The circumstances of Dustin Mann.

By mandate of the Ouverham empire, and by proxy the Andoginia kingdom, Pritwood city has experts to protect it and guide its citizens. The highest power is the council of high elders: Composed of 1 representative of the clans living in the city with a member at the Star formation realm. An empty seat for the head elder is available for any family that manages to reach the Star engraving realm.

Then, there is the council of minor elders: families with Astral gate realm representatives have a seat here, their power is less than the high elders, but they still have a voice.

Finally, the enforcers: Families with ties to the city and foundation establishment realm heads participate here. They have less power and execute orders from higher families involving the safety of the city.

Currently, The Leigh Family has a seat in the council of minor elders. However, the apparition of Duarte has given them a chance of reaching the high elders' council. While the Mann family only has an old Astral gate realm with few years left. With enough time, they'll get demoted to enforcers.

Isaac had a vague map of powers in his head, but he never cared about politics in either of his lives. The only thing that mattered at the moment was helping the poor boy that he rescued from the market. After convincing Wilson, they brought him to the Leigh mansion and discreetly entered.

"Can you heal him, Wilson?" Said Isaac while Wilson let the boy on one of the guest's beds.

"I can, Young master," Wilson said with a solemn expression. "But why are you helping him? Not that i want to defy your orders..."

"Don't worry." Isaac dismissed with his hands. "I couldn't sit still looking at that scene." He made a disgusted expression and snorted. "I hope those kids got the message."

"I understand, young master." Wilson sighed for a couple of seconds. Then, he did a hand sign before an emerald symbol appeared in the air. As seconds passed, the boy's injuries began to heal.

This time, Isaac took a better look at the boy: short white hair, pale skin, skinny, and had scars all over his face, chest, and hands. Isaac felt his heart squeeze a bit after seeing his state, but he tried to remain calm.

"Wilson, please take care of him." After a while, Isaac stood up and looked at Wilson. "I'll sort out what we bought at the market in the backyard. Call me when he wakes up."

"As you wish, master."

---

Dustin's luck and emotions were a rollercoaster that day. When he woke up, his parents sent him to the market to buy some food. They gave him a golden coin, or ten silver coins, enough for them and something extra for himself, like candies. He went out of his house with a bright smile on his face.

But after reaching the open market, his smile snuffed out. His bullies, members of the Dahar family, intercepted him after they saw him buying some meat. After dragging him to one of the alleyways, they began to beat him up like they use to, using weirder excuses every time. Like "You blocked the sun!" or "I saw you laughing about us earlier! Learn your place!"

This time was different, though. While Dustin was barely conscious, he noticed someone approaching and trying to defend him. Dustin wanted to tell his savior to stop, or they might target him too. But before he could react, the three Dahar boys were on the ground.

With a happy expression, he passed out before his savior could come close to him. He expected to be left there, or at the enforcers' office when he woke up, like usual. Instead, he opened his eyes and saw a strange roof. His wounds were gone, and only his throat was a bit itchy.

"Where..."

He coughed a couple of times before a warm hand patted him on the back. His sore throat felt better in no time, and his energy came back to him. When he looked at who did that, he found an old man in a butler's uniform near him.

"You're in the Leigh mansion, Mann boy." Said the man in a solemn tone.

"I'm sorry if I'm disrespectful, but why am i in the Leigh mansion? Did i do something wrong? In that case. My sin-"

"The young master Isaac brought you here." Wilson cut him off. "I'll bring him over right now. Don't do anything funny. We can watch your actions." Wilson stood up and went out of the room, leaving the young man with more questions than answers.

When the man disappeared, Dustin sat on the bed and looked at his trembling hands. He pinched himself to see if he was still dreaming, but the pain brought him back to reality.

"But why me..." He muttered to himself. He didn't have monstrous talent, money, a healthy body, or even good looks. His scars deterred most people. "Mommy...Daddy..."

After thinking about his parents and how desperate they might be, Dustin began to sob. At least he wasn't hurt, so they didn't have to spend money to heal him...yet, at least.

"Right! The coin!" He ransacked his yellow robes looking for the gold coin, but sadly, he couldn't find it.

"Are you talking about this one, boy?" Isaac entered the room with a gold coin in his hand.

The sudden voice startled him. He stopped tearing up and looked with confusion and wariness at Isaac's figure. But his hands began to tremble when he saw his hands. Years of being in the lower end taught him not to go against those more powerful than him, so he didn't have an outburst.

"Y...Yes, Young master Isaac." He bowed, stuttering while remembering the name that the butler told him.

"Relax, boy. I'm not going to eat you, ok? "Isaac dismissed him and sat beside the bed. "So? What's your name?"

"I'm Dustin Mann, young master."

"Stop with the young master thing, please. It's already weird being called by that by the butlers and maids, please not you too..." Isaac made an exasperated expression before sighing loudly.

"Yes, yo-"

"EHEM." Isaac cleared his throat, cutting him off."

"Yes..." But that only made Dustin answer even more meekly.

"So, Dustin." Isaac crossed his arms and leaned back a bit. "What happened there?"

Dustin told him a short version of his day: he went to buy food, he got assaulted like usual, and Isaac saved him. Isaac frowned while hearing that. The fearful expression and nervous mannerisms of the child spoke louder about his situation. With a deep sigh, he silently cursed the karmic bastard from bringing him to such an unforgiving world.

"At least I'll do my part to make the world better, as Ma used to say." He whispered to himself and looked at Dustin, who was lowering his head. "Raise your head. You did nothing wrong."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, straight your back and raise your head!"

"YES!" Dustin followed his instructions by reflex. Straightening his back and looking forward. Isaac chuckled a bit and patted his shoulder.

"So, what about i give you some work?"

---

An hour later, Dustin left the house with a bright smile on his face. Wilson, who was still by Isaac's side, looked at Isaac, puzzled. Isaac dismissed his concerns with a gesture and began to organize what he bought at the market.

He was grateful that 'normal' plants still existed in this world. The weird ones began appearing when spiritual energy got added to the mix. He had a vague notion of what they did, but he didn't care about them at the moment.

"Let's see..."

One by one, he began to open the packs and check the interior. His finals results were: 30 grams of corn seeds, five tomatoes, 10 grams of eggplant seeds, 20 grams of pepper seeds, and 50 grams of watermelon seeds.

"It's not a lot, but it's just testing anyway..."

He usually planted a lot more than this, but he didn't have large fields to himself yet. Even if he had them, this was more to test the effect of spiritual energy on the crops. People in this world didn't seem too concerned about seasons and sold vegetables and fruits regardless of that.

"But first, Tilling is important!"

He grabbed a hoe from his bag of holding and looked at the empty grassland that stretched for several tens of meters behind the house. There were some trees here and there, but it was mostly empty. If he squinted his eyes, he could see other mansions with similar layouts in the distance. He silently thanked being reborn in a wealthy family that could have such a thing inside a city. With a small nod, he began to work.