"This is the equipment I used to wear. I don't need it anymore, so it's all yours now!" In the villa's basement, Muria stood in front of a set of armor glowing with a radiant blue and gold light, speaking to his eldest son, Aeolos, who had followed him down.
"All of this... for me?" Aeolos asked, his face beaming with undisguised joy as he looked around at the underground room, which resembled a small armory. Alongside the full-body armor, there were weapons he had seen before: a spear, a greatsword, and a bow. But there were also other weapons: daggers for fighting in confined spaces, and hand crossbows capable of dealing devastating damage at close range.
The key was that these weapons clearly matched the armor, meaning that when Aeolos donned the armor and wielded these weapons, their combined power would far surpass that of regular equipment.
"Yes, all of it is yours," Muria nodded. This set of gear had been specially forged by the dwarves of Synapse as starter equipment for his son. He had worn it once, just for fun, because the armor was flashy, and strolling around in it guaranteed all eyes would be on him.
Of course, wearing this armor into battle would guarantee drawing enemy fire as well. As long as the enemy wasn't foolish or blind, they'd focus all their attacks on the person wearing such eye-catching armor. Without sufficient strength, wearing this into battle would be nothing short of suicide.
"But if you give me all this, what will you use?" Aeolos cautiously voiced his concern. In his eyes, his father was incredibly powerful. But this set of gear was of such a high grade that Aeolos worried his father wouldn't have another set if he gave this one away.
"I have better gear than this. This junk is useless to me now!" Muria resisted the urge to blurt that out and instead placed a hand on his son's shoulder, speaking with deep emotion. "Son, I'm getting old now. I just want to live a quiet life, raise your sisters, and leave the fighting behind. So, rather than let this gear gather dust in the basement, I'd rather pass it on to you."
"Dad!" Aeolos called out emotionally, looking at his father, whose youthful appearance was only a few years older than his own. He believed his father was giving up the chance to go out and fight for his sake. When his father said he was getting old, only an idiot would believe it. If they walked through the streets together, people would think they were brothers.
"Work hard and don't let me down. I hope that one day, you'll make me proud!" Muria gave his son's shoulder a firm pat.
"I won't disappoint you! One day, you'll be proud of me!" Aeolos responded, deeply moved, nodding his head with determination.
After this emotional conversation, Aeolos officially received the starter gear his father had prepared for him.
...
"He's growing up, and he has ambition now. He said he wants to make me proud!" Muria, dressed in his pajamas, got into bed and hugged Mikaela, recounting his earlier conversation with Aeolos.
"He probably has no idea how difficult that will be," Mikaela pushed Muria off her chest, mildly annoyed. Even after two hundred years, he was still as mischievous as ever.
"Well, in his mind, we're just an ordinary, normal couple!" Muria sighed, playfully nuzzling closer.
"So, what would Aeolos have to achieve for you to be proud of him?" Mikaela asked.
"Hmm." Muria paused, holding Mikaela's waist as he was about to take the next step. He frowned, thinking seriously. "Something like becoming Hades, the Lord of the Underworld."
"Hades?" Mikaela raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly!" Muria nodded enthusiastically.
"That's quite a high bar."
"If it were any lower, I wouldn't be proud! If Aeolos could grow to be like Hades, the Lord of Life and Death, I could boast to anyone that my son controls the cycle of life and death! Now that's impressive!"
"Muria, behave yourself!" Mikaela grabbed Muria's hand as the two quickly became more... intimate.
"We're married! What's there to behave about?" Muria laughed, pulling her into an embrace.
The next morning...
"Dad, Mom, I'm heading out!" Aeolos, in high spirits, called out to Muria and Mikaela, who looked particularly refreshed this morning. He was ready to leave for the airship port.
"Mm, be careful on the road!" Muria, in a good mood, responded, offering more words than usual.
"Stay safe."
"I will," Aeolos replied, nodding. He then turned to his three sisters, saying, "Gladys, Tiffany, Katia, make sure to listen to Mom and Dad while I'm gone, and don't cause any trouble."
"We will, brother!" The three little girls responded obediently.
Hearing their sweet voices call him "brother" once more, Aeolos felt as though he were floating on air. He closed the door and left for the airship port with a light heart.
As soon as Aeolos closed the door, the cozy family scene at the dining table began to change. The living room expanded rapidly, the ceiling stretching upward, and the walls extending and growing taller. The dining table enlarged, its surface adorned with intricate, crystalline patterns.
Apart from the positions of Muria and his family, everything else had transformed. What had once been a small living room had become a grand, majestic palace, subtly yet lavishly luxurious. The furniture had changed too, with some pieces disappearing and others growing larger, made of obviously rare and valuable materials.
Muria's entire family had also undergone a transformation. Muria now wore royal robes, a crown on his head, radiating the majesty of the ruler of Synapse and the continent. Mikaela had shifted from a gentle woman to a high and holy Seraphic being. The three little girls, who had seemed like normal human children, had also transformed dramatically.
Gladys now resembled Mikaela, with ten wings sprouting from her back and an aura of holiness that was almost untouchable. However, her aura differed from Mikaela's as golden lightning flashed in her eyes.
Tiffany had grown dragon wings, horns, and a tail, while Katia, although her form hadn't changed much, had grown in size and now exuded the dominant aura unique to Titans.
Muria's three daughters were different from Aeolos, who had been born naturally. Since they had been brought into the world through the power of Source Energy, their forms had been influenced. Muria's original plan of having triplet daughters each bearing different pure bloodlines had not entirely come to pass, but the result was even better than he had expected.
Each of the three girls possessed a unique form, representing one of the three supreme bloodlines of Muria and Mikaela. Though they only had a single form each, they also inherited the powers of the other two bloodlines that they didn't physically manifest.
In short, although Gladys resembled Mikaela, she could also wield dragonfire and control lightning and storms like a Titan. The same was true for the other two. Even though they had only one form, they had the strengths of all three bloodlines.
"Dad, if I didn't care about brother's feelings, I wouldn't have accepted this fake gift!" Tiffany tossed aside the small sword she had been playing with, now that Aeolos had left and everything had changed.
If it weren't for her brother's pride, she wouldn't have even touched such a low-grade item. She, a princess of Synapse, had received a sword adorned with fake gemstones!
"The quality may be lacking, but these gifts represent your brother's love for you," Muria said sternly, addressing his daughters in their true forms. "Aeolos spent all the money he could spare from his own basic needs to buy these gifts for you. They represent his care, something money cannot measure."
Muria, though he wanted to raise his daughters well, wouldn't indulge them too much. He still intended to instill the right values in them.
"Think about your brother, Tiffany. He doesn't have much money right now, but he's given you the best he could afford," Mikaela added. "Your brother only has a monthly allowance of 200 gold coins. Along with the 100 gold coins he earned as a reward, he had 300 coins this month. But he spent 250 of them on gifts for you. Now, how much do you think your brother loves you?"
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