6 Chapter 5

Vigor Kinsteel's POV:

On that morning, I have been dragged all way to every single fashion shop in Valden by my mother for hours since most of my clothes were getting tighter for my overgrown body to wear. I'm definitely too tall compared to kids with same age as me. Sometimes, my mother asks me teasingly what did our family's cookers feed me to make me grow so fast while my father proudly claims that I inherited his physical traces, thus explaining my abnormal growing speed.

The main thing my mother wanted to purchase was a proper suit so I can attend the princess' birthday with the most elegant and formal appearance not just towards the royal family but also every important noble house that will join tonight. First impression is a very crucial aspect of getting in good terms with other nobility. The way you dress yourself, talk and act between conversations can help you gain respects and trusts from people in same peerage as you. Hence, relationships are formed between houses which result in potential advantages in businesses as well as aiding each other whenever in need. And above all, there are clearly no good reason to make unwanted rivals for us. Those are what my mother has taught me in summary and each of her words engraved deep to my brain. Despite being tired for hearing she reminding me about them for multiple times, I have to agree with her.

My point of view towards snorty noble kids remained unchanged as I knew that in the Xyrus academy's arc in the novel, there were many spoiled and supremacist assholes who take advantage of their house's reputation to bully commoners and of course: racism towards elves and dwarves.

To be honest, they only have their values as mages since the proportion of awakening as mage in Dicathen is only 1 out of 100 which is just too rare. Comparing to the ratio of Alacrya which is 1 out of 5, we are considerably outnumbered in mages. Dicathen will never have a chance to stand against them if the whole continent can't unite as one and fight along side together. Thus, nurturing and producing as many strong mages from all three races as possible is the vital factor for Dicathen's military power to win the war despite how spoiled and stupid they are as nobles.

That's being said, I will have to prepare additional plans on how to upgrade the mages of Dicathen in terms of both quantity and quality, in the same time erase the discrimination between humans, elves and dawrves .

But back to the current matter, I'm apparently in a predicament which I was hopeless to fight back. I'm being used as a mannequin for my mother to try all the children-sized suits inside this store and as I check the clock, it is almost noon...

My whole morning was gone, just like that. I could have done so many things, training, testing spells and plotting. Whatever  it is as long as it isn't shopping. And yet, reality is often disappointing.

"Mother, I think this one suits me well enough. Can we have lunch now?" My voice was in great despair while my mind was begging her to say yes.

Selena takes a look at me, observing me for a moment until she dropped a bomb:

" No, no, this one's texture is good but still missing a pattern that connects you with it. Just one more minute Vigor." She talked with a determined voice as she continued her search for my suit, not knowing that her words made me dead inside.

"This is the one, try it son.", her voice held satisfaction and enthusiasm as she gave the clothes to me.

Stepping out of the changing room, my eyes met my reflection in the mirror of the store. The black suit I'm wearing was similar to tuxedos from my previous world but with no ties. The fit at the shoulder hugs my natural shoulders' shape to give me an ideal look of my firm upper body. The two lapels have a slight green theme which matched my eyes' color and made it slightly contrast to the overall black color of the suit. The same thing can be said with the handkerchief inside my breast pocket. Additions to my tuxedo's white collar shirt were golden cufflinks and studs decorated with shiny emeralds on the sleeves. The suit makes me look more mature and formal with the vibes of a businessman. Way too serious for a child.

"Handsome as always my boy, you look majestic in this suit. This is perfect!" My mother gave me a wave of compliments as a small blush formed on my cheeks and I scratched my head.

"Be careful Vigor, who knows, you might make the hearts of all girls at the party melt for you."

"Not gonna happen mom." I denied, only caused her to chuckled at what she called my wannabe serious face.

"We shall see my dear boy, we shall see."

Mother said with a mischievous smile and paid for the clothes she chose for me, including this fancy suit which is soon going to be my outfit for the party.

Walking through the streets, mother and I was met with friendly and respectful greets from the citizens of Valden as our family's reputation was the most well-known in this city. I did read some brief history of Kinsteel house and learned that it was my ancestors who gave off so much to save Valden from poverty and hunger and made it prosperous like nowadays. Basically, Kinsteels were and still are the hero of this city, so it is obvious that we always receive their utmost respects.

While my mother just talking about how incredible it will be when I will be wearing it and dancing with another girl

tonight, I started to think about making excuses to not participate in the dancing repertoire.

Not only formal conversation methods known as etiquette, but also formal dancing lessons that I was forced to learn. And you could guess whose idea was it.

________________________________________

The sun has began to set, the sky's bright color faded away until the puffy clouds of day time were replaced with glorious stars, highlighting in the middle of the night like beacons. My dressing up was done nicely, apart from the fancy suit I got today, my daily messy hair was combed straight back into slicked back style by using a special gel that not only keep my hair stayed in right shape but also make it shine. For the final touch, I sprayed some perfume that my servants suggested to give me a nice smell.

I walked to the carriage with my family which was missing one member: my crazy scientist uncle. My father just sighed in hopeless against his younger brother's antisocial attitude and shook his head:

"The deity blessed him with a brain of a genius. And geniuses are usually happened to be unintelligible and complicated ones."

"Can't be surprised why he's still unmarried. No lady can understand him." I spoke with a playful tone which made my father and mother laughed softly before getting inside the carriage.

The journey went smoothly if not pretty much dull. My parents talked a little bit about some business and political topics whilst I just staring at the scenery through the window. There was that one moment I flinched in worries when my father mentioned a report from a nearby household stated that some mad intruder broke inside their poverty last night without stealing any valuable items, the only damage was the kitchen's window. No traces of the intruder were found on the crime scene and lucky for me, the identity of this criminal remained mystery to Valden as no one saw me that night.

As soon as our carriage stops at our destination and father opens the door, my gaze is immediately locked at the massive structure known as the royal palace. Its structural and authentic beauty reminds me of a large and imposing palace which only exists in  fairy tales for children. Whilst following behind my parents, I turn my head left and right to look upon the gardens and patios,  a "sea" of flowers with all types as well as colors standing out their gorgeous beauty under the lights coming from mana lampposts. The beautiful landscape of the pathway, leading us directly at the palace's stone stairs to its opened wrought iron gate with 2 sitting stone lions statues next to it as decorations. Its well decorated marble walls mixed with gold and crystals makes me admire who ever was the brilliant architect responsible for designing these pieces of art.

Finishing the exterior's observation of the palace would entice you to continue for the interior. And as expected, the ballroom is filled with guests, from gentlemen in swagger suits to ladies in fluffy and colorful dresses. Servants coming from every direction with their plates of food and drink ready to be served. A combination of rhythms and harmony inside the room get my attention as they flow in my ears.

'It's music!'

As I detected the source of the sound, I saw a group of people playing their instruments similar to violins to add background musics for the party.

The atmosphere delights my senses and feeling. The air of this palace isn't from a mere boring giant historical building of my old world, it is the air of a fantasy medieval realm flowed across me.

"Alright Vigor, we are going to meet some nobles who are our business friends. You can go visiting this place yourself, just remember not to slip out of the room, understand?" Father patted my shoulder.

"And remember the formal talking lessons I taught you. Be polite and nice to everyone, and try to make new friends, alright?" Mother reminded me.

"I understood." I promised them with little enthusiasm.

"Alright, have fun sweetie."

_______________________________________

Against my expectations, I found myself to be caught in corners of all guests' eyes inside this giant royal ballroom. I wished I wouldn't stand out in front of the crowd, but I guessed the hot topic of my earliest awakening in Dicathen's history still drew attention from everyone until these days.

'Be a Skyrim's NPC Vigor. Be a Skyrim's NPC Vigor. Just be an NPC from Skyrim, walking mindlessly, stay absolutely quite and they'll ignore you---

"Hey, are you Vigor, first son of Kinsteel family?", a feminine....exciting voice? called me out.

'God fucking damn it!'

I reluctantly turned my face to the source of the voice to greet her back:

"Yes, how may I help you?---

Standing in front of me was a scarlet red hair girl with grey eyes and fair skin. Her cheerfulness and positivity could be seen from her eyes and expression. I would guess that she was not much older than me, as she was shorter than me by a head. She wore a fluffy dress with pink color and white decorative patterns. Though it clearly wasn't as fancy as those of the older noble ladies around here.

"Oh, nice to meet you then! I heard my parents told that you are the first one in Sapin to awaken at 1, is that true?", she gave me an expected question.

'Alright, just like what you had practiced Vigor, answer her with class, politeness , show your image as the son of a prestigious house. How hard can it be to communicate with children in the same age as you ? There's no way you can fail.'

I replied:

"Uuuh....Yea- Yes, correct..." (I failed).

"Woaaaah! So cool!", She said with sparkles in her eyes upon hearing my....answer.

"Can you tell me more about it?! The awakening? I learned that people always end up with a big explosion, was it dangerous?. And how about your mana core? Did you manage to unlock any element yet?", she bonbarded me with series of questions with a terrifying speaking's pace.

I let out a heavy sigh before replying each one of her ponderings:

"Yes. Yes. Quite dangerous, recommend doing it in a safe place unless you want to end up having a demolished bedroom like me. Solid orange stage if that's what you mean. Fire and earth, inherited from my parents."

I lied about the last part of course, right now I'm a Tri-Elemental with a very close chance to unlock lightning deviant soon. However, there was a problem with me trying to get the element water which I couldn't understand why.

"You're a dual elemental??!! My deity! People really do call you the "Blessed" for a reason I see."

".....They call me like that?", I was slightly shocked for a bit as I heard the word "Blessed". What a crazy coincidence it is.

"Yup. Oh, I forgot!! My apology for my lack of manners! I haven't properly introduced myself yet! My name is Claire, first daughter of house Bladeheart. An interesting thing is that our houses are business allies, so as I heard from my parents. A big pleasure to meet you.",

She extented her hand out for a handshake.....quite opposite of what noble ladies had to do during a formal greeting/introduction: bow your head down slightly as both your hands also picked up your dress slightly as well and crossed your legs.

'Welp, who the hell am I to judge? If that works for her.'

"...Very nice to meet you too. I'm Vigor Kinsteel....as you have known.....", Lacked of words to say, I followed the etiquette my mother taught the male noble greet, which was just a simple polite bow with my right arm swung to my left chest.

"Claire!", another female voice which sounded more matured called out the Bladeheart girl talking to me.

I turned my sight to see a noble woman resembled Claire very well, like an older version of her, standing next to a noble man which I thought must be her husband. The lady was calling Claire out to go to them.

"Oh, it's my mom....Oh no.... she looks not happy at all.... Aw man! I have to go now. See you later in the party Vigor!", Claire waved her hand at me as she rushed back to her parents.

'Nope, I take it back. Socializing is hard as fuck! I want to be a Skyrim's NPC!.', I shook my head mentally and quickened my steps to the tables near the room's corner with the aim of avoiding unwanted attention. Moreover,  I chose a table  close to the earlier music band that I spotted, so I could enjoy my food while listening to their beautiful music simultaneously.

Before I had a chance to order some food for myself, a loud voice interrupted me:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my precious daughter's birthday party. I'm very grateful that all of you have come here, it's very meaningful to Kathyln. So before the party officially begins, I would like to thank you on behalf of her." Blaine Glayder spoke on the stage with the support of a communication artifact that has sound magic for voice amplification.

Next to him was his wife Priscilla, whose facial features reminded me of an ice sculpture; refined, elegant, noble and flawless. She was wearing a shimmering silvery-white dress that complimented her dark blue hair that draped over her shoulders like a well-kept tapestry.

Trailing to the queen were two younger kids that could only be their kin. The older child, Curtis Glayder, thr boy that looked to be about the age of twelve or so, took more after his father. With his serious brown eyes, straight brows, and his short mahogany, spiky hair like a lion mane, or like Sonic the hedgehog, that had a shiny luster just like his father's.

Directing my eyes to the last and youngest member of Sapin's loyalty, the princess of the kingdom and today's birthday girl. Her porcelain white complexion was a canvas for her meticulously carved facial features. Her penetratingly sharp eyes that seemed much too mature for her age was a dark brown shade that appeared larger because of her long, thick lashes. Her hair was a glaring black, which she got from her mother. Compared to her dark hair and eyes, however, her small lips were covered in a soft pink shade that gave life to her doll-like appearance. Having picturesque features and being a mage, she got both beauty and talent, making her a flawless, perfect ideal model for everyone to strive for.

According to what I knew about the term" out of league" back on Earth, I'd say it's applied for those snotty noble boys who want to get her attention, let alone their chance of flirting with her.

And well, how can we forget ..... all but except for Arthur in the Academy Arc….tons of hints that he was making her fall head over heels for him. The typical non-relevant and useless power of charm coming from typical protagonists for the …"harem" thingy.

In terms of her personality, details from the novel let me know that it was the same as her deviant element, ice cold. At first, she was devoid of any emotions. Mainly due to a bunch of ill-intended people who approached her with an ulterior motive of making connections because of her royalty status. As a result, she locked all of the feelings that she so called 'weakness' deep inside her soul, never showing them in front of others.

Not paying much attention to the rest of Blaine's speech since I bet it wouldn't have anything interesting to hear, I called out a waiter to order my food. I looked at the menu:

"I would like to have a medium rare strip beef steak, and your best whiskey bottle with a glass cup please."

The waiter suddenly stopped taking notes of my orders and turned his gaze at me with his bewildered expression.

"Is everything fine?" I asked him, not being acknowledged of any clues that caused him to be shocked.

"Umm, sorry, no disrespect but I don't think you are old enough to drink, young man." the waiter awkwardly replied

"What do you mean by I'm not old enoug--"

'Ooooooh shit!'

My feelings of annoyance now quickly shifted into the undeniable embarrassment as I somehow totally forgot that I'm recently still 'supposed' to be a 6 years old child.

"No, no! I mean..... *Ahem*!" , I cleared my throat,

"My apology, I thought whiskey was the name of a juice drink." I released a fake impression of a naive kid as I looked at the menu again and ordered an orange juice cup instead. Luckily, the waiter didn't suspect me too much and things still went smoothly.

You alcoholic stupid shit head! Only several sips of Azrael's wine have already stimulated my alcohol addiction to rise back and caught me off guard.

While waiting for the food, I pulled out my notebook that I had conveniently left inside the pocket of the suit. I began to fill my head with loads of information regarding the Angelic magic or as Azrael referred to it as 'Enochian Arts'.

It is the most ancient and powerful form of Angelic magic, personally created by archangel Michael and his brother, Lucifer, before his infamous Fall and becoming Satan. Any pure angels can manifest and use their substitute for their life force, Ohr. Its power greatly surpasses any forms of magic in this world, including Aether manipulation. Compared to Asura's magic that has the World Eater as destructive as a nuclear bomb, capable of wiping an entire landscape, the spells and rituals of Enochian Arts can easily erase countries, continents within mere seconds.

However, when you learn anything, you always have to begin at the basics and fundamentals. According to Azrael's message, while mana and aether existed on this world's environments and atmosphere, Ohr is known to be a cosmic matter, which had prevailed a long time ago before the dawn of life. Its origin remained a mystery among the Heaven, the only individual holding deeper knowledge about it was only Jesus Christ himself, and he refused to share it to his servants for some reasons.

In Arthur Leywin's previous life, there was the existence of Ki, and in 'The beginning after the end', we have mana and aether. While there are worlds which have their own signature sources of supernatural and magical power, there are also ones that don't have any, my Earth for example, where people only advance themselves purely by science and technology.

On the other hand Ohr as a part of the universe, existed in all worlds.

By naturally manifesting and condensing the ambient Ohr ,angels enhance their 'Sanctitas' as easy as breathing. In contrast, due to my half human half draconic physique, I have to manually gather Ohr via using both mana and aether technique to guide Ohr into the Sanctitas that Azrael literally and forcefully stuffed it inside my brain.

And interestingly, as I hone my Sanctitas with an adequate amount of Ohr, it will automatically transmit the memories of its former owner for me. Reaching at the certain levels of the Sanctitas, I will inherit his skills, battle experiences and master the Enochian Arts. The higher the stage of my Sanctitas is, the more powerful and advanced Angelic spells I will unloc--

"Ehem! Greetings."

My inner thoughts immediately got interrupted by a strange young girlish tone that I've never heard before. Lowering my notebook, my eyes met her, Kathyln Glayder.

Damn, since when she got here?

How long have I been staring at my notebook?

And whyyyy?…I just want to fill my stomach with food and go home.

'Welp, better not fucking it up this time.'

Closing my notebook, I stood up and formally greeted the princess with the etiquette:

"Your royal highness. Happy birthday, I humbly give you my most sincere wishes for the best things to you."

"My appreciation. You are Vigor of the Kinsteel family, correct?", she questioned my identity.

"Correct my highness. It's an honor for me.... May I ask how did a humble one like me get a chance to be acknowledged by your royal highness?"

'Fancy long ass way for a question. Nailed it!", I was proud of myself internally.

"It's just…. my father mentioned about you before. No need for formality, I just want to have a little talk."

Annoyance jolted in my mind. The so called ruler of human kingdom seemed to be still aiming at me.

"Well then, I will be very delighted if your highness can join the table with me." I pulled out the chair opposite to my seat, speaking out sentences which sounded as formally fancy as possible….thanks to my mother's teaching.

'Stick the lessons Vigor, stick to them.'

Using all of my facial muscles, I begrudgingly force an as friendly as possible smile to crept on my face and motion her to sit down.

Kathyln however just standing there and looking at me with a weird and probably confused impression?

'This is just fucking cringy, and she might have been disgusted by my stupid face.'

"Well, thank you."

As I was thinking I may have turned myself into a joke, Kathyln gave me her thanks and settled into her seat.

After this conversation, which I hoped I could make it end quickly, I had to find a solitary place to wait until the party's over.

I returned to my seat and braced myself for her upcoming questions. And of course, I was aware that Blaine possibly was using her to ingratiate me and drag me to his side.