2 Chapter 2: Constitution (2/2)
Crowley sized up Caesar's simple, everyday outfit and doubt flashed within his eyes before breaking the awkward silence, ”Well no matter, come to eat,” he said with a slight smile and gestured for Caesar to approach.
Caesar nodded his head and sat down on the other end of the table. The table was filled with fresh loaves of bread, soup, bacon, eggs, and sausage. He then lifted his fork and knife as delicately as possible and began eating.
”I hired some dance instructors for the next two weeks,” Crowley broke the calm atmosphere and stated with a severe tone while observing Caesar.
”Thank you father, by the way, would you mind if I borrowed some books from the library?” However, Contrary to Crowley's expectations, Caesar didn't adamantly deny the dance lessons, but instead, asked to borrow some books. In the past, his son had never even stepped foot into the library. Perhaps, a miracle had indeed befallen the Pheles household, and he no longer had to worry about his heir.
”The library? Hahaha, our son is finally maturing, do you see this in heaven, Claire?” Crowley, unable to contain his happiness, immediately spoke towards the heavens.
Crowley roared in laughter before abruptly stopping and looking at Sebastian, ”Sebastian, show him where the library is… also, my son, you need not ask to borrow books. From now on, you can take whatever you want,” he said magnanimously and ate the rest of his breakfast with a broad smile on his face.
”Thank you, father,” Caesar replied while bowing at the end of the table. He figured that in this world full of magic and other supernatural occurrences, his abrupt change in personality would be looked over as a miracle. Only a fool would think it to be possible that a new soul had taken over the body.
After breakfast, Sebastian began taking Caesar through the halls, ”You have changed a lot, young master Mephisto.” he said strangely as they walked around a corner and entered into a spacious lounge. The walls were decorated with candles and painted in a beautiful burgundy.
”Is it a good change or a bad one?” Caesar asked with a tilt of his head. His expression was calm as he walked with the utmost of grace.
”It is quite good, it's just that I do not know the reason for why you have changed, and I'm quite intrigued,” he replied while subtly glance at Caesar's face, in an attempt to determine any changes in his expression.
”I can't be trash forever,” Caesar replied in jest. He couldn't tell Sebastian the truth, as he would be labeled as a mad man. As such, he would merely act as a reformed man, a man who had finally received a reality check.
Sebastian's eyes opened widely before smiling and saying, ”We have arrived, young master.”
”Thank you for taking me here; could you make sure no one else comes in.” Caesar nodded thankfully and pushed open the solid, wooden door.
”As you wish, young master,” Sebastian said and waited outside the library, making sure no disturbances entered while Caesar was present.
Once he entered, Caesar didn't hesitate to immediately start walking through the vast library, the smell of dust and paper wafting through the air. Many books entered into his view, such as 'Advanced Mathematics' and 'History of Althoria.' Caesar grabbed all of the books that piqued his curiosity, and finally, after scanning for a while, Caesar found precisely what he wanted 'Theory of Magic.'
Caesar grabbed the three books, sat down at a nearby table, and started reading the 'Theory of Magic' with high expectations. Since the previous owner of his current body knew nothing of magic, he had quite a lot of learning to do.
Caesar used his slender index finger to trace the words as he whispered them out loud, ”Mana is an energy source that surrounds all living things. It is created by life and is the raw source of our consciousness. Like any form of energy, it can be drawn to perform a variety of functions. Mana also has a will of its own and can be unpredictable at times.”
Magic does not have the ability to create something out of nothing. However, it does have the ability to control and tamper with the elements. A fire cannot exist without air, to be able to control the elements, you must first have an elemental affinity. The known elemental affinities include Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. With infrequent occurrences being lava, ice, holy, and darkness.
To test your elemental affinity, when you are born, the church will place a spirit stone on your body, and the color that shines in the spirit stone will tell you which affinity you possess or if you own none.
To use your affinity, you must first understand how it works. Once you understand the components inside of the element, you need to control them within your head to gain mastery over them. Magic is dangerous, and overworking your mana will result in death.
After reading to here, the sound of knocking echoed throughout the room.
”Young Master, the dance instructors are waiting for you in the training hall,” Sebastian called out from behind the door.
”I'll be right there,” Caesar replied.
Caesar closed the large books, placed them back in their original positions, and walked out. 'It would appear that with my surplus of modern knowledge, I will have an advantage with magic,' Caesar mused to himself. Since using magic required you to have a basic understanding of the element, using his ice affinity wouldn't pose to be much of a challenge. Caesar was a man who had excellent degrees and always thirsted for more knowledge back on earth.
Sebastian led him towards the left-wing of the mansion and entered into a spacey hall. Weapons decorated the walls, and the floor was layered with many different looking training tools.
In the middle of the room, stood a young woman with beautiful vermilion hair and voluptuous breasts.
After noticing Caesar's presence, she walked over, ”Hello, my name is Anastasia, I will be your dancing instructor for the next two weeks,” she spoke eloquently while bowing down, purposefully showing her cleavage.
”It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Anastasia,” Caesar greeted her with a slight smile. Such a crude way of seduction would not work on him; he was a man who appreciated hard catches more so than an easy one.
”Today, we will be going over the althorian dance.” Noticing that her seduction failed, her entire personality changed, and she went straight to the point.
”The althorian dance?” Caesar inquired. The previous owner of his body had never even heard of such a dance, let alone him, who had just entered the world.
Disdain flashed through Anastasia's eyes but was soon hidden, ”Here, let me lead you.” She took Caesar's slender hands and brought him into proper position.
”Your hands are so cold,” She cried out in shock as she touched his hands. However, she soon got used to his temperature and didn't mind it much afterward.
As she started leading Caesar through the dance, he soon realized it was similar to the Basse dance back on earth. A very, very, standard dance that practically every man and woman that lived in first-world countries knew of.
He inwardly chuckled and started matching his movements to her. Both Caesar and Anastasia began moving through the dance as if it was as easy as walking, the sound of their shoes hitting the floor rang out. Surprise flashed within Anastasia's eyes as she said, ”you do know how to dance, after all.”
”A little bit,” Caesar replied curtly.
Anastasia pouted her mouth; she figured the man lied to her and acted confused when she mentioned the name of the althorian dance so that he could impress her.
However, Caesar honestly had to concentrate while dancing; he was afraid he would exert too much force and hurt the lady in front of him.
After about an hour of continuous dancing, ”Okay, this is enough for today. Mephisto, we'll practice again tomorrow.” Anastasia chuckled in delight after seeing Caesar's exhausted state.
”Serves him right,” She thought inwardly and walked towards the exit, provocatively shaking her hips as she walked. A complete and utter seductress that would be capable of shaking any normal man. Alas, Caesar was no normal man.
”Very well. See you tomorrow,” Caesar replied, softly.
After Anastasia walked out of the training room, Caesar's exhausted face disappeared and was replaced by a calm one. Caesar walked over towards the training weights and began testing his strength.
Caesar walked over to a dark blue block labeled '150 lun' Caesar scanned through his memories and came to the conclusion that one lun was equal to around roughly 2 pounds back on earth. Caesar reached out with his right hand and picked it up with little to no effort.
Caesar stacked five or so more of these blocks together and picked them up at the same time, using both of his hands.
Caesar clenched his teeth as he started lifting them. ”This seems to be my limit, about 1500 pounds.” This physical strength was insane. Back on earth, he would be considered Superman. Caesar placed the blocks back on the ground and walked out of the training room. He was quite pleased with his physical strength. Albeit, he estimated that the average human in this world was much stronger than back on earth, presumably due to the saturation of mana since birth.
With this in mind, Caesar walked back into the library and started reading more of the 'Theory of Magic' before he fell asleep while reading.
Crowley was leisurely walking towards his room when he saw the slightly opened library door. Curious, he peeked inside and saw his son fast asleep on the table. An assortment of books opened up and even a few notes written down on some parchment.
Once Crowley walked over and saw the book that he was reading, tears threatened to fall out of his eyes. ”I can finally sleep without worries,” he whispered and walked out of the library, he then proceeded to order Sebastian to go fetch a blanket for his son. Crowley was tragically aware that one of the main requirements for inheriting the duke title was to have some form of mana manipulation.