Black Magus

Though I turned 15 on the 9th day of Noxtranus, the 11th month of the year, nearly another month and a half passed before my mother came to our little fort all by her lonesome.

Though the celebration was far more remarkable than anything I'd gone through thus far, not much happened after. On that day, a course of events transpired in ways that were similar to my fifth birthday. My father appeared at our compound to beckon me back to the estate. And after hours of feasting and festivities, the staff and my family all gathered around to give me gift after gift after gift.

From Ebbet, I received an unassuming bedroll that was nearly as soft and plush as the woobie Giorno made. An item that would remain with for as long as possible. Gerolt, on the other hand, gave me something that would probably not be used, at least by me: a bow and quiver that he purchased for a high price, coupled with a complete butcher's set. And then there were my father's gifts, which seemed to know no bounds.

First was a train that was completely identical to his. A seemingly useless thing to have once I left the Empire. But with my core awakening on the horizon, I couldn't help but feel excited as I dragged the massive machine into my shadow. His second gift was my very own boat. A yacht by all accounts. Though it was far smaller than the craft we rode to the mainlands on, it was still more than enough for the seven of us to ride comfortably in. His third and final gift was an absolutely monumental horde of coins he claimed to be my savings account. A trust fund, essentially. A pool of wealth my parents had been investing in since I was first conceived. In his words, the underground of these realms runs ever-deep; yet below that lies the Darkworld: a place so far beneath the surface, metals become as common as dirt. Because of that, what had been my daily allowance was only one one-hundredth of the money they'd been setting aside for me. And even that fraction had been rebated by my father.

It'd been years since I last checked my wallet. After spending so much on the mana wells, I needn't a reason to check it. Thus looking at it now was numbing to the mind. Even for royalty. Looking back, however, my income had been large from the start. Still, I couldn't help but retrace my second life and go through each and every transaction I've made thus far; not that there were many to begin with. At three, tenday weeks per month coupled with a daily allowance of 1,000 gold coins, my 'allowance' equated to 30,000 gold a month. The product of that and 13 months a year equated to an annual sum of 390,000 gold. Multiplying that by five years, until I was ten, brought my balance to around 1.95 million altogether. Reducing my three veteran vassal's pay of 3,900 gold a year, for five years, brought that down by 58,500 gold, equating to around 1.98 million. And after spending 600k on external wells, that went down to around 1.29 million. Another four years of paying my vassals with no allowance brought that down to about 1.23 million. More like 1.21, after making a few purchases here and there for the tinkerer's competition. The last year of allowance and paying five vassals finally brought my sum total back up to about 1.6 million.

Now, however, I received the first five years of my allowance, plus the other 99 parts he held on to. In short...

[Wallet: 549,819,600 G.C.]

I know the Empire was wealthy, but even that gave me a moment of surprise. As extensive as my father's gifts were, however, my mother had yet to give me anything. As such, I couldn't help but feel a little hopeful as I stepped out of the compound to meet her.

My vassals seemed surprised to find such an esteemed lady walking around the woods in the middle of the night. But I knew better than to think of what I assumed to be a quite old drow in such a light manner.

"Gather yours and Your Lord's things and return to the estate. The departure for the Iron Mountain is at dawn." She regally snapped, prompting them to rise from their knees and scramble back into the compound at once while my mother gestured me to her side.

While my mind moved at near lightspeed, I calmly stepped into line beside her and started on a slow trek back to the estate. 'Finally.' I grinned in euphoria at the thought of finally awakening my cores and putting the laundry list of spells I've imagined to the test.

<> Mother giggled in her native tongue.

<> I sang. Then threw a bit of shade on the ground. <>