Ignis Lumen eventually began to regain bits and pieces of his consciousness. Gradually his vessel developed enough to allow him to fully perceive himself as himself. When he was finally able to truly become his own self he was already two years old. His sealed soul and suppressed consciousness were already affecting the infant since birth, but only with time did he fully take control away from the childish instincts, once again becoming himself.

Ignis Lumen… no, it was now Irwyn von Blackburg… was currently enjoying a dinner with his new parents and three of his youngest siblings, sitting on a high stool, although the formal suits and dresses everyone including him wore made it seem less like a family dinner.

As the sixth and youngest child of the famous duke Blackburg he should be on the royal road to power. As an influential sorcerer family in the far north, an area greatly developed in magic, it should be no trouble to obtain all the resources he needed this early on into his new life.

Now that he had full control over himself it was also time to take a look at few things.

He focused his mind to that tiny light in the corner of his sight.

[Welcome to Logos, may it guide you on your way.]

[5 Unread messages]

[612 days ago, condition *obtain the highest natural flame affinity* fulfilled, awarding title *herald of Ignis*]

[Herald of Ignis, ascended.

Condition: obtain the highest natural flame affinity.

Effect:

Unlock class: herald of flame. 100% additional learning speed with flame based systematic skills and magic. Systematic flame spells may receive 10% power boost, the power will be supplied by Logos. 100% additional learning speed for systematic creation skills 10% additional essence received, the essence will be supplied by Logos

A title given to those whose talent with flame gives them the right to attempt comprehending the first flame itself]

[612 days ago, condition *obtain the highest natural light affinity* fulfilled, awarding title *herald of Lumen*]

[Herald of Lumen, ascended.

Condition: obtain the highest natural light affinity.

Effect:

Unlock class: herald of light. 100% additional learning speed with light based systematic skills and magic. Systematic light spells may receive 5% power boost, the power will be supplied by Logos. 50% additional learning speed for systematic creation skills 5% additional essence received, the essence will be supplied by Logos

A title given to those whose talent with light gives them the right to attempt comprehending the aspect of light itself]

[612 days ago, condition *pass through the cycle of reincarnation without losing all memories* fulfilled, awarding title *reincarnator*, title already owned, increasing effect multiplier by 0.00, current multiplier 10.0]

[Showing status screen]

[Name: Irwyn von Blackburg]

[Race: human (pure)]

[Soul grade: peak transcendent (sealed)]

[Mana: 30/30]

[Active Classes:]

[Worship: none]

[Essence: 0]

[Unspent points, level: 0, attribute: 0, upgrade: 0]

[Titles: Herald of Lumen, Herald of Ignis, Reincarnator, Martyr to the Crown, Ignis Lumen]

[Magic:]

[Skills: Overseer, Requiem]

[Dormant classes: Herald of flame, Herald of light]

[Attributes:]

[Magic capacity: 3.0]

[Constitution: 1.3]

[Strength: 0.2]

[Intellect: 0.5]

[Dexterity: 0.2]

[Soul: ###]

Most of the information was as expected, but there was something that was clearly an anomaly. His attributes.

A two-year-old like him should have all attributes below 0.3, even 0.4 would be unnatural, but two of his were clearly at or above 1.0.

That meant that he either possessed a powerful bloodline or that enhancements rituals were performed upon his birth.

Since his status screen clearly stated that he was a pure human he dismissed the bloodline, that left only the rituals. Such rituals were rare and difficult to perform, from his experience a simple duke, even in the most developed area, wouldn't be aware they even existed, much less perform them on his sixth child. Since that was the case, he wondered...

“Eat your vegetables, Irwyn.” Irwyn's train of thought was interrupted by his mother, duchess Avys von Blackburg, who was apparently not really paying him any attention as Irwyn no longer had anything left on his plate. She still appeared to be in her early twenties despite her actual age being over 50, her thick lips and flawless visage were a great fit for her perfect curves, even further amplified by her long ebony hair. Despite harems being almost traditional in the far north, she remained the only wife duke Blackburg ever married, that in itself made her a scary person and likely also a vicious one.

“Yes, mother.” Irwyn still accepted the impossible request instead of throwing a tantrum. He already knew the language from before his reincarnation as this house still used one of the ancient tongues which didn't change at all in the last 3 millennia. Irwyn looked directly at her and used one of his two skills.

[Activating Overseer]

[Action successful]

[Name: Avys von Blackburg]

[Race: Human (void touched)]

[Soul grade: peak rare]

[Mana: 8,234/8,234 (12,350)]

[Active Classes: Living shade (T 3/4) 24/25, Poison master (T 2/3) 12/15, Void sorcerer(T 1/3): 10/10]

[Worship: Ezta (minor goddess of darkness and patronage)]

[Essence: 3,259]

[Unspent points: level: 0, attribute: 0, upgrade: 0]

[Titles: Born of epic darkness, Born of common void, Master artisan, Kin slayer]

[Magic: Darkness magic, Poison magic, Void magic, General magic]

[Skills: Poison making ++ 78/100, Deception 45/100, Blessing of Ezta - passive 1/1, Tranquility of the mind - passive (33% of mana reserved) 124/1000]

[Dormant classes: Sorcerer]

[Attributes:]

[Magic capacity: 1,235]

[Constitution: 60]

[Strength: 35]

[Intellect: 130]

[Dexterity: 60]

[Soul: 30]

Those were rather curious. Her magic capacity was definitely abnormal, but the rest was relatively standard for someone of her status. That didn't mean it was low, it was likely more than enough to squash a small army of common soldiers, but it was nowhere near a true powerhouse. He already guessed that the family was focused on darkness magic, slightly touching upon the superior, but much more difficult void magic. It did not exactly align with his own affinities, but that shouldn’t matter too much as he was the sixth child. Those tend to attract lower expectations.

Avys looked at him and nodded in satisfaction after he obediently agreed to eat his vegetables, but visibly raised her eyebrow when she noticed his plate was already empty. She seemed slightly impressed that the two years old did not protest against her initial command, but then turned back towards her husband.

Duke Ezax von Blackburg, unlike his wife he decided to look like he was in his thirties. His build was average, but that definitely did not represent his real strength. His hair was raven black, accompanied by a well-kept beard and thick eyebrows. The large scar reaching from his cheek to his forehead made him look rather threatening. After chewing mouthful of his meal, he spoke towards Irwyn.

“Irwyn, you are very young, but you already show great progress. I could arrange for a tutor to let you begin your education early if you think you can manage it.”

“Hey,” before Irwyn could answer there was a girlish yell “I only got a tutor when I was 4, that's not fair!” It was his youngest sibling, his six years old sister, just like everyone else in the family, her hair was raven black.

“Yeah, that is not fair!” Her twin brother supported.

“Be silent when you are not spoken to!” Avys reprimanded the two of them rather harshly, while Ezax appeared as though he hadn't heard them. This seemed to be common treatment towards those who didn't show sufficient talent. Instead Ezax kept staring at Irwyn, looking for some sort of emotional shift.

“If it is what father thinks is best I will do it.” Irwyn replied without a twitch in his face, so far being obedient and far too refined for his age worked the best to earn him favour.

“Good, I thought you would say that, I already invited the most qualified man I could find for the job. I believe you will learn rapidly as his pupil.”

This statement almost made the twins yell again, but the intense stare from their mother stopped them. Irwyn used that slight distraction and while still directly staring at his father activated his skill again.

[Activating Overseer]

Yet exactly at that moment he felt a foreign presence attempt to enter his mind. It was weak, so weak he could obliterate the attempt with the slightest thought. But that is not something a two year old would be able to do, no matter how incredibly talented.

[Stopping activation]

There would be opportunities in the future, now he needed to focus on the current problem. He filled his surface thoughts with various decoys and fake feelings of excitement, anticipation and pride, being very careful to hide that he noticed anything in both thoughts and expression.

“I will try to not disappoint. Now, please excuse me, father.” Irwyn calmly said as he kept feeding the nosy mind mage false information.

“Of course, you may leave. Maids!” As Ezax gave him the approval to leave one of the many maids who were standing like statues by the sides of the room immediately stepped forward, helped Irwyn off his stool and carried him off to his room.

Not long after that the other siblings left too, only the duke Ezax and duchess Avys remained behind, enjoying the last bits of their meals.

“You are dismissed.” Ezax eventually dismissed the remaining maids after they took care of the cuttery.

“What do you think of him, Shade” Avys asked an empty space in the room after the maids all left.

“He is indeed curious,” A shadow in the corner of the room shivered and revealed a man who was previously hidden in plain sight “his movements are certain and his mind is different than that of a child. When I attempted scanning his surface thoughts it felt… abnormal.”

“Elaborate.” Ezax raised an eyebrow.

“It seemed far too perfect, far too orderly to be the surface thoughts of a normal child.”

“What do you think that means?” Avys asked

“My guess is that it could be a very powerful inborn soul.” The man stood sternly, not showing even a bit of emotion on his face “That would also explain his abnormal learning speed and intelligence for his age.”

“Did you see his status screen?”

“He hadn't yet initiated any class, so he still has complete immunity to [inspection], you can call for me again once that is no longer the case. Now then, please excuse me, using [inspection] is tiring even when it fails.”

“Go ahead and rest,” Ezax dismissed the man while looking at the ceiling deep in thought, the man nodded and vanished in the shadows again “I will consider speeding things along and get him to use the gem in private.” Ezax eventually said.

“Is that a good idea, dear?” Avys grasped his hand “The old geezer will make unreasonable demands again.” She was looking directly at him and looked honestly worried. Ezax looked back down and met her eyes, his own slightly flickered as he laughed.

“So what, if Irwyn is naturally born with an extremely potent soul we have to adjust everything about his education. Also, the ancestor is only unreasonable when we don't have good enough reasons ourselves. I will go and issue the request today. If I can convince him to be at least slightly reasonable we can go through with this.”

“Alright, but don't agree to anything beyond reason, I especially don't want you to enter celibate again.”

“Did it really bother you that much? It was barely a week.” He laughed and suddenly kissed her before standing up with a grin. He was about to leave when he realised Avys was still tightly holding his hand. He felt a sudden pull, but didn't resist as she pushed him on the table.

The ancestor could wait for a while. All he ever did was wait after all.