The Villain has Perished

"These are the magic stones you requested, young master."

Sebas, the head butler, placed a heavy pouch on the table.

Turning around, he gave the open window a quick glance and carefully looked at me. I could 'read' the curiosity in his gaze.

"Pardon me for my insolence, but why does the young master need those magic stones?"

I ignored Sebas and checked the contents of the pouch.

'10 high-quality magic stones. It's more than enough'

While Sebas waited for my response, I finally faced him.

Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself. 'Don't mess up. Speak normally.' and spoke each word carefully… with an indifferent tone.

"I can't remain weak forever."

As I managed to utter a normal sentence, I inwardly pumped my fists.

It wasn't what I wanted to say, but it was good enough.

There was a reason I barely spoke anything since I regained my memories. It was the way I spoke.

'I didn't speak arrogantly!'

Sebas, who understood the intent behind my words, was muttering in a quivering voice.

"Y…young master… did you f-finally overcome my lady's death?" His hands were shaking and his eyes became wet.

His words stabbed into my heart.

'It wasn't because of grief, Sebas, it was because I was a coward. While my family was being controlled like a puppet, I left them alone. Only thinking of myself, I refused to help them.'

Despite my thoughts, the words that left my mouth were different.

"Behave yourself. You have your dignity to maintain as the head butler of Lionel House."

"Yes, young master!"

Sebas smiled and wiped his tears.

————

I could remember that day vividly. It was a warm morning, like today.

Although I lost my mother at an early age, the rest of the family never ostracized me. Father, elder sister and elder brother, even my stepmother, all loved me dearly.

Everything changed that day.

Father was no longer the father I knew. My elder siblings changed. Elder Mother's words as she sang me lullabies didn't feel the same anymore.

I retched.

I shouted at them.

'Who are you?'

I didn't let them come near me.

But it seemed I was the only one who noticed the difference. No one in the house, the maids, the cooks, the gardeners, not even Sebas, noticed the difference.

From that day, I lived estranged.

Powerless as I was, the anger slowly morphed into fear. Fear of beings who possessed my family, and yet no one was able to realize this.

'It must have been the <Reader> attribute that let me notice the difference.'

In the past few days, I noticed it repeatedly, and the interface confirmed it. It was thanks to the <Reader> attribute that I could read the surface level thoughts and emotions of others.

'The only difference between me, who was not possessed, and my family was mortal awakening. So, I adamantly refused to go through mortal awakening in the past.'

'But it's different now. I know their weaknesses and strengths. I won't hide any longer!'

Even at this moment, I was thinking of ways to save my family. With the Coalescence in tow, the schedule was tight, but it should be enough.

And the first step to my envisioned future would begin here!

"Young master, I'm ready. You can begin any time."

I nodded to Sebas, who was sitting behind me with his palms touching my bare back.

Exhaling loudly, I punctured the mana stone with a thin mana needle.

It took me a few minutes to create the mana needle. Though calling it a mana needle was exaggerating it, it was nothing but a simple amalgamation of ambient mana.

Without going through mortal awakening, a normal human can still manipulate ambient mana to a small degree, depending on the size of their dormant mana pool. Since I had a whopping 100 Magic Power stat, my mana pool was naturally extraordinarily large.

Absorbing the mana from the magic stone, I pulled it inside my heart.

From the arms that held the mana stone to the lungs and finally the heart. Holding the mana until my heart felt like bursting, I started spinning the mana in circles.

The rotation speed slowly increased.

The mana coagulation was harder than I thought. Gritting my teeth, I focused on making the mana circle small enough while increasing its density at the same time.

'This… is… difficult…'

Controlling mana wasn't as difficult as it was multitasking. I had to maintain the mana stream from the mana stone into my heart continuously, while creating a mana heart inside my heart at the same time.

It was slowly becoming unbearable.

Abruptly, I felt a cool, warm sensation flowing into me from behind my back. Knowing it was Sebas trying to use his mana to help me maintain the mana stream, I let him inject his mana inside my body.

Normally, one would complete months of practice before forming their mana heart. One could do less training and use others' help like I did, but it wasn't advisable.

Allowing someone else to inject their mana into your body was no different from putting your life in their hands. One small error — even if by mistake — from the one helping you and you would die instantly.

'But I don't have time to learn mana control leisurely when Coalescence will start in less than 6 months. I need to reach Master rank before that.'

I trusted Sebas enough to trust him with my life and he had more than sufficient skills necessary for the task.

Seba was the only one who stood with me when everyone else called me crazy for labeling my family an imposter. He treated me like his own son.

Back then, he was the one who believed me and helped me to look for evidence against Daemons. Though nothing came up to prove that my family was possessed and he had no choice to give up.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but I never blamed Sebas. The Daemons were too cunning to leave a trail.

A few hours later, the mana inside my heart coagulated completely.

Ding!

<<You have formed your mana heart>>

<<You have completed your First Mortal Awakening>>

A wave of powerful energy washed over me and my tiredness from the hours-long exertion vanished in an instant.

I felt like I was born anew!

The notifications continued.

Ding!

<<Your mana heart increases the potency of your blood and energizes your whole body. The increased and superior blood flow nourishes your body slowly and improves its functions.>>

<<Your mana heart grows firmer>>

<<Your Physique has increased by 200%>>

<<Your Magic Power has increased by 100%>>

Ding!

|| +50 Life Points ||

Exhilarated by the newfound power, I walked over to the mirror.

My appearance has remarkably improved by a large margin. Though I was still thin, I couldn't be called scrawny anymore. But it wasn't my appearance alone that changed.

My muscles had grown stronger and the lethargy I felt constantly had reduced considerably. Deep inside me, I could feel my mana pool grown by a large margin.

'Life points? This is the first time I've heard about them. Are they related to my attribute?'

Turning around, I thanked Sebas, who was looking at me with a warm smile.

"Good work."

…I tried to thank him.

'This personality! It won't let me say thanks, let alone smile!'

Not taking offense to my words, Sebas bowed.

"It is my pleasure to be of use to you, young master."

Ding!

<<You have met the necessary requirements to unlock your attribute>>

Suddenly, a black-colored book with a thick hard cover appeared in front of me.

'Is this a Grimoire? How do I use…'

The book opened and showed me the first page.

Name: Sol Lionel

Life Points: 50

Occupation: Summoner

Occupation Level: Level 1

Summon Capacity: 10

Accumulated Life Points to next Level: 50/100

Skill(s) Unlocked: <Extract>, <Summon>

Avenue(s): Insect Avenue (Locked), Beast Avenue (Locked), Plant Avenue (Locked), Reptile Avenue (Locked), Undead Avenue (Locked), Mecha Avenue (Locked), Spirit Avenue (Locked), Titan Avenue (Locked), Divine Avenue (Locked),....

Ding!

|| Use 50 Life Points to unlock Insect Avenue? ||

|| Confirm Y/N ||