Chapter 3 - Twin Siblings

“Brother!”

While Azrael lay in the grass, enjoying the beautiful weather, two cute voices rang out. Hearing them, he smiled and raised his upper body. Looking toward the source of the voices, he saw two small children running toward him.

“Haha Aurora, Azer, stop running so fast, you’ll fall.”

Ignoring Azrael’s words, they continued to sprint toward him and jumped into his arms. Laughing, he slowly fell backward, making sure the two wouldn’t get hurt. While lying down, both the twins’ faces revealed pure smiles as they looked at him. Laughing, he started patting them on the head.

Aurora and Azer were Azrael’s twin little brother and sister. When Azrael had heard he was getting siblings, he had been very excited. In his past life, he had been an only child and had always wished for a little brother or sister. A little over two years ago, his mother had finally gone into labor. During the childbirth, he had been pacing in front of the door, wondering if he would be getting a little brother and sister when he heard the sound of new life being brought into the world.

“Waaah!! Waaah!!!”

'Ah… I’m finally an older brother! I’m going to make sure that my little siblings live a happy life!'

While Azrael was in a very happy mood, he heard the voice of another child in the room.

“Waah!! Waaah!!”

“Eh? Twins?!”

Two tiny voices erupted from inside the room. Unable to bear it any longer, Azrael pulled open the door and rushed in. Inside, he saw his mom holding two little bundles in her arms. Raising her head at the sudden noise, a smile appeared on her face when she saw Azrael, and she waved for him to come closer.

“Azrael, come here and say hi to your little brother Azer and sister Aurora.”

With tiny steps, he walked forward. As he reached his mother’s side, he saw the two tiny angels. Looking at them, a warm feeling enveloped him.

'Ahhhh… they’re so cute and pure…. I will definitely let no harm come to them!'

Looking at them, he hardened his desire to get stronger even more!

From that day forward, he focused a lot of his time on watching over them. He helped his mother change their diapers and feed them. When one of them started crying, he’d rush to them and make funny faces to make them laugh. Seeing him so focused on the twins, Byrael and Azela couldn’t help but be moved and smile at the scene. At first, they were worried that Azrael would be jealous of all the attention given to the twins, but contrary to their fears, he spent even more time taking care of them!

Even though Azrael spent so much time with his little siblings, he never neglected his training. Every morning, he would go running. By the age of six, he could run more than ten miles. Even though he might not have much bulk in his muscles yet, his lean muscles had become very hard, surprising for a child.

At night, Azrael always meditated. His mana purity had vastly improved. If someone could see the mana surrounding him while meditating, they would see a pure grey aura enveloping him. It took most Mages and Warriors a minimum of ten years of meditation to reach this state, but it had only taken him three years. Azrael, however, wasn’t excited about this as he already knew of one of the highest forms of meditation and that it was easier to improve purity at the beginning. Later on, as mana became more pure, it would become even more difficult.

For the past three years, Azrael had spent every day like this.

“Brother, brother! Happy birthday!”

Saying this, Aurora handed him a drawing. It was a picture she had spent the last couple of days making of their family. It wasn’t exactly good—just stick figures—but Azrael felt deeply moved. It was something little Aurora had put a lot of effort into making! Being the doting older brother he was, of course, he would cherish it. Azer, not to be outdone, also handed over a drawing.

“Brother! Happy birthday! I drew this for you.”

The drawing he handed over to Azrael was a stick figure holding hands with a smaller boy and girl who were smiling. Seeing this, Azrael smiled and ruffled both of their hair.

“Haha, thank you, Aurora, Azer. Brother will cherish these, okay?”

Happy that he liked their presents, the twins’ eyes sparkled with big grins.

'I really do have some great little siblings, huh? Even though they’re only two years old, they still think of me so much that they gave me a birthday present.'

While he was thinking about this and feeling grateful, a voice came through the window.

“Alright, children! It’s time for dinner. Come inside!”

“Haha, alright you two, let’s go inside and eat yummy food, okay?”

“Yay, dinner!!”

At the mention of yummy food, the two immediately stood up and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him up and hurry inside to eat. Laughing at their tactics, Azrael stood up and went inside, holding their hands. As they walked through the door, a tempting aroma greeted them. Looking at the dining table, a variety of delicious-looking foods were laid out. A roasted boar took up the middle of the table while side dishes of vegetables surrounded it. Excited at the sight, the twins hurriedly sat down in their seats and awaited the feast. Seeing the two, Byrael, Azela, and Azrael laughed and also sat down.

“Our little boy has finally turned six, huh? Anyway, starting tomorrow, I plan on teaching you swordsmanship, so we’ll go out and get you a wooden weapon for your birthday present, okay?”

“Thanks, Dad!”

Hearing that his father would finally start teaching him swordsmanship, Azrael was very excited. He had always been curious about how it would differ from his previous world. Byrael was the sword instructor for the Baron, so he must have at least some talent. Azrael had been constantly asking his father to teach him for a couple of years now, but he had always refused, saying it was too soon for him. Seeing Azrael so happy and hugging him, Byrael released his jolly laugh and patted him on the back. Azela warmly smiled at the sight, feeling very thankful for her wonderful family. Soon afterward, she pulled out a thickly wrapped package.

“My lovely Azrael, thank you for being such a wonderful son. Happy birthday!”

Saying this, she handed over the package. Curious about what it was, Azrael ripped off the wrapping and opened the box. What greeted his eyes was a large tome titled “History of the Continent Xiosu.”

“M…Mother, how did you afford this?! It must have cost a fortune!”

Azrael was very shocked. Books cost a lot in this world as there was no method to mass-produce them, and they could only be painstakingly copied by hand. A book, especially such a large one, must have cost over ten gold!

“Hehe, Mother has been saving since I found out that you loved reading and wanted this book. Father also helped pay for it. I hope you like it.”

Ten gold was not a small sum of money at all. An average family could live off of three gold a year. Even with a five-member family, only four gold was needed for a year. To have spent so much on a gift… Thinking about this, Azrael was very touched.

'Ahhh… I really am lucky to have such loving parents.'

Feeling this, he rushed to his mother and father again and earnestly thanked them.

“Mother, Father, thank you very much! I will treasure this for the rest of my life!”

Seeing him so happy also brought joy to Byrael and Azela. They both agreed that it was a blessing to have such a wonderful son. Even though he was still young, he never rebelled and was always polite. After his siblings were born, he even took it upon himself to be a great older brother and care for them.

For the rest of the evening, the family continued to eat and talk happily. When the moon rose, they finally called it a day and headed to bed. Azrael, as usual, took his two siblings upstairs to their rooms and read them a story before tucking them in.

“Alright Aurora, Azer. Sleep well tonight.”

“Thank you, brother~ good night.”

“Good night, brother.”

Bidding them good night, Azrael headed out of the room with the lamp and lightly closed the door. After notifying his parents that the twins had gone to bed, he said good night and went back upstairs. That night, after spending two hours meditating, Azrael brought out his book and began to read.

Ten thousand years ago, our ancestors, in hordes, took to ships and landed on the continent Xiosu. The reason for why our ancestors traveled here has been all but lost, except to the five Demi-human level Warriors and Mages who came. These five Warriors and Mages, being the strongest, made a pact. Each of them would take people to different parts of the continent and create a kingdom.

These five kingdoms, named after their founders, are: Raxim, Sunder, Rhostaz, Nifl, and Felsia. After creating these kingdoms and ensuring their prosperity, all of them stepped away and made it known to all the people that they would not interfere unless their kingdom was at risk of falling. After that, all five went into seclusion to train in pursuit of reaching God

level.

For the first two hundred years, Xiosu saw peace. At first, the people from the separate kingdoms stayed within themselves, steadily improving their lives and getting situated in this new foreign land. Commoners began to cultivate the land while Warriors and Mages went out and hunted beasts. During this time, each kingdom also took separate routes in forming.

In the north, the kingdom of Raxim, like their founder, was a kingdom that prided itself on its Warriors. Even though there were still some Mages, they were few and far between. The Warriors in the Raxim Kingdom quickly stood out and became known as the Kingdom of Warriors.

In the east, the Nifl Kingdom took the polar opposite route and became famous for its Mages. Through the teachings of their founder Nifl and their vast investments in magic, they quickly rose and stood out for their advancements and talents in magic.

The Felsia Kingdom, in the center, was built on the religion their founder brought with them. Instead of having an actual anarchy, the kingdom was run by the Holy Church. Gaining power through their followers and priests blessed in light magic, they gained much influence. In the ideal location of being in the center of the continent, the Holy Church branched out and established cathedrals in every kingdom.

The Sunder Kingdom in the south rose through its talented tailors, blacksmiths, jewelers, and architects. Products from the south were quickly recognized as superior and were sought after by all the kingdoms.

In the west, the Rhostaz Kingdom grew strong through trading and food production. The food ingredients from the Rhostaz Kingdom were highly sought after and became very popular with the upper class of all the other kingdoms. Using the funds generated from this, they were able to grow quickly and become a large nation.

As all the nations sufficiently grew, frictions started to occur. The royalties of each nation greedily eyed territories under different kingdoms, and soon fighting broke out. Even though none of the kingdoms had to worry about being completely wiped out due to the original five founders, the countries still bitterly fought over land…

“…Master.”

For over an hour, Azrael had been engrossed in the book, reading about the beginnings of the kingdoms with interest when he heard a soft whisper. Immediately becoming alert, he covered his body in mana and looked toward the direction of the voice. Floating in front of him were three smoky substances, colored in red, blue, and black. While berating himself for not noticing their presence sooner, the smoky substances began to solidify.

“…We have waited several centuries for the arrival of someone like you, Master.”