…

About a day after Fate’s ill-fated escape attempt, he was woken to the sound of a chain being dragged across the floor. He seemed to have been laid on the floor some time ago and an unknown individual’s footsteps were echoing throughout the room in the direction the chain’s clacking was coming from.

He couldn’t see the person well and tried to move his head to get a better look but was stopped from doing so by a hand that had pressed him into a kneeling position. Fate continued to struggle against this person’s grip, but this time was able to glimpse at the person behind him before he was turned around again.

-Jacob?!

Indeed, a man with the same grey hair, wrinkles, and demeanor in which Jacob conducted himself was currently restraining him from behind. Fate hadn’t met another person out of the few people he had met that possessed these features…

-He must have been the one who locked me back in here after my breakout yesterday, but why did he leave me alone for so long? If he knew I was here the whole time, I’m sure he could have stopped me before I managed to get through the door…

Fate stopped attempting to fight against Jacob and turned his attention to the portion of the door he had crawled through. It seemed to have been restored, using unknown means to weld the broken metal back into the gap.

He continued to hear the sounds of chains and footsteps on the other side of the room. They drew his attention to the corner with the items he hadn’t bothered observing when he tried to escape yesterday, yet his eyes couldn’t help but be transfixed on the spot now.

-I have to think about this...It’s a dark room, in a mansion where everyone hates me, I was chained up in here, and there’s random stuff that’s oddly obscured in the corner...Cliches point to this being a…!

Fate suddenly heard creaking, followed by the footsteps which were beginning to come towards him. He kept trying to wrestle his head from Jacob’s grasp but was sternly dissuaded from doing so, all the while the noise was still coming closer.

He finally managed to look up, escaping Jacob’s grasp for a moment, only to see that the shadowy figure approaching him was on the short side. However, the more noticeable feature of this person was that a moderate breeze was flowing from their direction, sending chills down his spine…

Fate: “Who are you?”

The question seemed to make the room silent for a moment but was shortly followed with another creaking noise similar to someone grinding a rusty piece of metal on the floor. An object then spun out of the darkness, stopping at Fate’s feet. It appeared to be a rusty ball of metal with odd carvings and lines all over it, but its purpose was unknown.

Atlas: “To think that you managed to escape your bindings...But I guess it is true that mother said you were dangerous, and I was foolish for not believing her after seeing you the first time.”

Fate: “So you’re my little brother? You made quite the entrance...trying to carve me up with wind blades and then running away after getting kicked out of my room...literally in this case. Quite original I must say, I praise your ingenuity!”

Fate spoke in a condescending tone that would make the person he was speaking to want to hit him, which was a bad habit from his previous life. Atlas just seemed to heave a sigh and then press some of the carvings on the ball, which began to give off an odd hum…

-What is that thing, a bomb? If he used a bomb...I guess he’d just blow himself up too so that’s probably not it.

Atlas: “That was a cheap trick you used during the fight and I am certainly displeased by your performance... However, that seems to be secondary to the anger I feel at the fact that you ignored me previously…”

Atlas’s face was now visible in the darkness and looked notably displeased as he began pacing about the orb with his hands behind his back.

Atlas: “Mother despises you...Yet she does not come to discipline you for your failures and you still continue to mock me, who has come to force you to make amends. I believe you are more pitiable than myself.”

The corners of Fate’s mouth deviated from his grin and began to curve downwards in displeasure, while his brother's smile rose in joy.

-She didn’t come to try and bury me because she got her fill, disowning me, but that’s only for now and I only met him a few days ago...yet he’s trying to go on and on with this sh*t. I get that I was acting like a prick, intentionally so, but I don’t think it calls for throwing me in this dungeon!

Atlas walked over to Fate, gripping his hair and pulling his face to look at his while Jacob continued to exert force on his head, causing Fate’s expression to darken again in pain. He then kicked Fate square in the jaw and kept his leg on his chest as he pushed him to the floor.

Atlas: “Mother told me that even while you were her child and weren’t...causing her harm, you still were an unintelligent and ungrateful brat. In order to rectify this…”

He picked up the orb while Jacob took over pinning Fate to the ground, now pinning both his hands behind his back. Atlas then pushed the orb on the point where his arms were crossed together.

Atlas: “That is why I will teach you this lesson and finally begin to take some unease of mother’s mind.”

The orb’s hum ceased and was replaced by the sound of various clicking and grinding noises, followed by Atlas and Jacob moving away from Fate. The noise grew stronger and Fate suddenly felt a new pressure which began locking his joints together, binding his arms and legs.

…

Atlas: “I wondered how something so worthless as you could be related to someone like mother or myself, by blood. It won’t matter in my grand destiny, but it seems to keep nagging at my mind…”

Atlas spoke as he paced around his brother who now seemed to be locked into a planking position by the restraints produced by the orb.

Atlas: “Regardless, this is for Mother so I won’t be reconsidering my choice. This is called the ‘Orb of Restriction’ it is by far one of the most widely spread artifacts on the continent. It is easily reproduced, but is a truly intricate design that was created in times long past.”

The orb had transformed into a metal exoskeleton that had cuffs binding Fate’s wrists and ankles, metal bones that forced his body into the planking position, and a mouthpiece to prevent him from speaking.

-It truly earns the name ‘Orb of Restriction.’ I’m glad that Mother’s servants allowed me access to the armory...Mother, I will make you proud of me!

Atlas then began to remember all that his mother had taught him about the person in front of him.

…

Agatha: “Remember my child, you must always be alert if you come into contact with...it... It might look defenseless, but it is full of cheap tricks and tactics...My back is a testament to that fact…”

Agatha had looked away from him, but he could still hear her sniffling. He reached his arm out and tugged on his mother’s sleeve to try and alleviate her worries. She turned around to face him, revealing a tired smile and placed her hand on his own.

Agatha: “You are a blessing, my child. I do not wish to confront that thing now or in the future, but if you find yourself in a moment where you...must fight…”

She continued to sniffle during her speech, bringing a depressed frown from Atlas to match hers. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders and then spoke determinedly.

Agatha: “Win. Try your hardest to redeem this family and myself...from the shame that is that thing which is supposed to be your brother, I know you can do it!”

She gave him a smile and then continued with her lessons about ancient artifacts. While her back was turned, Atlas’ depressed expression became one filled with bloodlust and anticipation. This was what his mother had taught him since he was a baby, to despise his brother with passion and long for his death the same.

…

Atlas: “I doubt you could understand how much your actions have affected Mother, but after I kill you it won’t matter so I don’t need you to understand. Just know that it will make me much happier.”

Atlas bore a sadistic grin as the breeze around him became more intense, focusing itself in the palm of his hand until it formed a small green tornado! He prepared to launch the tornado at Fate, who was bound on the floor…

Suddenly though, a flicker of blue could be spotted in the small tornado, which Atlas attempted to study further, but before he could…

Jacob: “Young master, watch out!”

Jacob ran in and tackled him away from the tornado, which proceeded to exploded, into bursts of light and blue flames, creating burns the ground where Atlas had been standing just a moment ago! Fate, in his restraints, was launched across the room! Both of them looked confused, but the confusion was broken when they observed a glow in the corner of the room. The glow was coming from one individual, the now freed, Fate.

…

-Sh*t, I can’t move! He’s definitely going to try that wind cutter again...except this time I won’t be able to dodge it.

Fate had been attempting to flail around and break free of his restraints the whole time his brother had been preaching, his attempts, however, proved futile.

Not only had he not been able to escape, but Atlas was now preparing the spell that had given him several injuries the day before.

-And that was when I f*cking dodged it...What should I do in this kind of situation?! What can I do that will save my ass…?

If Fate really was blessed by a Goddess who controlled fortune and fate, then this was a moment when that blessing really shone on him. In other words, he had chanced upon an idea that was so stupid that it could work.

-If that’s magic, then that is just a lot of compressed mana that’s shaped like a tornado...can’t I just blow the thing to hell? But if I do, I’ll get blown away and launched into a wall... Isn’t this typical? I had an idea and am going to chicken out of it like always…

Fate had chanced upon the idea, but he had no idea how to put it into practice while ensuring his own survival. After all, blowing oneself up or launching oneself against a wall didn’t seem like a recipe for instant success.

He felt his head heating up from the stress and repeated strain he was putting on his body to break free, and right at that moment.

*Ssssss*

He could hear a sizzling noise coming from one of the restraints at his ankles, causing him to struggle to adjust his position. When he managed to look at where the noise had come from, he saw the outline of a burn on the edge of the ankle cuff with some melted metal, dripping onto the floor. He tried to move his ankles apart, which didn’t work but it felt looser than before!

-Did the metal in the ankle-cuffs just melt?! Wait...don't tell me!

『You have gained the skill『Fire Magic(Minor) 』!』

Fate could feel his lips curling into a wicked smile that could match his brother’s. A chance idea was one thing, but the right ability for the right situation showing up spontaneously? That was 『Fortune』!

-Ohhhhh, I know exactly how to use this! Time to blow this pop stand!

Fate began to split the mana in his body into two orbs that left his body. One went into his brother’s still-forming tornado and the other one fused into the metal spine of the restraints. He continued to feed them mana until…

-Boom!

Jacob suddenly tackled Atlas out of the way, leaving his tornado to spin for a bit until it exploded in a burst of blue light! Fate was, of course, sent flying across the room!

-I was afraid of just smacking into a wall and passing out earlier, but now…!

Fate focused his remaining mana into the orb that was fused into the metal spine of the exoskeleton.

-『Fire!』

The metal began to heat up rapidly, while Fate’s energy reserves began to fall. Fate could feel that the burning metal was touching his back, melting some skin, but he didn’t care. Soon, just as he had hoped for, the metal expanded and the restraints began to shift and come out of their spots, loosening the entirety of his body from its grasp!

-Metal will expand when it heats up and if I can get the spine that’s holding it together, out of place, why should I put in any more work?!

Fate rolled on the floor after landing and managed to press up against a wall to stand up. After doing so, he began to remove the restraints that had come loose.

Now he had an opportunity and the only people who had presumably stopped him before were dazed that he had broken out, why shouldn’t he take this chance?