"Souta! Souta!"
Souta slowly opened his eyes as he heard someone calling his. He rubbed his eyes before he looked over and saw an old man with white hair, mustache, and beard. Beside the old man was a woman wearing a maid uniform.
"Grandpa...? Whatâs wrong?" Souta asked as he pushed himself into a seated position.
The old man in front of him was his grandpa, Kryvon Ieshi. His grandpa was the only member of his family. His dad and mom were gone.
Souta heard from his grandpa that they died in an accident before. About this incident, Souta heard that grandpa took him as he doesnât have any family left. It means that Kryvon Ieshi and Souta Ieshi werenât blood-related at all.
Kryvon looked at Souta with a deep gaze before he said, "Letâs have breakfast..."
"You shouldâve just ask sister Mai, instead of coming here," Souta said as he glanced at the woman in maid uniform.
This woman was called Mai. She was the head maid inside this huge mansion.
Souta was the sole inheritor of Kryvonâs riches. He was living a normal life here despite having so much wealth. He could do anything with his money and Kryvon wouldnât stop him. Kryvon only has one request for him. And that was to train his fighting ability and learn all kinds of martial arts in the world, including those weapon-based martial arts.
He didnât have much ambition unlike other people in the world.
Souta only wanted to live a carefree life and enjoy it to the best of his ability. Thatâs why he enrolled in a public school as he felt bored socializing with those arrogant young masters. Those people were always flattering him trying to get in his good shoes. He never likes that kind of atmosphere. Just staying near them, he felt that he was going to puke.
He hid the fact that he came from a rich family when he enrolled in a public school. At that time, he already had an idea of how much wealth his grandpa possessed. His grandpa, Kryvon Ieshi, was one of the richest men in the world.
Heâs the father of virtual technology on earth. Heâs also the sole developer of the famous VRMMORPG Battle Worlds Online.
"I just wanted to see you before you go to the Ieshi clan," Kryvon said to him.
"Oh? So this is the day..." Souta muttered as he turned his head and looked outside the window. He knew the existence of the supernatural in this world. All the myths were true and his grandpa explained it to him when he was still a child.
Ever since he was a child, Kryvon gave everything to Souta except the love of a family. Kryvon was giving him wealth and extreme training, both physical and mental.
"Yeah, I lose another ten years of my life as I send them your appearance so that they would know you once you arrive in that place." Kryvon paused for a moment before he added, "Oh, right! I need to place my mana signature in you for insurance."
Bzzzz!!
Soutaâs vision suddenly turned black. Everything fell apart as he felt extreme pain in his body.
"AHHH!!" Souta screamed as he found himself in a familiar room. The ceiling looks exactly the same as his house in Ladro City. No, this was his house. Thereâs no doubt about it.
Suddenly, he saw a petite figure of a girl flashed and stretched out her arms. The girl hugged him while Souta was dumbfounded.
He was about to push the girl away when he felt his shirt getting wet. Souta moved his eyes and saw the familiar blue-haired girl. This girl was none other than Lumilia.
He could only smile wryly and raised his arms before wrapping it around her. He rubbed her back while thinking about the things that happened to him.
The appearance of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. It brought chaos to the whole Ibish village. Him drinking two monster potion on that day. Closing his eyes for a moment, he found that his mana pool was empty. Itâs dangerous but Souta was glad that his teammates were fine.
After a while, he felt Lumilia stopped moving in his chest. He looked down and asked, "Whatâs wrong Mila?"
"...nothing." Lumilia slowly separated from him while rubbing her eyes. She looked at Soutaâs body before asking, "Do you feel anything?"
"Yeah, I donât have any mana," Souta answered her as he placed his palm in front of his chest. Thereâs not a single speck of mana in his body.
"I see... The experts said that youâre fine and your life isnât in danger. Itâs just that they donât know how to fix your mana pool." Lumilia said with a downcasted expression.
"So thatâs how is it..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. He glanced at his system and saw the situation he was facing.
Mana: -1,050/1,110 (Severely damage mana pool)
These numbers were written in red color. The negative indicated his bad condition. But something bothered him while looking at this. If he removed the negative, the number didnât have the same value. Why is that?
He looked at Lumilia and asked, "Do you have a mana potion?"
"Yes, but it didnât work on your condition. The expert tried to let you drink and bathe in mana potions but the mana that entered your body disappear like a bubble without leaving a trace." Lumilia said as she handed him a blue potion.
"Letâs me see it..." Souta removed the cap and drank it without hesitation. Closing his eyes, he found that Lumiliaâs words were right. The mana vanished in his body.
He then looked at his system and saw something changed.
Mana: -1,049/1,110 (Severely damage mana pool)
His conjecture was right. Mana potion would help him recover but it needed tons of potion before he could use mana again. But something wasnât right, he felt that he wouldnât be able to completely recovered just by using mana potions.
"How is it?" Lumilia asked him as she tilted her head.
"Youâre right but mana potions could help me to a certain degree." Souta nodded at her.
"Really?" Lumilia looked at him with wide eyes as if she couldnât believe his words. The experts already said that mana potions wouldnât help him recover his mana.
"Yeah, do you think Iâm joking?" Souta smiled and asked her.
"But the experts said..." Lumilia didnât manage to finish her sentence as Souta interrupted her.
"Who would you believe me or those people?" Souta asked her. He didnât wait for her answer as he patted her head and added, "Donât worry about me. So tell me-"
Suddenly, the door burst open as a huge body of a bear entered the room. The bear had red fur all over its body. It had a scar on its left eye. This bear was none other than Soutaâs beast companion, Yuko.
Boom!
Yuko strode forwards and she pushed Lumilia away from Souta. Ignoring Lumilia, she quickly wrapped her arms around Souta. She then opened her mouth and licked his face.
"Mu." Yuko was clearly happy now that Souta was fine.
Lumilia just looked at Yuko with a dumbfounded expression. She didnât know whether to laugh or not.
Souta patted her back and asked Lumilia, "How long did I sleep? Also, can you tell me the details of what happened after I passed out?"
"Two and a half weeks..." Lumilia answered him seriously and she slowly recounted the things that happened when he passed out.
Souta listened to her while Yuko was sticking her body to him like a glue. He couldnât do anything about it so he let her hug him while listening to Lumiliaâs words.
He learned from her that Bargan stopped the outdoor training after what happened in the Ibish village. Well, Souta expected it considering the death of all the corps guardians in that area.
After that, they brought him to the institute and let the experts checked his condition. They healed all of his wounds but they couldnât repair his damaged mana pool. Also, the institute hid the fact about what happened in the Ibish village to avoid panic in the kingdom. They didnât tell anyone about the Deadly Sins as it could terrify the citizen in the kingdom.
The name Deadly Sins wasnât a joke at all.
After listening to Lumilia, Souta has more questions in his mind. What happened to the bloodstone? Did the institute take it or not? The problem was that the group that appeared there was none other than the Deadly Sins.
Souta was sure that this was not the end. The Deadly Sins will come back to take the bloodstone and the group that will come here was much stronger than last time. Probably a group of seven-circle officers. Maybe, they would send an eight-circle officer if they knew about the true strength of Bargan.
He already changed the future. If Souta wasnât in the outdoor event, he was sure that everyone would die. Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, Nayo, and the rest would die.
Maybe, thatâs the reason why Souta havenât heard Yujin, Alice, and Bryan in the game. They would probably die in that event.
The future is slowly turning to the path that he doesnât know. He should prepare himself and complete his equipment set.