16 Chapter 16

"Y-young lord! Th-this…" Joseph stuttered, his eyes wide, looking back and forth between the ice cube in my hand and my face.

To which I smiled and said, "Joseph. While I was out, I came across an opportunity and after taking advantage of that I awakened my element."

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Hearing Aldrich, Joseph, and the others were petrified in their places. 

Joseph knew that, unlike the other nobles, his lord didn't have a talent. And hence, he couldn't awaken an element. Even the previous lords he served were not magic wielders.

Apparently one of the reasons why the house of Gabril was an independent barony was because it was not a house of people who could wield elemental magic. 

There are not many noble houses that cannot use magic. The only reason the Gabril household was granted nobility despite being non magic wielders was that they contributed a lot to the country's economy.

People of noble houses usually comprehend the talent for magic. Nobles are descendents of powerful people who created the families. They have inherited the traits and talents of their ancestors, resulting in them being much more prominent in awakening elements.

Joseph being a commoner, doesn't know how to use magic. 

Mana is a general component that every life poses. Mana is mixed with the air of the world. It circulates in the inner circulatory system of every living being. 

Mana is abundant everywhere, but only by awakening an element, humans can mould mana and use it in different forms, going to the extent of even weaponizing it. 

Joseph gazed toward his lord who looked completely different from before. About two weeks ago the lord who was a veteran in being lazy and had the most terrible personality began to change. 

The change was abrupt. It was so abrupt that all the residents of the mansion including him got incredibly suspicious. Why wouldn't they be? The lord suddenly started to act nicely with the servants whom he treated terribly. He started to behave humbly while talking to them. And most importantly he started to do exercise and work out. The lord was an extremely obese person. He didn't even like to go out of the mansion. And that lord suddenly became proactive in doing exercise and stuff? This was really shocking.

When Joseph later confronted the lord, he confessed how he realised his wrong behaviour and unhealthy lifestyle. He told how he wanted to change himself, and his ambition for making the barony prosperous. 

Hearing him joseph was extremely shaken. He has long since prospected the downfall of the barony after the death of the previous lord. He never thought this self-entitled young lord would become a new leaf.  But no, he was wrong. The young lord changed. And so joseph and every other resident of the mansion made up their mind that they would try and assist their young lord in serving the territory. 

Even the guard captain who had completely given up his duties since the death of the previous lord became proactive in training the guards after seeing the change in the young lord's attitude.

Three days ago the young lord suddenly wanted to go outside. Joseph asked if he needed the guards to accompany him, but the young lord refused. Though Joseph wanted to object, he thought the lord needed something to do by himself. And hence he didn't pursue the matter any further.

But the young lord didn't return that day. The whole mansion was in an uproar by his disappearance.

The guard captain along with the other guards created a search team to go looking for the young lord. The territory was very small so it didn't take them much time to search around. But alas, all in vain. They couldn't find the young lord after so much searching. 

But after asking the dwellers of the town they found that some of them had indeed seen a young-looking man clad in a leather coat going out of the town, in the direction of the restricted area.

After hearing the description of the youth they came to understand that he was their young lord. The town dwellers had no idea how the young lord looked after he started training, so it was no shock that they thought of him as an ordinary person.

But now there was a huge problem. The restricted area was not a place where no human could live. The weather and the terrain were extremely harsh, making floras and faunas unable to survive there. 

If the young lord has indeed entered that area, then it is a matter of great concern. They have no idea why he went there. But since he was not back even after two days, then it was very likely that he got caught in some trouble.

Thinking of this possibility they immediately wanted to rush there. But from a logical perspective, they need to prepare before going there. They need food rations and other necessities before planning to enter the restricted area.

So Jason and others began to prepare themselves for their search in order to find out the young lord. 

But today, to their pleasant surprise, the young lord was back. Looking at him one could see how much his appearance had changed since the other day. Many of the servants who saw him were shocked by his appearance which became extremely stunning out of nowhere. 

But for Joseph his change in appearance was secondary. Upon confronting the now 'stunning' young lord with a crying face, they came to know something which was even more unbelievable. 

While they had heard of stories where some people come across opportunities, by which they can awaken an element and later on that person changes his life by garnering many achievements. Though these are the stories that aspire many adventurers and mercenaries to go on searching the unknown, these were just myths in the end. These were just legends, no one has actually seen this happen in real life. The talent of awakening an element is natural to people, which they acquire since birth. It could be said that one's birth luck plays an important role here. In most cases the talent is hereditary. The nobles with a magic background sought to maintain this heritage and marry someone who can use magic.

That is one of the reasons why nations provide knighthood to the commoners who have awakened an element.