Magic System in a Parallel World

"Nice and reasonable, huh?" Eve chuckled at Leo's words.

"What's so funny about that?" He frowned.

"They only seem that way because they're trying to recruit you. Do you even know anything about the Thorns Family— their true nature?" Camille suddenly asked him.

"No, I don't, and I was just about to ask you."

"The Thorns Family is run by women that treat men as though they're trash. It didn't seem like it because she was doing a good job at hiding it. If you join the Thorns Family, you'll be ridiculed and treated like a dog by them." Camille calmly said.

"Seriously…?" Leo was in disbelief when he heard this information.

Meanwhile, Eve was trying her best to not burst out laughing.

"They're also mainly earth magic users, so you'll stick out like a sore thumb with your fire magic."

"I highly advise you to stay away from the Thorns Family if you don't want your pride as a man to be destroyed." Camille said a moment later.

"I understand." He nodded, and then he asked, "Who am I meeting with next?"

"The Tempest Family." Eve said after looking at her schedule.

"Oh…" Leo suddenly recalled Opal Tempest, who he stripped naked during the tournament.

'I really hope they won't say anything about that…' he sighed inwardly.

Half an hour later, two people from the Tempest Family showed up, and to Leo's surprise, there was a familiar face amongst them.

"You are… Opal Tempest…"

Indeed, Opal Tempest, the one he'd stripped during the tournament, was there for some reason.

"If you're here to guilt trip me into joining the Tempest Family, it won't work." He said to her even before they sat down.

"I have no intentions of doing that," she said in an annoyed voice.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because my family told me to be here."

Once they sat down, the middle-aged man with Opal spoke with a friendly smile on his face, "Hello, Leo Magnus. I am Gabriel Tempest. I'm sure you already know her from the tournament, but this little one beside me is Opal Tempest, and she's my daughter."

"Hello."

"We're here today for one simple reason— we want you to join our Tempest Family." Gabriel spoke.

"I heard that the Thorns Family has already spoken to you, so I am going to cut down to the chase. If you join our Tempest Family, I will give my daughter's hand to you, and you will receive the Tempest Family's full support."

"W-Wait a minute. You're asking me to marry your daughter?" Leo asked with a baffled expression on his face, but Opal didn't seem surprised by her father's words, mostly because she was told about it in advance.

"That's right. If my daughter is not good enough for you, or you have a different taste, there are other ladies within the Tempest Family that will not hesitate to become yours."

"Also, we have this for you."

Gabriel retrieved a magic artifact and placed it on the table.

"This is a Phoenix Necklace, an S-Rank magic artifact. It will boost the power of your fire magic significantly, and it can even summon a phoenix to aid you in battle for a brief moment."

'Summon a phoenix…?' Leo was really intrigued by this artifact, but it wasn't to the point where he'll join their family just for it.

"Can you tell me about the rules in your family and my purpose there?" Leo asked a moment later.

"Of course." Gabriel nodded, and he proceeded to explain everything, "The rules are simple. You cannot talk badly about the family, and you cannot do anything that will cause our family to lose face. You also cannot harm anyone in the same family, and we do not tolerate betrayal. If you betray our family while you're with us, we will punish you with death."

'They have pretty much the same rules as the Thorns Family but with the addition of being executed if I break the more severe rules… No, the Thorns Family probably has the same rules and forgot to mention it.' Leo pondered inwardly.

"As for your purpose in the family— since you'll be marrying into the family, your main priority will be to increase the family members."

"Umm… Do I have to marry into your family? What if I don't want to get married yet? Much less have children…" He asked.

"That is perfectly fine as well. You can simply work for our family under a contract until you feel comfortable enough to have a family of your own."

Leo continued to ask several more questions before ending their conversation.

"Give me some time to decide. I will let you know my response soon," he said to them.

"I understand. Have a good day."

Once the Tempest Family left, Leo looked at Camille and asked, "So what's wrong with them?"

"The Tempest Family is actually pretty normal compared to the Thorns Family. If there's one major flaw about them, it's their strictness. If you do anything wrong, they will punish you for even the slightest mistake."

"Also everyone in their family is expected to have at least 5 children. That's why they're the biggest family amongst the four Celestial Families."

"F-Five children?" Leo swallowed nervously. He couldn't even imagine having a single child, much less five.

Inside his head, he imagined having five children with Opal Tempest, which made him shudder.

"Yeah… I think I will pass…"

"Up next is the Light Family." Eve said a moment later. "They'll be here in ten minutes."

"Can you tell me about your family before they show up?" Leo asked Camille.

"They're a bunch of workaholics who always strive for perfection, and they won't accept anything less than that. Also, they are all selfish bastards that only care about themselves. If you don't benefit them, you might as well be trash." Camille spoke in a cold voice, leaving Leo speechless.

Sometime later, the Light Family showed up to the office.