webnovel

The Rotunda Family

"Hey, bro! I got a system!" Seth whispered in excitement, jumping uncontrollably on the air as his cheeks widened for a smile.

Due to the knowledge from web novels he had read, systems are the most beneficial things attained by the main character. Just like his favorite fantasy web novels like "Strongest Necromancer of Heaven's Gate" and "My Vampire System", he had always been a fan of system novels, both Science fiction and Video games. 

Even when he was with his family on Earth, he had always stayed indoors, reading and listening to audiobooks as he hoped to be a successful writer in the near future. 

However, as miserable as it was, all those plans and dreams faded away the moment he was infected with the cruel disease, having to leave "Legacy of Gods" behind, unfinished.

"Yeah, you should. It's normal. After stepping your feet into your territory, your system activates. I have mine too," Seth's brother said with a calm expression and turned to look at Seth in the face. 

Seth only stood with a delightful look and waited for the young man's words as they rang directly into his ear. 

"You should check your stats now. I'll take pleasure in knowing the name of your God. With that, I can get an expectation for your Ability," his new brother said with a charming smile. 

Seth nodded positively with curiousness and looked at the screen at the corner of his eyes. 

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Normal stats: 

Name: Seth Rotunda

Race: Human

MV: 87%

ST: Adequate

Soul age: 5hrs

Soul chamber: 2[c] (extendable)

God: Nobie... (unidentified)

God Description: Your God is anonymous. His identity is inactivated. 

Affinity: Unknown

Affinity Description: Due to the unrevealed identity of your God, your Affinity can not be detected. 

Ability: N/A (Obtain an Ability after killing a Unicorn on the Moon Day)

Ability type: N/A

Ability level: N/A

Ability rank: Dormant (No star). 

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'Huh! What happened to my God? I thought she said she has a master,' Seth thought, stunned, as he refused to withdraw his gaze from the system's screen.

"What happened?" his brother asked as he noticed the sudden dismal look on Seth's face. 

"Umm, nothing... Let's go home," Seth said, trying to move his brother's interest from the system discussions. "I don't really wanna miss the big feast, so we should get going."

"But you haven't told me the name of your God? Is that too much to ask for?" His brother questioned, disappointed. 

"I'll tell you when we get home. Let's go bro!" Seth said in a loud tone as he walked towards the gate, leaving his brother behind.

The entrance gate of the Golden Fox Clan was about fifty-five feet tall. Its thick walls and metallic gate revealed a clear description of an armed territory within. And the watching owls atop the walls drew Seth's attention as they shrieked. 

MIGHTY GATE OF THE GOLDEN FOX CLAN, [Entrance]. 

Seth peeked at the boldly written phrase illustrating the name of the Golden Fox clan at the top of the gate and muttered: "I like that name. If I am truly from the Golden Fox Clan, then I should definitely be a Fox, a golden one at that."

"It's just a name made from history. You should go read the History Book so you won't continue being a novice," Seth's brother's voice suddenly arose from the back as he approached the gate. His mocking words made Seth a little bit furious but at this time, Seth decided to hold himself. 

He couldn't even utter a word, knowing that what his brother said was nothing but the truth. He was a complete novice, but there was never a problem with that since he was a Newborn. 

Seth's brother brought out a card from his shirt pocket and placed it in a thin deep vacuum. The vacuum shone golden lights immediately and suddenly, the gate began to open in a slow majestic motion. 

The robust thick metals of the gate made a loud bluster as it made contact with the heightened brick walls of the clan, drawing the attention of many who were busy conversing in excitement as they welcomed their new family member. 

Everyone's gaze inside the territory was fixed on no one but Seth. 

Tall, handsome, strict-looking, shy, confused, startled and calm. All these were pictured in the faces of different individuals behind the clan walls the moment Seth came in sight. The most stunning part was that Seth was wearing a thick brown cloak.

"Uhh! Let's move fast now, you are wearing a cloak," Seth's brother said and pulled him forward after a grip on his marked wrist. 

What's wrong with wearing a cloak, was it a sin or what? Seth don't know why he deserved a harsh gaze from his new world's residents.

"No one wears a cloak on the day of the Portal Opening. A cloak culturally means 'mask of peace', you would get that from the History Book," Seth's brother explained as they continued to walk quickly, without an attempt to look back.

"But I died with this cloak, it was never my fault," Seth challenged.

"I know, and that's why we have to get home quickly," Seth's brother responded with a familiar expression but his gape was still fixed ahead. 

"You know, our Type-2 bungalow was mistakenly built by Dad at the extreme end of the clan. This had made walking so difficult for me and Nicky," the young man said with a slight grin. 

"Who is Nicky? Besides, I don't know your name," Seth questioned. 

"Oh! I can't believe I haven't told you my name," his brother said in surprise. "I'm Xavier, a Mage by Ability rank. You can see the 1-star batch on my outfit right?" Xavier questioned. 

"Yeah," Seth replied while nodding.

"Nicky is our sister, my twin to be precise. We were reincarnated here on the same day," Xavier said. 

"Nicky? You mean Nicole?" Seth asked. 

"Yes. You are right. But I prefer Nicky for short," Xavier replied. 

Shortly after, Xavier pointed at a building. The building was just as exquisite as a small palace. A bouquet filled the air as they approached the entrance of their Type-2 bungalow, however, this wasn't what Seth had expected. 

Back in his former life as the son of a president, he had lived in a classic home building with the influence of a wealthy lifestyle. Seth would never believe if someone had told him that he would live in a low-class bungalow someday, but right now, he was seeing it with his two naked eyes.

They got to the door, and Xavier was the one to go in first. After Xavier had shuffled in, Seth followed, putting on a nervous look on his face. 

But before he could know it, two arms clasped his waist and rolled him round after a lift. His waist hurts, but that doesn't change the fact that his new mother won't stop hug-rolling him. 

"Hey my boy, you look so handsome. You are such a nice figure and I can sense that from your aura," his new mother said with a wide smile, still holding his waist in the air.

Seth uncomfortably nodded with a fake smile, and shamelessly tried to pull himself from his new mother's robust arms. Noticing the comfortless look on Seth's face, his mother decided to release his grieving waist. 

Just after setting his foot on the floor, another arm landed on him. But this time, it was a beautiful warm hug. Nicole smiled at Seth after withdrawing herself from his chest. Her decent gaze made him feel cool, seeing the total difference from the jerk who claimed to be his brother. 

"Little bro, I'm Nicole, but Xavier here prefers Nicky for short," his sister said, placing her left hand on Seth's right shoulder.

'Don't call me your little bro, I'm not even related to you,' Seth thought angrily, oppositely producing a smile on his face. 

"I'm Seth... Seth Fiske," Seth said. 

"No! Not Seth Fiske, you are Seth Rotunda," a man with fair skin and a full beard, old enough to be Seth's new father challenged while walking to Seth with a calm yet serious expression. "You ceased to bear that name the moment you received the Rotudan mark on your wrist. Weren't you told all these by your angel? Or, are you the kind of Newborns who miserably forgot everything about the encounter with their angel?

Seth angrily nodded negatively, placing his gaze on the floor. Of course, his angel never told him anything about families or clans. He only learned about his Affinity, together with his MV and ST which seemed to have no similarities with both Families and Clans. 

His God's identity was also inactivated, making it certain that she never notified him about his God's Identity. After thinking through all these, Seth wished for a chance to go back to the Trade Realm and punch his angel in the face. 

"Anyways, that shouldn't be much of a problem. I'm Karl, your Father," the full-beard man said as his wife added: "I'm Emily, your sweet mother."

Seth only nodded in acceptance, believing this whole sudden "family" thing. 

'I can't wait to set my eyes on that darned History Book. I need to get a total explanation about this whole thing.'

The Portal Connection Passage instead of a normal childbirth? The conclusive claim of Families who were never related by blood? And most especially, the implications of not receiving one's God Identity.

'If the History Book doesn't contain the answer to this question, I'm going to burn it down into ashes,' Seth thought angrily as he followed behind Xavier to the dining. This time around, the Big Feast is about to commence. 

Soon, the delicious aroma of roasted chicken spiced up with green chili peppers and tomato slices filled the whole room, causing Seth to drink down his saliva with his eyes on them. Slices of cabbages on small dishes surrounded them together with the famous cultural dish of the Northern continent: Seasoned Fox Tail. 

And shortly, the feast began. 

Seth was eating a lot. 

The only favor he needed from his new family right now was to satisfy his groaning stomach. Lying dead for more than six years in the Psychopomp God's mysterious chamber without getting something into his stomach was truly a big reason to eat down about 20 pounds of solid food, regardless of the fact that he also had to take sips of some water. 

As they continued to have their feast, Seth's father cleared his throat and asked with a cordial expression: 

"Tell me, son, what's your MV?

That question almost made Seth choke to death as he tried to swallow a piece of peppered chicken. Knowing that Seth wasn't in a good state, Nicky quickly passed him some water to calm his hot throat, teasing him in her thoughts as she smiled. 

'Uhh! Little bro is a complete punk.'

Seth's father's look changed as he noticed that something was wrong with Seth. Nonetheless, he was not too dazed about someone being attacked by hot pepper, since that was normal. 

"Are you okay boy?" his father asked. 

"Yeah," Seth responded, nodding positively right after. 

"Okay. So... What's your MV? I would love it if you could tell me your ST too," Seth's father asked again, producing a deep countenance.

Seth was totally confused at that instant as all eyes fixed on him. His angel had told him to not tell anyone, not even his new father. And he also knew that exposing his MV and ST was only going to make him end up being wrecked. With this in his mind, Seth didn't have a choice but to lie to them. 

"My Market Value is about 71% rate, which makes my Soul Type a 'Partially adequate' soul."

Like a miracle, Seth's new family fell for his lie, shrieking as though they were happy with his MV's rate. However, though, the truth was that the rate was not bad, coming to compared with others. 

"I expected that! I know you are strong. At least, living forever as a Mage just like us would do," Xavier whispered with a wide grin, hitting his spoon on one of the dishes. 

Seth only nodded, still with those fake smiles. He never knew what "Mage" truly meant. But with the experience of web novels, Mages are magic users who still seem to have less authority over their Abilities. However, they could be also called low-level magicians too.

"Shut your mouth, Xavier! Stop trying to wish your bad luck on him. I'm sure he would rank up well higher than you will," Nicky challenged Xavier with an angry expression. Truth be told, piercing a fork through his lips was between a thin line at that moment. 

Regardless, of the shouts and teases, Seth let out a sigh of relief and glanced at every one of them as though playing a spin with the eyeballs. 

After dropping the spoon he held, he decided to throw the same question to his new family members: 

"Since I have told you guys my MV and ST, I would like to know that of you guys too."

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