'Armin II, that was the name I had picked in honour of my father. Upon ascending the throne, I kept to my promise. I gave my brother… half-brother… the title of a duke. I also gave him the territory to the south-east of the kingdom. He had a family; no parents, but a wife and children, and that was enough land to lavishly enjoy themselves, but not enough to cause instability in the kingdom,' Armin II sighed while rubbing the edge of the throne that had become an unconscious habit of his.
'Still, it hasn't all been such news. The system gave me a task a few years ago. It handed over instructions on how to make Jerries gain special abilities. It did not explain what the abilities were, or what they were called, merely handing out instructions to be performed by a large number of people. And the reward would be a special trait for the 100 year ranking reward,' Armin II waved his hand, and his butler bowed slightly before turning around.
Having been his personal butler since birth, the old but experienced man had come to understand the middle-aged king rather well, so he knew who was being summoned without having been instructed directly.
Soon, an elderly Jerry walked into the throne hall, bowing to Armin II before standing tall… as tall as he could with his slightly hunched back from old age.
"I still cannot believe someone this old would have been able to become a Rank 2 Mage…" Armin II muttered while a slight smirk formed on his face.
"You brat… Sigh… I can't even tell you anything as a commoner of the kingdom," the old mage paused before smirking as he shot back to the king, "But don't think I won't go and complain to my daughter about the antics of her son…"
The smirk froze on Armin II's face as the threat came down with disastrous effect, then he regained his composure and simply shrugged it off, "I have called you here to help with the decision-making on the ranking reward our kingdom would receive from the great Sun."
The old mage, nodded in return, his expression turning serious.
This old mage was Armin II's maternal grandfather. He had been his staunchest ally and pillar of support when taking over the burgeoning kingdom from his father. It was with his help, his connections, and most importantly, his money as the one of the largest merchant groups in the kingdom, that Armin II's rule had solidified into what it was today.
And when the task was given by the system, this man had decided to try it out himself on a whim, as his age was getting to him and he knew he did not have much time left to live. Somehow, it turned out he had the talent for this special power. In fact, it appeared he was the most talented in this power among all those the kingdom had tested.
The special power, was decidedly named Mana, based on a the first two letter of the old man's name, 'Ma'. And those who wielded it were named Magi, or Mage for a single individual. Still, the very nature of the Jerries made it such that they did not have the patient to meditate for long periods of time in order to learn Mana.
More frustratingly, becoming a Mage could affect your lifespan, as seen from his own grandfather's case, who had now lived for 7 years longer than when he had assumed would be his end.
A few experiments were conducted, with not much reliable information. But taking a few assumptions and approximating the values, a Mage would have their lifespan increased by 10 years. Plus, his grandfather had figure out that Mana was not limited to a single level of power.
By continuously increasing the density of Mana within your soul, you would eventually reach a breakthrough, reaching Rank 2. So far, only his grandfather had reached this Rank, but its powers were incredible.
Its effect on lifespan was unknown, but the spells that could be utilised by the Mage had almost doubled in power, speed, and activation time. Plus, the Mana had turned from a figuratively gaseous state to a liquid state within the soul, meaning a lot less of the new mana was needed for the same spells as Rank 1.
In was a qualitative change in the level of being, and something that Armin II was rather envious of, as neither he nor his brother had talent for this. As it turned out, the older you were, and the calmer you were, the more likely it was for you to gain Mana.
"Alright, how long is remaining for the rewards?"
"None. The options have come up quite some time ago, but it is quite an odd choice," Armin II frowned at the choices given to him.
The Rank 2 Mage motioned for his grandson to continue, and he did.
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Please select one of the following to become permanent traits for the citizens of your kingdom:
Mana: All citizens now gain the ability to sense, absorb, and cultivate mana within their souls.
Random: Let fate decide what trait you get.
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"Isn't it obvious? The Mana option!" his grandfather blurted out in shock at the obvious option.
But then he paused for a moment, realising something, "having our entire population gain Mana could destabilise the situation. How would be rule over the equivalent of having everyone in plate armour and wielding broadswords…"
"Exactly," Armin II nodded at the situation, "This could even go as far as a revolution of some kind. Just like what they had tried with my father. Thankfully, nobody had these abilities back then, so my father was able to survive… but if they did…"
"Then chaos would ensue…" Armin II's grandfather nodded. Then he thought for a good while, before a sharp glint appeared in his eyes, "Then we clean out the rats infesting the house before handing out the ability. It has to be taken, and you know it. Why else would the Great Sun hand us knowledge on how to cultivate Mana before allowing our entire population to gain it. It is a message for us to take it…"
Armin II thought for a moment in deep silence, before nodding to his grandfather, "It's time."
Word Count: 1061 words
{AN: Again, sorry for missing the upload yesterday. But I have planned out the next chapter. there will be a time skip again, before things settle down for a bit in terms of fast-forwarding time. But the story will become more and more interesting, at least to me as some politics and stuff gets thrown in. I think it's my first time writing about such politics, so please bear with me, but I hope it turns out to be fun for you readers as well. Please note, the novel is a hobby of mine, and I am not gaining anything from it, nor asking anything for it. Please enjoy, do comment, and please leave reviews so I can remove my temp ones. Thank you!}