Chapter 5

Part 5: Awakened (1)

I sighed inwardly and bowed my head to the duchess.

Indeed, a noble lady. The duchess acknowledged my greeting.

After confirming that the duchess had nodded almost imperceptibly, I turned my gaze to her side.

Two boys stood there with the same expression as a few days ago, and a young girl and a woman were also present.

My older sister, who was a year older than me, and the second duchess.

Elena de Grecia.

My cute older sister waved at me slightly when she saw me.

Unlike those two annoying brothers, she was somewhat close to me, being only a year older.

Of course, her mother was only a baroness, but she was a proper noble.

Naturally, she was a legitimate daughter of the duke, unlike me, but perhaps because of her mother, she still got along with me reasonably well.

I bowed to the woman standing behind the girl.

The woman smiled and returned my greeting.

Maria de Grecia.

The second duchess, the youngest daughter of the Ibiza baron, who owned a small fief in the countryside.

Unlike the first duchess, she was a kind and considerate noble who cared a lot about her surroundings.

She didn't discriminate against me, even though I was a bastard.

Of course, it might be because she only had a daughter and didn't pay much attention to me.

Hmm, thinking about it, I might be a bit twisted.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I looked ahead.

My father, the duke, stood in front of me.

Next to him were the old butler and a priest, brought in case of an emergency.

However, I was captivated by the duke's glare.

It was quite intimidating.

"Come over here."

The duke called me, who was standing behind my mother, in a calm voice.

I took a deep breath. Fortunately, my tense body relaxed.

I walked forward, feeling the worried gazes of my mother and the maids.

Thud, thud.

Only the sound of my young feet echoed in the stone room.

The sound stopped, and I stopped in front of the duke.

The duke looked at me for a moment and then spoke.

"I will begin the awakening ceremony today, on Alex's sixth birthday."

I forced my furrowed brows to relax at the duke's words.

Only my name was called during the ceremony.

Indeed, the words I heard a few years ago, about being accepted as the duke's son, had a completely different meaning.

It only meant that I would be protected until the awakening.

As expected, it was difficult for a bastard to become a member of the ducal family.

However, the fact that the ceremony was being held was a glimmer of hope.

'Do they think they're giving me a chance?'

I snorted inwardly.

In this situation, even if I awakened, it would only lead to a hard life.

I didn't mind if I didn't awaken. I had a bone-deep understanding that the position of duke or noble was as dangerous as it was powerful.

"Our Grecia ducal family, separated from the royal family at the founding of the kingdom, inherited the abilities of Sir Carlos, a hero from ancient times..."

Thanks to this, I completely relaxed. I let the duke's ceremonial speech wash over me as I waited for time to pass.

After listening to the speech with a calm face, the duke looked at me with a strange expression.

I waited for the ceremony to proceed, regardless.

The expression on the duke's face quickly disappeared, and the ceremony began.

"I will now awaken the abilities passed down from our ancestors."

The duke raised his hand with a stern face. It was finally the moment for the awakening to begin.

Awakening.

The time to awaken the inherited ability.

However, I had another goal for the awakening day.

The 'auto-save point' had been saved for several years.

If I were to die in the future, I would definitely return to the last saved point, which was when I was a one-year-old baby.

I shuddered. The thought of going through infancy again was unbearable. Learning to walk, learning to talk, and learning to control my bladder and bowels...

I absolutely! did not want to repeat those experiences.

On the other hand, I couldn't commit suicide in the middle. Unlike dying at the hands of others, the consequences of suicide were unknown.

I might just die, or the save point might not work.

Ultimately, I had been waiting for this moment because of the hope for the awakening.

The duke, my father in this life, placed his hand on my head.

"I will now awaken the abilities passed down from our ancestors."

With the duke's stern voice, the hand on my head became slightly warm.

The warmth was like the love of a father...

Nonsense.

Literally, heat was emanating from his hand.

It's hot!

"Don't move! I know it's hot! Endure it!"

The duke barked at me as I flinched.

However, no one had told me it would be this hot.

Damn, did the words get cut off again?

Sprinkling salt on the wound until the awakening. I couldn't help but click my tongue in pain.

I endured the heat and straightened my body, which was about to collapse.

The heat that started from his hand enveloped my head. The heat gradually seeped into my brain.

My vision blurred, and my consciousness faded.

The pain stabbed at my brain, and the heat burned my entire body.

But I endured it.

It was an immense pain, but compared to death, it was nothing, just heat.

And in the next moment,

Whoosh!

The pain disappeared.

At the same time, a sentence appeared in front of my eyes.

Nice! It was as I had expected.

If auto-save was to be of any help to me, it wouldn't be possible to save only by repeating death.

If this ability wasn't a punishment given to me, I thought there would be a save point even without dying.

And that thought was correct.

On my sixth birthday, I gained a new save point.

At the same time, I felt something new deep in my head.

It wasn't a physical presence like a brain, but a new organ had formed in my head.

"!"

When I opened my eyes, the duke was looking at me with a surprised expression.

Even without the new organ in my head, I could tell from the duke's expression.

Fortunately, or unfortunately,

I had successfully awakened.

* * *

"You have awakened."

When the duke declared my awakening, everyone looked at me with surprised expressions.

The first duchess, who was stiff, and the first prince, Simon, who frowned. The second prince, Manuel, who had his mouth wide open.

The second duchess also looked very surprised, and my only older sister had a surprised expression. However, unlike the others, she was looking at me with a happy expression.

The priest and the butler, who were waiting, also showed clear signs of surprise.

It seemed that no one had expected me to awaken.

Finally, my mother had a very complex expression. It was a mix of worry and joy, a sigh and pride.

I was no different from my mother.

The result was completely different from what I had expected. If I hadn't had other thoughts, I would have been overjoyed, but now my feelings were mixed.

Moreover, the ability I had inherited was a very ambiguous one.

After the new organ formed in my head,

I realized what my ability was.

It was like finding a lost hand again.

I immediately understood what the ability was and how to use it.

It didn't have a special name, but I had a rough idea of what to call it.

An ability that gradually strengthens the body through training and combat experience.

Tsk. It sounds like there's no difference from a commoner when explained this way.

However, it wasn't the same as a commoner. The speed of growth and the limit of growth were different from ordinary people.

It was an ability that allowed me to grow faster and become strong enough to surpass human limits.

Of course, it wouldn't make me infinitely stronger.

So, even if it looked mediocre, it wasn't completely useless!

Still, it was an ambiguous ability.

"Well, what ability did you inherit?"

The duke, who was standing in front, asked me directly.

It was the first question he had ever asked me. And there was a hint of warmth in his words.

Indeed, the treatment changed immediately because it seemed to be of some help to the family.

Thanks to that, I felt very bad.

I apologized to the duke in my heart.

'Sorry, but it doesn't seem to be of much help to the family.'

At the same time, I gave an answer that was uncharacteristic of my age.

"It seems to be a physical enhancement type. The training achievement seems to be much higher than that of a commoner."

It was a childish voice of a child who had just turned six, but I answered the duke clearly.

"Ha!"

A mocking laugh came from the side. Along with it, a small sigh of relief.

The one laughing was obvious, and the sigh of relief was definitely from the first duchess.

The butler stroked his white beard and tilted his head.

"A physical enhancement type, a unique ability. I believe there is a similar ability among the abilities that the hero Carlos possessed..."

I understood what the butler was saying.

Thanks to my diligent studies in the library-level study over the years.

Thanks to years of effort, I had a rough understanding of the abilities that my ancestor Carlos possessed.

First, the [Mana Sensitivity] that was passed down to the royal family.

It was written that once this ability was awakened, one could feel and manipulate the mana in the world and in the body as if seeing it with the eyes.

The current king and the two princes possessed this ability.

And the [Mana Circuit Construction Method] that was passed down to the Grecia ducal family, a branch of the royal family.

It was a mana circulation technique, commonly known as [Meditation], for emitting tangible mana outside the body.

Sir Carlos had four meditation techniques, and the Grecia ducal family had inherited them in rotation.

Of course, there were people who had inherited other abilities of Sir Carlos over the long history, but I didn't know of anyone who had inherited the same ability as me.

'Besides, it looks like a pretty mediocre ability...'

It seemed to be a growth-type ability, but other abilities also became stronger with training and time.

The abilities used by nobles were almost all based on mana.

Magic was the processing of mana, and the sword qi emitted by swords was the tangible manifestation of the mana in the body.

The royal family's ability to handle all the foundations of mana, and although limited to the body, the ducal family's ability to handle the foundations of mana, were the reasons they were recognized among the nobles.

However, physical enhancement had nothing to do with mana.

Maybe I could become a knight-level.

It would be difficult to be called a noble with this.

'No, wait. Isn't a mediocre ability not so bad?'

I quickly looked around.

The surprised expressions had turned to relieved ones, and my mother's expression didn't look too bad.

So, it wasn't bad.

It was an ability that suited me, a bastard.

An ability that would allow me to stay close to the nobility without being cast out as a commoner.

I might be able to become a small village lord and live a good life.

'Even a minor noble would be fine.'

Even inheriting an ability, I didn't dare to hope for anything above a baron.

'Good. I'll endure. I've survived for five years. I'll endure until I die of old age!'

I raised my head with a satisfied expression and looked ahead. The duke was looking at me.

"You inherited the [Physical Optimization] ability."

The duke's muttering reached my ears, which were close to him.

Apparently, the original name of my enhancement ability was [Physical Optimization].

Well, the name didn't matter, but the problem was the duke's expression.

The duke's usually expressionless face had changed.

A chill ran down my spine.

The duke's eyes looked like those of a wolf staring at a delicious prey.