LEOPOLD MILBOURNE
I sat on one of the many balconies of my estate, overlooking the beautiful sunrise over Camidinne. The view was made all the better by the fine beastfolk mistress that accompanied me. “One of the many pleasures of being the head of a noble house,” I celebrated aloud, running my hand through the beastwoman’s silky hair. At my touch, the beastwoman’s thin frame began to tremble. “No, we can’t be having that,” I whispered as I lifted her face up by her chin. “You wouldn’t want to spoil my joyous mood, would you?” 

 

“N–No Lord Milbourne. I wouldn’t,” she squirmed, struggling to stop her trembling. “Good, good,” I snickered to myself, a smirk rising at the corner of my lips. 

 

“Leopold!” I heard my wife’s voice call out.

 

Damn it, of all times. I pushed myself off of the couch I had been so comfortable in, passed my lavishly decorated bedroom and meandered over to the door where Christina was waiting for me, her face wrinkled with worry. “What is it?” I asked, my tone impatient. “Last night, a young boy applied for the position of Adela’s bodyguard. I thought it hilarious, so I had Braxton come and knock some sense into the boy, but…” her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted down to her shoes. “Go on,” I urged. “He was humiliated. Completely beaten.” She said sheepishly.

 

My face grew hot with frustration. If this boy was a noble, which he probably was since he had the facilities to defeat Braxton at a young age, then he would likely spread the story of his easy victory over the Milbourne house, portraying us as weak and leading the other nobles to think that our house was talentless. For the sake of my pride as the head of the Milbournes, I couldn’t just let this go. 

 

“Have the other houses caught wind of this?” I asked, frustration seeping out of my voice. “No- No, I don’t think so,” Christina stammered fearfully. She likely believed I would take it out on her, seeing as it was her rashness that led to this humiliation, but I had other priorities as of now. 

 

Should I send Luthor after the boy? Luthor was my eldest son, who had trained all his life with the nation's top magical educators. He was to be the next head of the Milbourne house, and an expert in electricity manipulation and swordplay, so there was no question he could easily take care of the little brat. 

 

“Do we know where this boy lives?” I questioned my wife in a commanding tone.

 

“Um, yes I believe so, but I don’t think we shoul—-”

“Wonderful! Call Luthor here immediately.”

 

“... Alright.”

 

My wife walked down the long hallway out of my vision, and I took a seat on my bed. I noticed the beastwoman looking at me inquisitively, so I dismissively waved my hand in her direction, and she hurried out of the room.

 

“You called, father?”

 

Moments later, my son stood at the doorway. I inspected him for a moment, and it seemed like I had called him while he was in the middle of something. His wavy blond hair was disheveled, and his pants were awkwardly tucked in over his shirt in certain areas. I smiled to myself.

 

Like father, like son.

 

“Yes, I have a job for you.” 

“Of course, and what might that be?”

 

“I need you to assassinate a boy.” 

 

“What boy?” 

 

Without even a moment's hesitation, my son was primed and ready to kill at my command. What a splendid boy I had raised.

 

“His name is Ikarus. He has committed a grave offense against the Milbourne house, and sullied our pride. He lives in the town of Damerel, and I expect him to be gone by tomorrow.”

 

“Understood, father.”

IKARUS VELOR

 

I walked back down the same road I had taken to get to the Milbournes house, my brain still trying to process everything that just went down. A lot more happened over the course of this night than I had planned for. I wanted to do a bit of exploring in Camidinne, and here I stand tasked with guarding a little girl on her first adventure. I say little, but I’ve heard she's actually a year older than me. Miss Christina told me that we set out two days from now, so I should hurry in making any preparations. I'm getting kinda excited about this!

 

I hadn’t exactly told her that I myself had never been on an adventure before, because I didn’t particularly want to get on that lady’s bad side. I also figured that if they were sending little kids in this dungeon, it probably wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I arrived at the wall where the teleportation gates were just as the sun started to rise, already forming a plan to get back home. That being said, it wasn’t exactly any kind of elaborate scheme.

 

I pressed the button that activated the pulley elevator platform, and waited until I reached the top. Once I got up there, I was met with a familiar face standing guard.

 

“Where to—- Hey it’s the Milbourne kid!”

 

Sorry about this, Piers.

 

I blasted him in the face with a large sphere of water before making a mad dash for the portal labeled Damerel.

Man, how am I gonna tell my family about all this?

 

I stood at my house's doorstep, contemplating what to say when I walked through the front door. I saw lighting devices turned on in the house, but they probably figured I was just sleeping in. My parents were all worried about what I would do next, so maybe they’ll just be happy I found an answer?

 

...

“You did WHAT?!?” My mother exclaimed exasperatedly. My parents stared at me with a stark look of disbelief as I explained the events of the night. “Young man, that is not okay!” My mother stammered, pacing around the room.

 

“I know, I know, I never intended for it to go that far, I was just going for a walk—-” 

 

“Well why did you tell the guards you were from the house of Milbourne then!??!? Of all houses!” My mom questioned, flabbergasted.

“It was in the heat of the moment! Plus I didn’t even know Milbourne was a real house, I just came up with it!” I struggled to defend myself.

 

“Unbelievable. I really can’t believe this! Y– You—-”

 

“Honey, let’s just be glad he’s back safe,” my father attempted to rationalize despite the shock he was in himself. 

 

“But NOW he’s signed up for an adventure in a dungeon! With the Milbournes! And the LAST thing we are going to do is cancel on the House of Milbourne!!!” My mother rambled on. 

 

“Hey,” I said softly, “It’s just a beginners dungeon, one they send little kids into. I’ll be okay. Right Elise?”

 

Elise, who had been observing this whole familial catastrophe unfold with a smirk, was caught off guard by my sudden mention of her. “Hm? Oh, yeah. You’ll probably be fine.”

 

I held in a sigh.

 

“PROBABLY?” My mother burst into a shout. “We are not leaving our boy’s life up to the whims of fate!”

 

“Definitely! I meant definitely!” Elise tried to calm mother, but to no avail.

 

It was gonna be a long day.

LUTHOR MILBOURNE

This needs to be done. If I’m to take over the Milbourne house, I can’t be afraid to get my hands dirty. It wasn’t my first assasination, and it wouldn’t be my last. Still, I had never killed a young boy before. I stood at the front entrance of my family’s manor, anxiously twirling a dagger in my hand. I sheathed the dagger and put it in my pocket, taking a deep breath and steeling myself as I coalesced electrically charged mana all around my body. My entire figure sparked with energy, ready to be unleashed at my will. 

 

“Blitz.”

 

Instantaneously, I was flying above Camidinne at breakneck speed, hurtling through the air towards the teleportation portal on the wall labeled Damerel. 

 

Blitz was an ability that allowed me to move at speeds that far surpassed any other magical transport I had seen. The only other man I had met able to utilize electricity magic in such a way was the man who taught me it himself. Of all the skills I have accumulated over the years, I must say, I take the most pride in this one. 

 

I bolted through the portal and emerged in Damerel mere seconds after leaving my home, a crackling streak of light being left in my wake. I flew towards the home of the Velor boy, but as I approached, I felt a chill run down my spine. Instinctively, I lurched to a halt around 50 feet away from the house. I was being watched. My eyes darted around, scanning my surroundings for any powerful people who might be observing, but it was quiet. Eerily so. Even still, the chill wouldn’t go away.

 

Then I saw it.

 

Sitting perched on top of the chimney of the Velor boy’s house, was a small white fox. Even from this far way, I could feel its sharp gaze piercing my very being. Why… Can’t I move? The fox’s intelligent golden eyes stared into me, as if it could see into my soul. After a while of neither of us moving a muscle, as I remained suspended in the air, the fox seemed to simply de-materialize like it had never been there in the first place.

 

I realized I had been holding my breath that entire time. What was that thing? Did I imagine it? 

 

Before I had a chance to collect myself, a violently oppressive aura began to settle in. It felt like I had just awoken a beast from its slumber, as the domineering aura became more and more tangible. I readied myself, my body shaking as I prepared for the worst.

 

Then, a woman rose into the air from behind the house. It felt like space itself was warping as all the ambient mana in the atmosphere rushed towards her. Her long black hair fluttered about in the air, as if to her, gravity was but a trivial matter.

 

Then she was in front of me. How could she have moved so quickly? I sensed no electrically charged mana, and yet she had moved at a speed not even I could detect. With the same fierce golden eyes that the strange little fox possessed, she stood directly in front of me, forcing me to bear the full weight of her tyrannical aura. My body trembled as I struggled to remain in the air under this pressure. 

 

I don’t want to die here.

 

I simultaneously reactivated Blitz and released a concentrated stream of devastating electrical power that could have decimated an entire building directly at the woman. I didn’t hold back whatsoever, as I could tell with absolute certainty that if this attack didn’t at least stall the beast in front of me, I was as good as dead.

 

Without looking back, I soared through the air above Damerel, remaining hyper focused in the teleportation portal in the center of the town. I dove through the portal, gasping for breath while I thought of nothing but escape. Even as her presence gradually faded, my heart wouldn’t stop racing. She had moved so fast that I had barely even been able to distinguish it from teleportation. I knew that if she had chased after me, she would have caught me. She had let me go. Thank god.

I arrived back at my family’s manor and pushed open the door to find Livi sweeping the entranceway. Livi was my younger sister’s maid, and around the same age as her too. She was an elf with white hair and icy blue eyes, and was a member of the Heirel family, who have eternally been in service to the Milbournes.

 

“Livi, tell my father I need to speak to him.”

 

“Ye– Yes of course, Sir Luthor. I shall get him at once.” She said as she hurried off up the stairs.

 

I let out a sigh. Father would not be happy about this, but I would much rather face his wrath than the woman guarding the Velor house. Who was that anyway? Long ago, the Velors were a noble house too, but I can’t imagine the Velors of today having enough money to hire someone as powerful as her. Hell, I can’t imagine anyone having enough money to hire someone as powerful as her.

 

“Luthor! I assume you’ve seen it done?” My father asked as he hobbled down the stairs.

 

“Well, no. There was a bit of a problem.”

 

“Ah, Elise was it?”

 

“Elise, You mean the black haired girl?! You knew about her?!”

“Yeah, but I figured she would be asleep, and even if she woke up you could take her.”

 

I was in disbelief. 

 

“You… FIGURED I COULD TAKE HER?! Are you INSANE?!” 

 

“Luthor.”

 

“... Sorry. I lost my temper. But still, there was no way I could’ve beaten that woman.”

 

“Hm. Is that so? I knew Elise was good, but to have turned my son into such a yellow-belly…”

 

I smiled stiffly.

 

“Ah well, would’ve been nice to have it taken care of, but I’ve already come up with another plan to dispose of the Velor boy.”

IKARUS VELOR 

 

After seemingly endless discussion over the last day and a half, though not entirely convinced, my mother and father reluctantly agreed to let me be the noble girl’s bodyguard on my first adventure. They had Elise double and triple check that I was thoroughly prepared and had everything I needed for the dungeon, despite my insistence that it would be fine.

 

It was a quiet early morning on the day of my departure where me and Elise were walking to the teleportation gate. “It’s just a beginner dungeon, so the only monsters there should be E and D rank. You took down a C rank by yourself, so you should manage just fine.” She ran me through some more basics. “Just keep your wits about you and you’ll be ok.”

 

 “Oh, one last thing,” Elise handed a box to me that I nearly dropped due to the unexpected weight it had in it. Inside was a shortsword with a dark leather hilt and silver pommel. The sword looked like steel, but had an ever so slight emerald tint. “Now you won’t need that rusty old dagger anymore!” Elise said with a warm smile. It would be a little embarrassing to be using such a small sword, but by no means could my little six year old body use a longsword. “Thank you!” I exclaimed as Elise pulled me in for a hug. 

As we arrived at the teleportation portal, I suddenly remembered the wonderful impression I had made on the guards in Camidinne. I’m just gonna try and sneak past. We emerged from the portal into Camidinne as I attempted to hide behind Elise and not be seen by any of the friendly guards I had the pleasure of making acquaintances with. “Ah, Miss Elise, right this way,” A familiar voice rang out. Piers greeted Elise with a welcoming expression, but that expression quickly turned to a scowl when he spotted me. “Miss Elise,” He said with a forced smile, “Would you happen to know this child?” Uh oh.

 

“Oh yeah, this is my little brother Ikarus,” She replied, a grin creeping onto her face. “I believe you two have already met.” I told Elise all about what happened with the guards earlier, but instead of being angry, she seemed to find it very amusing. “I see your… playfulness runs in the family.” He said, struggling to maintain his forced smile. “Indeed it does,” Elise replied happily, pulling me along to the elevator platform. Poor Piers. The man is just trying to do his job and he has to deal with people like us.

 

Just like in the dead of night, Camidinne was as lively as ever as we walked through the massive city. Camidinne seemed to have a much more diverse population than my hometown, as members of the elven race, dwarven race, and even beastfolk were abundant in this city. Beastfolk were an interesting case, because they originally tended to be a nomadic people, and were not all adapted to “modern” society. Many beastfolk did live in cities and were civilized, but there still remained untamed tribes that stuck with a more primal way of life. 

 

Realizing I had been lost in thought, I noticed that we had arrived at the well maintained dirt trail that led up to the Milbourne’s manner. “Well, I believe this is where we part ways,” I looked up at Elise. “Sure is,” she smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t get yourself killed now,” she grinned at me before giving me a shove in the direction of the manor. “Be home before dinner!” she jokingly called out as she walked back down the road we had come.

 

“Here we go,” I muttered to myself. I walked up the small stair set and past the symmetrical lion statues on either side of the unnecessarily large doorway. I heard scuttling and commotion inside, something I wasn’t expecting from a noble house.  Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door.