Father

Only after he had boarded the car did Ivan come out of his state of shock he had entered after hearing the little girl call him father. Since then he had only acted on autopilot.

Now that he regained his calm he took a closer look at the little girl who sat besides him and which seemed to be his daughter from before the reset. She had dark brown hair which was braided into a pair of pigtails which made her look even cuter than if she had it open. At least that was what he thought. Her face was round and together with her big eyes and small nose made for a cute looking sight.

But most important for him was that there was an indescribable connection between them which was the reason he believed her claim to be his daughter.

* Why did I never thought about whom I had connections with before the reset?*, he asked himself and at the same time wondered if there were others. What about his former friends? Did they think he was dead and would they even recognize him if they met again, after all he would most likely not recognize them.

He then thought back to when he had first meet his daughter and her mother. There was no sign of the mother recognizing him. It was his daughter who seemed the only one to recognize him, which was most likely because of the mysterious connection between them.

When they had left the slums his daughter plucked at his sleeve and pointed at a tower which seemed to reach the heavens.

"Daddy, can you take me up there sometimes?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know what this tower is."

"It is the Tower of Ascension. Each level of it can only be entered if you have a certain strength and you can take at most two others with you. For each level you reach there are certain rewards and additionally some facilities.", the woman intervened.

"Then daddy will try his best to take you up there, ok."

"Ok"

Ivan was honestly quite surprised at how easy it was for him to accept the fact that he now was a father.

After about half a hour on the highway they left it and entered a upscale neighborhood where they soon entered a gateway.

The gateway consisted of two tall marble pillars at both sides of the road. The pillars where unadorned but still had a dominant air around them. After the gateway the road lead through a two rows of tall trees which emitted an old aura he could feel even in the car. These old trees where in sharp contrast to the villa at the end which was build with glass and steel and which did appear modern. Even though there was such an contrast it just highlighted the luxury of this estate and didn't seem jarring at all which came as a surprise to him since he never expected that one could use such strong contrasts in such a way.

The car parked in front of the villa and the woman alighted from the car before opening the door for her daughter whom she helped to climb out of the car. Ivan too opened his door and left the car. When he then inhaled the fresh air he was surprised at how much better it was then the one at the campus, not to mention at school.

* I really didn't see much.*, he mocked himself. After all besides going to school and training he had only spend time with his friends and that was always in the slums.

"Come on in.", said the woman who had walked towards the door while holding her daughters hand.

After they entered the villa they stood in a huge two stories living room which was decorated in a modern style. The only colorful thing where a few pillows on the couch while the rest where in plain white with just a bit of black. Luckily there was quite some glass and shiny metal which helped to avoid a boring look and instead made it look modern and elegant.

There was a maid waiting for them which offered them some slipper which he gladly wore. It would have been a disaster if he got dirt on the white carpet.

"Welcome home madam, little miss.", the maid greeted the two while looking at him with curiosity.

The woman had seen the look of the maid and said in a plain voice, "This is my husband."

A sliver of shock flashed through the maids eyes but she had excellent control over herself so she managed to suppress it instantly and greeted him, "Welcome Sir."

It was the first time that he was called sir so he felt a bit weird but he could only choose to accept this form of address. Concerning what the woman had called him he wasn't to surprised because if the girl was his daughter than he should definitely have some relation to her, he just hadn't been sure what kind of relation it was.

"Sit down.", the woman ordered and then went upstairs with her daughter presumably to clean up.

"Sir, can I get you something to drink?", the maid asked him with a friendly smile. In her heart she was really surprised since the madam had never mentioned her husband in front of her and she had served her ever since she was little. It wasn't that she was surprised that her madam had a husband, after all she was clear on the family rules but that he suddenly appeared and even more that he looked so ordinary. She had always thought that the man who was able to get her madam to bear his child would be a peerless expert.

"Thank you, but lets wait for them to come down.", Ivan answered since he felt that it would be impolite to get a drink while waiting for them.