important in that society.]

'Yup, better avoid that place early on. I wonder if they don't like the magicless because of the stigma of the past?' Noir made a mental note of it and for him to learn a fair bit of magic and theory before entering it. It seemed like a place where old wounds of history are often reopened by repeatedly mentioning the world's dark history.

'What kind of regulations do they have when teaching dark arts like blood magic?'

[Dark arts tend to be supervised by an operator who follows the same school, or branch, of magic. To become an operator is akin to swearing an oath to the goddess of mana where if you fail to keep up the agreement that you have settled, you will be punished. The punishment is correlated depending on the agreement, but in the worst cases the other person ends up losing all ability to use magic. Even a magic item would be deemed useless in their arms.]

'It seemed like a reasonable agreement and could work in theory, but there's bound to be loopholes,' Noir was pleasantly surprised with their procedures, but he wasn't convinced by it. He's seen enough magic society anime and films to know that trouble is bound to sprout in those kinds of places, especially when their factions are on a large scale.

But the Great Sage wasn't finished just yet.

[A lot of dark arts, especially body metamorphosis-related arts, require the living to perform magic upon them which are generally supplied by some of the kingdoms to help make magical breakthroughs. Some professors are less ethical in their teachings but their rate of corrupted mages is less than even the four kingdoms combined.]

'Okay, that took an unexpected turn,' Noir didn't know what was more surprising. The fact that the kingdoms sent their prisoners to the Union or the fact that their crime rate is a lot smaller than he thought it was.

'Why do the kingdoms supply people to the Wizard union and which kingdoms do it?

[Some kingdoms send out death row criminals who have committed heinous crimes to their location to practise the medical side of blood magic, for instance. Another instance is to perform 'surgery' to alter one's appearance or features. The agreements are different per capita, but it tends to be for health and illnesses or for strengthening their bloodline as the reasons for sponsoring them.]

The revelation that they'd use death row criminals to aid blood magic gave Noir mixed feelings. On one side it makes sense to use the scum of society to serve some purpose to the kingdom they were raised in, another part of him felt bad for the people that were framed.

'At least it's not for every prisoner. Otherwise, that'd be a scary and shitty way to deal with reformation.'

He recalled some of Emma's teaching when it came to dark arts such as blood magic. They usually required a catalyst that could only be created by refining a large number of people's blood. It would give them the ability to manipulate their own blood but to a small degree. If they tried manipulating others or the properties of blood it would take years of research and resources to get to that stage.

It was a weird type of magic that was slow to learn at first but grew in exponentials instead of how other magics would grow. The other branches of dark arts are similar, which was what was giving Noir an icky feeling about it.

'The entire concept of that Union feels iffy. I guess I should be careful if I interact with anyone from there.'

Although he believes some crimes deserve death, he was worried about where the line is, especially when it came to the manaless.

And knowing how the world works, especially in an anime world, Noir's fairly confident he'd meet someone related to the wizard union. It is a small world after all, especially when you think about the cliches.

'It'd be interesting to see their point of view on things. Till then, how do the four kingdoms perform trials before it gets to the death sentence?'

[In the Freesia and Lupin Kingdoms, they have trials monitored with magic items to detect lies and ill will. After a rigorous trial period and members of the court taking turns to administer the magical device, it is then left to the jury to decide their fate. As for the Rosette kingdom, the laws are quite lax so they don't perform the sentence unless it was for an egregious crime, in which the results are preset or the king decides their fate. In cases where there are death sentences, they would be performed in the public execution stands.]

'Yikes, that's no better than, huh.'

[And finally, the Lilium Peaks tend to have death-sentenced criminals and have them become subjects to various herbal remedies. If they are able to survive their sentence then they are granted their freedom and have the highest percentage of reformed inmates.]

'I wonder if that's because they got tortured to the point they had to change or if it's because the medicine changed their psyche,' It sounded like there were a bunch of unclarities with how they run their trials and such. Even though Noir was curious to find out more about their laws, he had to stop himself and wanted to learn some secrets of magic.

"What's the origin of magic and how old is the wizard union in the context of magic?"

[Magic was created since the beginning of time by %#^^#%@^.]

But what Noir wasn't expecting was an ear-piercing static from his simple question.

[!"£$!%"£!"£$!"£$!%"£%!"£%!"£%!]

'What the fuck is happening?!'

He started hearing strange words that he couldn't decipher within the static as pain throbbed in his head. His heart was pounding in a fight or flight response as his body's temperature started increasing with the pain.

He tried using his quick thinking to kiss Alice to see if that could get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, but it didn't reduce the pain in the slightest. No matter how many times he kissed her or felt her body, it didn't help him at all.

'Fuck!'

He had the urge to scream, yet he was able to hold it in as he put his hand to his head in a futile attempt to massage it and regain some clarity.

After what was just under 3 minutes of pain that felt like 3 hours, and feeling as though he was losing his mind from the voices in his head. All sounds stopped for a second before it was back to normal.

[In context to that, the wizard Union is but a spec of mana, only forming in the last millennia.]

Words couldn't describe the freedom he felt from the skill as a wave of exhaustion kicked in all at once. There wasn't even a chance for him to regain his thoughts or reflect on what just happened as his vision faltered into darkness.

>\/<

Nothing happened past his interaction with the Great Sage as Noir slept in for once. The birds were long since chirping as the loud winds were making almost scary noises for the rundown manor of the Stargazia household.

*Bang*

Today was a particularly windy day than usual, windy enough to cause one of the old windows in the house to swing open, creating a loud thud that shocked Noir awake.

'What the fuck? Oh'

With some deliriousness about what just happened, Noir with half-closed eyes realised what happened as he took deep breaths to calm his heart. It was already way past the usual time he woke up with noise and clattering sounds coming downstairs.

'I woke up late… Is that a side effect of the skill?'

Just remembering that feeling was enough to give Noir chills. It was as if someone strapped a headset on his head and he had to listen to shitty songs at max volume. There was some curiosity to find out why something like that happened, but when he looked around for Alice he noticed that she wasn't there.

'Did she leave? I guess she has school today huh.'

Seeing as now wasn't the best chance to ask questions, Noir checked his body and did his morning stretches, although with more fatigue than usual. Some parts of his body felt stiff, but he was somehow able to manage before he did his other morning routines then headed downstairs where he found another interesting sight.

"Umm… Honey…?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why is my plate smaller than everyone else's?"

What he saw was his father performing a seiza, sitting next to the tea table in the living room with a small plate that you would usually place a teacup. Next to his father was his mother who was carrying a bowl of something hot inside of it.

He didn't want to disturb what was happening so he took a seat at the dining table to enjoy the show.

"Well, that's because I thought you could use some dieting."

As soon as he sat down, Noir was given a big plate by Alice with her mother giving Noir vegetable stew to him and subsequently to Alice and herself, excluding their father who watched with drool in his mouth.

'Is she still annoyed about yesterday?'

Noir thought as he looked around and noticed the sleeping pillow on the couch. He most likely spent the night downstairs without a pillow too and now he's facing part two of the annoyed family.

In that time frame, his mother came back with a small bowl and placed it onto the teacup holder. When his father looked at it, his expression faltered.

"I see… But… Why is there grass on it?"

When Noir heard that, he couldn't help but stand up to confirm it was true, which it was. There were even some dark patches here and there, which looked like it was recently pulled out of the garden.

"Oh, that's because I don't think you touch enough grass. I recall one of the neighbours' wives telling me about ways to make your useless, no good, good-for-nothing husband to change for the better."

"Ugh, good for nothing…"

Noir imagined an arrow hitting his father whenever his mother spoke any words to the sorry man.

"Mmm-hmm. Plus I would have given you more food, but due to my precious son making an effort to improve himself and having taken his first steps as an adventurer that his useless father couldn't be, I've decided to fund him with nutritional food."

When he heard her refer to him, Noir looked to see her smiling at him before urging him to try the food. There were some worries about what she put in it, but he was already used to eating her food to know that it wouldn't taste disgusting.

'For once it's something normal,' It was just stew but after having bland or weird foods for the past few days, Noir felt a little emotional as he took a sip. It's been too long! The flavours weren't bland but actually fused together to give Noir a pleasant morning boost.

"Aiya… Does no one have any remorse for this old man?"

But Noir wasn't the only one feeling emotional. His father looked at him with almost puppy dog-like eyes as he alternated his eyes between Noir and the soup.

Part of him wanted to give the man some of his portions, but he knew that wouldn't do good if the family wanted to correct his behaviour. Especially when he could see Alice gripping the tablecloth. She was annoyed and she reached her limit when she stood.

"Who would when they ran away from anything remotely dangerous? You wouldn't even protect us when we're in danger."

She slammed the table with her palms as she yelled at her father. Normally she would be quiet during instances when their parents would argue but today wasn't one of those days.

"What happened to you… You used to always say you'd protect us… And that we'd be blessed by the gods sooner or later…"

Her voice quietened down towards the end as she made a sad expression. The whole situation affected Alice more than the other people in the family purely because their father would always say that he'd protect them and that things will get better. Ever since she was a little child she and Noir would always believe in him who taught them how to wield a sword, but that man was no longer there.

When she realised it was no longer possible for the same person to be there, she felt like crying her eyes out but stopped herself when she felt something on her back. It was a hand, and when she looked back, she could see Noir patting her back.

'I feel bad for them sticking up with this guy…' Noir didn't have any words he could say to help out in this situation. Unlike the rest of them, he couldn't see the man in front of him as his father. There was no attachment he had for him and the most he could see him was like a neighbour's dad or something.

So all he could do was comfort her in her moment and watch how everything goes.

"A man with action is more reliable than a man with an empty promise. Now then, let's eat. Shall we? The food will get cold."

Seeing as how everything was going, their mother was still annoyed at their father, but subdued it after seeing how it was affecting her children.

For the remainder of the meal, there was an awkward silence in the house. No one spoke so it was over quite quickly, especially Noir since he wanted to explore the dungeon and level up a few.

When he got to the front door, however, he was stopped by his mother.

"That reminds me. Noir, once you're done with your meal I have some energy snacks for you."

She seemed to have lost the sharp glint in her eyes from earlier as she was holding a black bag of some sort. He could've sworn he saw something move inside it…

"Thank you."

With a wry smile, he carefully took the bag as he felt a weird texture. It assumed it was gelatinous from how it felt but didn't know what it was, especially since they don't own a fridge.

"But… Those were mine…"

From far ahead, he could see his father sticking out of the door with a depressed look on his face seeing his snacks get taken from him. Noir wanted to give it back to him since he didn't know what it was, but didn't get the chance to as he received a hug from his mother.

"Good luck out there dear. Stay safe and make sure to give it your all"

Since she was shorter than Noir, only up to his collarbone, she couldn't see the expression he was having when he felt her breast on his stomach. He doesn't wear many layers and the clothes they wear are normally really light, so he could feel them perfectly as she hugged him harder.

He quickly regained himself as he asked the sage a quick question.

'Oh Great Sage, what are the restrictions of your skill and what happens if I violate those conditions?'

[You cannot ask questions related to creations with ancient sources, about the individual god but you may know about their faith or believers, about the extended multiverse, the constructs of another sentient creature's mind, and questions that the human mind cannot comprehend as certain knowledge would be akin to poison.

Violating the aforementioned conditions could restrict your skill or cause you to experience different forms of discomfort. In some serious cases, it's possible to lose your sanity.]

'That explains it,' Noir sighed a little after knowing the information he should've asked before. It was an oversight on his part as he always thought it was a google with a guaranteed answer but now that fantasy was over.

'I'll have to be careful with what kind of questions I ask,' It was slightly inconvenient, but it made sense. Now he just has to work around it. At least until he can upgrade his skill, though the warning the Sage gave to him is worrying.

"Me too. Me too~"

But while Noir was thinking about why knowledge could be damaging to him. Alice suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hugged him too. Her breasts weren't as big as her mother's, but it was still a decent size, enough for Noir to ask another question.

And he decided to bite the bullet with this one too.

'What is the purpose of the God Fragment Skills?'

[I do not have access to that information]

He was prepared for having his hearing harassed again, but nothing happened other than Alice finishing her hug. Once she separated herself from him, she waved him goodbye.

"Good luck, big brother~"

"Thanks, Alice, mother. I'll be going now."

Although Noir was still a little confused, he quickly got over it as he walked out. Now with more questions that he can't make use of.

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Yeah, I know it's a bit of a nerf, but it helps me from bullshitting answers that most would ask if they were in his position, so I put a filter on that. Sue me.

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