Franz Lorraine (2)

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Of course. I forgot about the people who knew Franz personally even if he didn't talk that much throughout the years.

The fact that I probably looked rushed and stressed gave it away about the unusualness of his personality.

Thus, someone is checking on me to see if I am alright.

"Hoooo..."

I took a deep breath and put my sleeveless white shirt back on.

Checking myself in the mirror one more time, I approached the wooden door.

The floor creaked along with my footsteps.

Now that I think about it, for a noble to have a mansion in this kind of condition is uncommon.

Everything seems clean and good on the outside but the interior of these materials is getting old.

However, it's understandable considering what we're going through at the moment.

We're barely managing as our financial crisis keeps getting worse yearly.

Sigh...

I'll think about it later.

Right now the focus should be on answering the door albeit I do feel a bit paranoid and wary.

Fortunately, though, this does seem to align with what Mr. Lorraine feels daily.

Constant wariness and paranoia.

I'm lucky I don't have to act this part out, since we're the same in that regard.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

I slowly opened the door while keeping my body behind it.

"You do not have to be so tense, young master."

A soft-spoken voice spoke as I slowly peeked out.

'I see.'

An old man, neatly clothed in a butler suit, stood there patiently.

His figure towered above me as he stood approximately over 2 meters tall.

A typical mustache befitting that of a butler and elegantly combed hair. Despite the gentle look, he gave off the feeling of having complete control of any situation. Utter confidence, without a shred of angst.

That was the butler of the Lorraine's, Sel.

Knowing who it was, I relaxed a bit and showed myself.

And thus by doing so, Sel released a breath of relief.

"Looks like you haven't done it. I'm relieved."

Understandably so, Sir Sel.

I gave him a nod of agreement.

"I just came to check on the young master. If there's anything you need please do alert the others."

The giant before me softly spoke whilst patting my head.

"I'll be on my way."

I watched as he walked off into the hallway, slowly blending in with the night until I couldn't see him any longer.

Several seconds passed and I finally closed the door again.

That guy...

-...is overwhelmingly strong.

I guess I'm more clear now on why Mr. Lorraine was getting more paranoid throughout the years.

The guy was in constant training while regularly honing his physical attributes.

Along with it came the sense of danger which got increasingly sharper and alert.

And as the years flew by, he realized that were certain individuals that stood out more than anyone in this household.

For example, the head maid, Senna.

Every time he would pass her or even take a glance at the woman, his head would be overwhelmed with an influx of information.

The kind of information that'll send chills down to every cell in your body.

Danger! Danger! Danger!

When it first happened, he legitimately collapsed from the shock and it didn't help that the person who caused it, carried him to his room and took care of him.

I guess you could say, Mr. Lorraine was a sheep hidden among a pack of 'friendly' wolves.

And the butler of the family, Sel, is among them.

Hence, one of the main reasons why I respect the individual I just took over is because the pressure can be too overbearing sometimes.

Knowing how weak you are, and the difference between them must've caused a huge toll on the mind.

Yet, Mr. Lorraine took that opportunity to further fortify his mind and take control of that sense of his.

To see fortune in misfortune...

Incredibly wise.

As shown, his results bore fruit as Sir Sel's presence didn't cause me to go into shock and collapse.

The only thing I felt was my senses becoming more sharper when something dangerous is close by.

This does remind me of a certain spider's sense.

Right, enough with the thoughts.

I have to start where you left off no?

...

...

...

One of the main differences between a normal fantasy world and this one is the allied forces and the main focus of elimination.

The normal generic fantasy one would have mostly demons as the main enemies only to slap gods and goddesses into the main picture.

Demon kings, demon queens, or whatever.

The main point is demons would normally be the enemies of the entire world.

However, what separates this one is that demons, humans, and other races alike are actually in an alliance, as they had formed a peace treaty several hundred years ago.

Something more terrifying had invaded this world, to the point that required even the vicious demons to team up with their enemies.

A deadly plague that engulfed continents as a whole and corrupted their habitants within them.

A virus.

This thing would corrupt people and turn them into mindless beasts.

Rationality was thrown out the window as they infected every living organism by biting and injecting the virus into them.

What makes them so dangerous is their relentless aggression, numbers, and strength.

Aggression and numbers aside, strength was the primary reason why they dominated so quickly and fast.

If the average human got infected, all of their physical attributes would increase by many folds.

Now imagine if a warrior that could level mountains into pieces were infected. In a state of pure madness that single warrior could alone terrorize kingdoms and destroy landscapes within a single day.

The virus didn't care for what it infects, all it needs is a functional host.

What it does is penetrate the central nervous system, temporary shutting down and paralyzing vital functions of the human body so it can easily access the brain. Once the virus does get to its destination, it'll plant itself and release cells that would then multiply in magnitude to corrupt everything within the body, including mana.

If your foundation of mana isn't strong enough, it'll take control of what you have.

Just like a parasite.

In other words, without sufficient and pure mana, you're canon fodder since it will be your last defense mechanism against the virus.

Those were the exact reason why the father of Mr. Lorraine said those harsh words.

Harsh, but unfortunately true.

Without mana, you're nothing but a free meal for the plague.

What the original owner of this body was doing, was nothing more than a desperate effort to increase his already slim chances of survival.

Hence the confusion on why this guy had such a strong drive to break his body beyond what it is capable of withstanding.

Just what did you see to go to such lengths, Mr. Lorraine?

However, since I do not have the answer as of yet, I will continue to pursue what my heart says.

The drive, and the determination...

You are admirable.

WAM!

I watched in pure respect as the tree in front of me fell down with a single kick.

To think you trained to the point of surpassing what the body was capable off.

Truly admirable.

I looked around myself and truly drunk in the view of this anomaly.

As a human who came from modern day earth, such a sight would've been impossible without other external methods.

Yet, to feel and see this in my own perspective was surreal.

Several trees severed in half.

Rocks getting pulverized with a punch and a kick.

The feeling of raw power.

Without the utilization of mana...

I want see this to the end, to see what this body can accomplish on its own.

BAM!

That... was not me.

I am quite not there yet to make such loud noise, especially when that disturbance originally came from a few hundred meters away.

Particularly when the source of that noise is breathing down my neck.

Maybe I should've thought about it further...

I slowly cranked my neck up and saw... god almighty, that's a huge wolf.

Saliva slowly dripped down from its mouth while its teeth were bared right for the world to see.

"GR-GRRRRR...!"

"Alright then."

Without hesitation, I sprinted out of there.

I'm nowhere strong enough to face that yet.

Its size alone could tower over a house. There's no way to fight this thing in a direct confrontation.

However, there are methods.

One that I'm using right now.

"AWOOOOOOOO!"

Running.

I ran as fast as I could, dodging every single debris in my way and jumping through tress like an agile monkey.

Of course that wasn't enough to stop the wolf from slowly approaching with its speed.

Hmmm.

THUD!

I fell on the ground as I tripped on a long branch of wood.

"Huff... hufff..."

I desperately crawled like an ant, and looked back at the wolf.

It was already there... several meters away from me.

Staring down at me with its hungry and playful eyes.

The bloodlust seemed to thickened the pressure upon myself as I could barely breathe.

"Please... don't.... NO!"

I covered myself before hitting my fist on the ground.

CRACK! CRACK!

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!"

That seemed so distant...

Nonchalantly, I stood back up and looked down at the massive hole on the ground, stretching more than 30 meters in diameter.

In there were hundreds of bones belonging to massive creatures including the wolf that just fell.

"AR...AWOO!....GR!"

I watched it swim in the acidic waste, hopelessly trying to claw its way out.

I took several pouches of powder and dropped it all in the hole.

"This shall do."

The thing I just dropped was a powder that had special chemicals mixed in it to mask the scent of pretty much everything for a long period of time.

Thus, the reason why the wolf couldn't sniff out the trap I had laid there.

Did I have the time to lay this trap? No, in fact this massive hole would've at least taken me a week to dig out.

However, you see, Mr. Lorraine had trained in this specific forest for extended periods of time.

As he slowly got familiar with the place, he started memorizing the place on the back of his hand.

And knowing how wary and paranoid the guy was, he laid traps all over the place and would bait creatures that were too strong for him to their death.

This massive hole was just one of them.

With his memories, I knew exactly what to do when encountering specific creatures such as this massive wolf.

Some would require different methods to bait and different ways to kill.

However, with years of planning and experience, without knowing, the creatures and forest became his playground.

My playground...

This guy.

I looked up at the sky and slowly grinned.

He cooked alright.