chapter 14 family

Third person POV:

While Reynold had left to see Heartfelt, Alan was left alone in the room. He just layed there on the bed, not knowing what to do.

'What do I do now?'

He was quite perplexed. Until now, there had always been something to do for him. Feeding his family, fighting in the pits, buying food etc.

But now he was told he didn't have to do anything anymore. He wasn't used to it. And it would take him a while until he was.

'I should check my status, I have a feeling it changed a little bit.'

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Name - Alan Walker

Age - 16

Class - swordsman (level 2)

Energy- mana

Subclasses:

-Martial artist ( level 6)

-Assasin ( level 2)

...…

Rank- (G+)

Strength- (G+)

Agilty- (F-)

Stamina- (G+)

Perception- (G+)

Mana- (G+)

Charm- (E)

Intelligence- (D)

Battle intelligence- (A)

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His stats had gone up. Not only did his swordsman class reach level 2, his mana also went up a little.

But the greatest change would be in his intelligence.

'It went up two ranks. So it was not just a feeling, I really did get smarter.'

And this was true. Alan had been burdened with too much and he couldn't handle all of it. The pressure on his mind led to him only coming to the simplest conclusions. And most often this was murder.

But he was finally free from the pressure and could think with a clear mind once more.

'I have to tell Alice we are getting adopted.'

Though he had already accepted Reynold's offer, he forgot he had to actually tell Alice about it.

He just hoped that he could convince her to get adopted. Alan didn't particularly care about things like last names so he didn't mind losing his 'Walker' name. But he wasn't so sure if Alice would be on the same page as him.

'It would be embarrassing for me if she were to reject now.'

Alan got up from the bed and went to the door to leave the room. Once he was back in the hall, he suddenly remembered something.

He didn't know the way.

The mansion was huge and Alan, who had been here for the first time, didn't know where to go.

Looking around for a bit, he saw a maid passing by. He decided that it would be best if he asked her for directions.

"Hey sorry miss. Do you maybe know where I can find Rachel and the girl with her?" He asked her in a polite tone.

The maid looked at him and wondered whom this kid in front of her was.

But then she suddenly remembered that the young ladies had brought a boy and a little girl back with them.

She put a smile on her face and answered.

"Of course sir. I'll give you directions to where the young miss is."

After giving her a quick thanks, Alan left to find his sister and Rachel.

It actually took him five minutes to get to the room where they were located. 'This mansion is so big for just no reason.'

Entering the room, he noticed the two girls. They were sitting at a table with some food on it. They seemed to have a nice chat as they were laughing.

A smile made it's way to his face as he looked at the wholesome scene. 'She looks happy. This is our chance so even if she doesn't want to, I'll have to convince her.'

Alan was determined to convince Alice if need be. He had grown tired of despair. And he knew that this was what's best for them, even if it meant acknowledging someone else as their dad.

He began walking towards them. "Yo girls, mind if I also take a bite."

They turned to look at the source off the sound to see Alan walking towards them. Alice immediately got excited and jumped into Alan's arms to hug him.

Her eyes had gotten tears in them, showing her concern for him. "Al, you scared me so much. Why did you have to fight Sylvia? You almost died!"

He wanted to retort that he didn't want to fight her to begin with, but he decided not to since it didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered to Alice was his near death situation.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't get into a fight with Sylvia anymore."

He patted her back a couple of times before he put her back down. They sat at the table with the three of them.

Rachel was nervously twiggling her fingers as if she wanted to say something. Alan had noticed this and reacted upon it.

"Anything you want to say Rachel?"

She hesitated for a couple of seconds. "I ehm. I wanted to apologize for what happened to you. It was my fault that you got into that situation. And I~"

Tears were forming in her eyes as she felt horrible about what happened and wanted to apologize but Alan just wriggled her hair and laughed.

"Oh that's what you're worried about? No worries. I'm safe and sound and even got something amazing out of it."

Rachel looked relieved to see Alan wasn't mad at her.

After they had taken Alan back to the Silverheart estate, she was worried that both Alice and Alan would hate her.

But it was far from it. Alice just chatted with her as usual and even forgave her sister. She said something along the lines off 'Al would have done the same' as her reasoning.

And Alan here also just said that he wasn't mad at her and even seemed grateful.

But his last words made the both of them curious. What could he have gained from nearly dying.

His expression also went serious after he said that. "Alice, there is something we need to talk about."

He leaned a bit forward before he continued.

"I had a talk with Rachel's father. And he made me an offer I think we should accept. To be precise, I did accept. Now it's just you."

The both of them got really curious. "What's the offer? If even you accepted it then it must be good." Alice was curious about the offe.

"Tap, Tap."

He tapped his fingers on the table a couple of times, not knowing how to explain.

"He offered to adopt us."

Silence entered the room. Shock had overtaken Rachel and Alice. But shock wasn't the only emotion Rachel was feeling.

She was really excited. 'I know I whished that they were my family but I never expected it to actually happen!'

Though she was excited, she kept it to herself as she knew it wouldn't be an easy decision for Alice. After all, their real father had just died.

"A,And what did y,you say? Alice asked, her voice shaking.

Alan stared at her and answered with a serious tone for once, instead of the joking one he'd normally use.

"We should accept. I actually did accept already so it's just you who has to give an answer. All we have to lose is our 'Walker' name and replace it by Silverheart."

Rachel was pretty happy knowing Alan wanted to become family. He just had to convince Alice and that would be great.

But it didn't seem to go that easy.

"So w,what? You want us to just take that guy as our dad. What about our real dad?"

Alan took her hand and firmly grasped it. "Dad would have wanted this. Don't you see? I haven't ever seen you as happy as you have been today. This is our chance. And I doubt you'd mind having Rachel as your sister."

Alice turned to look ar Rachel to see her with a smile and nodding her head.

She also noticed something in Alan's eyes. A very small light had returned to his eye. Something she hadn't seen in years. And this is what made her understand that it would be good for them.

"Okay. I accept. It's just. I miss him."

She tightened her grip on Alan's hand.

"I know. I miss him too. But he wanted us to be happy and this is how."

He turned his gaze towards Rachel. He walked towards her. "So Rachel? Anything to say towards your new older brother and younger sister?"

Rachel's expression went up and she got a big smile on her face as she jumped to hug Alan. "Big brother!"

It was quite the wholesome moment. Rachel, who had basically been alone her entire life, finally had some people to hang out with.

'I wonder what father is going to tell sister. I don't think she would agree with this. She'd told me that even though he saved me, I should stay away from him.'

Sylvia warned her after the her father went to have a talk with Alan. Though he didn't feel like a bad guy, she didn't want him around Rachel. In her eyes he was a psychopath.

And her evaluation wasn't exaclty wrong. A couple hours ago, Alan basical was a psychopath. But Reynold helped him a lot with that, though he still had a couple of mental problems left.

But Rachel didn't care much about what Sylvia said. She already began vieuwing Alan as an older brother figure a while ago and now he was actually gonna become it.

Alice, not wanting to be left out, also jumped into Alan's arms together with Rachel. "We'll be sisters now!"

Alan let them down after a bit and left the room saying he had something to do. And he did have something to do.

Alan still hadn't come to accept that he didn't have anything to do so he decided it would be better to train. After searching for a little while, he found the training room he was previously in.

He walked around the room for a bit before he decided to sit in the fighting ring. He had been in many rings before but this was the first time he could relax in one.

There was something Alan had noticed when he attacked Reynold. Something he did on instinct because he was facing an unbeatable foe. He didn't notice it while in the simulation arena but after his mana went up a minor realm, he noticed something in the air.

And he also noticed that he could attract it to his own body to manipulate it. He used the weird the weird energy that he felt in the air and put a layer of it over his sword and used it to attack Reynold.

'That should be mana. But I'm not sure how it works yet.'

That was what Alan was currently trying to do, get a feel for sensing the mana in the air. Though he had no idea how to do that, he remembered he had a skill that could help.

-Absolute mana control (unranked):

Passive skill.

Description: Grants the user far greater control over mana than normal.

Since it was unranked, he didn't expect much from it. But anything was still better than nothing.

He started by trying to sense the mana in the air. But he didn't make much progress. Though he could slightly feel it's presence, it was basically like knowing that there is oxygen in the air.

But then he remembered that when he coated his mana over his sword, the mana didn't come from the outside, it came from the inside.

He next tried to sense any mana inside of him. And when he did, he noticed something weird inside of him. He could sense the mana in his body mainly revolving around some kind of orb.

'Ah I've heard about this. It should be my mana core.'

Once someone awakens, they will need a place to store their energy. And that is how the mana and aura cores come in place.

But this also meant something else. It meant that your core would also be your weak spot. Once someone destroys it, you'll be nothing more than a mundane human with a stronger body.

Once Alan felt his mana core, he started by trying to picture it in his mind. From what he could feel, it wasn't much bigger than a tennisbal.

Next he tried to move the mana inside it. He didn't have a lot of it but it was enough for him to work it.

At first, the mana didn't get much further then an inch from his core. But after trying for about an hour, he managed to make it extend to his body parts.

And what he figured out from that was another thing. If you send your mana into some of your body parts, they become stronger and faster.

But he stumbled upon a small problem after everything. His core was nearly empty. And he felt like it'd be smarter to not entirely empty it so he decided that it was enough for today.

He decided to practice his swordsmanship. He wanted to create his own style. Alan wasn't a great fan of following a book or someone else's teachings. He believed that the best way to to learn something is to teach yourself. And seeing the results with his martial arts, it was a pretty good method.

He went towards the wall with all the weapons and took a sword similar to the one he used previously. It still felt strange for him to use a weapon.

During the simulations fights, he noticed swords needed speed and fluidity. And he extremely lacked the fluidity.

His movements were stiff, and his strikes didn't flow into each other.

He decided to first practice his normal swing. He took a basic stance and made a vertical strike.

"Swoosh"

"A thousand more and then I'll do the horizontal strikes."

He just decided to do thousand strikes of every basic sword movement. After all, the basics were the most important.

Another two hours later, he was finally done. But he was exhausted. He was soaking in sweat and taking large breaths.

Alan noticed that his strikes were improving at a visible rate. But he saw that he lacked the physical aspect . He got tired too quick and his muscles got sore.

'I'm too skinny.'

He had made up his mind. The academy entrance was going to begin in a month and he had to get as strong as possible.

He would start his day with expanding his control over mana. Next he would practice his swordsmanship. And finally he'd train his body.

'I can't make mister Silverheart dissapointed after all. I gotta prove that I'm worth the praise he gave me.'