Shaking hands and fake smiles filled Ashtons day from morning until the afternoon but, now with the sun beginning its descent down into the night dinner time approaches.
The party and guest have slowly been inching away from the garden and its floral aroma towards the Trial Colosseum. One of the three wonders of Whey County, a massive oval arena that every head of the county had proven themselves in, sandy grounds which mages from all corners of the empire battled in under the sponsorship of Ashtons family.
"I am quite looking forward to the trial this time"
"Heh, you should have made the last Under 4 Tournament, the scenes that day still keep me up at night!"
"Oh yes, I heard it was quite intense"
Walking among their crowd of guests, Ashton is relieved the day is coming to an end. His relief does not last long however, as the sound of horns and trumpets are heard clamoring from the entrance gates of the mansion.
"What is that" Covering their ears in discomfort the party turns to look at Count Shaun, questioning and wondering if the loud theatrics are necessary.
[They have arrived] Sure that there was only one person arrogant enough, one person so sure in his own importance who would announce his own arrival like this.
"Father, you will be experiencing some discomfort in a moment, just make sure mother doesn't burst, I am going ahead to get ready."
"Wait..."
Un wanting to meet the duke and his daughter, Ashton dumps the problem on to his parents happily. Walking in the opposite direction of the mob to a secluded area of the garden, behind the privacy of the brush, "Hide".
Thinking he was able to use his magic without any witnesses, Ashton forgot to look up again, not to say he would have saw anything if he had.
Running through the garden back towards the mansion and scaling up the back of it onto the roof, Ashton looks down onto his family greeting Duke Raine.
Charlotte, Janet, and Emily standing in wait at the door to the mansion, Count Shaun walks out to the carriage with his greetings "Duke Raine, we almost thought you wasn't going to make it, HAHA"
Without response to the count, Duke Raine only orders his drivers to open the carriage doors. The suspension of the buggy rocking the house wagon the duke and his family are in, a large and luxurious cabin that takes eight horses to pull.
Ashtons senses, sharp and enhanced from his mana pick up every detail from over 300 yards away. His enhancement, a technical application of his mana was intuitive, as easily was drawing breath Ashton was using mana in a way most mages cannot.
[Marks like that aren't from the reigns of a carriage, he hasn't even drove long enough for any to form... a knight? No, they are almost all useless without a weapon, so a magic swordsman then]
Pulling open the doors of the cloud carriage and stepping out the way, the magic swords man kneels down to the family exiting the cabin.
The first to step out is the only son of Duke Raine
Aaron Raine
Age: 25
Stamina: 60
Mana: 3
Intelligence: 49
Strength: 71
"Pssf" Unable to hold in his laughter at the information on Aaron, [He is known to be a magic swords man, but he is just a knight in a shinier coat]
Most nobles who weren't magic swordsman couldn't tell the difference between a knight who infused his sword with mana and a true magic swordsman. But Ashton could. A knight's path was brute force wrapped in ceremony—train the body, wield a blade, and dump mana into it until something exploded. If they were lucky, they'd reach the second circle and learn to coat themselves in mana. That coupled with technical application of mana of their weapon, is when people started calling them "First-Class Knights," as if raw force alone deserved prestige.
But magic swordsmen… they danced on a thinner wire. They blended martial skill with spell casting, not just reinforcing swings but synchronizing them with spell craft, mana and motion, perfectly timed. It was an art, and not many had the sensitivity or discipline to make it past the 4th circle without losing balance.
Mages, though… Mages didn't waste time with metal, focused wholly on influencing nature with the energy they strip from it.
Where knights and sword-dancers built muscle and scarred skin, mages built theories, formulas, and honed their connection with the world. Their strength didn't show in stats like Strength or Stamina but in the elegance of how they bend reality. It was a longer road, slow and brutal at the start—math, geometry, long nights of tracing circles in ink and flame, but one that climbed a hill of rewarding success, long after the others had plateaued.
-
Turning around to face the entrance of the carriage, Aaron reaches out his hand and a young woman reaches out from inside and takes it supporting her exit. Blonde hair bright and flowy in the wind, wearing a pants suit without a blazer only a vest over her dress shirt, her laced boots with raised heels responding to the stomp into his driveway with an echoed clank, lights Ashtons system
Isebell Raine
Age: 19
Stamina: 19
Mana: 3
Intelligence: 84
Strength: 10
[Third circle already? Hm. Isebell always had sharp mana sense. According to the system, she's brushing up against my potential. Good for her, or problematic, depending on her intent.]
Following his children, exiting lastly from the carriage
George Raine
Age: 60
Stamina: 11
Mana: 4
Intelligence: 81
Strength: 9
[Yet again, the scope of the Aether system forgoes any sense of nuance. According to its evaluation, Duke Raine is a semi-capable mage, but the truth is far from that. His weak constitution forced him to trade in magic circles for political ones. Even with four circles etched around his heart, casting basic spells strains him greatly]
Approaching the family members, Count Shaun with his arms out wide and welcoming, sporting a warm smile and eyes unreadable
"My friend, your arrival might have forced the swans in my garden into an early migration"
Duke Raine standing with near perfect posture, refusing the arm of his daughter who reaches out offering support
"Son, take your sister inside. The count and I have will have a private conversation before catching up."
Duke Raines dry voice and shaky hands lifted from his cane was a stern command, all members of the duchy in Ashtons driveway moved in precise sync. The shining metal suits of his knights and confident footsteps of his children, parallelling the dukes authoritative presence.
Treating Whey County as his own, the dukes actions are clear, his intentions something Ashton had already foreseen.