Blessed Twins

The sun was already nowhere to be seen when I woke up.

Even after unlocking the Laziness aspect, I didn't change my lifestyle, who disliked sleeping after all?

After fulfilling my soul's wish, I got some interesting abilities.

Apparently talking and moving to get things was a hassle, so I gained the ability to use telekinesis to apply force and lift things remotely and telepathy that I could use to transmit emotions and thoughts directly to someone's brain.

The main ability, however, was the ability to make someone lazy themselves. For example, during a fight, your opponent would feel too lazy to use certain powers or items, things that could lead to their loss.

'Mental attacks are still the best huh...' I thought with satisfaction.

I then looked at the calendar that was plastered on the wall of my room and saw that today was the day my brother and sister would get their blessing.

Apparently, while men had to wait until they were twelve years old to be blessed, women had to wait two years less. It was said that since women were gracious, beautiful, and kind-hearted they deserved to be blessed earlier.

If I understood something from that it's that this world was full of white knights.

To think even gods would fall this low...

I shook my head in disappointment before tactfully leaving these thoughts behind, trying to avoid having thunder rain down on my head out of nowhere.

Vega was now ten years old and Zuriel was twelve, and as siblings that were born on the same day they had the qualification to undergo what was called a "twin blessing".

The legends were legends, so I asked Azan about what this thing was and he explained to me that two godhood with similar powers or two Mystics that were a pair would give their blessing to two siblings that were born at the same day (not the same year), giving them a strong synergy with each other.

Being part of such a rare minority I wondered what sort of power my two siblings would unlock. I also thought that I was lucky to be born later, I didn't like the idea of having to be in a team to show my true potential.

I also always wanted to ask my parents about their blessings, but I think it's quite impolite. It felt similar to asking your parents about their wages, not a delicate thing to do.

I let my mind run loose until there was nothing more that I could think about, then crossed my legs and sat on the floor to meditate.

Meditation was the main way to feel the mana move through your body and your surroundings, and after living in a magical world for years, I couldn't be comfortable without feeling the mana at least once per day.

Mana was life and life was mana.

Being a mage meant controlling life, but the methods were different from one mage to another.

The orthodox variety was about controlling your own life, while forbidden magic was about controlling the others'. I was both an orthodox and a forbidden mage in one of my past lives and thus had a lot of experience.

Contrary to what most people would think, a strong mage couldn't possibly have a frail body. Your whole body was the vessel that contained mana, and the difference between a strong mage and a weak one was the concentration.

Mana regeneration was just the speed at which one's body could absorb mana without getting crippled, and the mana limit was just how much mana your body could hold without exploding, and since having a gigantic body to store mana was clearly not a suitable solution, mana was concentrated to fit the mage's shape instead.

The first step to becoming a mage was to have a strong body, and while meditation couldn't possibly make your body stronger directly, using the surrounding mana to put pressure on your muscles could.

This was the reason why I was sweating even while doing something as "relaxing" as meditating.

I didn't plan to become a full-time mage, however. Forbidden magic failed me once, and orthodox magic didn't have any strong authority over death and time.

Not even mentioning how hard it was to achieve the tenth circle in the orthodox path.

I followed the policy of using the specialties of the world as my core.

If I was in a world of knights, I would be a knight. If I was in a world of monks, I would be a monk.

By accumulating as many techniques and talents as I can, I had a higher chance of staying alive in a world where the solution to my problems could be found.

Maybe the combination of these talents itself is the solution.

I'm still as ignorant as I was in my second life, and by now I knew I wasn't some sort of main character figure. I got my a*s whooped a little too hard to still believe that.

I didn't feel time flowing before the first rays of sunshine hit me in the face. I heard metallic sounds coming from the kitchen so I went to shower before my sister or my mother decided to make the bathroom their property.

And fair enough, my sister knocked on the door before the water turned warm.

It seemed that since today was such an important day she woke up sooner than usual.

I ignored her and let the water wash away the sweat off my body while relaxing my tense muscles.

I looked at the mirror, and the sight made even me laugh.

I was barely a meter and a half but my musculature was already looking better than my dad's. I admired my appearance for a bit, happy that I was looking more handsome than in my previous lives.

In the scroll, my race was "high-human", so my face had some unusual characteristics. My iris was hazel and my pupil was shaped like a cat's with a thin circle around it. My hair was black but had some shades of silver, looking quite weird.

20 minutes later, the first thing I saw after opening the door was my grumpy sister sitting on the ground, glaring at me.

She pinched my cheeks and told me to be faster next time, before closing off the door.

I smiled wryly and went to the kitchen to greet my mother before joining my father in the farms.

When he saw me his expression turned into a satisfied one.

'At least one of the two boys isn't lazy huh...' was what I could read from his expression, and I barely managed to hold my laughter.

I helped him with carrying his tools around until mother called us to have breakfast. We went back to our home and washed our hands before joining the table.

Zuriel was already sitting there and when he saw me accompanying our father he had a sudden realization and lowered his head guiltily making both of my parents laugh boisterously.

I didn't dislike my current life, in fact, I loved it. I had nothing to lose except the love of other people, so I was especially sensitive to the warm family time with my parents and siblings.

If anyone betrayed me, at least the past was enjoyable. And if someone close to me had bad intentions what was the worst they could do to me? Kill me?

I was past doubting peoples' intentions because of empty fear.

After having breakfast, the whole family went to the village and got into a carriage toward the capital.

The location for the blessing in the empire our village belonged to was called the Star Temple. The capital was built around it to make it convenient for parents to register their children into corresponding schools, guilds, or associations after their blessings.

When we left the carriage after arriving everyone was awed at the sight of the magnificent temple that looked like it was completely made of mithril except me.

'I witnessed the sight of a whale the size of a continent, how can this be enough to surprise me?' Contrary to my thoughts, I stopped underestimating this empire's wealth.

Any power that could build a temple using mithril wasn't a power I would want to cross swords with.

I calmly observed the surroundings and noticed that there were two distinct groups of people.

The first group was composed of wealthy people that were acting all pompous while entering the temple from the main door. The second was a mixture of thralls, commoners, and merchants that entered from the side.

My parent never talked about nobles, so I nearly thought they didn't exist.

After entering the temple, my siblings went with my mother to the middle of the temple and my father went toward a group of men that were wearing green robes, my eyes nearly falling from their sockets when I saw him punch the old man that looked like the leader of the group. The man blocked the punch before laughing and hugging my dad warmly.

My dad hugged the man back, before gesturing at me to come with a happy expression.

"This is Olaf, the current leader of the Green World guild. We've been good friends for a long time, too bad he looks so old and is still unmarried." Dad grabbed my shoulder and teased Olaf, attracting the laughter of the older figures around them, and making the younger ones turn around, pretending they weren't hearing anything.

I freed myself from his grasp and sat down on a chair, watching with interest. The Green World guild looked pretty nice, and I wouldn't mind joining this sort of group after my blessing.

I looked at my two siblings that were practically squirming out of excitement and smiled wryly.

This life was looking great.

Half an hour passed before the temple suddenly became completely silent.

An intimidating knight in shining armor entered the room and nearly every child that was waiting for their blessing felt suffocated under the pressure he emitted when he stared at each one of them.

His helmet completely covered his face and had horns growing out from the two sides, it didn't have a visor and it made me wonder how the knight was able to see. Maybe an enchantment.

While I was sizing up the man with interest, he stood in the middle of the temple and began talking.

"In this room, we'll be able to witness who are the ones that will represent the future of the mighty Vircha Empire, and the ones whose only utility is to try their best to make their miserable lives worth something. This day is the most important moment of your life, younglings. You will either leave this room with your head held high, or with no future to speak of." The man said in a majestic voice before stabbing his sword in the ground, making me grind my teeth.

'What the hell? Stop mistreating the sword you stupid as*hole!' I thought with a disgusted expression.

I looked at my siblings and saw them clenching their fists tightly, but I wasn't afraid for them since I could always teach them magic later on...

For the sake of privacy, the place where the children received their blessing was a closed-off room.

No one knew what happened there except the children themselves.

Some left the room with proud expressions, some with blank eyes, and the others were expressionless.

When it was my siblings' turn, Zuriel grabbed Vega's hand and went toward the knight with an excited expression.

The knight flinched when he saw two people coming at once and looked toward my dad before quickly looking away.

I raised an eyebrow and stared at my dad that noticed it and smiled back at me.

The knight led my two siblings into the room and stood guard at the door. After ten minutes they came out and I was surprised to see Zuriel coming out of the room with a bladeless hilt in his hands.

They were even more excited than when they entered the room, nearly running toward mother.

"Mother, I got th-mffa..." My brother wasn't able to finish his sentence before he stopped talking with a startled expression.

With my magical perception, I could see that there was a tentacle made of energy that was covering my brother's mouth.

My mother stroked Zuriel and Vega's heads and made a 'stay silent' gesture before pushing them toward me.

"I'll have to go now. Take care Olaf, remember to invite me if you ever get married!" My father slapped Olaf's shoulder before grabbing my hand.

We left the temple hurriedly and went to a nearby inn.

After entering our room, the tentacles that were covering my siblings' mouths disappeared.

"So what did you get sweeties?" My mother asked while stroking their head gently.

"I got the Bladelight Monarch's blessing! And Vega's got the Vagrant Princess's!" Zuriel shouted excitedly and Vega nodded with a bright expression.

When I heard them, however, my expression darkened for a moment before quickly returning to normal.

These were titles instead of "God of X", and that meant they were both blessed by mystics. I was pretty scared of beings with such powers, so I unconsciously became wary against my two siblings.

Contrary to me, my mother looked at my father with a surprised expression before hugging Zuriel and Vega.

It seemed that similar to my aspiration skill, information was directly pumped into their heads after getting a blessing. They knew how to use their powers to a certain degree.

I wasn't interested in watching their poor attempts at controlling the energies, however. I could always ask Azan later on, and "understanding" something wasn't "being able to do it". They would need some time before being able to use their ability with some proficiency.

What interested me was the hilt that Zuriel was holding.

After going out of the room, Zuriel looked different. It seemed like his soul was split into two parts, and one of them was shaped into the hilt he was holding in his hand. He was indeed stronger, and even if the hilt was destroyed, his soul wouldn't be damaged at all.

I knew because I was a forbidden mage previously. I was familiar with souls.

I studied the hilt intently until my parents stood up, telling me to stay in the inn while they would register my siblings into an academy.

I waited one hour after they left before taking out the scroll and dripping my blood on it.

Once again, the weird feeling of leaving my body appeared and I found myself in front of Aurélion.

"You still remember to come and visit me, huh?" Aurélion's majestic voice sounded into my ears.

I sighed and apologized. It was always the same speech each time I visited him, so I got used to it and knew he was only having his fun. Being a god sure was boring.

"So, which one do you want to know about first. The Bladelight Monarch or the Vagrant Princess?" He said with a smile.