Knowledge and Power: Reborn into a society that only values strength.

Waiting wasn't as boring as it may have sounded. I took the opportunity to focus on manipulating my soul with my manna, the way Rafi showed me, but… Considering I tried for over three hours and made almost no progress… All it really ended up doing was passing the time…

On the other hand, I was continuously scanning my surroundings in as wide an area as I could, sending out my manna-like sonar waves instead of every direction at once, covering more overall distance until I ran into something more than a little troubling. 'A black void where my manna can't penetrate or return from… Like it bounces off… Dark magic? Which can only mean a demon… I guess I'm not surprised, but why is it so big?'

'Footsteps!' I brought my attention fully back to my surroundings. 'Wait, but… They're… skipping? And heavier.'

"Frostbite?" A young girl slid the door open, peaking inside. When she saw me she gasped. "You really are back!" She cheered, sneakily coming inside and timidly standing just in front of the door.

'Who… The heck is this girl? Mo didn't say anything about her… Are they close?' Her hair was a few shades darker than Mo's and despite still looking no older than maybe around my sister's age she was… A lot bigger than Mo was. Not necessarily muscular, but certainly not taking drugs to stop her from growing up so to speak. 'They look similar enough… So a cousin then? Probably from a branch family, one of the other buildings… If they were close enough for her to come and see me then why didn't Mo mention her though… Should I ask who she is? Or… Maybe just stay quiet…'

She shuffled her feet over right in front of me and knelt down with a curious smile. "Quiet as ever I see… You're not even the least bit curious as to why your baby cousin is here. Not at all happy to see me? Not… A little bit angry?" She sighed. "Like an empty shell until someone gives you orders… It's no wonder everyone says you'd be a lousy successor, even your finance would much rather be with me."

My eyes suddenly locked onto hers, 'it seems like there was more than one person Mo forgot to mention…' It was plain as day that she wasn't the nicest person… But perhaps the strangest part about it was how she kept smiling… When her soul was the same as her hair… Dark… And blue…

She flinched back from my gaze, her smile vanishing but only for a moment. 'I have to control my eyes…'

"Hmph. Well, it doesn't matter anyway…" She slowly stood up, her eyes turning sad, if only for a moment. "The river from the mountain runs white with the blood of falling angels…" She turned and walked away.

'What the heck does that mean…' The moment she stepped out the door her entire body turned to whiteflowers petals and blew away in the wind. 'Magic!' Moments later my father walked past… uh, Mo's father… He slowly looked inside without turning his body. "Let's go…"

Despite everything I still had to do my best to mimic Mo, so at his command, I instantly got to my feet and silently moved to his side. He had changed from his armor, which was similar to what I was wearing, and adopted a more simple cloth in place of the thick plating that went over it. He exposed his massive arms and chest, seemingly almost sculpted. Even among those in my culture, he stood out. If my father and siblings were ordinary athletes, then he would have been someone on steroids. Instead of taking his suit off or keeping it on, he hung the top half from his waist and wore old baggy fur pants, exposing his upper half completely. Not that I was particularly complaining about either. Since he was shockingly hairless, unlike the men in my family, it didn't bother me that much, and Considering the way the armor was… I was just happy he was wearing pants over it.

His skin was pulled so tightly over his muscles that it almost looked as though he didn't even have any. His shoulders were the size of my whole torso, bulging out like boulders, large even for his massive frame, which while huge was also somehow small enough in the right places for him to stay nimble.

His long white hair was well taken care of, pulled back into a ponytail, and aside from that his skin was completely smooth, thankfully. The men in my family were like rugged mountain barbarians. Even Air, although he at least shaved.

I had to make sure I kept my eyes off him, so as not to stare. 'I didn't know there was a muscle there… Do I have a muscle there? Guys don't have extra muscles do they?'

I fixed my eyes straight ahead. 'You're telling me this man is old enough to have an 18-year-old son?'

Changing my view to the third person I snuck a glance at his face and sure enough, he had the deep eyes and heavy brow of an elderly man. Despite his skin's smooth condition, it had a rough almost calloused texture that also seemed to give away his age. What nearly shocked me though was his expression…

My father's expressions were varied, more so than my brothers at least… But he also looked bold, confident, and a little bit angry. In the man before me… It looked… I wasn't sure. He looked like his eyes were heavy, carrying the burden of hundreds of years. A little sad, but also a bit happy, and more than anything else at peace…

After walking for some time we came to a large arcing bridge where we could see the river winding all the way down the mountain, filled with flower petals. Then he slowly rubbed a hand down his face and let out a sigh as we both stood in silence. "How old are you now? 11… Or is it 12? I was 16 when I became head. Times changed and my father refused to adapt and was killed. He was younger than you though, only 9 when he became head, his father and uncle killed each other in a bloody battle. Now, before you even have a name… The river will once again turn white…"

'Is he saying… He's going to die?'

"I'm growing old… Too old for more of this life… It's time that I die, the same as I kill… Maybe worse…" He let out a long groan followed by another sigh. "First I will ensure your succession. You have the skills to keep up with me now, so you are more than ready… From today on you are to stop taking the pellets that stunt your growth. Your engagement has been broken off, and you are to find a new suitable husband on your own. Now, let us get to work."

'He said that like it's nothing… No wonder Mo can be so indifferent to most things…'

He squatted down in front of me. "The branch families all reside here, while the minor families that are not related to us are there. They will all most likely still be loyal. Those in the branch families are the ones we are targeting. To make this as simple as possible, forget their names… Just kill everyone that has dark blue hair. I will enter from the front door, and you go in through the back. Also, treat them as targets capable of using magic."

I nodded. 'What on earth did I get myself into…' 

"Alright, get on the move."

'What am I supposed to do now… Just gives orders without explanation…' I quickly scaled the mountain, leaping backward off the wall and swinging in through an open third-story window.

'Alright… I haven't done this in a while…' I took a deep breath and expanded my manna outward, encompassing the whole building and letting me see everything as if I were playing a tactics game. '23 people, 7 visible targets, 2 on the first floor… It's the girl from before…' I scanned her stats and to be honest they were unimpressive. Even though her magic was much lower than mine, I had her beat in physical ability as well. 'Four other targets on this floor.' I quickly ducked under the banister railing, which was thankfully solid, and continued to scan my surroundings, pulling my manna back to only cover the top floor as a couple of people e seemed to start getting suspicious. 'By that count… 4 magic users… None on the third floor. I'll take the three up here out first… If he really wants to he can kill them later, I'll just knock them out.'