Chapter 6:Making Plans 1
After walking past the drawbridge (which opened on its own) and walking properly into the mansion, I could feel the mana in the air, the entire building has been saturated in mana being the sole focus of the ley lines for centuries.
There even seemed to be a fog of pure mana floating in the inner courtyard. Wearing the heir ring, I could tell that the entrance was absolutely covered in layers of wards that did things I was unaware of but decided not to question for the moment.
To the left and right of the open-air entrance were open corridors that led into the mansion and ended at the far right and left towers.
From those two towers, the open corridors extended forward until the central tower at the far back, which contains the master bedroom.
'It seems I'll have to explore those corridors later on to see where everything is.'
In front of the entrance is also an entryway into the open courtyard of the home, and it truly is magnificent. The 'mana fog' for lack of a better term started to clear up, and with the sunlight coming down, I felt like I entered a fairy tale.
Stone pathways lead through the expansive garden, which I assume was expanded with charms. Ancient looking trees of all types which may be where the family got the wood for their special wands and or magical experiments.
The trees were all blooming with multi-colored flowers, and a few had fruits hanging from their branches.
Fresh cut grass and moss-covered rocks doted the area while glowing light balls danced between the trees.
Flowers similar to the ones in the garden out front lined the stone pathways but glowed with a light almost as if they were supercharged. It was a truly fantastic sight that stole my breath away.
Suddenly I noticed the main stone path lighting up, and my heir ring started vibrating. It sent me some information to tell me to follow the path so, I shrugged and began walking.
'I'm not sure where it wants me to go, but this is incredible. I wish I could have seen this place all those centuries ago before everything got supercharged with mana. The contrast would be interesting to see.'
Continuing along, I saw some movement in the trees, and when I focused, I found a pair of owl's staring back at me. They were the standard brown but a bit bigger and noble? Looking. I'm no expert on owls, but they look like high-quality owls.
'Oh right, they use owls to send messages. I guess I shouldn't be surprised the last lord placed a few in stasis, maybe I should try making them shadows too? I wonder what would happen.'
Seeing as how I was busy at the moment, I decided to hold off on that train of thought and kept walking. It didn't take long for me to reach what I assume is the center of the courtyard.
Looking around I realized why it was set up this way, the courtyard is triangular, the garden is circular, and the main stone path leads from the entrance straight to the central tower at the far end.
It mimics the family insignia, it's kind of ironic that they based their insignia around the tools of death and I'm the actual son of death, at least it fits me.
Seeing that I reached my destination, I looked around, and besides the beautiful scenery with a fountain right in the center and a few stone benches, there wasn't anything else around.
I Shrugged and walked up to the fountain, it had a circular circumference, and it was only approximately eight to nine feet tall. In the center, a rectangular pillar stood with holes that shot out water at intersecting patterns, it seemed that depending on the time of day, it would change patterns using different holes to eject water from.
It was only by focusing on the pillar that I noticed an indentation with some words engraved above it. I had to enter the fountain to get closer to the pillar, and seeing as I'm only five at the moment, I had to waddle up to it with the water up to my waist. Reaching the engraving I saw a few words in Latin " Mors Vincit Omnia." I never spoke Latin before, but I studied it enough to translate it easily seeing as it was the origin of a lot of modern-day languages. It translated to "Death Conquers All," it must be the family motto. That's pretty cool, the past lords who stuck to this must have been pretty great guys. Underneath the engraving, I noticed the indentation was shaped like my ring, and putting two and two together, I inserted it.
'Why do I feel like I heard some background music turn on? Did I do something wrong?'
{Thunk}
Being a trained martial artist, I quickly attempted to jump away, and then I remembered that I was in a five-year-old body that has never been trained before.
-_- …..
My last intelligent thought before being flushed down the slide the bottom of the fountain turned into was 'if anyone finds out about this, I will vehemently deny any accusation that I screamed like a little bitch.'
*********
Regaining consciousness, I realized I wasn't actually in any pain.
'I'm sure that was a prank, I'm in the center of a magically supercharged mansion on an isolated island. Someone, somewhere, just handed me my ass, and I walked right into it.'
I sat up from the surprisingly soft ground and looked around. I seemed to be in a small circular cavern with smooth walls, and a giant glowing stone in the center. I blinked again at that.
"Is this the Hearthstone?" I quietly spoke out loud, not expecting an answer when the walls of the cavern flashed almost as if it was giving me an answer.
"Right, sentient mansion. I'm assuming you guided me here, should I touch the hearthstone?" The walls flashed again, so I took that as a yes and approached the stone.
I'm not sure how big a hearthstone is supposed to be, but this one is massive, it's almost 10 feet tall and it wider than some of the ancient tree's up in the courtyard.
I placed my hand with the ring on the stone, and it began to light up. I felt something poking my head, and before I could try to understand it, my body became paralyzed, and a voice spoke in my head.
"Hello young one, do not fear this is only a recorded message. I leave this message in hopes that it will reach the next Heir, who will take up the mantle of the ancient and most noble house of Peverell. I do not know how many years it will take, but I expect you to remain loyal to this house.
The hearthstone here will enter your mind and test your worth. If it deems you worthy, then you may take an oath and become the true lord. If it does not deem you worthy, then you will be obliviated, drained of magic, and apparated off to the mainland. Do you dare to try?"
The voice stopped, and I got the idea of what this was.
'The Peverell's never cared for blood purity. They cared about the character of a person. They didn't set up their inheritance like other family's which only tested the blood of the individual. They want to see if the inheritors had what it takes to be the lord of this house.'
"I dare." After speaking, I felt a rush of mana travel up into my mind, and I decided to let it have free reign.
A few minutes later, the tide retreated back into the stone, and my Heir ring lit up and began to change slightly. Where before it was utterly black, now it had golden lines tracing the edges. After studying it for a moment, the voice of the last lord spoke up once more.
"Congratulations young one. If you are still hearing this message, then you have successfully passed the test. Go forth and carve your own path, you are LORD PEVERELL now!
A final note for you, please continue the dear wish of the last few generations and do your part to try and make the mansion sentient. Each progressive lord was required to make improvements upon the runes engraved. It will take many years, but I believe you will continue to pass down this project. Good luck."
The message cut off. 'I don't think you realized just how many years it would take for a new heir to appear, the mansion is definitely sentient at this point. I don't know what it can do, but I'll do my best to help it.'
After finishing my thought, the Hearthstone pulsed again, and I became aware of where all the wards on the island were, I don't know how any of them work, but at least I know what they basically do.
Suddenly I felt a strange feeling. It wasn't a voice but a probe similar to how the hearthstone conducted its test. I let it in, and a special connection was made between us. I felt a rush of Information along with a flood of mana reach me and couldn't help but begin to blackout.
'Damn it, the second time in less than an hour. This better not become a habit!'
*Line Break*
3rd person POV:
The next morning you could see a massive stone mansion placed at the center of a hidden island being basked in the warm rays of sunlight.
The birds and insects came to life to add their voices to the harmony of the morning. The wind gently caressed the sky and brought small patches of clouds to hover above the island as well as bringing the smells from the flower fields to the inside of the mansion.
At the highest floor of the central tower, a royal king-sized bed laid against the far wall. Off to the right side of the bed was a bookshelf containing journals and diaries from previous lords.
On the left was a fireplace with a couple comfortable lounge chairs standing in front of it. The other far wall facing the open courtyard was completely open with a veranda terrace. It allowed the wind and sunlight to reach into the room and cause the occupant of said bed to begin to stir.
The occupant of the bed was a young child. Wearing grey silk pajamas was a five-year-old child with silvery-white hair framing the sides of his young head. As he began to stir and open his eyes, you could see that his eyes were wine red and shined with inner power.
Magus POV:
'What the hell hit me? It feels like that time I got blackout drunk in Argentina and decided to go snowboarding. Great pictures were taken, terrible morning headache, and I couldn't find my pants.'
As my mind began to clear, the memories came back. 'Right I was in the cavern with the hearthstone, I passed the test, and then I got flooded with mana. What happened after that?'
"Tom." I called out. Immediately Tom appeared next to my bed in complete silence. 'I think it's great they lost their popping noise when they teleport, but it's bad for my heart.'
"My lord." He bowed
"What happened?"
"Sir, it seems that you fell unconscious in the hearthstone cavern. I planned to take you there upon my return, but I got delayed. When I returned, I immediately came to your side and seeing as how you were perfectly healthy, I transported you here to the master bedroom.
My deepest apologies if I offended you my lord."
"Don't worry about Tom, I should be thanking you." My body felt incredibly sore, and it's been a long time since I've felt this hungry.
"Tom, did you say that there was an open-air hot spring yesterday?" My eyes shined with excitement. You don't understand the real appeal of an open-air hot spring without experiencing it before.
"Yes sir, I can take you there right now. Would you like to have a meal after you finish?"
"Yeah, prepare a nice sized meal please."
Quickly remembering one crucial fact about house-elves, I spoke up quickly.
"Wait Tom, please don't prepare too much food. Despite my hunger, I'm only one person."
Seeming to understand my worries, he nodded his head.
"Of course sir, that was actually something that only yesterday did I truly understand the meaning of. It seems my race was programmed to prepare incredibly large portions of food and dispose of what was not used afterward.
We would simply dump the excess food in these tiny magical spider dens back then. Looking back, that seems like a terrible idea."
'So that's why the magical world had giant spiders! Magic or not, you don't simply increase the size of a spider from the size of half your finger to house-sized for no reason.'
I grew a bit pale thinking of those things; it was at this moment I decided they will be fed to my shadows summons to level them up.
*cough* "Right, off to the baths then."
*Line Break*
"Ah, that's the stuff."
Letting myself sink into the hot springs, I couldn't help but marvel at whoever set this up.
It was against the wall between the left and central towers and surrounded with a semi-circle of trees with a stone path leading up to it. It looks like the stone was transmuted into the shape of the bath, and a rune is used to make it permanent, while another is used to produce hot water.
How it works, I have no idea, but at the moment I really don't care.
The bath is rectangular in shape and easily big enough to fit ten people. The walls to lean against are covered in moss, giving it a real soft and comfortable feel to it while you soak.
I'm not sure if it was initially intended for it, but with all the mana running through the place, even the water is supercharged. It felt like it was massaging my whole body and taking away all the fatigue I never realized I had.
'I guess I was actually a bit wound up. Laidback personally or not, dying, meeting your family who turns out to primordial gods, being told I had some awesome powers, finding out your mother's soul is stuck in your shadow. Then getting sent off to a world I never imagined was real was some intense stuff.'
Even if I was taking it all as it went, it feels good to unwind in something a bit familiar.
'Let's do a quick recap of everything I learned since I arrived here.
I figured out how my HUD works, what my final goals are, and what abilities I currently have.
I learned about the island I'm on and explored the crazy beautiful open courtyard.
I gained my first summons even if they are not combat orientated. I'm set to see the faces of Sebas Tian for the rest of eternity....well, at least they have undying loyalty, and I won't be completely alone.
I am now the proud lord of the ancient and most noble house of Peverell at an astounding four feet of height.' I chuckled at that. 'And I gained some special connection with my new mansion and actually…what happened at the end there?'
I checked my HUD, and it seems I had a new [Alert], so I mentally clicked on it.
[Alerts:
Magical connection established.
Race: Sentient Mansion
Description: A mansion fueled by the desire of a few powerful wizards who wanted to create a true sentient life form from pure mana. Runes were carved into the structure of the mansion and funneled with pure mana from the ley lines and the ambient mana in the air for many centuries to eventually give birth to an embryonic life form. It has been asleep accumulating mana and waiting for its new master to appear. Personality unknown
Current state: Slowly awakening.
Abilities:
Indestructible: While the wards can be damaged, the physical property itself is indestructible.
Territory Management: The mansion can control all properties of the mansion and can terraform the mansion on command as long as mana and materials are in supply.
Spatial anchoring: The mansion can anchor itself in space to stay still, whether in the air or underwater, and can survive in any environment.
Shadow travel: Wherever the master goes, the mansion can follow through his shadow. WARNING: Moving the mansion does not move the wards! ]
….Holy…Shit... My eyes continued to glow the more I read. It wasn't until I accidentally sank into the water that I came to my senses.
"*cough* *cough* *MWUHAHAHA!* When I laughed evilly about taking this mansion to the grave and back, I wasn't being literal! Well, maybe I was; I'm not really sure, but this awesome!"
'I probably won't have to worry about moving it while I'm in this world, but I need to learn about wards before taking it with me to the next world. Now, why does that line about its personality being unknown fill me with dread? Eh, ill deal with it later.'
After calming down, I decided to get changed and go eat, then I'll make my short-term plans now that I understand my situation, and I can begin focusing on studying magic and my abilities.