Archive 14: Lean not on your own understanding.

It had now been a week since Magnus was brought to Bellyon.

His body was now fully recovered and his overall condition was much better.

Esmeralda his mother even remarked that this was the best he'd ever looked even before he had gotten injured.

This concerned Magnus because it was quite obvious the body he was currently possessing was too weak even for a seven year old boy. 

Magnus quickly checked his status window after his hour of meditation. A new feature had been added.

Awareness. 

Name: Alastor Caesrus 

Age: 7

Level: 1

Title: N/A

Energy: 20 

Holy power: 40 

Stamina: 5 

Awareness: 5

Potential: TBD

Everything remained relatively the same except for his energy. It had increased by a lot which he was happy about. He had been bedridden for awhile now and his body was itching to move. 

"This body is in need of some serious training." He thought out loud.

He then heard the familiar ringing sound of the system alerting him of a new task. 

Complete the following tasks along side you meditation.

 Learn to increase your strength but train in moderation. 

The window showed a series of exercises he needed to complete everyday for the next month as well. 

This included stretches, core strengthening exercises and cardio. Magnus didn't have any complaints, and started right away. This took him an hour to complete.

By the time he was done, he heard a knock on the door. 

"Young master Alastor. Are you up?" 

"Yes I'm up, you can come in Pollux."

The door slowly opened and Pollux walked in looking as dignified as ever.

Even though Pollux was the family butler, Magnus could tell he wasn't an ordinary person.

His aura radiated strength and he looked like someone who was experienced with swordsmanship . Although he wasn't big and muscular and had a much leaner body, he still looked strong. 

"Good morning young master, I hope you slept well. If you are ready, the maids will come up and get you dressed for the day." He said politely. 

"That's fine thank you Pollux. Also, I have a question. Is there a training room that I can use for today?" 

Pollux raised his eyebrows in surprise but quickly concealed his surprise and formed a smile.

"Yes there certainly is, I'll have one of the rooms reserved exclusively for you."

"Thank you." 

"It's no problem." He then tilted his head slightly before exiting the room. Soon after that the maids arrived to give him his bath and help him get changed. 

Since he was feeling much better, he decided to eat breakfast in the dining hall, and use this opportunity to scope around the place. While making his way downstairs, he looked around admiring the place.

The decor and interior design was splendid with its intricate details and magnificent fixtures, but what caught his attention the most was the portraits and paintings.

One of them depicted a woman with two older figures at her side. They looked strange almost cadaverous. The fabric she was holding looked like it had been caught on fire and all that was left were the ashes.

The one right next to it was the body of a man who was all skin and bones with a dark almost see through cloth draped over his head.

It looked like he was holding something but the cloth obscured the object in his hands making it almost impossible to perceive. While looking at the paintings, one of the maids who had been observing the boy spoke up. 

"That painting in particular is the master's favourite. It was imported from foreign lands." She said while pointing at the one with the woman. 

Pollux who was making his way down the hall upon seeing them stopped to admire the paintings as well. 

"I believe this painting particularly caught the masters eyes because of its peculiarity. It gives the house a bit of mystery and intrigue." He explained. 

Magnus turned to look at both of them. The young woman who looked to be in her late teens had orange wavy hair and olive coloured skin.

Her big green eyes shined brightly looking back at him with curiosity. He turned to look at the painting once again. 

"He has a very… distinctive taste." He finally said. 

Not expecting to be answered, the look of surprise was apparent on her face and she wasn't the only one. The two other maids looked surprised as well. 

"Y-yes distinctive indeed." She finally managed to say. 

Finally arriving at the dinning hall, there were already three seats that were taken.

The dining hall was adorned with a large chandelier that sparkled nicely creating a warm and cozy atmosphere that was a stark contrast to the macabre they had just witnessed.

It included a large table that took up most of the room, with several seats. The chair at the head of the table remained empty and the seat on its left and right were occupied by the woman presumed to be Alastor's mother and what looked like his eldest brother.

The one right next to him was also occupied by his second eldest brother, while the seat next to his "mother" remained empty. Upon seeing his arrival, Esmeralda quickly stood up, gesturing for Magnus to sit down.

While sitting down, he could feel four pairs of eyes looking at him. He looked up and noticed the two young men staring at him.

The older one bore a striking resemblance to his mother, with long obsidian hair tucked behind his ears, his eyes that resembled rubies shined brightly under the lights making them look surreal.

He had sharp eyebrows that arched in the middle and went straight down, with long and thick eyelashes. His nose was long and narrow which complemented his facial structure nicely, he had flawless skin free of any blemish, with full pink lips. He was dressed well in a white blouse, black vest and a beautiful cravat adorned with a red and gold brooch with a crest on it. 

He then turned to look at his second older brother. Compared to the older one, he didn't bare much of a resemblance to the mother. Magnus suspected that he probably looked more like his father. While Aurore was more of an angelic beauty, Apollon was more... hauntingly beautiful.

He was handsome and enchanting with the same dark hair but shorter in length, stopping at his nape and styled back. He had the same ruby eyes, with straight eyebrows and a perfect nose. He had shaper features with a perfect bone structure.

Unlike his brother, he opted for an all black attire instead but still wore the same broach on his cravat. 

They were a beautiful family, blessed with nice genes.

But what caught Magnus' attention was not their outward appearance since things like that didn't interest him but he admired how strong they both were. He could feel high levels of holy power in them despite his low level.

He was impressed by these humans strength. This also applied to Esmeralda their mother. She was just as strong. They were on par with lower ranked angels. He couldn't believe it. 

 Magnus was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

"I am glad to see you are doing well Alastor." Aurore spoke up. 

"Thank you, so am I." He said bluntly. 

Apollon who was taking a sip of his water, choked and started to cough a bit. 

"Apollon honey, are you alright?" Esmeralda asked worried. 

"I'm fine. The water went down the wrong pipe." He stammered turning a slight shade of red. 

"Hem, we are sorry we didn't get the chance to see you very often. We had missions we needed to complete before father arrived." Aurore explained. 

"That's alright. There's no need to apologize." He said sincerely. He really didn't care where the boys went or what they were up to. He actually liked the fact that they weren't around. He had more space to get familiar with the system as well as train.

Aurore was a little surprised by his little brothers disinterest in them.

A part of him even felt a little sad. But he couldn't push it considering it was his fault. Aurore looked at Apollon, who was observing Alastor.

Although he didn't say anything, he could tell that Apollon was surprised as well.

"Well, since you've all completed your missions, you can use this time to play with your little brother and help him with training. Pollux told me that you requested having a training reserved. I am fine with that, but don't overwork yourself." She said while running her fingers through his hair. 

"Of course, Aurore and I would love to right?"

He turned to look at the brother in question.

The latter simply nodded in response. 

Just as Magnus was about to object, he heard the ringing of the system letting him know that his affection levels had gone up. 

Affection: 20/1000 

He slumped into his chair and nodded to his mother. 

"Thank you brothers." He smiled. 

This made all three family members scream internally. They all shared the same thought. Alastor was simply adorable when he smiled. 

*ding 

Affection: 35/1000 

Magnus was flabbergasted.