Deception

Roland was pacing back and forth, staring at the pixelated version of a family tree floating before his narrowed eyes with a host of mixed feelings.

Soma Cloud+ Genieve Blackstorm

Eric Cloud + Lady Herone = Lotten, Mariah, Xaveier

Almos Cloud= Govan Cloud

Diane Cloud= Roland Smoke

First, he committed all the names to memory, unsurprisingly he found himself lingering on the name of his mother, Diane.

Roland suddenly felt a swell of different emotions surfacing from an unknown part of himself. Anger, sadness and a deep-rooted sense of regret. He clenched his fists tightly, recounting some of the things he remembered in that letter left behind from the Roland before him.

Wearing someone else's body was more complicated than he might've expected. Somehow, Roland discovered there was a growing connection between himself and the previous owner's memories and feelings. There had to be some way he could further explore this. He didn't for one second believe all of this was one big coincidence.

Unfortunately, Roland gathered this current time period may not be sophisticated enough to contain the level of science he needed to conduct the necessary research. Although, a place where magic existed did afford him quite a wide span of possibilities. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

'Wait a minute. Omega said this world has a complex magic system. That may be the route I must take to gain more knowledge about this world and myself. If they were using Magic to develop and build things, that would likely replace modern-day technology where I came from.'

Roland posed the question to Omega.

{Yes my Host, the magical system within this world shares intricate similarities with what you understand as science. Although there are several complex formulas and theories in this world of Magic, none greater than the theory of reincarnation and immorality.

Omega highly recommends the Host studies the system of Magic here; according to my database, the best methods for learning Magic derive from attending one of the 8 Schools of Magic.

Traditionally known as the 8 Unseen Colleges. Located in an entirely different province known as Arcadia. Several miles away from our current location}

The mention of a province spurred Roland to inquire about the overall structure of kingdoms and countries in this world. And of course, Omega displayed a full detail of this based on the wide span of information the artificial intelligent system carried.

Sun Kingdom - Southern Realm - Patriarchal Society

Rain Kingdom - Eastern Realm - Matriarchal Society

Storm Kingdom - Western Realm - Patriarchal Society

Cloud Kingdom - Northern Eastern - Patriarchal Society

Moon Kingdom - True Northern Realm - Matriarchal society}

Roland nodded while he made another twist against his heels before he walked down the same path along the room. With his hands held together behind his back, he was locked into his deepest of thoughts, and conversing with the AI system about the theories of Magic. Unfortunately, he discovered that Omega's knowledge was limited in this field, partly because of Roland's lack of exposure to Magic.

'Hm, so there are stages of your growth then Omega. That's interesting since I always believed the Apple of Acrux was a self-sufficient system capable of improving itself when the needs and must were required.'

{That's correct, my Host. I am created to develop my capabilities depending on the situation. Whilst Omega possess a vast access of information stored within my complex framework storage. There is a singular and rather unknown protocol which suggests 'System must be fed' with new information on a day to day basis. Therefore in this current context. Omega improves with the growth of the hosts on current knowledge."

"And how does Omega achieve this?"

{Through the process known as ageing}

A wry smile tugged at the corners of Roland's mouth. Sometimes, the answers were more common than complex.

{The more days and information I've given to handle or be tasked with. This helps improve my understanding and functionality. Omega will continue to inform the Host of these changes as we progress.

*Chiming sounds*

{Warning! Two heat signatures detected}

Before Roland was given a moment to react, he heard the sound of knuckles being wrapped against the frame of his door.

"Eh? wh-who is that?" He stammered quietly with a bit of uneasiness coursing through his belly. The few people he had met so far didn't bother to announce themselves. And without waiting for a response, his door slowly sneered open.

Two fellows dressed in light armour stood by his door. The one leading the duo removed his iron helmet before frantically shaking his head to free the matted scruff of hair trapped inside. He had sallow skin, a round, youthful face, and thin brows. They locked eyes, and Roland noticed the briefest of shock against the young mans face before a more natural look replaced it.

The second fellow kept his helmet on. The first thing Roland noticed about that figure was the sword glued to his hip.

Roland cocked a single brow upwards, observing the two knights appear before him. The more he took in their appearance, the more convinced he was about the period he was in.

'Hm, maybe they're part of that Brutus fellows army.' He thought to himself, although there was a subtle concern he carried, staring into those dead eyes of the front man.

The young-faced man creased a slight smile before lowering himself slightly into a half bow.

"Greetings, master of the court. We had no idea the son of Lady Diane was resting here. Let me say it's a pleasure to meet you." said the man with the sallow skin.

His voice already irritated Roland, or maybe his dandy look bothered him. Short cropped, oily black hair, thin eyes to the point he could barely see his pupils and a very pencilled drawn moustache. He had an urge to wipe them off, but he didn't want to look rude.

And to Roland, this was the textbook appearance of a traditional villain. They stood in awkward silence, and it took him a few moments to remember he was Roland, the son of Lady Diane. He performed a similar greeting and creased a boyish smile in return.

"The pleasure is all mine err..."

"Ah forgive me, I am Ser Oswald and this here is Haldan the Iron. We are part of Lord Brutus' personal warriors. Apologies for disturbing you, but...there has been a breach in the castle. And Lord Brutus has instructed us to escort you to a safer place at once." Oswald stepped further into the room and inspected the area.

A slight cloud of worry descended once Roland heard that.

'An attack on the castle? Is that why Brutus hurried off.'

He had no idea about the politics of this people or what kind of feud this clan of his was in. But judging by the letters left behind, there was a clear divide between his mother, Brutus and the rest of the clan.

'There was no mention of my father, hmm. I wonder what that's about, ' he thought to himself before scanning the room again.

Roland's gaze fell towards the letters sprawled against his bedside. He casually walked towards them and neatly arranged them into a pile. He wrapped the small ribbon around them and aligned them behind the blue flower. Besides this, he noticed an iron dagger with a white and gold hilt, probably used to open letters.

"So is Brutus in trouble then?" asked Roland lazily, tracing the curved groove of the daggers bite before he turned around to observe the duo again.

"He's dealing with some troubling affairs right now, but Lord Brutus has reached the peak rank of a bronze body, so he'll be fine." Said Oswald creasing a broad smile that made Roland uncomfortable the more he observed the dead eyed fellow.

"Say, I don't see any sign of a death knight here? Were you not assigned one being a descendant and all?"

Roland slightly tilted his head in confusion before quickly remembering that purple masked, aloof figure clothed in slender black.

'Good question, wasn't he supposed to be protecting me. Hm, strange.'

Roland curiously shifted his gaze towards the silent knight standing by the door. His movements caught his attention since the fellow had walked inside a few steps before retracing his feet backwards again, and placing himself directly in front of the doorway like a guard. Roland found that odd, he still carried the senses of a soldier, so he understood the need to make sure his exits were not barred at any point. 

Roland's brows suddenly furrowed. Something was off. He remembered his training as a commanding officer and locked in. During his lengthy discussions with the AI system implanted into his mind, Roland was delighted to learn that Omega also had what he personally called 'special abilities.' 

In actuality, these were temporary special functions which helped Roland perform certain things. 

Omega currently had 5 of these functions. The only current accessible function was a handy protocol known as...

'Omega, switch to Scan mode.'

{Affirmative}

A sudden warmth settled at the back of his two eyes. Roland felt an irritation before a strange light appeared over his gaze. Unbeknownst to everyone else in the room, a silvery light glazed over his two irises, and an invisible light lasered away from his gaze. Roland tried to remain composed; wherever his gaze fell upon, a tiny piece of information appeared close by.

#Iron Sword *** Analysing...fresh blood stains found ***#

Roland's gaze shot open, and before he was given a moment to process anything, he caught a looming figure hanging around his blind spot. Oswald halted against his heels once Roland turned towards him again. Roland moved his body in front of the bedside desk and slowly gathered the knife into his hand.

'Tsk, this f****r'

A drawn-out silence stiffened the room. Roland could feel his heart racing, but his mind remained as calm as a shallow river. Oswald exhaled a tired breath before smoothing the loose hair strands from his forehead. When he finally lifted his head again, an air of coldness contorted his mask.

"How did you know?" Oswald simply asked

Roland remained silent for a few moments before a wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Well..." He parted his hands apart and creased a wry smile. "You didn't refer to me as young Lord. So then, what can I do for you two?"

Oswald nodded his head as if to understand where he went wrong. He slowly pulled a short dagger from his hip and creased an ugly smile.

"Your life." He said before he leapt forward and attacked.