Knowledge

A soft knock on Rivens door woke him up the next morning. He called for them to enter as he sat up in his new soft and clean bed, stretching his limbs as he watched the maids file into his bedroom one after the other.

"Good morning young master," the lead maid, Candace whom served him before, spoke and bowed her head.

He smirked as he watched her cowering before him, so vastly different from how she had acted yesterday.

"The count requests your presence in his office." Candace said in an even quieter tone as if intimidated by the smirk Riven was giving her.

"Very well." Riven agreed and quickly freshened up with the help of his new maids. They also helped him dress into a new set of clothes - a luxurious looking dark red suit with a black undershirt. 

They then began to come his hair and were about to lift scissors up to it when Riven held a hand up to stop them.

The long hair that hung to his chest was strange for him, who in his past life had always kept his hair cut short. But… it seemed to serve as a reminder to him of the one who once possessed this body. He felt an attachment of sorts to the previous owner of this body and the pain he had to live through. The longer hair also reminded him that he was different now.

It was symbol of new life.

"Leave it long, just help me tidy it up a little." Riven instructed and maid nodded and began to brush it back.

Riven examined himself in the mirror and was surprised to see how well he looked. Despite his thin appearance from the previous lack of food, his skin was clear and almost glowing with life. His eyes which were an almost dull grey yesterday were now a bright blue colour reminding him of the sky on a summers day.

Not only was his appearance improved, his body felt lighter and stronger than it had yesterday - even more improved than it had been in his previous life!

If this was the result of only one magical potion - just what other ones were out there for him to use?

That lead him to his first task in this new life.

He needed money.

He exited his room and began making his way down towards the counts office, inwardly laughing at how the servants bowed their heads as he passed. It was such a stark difference to how it was when he first awoke in this world.

"The young master Riven has arrived, my Lord." A servant announced as Riven got to the door and the count allowed them in. The office was large and grand and the count sat behind a large mahogany desk in front a huge bay mirror that overlooked the front of the estate.

"Sit down," the count motioned for Riven to sit in one of the plush chairs on the other side of the desk, which Riven did. "I hope you're well after yesterday."

"Yes, my Lord." Riven said and the count looked up with furrowed brows as he heard the name 'my Lord'. 

What? Did he expect me to call him father after everything he's done?

"That's good." The count nodded and sat back. "Now then, can you tell me when and how you were able to form your mana heart?"

Riven expected this line of questioning, so had prepared some answers. "I never stopped trying to absorb mana the way you showed me, my Lord." Riven said, trying to squeeze some sadness into his words. "Everyday without fail I would try to absorb mana, until one day - around a month ago - I was able to absorb some."

Riven thought long and hard last night about what he would say to the count. Of course what he really wanted to do was just leave and never see them again, but it wouldn't be smart to do it that way. He still needed knowledge of this world and on how mana worked, and to do that he needed the counts money and influence to get him into the academy.

And maybe fill his pockets along the way.

"I see." The count nodded and rested his hands on the desk. "Why didn't you report it to anyone?"

"I was instructed to never leave my bedroom, my lord." Riven said quietly. "I also wanted to form my mana heart before I told you, just to be sure."

"Is that so?" The count nodded but didn't seem to totally accept his answer.

"I would've been able to do it faster, but because of the lack of food I barely had any strength left to focus on absorbing any mana." Riven sighed and looked pitifully at his hands.

"What?" The count froze. "What do you mean without any food?"

Riven feigned innocence as he looked up at the count. "Of course, I'm not saying I deserved any food. The soup I would get every couple of days was enough for me."

He met the counts gaze and watched as the count finally noticed his gaunt appearance and the sunken features of Rivens face.

"Jameson, find out what has happened." The count growled at the butler that stood to the side of the room. "Now!"

Huh… Did the count really not know how his son was being treated? Was this all for show?

"Tell me of your living conditions." The count ordered rather than asked and Riven was all too eager to tell him.

He explained how he had been abused and tortured throughout his life and how he had sometimes been locked in his room for weeks without food and only a little water which he had to drink from his water basin. The counts face grew darker the more he listened and by the time the butler returned, it seemed as if he were about to explode with anger.

"My lord, this maid was in charge of the young masters care." The butler brought in Candace and she was visibly shaking as she fell to her knees in front of the count.

"Please my lord, I've done nothing wrong!" Candace sobbed immediately.

"You've done nothing wrong?" The count asked, his tone harsh and sharp. "So you didn't starve my son? You didn't torment him daily? You didn't let him sleep in his own filth?" The longer the count spoke the more angry he got, the room almost shaking with the power of his voice.

"Please my lord!" Candace cried and she tried to talk but the count cut her off.

"And what of his allowance?" The count asked and Candace fell silent.

Allowance? This was the first time Riven had heard of an allowance.

"I… I do not know my Lord." Candace whispered.

"You don't know?" The count asked furiously as he grabbed the maid from around her neck and lifted her into the air. A hum of mana filled the room and the counts eye began to glow a brilliant red as he pulled the maid close. "Speak, or lose your life." He commanded.

Sparks began to appear in the air and a sickening sizzle of flesh began to fill up the quiet room. Candace let out a scream as the counts hand that was secured around her neck began to glow red.

"Please! I was ordered by the madam to give it to her!" Candace cried out as the flesh around her neck continued to burn. "She ordered me to neglect the young master! I'm sorry! Please have mercy!"

The counts expression slackened at her words and he carelessly tossed her to the side.

"Take her to the dungeon until I decide what to do with her." The count ordered as he walked towards the window and stared outside, his reflection showing a mixture of rage and sadness on his aging face.

"My lord…" Riven struggled to find the words to say. He knew that his stepmother hated him but he also thought his father also shared in that hatred. 

It doesn't change the fact that he left his son alone and never checked up on him to discover the neglect though.

"Leave this issue with me and I will get to the bottom of it." The count said quietly. "I'll make sure you receive all of the allowance you were supposed to have had. It will do you well when you join the academy next month."

Riven almost wanted to break into a dance when the count said that but he restrained himself.

"Of course my Lord, thank you." Riven said and bowed slightly.

"If there's nothing else, you can leave." The count said and Riven turned to leave, stopping just before the door.

"Actually, my lord, I was hoping you would grant me access to the library to study up on mana." Riven asked hopefully. Being able to read up on this world and mana before the academy would definitely be of help.

"Of course," The count said incredulously. "You've always had access to the library. You needn't ask."

Stunned, Riven gave his thanks and exited the office. 

All these years he had memories of the original owner of this body begging to be able to go to the library to try and better himself, but Candace had always told him that the Count had forbade it.

But all this time he had been allowed…

He sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way to the library. 

His number one enemy at the moment was Etna, his stepmother. It was obvious she wasn't going to stand still now that he was receiving all this attention from the count. It was only a matter of time before she made her next move.

That meant he had to start getting stronger. And he knew just where to start.

He grinned as he pushed open the library doors, the two guards stationed outside not even glancing his way as he passed.

"Well… finding the right book might be a lot more difficult than I thought." Riven scratched his head as he glanced around the huge library that was filled with books from top to bottom.

I need to find a book for a beginner mage, something that could help me understand how things work and how I can start growing my mana.

Scanning for entry level mana related books…

Please wait…

Riven was startled when the screen popped up in front of him and he grinned.

"Isn't this system cheating a little?" He chuckled to himself.

I have located four books that contain the knowledge you seek.

His vision suddenly dimmed and four books to the right side of the library began to shimmer with a bright blue glow.

He walked over and stacked them into a small pile in his arms before settling down at one of the many tables scattered throughout the library.

He placed the top book in front of him, a brown leather book embossed beautifully with different runes and shapes. He opened the book and just as he was about to read the first passage, a system window popped up in front of his face.

You have collected the book: What is Mana?

Do you wish to download this information?

(Yes/No)

"Huh?" Rivens mouth dropped open as he read the text over and over again.

No… surely this didn't mean what he thought it means…

He selected the 'yes' button and just like when he received the memories of his body's previous owner, he now recieved all the information detailed in the book downloaded straight into his brain.

Without having to read anything!

"Yes!" Riven cheered quietly as he looked down at the book again. His heart thundered as he flicked through all the new knowledge he had just received. "Why should I stop at just one book?" He grinned as he opened the next book and cheered silently when the system window popped up once more.

He continued with this over and over again until finally, when the midday sun blazed through the window, he put the last of his books back on the shelf.

He had absorbed all the knowledge from every book relating to mana in his family's library.

"Time to put it to the test." He grinned excitedly as he left the library and slipped back into his new bedroom.

He sat crossed legged on his bed and closed his eyes, pulling up all the important parts of the knowledge he had just received.

He had learned that around a thousand years ago, the first Emporer of Solis was in fact, half dragon. Born from the first human/dragon relationship, he was blessed with immense power. His father, the dragon, had passed down knowledge of mana and how to use it and with it, the Emperor became all powerful.

It is said that he became a ninth ring mage and used his power to conquer the land his empire now rest upon. He then passed his knowledge down to his children, and then they passed it down to their children and so on and so forth.

When new Empires began to be discovered on different continents, the knowledge of mana was then distributed amongst the nobles just incase any war should break out.

Now for how one could absorb mana.

Mana was all around us, like tiny sparks of life floating around in the air we breathe. It's more concentrated in special places and can also be compressed into mana crystals which were extremely rare and expensive.

To absorb mana, one needed to be in tune with it. You needed to sense those tiny sparks of life around you and absorb them into your mana heart.

It sounded simple enough.

Memories of the void flickered through his memory and he pondered for a moment before asking the system, "System, can you check how much mana I currently have?"

Abyss Mana Heart (+0 rings) (Rank ???) (63% progress)

Riven's eyes widened as he saw the description. 

In the books he read earlier, it said that it took a considerable amount of time to reach the first mana ring because of how difficult it was to get the hang of absorbing mana.

Just how much did he absorb in the void?!

He remembered the pain he had to go through to get it and shivered. Hopefully it wouldn't be like that this time.

He closed his eyes and began to try and reach out mentally to find these so called sparks of life.

Entering meditation.

Would you like to begin mana absorption?

(Yes/No)

Riven wasn't even surprised when he saw the notification window pop up. He wanted to kiss and hug the notification screen but cleared his throat instead, dismissing the bubble of excitement in his stomach.

With an excited grin, he pressed 'yes'.